In a place where even supplies were difficult to obtain, where puffshrooms had no place to land, fighting a territorial war against a shocking number of magical creatures that might even have big shots backing them?
Lin Jun would have to be out of his mind to do such a thing. He decisively chose to change routes.
This was where the bat puffshrooms came in handy!
One by one, the bat puffshrooms flapped their wings and flew into different crevices. It would be best if they could find the crevice Inanna had originally descended through, but if not, they could at least explore and find an unobstructed route that would allow smooth passage to the bottom.
However, something strange happened. With so many openings—even after some merged together during their downward extension, there were still nearly twenty routes remaining.
But no matter which route they took, when flying down to similar depths, what they saw were Thousand-Pivot Mayflies living there.
The only difference was that a few places housed solitary high-level Thousand-Pivot Mayflies, while most areas were inhabited by swarms of low-level Thousand-Pivot Mayflies.
And regardless of whether they were high-level or low-level, when they saw the bat puffshrooms flying down, they all chose to surge up and devour the puffshrooms.
The bat puffshrooms simply couldn't outfly them and could only self-destruct.
But this was strange—if all routes had Thousand-Pivot Mayflies, how had Inanna gotten down in the first place?
After she had transformed into a puffshroom back then, she hadn't connected to the mycelial network and indeed couldn't observe her surroundings.
But drifting down so leisurely, if she had encountered these Thousand-Pivot Mayflies, she should have been carried off long ago. How could she have successfully fallen down?
Or perhaps after he left the deep layer area, something had changed there?
The influence of the demonic tide?
Lin Jun wasn't certain, but he knew his direct descent plan would have to be reconsidered from the ground up.
Whether or not to fight a battle without territorial advantage in a place far from his homeland—he hadn't decided yet.
————
While Lin Jun was still making his final struggles over there, hoping to find some dead angle not occupied by the Thousand-Pivot Mayflies to smuggle himself down, he hadn't noticed the mess his new employee had gotten himself into...
A flower python coiled around Norris, rendering him immobile, its mouth biting into Norris's shoulder, seemingly injecting venom.
However, Norris possessed [Toxin Resistance] and [Paralysis Resistance], so he wasn't affected.
But even without being poisoned, his situation was already dire.
His left arm was pinned to a tree trunk by the root tendrils of three flower demons, leaving only his right hand free to move.
Norris hadn't expected the python to coordinate with the flower demons. Caught off guard, he found himself in the passive situation of fighting one against two.
He was already beginning to regret filing down his claws. His right hand, which could still move, couldn't inflict effective damage on the python before him without claws.
But if he didn't counterattack soon, he was going to die.
He wondered if he'd also be thrown into the swamp area after death?
Shaking his head to dispel these distracting thoughts, Norris gripped the python's body in front of him with his remaining right hand, used all his strength to tear open a wound, then bit down!
[Neurotoxin LV4]
He could poison too!
It was just that when using this toxin, it was no different from saliva, and there was simply no opportunity to use it in combat. He hadn't expected to use it today.
Fortunately, the flower python lacked corresponding resistance. Under the toxin's effect, the snake's body constricting around Norris relaxed.
Norris freed his hands and pulled out the root tendrils pinning his left hand. He didn't even have time to deal with the flower python beneath him before turning to hide in the thicket.
The reason for his urgency was that through the perception provided by the mycelial network, three adventurers were heading his way. He had to hide quickly...
Another root tendril burst from the ground beneath his feet, piercing through Norris's sole.
"This flower demon!"
Norris now hated this flower demon to death. The injury and pain didn't matter much—small wounds healed quickly since his transformation—but the timing!
"What is that?"
The adventurers' voices carried over, and Norris immediately froze in place.
"A lizardman from the demon race?"
"Looks like it, but he has no tail."
"To think that even in the dungeon..."
In just a few words, the adventurers had determined his allegiance based on Norris's appearance.
The adventurers seemed somewhat afraid of the demon race, but someone said:
"He looks injured!"
By the time Norris pulled out the root tendril from his foot, the three adventurers had already surrounded him in a subtle formation.
The demon race was dangerous, but the reward for killing a demon spy was also substantial. When demons and magical creatures fought each other to mutual destruction, everyone wanted to try being the fisherman who profited.
Norris had originally been thinking whether to turn and flee or try to explain himself, but when he saw the halfling among the adventurers, he stopped retreating.
Norris didn't know the halfling's name, but he remembered the distinctive burn scar beneath the man's left eyelid.
It was this person who had once stolen his silver coins, and when discovered, had joined with his companions to beat him up!
Norris didn't know why he suddenly stopped running.
So what if he knew this was someone who had bullied him?
Over all these years, had he suffered few such humiliations?
Now he was injured and should turn and flee while asking his boss for help.
But why had he extended his claws and begun approaching them?
His memory of what followed was somewhat hazy. Norris only felt his breathing becoming more and more rapid, his body seeming to be controlled by a demon, dancing beyond his consciousness.
When he came to his senses, the first thing he noticed was the rich scent of blood swirling around his nose.
Some was his, some belonged to the adventurers.
Beneath him lay the halfling's mangled corpse. The other two adventurers also lay not far away—one covered in claw wounds, the other strangled to death by tree roots.
Tree roots?
"Are you alright?"
Nearby, the tree demon called Little Green, surrounded by puffshrooms, approached to inquire.
Because he often operated on the sixth floor, Norris knew it—it was also one of the boss's subordinates.
It seemed he had received its help?
Norris struggled to recall the details of what had just happened, but could only remember the sensation of claws tearing through flesh.
"Thank... thank you." Although he couldn't remember, that didn't stop Norris from expressing gratitude.
However, the tree demon only asked again: "Are you alright?"
Seemingly realizing something, Norris looked down at his own body.
The gaping wound in his abdomen was continuously bleeding, he was kneeling because everything below his right knee had disappeared, and there was this dagger stuck in his heart...
Well, that explained it. How could he possibly have defeated three silver-rank adventurers...
Little Green caught Norris as he toppled forward, hurriedly contacting Lin Jun through the mycelial network.
Lin Jun was completely stunned.
He had only been inattentive for a moment—how had things gotten to this state?
Lin Jun couldn't understand. He should have told Norris to hide when encountering adventurers.
Even if unexpected circumstances arose, Norris should have called for him immediately!
Why had it turned out like this, with both sides suffering heavy losses, and Little Green being the one to make the report in the end?!
He instantly took control of the puffshrooms that had originally been following Little Green.
Several puffshrooms were responsible for handling the adventurers' corpses—stripping them and throwing them to areas with mycelial carpet.
The remaining puffshrooms wrapped up Norris and his right leg that had fallen in the grass, heading toward the fifth floor.
"Clear the way! And explain what happened while you're at it," Lin Jun directly ordered Little Green.
Little Green took the lead, walking at the front.
"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics. I sensed that Norris was fighting someone over here, so I came to take a look. When I arrived, I saw he was nearly killed by the adventurers. In my urgency, I eliminated one of them."
As a tree demon also connected to the mycelial network, it was normal for it to sense situations at a distance.
Lin Jun had also given Little Green instructions not to actively attack adventurers, so Little Green specifically explained this point.
"Mm."
Lin Jun didn't ask further questions. The situation would probably only become clear after Norris woke up.
Managing several different directions simultaneously, he indeed couldn't cover every aspect of the entire dungeon situation.
If only the mycelial carpet had a replay function...
Or if that long-dormant [Mental Integration] skill could be upgraded!
Regarding Norris's incident, he hoped it wasn't Norris who had started trouble.
He had explained the rules to Norris. A subordinate who didn't follow rules wasn't an asset but a liability.
Thinking about it carefully, among his four current subordinates, was Little Green the tree demon actually the most worry-free?
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