*Gurgle rumble——*
That familiar sound...
Norris rubbed his drowsy eyes and crawled up from the ground, grabbing a stone club before climbing atop the hanging cage.
He thrust the stone club through the opening, poking and prodding inside—he needed to push the newly split slime toward the exit.
If the puffshrooms were keeping watch, there'd be no need to worry about how long the newborn slimes stayed inside, since they could just be slaughtered after emerging. But now that this job had fallen to him, if three or four slimes came out together, he'd be in real trouble.
Though the puffshrooms would back him up, he'd inevitably suffer for it, so poking them out immediately upon splitting was the right approach for him.
Hard work pays off. Before long, a red slime squeezed out from the stone exit.
Seeing it was a red slime, Norris couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
**[Wind-Rending Claw LV4]**
The slime's body was slashed open. Norris acted with lightning speed, his right hand shooting out to grab the slime's core and yank it free.
Thank goodness it wasn't green—every time he dealt with green slimes, his hands would be corroded and injured.
Just as he was feeling relieved, the hanging cage was suddenly pulled upward...
Oh no!
Norris spun around and ran, racing all the way to the corner farthest from the fissure where the impact was minimal. Only then did he endure the searing pain throughout his body, waiting for the cage to be lowered again.
After everything passed, he lay on the mycelium mat alongside the guard puffshrooms, replenishing nutrients and healing his injuries.
While lying on the mycelium mat, Norris would think of his mushroom house. The comfort of his mushroom house really couldn't compare to a mycelium mat spread over bare rock...
Norris lived his bitter labor reform life, unable to notice that he'd grown a bit stronger again.
**[Skill Upgrade: Wind-Rending Claw LV4 → LV5]**
**[Skill Upgrade: Corrosion Resistance LV1 → LV2]**
What he also didn't know was that outside the small mountain where he was located, the puffshrooms were planting mushrooms and the treants were transplanting saplings, transforming this into an enhanced version of the mushroom forest.
And he'd also missed Vampire Hunt 2.0.
...
If there's anything most torturous, it's knowing that a gang of bandits is going to visit your home but not knowing exactly when, so you can only keep part of your attention focused on your front door at all times.
So when Lin Jun discovered that vampire at the entrance, his entire mushroom self relaxed—finally here!
Honestly, after making so many preparations, if the demon race didn't come in the end, that would truly feel unbearable!
**[Name: Louisa]**
**[Level: 50]**
**[Title: Vampire Viscount]**
A mere level 50. With General Little Black backing him up, nothing to worry about.
This vampire viscount brought seven companions whose race was human, but no matter how Lin Jun looked at them, they seemed like cannon fodder as they entered the dungeon.
Just as Lin Jun was internally complaining about how easily this demon race team had entered his dungeon located deep in human territory—like coming home—he unexpectedly discovered that this team actually had a "tail" following them!
Through the mycelium mat extending outside the dungeon, Lin Jun observed a team with obvious Luminous Church markings arriving outside the dungeon entrance.
——
Adjudicator Wing squad leader Soralin stepped over dead branches, following the uneven footprints on the ground through the forest.
In her eyes, one set of footprints was emanating a nauseating dark aura.
Behind her followed priest Mayn and four fully armored church warriors.
In this squad, Soralin and Mayn possessed Gold-rank strength, while the other warriors were all Silver-rank.
Arriving outside the dungeon, the silver radiance in Soralin's remaining right eye gradually dimmed as her eyelashes trembled—maintaining **[Truth Sight]** was no small drain on her.
The priest behind her walked over to the two guards collapsed by the campfire and checked them. "Both alive, seems like a sleep spell."
"As expected. Casual killing would only make them easier to expose. Obviously they don't know they've already been exposed." Soralin looked up at the magnificent dungeon entrance before them. "Mayn, you really called it—their destination is the Amethyst Dungeon."
"After all, there's nothing further south," priest Mayn showed no joy at being right, instead worrying, "But we still don't know what they're trying to do."
Thanks to Soralin's ability, they'd discovered this group of demon race infiltrators well outside the forest.
During this period, demon race activity within the United Kingdom's borders had been frequent, but mostly individual spies acting alone, whom they could pursue without much concern.
But this time the traces they'd discovered belonged to an entire group, with unknown strength.
Out of caution, they hadn't approached rashly. Instead, they'd shattered their communication crystal to call for other nearby patrol squads, while they themselves continued tracking after leaving two warriors to meet up with reinforcements.
This group was obviously trained in infiltration. All along the way, their traces had been deliberately concealed using methods that could even be called clever.
At least with Mayn's skills, it was difficult to distinguish—they'd relied entirely on Soralin to track them here.
Mayn just couldn't understand why they would enter a dungeon.
If they wanted to cause destruction, shouldn't they go to villages and towns? What could they accomplish in a dungeon?
Secretly kill some adventurers?
What impact could that have on the kingdom... adventurers weren't counted among regular combat forces anyway.
Could they be looking for something or someone?
Not knowing their opponents' purpose made Mayn very anxious, but Soralin didn't care.
"No matter what their purpose is, since they've entered the dungeon, they're fish in a barrel."
Soralin simply leaned on her sword and sat on a wooden stump by the campfire.
"Not continuing the pursuit?" Mayn asked.
"No need. The dungeon has no other exits. We'll wait here at our leisure for the other patrol squads to join us, then they'll have no escape."
As Soralin spoke, she suddenly lowered her head in thought, then called over a subordinate.
"Go contact the local Adventurer's Guild. Have them gather adventurers to assist in capturing the demon race.
Don't need high-level adventurers. I don't need them guarding the entrance or participating in combat—have those adventurers spread around the dungeon's perimeter to prevent the demon race from using escape scrolls."
"Escape scrolls?" Mayn asked doubtfully. "That's unlikely, right? Those things are both rare and dangerous..."
"Just as a precaution." Soralin didn't want to let these targets slip away due to such an oversight.
"Yes." After receiving orders, the church warrior took the identity plate representing an Adjudicator Wing squad leader from Soralin's hand and ran toward Mute Wind Town.
Though Mayn felt they should stay close to their opponents, with Soralin having made her decision, Mayn chose to remain silent.
He and Soralin were both Gold-rank, but in terms of position, a chanting priest was ultimately just a strategic advisor. When Soralin as squad commander occasionally sought his advice, it was out of respect for his strength, not a required procedure.
Moreover, Soralin's judgment seemed sound—gathering forces to block the exit was obviously a stable approach.
The only question was how long they'd have to wait here...
What if the demon race discovered the situation outside and decided to hide in the dungeon, refusing to come out?
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