To guard against any underhanded moves from the new guild master, Lin Jun had diverted some attention to strengthen surveillance of the dungeon entrance.
However, several days passed peacefully, making Lin Jun wonder if they really just wanted to taste what illumination puffshrooms were like.
What Lin Jun failed to notice was that an ordinary adventurer, while passing through the fifth floor, opened a small package and released some inconspicuous flying insects.
...
Naturally, Lin Jun couldn't spend these past few days just staring at the entrance.
【High-Temperature Drilling】 proved extremely useful. In just a few days, the mycelial network tunnel system had achieved remarkable results.
Except for the stairway sections that were reinforced by some kind of dungeon-native formation and couldn't be excavated, everywhere else—whether rock, brick, or soil—could be easily tunneled through.
The fifth and sixth floors had the most extensive underground networks.
With the Knight carrying his main body and using 【Rolling Charge】 within these tunnels, absolutely no one could catch up unless they overturned entire floor sections. Otherwise, Lin Jun was completely safe.
Unless... the opponent was also skilled at digging holes...
Little Black stared at a round, freshly drilled hole on the ground that hadn't yet been lined with mycelium.
She had just seen a puffshroom poke its mushroom cap out from inside, then retreat back in.
Through 【Mana Perception】, she could sense that delicious puffshroom moving underground.
Actually, she'd recently sensed many small mana-rich creatures underground, but hadn't expected them all to be puffshrooms!
She absolutely had to try them!
Little Black attempted to squeeze into the hole, but only managed to get her head in—the puffshroom-specific passage was too small for her.
Fortunately, she still had her 【Sharpness LV9】 claws!
Like a mole, Little Black used her claws to widen the entrance and squeezed inside.
Since she was only roughly digging through the soil blocking her path without reinforcing the tunnel, the network collapsed wherever Little Black passed.
Chasing the burrowing puffshroom downward, just as she was about to catch up, Little Black suddenly stopped.
Because in her perception, an even more massive, more tempting mana cluster had appeared, blazingly brilliant!
*Gulp—*
Swallowing saliva, Little Black's body involuntarily began digging toward it, passing through the underground beneath the mushroom forest and entering the swamp.
Normally Little Black avoided the swamp due to its unpleasant smell, but today, drawn by the mana, she endured all the discomfort.
Halfway there, the mycelial network conveyed the boss's voice, but Little Black's attention was completely unable to focus on communication.
Finally, Little Black found a sphere woven from mycelium in the swamp. After clawing through the mycelium and poking her head inside, Little Black saw the familiar Knight...
The Knight puffshroom had become even more tempting than before, but she still remembered how formidable the Knight puffshroom was—last time it had knocked her unconscious. (A certain black's confused memories after fainting)
So Little Black didn't rush forward recklessly, but only pursed her lips and slowly approached bit by bit, wanting to see if the Knight might agree to let her eat just one foot...
Faced with Little Black approaching with glowing eyes and drooling mouth, the Knight extended a foot to push her head aside, while mycelial tendrils directly stuffed into Little Black's mouth, feeding her mana like feeding a baby.
Little Black normally disliked supplementing mana through the mycelial carpet—it lacked any sense of satiation.
But when the mana quantity reached a certain level, that was another matter entirely.
Solar Knight direct charge!
Besides mana, there were also hallucinogenic spores.
The high-concentration mana quickly made Little Black "overstuffed," and she subsequently became drowsy. Not caring that her body was still soaking in swamp water, she lay down to sleep on the spot.
Having several puffshrooms drag the troublemaker away, Lin Jun personally repaired the mycelial sphere she had bitten through, preventing more swamp water from leaking in.
Long before Little Black's arrival, Lin Jun had already withdrawn his main body into the Knight's body. He dared not face Little Black directly—if this fool lost control and took a bite, that would be quite the disaster.
Since the Knight was deeply hidden at the bottom of the swamp, Little Black's surface activities generally couldn't detect it. He hadn't expected that today she would follow the burrowing puffshroom and actually approach within sensing range...
Perhaps it was time to relocate. Otherwise, if Little Black kept finding her way here every few days, that would be quite troublesome.
However, this also reminded Lin Jun that besides the mycelial network tunnels for puffshrooms, perhaps he should also dig some underground passages that people could traverse.
Little Black might not need them, but keeping them for emergency use by Norris, Dylan, Little Pig and the others would still be worthwhile.
...
While repairing the mycelial sphere, a small insect that had crawled in through the breach caught Lin Jun's attention.
The swamp was home to many insects. Since they didn't affect the puffshrooms, Lin Jun wouldn't specifically manage them. But this one was different.
In 【Mana Perception】 vision, it actually appeared as a miniature mana point!
A reconnaissance bug?
Lin Jun instantly guessed this creature's purpose.
The Knight's blade-whip lashed out, cutting it in half. After the insect corpse blurred momentarily, it vanished into thin air.
Indeed problematic!
Previously, Lin Jun hadn't detected these special insects. While the bugs' mana quantities were indeed inconspicuous, it wasn't that they couldn't be sensed.
Rather, before actually encountering one, Lin Jun simply hadn't thought in this direction—he'd never seen anyone who could use insects for reconnaissance before.
Once Lin Jun noticed it, based on its characteristics, he swept out all the reconnaissance flying insects still lingering on the fifth floor in less than two seconds.
The bat puffshrooms descended from the ceiling, beginning to hunt these insects.
They didn't even need to self-destruct—the puffshrooms could crush these phantom bugs just by clamping their legs together. In less than ten minutes, they had eliminated them all.
This familiar technique... was it that illusionist?
Given the current situation, Lin Jun was already prepared to be discovered.
Of course, this referred to the Knight being discovered by the opposition!
Not to mention his main body was currently housed within the Knight—even if it weren't, anyone drilling in would only see an incredibly dazzling Solar Knight and an utterly ordinary blue mushroom. This mushroom even contained very little mana, with several similar blue mushrooms nearby providing camouflage.
Unless the opponent could also pull up status panels to examine, they would definitely only consider the Knight the important character!
However, ultimately, Lin Jun hadn't anticipated the opponent could also pull off so many strange and varied tricks.
First reconnaissance, then what? A decapitation strike?
This new guild master was truly making life restless for mushrooms right from the start!
It seemed he needed to begin creating Knight Number Two...
---
In the Adventurers' Guild.
Solaryn and others surrounded Aedin, waiting quietly.
Aedin had his eyes tightly shut, gripping a processed magic crystal, his brow deeply furrowed.
Simultaneously controlling over ten flying insects was taxing even for a mage specializing in mental magic like him.
*Crack*
At a certain moment, the sound of the magic crystal fracturing startled everyone. Aedin's expression also changed, though he didn't open his eyes.
As time passed, more and more cracks appeared on the magic crystal, and Aedin's complexion grew increasingly grim.
Finally, with a final wail, the magic crystal in Aedin's hand crumbled to powder. He suddenly opened his eyes and quite ungracefully vomited on the spot.
The experience of transforming into flying insects and being crushed to death over ten times consecutively had Aedin's stomach churning violently.
Fifteen averted his gaze and silently stepped back two paces.
Solaryn and Farr simply waited quietly for Aedin to recover, while Lillian even brought over a cup of clear water.
Taking the water and rinsing his mouth, Aedin looked toward Farr with excitement:
"Found it! I didn't find the mage behind it all, but I discovered the puffshrooms' king bug! That powerful aura and its hiding place—there's no mistake, it must be the puffshroom king! But the bad news is... it also discovered my insects..."
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