The old mushroom garden—or rather, what was now the caveman training base.
Two puffshrooms followed closely behind a caveman step by step, while other cavemen observed this training session.
"Yes, just like that, maintain it!" Norris held the yellow book, commanding through his mental connection via the mycelial network. "Puffshrooms have short legs, so take smaller steps so they can keep up with you."
Of course, many of these key points were being quietly reminded to him by the yellow book.
"Now try having the puffshrooms use mushroom cannons to attack the target."
The target was a large stone block that had suffered extensive abuse, its surface already riddled with pockmarks from cannon fire.
The training puffshrooms only carried [Mushroom Cannon LV1], so there was no need to worry about breaking the target.
The caveman pointed his spear toward the target, and the two puffshrooms followed his movement, aiming their mushroom cannons in that direction as well.
In reality, this action was completely unnecessary—controlling puffshrooms only required a clear mental command—but these cavemen were still accustomed to accompanying their orders with physical gestures.
*Boom boom—*
Two mushroom cannon shots tore through the air. One hit the target in a crooked trajectory, while the other grazed the edge and flew off into the distance.
This was due to lacking [Precision], and besides, the practice was focused on having cavemen control puffshrooms—whether the puffshrooms actually hit their mark was irrelevant.
Norris had just nodded in satisfaction, preparing to offer a few words of praise, when from the corner of his eye he caught sight of the caveman suddenly gripping his spear tightly, pointing the spear tip directly at the puffshroom that had missed, as if about to thrust!
"Hey! What are you doing? Stop that immediately!" In his urgency, Norris didn't even use the mycelial network, but instead shouted aloud.
The caveman's entire body went rigid, immediately standing at attention like he'd been nailed in place, hands at his sides, submissively awaiting his next command.
This display of bullying the weak while fearing the strong—only daring to show off in front of puffshrooms—made Norris roll his eyes.
Norris had discovered that regardless of whether these creatures had been overseers before, once they gained control over puffshrooms, they all without exception developed this same problem—they liked to show off their authority in front of puffshrooms.
Could this be some kind of instinctive behavior carved into their very bones?
How to correct it?
Norris found it deeply troublesome.
When he scolded them to their faces, they were all meek and obedient, showing perfect compliance.
But the moment he turned his back, in places he couldn't see, the puffshrooms left in their care would "mysteriously die" one or two at a time every few days. This situation truly gave him a headache.
While Norris was reprimanding the caveman, a pair of claws picked up one of the puffshrooms.
All the cavemen couldn't help but shrink into themselves, not daring to look at that black figure.
Little Black, who had been banished here, nibbled on a puffshroom while staring vacantly at Norris's gleaming form.
That direct, piercing gaze made Norris feel like there were thorns on his back.
Lin Jun had ordered her to stay in the old mushroom garden for two days without wandering around. Apart from eating, she could only sleep—her days were extremely boring.
But this couldn't be helped. Diving headfirst into the fissure and saying goodbye forever was something Lin Jun felt Little Black truly might do.
Once this storm passed, it would be best to quickly bring Little Black back up.
Actually, Louisa was also in the old mushroom garden at the moment, but she had been deliberately avoiding Little Black.
Right now, she was leaning against the rough exterior wall of a snail-wood tree, sleeping sweetly.
"So relaxing~" drowsy murmurs slipped from her lips.
This wasn't a complaint, but a heartfelt sigh of happiness.
Lin Jun had transferred all the puffshrooms away, so now the expedition force was left with just her as a lone commander—naturally, they couldn't continue advancing either.
No threat of death, no battles, no missions, no hunger, no mushroom growth, and no watchful gaze from the boss...
How long had it been since she'd enjoyed such leisure?
It wouldn't be bad if such days lasted a bit longer!
Of course, it would be best if they continued until the stored blood was finished—any longer and she'd have to go hungry.
---
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Several more mushroom cannon shots slammed viciously into the tottering Sacred Barrier.
The golden light screen, already at its breaking point, shattered with the sound, dissolving into scattered points of light.
The Church warrior maintaining the barrier felt as if struck by a heavy blow, grunting and staggering backward, only to be quickly supported by an alert companion beside him.
Almost the moment the light screen shattered, another Church warrior had already stepped forward with a low roar, and a fresh Sacred Barrier instantly expanded, barely managing to protect the formation once again.
Within the formation, Ranger Amy's eyes were sharp as an eagle's. Her bowstring vibrated continuously as three feathered arrows tore through the air, precisely piercing through the three puffshrooms that had just poked their heads out to fire mushroom cannons.
She flicked her wrist, instinctively reaching toward her quiver, but her fingertips suddenly touched the cold bottom!
Her expression instantly turned extremely ugly—empty?!
Amy's heart sank like a stone.
She had considered that fighting under the protection of Church warriors meant she wouldn't need to worry about dodging, so she had deliberately brought three times as many arrows as she would for normal dungeon exploration.
She had thought it was foolproof, but now she had actually used them all up?
Damn!
In the end, it was because these puffshrooms kept surging forward at such an insanely frequent rate!
Looking at the stairway leading to the fifth floor not far away—what should they do next?
...
Watching the team finally file into the relatively safe stairway passage, Solarine's tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed slightly.
Although the subsequent journey had encountered no more ambushes, the endless harassment from puffshrooms had been like a persistent ailment, and everyone was utterly exhausted.
Fortunately, the team had managed to avoid any new casualties.
Priest Mane dragged his heavy steps from the other side of the team, his eye sockets sunken deep, his entire body radiating fatigue that seemed almost tangible.
This priest, who had followed Solarine's team on expeditions for years, was absolutely among the elite when it came to endurance among his peers.
Yet even he now showed signs of complete exhaustion.
"Solarine, we must rest." Mane's voice carried a hoarseness as he looked back at the team. "The archers' quivers are basically empty. No matter how much the mages and priests conserve, their magical power is nearly depleted. We can't keep pushing ourselves."
Solarine naturally knew what Mane was saying, and she nodded.
"I was just about to have the team rest in this stairway. We just need to have people take turns guarding the entrances at both ends."
After brief exchanges with Fifteen and Adin, both had no objections. Everyone understood that what awaited them on the fifth floor would very likely be a fierce battle.
Before that, conserving their strength was the obvious choice.
Before resting, Solarine had specifically activated [Truth Vision] to look at the fifth floor, but could only see complete chaos—the entire fifth floor was filled with mycelium.
She could only helplessly tell the warriors responsible for defense not to let their guard down and to prepare for possible attacks.
"You can rest now!"
The news fell like sweet rain. The adventurers' taut nerves suddenly relaxed, and many collapsed directly to the ground, letting out long sighs.
Although the Church warriors didn't create a commotion, their straight backs also quietly relaxed a few degrees, and the oppressive atmosphere finally eased somewhat.
Unfortunately, while they wanted to rest, Lin Jun disagreed.
Nearly a hundred mushroom cannon shots simultaneously bombarded the defensive barrier at the fifth floor stairway entrance.
Caught completely off guard, both the barrier and the warrior who had been steadfastly defending were instantly obliterated.
The exploding shockwave even sent a weary adventurer flying, his head striking the ground heavily, knocking him unconscious on the spot.
"Here they come." Solarine's expression turned ugly as she warned.
In the dark depths of the fifth floor, a luminescent mushroom cap suddenly lit up.
Like triggering a chain reaction, countless points of light began illuminating one after another. In an instant, a vast ocean of luminescence spread before everyone's eyes.
*Gulp—*
This absolute scale caused a chill to rise in everyone's hearts.
Faced with such a scene, one adventurer suddenly broke down in despair, hugging his head and curling up in a corner, mumbling incoherent pleas for mercy.
Looking at his crazed appearance, others felt a sense of empathy rising in their hearts—faced with such a despairing scene, going mad was perfectly normal...
Even Fifteen had a drop of cold sweat appear at his temple: "Before we set out... no one told me there would be this many puffshrooms..."
As he spoke, his gaze was fixed on the center of the luminescent ocean, where stood a fat otaku puffshroom.
And standing atop the fat otaku puffshroom's cap was unmistakably the Puffshroom King in the subjugation force's eyes: six tentacles spread wide, crimson cloak fluttering, a silver pendant hanging beneath its mushroom cap, and behind it an enormous shield the size of its body—this puffshroom had actually armed itself to the teeth with human equipment!
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