Qith? Heartless? Mental control?
These carapace-covered, swift-moving beetles actually belonged to the same race as that profound and sinister eye-worm?
The six-clawed invisible creature from before had also bled purple blood, so that thing was also a Qith?
This was Lin Jun's first time seeing individuals of the same race with such vast differences.
As for "Heartless" and "Mental Control," did this mean these creatures were all being controlled by some existence? Just like how he controlled the puffshrooms?
It felt similar yet different—after all, judging from the wording, the opponent seemed to be using some kind of mind control technique.
At this thought, Lin Jun was already getting excited.
But first, he had to deal with the bugs at hand.
The puffshrooms that entered the snake den were, without exception, attacked by the beetle swarm.
Back when the snake monster had held off the expedition team for so long, it was precisely by relying on these large and small burrows that emerged everywhere, using the terrain to play a grinding war with the puffshrooms.
Now these beetles moved through those interconnected holes with complete ease, even more agile and swift than the former snake monsters.
The puffshrooms that entered the snake den fell into bitter combat.
Over two hundred puffshrooms relied on mushroom cannons and self-detonation to resist desperately, but the beetles were simply too numerous, their assault like a tide.
They charged forward in vast numbers, enduring the puffshrooms' attacks to tear open the puffshrooms' soft bodies with their mandibles.
Lin Jun also experienced what it felt like to be on the receiving end of "human wave" tactics.
The sounds of puffshroom resistance, muffled explosions of self-detonation, and the hissing of beetle carapaces rubbing together mixed in the cavern, finally falling silent.
The battle ended faster than expected.
Those dead puffshrooms would be dismantled into small pieces by the beetles and carried off to who knows where.
However, over two hundred puffshrooms still seemed insufficient to fill their appetites.
The next moment, like a burst black flood, they brazenly charged out of the snake den's entrance!
Perhaps they were counting on their [Light Refraction Invisibility]?
Unfortunately, Lin Jun had already switched to [Mana Perception] view and could see every single bug's position crystal clear.
Moreover, outside the snake den, without terrain advantage, launching a frontal charge against puffshrooms skilled in ranged combat?
Under Lin Jun's command, the puffshrooms delivered saturated strikes against the charging insects.
The charging momentum was forcibly halted, the insect swarm crashing against an invisible wall of death under the violent ranged firepower.
In just a few minutes, what had been a surging flood was reduced to scattered carapace fragments and flowing purple blood under the puffshrooms' efficient bombardment.
And their result from charging out was—zero.
Louisa moved her fingers, and large amounts of purple blood were collected by her.
Each beetle didn't have much blood, but little amounts add up to a lot.
Louisa used this blood as an attack method—she definitely couldn't stomach eating it.
Even among magical creatures, this purple blood could be considered among the most unpalatable.
The beetles' numbers were still massive, but after witnessing the first wave of chargers reduced to dust, the remaining beetles immediately retreated like a tide, all shrinking back into the snake den's deep holes.
Swift reactions, orderly retreat—clearly under unified command.
Puffshrooms couldn't penetrate the narrow, complex snake den, and the beetles feared the deadly firepower outside. Had the situation fallen into a stalemate?
Impossible—who would waste time in a standoff with these bugs!
The hallucinogenic puffshrooms covered in chitinous shells stepped forward, slowly approaching the entrance, pouring light purple spore smoke with a strange sweet-metallic scent into every crack and passage the insects could traverse.
Lin Jun had checked the status panels—apart from [Cold Resistance], these beetles had pitifully low resistances in all other areas. They couldn't possibly last long in the toxic fog.
Since they needed to wait for the hallucinogenic spores to penetrate each hole, the puffshrooms' advance wasn't fast, but the effect was immediate.
As the spore poison fog spread through the maze-like snake den, more and more beetles fell into irresistible deep comas.
Occasionally, a few beetles positioned deeper in the passages attempted desperate raids, but they would often stumble and collapse after just a few steps in the increasingly dense purple fog, completely losing consciousness.
Once they found the right method, these insects were utterly defenseless.
Lin Jun advanced while mercilessly crushing those unconscious beetles.
Since each puffshroom could only spray a limited amount of spores, Lin Jun paused briefly when halfway through the advance.
He had to wait for newly reinforced hallucinogenic puffshrooms to arrive before continuing the push.
The entire conquest process was expected to take about a day in Lin Jun's estimation.
But in fact, the battle was already over at this point.
Without even needing to wait for the new batch of hallucinogenic puffshrooms to be fully deployed, under the pressure of the all-pervasive toxic fog, the remaining insect swarm decisively chose to retreat.
They abandoned the snake den, scattering in all directions along the interconnected passages like a receding tide.
And all of this occurred under Lin Jun's surveillance.
Lin Jun had no interest in those fleeing beetles—his attention had been locked onto that special eye-worm from beginning to end!
Lin Jun watched as it chose a specific fork in the chaotic insect flood, silently sliding into it and finally disappearing completely at the edge of his perception range.
Lin Jun silently marked that passage's direction in his mind.
Not all beetles had escaped—some beetles trapped in dead ends fell into chaos after the eye-worm left.
They scurried about aimlessly and were quickly knocked unconscious by the hallucinogenic spores.
The [Mental Control] on their status panels had now disappeared as well.
It seemed the opponent indeed controlled these beetles through the eye-worm.
The puffshrooms quickly cleared out the snake den, which had long been devoid of snake monsters.
Lin Jun planned to call over some burrowing puffshrooms later to renovate the snake den.
This included collapsing some useless, easily ambushed small holes; widening main passages to accommodate puffshroom cluster deployments; constructing fire platforms at key nodes, and so on.
They would build this place into a forward base.
The terrain here differed from other caverns—used properly, it was no different from a fortress.
As for what came next.
Lin Jun had Little Pig rest for a day or two. Once the snake den's fungal carpet was fully laid, they would continue the great expedition downward.
As for the Qith, Lin Jun planned to personally control puffshrooms to search and investigate.
After all, they had no other suitable personnel for reconnaissance—Eding would be appropriate, but currently couldn't be retrieved.
A being capable of mentally controlling swarms of magical creatures.
Lin Jun still didn't know whether the opponent was human, demon, or magical creature, but two consecutive encounters indicated they weren't separated by too great a distance.
And the opponent had demonstrated sufficient threat—not even mentioning those six-clawed beasts, just looking at this swarm of beetles.
If they suddenly attacked a certain cavern, ten cave dwellers with a hundred-plus puffshrooms definitely couldn't hold it.
In other words, they had the ability to cut off his supply lines, and possessed considerable intelligence?
Having them wandering near the fungal carpet made Lin Jun uneasy.
He'd investigate—if he could eliminate them, he would. If not, at least drive them back.
Come to think of it, didn't humans view him the same way?
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