Water droplets on the damp rocky ceiling trembled violently, about to fall.
Infrasonic attacks echoed throughout the cave, with a layer of Puchi corpses piled up below.
That ancient crystallized bat was unusually agitated, its skeletal claws constantly scratching white marks on the hanging rock surface.
From time to time, it would swoop down, using its wings to sweep aside any Puchi that got too close.
Its wing bone spurs accidentally sliced through a mushroom cap, causing pale purple hallucinogenic spores to spray out immediately.
The old bat flapped its wings, constantly retreating, frantically returning to the rocky ceiling as its chest heaved violently.
By the time it finally recovered, some of the Puchi below had already repaired their bodies and started moving again.
A new round of infrasonic waves immediately exploded in the cave, knocking down the newly revived Puchi once more—this deadlock had continued for countless cycles.
The Puchi killed by sound waves would resurrect, while the ones that exploded would release hallucinogenic poison mist at close range.
The old bat could only keep stalling like this, over and over, but the Puchi were getting closer and closer...
When the last foothold was also covered by hallucinogenic spores, the old bat was finally poisoned unconscious and fell motionless from the rocky ceiling.
Lin Jun had thought the old bat would finally go berserk in a last desperate burst.
But perhaps the older they get, the more they cherish life—it just kept shrinking up there, and even when death was imminent, it didn't dare come down to tear apart a few Puchi.
The final casualty count was much smaller than Lin Jun had expected.
Outside the cavern, two figures had been waiting for a long time.
The half-elf's damaged ear had grown mushrooms, while the human woman's emerald staff had fused with the fungal membrane growing between her fingers.
These two were parasitic puppets Lin Jun had created before.
This time, the dissection of the old bat would be completed by these two puppets.
But before that, both puppets had to be given a bottle of antidote each.
Otherwise, they would also be paralyzed by the hallucinogenic poison mist.
He always felt that after becoming puppets, they inherited both the mushrooms' weaknesses and humans' weaknesses.
After drilling into the cave, Lin Jun first controlled the two puppets to slit the unconscious old bat's throat.
Huh?
How could the status panel still be opened?
It wasn't dead yet?
This time, Lin Jun simply had the bat's head completely severed.
The panel still didn't disappear.
Lin Jun opened the panel with a confused expression, only to discover it wasn't the old bat's panel.
[Divine Artifact: Sun Stone (Fragment)]
???
Not even bothering with the S-rank magic crystals, Lin Jun hurriedly controlled the puppets to search through the old bat's corpse.
After cutting open the chest, he finally found a Sun Stone fragment that radiated warm light inside.
Well I'll be damned, no wonder the cave environment was so cold and damp, yet the old bat had LV5 heat resistance.
It was roasted to that level by the Sun Stone fragment!
So the old bat's "Transcending Death" title was also related to this Sun Stone fragment?
This divine artifact had extended its life?
Unfortunately, the panel still showed no information.
Based on available information, besides emitting light and heat, the Sun Stone might also be used for... survival?
But here's the question—what use was this to Lin Jun?
Mushrooms on Earth had lifespans ranging from a few months to over a thousand years.
But this wasn't Earth either, and in all his time here, Lin Jun hadn't noticed any aging issues.
Rather than worrying about dying of old age, it would be more realistic to worry about whether he'd be killed by powerful monsters or adventurers someday.
This inevitably reminded Lin Jun of another incomplete divine artifact he'd seen.
That kind of artifact that could unleash powerful finishing moves was what he wanted.
The three arm-sized S-rank magic crystals and that Sun Stone were eventually sent to Lin Jun's secret space hidden at the bottom of the swamp.
As for the old bat's remaining corpse, it wouldn't be wasted either—the puppets were still doing cutting work there, breaking it into small pieces before bringing it out.
After all, the old bat had so many maxed-out skills that a large amount of proficiency could be plundered from it.
Taking out his own Sun Stone fragment and studying the fracture for a long time, he finally found the corresponding part and fitted the two Sun Stone pieces together.
The break automatically fused, becoming perfectly seamless—this did match Lin Jun's stereotypical impression of divine artifacts.
The more complete Sun Stone emitted even greater light and heat, so hot that even his LV7 heat resistance could barely handle it, forcing him to hold it a bit farther away.
This thing wouldn't really turn into a little sun that could burn mountains and boil seas when complete, would it?
Even the panel had changed.
[Divine Artifact: Sun Stone (Incomplete)]
It had clearly upgraded, but Lin Jun still couldn't figure out how to use it.
This chicken-and-egg feeling was really frustrating for a mushroom.
Fortunately, Lin Jun knew what the three S-rank magic crystals were for—he was practically drooling over the old bat's 500% skill power boost.
He was preparing to tinker around and see if he could install them on his mount.
————
Two days after dealing with the old bat, a magical fluctuation suddenly appeared throughout the entire fifth floor, immediately catching Lin Jun's attention.
It came from the lower floors, and rather than passing through the floor passages, it penetrated the floor barriers from underground and transmitted vertically upward.
It wasn't like the intense magical fluctuations from combat, but rather more sustained, more regular magical waves.
This was something he'd never encountered before.
The magical fluctuations continued for about ten minutes before stabilizing again.
Had the dungeon undergone some change he wasn't aware of?
When he asked Dylan, who was building a wooden house, the guy proved himself to be a bottom-tier adventurer—he knew nothing about slightly advanced questions, as expected.
He could only have Dylan put down his work and make a business trip to the surface to gather information, and while he was at it, also inquire about Inanna's news.
After dispatching Dylan, Lin Jun still felt uneasy.
Such large-scale magical fluctuations definitely meant something had happened, and the unknown always made mushrooms anxious.
He planned to produce more Puchi recently and send some down to the lower floors to explore and investigate.
The mount enhancement project he'd been planning to take his time with would also need to be accelerated—he didn't want to put himself in potential danger due to insufficient preparation.
————
In the guild president's office in Mute Wind Town.
Oberon had just finished listening to Helena's report about two Gold-rank beastman adventurers who had taken an A-rank mission on the fifth floor and hadn't returned after 10 days.
The young branch president rested his chin on one hand while lightly tapping the desk with the other, hesitating whether to raise the mission level or shelve it for now.
Recently, many Diamond-rank adventurers had been invited to the capital, and he'd learned through special channels that the higher-ups seemed to be planning something big.
There weren't many Diamond-ranks still wandering around outside, so even if they issued an S-rank mission, there might not be anyone to take it in the short term.
Moreover, according to current intelligence, these Puchi wouldn't actively attack unless forced into the swamp, so they wouldn't cause too much trouble for adventurers exploring the labyrinth.
Updating the official strategy guide to have adventurers avoid the swamp area seemed like a more cost-effective solution.
A series of urgent knocks interrupted Oberon's thoughts.
"Come in."
The visitor was Intelligence Analysis Director Mirabelle, who got straight to the point upon entering:
"The detection crystals installed on the seventh, fourth, and first floors all detected magical fluctuations, decreasing by floor."
In an instant, everything about the fifth floor Puchi was thrown to the back of Oberon's mind.
He asked with a glimmer of hope: "Are you sure it's not interference or a false alarm?"
Mirabelle didn't respond, but the meaning was self-evident.
"Sigh—"
Oberon realized he'd asked a stupid question—Mirabelle wouldn't make such a basic error.
But—
"The timing shouldn't be right yet? Why is it so early this time? And it just happens to coincide with when all the Diamond-ranks have been transferred away..."
Oberon frantically tugged at his golden hair, the originally neat strands sticking up in messy arcs.
He suddenly yanked open a drawer and took out a bottle of elven ice wine.
The fine liquor went down his throat, and Oberon finally calmed down, saying to Mirabelle:
"Issue a mana tide warning and seal the dungeon entrance.
I'll report this to headquarters and write to the surrounding cities requesting support.
Ikthion protect us, I hope there won't be big problems this time..."
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