Entering the water for the first time, both Norris and Ming seemed very unaccustomed.
Though equipped with [Underwater Adaptation] ability and emergency oxygen-providing Puchis ready at their sides, the moment his body was completely submerged, Norris still instinctively flailed his limbs, thrashing about like a startled land animal for quite a while before barely controlling himself to stop spinning in place.
Ming was at a loss with the weightless sensation underwater.
He was used to exerting force with his feet planted firmly on the ground. Now, feeling light and airy all over with nowhere to apply strength, he wobbled trying to stand steady, but his body disobediently swayed slightly with the current.
Little Pig had none of these problems. She seemed professionally trained—after entering the water, her body naturally relaxed, gently swaying with the rhythm of the current in coordinated, effortless movements, appearing calm and unhurried.
As for Little Black, she shot forward rapidly!
Her sharp claws easily hooked into the hard walls. When climbing quickly, she looked just like a giant cockroach, and she even had a pair of wings that could fan the water for burst power.
While the others were still struggling to adapt to the environment in the room at the fissure entrance, Little Black had already transformed into a blurred black shadow and "whooshed" into the passage ahead.
About ten seconds later, Little Black returned.
In her claws she gripped an unfortunate fishman who was constantly twisting and struggling.
The fishman had clearly been terrified by this sudden attack. Its pair of bulging fish eyes stared wide, filled with pure fear, its mouth frantically releasing a string of bubbles.
"Shells?" Little Black's expectant inquiry came through the mycelial network.
Boss had told her that inside shells were shiny things called pearls, but she clearly didn't know what shells were.
"Uh... this is a fishman, a friend."
Hearing "friend," Little Black disappointedly released her claws.
The newly freed fishman, still shaken, hurriedly swam far away, one hand covering its back where sharp claws had left several white marks, "glugluglugging" something or other.
This fishman had been sent by the sage Gulgulu to meet Lin Jun's dispatched team, never expecting to first suffer an undeserved calamity.
However, after fearfully "gluglugging" complaints for quite a while, it still obediently swam to the front of the team to fulfill its guide duties.
After Norris, Ming, Little Pig, and Little Black came a troop of three hundred Mycelium Puchi Fortress soldiers.
They were all carefully selected, mostly half-demons with partial aquatic bloodlines who naturally possessed a certain degree of underwater mobility.
And the Puchis following them were incredibly diverse.
Lin Jun had attempted to combine almost every skill that seemed remotely related to underwater environments, creating a large batch of experimental Puchis with various forms and functions.
He planned to use this combat opportunity to see which combinations were truly practical for subsequent screening and mass production.
There was a small problem passing through the secret passages—the super Puchi was a bit too large.
Fortunately, the super Puchi was essentially a group of Puchis and could be disassembled along the joints.
A team of this scale naturally couldn't move as stealthily as the few Puchi fish before.
The water flow and commotion ultimately attracted unwelcome visitors.
Two shell creatures wielding massive bone pincers followed the water disturbance to the team's rear.
Seeing three Mycelium Puchi Fortress soldiers and dozens of Puchis, these two monsters showed no hesitation whatsoever. The muscles beneath their shells suddenly contracted as they swung their arthropod limbs and directly launched a fierce charge!
The soldiers naturally wouldn't panic over an attack by two enemies and decisively commanded the Puchis to counterattack.
Some Puchis covered entirely in rock armor stood at the front.
Though the rock armor greatly slowed the Puchis' movement speed, it also made them stable as rocks in the water—each Puchi like a stone pillar.
One rock-armored Puchi stood at the very front. Its skill activated, and an invisible force field spread out.
[Gravity Field LV6]
A skill that shouldn't appear underwater.
After all, the skill's original holder, the earth bear, couldn't possibly go into the sea in its lifetime.
The two shell creatures charging forward suddenly sank.
They weren't types known for agility to begin with. Under the suddenly doubled gravitational pull, their swimming posture completely lost control. They futilely paddled their limbs but uncontrollably fell toward the lower part of the passage.
Aura skills affected friend and foe alike. Even the three Mycelium Puchi Fortress soldiers behind felt their bodies suddenly grow heavy and had to reach out to brace against the walls to steady themselves.
Only the rock-armored Puchis were almost unaffected. Puchis themselves were very light. The heavy rock armor covering them instead provided solid support for their bodies. In a stationary state, [Gravity Field]'s effect on them was almost negligible.
While the gravity Puchi maintained the aura, the other rock-armored Puchis had already prepared.
The ends of their extended mycelial tentacles weren't the usual whip-blade structure, but sharp conical spikes.
Facing enemies still struggling to approach under gravity's effect, these spikes began slowly compressing inward. Upon reaching their limit, they suddenly shot out!
Over twenty spikes burst forth simultaneously!
The [Sharpness LV10] spikes easily penetrated the shell creatures' proud, hard shells.
Aside from some that missed, the two shell creatures each had seven or eight tentacles pierce through them. Pale blue blood seeped from the penetration holes, clouding the surrounding seawater.
After the spikes penetrated the enemies' bodies, their momentum continued unabated, driving straight into the stone wall behind and actually hanging the two shell creatures up.
One had its head vital point pierced and died on the spot.
The other, penetrated through chest, abdomen, and joints by several spikes, didn't die immediately and still frantically struggled and twisted, trying to break free from the restraints.
Its pair of massive pincers flailed randomly, trying to sever the mycelial tentacles piercing its body.
However, these were [Toughness LV9] mycelial tentacles. Even though its pincers had great force, it would need multiple consecutive full-strength efforts to grind through a single one.
And it clearly didn't have that time.
An ordinary-looking Puchi fish had already swum to its side.
From atop its mushroom cap, two specialized mycelial tentacles quietly rose, their tips faintly glowing.
[Electric Arc LV7]
A blinding blue-white arc flashed in the water, striking the shell creature's torso.
The monster's body instantly went rigid as a board. Bubbles emerged from between its shell segments as all struggling ceased.
Though its external shell showed little change, its internal tissues had already carbonized under the high-voltage shock.
However, the matter wasn't finished.
The arc didn't stop after hitting the shell creature but automatically chained to the nearest rock-armored Puchis, then continued jumping toward the back ranks!
The mycelial tentacles extending from stone pillars turned charred black, losing all vitality, breaking off or drooping limply.
"Ugh ah!"
All three people simultaneously shook violently, their hair standing on end. Though the distance was far and the current weak—not lethal—they fully experienced the pain of paralysis and burns.
"Which... idiot... released... electricity..." one soldier squeezed out intermittent curses through the mycelial network while trembling.
Thus, in their first underwater skirmish, the expedition force achieved the proud record of trading three for two.
...
Sure enough, underwater wasn't suitable for electric-type skills—at least they needed to be paired with corresponding insulation or resistance measures.
Lin Jun's team's advantage lay in extremely fast information transmission.
Even outside fungal mat coverage, mycelial network members within a certain distance would automatically form a temporary "local mycelial network."
Therefore, Little Pig at the very front of the team quickly learned of the accident in the rear.
Under her swift arrangements, the three friendly-fire casualties were carried back by their companions to return to Mycelium Puchi Fortress.
However, when this small squad transporting the wounded returned to the fissure room at the starting point, they were surprised to discover something new that hadn't been there before.
It was a ribbon-like object woven from milky-white mycelia, shaped like giant kelp, gently swaying with the water's pulse.
Along both sides of this mycelial kelp grew clusters of mushrooms emitting soft blue-green fluorescence. In the pitch-black underwater world, they were as eye-catching as stars.
This made them fail to notice that above the water's surface floated a layer of algae-like mycelia.
This was Lin Jun experimenting with which form was suitable for laying fungal mat in water.
(End of Chapter)
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