Chapter 147: Cave Dwellers

A familiar cave environment.

When Lin Jun's fungal network finally spread down, various chewing and writhing sounds intertwined in the darkness; below, a gluttonous feast was underway.

Giant spiders tore at mayfly carcasses with sharp chelicerae, slimes writhed to dissolve insect shells, beetle swarms emitted faint gnawing sounds, cave dwellers stole insect legs with remaining flesh, and lizard monsters curled up prey with long tongues... all manner of demons crowded together.

Lin Jun even saw a turtle as tall as a person methodically gnawing on a carcass.

Since when were there turtles in the deep zone?

These demons were unusually at peace, burying themselves in devouring the mountainous pile of mayfly corpses, with no intent whatsoever to hunt each other.

But this scene was far from pleasant for Lin Jun.

These creatures shamelessly ate the prey he had hunted!

Even the Great Insect was no exception; though their thick carapaces were too hard to crack, the insect brains Lin Jun had already blown apart were different.

Now, only a small fraction of the Great Insect's head remained.

Over thirty Pujis landed on the insect's back. A nearby giant spider noticed these small creatures before it, tentatively extending a spider leg, only to be met by a blade-whip.

These thirty-plus were all elite Pujis.

Just as special forces aren't suited for filling the front lines, Lin Jun hadn't deployed these elite Pujis when fighting the Great Insect; whether elite or cannon fodder, they would all be instantly obliterated if the insect charged.

An insect leg flew up, and a mouth dripping with venom let out a painful shriek.

However, less than half a second later, its head was blown away by several enhanced mushroom cannons.

The headless body swayed twice before crashing heavily to the ground.

The instant the spider fell, the Pujis launched indiscriminate attacks on the demons stealing their prey nearby, instantly throwing the situation into chaos.

The lizard monster, attacked, tried to counterattack but stepped right into a slime.

Sensing the chaos, the beetles scrambled in all directions to hide themselves.

Two cave dwellers, before leaving, tried to snatch a chunk of fat meat in the confusion; one lagging behind had his leg blown off by a mushroom cannon on the spot, while his companion, seeing this, abandoned both the meat and him.

The cleanup didn't last long; although the demons were numerous, each had its own habits and wouldn't truly unite to attack the Pujis.

Plus, this squad of elite Pujis was already formidable; after being ambushed by a lizard monster's long tongue, suffering two unexpected casualties, they had essentially cleared the area.

Scale-armored melee Pujis moved among the carcasses, delivering finishing blows to crippled demons unable to escape, leaving only the disabled cave dwellers and the turtle.

The turtle was simply unattackable; once struck, it decisively retracted into its shell, sealing all six openings, leaving not a single crack.

Attacks on the shell were remarkably ineffective; its defense felt no weaker than the Great Insect's carapace, so Lin Jun could only leave it aside for now.

As for the cave dwellers, Lin Jun was somewhat curious about these eyeless humanoid creatures; he had never seen such cave dwellers near the Mushroom Garden before.

These two cave dwellers were quite low-level, only in their twenties, with weak skills; although they held weapons, their primitive short spears offered little combat power.

No wonder they only gnawed on insect legs at the very edge, too afraid to venture into the central area for fatter insect meat.

Judging solely by stats and skills, even a single cave dweller would likely struggle to defeat a Fire Mosquito from back then in a one-on-one fight.

And while Fire Mosquitoes traveled in swarms, who knew if these cave dwellers had such numbers; humanoid creatures were probably less fertile than Fire Mosquitoes.

He dragged the cave dwellers into a blind spot, pushed the turtle over, and then ignored them.

The Pujis began spraying spores throughout the cave.

This cave had no native demons, only some ferns common in the deep zone.

It made sense; above lay the gathering place of the Thousand-Axis Mayflies, which descended periodically to forage, so any original demons were likely eaten clean. Unlike his Mushroom Garden, which had once been a secluded corner, this cave connected to over a dozen tunnels; this number of tunnels was average for caves in the deep zone.

He didn't even know which direction his original Mushroom Garden lay; back then, his strength was limited, and the explored area had been too small.

After a little over half a day, the fungal mat spreading down from above finally connected with the new fungal mat grown from the spores sprayed by the Pujis.

A big monster might emerge from the deep zone at any unknown time; to avoid complications from a long night, Lin Jun spent extra mana to accelerate the decomposition of these carcasses, completing work that normally took days in just two hours.

【Seven Sins: Greed Triggered】

【Plunder Skill: Chitinous Shell Lv7 → Lv8】

【Plunder Skill: Insect Silk Lv3 → Lv4】

【Plunder Skill: Cocooning Lv1】

After finishing the decomposition work, the Pujis dragged out the cave dweller with the broken leg.

【Fusion Parasitism】 had been used, but his leg had been completely blown to pieces, making reattachment impossible.

Lin Jun tied an insect shell around the stump of his broken leg, allowing him to move with difficulty.

He then released him.

If the cave dwellers' habitat was nearby, Lin Jun could determine its location by sensing him.

If it was far away, given his broken-leg condition, he would likely become dinner for some demon.

Lin Jun had already tested the cave dwellers' intelligence within the fungal network—primitive but not stupid.

He still had some interest in them.

Lin Jun could now directly control around 3,000 Pujis.

This was more than enough to control the seven layers currently under his command, but clearly insufficient for the vast, unknown expanse of the deep zone.

Before descending, Lin Jun had planned to control some humanoid creatures, just as he had delegated all Pujis in the sixth layer to the Treant, to save his operational capacity.

His original target had been the Minotaur, the bull-headed man, since he had only encountered this one type of humanoid creature in the deep zone before.

But as for how confident he was, Lin Jun truly had no idea.

Minotaurs left Lin Jun with an impression of being irritable, short-tempered, and possessing immense strength.

【Fusion Parasitism】 was not mind control; if they truly refused to submit unto death, Lin Jun had no choice but to turn them into puppets.

Moreover, Minotaurs didn't seem numerous enough; the few times Lin Jun had encountered them, they were solitary individuals.

Now encountering cave dwellers was undoubtedly another option; these cave dwellers were at least moving in pairs.

After releasing the cave dwellers, Lin Jun had a single Pujis follow them from a distance.

However, man proposes, heaven disposes; just over ten minutes later, the troglodyte vanished from the tunnel.

When Pujī arrived at the spot where he disappeared, he saw only the troglodyte's broken spear on the ground and a crack, the size of a manhole cover, in the tunnel floor.

On the other side of the crack, there was no curse, no sound—only utter darkness…

(End of Chapter)