Chapter 159

The scout Pukji quietly withdrew without disturbing the burrowers.

Now that we know the location of the nest, we don't fear they'll escape.

Since this scout Pukji was controlled via 【Follower Manipulation】, it couldn't directly connect to the fungal network on the other side—assuming it still existed—so Lin Jun still planned to first spread the mycelium over.

Even the frontline offensive could be temporarily slowed.

……

"What? Withdrawal?!"

Louise, who had just shot a snake head apart with a blood spike, could hardly believe the order she received.

This snake den was filled with snake monsters, but the terrain was narrow and complex, making it impossible for the Pukji army to use their preferred long-range firepower suppression.

Almost every inch of progress in the den cost a Pukji life.

Added to that, the expedition force had already halved in number, so advancement was extremely slow—but they were now nearly at the core area.

"Boss, we're almost at their nest!"

Once we eliminate the baby snakes inside, they won't be able to replenish anymore.

If we pull back now, we'll give up every inch we've taken—everything we've done these past days will be wasted!"

It wasn't that Louise was especially loyal to the mushroom garden; those baby snakes, if their blood essence could be extracted, made decent wild game.

"How much longer?"

"Two more days will be enough!"

"Too long. This matter is more important." Lin Jun turned his gaze away.

Louise frowned, grabbed a venomous snake that had just crawled out of a small hole, and crushed it tightly in her hand.

With a resentful glance at the branching snake den ahead, she turned and withdrew—her boss's orders were absolute.

……

Compared to the grand expedition, where one could fight demons and occasionally drink fresh blood, laying mycelium in the burrowers' homeland was far more boring.

Since it followed the "safe passage" discovered by the burrowers, enemies were scarce—mostly just wandering lone demons.

Thus, Louise remained listless throughout the journey.

Though she still had blood packs left, they weren't fresh enough… not potent enough…

After feasting for so many days, Louise had grown unable to tolerate blood that wasn't freshly drawn.

The food was secondary; the real issue was that the Sacred Scripture was here too…

Though she constantly referred to it as the Sacred Scripture, Louise's knowledge of it came entirely from missions.

But from the deeply secretive attitudes of the demon folk—who clearly knew more—it was obvious everyone feared this evil book.

For the boss to let a tailless lizardman carry it around so carelessly was dangerous!

In Louise's view, the Sacred Scripture should be sealed away—or, more extremely, tossed into one of the countless fissures scattered nearby.

As for working alongside it?

It made her uneasy.

Louise feared the Sacred Scripture, and the Sacred Scripture disliked her in return.

【Norris, don't stand so close to this female ogre.】

【She might suddenly go berserk and suck you dry.】

【I'm just a book—I can't save you then.】

"Senior… if you don't intervene, she probably won't go berserk…"

Having spent so much time together, Norris was familiar with the yellow book's usual tactics.

He never expected the yellow book to suddenly sound wounded.

【How could I possibly influence her anymore?】

【Look at me—I've gotten so thin.】

【I'm almost turned into a useless book.】

【My life is so hard, Norris!】

Norris felt the yellow book in his hands—indeed, much lighter—and didn't know what to say.

He felt the yellow book was truly pitiful… but also somehow deserved it.

Watching his subordinates get along so well, Lin Jun felt deeply satisfied.

Calling all of them on this mission showed how seriously Lin Jun took the burrowers.

Louise was for direct assault; the yellow book and Norris were to capture any burrowers fleeing through other passages.

Of course, violence wasn't mandatory—if the burrowers surrendered willingly, Lin Jun would gladly skip a step. But Lin Jun saw that among his three subordinates, only the obedient Norris was genuinely motivated; the other two lacked enthusiasm for this mission—he'd need to offer carrots.

So, when they finally reached the vicinity of the old mushroom garden and sensed the still-active mycelium behind the Living Wood Castle, Lin Jun made a promise.

"Louise, if you do well this time, you may drain a few of them."

"Huang Pishu, if you guarantee no burrowers escape, I'll give you two souls."

"!!!"

【!!!】

Blood power surged around Louise as she began counting her elite Pukji.

Lines of text appeared one by one on the yellow book, instructing Norris on what to do next.

Watching the team now brimming with energy, Lin Jun suddenly felt his team's efficiency in exploiting enemies was quite high.

Blood for Louise to drain, souls for the yellow book to take—too bad Norris refused to eat the flesh of humanoid cave-dwellers…

Allowing the yellow book to absorb two souls was a calculated decision.

When the yellow book consumes souls, it replenishes its pages; tearing out pages loses the souls.

Since so many were torn last time, let's patch up a couple of harmless ones.

Still need to give the Huang Pishu some hope, so it doesn't spend all day trying to trick Norris.

As for the threat that might come from eating too many souls?

Just tear it up again the next time we catch it with its hand in the cookie jar...

As for why Lin Jun was willing to offer up a few precious cave people for them to mess with?

Lin Jun didn't know when the troglodytes had occupied this place, but clearly, when they arrived, the mushrooms in the old mushroom garden had not yet gone extinct.

The remaining mushrooms were preserved and even cultivated by the cave people as a stable food source.

And now, as Lin Jun's mycelial mat approached, these naturally belonging to Lin Jun's mat seamlessly connected to the mycelial network.

At the same time, it opened up Lin Jun's view inside the Living Wood Fortress.

And inside, Lin Jun discovered a portion of the cave people who were of no use.

They were fat-headed and big-eared, broad and stout, raised like pigs, clearly unsuited for work.

If we wanted them to command the Puji, would we have to specially assign four to carry them around?

To be honest, Lin Jun didn't quite understand.

Logically, conditions in the Deep Zone were harsh; even if the troglodytes practiced slavery, the leaders and such shouldn't be this fat; they should at least have some strength to deal with challengers.

But the fact was, there weren't just one or two of these fat ones, but several, which was truly strange.

But thinking about it further was pointless; anyway, they were just little snacks for Louisa and the Huang Pishu; hopefully, they wouldn't mind the excess oil.

When the Three Generals Under the Mushroom led the Puji army toward the cave people's nest, they had long since prepared.

In fact, as soon as half the mycelial mat was laid, cave people scouts had come to investigate, only to be captured by Lin Jun.

As a tribe with a certain degree of organization, when their scouts went out and never returned, they naturally understood that danger was approaching.

At this moment, the traps in the passage had doubled compared to what was seen last time.

Hordes of cave people, gripping spears or stones, stood densely packed inside and outside the Living Wood exit, holding their breath and waiting.

However, when the Puji army appeared before them, the cave people's formation wavered instantly—the numbers were simply too great!

They could not perceive the depth of the leader Louisa's strength, but the number of Puji was clear and distinct.

Overseers whipped those cave people who shrank back with vines, barely quelling the unrest, but their trembling hands and feet still exposed their inner fear.

Lin Jun was no barbarian; facing the cave people, who were also a sentient race, even though they were so ignorant, Lin Jun still chose to offer courtesy before force.

The Puji troops lined up on both sides, opening a passage.

A cave people scout covered entirely in mushrooms stumbled out and began to roar toward the cave people's camp.

The cave people's language was crude and primitive; although this cave people roared for a long time, the meaning expressed was very brief—Surrender, or die!

(End of this chapter)