Chapter 160: 157 Total Annihilation

For some reason, after the cave dweller who had been converted by him and volunteered as a diplomatic envoy stepped forward, the opposing cave dweller formation became even more disordered.

The moment the declaration ended, the cave dweller warriors on the opposite side tore down the vines suspending the massive boulder.

The polished round boulder rolled down, charging straight toward Louisa.

Blood in Louisa's hand deformed, transforming into a long spear.

Although she usually preferred using blood threads that allowed for more refined manipulation, this did not mean she only knew that one move.

Her body arched like a bow; Louisa hurled the blood spear with great force, shattering the boulder in a single strike, and with its momentum unbroken, it impaled the head of a cave dweller warrior who was shouting something unknown, exploding it.

Debris flew everywhere, and one piece flew straight at Norris's face.

Norris, quick-eyed and fast-handed, blocked the stone with the yellow-covered book.

【You used me to block a stone?】

【Norris! You used my noble cover to block a stone!】

"N-no... sorry, it was a reflex..."

【Damn vampire!】

Norris was fine, but the other Pujis were in a terrible state.

One wave of flying debris took out over twenty Pujis.

Lin Jun paid no mind to the consumption of the Pujis; what concerned him more was that dead cave dweller on the opposite side.

"Louisa, one."

Louisa, who had just been showing off with pride, shivered, recalling the death quota the boss had set for the operation—no more than five cave dwellers could be killed.

Catch an ant without crushing it?

This mission was far harder than conquering the cave.

Breaking their limbs... they shouldn't die directly, right...

Facing Louisa and the Pujis army marching toward them, the cave dwellers did not immediately collapse.

Although their fear was almost solidifying into substance, when a fat and old cave dweller appeared in the ranks, all the other cave dwellers gripped their weapons tight.

This anomaly caused Lin Jun to pull up its status panel.

【Skill: Pheromone Lv. 6】

Comparing it with the status panels of other cave dwellers, he found that the fat ones in the nest all had this skill at Lv. 6.

Lin Jun roughly understood—obey the individual with the higher concentration of pheromones?

Lin Jun possessed this skill too, though at a low level, and had never used it.

It was not some charm or control ability, merely the simple release of chemical substances carrying information, and it was only useful if the target was a member of the same species capable of receiving the information.

It was nothing short of inefficient; with Lin Jun possessing the Fungal Network, this useless skill could only gather dust in his hands.

But among the cave dwellers, it had become a crucial skill regarding hierarchy—at least within the tribe.

Thinking about it, obeying the individual with high pheromone concentration probably allowed cave dwellers to unite more easily, which was beneficial for the collective's survival.

However, that was where it ended.

After maintaining basic survival, these individuals, who were good for nothing except their high pheromone concentration, would become parasites, restricting the tribe's further development.

Their slave-based social structure likely stemmed from this.

In that case, it was no wonder that although the cave dwellers possessed the intelligence to make traps, they could only exist as the lowest of the low.

While Lin Jun leisurely studied cave dweller sociology, the war for the liberation of the Old Mushroom Garden officially began.

To avoid unnecessary casualties among the cave dwellers, Lin Jun had not brought any turret Pujis; those who came were melee types wielding fungal tentacles.

This gave the cave dwellers a slight chance to resist... a tiny bit...

Blocking the entrance, the cave dwellers thrust their spears outward again and again, constantly impaling the surging Pujis. But occasionally, a tentacle would seize the right moment, grab a cave dweller, and drag it out.

Once pulled out even a little, more fungal tentacles would quickly wrap around it, dragging that cave dweller away completely.

Facing this scene, the other cave dwellers could only stab harder, vainly attempting to block the Pujis' advance.

Louisa did not join the Pujis attacking the main gate; in such a cramped environment, what if she accidentally crushed a few cave dwellers?

Based on her understanding of the boss, if she exceeded the death quota, who knew if she would get a good meal, or if she would starve to death or grow mushrooms somewhere on her body.

Thinking of this, she moved even further away from the opening.

But obviously, she couldn't just do nothing and loaf around there, or the boss would find fault with her.

【Blood Manipulation Lv. 8】

Fresh blood prepared on hand transformed into a massive axe in her hand; then she raised the great axe and swung it down with full force against the living wooden wall!

The axe smoothly sank into the wooden wall, but failed to split open a large gap as expected.

Louisa frowned.

She took out a lump of minotaur blood and drank it.

【Bloodthirsty Enhancement Lv. 7】

"Haa—"

Stimulated by the minotaur blood, red light flared in Louisa's eyes, her muscles swelled, and then she swung the axe down again.

Accompanied by flying wood chips, a large section of the wooden wall was split open; several cave dwellers behind it were knocked down by the flying debris, and it was unknown whether they were dead or not.

Louisa's expression changed; she rushed over, dug them all out, and threw them to the Pujis behind her.

The sudden appearance of a second entrance plunged the cave dwellers into chaos; the surging Pujis continuously dragged away the outer cave dwellers, whether warriors, overseers, or slave laborers.

The highest-ranking cave dweller roared, trying to order the cave dwellers to retreat to the center to continue resisting, where there was terrain they could utilize.

However, when they retreated to the mushroom cultivation area, they encountered tentacle Pujis no different from those outside.

Those fungal threads they had previously raised for food were continuously condensing into Pujis and landing on the ground.

At this moment, there were already over thirty tentacles squelching here!

This number was not large, far from matching the endless tide surging from outside, but it blocked the cave dwellers' retreat.

It also shattered their last psychological defense line.

Even if the fat leader of the cave dwellers released pheromones now, he could no longer suppress the chaos among his subordinates; they ran wildly in all directions, trying to escape this former lair from every possible point.

Some lucky cave dwellers would successfully flee to other tunnel entrances not yet completely sealed off by the squelching tentacles under the "cover" of their companions.

There, they would meet Norris, who held a yellow-covered book, wore scale armor that was impervious to blades and arrows, and moved with wind-swift speed.

Looking at the cave dweller kicked to the ground and bound by the squelching tentacles before him.

"This mission... is so simple."

Although the area to be blocked was not small, very few cave dwellers could have escaped anyway, and their levels were low.

Most cave dwellers were only at level ten-plus; those at level twenty-plus were considered strong among the cave dwellers.

Their skills were all trash; under the detection of the yellow-covered book, they couldn't even manage to dodge Norris's pursuit, and not a single one escaped.

However, before each cave dweller was sent away, Norris had to check whether it was still alive; no one knew if he feared his own strikes were too heavy or was guarding against some book stealing a bite.

【...】

(End of this chapter)