Chapter 165: 166 Continue Forward

"Raise shields!" A sharp shout rang through the forest.

Solarin, who had 【Truth Vision】 activated, had been searching back and forth for suspicious traces on the ground as the main mine-clearing force.

Some mushrooms growing in the forest caused her quite a bit of trouble in distinguishing, so she failed to notice the fat-house Turret Puji hiding in the trees in time.

The church warriors were indeed a well-coordinated and time-tested unit.

Moments after Solarin issued the command, the holy emblem great shields intersected into a dome over everyone’s heads.

However, it was still a step too late; the golden light of the 【Holy Barrier】 hadn't fully closed, and the three fat-house Turret Puji were about to fall.

Fifteen, at the very end of the team, had rushed out before Solarin even spoke, stepping on an adventurer’s shoulder and leaping into mid-air.

Slash!

All three fat-house Turret Puji were cut into two segments.

However, the people below didn't have time to be happy before they saw more Turret Puji burst out from the bodies of the fat-house Turret Puji.

Some of these Turret Puji were affected and killed, some were blocked by the barrier, but some still fell into the crowd.

People near the landing points of the Turret Puji subconsciously wanted to dodge, block, or counterattack, which triggered more chaos.

A warrior tried to use his arm armor to swat away a Turret Puji falling toward him, but at the moment of contact—

Boom!

Blinding green light mixed with viscous corrosive plasma exploded violently! Like a signal, more explosions sounded one after another in the crowd.

"Ugh—!"

"My eyes!"

"Shields! Raise shields! Protect the casters!"

Screams, explosions, and the sizzling sound of corrosion instantly rang out all around.

The adventurers were in a mess, but the church warriors showed organizational power far exceeding that of the adventurers.

Even though the Turret Puji exploded not far away and they were stained with corrosive slime, they still supported the 【Holy Barrier】 one by one, blocking most of the shockwaves and splashes from above; otherwise, the situation would have been even worse.

Of course, this also had to do with them having better equipment and being able to withstand more damage.

The Turret Puji’s offensive didn't end there; taking advantage of the humans' chaotic formation, the Turret Puji, who had been ambushed in the forest in advance through tunnels, flanked from both sides.

"Stabilize the formation! Don't panic!" a church squad leader roared with all his might.

However, he could command the church warriors under him, but he couldn't command the adventurers.

In the chaos, although most adventurers stood with the church warriors, some still chose to be clever.

Either relying on their speed to run back in the direction they came, or using means like invisibility to try to hide on the side and wait for the crisis to pass.

These practices might indeed allow them to escape danger in other situations, but they were clearly wrong options here with Lin Jun.

Under multiple reconnaissance perspectives, ordinary adventurers couldn't achieve true concealment in the dungeon at all.

Those who fled were caught by Turret Puji waiting for them after running back to the first floor.

And those who were invisible or disguised would have a team of Turret Puji pass by their position inadvertently, and then they would truly disappear.

Sixth-tier mental magic—Group Pain Immunity!

As Aiding made his move, the team that had been somewhat chaotic quickly stabilized.

But Aiding’s face was terribly ugly.

The moment they were ambushed, Aiding had split several illusions around him to distract the attacks, but those Turret Puji ignored the illusions and stared at his real body to attack.

Aiding had to hide in the church team in a sorry state, relying on a group of gold and silver ranks to protect him.

This feeling of being tied up made him regret following them down.

Fortunately, the crisis didn't last long—Fifteen exerted his power.

Realizing that he had been played by the Turret Puji, Fifteen, in his shame and annoyance, also brought out his real strength.

Under the blessing of the nearly maxed-out 【Wandering Step】, Fifteen moved through the forest like a gust of wind, and wherever he passed, the Turret Puji fell in swathes like wheat harvested by a sickle. The self-detonating Turret Puji mixed in the team at the beginning barely caused Fifteen some trouble, but after figuring out the trick, Fifteen no longer got close, but killed the Turret Puji from afar with sword wind.

Nearly two hundred Turret Puji on the field were all wiped out in less than eight minutes.

Honestly, it was a bit beyond Lin Jun’s expectations.

Although he didn't think he could cripple this team in one go, Lin Jun had thought the Turret Puji could harass them for longer; as a result, it was less than ten minutes...

"How is the situation?" Sheathing his sword, Fifteen asked while adjusting his breathing.

After a brief silence, Solarin’s voice sounded, carrying a hint of exhaustion and heaviness: "Preliminary count, one church warrior killed in action, one seriously injured. Adventurers... five missing, three killed in action, three seriously injured."

She closed 【Truth Vision】 and rubbed her throbbing temples; the Turret Puji corpses all over the ground greatly interfered with her vision, and now with the skill on, she saw everything as a blur, which was worse than closing it.

Solarin didn't mention the lightly injured; the lightly injured would recover quickly under the priest’s treatment, while the so-called seriously injured referred to injuries that could not be reversed by ordinary healing spells.

For example, blindness, or severed limbs...

Such serious injuries could still be saved if one could spend a large amount of money to buy special potions after leaving the dungeon.

But at this moment, the team was still in the dungeon, and they were powerless.

"Damn it!" Fifteen cursed in a low voice, his face gloomy, without any feeling of having won.

He hadn't expected that the losses would be so heavy after just the first wave of contact.

The insidious level of those Turret Puji far exceeded expectations, especially the corrosive slime, which was simply a disaster for adventurers without heavy armor protection.

He saw several warriors injured by the corrosive slime, their flesh and blood blurred, even revealing white bones, and they were receiving emergency treatment from the accompanying priest.

Although the warriors tried their best to suppress their voices, their twisted faces signaled their pain.

Aiding had to supplement with a group pain immunity at the right time.

"The problem now is," Aiding walked over and asked with a frown, "what to do with these wounded?"

"We can't leave them behind. Relying on themselves, I’m afraid they won't be able to walk out of this dungeon." After a little thought, Fifteen judged, "The Turret Puji have a combination of traps and ambushes; there is a high probability of ambushes on the way back."

"Then... split a portion of people to escort them out?" Aiding asked hesitantly, knowing it was inappropriate.

"Split how many?" Solarin pointed out the key point unceremoniously, "If there are too many people, the advancing combat power won't be enough; if there are too few, won't they just be sending food to the Turret Puji if they encounter an ambush?"

"Then now?"

"The core combat power of the team hasn't been truly damaged, and the wounded are few; carrying them won't slow down the overall marching speed."

Solarin’s voice was steady and powerful, but then her tone changed, revealing unprecedented gravity.

"However, the combat power displayed by the Turret Puji has far exceeded our previous estimates.

For the next exploration, we must proceed step by step and be extremely cautious.

Once the situation changes, we must decisively retreat, and then reformulate a new plan after retreating."

While speaking, Solarin’s eyes kept looking at Fifteen.

In Solarin’s view, Aiding was just a mercenary working for a salary; retreating wouldn't reduce his pay, so he naturally wouldn't have an opinion.

She was afraid that Fifteen, the strongest, wouldn't cooperate when the time came.

Fifteen clearly understood her meaning and gave up the right to speak: "You are the commander; you have the final say."

Aiding on the side nodded in agreement.

But in reality, Solarin didn't know Aiding well enough.

If she intended to retreat, Aiding would not only have no opinion, but would even agree with both hands...

(End of chapter)