Chapter 36

On the damp rock ceiling, a droplet about to fall trembled violently.

Infrasonic attacks echoed within the cave, where a layer of squelching corpses lay piled below.

That ancient crystallized bat was unusually agitated, its jagged claws constantly scratching white marks on the surface of the inverted rock.

From time to time, it would drop down and use its wings to sweep the squelching creatures that got too close aside.

A wing-bone spur accidentally sliced open the cap of a mushroom, causing pale purple hallucinogenic spores to gush out instantly.

The old bat flapped its wings, retreating constantly, and hurriedly returned to the rock ceiling, its chest heaving violently.

By the time it finally recovered, some of the squelching creatures below had already repaired their bodies and started moving again.

A new round of infrasonic waves exploded in the cave, knocking down the just-revived squelching creatures once more—this stalemate had persisted through countless cycles.

The squelching creatures killed by sound waves would revive, while those crushed would release hallucinogenic poison mist at close range.

The old bat could only delay time again and again like this, but the squelching creatures were still getting closer and closer...

When the last foothold was also covered by hallucinogenic spores, the old bat was finally poisoned into unconsciousness, fell from the rock ceiling, and lay motionless.

Lin Jun had thought the old bat would finally go all out and explode in a fit of desperation.

But perhaps the older it got, the more it cherished its life; it just kept shrinking up there, too afraid to come down and tear apart a few squelching creatures even as death approached.

The final casualty ratio was much smaller than Lin Jun had expected.

Outside the cavern, two figures had been waiting there for a long time.

Mushrooms had grown on the half-elf's broken ear flaps, and the emerald wooden staff in the human woman's hand had fused with the fungal film growing between her fingers.

Both of these were parasitic puppets Lin Jun had created earlier.

This time, the task of dissecting the old bat would be completed by these two puppets.

However, before that, each puppet had to be force-fed a bottle of antidote.

Otherwise, they too would be paralyzed by the hallucinogenic poison mist.

It felt like, after being made into puppets, they simultaneously inherited the weaknesses of mushrooms and the weaknesses of humans.

After entering the cave, Lin Jun first controlled the two puppets to sever the neck of the unconscious old bat.

Hmm?

Why is there still a panel that can be pulled up?

It hasn't died yet?

This time, Lin Jun simply cut the entire head of the bat off.

The panel still didn't disappear.

Lin Jun pulled up the panel with a puzzled expression, only to find it wasn't the old bat's panel.

【Artifact: Sunstone (Fragment)】

???

Lin Jun didn't even have time to attend to the S-rank magic crystal and hurriedly controlled the puppets to rummage through the old bat's corpse.

After cutting open the chest, a Sunstone fragment emitting a warm glow was finally found inside.

Good heavens, no wonder the cave environment was so cold and damp; how could the old bat have a Level 5 heat resistance otherwise?

It turned out it was roasted by the Sunstone fragment!

So the old bat's title of "Transcending Death" was also related to this Sunstone fragment?

Did this artifact extend its life?

Unfortunately, there was still no information on the panel.

Based on the existing information, besides emitting light and heat, the Sunstone might also be used to survive?

So the question arises, what use is this pair to Lin Jun?

On Earth, the lifespan of mushrooms ranges from a few months to over a thousand years.

But this isn't Earth; after being here for so long, Lin Jun hasn't felt any problems with aging.

Rather than worrying about dying of old age, it's more realistic to worry about whether one's physical body will be killed by a powerful monster or adventurer someday.

This made Lin Jun think of another broken artifact he had seen.

The kind of artifact capable of unleashing powerful killing moves was what he wanted.

The three arm-sized S-rank magic crystals and that Sunstone fragment were all eventually sent to Lin Jun's secret space hidden at the bottom of the swamp.

As for the rest of the old bat's corpse, it wouldn't be wasted; the puppets were still cutting it up there, and once chopped into small pieces, they would be brought out.

After all, the old bat had so many max-level skills, from which a large amount of proficiency could be plundered.

Taking out his own Sunstone fragment, he studied the broken surface for a long time before finally finding the corresponding part to connect the two Sunstones together.

The broken edges automatically fused, becoming a seamless whole; this actually matched Lin Jun's stereotype of artifacts.

The more complete Sunstone emitted even more light and heat, so intense that the Level 7 heat resistance was almost unable to withstand it, forcing him to hold it slightly farther away.

If this thing becomes complete, will it really turn into a small sun that burns mountains and boils seas?

Even the panel had changed.

【Artifact: Sunstone (Incomplete)】

Obviously, it had upgraded, but Lin Jun still couldn't figure out how to use it.

This feeling of being useless really made the mushroom anxious.

Fortunately, Lin Jun knew what the three S-rank magic crystals were for; the old bat's 500% skill power bonus had him drooling with envy.

He planned to tinker with it and see if he could install it on his mount.

————

Two days after dealing with the old bat, a surge of magical power suddenly appeared across the entire Fifth Layer, immediately catching Lin Jun's attention.

It came from the lower layer, and not through the layer passage, but penetrated vertically through the layer wall directly from underground.

It wasn't the violent mana oscillation typical of combat, but a more sustained, more regular mana fluctuation.

This was something he had never encountered before.

The mana fluctuation continued for over ten minutes before finally stabilizing again.

Had some change occurred in the dungeon that he didn't understand?

He asked Dylan, who was currently building a wooden house; as expected of a bottom-tier adventurer, he knew nothing about slightly higher-level questions.

He could only have Dylan put down his work, travel to the surface on a business trip to gather information, and incidentally inquire about Inanna's whereabouts.

After sending Dylan, Lin Jun still felt uneasy.

Such a large-scale mana oscillation definitely meant something had happened; the unknown always made the mushroom anxious.

He planned to produce more Pujis recently and send a portion down to the lower layers to explore.

The vehicle reinforcement plan, originally intended to be done slowly and carefully, would now have to be rushed; he didn't want to put himself in potential danger due to lack of preparation.

————

In the guild president's office in Silent Wind Town.

Oberon had just finished hearing Helena's report regarding two Gold-rank Orc adventurers who had accepted an A-rank mission on the fifth floor and had not returned after ten days.

This young branch president rested one hand on his cheek and lightly tapped the table with the other, hesitating whether to raise the mission rank or temporarily shelve it.

Recently, many Diamond-rank adventurers had been invited to the capital; he had learned through some special channels that something major seemed to be happening above.

There were few Diamond-rank adventurers still wandering outside; even if an S-rank mission were issued, no one might accept it in the short term.

Moreover, according to current intelligence, the Pujis would not attack unless forced into the swamp, so they wouldn't cause too much impact on the adventurers' exploration of the labyrinth.

Updating the official guide to keep adventurers away from the swamp area seemed like a more cost-effective solution.

A series of urgent knocking sounds interrupted Oberon's thoughts.

"Come in."

The person who entered was Mirabel, the head of the Intelligence Analysis Department; as soon as she entered, she got straight to the point:

"The detection crystals set up on the seventh, fourth, and first floors have all detected mana fluctuations, decreasing layer by layer."

In an instant, everything regarding the fifth-floor Pujis was cast aside by Oberon.

He asked with a sliver of hope, "Are you sure it wasn't interference or a false alarm?"

Mirabel didn't reply, but the meaning was clear.

"Sigh—"

Oberon also realized he had asked a stupid question; Mirabel wouldn't make such a basic error.

But—

"The time shouldn't have arrived yet? Why is it so early this time? And it just happens to coincide with the moment all the Diamond-ranks have been transferred away..."

Oberon wildly ruffled his golden hair, the originally neat strands standing up in messy arcs.

He suddenly pulled open a drawer and took out a bottle of Elven Ice Wine.

After the fine wine went down his throat, Oberon finally calmed his mood and said to Mirabel:

"Issue a Mana Tide warning and simultaneously seal the dungeon entrance.

I will report this to the main guild and also write letters to several surrounding cities requesting support.

May Ixion bless us; I hope nothing major goes wrong this time..."

(End of Chapter)