In the swamp region, four Pujis were sealed inside cocoons woven from mycelium, locked in a state of 【Rigidity】.
The exact effect of this skill was unclear, so Lin Jun could only wait and observe.
He had placed the cocoons in the swamp instead of the mushroom forest, mainly because he worried Little Black might stroll by and snack on them.
The swamp stank, and Little Black hated coming here, so it was safe for incubation.
Who knew what might hatch out of them?
Meanwhile, the grand expedition was going fairly well.
Though the deep layers held high-tier monsters like Flame Demons and Giant Worms, they weren’t everywhere.
Most caves still swarmed with ordinary monsters.
With the Puji army and Louisa, they could conquer the majority of caves without too many losses.
Still, problems remained.Every cave had a web of branching tunnels, so each time they occupied one, Lin Jun had to leave behind Pujis to guard it.
If stray monsters destroyed the fungal carpet, cutting off the network, the frontlines could collapse—and Louisa’s life along with it.
Depending on the cave, dozens or even over a hundred Pujis were needed for defense. Lin Jun’s once-plentiful unit capacity was dropping fast.
The mushroom farm required 800 units just to run, with 400 stationed on the fifth floor. Any less and he felt unsafe.
At the current pace, after conquering another ten caves, his forces would run dry—not even meeting a boss yet—forcing the expedition to end for lack of fodder.
So, he had to find intelligent beings to serve as intermediate nodes and expand the army.
That was why Louisa had strict orders: humanoids could only be captured, not killed.
But so far, they had only caught two minotaurs.
The cavemen he had pinned his hopes on were nowhere to be seen.
Most likely, the expedition path wasn’t headed toward their lair.
To search, Lin Jun sent bat Pujis scouting through every tunnel branching from conquered caves. So far, nothing.
But if there was no good news, there was bad news—
Rifts. More rifts!
In just four caves and over a hundred tunnels, he had already found six rifts.
Small, yes, and all leading to harmless voids, but it still left him feeling like he lived in a collapsing house.
So much for safety!
Why was it so hard to just settle down in peace?
He even considered the worst-case: failing to seize the core, the dungeon shattering, and him fleeing outside like a stray dog to start over.
Just imagining it was depressing.
Another option: perhaps he could somehow inform humans about the deep layer’s condition? Surely they wouldn’t just watch the dungeon collapse.
Not as ideal as seizing the core himself, but better than homelessness.
Too many uncertainties, though…
Back to the present: the two minotaur captives had woken, but assimilation was failing.
Even under 【Fusion Parasite】, their minds in the network still pulsed with rejection and rage.
“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Turns out, the skill’s friendliness bonus barely worked on their stubborn, violent kind.
They weren’t stupid—just too proud to ever yield.
At first, Lin Jun wondered if it was some warrior’s honor thing, that they might only submit if beaten in single combat.
But no—the truth was simpler. Minotaurs just looked down on Pujis.
They even sneered at Louisa the vampire.
Where this baseless arrogance came from, he had no clue. But they never once showed signs of submission.
In the end, Lin Jun gained two more minotaur puppets.
Assimilation failed, and his mood soured further.
If only the Yellow Book could use charm to make them obey…
But the book was useless—it couldn’t do a thing to illiterate minotaurs.
What good was such a useless book?
…Wait. Maybe it wasn’t completely useless.
Didn’t its detection range cover quite a lot?
…
Norris, meanwhile, was quite diligent. Since coming out, he had focused entirely on training, fighting daily on the sixth floor.
The Yellow Book used its detection ability to pick suitable opponents for him, often arranging battles above his level thanks to his strong skills.
With all the experience, he had already reached LV27, edging close to Silver rank.
But today, summoned to the great rift, Norris peered into the abyss below with a bad feeling.
“Boss, what’s up?”
“Norris, don’t you think the sixth floor monsters are getting too weak?”
He nodded.
The sixth floor maxed at LV30—not much challenge now.
But the seventh floor was all waterways, and he had no aquatic skills, so training there was impossible.
And the eighth? Forget it. The fungal carpet hadn’t even been laid yet.
“Today I’m taking you somewhere new. Plenty of monsters for you to train against.”
“Boss… you don’t mean…” Norris’s eyes fixed on the rift beneath his feet. He clearly guessed.
Sigh. He had matured. Harder to toy with now.
Lin Jun didn’t bother hiding it. “That’s right. Down there.”
“But boss, I can’t fly…”
“No problem. Pujis can.”
Right after he spoke, four bat Pujis grabbed Norris by the limbs and lifted him.
Instinctively, Norris struggled, but Lin Jun kindly warned, “Don’t thrash around, or you’ll fall.”
Dangling over the chasm, Norris immediately froze stiff, letting the bats carry him downward.
Half an hour later, he was deposited in a cavern at the bottom—and promptly vomited.
The strain of staying tense and rigid the whole way had caught up with him.
Only after resting another half hour did Lin Jun give him his mission: search for cavemen with the Yellow Book.
Naturally, he was forbidden from leaving the fungal carpet’s range.
To aid him, Lin Jun transferred control of the two minotaur puppets and ten elite Pujis.
With the Yellow Book’s detection, Norris would be safe enough.
Staring at the towering minotaurs—each twice his height—he swallowed hard.
It was his first time seeing puppets, and they were far stronger than him!
Commanding such powerful monsters was exhilarating, a far cry from bossing around a few Pujis.
And though knowing this was the deep layers made him cautious, he wasn’t afraid.
The boss had given him bodyguards, a fungal network, and the Yellow Book.
If he didn’t even dare explore under these conditions, then he didn’t deserve to dream of becoming stronger!
As for the Yellow Book, it was far more enthusiastic here than it had ever been on the sixth floor.
[Boss, just leave it to us. We’ll get it done easily!]
Another chapter tonight.