What was with that ridiculous defense?
Even if it was only LV2, with four stacked layers, there was no way Gray’s casual scratch should have shattered it.
Lin Jun opened her panel—no sign of any god-tier “shield-piercing strike.”
Which meant… his 【Holy Barrier】 was just a fake?
Why!?
He mulled it over, and one word surfaced in his mind—“Faith.”
After all, with “holy” in the name, and only ever seen used by Church warriors, that would make sense. But faith…
He politely wanted nothing to do with it.
Lin Jun had zero desire to get tangled up with any god.
And it wasn’t like this was the only defensive skill in existence. If it didn’t work, then it didn’t work.Without hesitation, he tossed it straight into his “trash heap of useless skills” and moved on.
He soothed the crestfallen Gray with a pearl, sending her back to the Mushroom Grove. The deep levels weren’t safe for her—what if she fell into a rift one day?
Then he summoned the little piglet, declaring her vacation officially over.
She was to lead a detachment of 1,500-capacity Pujis, marching out to reclaim lost ground.
While Lin Jun had pulled the Pujis away, Caves 4, 7, and 8 had all been overrun by monsters.
Poor Pujis. They’d just been living peaceful lives in their burrows, quietly harvesting mana, harming no one.
And then those greedy, violent beasts had invaded them!
Now that he had the time, Lin Jun would make them pay.
His order to Louisa was clear—kill every last one.
Louisa thought for a moment. “Uh… so basically the same as before?”
“Yeah, same as before.”
Her blood reserves were running low anyway, so she agreed cheerfully enough. Not that her agreement really mattered.
Next came the Troglodytes.
Reading over Norris’s report, Lin Jun was shocked at how many problems they had.
As for how they fought over mates—he wasn’t about to step in and distribute wives for them. He wasn’t the God of Matchmaking!
But the deaths and damage from their fights were real losses to his property. That he couldn’t ignore.
And their habit of bullying Pujis absolutely had to be broken.
So, how to fix such deeply ingrained, primitive flaws?
Talk reason?
Lin Jun doubted they even understood the word.
No need for complicated solutions. Primitive creatures deserved primitive answers.
Those who fought, those who hurt Pujis, those who destroyed fungal structures—he would make mushrooms grow out of them!
Simple, direct, unforgettable.
No need for long explanations. Once they suffered, they’d learn.
Aside from those issues, their Puji-handling training under Norris was going well.
On average, one Troglodyte could command 10–15 Pujis.
Lin Jun grouped them in squads of ten, sending them to various caves as guards to see how they performed.
This was their trial run, their probationary employment. He sincerely hoped they could prove… that they had any worth at all.
Three reluctant squads were driven out of Woodearth to settle new outposts.
Lin Jun then turned his attention back to Norris.
【Level: LV29】
Just one step from Silver rank. With all his skills, his combat power wasn’t low—but in the deep levels, it still wasn’t enough.
He remembered the equipment reward he had promised him.
Originally, he had planned to give Norris a full set of knight armor looted from the Church. The stuff didn’t boost stats, but the defense was solid—even a Mushroom Cannon only left a shallow dent.
But now? No.
Think of those monsters’ claws that tore through rock. Against them, that armor would only buy Norris one or two more swipes before he was shredded.
Worse, the heavy armor would cripple his speed and agility, making escape impossible. He’d die faster.
No, Norris needed to stay light and nimble.
But lighter armor—leather gear like adventurers wore—had even less defense than his silver scales. Useless.
After some thought, Lin Jun decided it was better to just fill out Norris’s skill set.
“Norris, how many times did you use Sonic Detection back then?”
Still busy trying to mend his relationship with the sulking Yellow Book(Holy Tome), Norris blinked at the sudden question, then answered, “Not sure… around ten times maybe?”
Ten times?
In under a second, Lin Jun fired off ten 【Sonic Detections】 in succession himself.
He felt nothing at all.
No discomfort whatsoever.
So was it an Intelligence attribute issue, or because of 【Mental Unification LV7】?
If leveling this skill let him command more Pujis, maybe giving it to Norris would do the same?
Could Norris alone control an army of 3,000 Pujis?
If that were true, Lin Jun would immediately… kidnap—no, recruit more humans!
All those peasants who occasionally ventured into the dungeon would be perfect. With tens of thousands of Pujis, even LV70 enemies wouldn’t scare him!
Pleased by the vision, he added 【Mental Unification LV7】 to the upgrade list.
【Claw Strike LV9】 also went in. Norris already had LV7, and upgrading existing skills cost far less. High efficiency.
The rest?
【Corrosion Resistance LV8】 + 【Physical Resistance LV7】 + 【Magic Resistance LV6】 + 【Mimicry LV6】
Sigh—
He’d grown a little attached to Norris. This final reinforcement cycle ended up being nothing but survival skills.
Back in the beginning, he’d have wasted a slot testing “Holy Barrier” as research material.
But now? Slots were limited. The newer recruits could play guinea pig instead.
【Mimicry】 was one of Lin Jun’s favorites, mostly for laying traps.
At LV6, it no longer broke when damaged.
Tests showed the disguise held until HP dropped below 50%.
Very handy. When Old Dee returned, he’d give him a level-up too.
…
“I’m really sorry! Next time I swear I won’t throw you in front of me! I promise!” Norris rubbed his claws together, begging the Book for forgiveness.
[That’s what you said last time!]
[And what happened?]
[You shoved helpless me into the line of fire anyway!]
[Norris, we’re done. No more stories ever again!]
“It won’t happen again…” Norris pressed his hands together, swearing earnestly.
But the Book gave off a cold aura of pure rejection.
Just then, several round Pujis waddled silently closer.
Thin wisps of sweet, purple-scented mist began to spread through the air.
“Hm?” Norris twitched his nose mid-argument. His pupils shrank sharply!
He snapped his head up, scanning the harmless-looking Pujis around him.
“B-Boss?” His voice trembled faintly, his smile stiff. “What… what’s going on?”
So he realized it!
Lin Jun didn’t answer. The Pujis suddenly dropped the act and puffed up, spraying clouds of hallucinogenic spores that engulfed Norris head-on!
Caught between fleeing and obeying, Norris hesitated—and blacked out completely.
As for the Book, it would just have to spend some time snuggled up to an exploding Puji’s butt.