"Wha... What is this!"
At the boundary of the Mushroom Garden, 120 Pukis stood neatly in 6 rows.
40 Cannon Pukis: [Magic Storage Level 4] + [Mushroom Cannon Level 6] + [Precision Level 4]
40 Mucus Pukis: [Magic Storage Level 4] + [Mushroom Cannon Level 6] + [Digestive Mucus Level 3]
20 Hallucinogenic Pukis: [Hallucinogenic Spores Level 4] + [Chitin Shell Level 4]
20 Cow and Horse Pukis: [Storage Pouch Level 4] + [Entanglement Level 3]
This is the configuration for Lin Jun's 14th expedition team.
It's not that Lin Jun didn't want to cram all the skills into one Puki, it's just that the more skills a Puki has, the more magic power and time it takes to produce.
The consumption increases exponentially, so keeping the skills within four is a choice that balances cost-effectiveness and practicality.
"I didn't know there were so many kinds of Puki!"
Inanna deeply felt that she was too inexperienced, she hadn't even heard of so many subspecies of Puki before.
Some had mushroom caps shaped like a pot.
Some had full body armor but unlike the mining Pukis in the mining area, their shells were covered in many air holes.
They even had ones with tentacles!
That would be amazing, if she had tentacles she wouldn't need to tie the demon crystal to her head...
"Lin Jun, you said they are an expedition team, what are they going to do?"
"This is an Underground City, so, of course, they're going to fight demons."
"Ea... Earth Worms?"
Inanna had a look like "if it's Earth Worms then I'm not going," on her face.
She really didn't think that Earth Worms could be overwhelmed by a large number of Pukis.
"I told you, it's not Earth Worms, this time the target is the Fire Mosquitos, those parasites who fly to the Mushroom Garden, do no production themselves, and live off plundering! We're going to wipe out their home base!"
Lin Jun had also had enough of being disturbed from above every now and then by those Fire Mosquitos. He had long found their stronghold, but he hadn't eradicated them earlier to sustainably ramp up his High Temperature Resistance skill.
Now that High Temperature Resistance is Level 6, wiping out the Fire Mosquitos in one go could level it up to Level 7, which is enough.
Besides, his priority escape plan has now changed to using Inanna to hunt Earth Worms instead of sneaking under the Flame Demons' eyes, so there's even less reason to keep these pests around.
Let them do one last thing for us and act as a whetstone for the team.
"Inanna, stay in the middle of the team and follow my commands."
"Got it, got it."
Hearing that it was to fight mosquitoes, Inanna was relieved.
She knew about the Fire Mosquitos, with an average level of 20, their attacks are straightforward and not hard to deal with.
The tricky part is that they can fly, and they have evasion skills, making them hard to hit, plus they like to appear in swarms.
However, against them, even if she couldn't defeat them, she could protect herself using magic.
This could be considered a war, even if it's a war between demons.
The old man used to forbid her from engaging in military adventures, and facing it for the first time left her a little excited inside!
Moreover, the Puki teams were marching in perfect unison, even better than an army, perhaps?
Is it because they are all controlled by Lin Jun?
————
Indeed, that's the reason.
Using Subordinate Control, the Fungal Network, and Spiritual Integration skills, Lin Jun controlled the Pukis like an RTS game, though it consumed more mental energy.
It's also thanks to the ability to harmonize and direct them that he managed to establish himself in the Underground City with Pukis that have all attributes of only 1.
After all, employing strategies like luring the enemy deeper and feinting to a bunch of nearly mindless demons counts as a legitimate dimensional reduction strike.
But there's no need for strategies this time, strategies are needed when the strong overcome the weak.
Now, compared to the Fire Mosquitos,
he is the strong one!
Isn't it refreshing to rush in with F1F3?
And it's an opportunity to showcase his strength, boosting the confidence of new recruits.
————
The so-called Deep Area of the Underground City refers to anything from the tenth level downwards, as there are no longer clearly defined passages connecting different layers.
The entire Deep Area has countless crisscrossing three-dimensional passages connecting one large cave to another, just like a fifty-meter-wide passage that connects the Fire Mosquitos' lair with Lin Jun's Mushroom Garden.
On the way, sporadic mushrooms grew hidden in the stone crevices, serving as Lin Jun's extended eyes and helping him to expand the Fungal Network beyond the Mushroom Garden.
The Fungal Network allows Lin Jun to command the Puki army in a semi-automated way.
If he relied on personally controlling them via [Subordinate Control], it would be much more exhausting.
The short-legged Puki made "Puki Puki" sounds as they stomped on the ground, echoing in the passage. Suddenly, 300 meters ahead, several crimson spots appeared, as a few Fire Mosquitos discovered this expedition team.
"Ice Blade!"
A two-meter-long ice blade shot out but had no accuracy. The Fire Mosquitos didn't even use their evasion skills; the ice blade just embedded itself into the rock wall above.
"Newbie, don't waste your magic power."
"I-I'm sorry."
Only then did Inanna realize that the surrounding Pukis were steadily advancing, unfazed by the appearance of the Fire Mosquitos.
The few Fire Mosquitos didn't approach but rather chose to flee as the expedition team got nearer, quickly flying away.
Watching the Fire Mosquitos disappear from sight, Inanna worriedly remarked, "Won't they go back and report this?"
"Of course, they will report it."
"Even though they are low-intelligence demons, they still have the instinct to protect their nest, so I'm sure we'll face a swarm of Fire Mosquitos later."
Inanna wanted to say, aren't you a demon too...
"Then why let them go?"
Of course, it's because they were out of range to hit.
"Because we want to catch them all in one go."
————
Beneath the steam-swollen dome, hundreds of Fire Mosquitos fluttered up and down around a central large pool, creating a deafening hum.
These Fire Mosquitos require hot springs-like high-temperature pools to reproduce, and during their entire larval stage, they wait in the pool for feeding from adults, so as long as this pool is destroyed, the Fire Mosquitos in this area will naturally perish.
Naturally, the Fire Mosquitos would do their utmost to defend their nest.
So by the time Inanna followed the Pukis to the end of the passage, the luminescent glands on the abdomens of all the Fire Mosquitos had lit up with a dangerous orange glow.
Several nearby Fire Mosquitos first vibrated their wings and flew over.
"Water Snake Technique!"
Once again, faced with approaching demons, Inanna couldn't help but cast a spell first.
This time a bit better, at least she used the Water Snake Technique that can be somewhat manipulated for direction, rather than a straightforward Ice Blade, but not much better.
Pity her target was the evasive Fire Mosquitos, the water snake grazed one but it only fell a few meters before regaining balance.
Lin Jun could only shake his head at the sight.
"Oh, newbie."