Faced with the incoming Fire Mosquitoes, Lin Jun, who had been their neighbor for quite a while, was not flustered at all.
Waiting until they flew within 50 meters, a few Mucus Pukis sprayed Digestive Mucus, drenching the unsuspecting Fire Mosquitoes completely.
The Fire Mosquitoes that fell to the ground tried to shake off the mucus and take flight again, but as the mist spewed by the Hallucinogenic Pukis enveloped them, these creatures completely lost their ability to resist and were smashed to death by the Hallucinogenic Pukis one by one with their shells.
But it wasn't over yet, more Fire Mosquitoes swarmed in, and Lin Jun and the Fire Mosquitoes engaged in a frantic, meat-grinder-like battle at the tunnel entrance.
Facing Fire Mosquitoes several times their own number, even though the Hallucinogenic Spores blocked the space below, limiting the Fire Mosquitoes' attack directions, Lin Jun couldn't rely on the mucus to intercept all the enemies.
From time to time, Fire Mosquitoes broke through the fire net, plunging their mosquito mouths down to puncture a Puki, only to be paralyzed by the Hallucinogenic Spores on the ground themselves.
"Ice Blade! Ice Blade! Water Snake Technique!"
Inanna also had good news - she finally took down a few Fire Mosquitoes!
Even blindfolded, they could hit the overwhelming Fire Mosquitoes when attacking, and now the evasion Skills on the Fire Mosquitoes practically became useless in this scene.
For the first time, casting a spell to kill a Magic Beast in real combat made her so excited that she laughed out loud, realizing that her previous participation in hunts couldn't really be called battles.
But that excitement was short-lived, as a mosquito that broke through the fire net nailed a turret Puki to the ground with its mouth right next to Inanna, frightening her into a shiver.
If that Fire Mosquito had charged at her just now...
"Lin Jun! What do we do now? We lost so many Pukis!"
Just over a dozen Pukis dead, it's nothing much at all, right?
The character, still hidden deep in the Mushroom Garden, sighed inwardly at the new recruit's lack of mental fortitude.
However, Lin Jun still offered his advice:
"Stop using attack magic, use the Lighting Technique instead."
Lighting Technique?
What good would that do?
Inanna couldn't comprehend it, but remembering her promise to follow orders, she still used the Lighting Technique, since this spell consumed very little.
To Inanna's surprise, as soon as the Lighting Technique was deployed, the Fire Mosquito swarm immediately became chaotic.
The Fire Mosquitoes in the front row started darting around like headless flies, some crashing into other Fire Mosquitoes behind them, while others plunged straight into the hallucinogenic mist below.
Even Inanna was stunned by what she saw.
"It really works!" Lin Jun was also surprised.
"Huh? You didn't originally know it would work?"
"Didn't expect it to work so well... Quick, extinguish it and keep casting!"
"Okay!"
In the long-dark or dim-lit Deep Area, Lin Jun, noticing that the Fire Mosquitoes still had eyes, decided to try a flash bomb strategy, not expecting it to be so highly effective.
At such times, the superiority of mushrooms in observing things without relying on eyesight came into play.
With the Lighting Technique's assistance, the Fire Mosquitoes, who were already no match, became even weaker, falling in batches.
When the number of Fire Mosquitoes couldn't enclose the tunnel entrance anymore, these almost brainless demons finally seemed to recall the taste of fear, scurrying away and disappearing into the other tunnels.
Leaving behind an empty Fire Mosquito cave and a high-temperature pond full of larvae.
"Finally... it's over."
Inanna slumped down.
Even though they had the upper hand all along, repeatedly casting several attack spells, followed by a spree of over twenty Lighting Techniques, had truly exhausted Inanna, leaving her with little magic power left.
However, although her body was tired, for the first time experiencing such a "big event" firsthand, Inanna was still in a state of excitement.
"Lin Jun, what's next?"
"Next? Next is, of course, collecting the battle loot!"
The 20 Cow and Horse Pukis, who had been staying at the back of the team without participating in the battle, began their work - packing the Fire Mosquito corpses into their bodies with tentacles.
The number was about as expected, and the Cow and Horse Pukis could manage in about two trips. By the time Lin Jun finished decomposing these Fire Mosquitoes, the High Temperature Resistance should have leveled up once more.
As for this Fire Mosquito cave, Lin Jun hadn't considered expanding the Mushroom Garden here.
The cave connected to too many tunnels, leading in all directions, making defense impossible.
The Mushroom Garden was a prime domain, carefully selected by Lin Jun, with only one side having four tunnels, making it particularly suitable for stealthy development.
As for the masses of white Fire Mosquito larvae in the pond, after instructing the turret Pukis to exhaust their remaining magic power at the pond, they turned into floating debris on the water's surface.
"Is this the battle loot?"
Looking at the mosquito corpses being transported, Inanna felt there was a slight discrepancy from her imagined battle loot.
"What else, Duchess? What battle loot do you expect from subjugating demons?"
Unless you think splitting open their bellies can suddenly yield swords or gold coins...
"Wait, maybe, perhaps there's some good stuff in that pond."
"Pond?"
The meat-foam-covered pond was still emitting white steam, but what exactly was heating it?
Underground lava?
Unlikely, the Flame Demon's dwelling wasn't close by, and the surrounding environment wasn't hot at all.
Lin Jun thought it most likely there was something generating continuous heat inside.
But here lay the problem -
He couldn't swim.
Although Pukis wouldn't dissolve upon contact with water, they would merely float on the surface, motionless, if submerged.
These Fire Mosquito larvae did have the Underwater Adaptation skill, but that would require transporting them back, decomposing them to obtain the skill, and then creating a new Puki species to handle it.
While Lin Jun was still pondering a solution, Inanna had already dived into the pond to seek treasures.
It then dawned on Lin Jun that she had LV6 Underwater Adaptation after all.
The second generation is indeed impressive...
"Lin Jun! Look what I found!"
Inanna climbed out of the pond, a piece emitting orange light entangled by the Water Snake Technique behind her, continually emitting heat and evaporating the surrounding water.
The Water Snake Technique couldn't hold it for long, so Inanna tossed the fragment onto the ground by the pond.
"Do you know what this is?"
Lin Jun didn't originally know, but did this thing have a panel?
To this day, Lin Jun had never seen a panel on any inanimate object!
[Divine Artifact: Sunstone (Fragment)]
???
What's this, defeating a bunch of Level 20 mosquitoes could yield a Divine Artifact, was this monster loot not designed correctly?
Apart from its name, there was no other description, probably due to being just a fragment?
In any case, storing it for study couldn't go wrong.
"Lin Jun?"
"Uh, how would I know, but it seems somewhat useful, maybe we can take it back for the mushrooms to keep warm."
A Cow and Horse Puki wrapped the fragment in mud, forming a big ball, and took it away. Inanna didn't mind, as she originally came here working for that A Level Demon Crystal, so the loot naturally belonged to Lin Jun; she was just curious.
While Lin Jun and Inanna were joyfully on a grand expedition here, another group on the surface was troubled beyond measure by Inanna.