This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 159, Section 158: Reunion

On this day, the owner of the mushroom garden returned once again to his faithful old capital!
However, the place has been drastically altered by the cave dwellers, and even Lin Jun can hardly recognize any trace of its former self.

However, the rock wall with the high-quality magic crystals is still there, and these magic crystals are probably the most valuable thing in the old mushroom garden.

Although these cave dwellers cultivate mushrooms, they clearly lack Lin Jun's cultivation expertise. They don't know how to use magic crystals to fertilize their fields, nor do they mine magic crystals at all. The few magic crystals in their warehouse are carelessly tossed aside in a corner, showing their ignorance of their value.

In this battle, Puji suffered negligible losses.

The biggest casualties were the twenty-odd Puji that were smashed by the rubble thrown by Louisa. The other Puji that were killed by the caveman's spears automatically repaired themselves after lying down for a while.

The cavemen's resistance, apart from being quite valiant at the beginning, later became a pure cat-and-mouse game.

This result did not surprise Lin Jun.

Just like Lin Jun's old mushroom garden, it was able to exist only because it was located in a remote area and no high-level monsters were interested in it.

In terms of combat strength, they were even inferior to the old mushroom garden, and the cave dwellers were clearly unlucky, having been targeted by Lin Jun...

If Lin Jun hadn't needed to capture them alive, the battle would probably have ended much sooner, and they wouldn't have had to struggle for so long.

Of course, it can't be said that she was unlucky; Lin Jun wasn't trying to eliminate them.

Lin Jun simply wanted to achieve equality within this slave-owning race!

Each of the bound cave dwellers was stunned with hallucinogenic spores, then beaten to near death, and finally sprinkled with spores by a special puffball, completing the fusion with the mycelium in their sleep.

When they rise, they will find that the social hierarchy based on pheromone concentration no longer exists, and all cave dwellers share the same identity—Lin Jun's slaves... subordinates!
Of course, the above refers to the treatment of ordinary cave dwellers who are considered valuable. As for those few worthless fat cave dwellers...

Louisa was very satisfied. Although her blood lipids were a bit high, at least it was the blood of an intelligent being, and the taste was much better than that of lower-level monsters.

The Yellow Book was also very satisfied, receiving two more souls than it had expected.

As for Norris, Lin Jun promised to pick out some equipment for him later.

Under Lin Jun's arrangement, everyone found happiness.

As for the fat caveman?

Although they cried out while their blood was being drawn, they didn't raise any objections.

The corpses of several cave dweller elders, still obese but now devoid of all color, were thrown into their mushroom fields by the Puji.

The mycelium devoured and decomposed the corpse, and in the end, apart from some magic and nutrients, it did not gain any skills.

All I can say is... as expected?
Lin Jun had already sensed that the skills were probably related to the soul during the theft of the Yellow Book, and this time the result has been verified.

Simply put, this yellow book is competing with itself for food; if it doesn't starve, who will?
This connection to the old mushroom farm also made Lin Jun realize that the parts she had spread out, even after a long time, could be successfully brought back under control as long as they were reconnected to the mushroom network.

However, once it escapes its control, the creep will only naturally generate some primitive, skillless poopi. If it weren't for the cave dwellers raising them, they would probably have been eaten by slimes and the like.

Lin Jun thoroughly searched the cave dwellers' lair, finding it utterly impoverished.

Besides foods like moss and mushrooms, there are also some bone-based items.

Lin Jun even saw the skull of a minotaur, indicating that they had some past achievements.

If Lin Jun had to say what else she gained besides these cave dwellers, it would probably be the cave dwellers' fortress itself.

[Race: Snailwood]

【Level: 25】

[Skills: Resilience LV6, Hardening LV5, Physical Resistance LV4, Rapid Growth LV4...]

This thing is all about being as tough as possible; Louisa's previous normal attack failed to break the wooden shell directly.

Moreover, the shape of this wood after it grows is just like its name, resembling an oversized snail shell, which explains why cave dwellers would use it as their nest.

It seems to be growing quite fast?
Lin Jun took a few seeds from the center of the snail wood. She planned to continue the snail wood and cave dweller model, only adding some Puji to it.

Cave dwellers are low-level and easy to kill, so in Lin Jun's opinion, they are not suitable to be part of the expedition team and go to the front lines to be worn down. They can't afford to be worn down either; the Puji on the front lines are replaced in batches, and those Puji that can survive from beginning to end after clearing three large monster caves are extremely rare.

Lin Jun planned to have the cave dwellers lead the Puji to guard the caves that had already been dug out.

These caves are less dangerous and less defensive. By handing over the guarding of these key points to the cave dwellers, Lin Jun can free up more capacity to support the expedition team.

Originally, we needed to consider how to settle the cave dwellers in the new cave, but now it seems we can just use snail wood!

Of course, these are all arrangements for the future, and these cave dwellers will need to undergo some instruction first.

There was no rush to move the cave dwellers; no other cave was as safe as the Old Mushroom Garden.

Moreover, Lin Jun discovered a nursery for cave dwellers inside the snail-shaped wood; these creatures were actually oviparous...

All cave dwellers are precious, including these unborn ones!

Lin Jun arranged for several cave dwellers, who were still in fear after waking up, to take care of their eggs.

The other awakened cavemen were handed over to Norris and the Yellow Book.

They trembled as they awaited their fate.

At this moment, Louisa had already left with the main force under Lin Jun's arrangement. She was going to reconquer the cave that had been taken back by the basilisk.

Norris was left with only the personal guard that Lin Jun had given him—two minotaur puppets and a dozen elite Poji.

The Minotaur puppet was tall and imposing, and its imposing presence certainly had a deterrent effect on the cave dwellers.

But compared to nearly three hundred cavemen, Norris's forces were far too few.

This led some of the more resourceful cave dwellers to consider escaping.

However, when one of the cavemen who chose to run away hadn't gone very far before it burst into a large number of mushrooms and turned into a puppet, the remaining cavemen all learned to obey.

Lin Jun gave Norris and the Yellow Book only one new task.

Teach the cavemen to use fungal webs, manipulate poop, and most importantly—understand and obey the leader's commands.

Even if Norris doesn't know the specifics of how to do it, the Yellow Book certainly does.

To keep the Yellow Book from slacking off, Lin Jun offered it a huge reward: a promise to devour souls.

……

From a full-view perspective, Lin Jun is planning which caves the cave dwellers will visit first after they are trained.

The first batch should ideally be from relatively safe caves to gain experience.

As I was thinking, a vibration came from the fungal network.

The vibration felt so familiar…it was almost nostalgic!
Earthworm?

Lin Jun wasn't the only one who felt the tremor. Louisa, who was leading the expedition team past the riddled cave, also stopped in her tracks as she watched the small stones bouncing under her feet.

The shaking became more and more obvious. Louisa was able to stand still, but the Puji were being tossed about.

At one moment, the clod of earth burst open, and a giant abyss-like maw emerged from it. Instantly, twelve Puji disappeared into the maw, while many more Puji were killed by the impact or by flying rocks.

This situation is exactly the same as the one during the initial punitive expedition.

The scars left by the giant insect's self-destruction are still clearly visible around its mouth.

[Race: Earthworm]

[Level: LV51]

We meet again, old rivals!
Do you have any help this time?

(End of this chapter)