This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 178, Section 177: The Third Round

How is this amazing defensive capability possible?

Even if it's only LV2, with four layers stacked, it shouldn't be so fragile that it would break with just a scratch from Little Black.

Opening the small black panel, I didn't see any god-level skill that could break shields with a single hit.

In other words, his "sacred barrier" is just a facade?

Why! ?

After thinking for a while, a word came to Lin Jun's mind—"faith".

After all, skills with the word "holy" in them are only seen on church warriors, but faith is such a thing...

I can only politely decline.

Lin Jun had absolutely no desire to be associated with God.

It's not like this is the only defensive skill; if you can't use it, you can't use it.

Lin Jun decisively threw it into the "trash heap of useless skills" and didn't look at it again.

With a small pearl, she coaxed the distraught Little Black back to the mushroom forest. The deeper areas were still not suitable for her; she was afraid that one day she would fall into a crevice.

Then she called over Little Pig and announced the end of her vacation.

Let her join the 1,500-capacity Puji Brigade and set off to reclaim the lost territory.

During the time Lin Jun was away from Puji, caves number four, seven, and eight were all overrun by monsters.

The poor Puji were simply living carefree lives in their own caves, gathering magic power without any worries or conflicts with the world.

Unexpectedly, they were invaded by those greedy and violent demons!
Now that she has the time, Lin Jun is going to teach these monsters a lesson!

Therefore, Lin Jun gave the little pig the order to kill him without mercy.

Louisa thought for a moment: "Uh... so it's the same as before?"

"Oh yes, the same as before."

Louisa's blood reserves were low and she needed to replenish them, so she set off very willingly.

Of course, she had to set off even if she didn't want to.

Finally, there's this group of cave dwellers.

Looking at the problems Norris compiled, I never imagined that cavemen had so many quirks.

Lin Jun didn't care at all how these primitive creatures fought over mates. She couldn't very well assign wives to these cavemen, could she?
Lin Jun isn't the matchmaker!
However, the injuries and damage caused by the fighting are indeed depleting Lin Jun's "property" and cannot be ignored.

Their habit of "bullying" Puji also needs to be corrected.

So, how do we change these deep-rooted, primal, and annoying problems?
Reasonable?
Lin Jun suspects that cave dwellers might not even understand the word "reason".

There's no need for so many complicated methods. When dealing with primitive cave dwellers, just use primitive methods.

Those who fight amongst themselves, intentionally harm Puji, or damage the creep facilities, all of them, grow mushrooms!

Simple, direct, and incredibly impactful.

There's no need to explain the new rules to them; the cave dwellers, having learned their lesson, will naturally change their bad habits.

Aside from these problems, the training of the cavemen to command the Puji went very smoothly under Norris's guidance.

A caveman can typically control about ten to fifteen Pooji.

Lin Jun plans to group the cave dwellers into sets of ten and try deploying them as guards in several caves to see how effective it is.

This is an important onboarding assessment, and Lin Jun sincerely hopes that the cave dwellers can prove their... value.

Three groups of cave dwellers were reluctantly driven out of the snail-shaped wood to establish new settlements.

Lin Jun turned her gaze back to Norris.

[Level: LV29]

It's just one step away from the silver level threshold, and it has so many skills, so its actual combat strength is definitely not low.

But it's really not enough for the deeper layers.

I remembered the equipment reward I had promised Norris. The original plan was to give Norris the complete set of the Church Knight's Armor I had acquired—that thing, although it didn't add any attributes, had undeniable defensive power; even a single [Mushroom Cannon] shot would only leave a shallow dent.

But now Lin Jun has given up on that idea.

Look at the monster we encountered this time!
Those claws that can tear through rocks... ordinary full armor would probably only be able to withstand one or two more claw strikes in front of it.

The heavy plate armor would severely hinder Norris's speed and agility, making it impossible for him to dodge or escape, and he would only die faster.

I feel Norris still needs to go for an agility build.

However, lighter equipment, like the leather armor that adventurers like to wear, is probably not as defensive as Norris's silver scale armor, so it's completely unnecessary.

After thinking it over, maybe I should equip Little Norris with all the skills first?

"Norris, how many times have you used sonic detection before?"

Norris, who was trying to repair his broken relationship with the Yellow Book and hoping it would continue to tell him stories, paused for a second before answering Lin Jun's question: "I can't quite remember, maybe ten times..."

Ten times?

In less than a second, Lin Jun used ten [Sonic Detection] spells to assess the effects...

I didn't feel anything.

There was no discomfort.

Is it a problem with intelligence attributes or because of [Mental Integration LV7]?
Speaking of which, if I upgrade this skill myself, I can control more Puji. Would adding it to Norris achieve the same effect?

Can Norris command an army of three thousand Puji all by himself?
If such a good thing really happened, I would immediately go and kidnap... no, recruit humans.

Those human civilians who come to the dungeon from time to time lately are perfect for this. When tens of thousands of Puji arrive, even LV70 won't be afraid!

Envisioning a bright future, Lin Jun added [Mental Integration LV7] to her enhancement list for this session.

【Claw Strike LV9】is a must-have. Although it’s just a normal skill, Norris already has 【Claw Strike LV7】. Upgrading an existing skill costs much less than adding a new one, making it extremely cost-effective.

As for other skills...

Corrosion Resistance LV8 + Physical Resistance LV7 + Magic Resistance LV6 + Mimicry LV6

Ugh--

I've developed a bit of a bond with Little Norris, and this final round of upgrades consists entirely of life-saving turtle shell skills.

In the very beginning, they would definitely have included "research material" like the Sacred Barrier.

Now... with limited slots, we can only let the later "lucky ones" explore the mysteries of divine magic.

【Mimicry】is a commonly used skill of Lin Jun, and it is mostly used for planting mines.

Once you reach level six, your mimicry will no longer fail even if you take some damage.

After testing on Puji, it's now confirmed that the disguise will only disappear when the health drops below half.

It works really well, and I'll upgrade it for Lao Di when he gets back.

……

"I'm so sorry! I promise I'll never put you in my way again next time! I swear!" Norris rubbed his paws together, begging for forgiveness from the yellow book.

[You said the same thing last time!]
[And the result?]
[At the crucial moment, didn't they still push me out since I couldn't fight back?]
[Norris, it's over. There's no more story here!]
"It really won't happen again..." Norris said, clasping his hands together.

Unfortunately, the Yellow Book didn't buy it at all, exuding a cold "don't touch me" aura.

Just as the man and the book were locked in a stalemate, several round, plump little creatures silently surrounded them.

A wisp of pale purple mist, carrying a sweet and cloying fragrance, began to permeate the surroundings.

"Hmm?" Norris, who was in a state of utter distress, suddenly twitched his nose twice, and his pupils contracted sharply!
He raised his head alertly, his gaze sweeping over the seemingly harmless Poogies beside him.

"Boss... Boss?" Norris's voice trembled slightly, and he forced a smile. "What is it now?"

This kid actually figured it out!
Lin Jun did not answer, but the few puffy creatures that had been "quietly releasing air" suddenly stopped acting. They swelled and contracted, and a large number of hallucinogenic spores were sprayed out, covering Norris completely!

Norris, wanting to run but too afraid to, lost consciousness completely in his hesitation...

As for the Yellow Book, for now, it can only be left to stick to the backside of the self-destructing Puji.

(End of this chapter)