This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 222, Section 221: Integration
[Seven Sins of Greed Trigger]

[Plunder Skill: Cold Resistance LV7→LV8]

[Plunder Skill: Bite LV3→LV4]

……

On the fungal carpet, the flesh and blood of the liposomes had been completely decomposed, leaving only their thick, tough skin and a ring of blunt teeth.

This skin is a good thing; it's tough and thick, and many demons use it to sew clothes to keep warm.

Although Lin Jun didn't need it for the time being, she dried it and put it in the material library for future use.

As for the teeth, they were indeed too ordinary and useless. Even if they were polished until they reflected light, they wouldn't catch Xiao Hei's eye. In the end, they could only be treated as waste and thrown into the corrosive slime of Plop's belly to be disposed of.

Although the insects had developed sufficient resistance, Lin Jun did not give up on raising them.

As a passive attribute, resistance can never be too high.

Besides, in this barren place in the far north, there really aren't many other production options besides raising these thick-skinned lipoids.

On the other hand, once the resistance level was met, Lin Jun immediately dispatched a group of burrowing creatures to dig their way down to the tribe.

However, digging tunnels in the far north is much more difficult than expected.

The heat emitted by the drilling melts the tiny ice crystals in the soil, making the tunnel damp and muddy, and wasting a lot of energy, making the digging speed much slower than that of the Amethyst Underground City.

What's even more troublesome is that the deeper layers here aren't all permafrost. It's common to encounter large areas of hard ice while digging, and in such cases, you have no choice but to take a detour.

After all, no matter how powerful the mycelium is, it can't grow directly on ice...

It is estimated that it will take at least half a month to completely open up the underground mycelium network connecting the Demon Tribe and its surrounding areas.

To Lin Jun's relief, the Demon Tribe did not send anyone south, but instead chose to contact her first.

……

"Hey everyone! I'm back again!"

From a distance, Qiong waved her complete arm, greeting the Puji who were feeding the lipoworms in the distance.

This time, he was accompanied by two people.

The hunter, whose hands are still crippled, and another new demon descendant.

Whether or not they migrate south, obtaining food from the underground city is essential for survival.

Out of caution, Kari decided to personally investigate what this "part-time job" that Sora had mentioned was all about.

A bat fluttered down from the cliff and landed precisely on Hunt's head.

Hunting's eye twitched slightly, but he said nothing.

“Qiong, Shou, welcome back. And this is…?” Lin Jun’s voice rang out in their minds through the fungal network.

“His name is Ze! He’s here to work with us!” Qiong answered loudly as usual, as if she were talking to thin air.

"What?" Ze was bewildered when he was suddenly called out but couldn't hear the transmission from the mushroom network. He subconsciously looked around.

"Huh?" Qiong finally realized what was happening and blinked in confusion. Could it be that Puji was also shy and wouldn't "talk" to strangers?
He thought that Puji also used telepathy to communicate.

Shouze lowered his head thoughtfully and glanced at the mycelium wrapped around his arm.

He still led the three of them to the mushroom forest. The mushroom forest had already taken shape. Mushroom trees emitting a faint blue glow stood in a row, and fluorescent spores drifted in the air like fine snow, beginning to reveal the unique charm of the mushroom forest.

Along the way, Ze's eyes couldn't take it all in. He looked around with great curiosity at the busy Puji, the fungal carpet covering the ground, and the various glowing mushrooms.

Then they saw Jida fighting the vampire.

Almost instinctively, Kari and Ze tensed up and assumed a fighting stance, with Ze even subconsciously reaching for the bone blade at his waist!

"Don't be nervous, we're just practicing," Lin Jun said, stopping them in time.

To be precise, Norris used his own blood to ask Louisa to spar with him, but there's no need to go into details with the demons.

After three bowls of "special fluorescent mushroom soup" emitting a ghostly glow were placed on the table, Lin Jun finally got to the point: "Qiong, Shou, you two are welcome to work anytime. But as for this Ze..."

"Is there a problem?" Hunti asked.

“That’s how it is,” Lin Jun explained, “I can communicate with you all thanks to the symbiotic relationship of the hyphae in your bodies. Danze doesn’t have that, so I can’t even communicate with him.”

There's actually more language involved, but Lin Jun obviously won't bring it out at this point.

"So, you have to first establish a symbiotic relationship with the mycelium before you can work?"

“That’s right. The connection of consciousness is the foundation of Puji’s operation,” Lin Jun said frankly. “However, I must make it clear first that once symbiosis occurs, the mycelium will be difficult to separate, and you will need to replenish your magic power regularly. When we first met you, Qiong was unable to communicate with you, and Shou was on the verge of death, so we had no choice but to do this. Please forgive us.”

"No way! You're lucky to have survived, how could I blame you..." Qiong waved her hands repeatedly.

When hunting, one must secretly weigh the options.

He brought Ze here to understand the mycelium in this body. For the sake of the tribe, all three of them would be expendable if necessary, a fact Ze already understood before coming.

But as it stands, it seems that the Lord of Puji has not hidden anything except for replacing the more offensive word "parasite" with "symbiosis," and has even pointed out the consequences of the difficulty in separating after symbiosis.

At least for now, there is no obvious malice or trap.

Deep down, he also wanted to believe in Puji, who had saved his life, but as the leader of the tribe, he had to consider it more, even if he didn't want to.

After Ze nodded in agreement to connect to the bacterial network, Lin Jun summoned Louisa.

Qiong seemed to have guessed something, but Shou frowned: "The First Embrace?"

"Of course not, it's just to make some space inside his body so that the mycelium can be inserted," Lin Jun explained in a haphazard manner.

There's no other way; after all, it would seem too evil to say that it's better to parasitize someone who's half-dead.

Louisa was naturally delighted with this wonderful opportunity and gave the fearless Ze a heartfelt hug.

Afterwards, Louisa chivalrously picked up the exhausted Ze and carried him to a nearby mushroom house to rest.

Half a day later, a slightly weak Ze emerged from the mushroom house and officially became a glorious "half-mushroom person".

Then, guided by Puji, they passed through the crevice.

This time, however, Lin Jun did not let them collect firefly grass.

Instead, they sent the three to a cave guarded by cave dwellers to defend against monsters together.

The cave dwellers were not friendly neighbors; they were indifferent and hostile towards the new demons.

Qiong felt extremely uncomfortable. Compared to the last time she happily dug grass with the Puji, this time it felt much more oppressive.

Hunting, however, was observing something deeper: these low-intelligence creatures, also parasitized by mycelium, seemed to be doing quite well.

They have plenty of food and fight alongside Puji instead of being used as expendable resources.

As for the minor unpleasantness with his caveman colleagues, it made Hunter feel a sense of reality, which actually made him feel more at ease...

In just two days, the mushrooms the three of them earned piled up into a small mountain, requiring two fat guys to carry them away!
Lin Jun symbolically charged them two contribution points for shipping this time, and reminded them: "Next time, it's best to bring your own transportation and save your contribution points to buy other things."

Watching the three people leave, Lin Jun knew that the Demon Tribe was most likely safe.

During their conversation before leaving, Lin Jun sensed through the mushroom network that Shou had relaxed his guard against her considerably.

Sure enough, just two days later, Mushroom Garden No. 3 welcomed even more demonic figures.

Louisa gazed at the endless stream of "customers" and fell into a long-lost, sweet kind of trouble.

Xiao Hei, however, became inexplicably wary. At her insistence, Lin Jun could only help her move the Mushroom House and Liang Jingjing to a corner where no one would pass by before she felt at ease.
-
In the far north, Lin Jun gradually assimilated the demonic villages, while also continuing to harass the war puppets in the core area.

The puppies charged across the platform's center line at a fixed frequency, fleeing in panic and dying instantly. Just as one battle puppet returned to its position, another cannon fodder rushed in...

As time went on, the collapse of the dungeon intensified visibly, directly impacting the unsuspecting adventurers...

　Tomorrow at midnight

　　
　
(End of this chapter)