This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 412, Section 411: The Power of Wisdom

On the ground, an almost invisible outline was rapidly moving along a strange trajectory, stirring up fine dust with each landing. It was some kind of invisible, bouncing insect fleeing for its life.

Despite its concealed form, the dust on its body gave it away, leaving a trail of broken marks behind it.

Broga pursued relentlessly, his heavy ring-pommel slashing down repeatedly with a whooshing sound.

However, the full picture could never be seen clearly. The blade always narrowly missed the invisible body, leaving only deep cuts on the ground.

A bolt of lightning darted across the ground and struck the blurry outline.

The air was immediately filled with the smell of burning. A jumping insect, charred and cracked from the electric shock, revealed its true form and fell from mid-air, its limbs still twitching slightly.

Broga's blade arrived just in time, cleaving him in two. Thick, purple blood gushed out and seeped into the earth.

Broga straightened up and looked at the old acquaintance who was walking slowly towards him not far away, his tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction: "Lama, your lightning almost grazed me."

The half-demon named Rama flicked the remaining arc of electricity from the tip of his staff: "I think if we hadn't made a move, this thing would have slipped through your fingers."

“I don’t have your magical eye that can see through disguises,” Broga muttered. “Besides, what if one escaped? They’re already trapped in the encirclement; they’re all going to die sooner or later.”

Lamar is a high-ranking warrior of the neighboring tribe "Stoneclaw".

Like Broga's "Broken Blade" tribe, they are typical mixed tribes in the North.

So-called mixed-race tribes are settlements formed by different races banding together for survival in this harsh land.

The absence of racial boundaries and the lack of fundamental conflicts of interest between tribes have resulted in a relatively harmonious relationship between Broken Blade and Stoneclaw, with some of their upper-class warriors even considered friends.

Broga and Rama are examples of this.

Broga kicked the still slightly convulsing insect corpse away with disgust: "Damn disgusting."

In the North, food is extremely precious. Even now, with access to trade mushrooms with Fungus Keep, the tribespeople's frugal habits remain deeply ingrained, and they would never easily waste any possible prey.

However, these worms that flow with purple blood are an exception. Their flesh is slimy and smelly, and eating them will cause severe vomiting and weakness, so they cannot be classified as food at all.

Rama looked at the warriors behind him who were slowly advancing, constantly scattering powder and gradually tightening the encirclement, and said, "This time we'll clean them up completely. These dead bugs have taken more than forty of our people in just a few months."

“Our tribe fared even worse,” Broga said grimly. “We lost even one of our senior warriors!”

Rama nodded, his expression grave: "I know, otherwise the leaders wouldn't have been so determined to take joint action. It's too dangerous to leave these insects unattended."

"Thanks to that mushroom...that fortress, if it weren't for the mushrooms they provided, who knows how long we would have had to hoard food before daring to launch such a large-scale encirclement and suppression."

Previously, the various tribes in the North had been struggling to make ends meet, and it was indeed difficult to gather enough food for an operation of this scale. The appearance of the Fungus Fortress has undoubtedly injected more vitality into the surrounding tribes.

One or two slaves can be exchanged for a whole truckload of mushrooms; it's a business that makes a fortune.

They could even use a small number of mushrooms to trade for slaves from tribes that were further away and couldn't trade directly with the Fungus Castle, and then send the slaves to the Fungus Castle to profit from the price difference.

It's fair to say that if it weren't for these suddenly appearing insects, this spring would have been an unprecedentedly wonderful time.

Of course, not everyone is satisfied with what they have.

“What I’m more curious about,” Rama picked up a clod of soil, “is that we also have fungal mats around our tribe, but those mushrooms only grow sparsely, just a few here and there. What method do they use to make mushrooms grow like weeds?”

Broga said, "There must be some secret ritual or exclusive formula hidden there. Didn't your tribe take in a shapeshifter? Why not just let him infiltrate and steal the formula?"

Rama nodded, but now was clearly not the time to ponder that.

As the two were talking, one of Rama's warriors jogged over to report: "Captain, bloodstains have been found over there!"

After thinking for a moment, his subordinate added, "Red."

They followed the soldier to a shady earthen slope. Sure enough, the ground was splattered with dark red blood, a gruesome sight, but there was no body; clearly the work of the insects. After searching, someone unearthed half a severed finger in the soft soil.

Rama examined it closely: "It's a human finger. Probably left by one of the unlucky ones in that group of 'bait'... I didn't expect it to have traveled this far."

Since the beginning of spring, several surrounding tribes have been attacked one after another.

Judging from the time and location, these worms with flowing purple blood should be hiding in the Luo River.

In order to lure the snake out of its hole, each tribe gathered a group of slaves as bait.

The plan was a success; a large number of insects were lured out, and the allied forces then blocked their retreat and continued to tighten the encirclement.

Even if this operation cannot eliminate the threat permanently, it should at least severely damage these insects, preventing them from recovering for several years.

The bloodstains in front of us are probably just the last traces left by one of the baits.

The encirclement is still steadily shrinking, and the frequency of encounters with invisible springtails is increasing.

Everyone understood that these insects were at their wits' end and were simply making a last-ditch effort.

To these senior warriors, while invisible monsters were troublesome, they were ultimately just fools who acted on instinct.

While ambushing lone warriors might be successful, it poses no real threat to an organized intelligent race. Throughout the entire hunt, the allied forces have suffered only a handful of casualties.

The final, desperate counterattack might be fierce, but the overall situation is already decided.

The insects frantically tried to break through, but encountered obstacles everywhere, and finally fled to a section of the Luohe River that was still covered by thick ice.

The ice here is still quite thick, so there's no need to worry about the weight-bearing capacity before summer arrives.

As a tribal priest chanted an incantation, a radiant light from a revealing spell swept across the ice like ripples, instantly exposing the last few hundred insects.

They gathered in the center of the ice, tightly guarding a strange insect that was exceptionally large and had six scythe-like claws.

"That must be the Insect King, right? It's good that we can see it! I'm going to take the credit for this!" Broga licked his lips bloodthirstily and led his men in the first charge.

"Kill them all!"

"To avenge our fallen kin!"

His movement prompted warriors from other tribes to follow suit, and like a bursting dam, they swept towards the swarm of insects in the center of the ice, shouting battle cries.

Broga was the first to rush out and the first to engage the insects.

In a single glance, he chopped the two insects, one large and one small, in half.

Without stopping, he continued to charge forward, his target the large insect that he suspected was the insect king.

The insects resisted fiercely, but having lost their cloaking ability, any resistance was futile against thousands of tribal warriors who outnumbered them.

A large number of insects were killed, and their blood stained the ice surface purple.

Just as Broga was fighting his way to the center, intending to meet the Insect King, a strong tremor suddenly came from beneath his feet.

Broga lost his balance and almost fell, but the insect king seemed to have been prepared and quickly regained its footing before attacking with a claw.

At the critical moment, Broga twisted his waist and used his greatsword to deflect the Insect King's attack while spinning. At the same time, he rolled backward and readjusted his posture in a somewhat disheveled manner.

However, this was just the beginning, and the tremors continued to intensify.

Finally, to everyone's disbelief, a gigantic tentacle covered in sharp teeth broke through the ice of the river...

(End of this chapter)