Chapter 11: 2V401, Epic Victory
The magic crystal on Inanna's head lit up, and she nervously cast the Swamp spell.
The solid ground beneath the earthworm instantly turned into a muddy swamp, and the碎石 it had dug up turned into muddy water.
However, the thickness of the muddy ground was limited. In the deeper layers of the underground, at the end of the giant worm's body, the ground remained solid.
Relying on that small section of solid ground, the earthworm continued to slowly retreat underground.
Lin Jun, of course, wasn't going to just watch it escape.
"Inanna, keep using the Mud Swamp spell without interruption!"
"Got it."
At the same time, the Puji, which had been continuously taking damage from all sides, finally began to fight back, with the "pop pop" sound of mushroom cannons firing incessantly.
Lin Jun concentrated the firepower on the cracked parts of the earthworm's rock armor.
The earthworm's health bar on the panel continued to deplete. At its current drilling speed, it couldn't escape!
It's going to work!
My chance to break out of the underground city!
After that, as long as I temporarily move over and finish off the earthworm to obtain the skill, I'll be able to dig my way out and see the light of day again!
It's been so long since I've seen the sun.
But... why is the ground shaking again?
The direction the shaking is coming from is...
...
"Inanna, run back!"
"Huh?"
Inanna, who was still focused on casting the Mud Swamp spell, didn't react at all, only instinctively taking two steps back.
The next second, another giant bug burst out of the rock in front of her!
The protruding rock armor swept past, sending Inanna flying into the passageway as if she had been hit by an uppercut.
"Inanna? Inanna!"
There was no response. Lin Jun hurriedly opened the panel—she had lost 400 HP.
Fortunately, she had over 3,000 HP, so she was far from dying, but she had clearly fainted.
The four nearby Puji creatures each picked up the unconscious Inanna and the A-grade magic crystal lying on the ground, then retreated deeper into the tunnel.
Inanna was temporarily safe, but the situation on the battlefield was far from optimistic.
The second earthworm that had suddenly burst in was darting around the cave, crushing numerous Puji to death.
The muddy swamp trapping the injured earthworm was hardening without Inanna's maintenance, and the earthworm's drilling speed was clearly accelerating.
Why was there a second earthworm?
Had she placed too many magic crystals, making the attraction too strong?
Or did these insects have a sense of camaraderie and help each other?
There was no time to think about it. The second earthworm was definitely impossible to deal with, so Lin Jun could only concentrate her firepower and continue attacking the injured one.
Ignoring the constant casualties among the puffs, Lin Jun unleashed her firepower with all her might.
As long as she could reduce its health to 0 before it escaped...
————
"What? You mean I was knocked flying by another earthworm?"
23 pujis, and one Inanna who had awakened but was still confused and even a bit excited.
This was the full force retreating back to the mushroom garden.
The critically wounded earthworm managed to escape with its last shred of health, while the remaining Puji suffered heavy losses under the harassment of another earthworm.
Worse still, many areas collapsed, leaving numerous Puji unable to return to the tunnels they had come from, and they were ultimately abandoned with no choice.
The only silver lining was that the magical fluctuations from the battle had scared away all the nearby small monsters.
There were no further attacks on the way back.
Otherwise, none of them would have made it back.
Lin Jun now felt like an investor who had gambled everything on the stock market and ended up with nothing.
All his savings are gone.
Fortunately, there are no mortgage loans in the dungeon, and he still has a mushroom farm...
The joys and sorrows of mushrooms are not shared.
Lin Jun was still secretly grieving over his losses, but Inanna was in a good mood.
She doesn't know that Lin Jun hunted the earthworms to escape the underground city, nor does she know how much he risked for this hunt.
In her view, they can just organize another hunt later. They can't have two earthworms every time, can they?
She only knows that Lin Jun kept his promise, and the A-grade magic crystal he reattached to the mushroom cap is finally officially hers.
Inanna decided to start calling Lin Jun "boss" from now on!
As for nearly being bitten by the earthworm?
She felt nothing of the sort.
She suddenly fainted, but thanks to her Level 4 life recovery skill, she woke up with her health fully restored.
She had no memory of being injured at all; it felt like she had earned the magic crystal just by lying there…
She even thought, maybe next time she goes hunting, she'll get another A-grade magic crystal?
In a corner of the mushroom garden, beneath a large mushroom, there was a 10-meter-long tunnel made of mycelium leading downward, ending in a 3x3 underground space.
Lin Jun's true form, an ordinary green mushroom, was right there.
Also in the same room was a special puji emitting a powerful aura.
Unlike the other disposable Puji, this one had been nurtured since the mushroom garden's inception, with its skills and level maxed out to Lin Jun's limit, making it the strongest Puji.
It was the exclusive mount Lin Jun had prepared for herself.
The question now facing Lin Jun was:
Should he diligently spend a significant amount of time accumulating strength and resume hunting earthworms?
Or should he return to his original plan and risk using the super puji to smuggle Lin Jun's body aboard when the Flame Demon next ventures out?
————
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the 10th layer of the Deep, in the Flaming Demon's lair.
"It's so hot! Is this the deep region of the Purple Crystal Underground City? Isn't it all lava? Are you sure that young lady would be here?"
Night Owl pulled at the collar of her tight-fitting clothes in discomfort.
She had no heat resistance at all and could only stand here after drinking a bottle of fire protection potion.
Even so, it was unbearable, and she just wanted to leave as soon as possible.
A cooling spell fell on the group, and Night Owl's expression finally relaxed.
"You really saved my life."
The light on the staff faded, and Ivan nodded with a smile.
When he wasn't under the influence of magic addiction, the half-human archmage was pretty reliable.
Captain Nova sensed the direction with the locating crystal in her hand.
"That's right, the direction is almost horizontal. It should be in the upper part of the deep zone."
"But this is the deep zone! I might not even survive a month here."
Unlike the first ten layers, which have clear hierarchies.
Each previous layer had its own characteristics, such as monster level ranges and exploitable rules.
Night Owl believed that with a guide, he could survive alone with ease.
But the deep zone is different. It's all about chaos here; monsters of all levels can be found here.
More importantly, the monsters inside roam freely, so each time adventurers come down, they may encounter completely different situations.
Just like the information they had from three years ago, which said that there would be a Level 59 Flame Demon at this exit.
But now, there's nothing but a sea of lava.
Of course, this is a good thing.
However, it also means that the Deep Zone has undergone changes, and that information is now outdated and no longer reliable.
"Alright, once we find her, we'll know how she survived."
Half-dragon Gal's tone no longer carried the despair he had before setting out.
The two worst possibilities—the parasitic tree and the tentacle nest—had been ruled out.
In his view, the likelihood of the Duchess surviving with her mind intact was now much higher than he had previously anticipated.
Hmm, probably from 2% to 20%.
The tone of the work remains lighthearted; it won't genuinely make the protagonist suffer everywhere. This is merely a minor setback required for the logical progression of the subsequent plot.
(End of this chapter)