CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 29: EXTRA INTEL

Under the giant gray mushrooms by the Poison Mist Lake, three young adventurers lay quietly under the mushroom caps, observing the mutated Puki in the distance.

Ever since the Puki occupied the floor, their spores had urged the growth of numerous blue-gray mushrooms of varying sizes.

According to experience, although these mushrooms were produced by Puki spores, they had no direct connection to the Puki.

The only relation is that occasionally, new Puki might be generated in places where mushrooms grew well.

Now, these big mushrooms, with their wide and low caps, were perfect for concealment.

However, the air was filled with the putrid smell seeping from the soil, suggesting that there had been demon corpses here before.

The girl with the short bow, Fei Ling, rubbed her nose, feeling like she was almost losing her sense of smell.

"Vera, stop dawdling, let’s just try and see if it works!"

"Alright."

Continuing to watch seemed meaningless, so Vera set down the two large cloth bags slung on her back, retrieving a dead two-headed python from one of them.

This snake had one head at each end, one black and one white, with a body striped in black and white, a common demon creature on the second floor of the Underground City.

The valuable materials like the snake’s fangs and venom sac had long been removed, leaving only low-value snake meat.

Vera rolled the python into a bundle and hoisted it onto her shoulder, adopting a throwing stance as she softly called another girl’s name:

"Fei Yin."

"Okay."

A barely audible response came from behind Vera.

Lifting the small magic staff about two palms long, Fei Yin cast a beneficial magic on Vera.

[Power Amplification]

Vera instantly felt the two-headed python in her hand become much lighter.

She hefted it a couple of times and then hurled it out.

The snake corpse spread out in mid-air, eventually landing heavily near the Puki.

BANG——

The startled Puki immediately fired a shot.

The mushroom cannon, which had risen to Level 8, hit the middle section of the python’s body, blasting the medium-sized demon creature from the second floor into two pieces.

The power scared the people under the mushrooms into cold sweat.

No wonder so many people died at the hands of these Puki, including experts capable of reaching the sixth or seventh floors.

Just the power of one attack was this great, and yet these demons still acted collectively!

It is said that even if a squad defeated some Puki, they’d still be chased by the arriving main group.

No wonder most Silver Level adventurers stayed in taverns drinking, each waiting to come down when a reliable strategy appeared.

After confirming the snake was dead, Puki with tentacles raised the two halves of the snake corpse onto their mushroom caps.

Then the gang of Puki, as if having completed a hunt, all headed towards the Swamp Area.

Just like in the strategy, using demon corpses could really lure them away!

The key was that the valuable materials had already been taken, leaving the worthless corpse, which was only a hassle to carry down.

"It actually worked..."

Fei Ling’s mouth was slightly open, still unable to believe Vera had the luck of buying a genuine first-hand strategy.

Vera herself was very excited.

"I knew it was real!

Fei Ling, Fei Yin, let’s not rush to the cave to find Tie Xinlan yet.

Let’s check out that extra information first!"

Fei Ling felt there was no reason to refuse, so she nodded in agreement.

The group followed the path to a location at the edge of the Jackal Wolfman Forest.

They hadn’t noticed two people who had been observing them for a while from beneath another big mushroom further away.

"They seem to have a strategy, should we just make a move?"

The speaker was the half-elf Nasa.

His left ear was only half remaining, with sunken cheeks and dark, heavy eyelids beneath which a trace of his elven beauty was still discernible, though he had a look of someone hollowed by excessive indulgence.

His companion was a stout dwarf with a mouthful of steel teeth and a cold gaze.

With a glint of light across the axe blade, Gelonggba stood straight on the fallen mushroom stem.

"No rush, we can take them out anytime. Let’s see what they’re up to before acting."

The shadows of the Underground City harbored all sorts of characters, and alongside the adventurers hunting demons, emerged the villains known as raiders who preyed on other adventurers for money. Nasa and Gelonggba were raiders disguised as adventurers.

Their combat levels were clearly at Levels 34 and 36, but they often wandered on the fourth and fifth floors, seeking suitable prey.

The overly young faces of Vera’s squad made them target them.

Besides, with the Puki making a ruckus on the fifth floor lately, no one would be suspicious if three young people died here.

Nasa took out a bag of powder from his pack, sprinkling it on the two of them.

This powder could obscure common detection skills, an item designed specifically for dealing with adventurers.

Nasa himself used detection skills to tail Vera’s group from afar.

This technique allowed them to successfully ambush their targets time and again.

————

At the edge of the Jackal Wolfman Forest was a small cave, with an entrance less than two meters high.

Hidden beneath steel ferns and snake vines, it blended perfectly with the surrounding rock wall, making it very discreet.

Vera and the others were inside the cave, staring in awe at the Puki sitting in the center of the cave.

They were stunned because this Puki was enormous...

Its height nearly touched the cave ceiling, and its width was no less impressive, completely shattering their perception of Puki.

Just sitting there, it occupied a third of the cave space.

Fei Ling nudged Vera with her shoulder and whispered:

"Is this the one mentioned in the strategy, the one that can exchange for all sorts of random items?"

Vera wanted to say how should I know, but saying so would definitely get him punched.

"I guess so, let me try."

With that, Vera set down the other cloth bag from her back.

Taking out a canine demon corpse from it, he carefully took two steps forward and placed it in front of the fat Puki.

The fat Puki, which had been motionless, finally reacted upon seeing the demon’s corpse, and six tentacles made of mycelium extended from its back.

Vera swiftly retreated to his companions’ side, drawing his curved saber warily, but this time it was unnecessary caution.

The tentacles coiled around the corpse, stuffing it into its hollow body.

Then the fat Puki continued groping inside with its tentacles for a while before finally tossing out a finely crafted small round shield.

The carved round shield clattered over to the group.

The three of them looked at each other, seeing disbelief in one another’s eyes.

It’s not too strange for high-intelligence creatures to communicate or even trade to some extent, but this is a Puki!

"This shield wouldn’t belong to other adventurers, would it..."

Fei Ling thought of the many adventurers who had recently died on the fifth floor; surely, this small shield wasn’t crafted by the Puki?

"So we won’t take it?" Vera seemed a bit reluctant, as the small shield appeared to be of good quality and could be sold for a good price if not used.

Unexpectedly, Fei Ling suddenly became excited:

"Not take it? Why not?

Quick, let’s beat a few more demons and bring them down!

This Puki’s treasures must be limited, we need to exchange for as much as possible before others find out!"

She eagerly bent down to pick up the small shield.

But before her hand touched the shield, Vera had already kicked her shoulder, and a crossbow arrow brushed past Fei Ling’s cheek, leaving a small cut.

"Raiders!!!!!!"