Lin Jun discovered that the synergy between [Colorburst] and [Charm] was surprisingly effective!

[Charm] itself was already a strong skill, but its activation came with a serious drawback—it usually required the target to gaze at the Charming Puji for a prolonged period before it could gradually take effect.

This trick might work on ignorant werewolves, but against seasoned adventurers or wary opponents, it was nearly useless.

The moment they sensed something amiss, they would simply look away, cutting the effect short.

But once paired with [Colorburst], everything changed!

That skill seemed useless on its own, making a Puji appear multicolored and dazzling to the eye.

But that sudden, intense burst of visual impact made the target instinctively attribute their unsettled feelings to being “amazed,” “curious,” or “drawn in.” Before their rational mind could react, their eyes lingered just a little longer—enough to raise the success rate of Charm drastically.

As for why he chose Soralyn as his target, it was naturally because her unusual behavior lately had caught Lin Jun’s attention.

While humanity’s upper echelons seemed to have already made their stance clear, having this stiff-necked squad leader from Wings of Judgment continually filing reports was bound to be troublesome.

Lin Jun decided to use a “gentler” method to help her understand “the beauty of Pujis.”

This first attempt was cut short unexpectedly, but there would be many more opportunities in the future.

…

Meanwhile, the growth of the Puji Master [“Puji-handler”] community was proceeding exactly as expected. Even without Lin Jun pushing it directly, its expansion had taken on a life of its own.

The “Otherdream["Dream Realm"]” battlefield, however, had fallen into a new stalemate.

Whatever methods his opponent had employed, each night when he invaded now, he no longer faced direct confrontation but instead ran into a massive, elaborate, and hollow dreamscape.

It was like an immensely tough protective shell, tightly encasing the enemy’s core consciousness. Without breaking through that outer layer, he couldn’t reach the dream’s true heart.

Given his current level of mental power seeping in each night, Lin Jun found it difficult to crack that defense before the dream timer ran out.

He didn’t know how long the enemy could maintain this turtling strategy, but he placed his hopes on his [Mental Guidance] skill reaching the next level soon—perhaps then he’d have the raw strength to shatter that barrier.

Meanwhile, exploration of the Divinewood Dungeon had begun to yield fresh developments.

—

A squad of seven elite elves was making their way swiftly through the dungeon’s passages.

Salyan, who had first discovered and reported the anomalies, remained behind in the city to focus on setting up the critical “surveillance array” and did not take part in the mission.

But the composition of this squad alone showed how seriously the elves regarded the matter:

One seasoned Hall-tier captain in command, five Diamond-tier elites as the main force, and one Golden-tier druid—weak in power, but possessing unique sensory abilities.

“Don’t you think the number of mushrooms we’ve seen along the way is unusually high?” one agile hunter asked while moving cautiously. “I remember when I came down here last year, the ecosystem was nothing like this.”

“Not just mushrooms,” another added. “Even the firegrass that used to be common has almost vanished. The glowcaps are dimmer too.”

“That just proves the dungeon depths really are undergoing some unknown change. This trip won’t be a waste.”

“Won’t be a waste? Hah. We’re already on the seventh floor and haven’t even glimpsed that so-called ‘treant with red markings.’”

“Quiet!” the captain raised his right hand, halting the team.

His eyes locked on the darkness ahead—a stretch of blackness with not even a glowcap in sight.

Then suddenly, a streak of scarlet light!

Almost at the same instant, a sharp tearing sound sliced through the air. A sticky tongue, dozens of meters long, shot out like lightning at the captain!

“It’s a giant forest frog!” a teammate shouted.

The captain’s face didn’t change. His rune-carved, moonlit elven blade flipped lightly in his hand and cut the tongue clean in two.

Before the frog could pull back the ruined tongue or attack again, the squad’s mage and hunters unleashed their spells and arrows.

A pained croak burst from the darkness, then fell silent.

They soon came upon the massive corpse. Under the glow of a spell, they could clearly see faint, twisted crimson lines pulsing beneath its rough skin.

The captain stepped forward as the mage layered a mental ward over him.

The moment his fingertip brushed those markings, a sickening thrum passed into him—eerily familiar, just like the sensation from the scrap of red-marked treant hide before.

“The problem is worse than we thought,” the captain said grimly. “It’s not just the treants.”

“The forest is afraid…” murmured the druid at the rear, his palm pressed against a giant trunk.

“Move out.” The captain cut off a piece of the frog’s marked hide for evidence and motioned the squad onward.

…

Meanwhile, deeper still—on the thirteenth floor—half-demon Bastaldos crouched hidden among the gnarled branches of a colossal tree.

From here, he could see the horrifying truth of the infection.

Below, the forest boiled with creatures gleaming with crimson light, howling and tearing at each other. Predators and prey alike fought in mindless frenzy.

Above, even the skyborne beasts had gone mad, attacking without pattern or reason.

The ancient order of the Divinewood’s ecology had completely collapsed, millennia of life burned away in a single orgy of chaos.

Even with his Hall-tier strength, Bastaldos felt the oppressive danger of this place, forcing him to move slowly and carefully.

“What a waste! Such a terrible waste!” Lin Jun’s heart ached as he watched through his subordinate’s eyes.

He longed to spread Mycelium here, to rescue these lost souls.

Swoosh!

Bastaldos loosed an arrow, piercing a maddened giant bird from the sky. He touched his quiver—his arrows were running low.

“Boss, should we really go deeper?” he asked.

At the start, he’d been able to retrieve arrows, but now, in this frenzy, even trying was too risky. The ones left were barely enough to guarantee a safe retreat.

Going further would mean switching to melee. And after seeing the horror of the [Madness] infection firsthand, the last thing Bastaldos wanted was to stain his claws.

Even without fighting hand-to-hand, simply standing here in this blood-soaked inferno, he could feel his mind being gnawed at by hints of rage and mania.

Thankfully, Lin Jun wasn’t unreasonable.

Hearing his subordinate’s request, he agreed readily.

“Fall back, Dylan No. 2. But before you go—take that with you!”

Following the tendrils of Mycelium stretching from his Puji backpack, Bastaldos’s gaze fell through the branches on a peculiar little tree.

Its body glowed with veins of starlight, radiating a soft, mysterious aura.

It crept forward slowly on its own, and any monster daring to approach collapsed, writhing in agony, dead within moments.

On its twisted branches hung several plump, glistening fruits, so juicy they seemed ready to burst.

[Juicy]!