Dungeon, third floor.

Unlike the battle-focused upper layers, this floor was almost entirely made up of puzzles, traps, and hidden doors.

Wooden treasure chests could be found here—not as valuable as the stone chests hidden behind secret doors, but still worthwhile for most adventurers.

The monsters here were few, mostly trigger-based stone guardians, mimic chests, or harmless scavengers that fed on corpses.

Since the dungeon had been closed for some time, the place felt stagnant, lifeless.

But today was different—

A troop of Pujis had arrived.

Under the sweeping arc of a giant pendulum blade, a group of scale-armored Pujis waddled across, one by one.

One not-so-bright Puji got its short leg caught in the slot on the floor. No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t pull free.

The swinging blade slammed into it.

The Puji wasn’t sliced clean in half, but sent flying like a baseball, smacking into the wall before dropping down.

Partly it was because the blade wasn’t sharp enough—but mostly thanks to [Scales LV5], its defense was already good enough to make Lin Jun satisfied.

Of course, the poor Puji still died. Scales didn’t protect against blunt force.

After crossing the pendulum, the Pujis pressed forward.

They cleared the death-drop platform using [Charge Burst LV5], bypassed trigger traps with their light weight, and finally gathered before a massive stone gate.

Standing by it was the Puji who had first discovered this place.

That stone door looked familiar.

Lin Jun had been locked inside one of these for three months—he could never mistake it.

This was definitely a treasure chest room!

And this one blended perfectly into the third floor’s puzzle-oriented rules.

Before the door was a giant pressure plate, above which hung a stone pillar, while to the side stood a stone stele with a keyhole.

Obviously, one needed to find a key or use a lockpicking skill to trigger the mechanism, dropping the pillar onto the plate to open the door.

But… could Pujis handle lockpicking?

Actually, yes—Lin Jun had [Lockpicking LV2].

But that would require producing a specialized Puji, and LV2 was far too low anyway.

So, he had to go with a dumb solution. As long as the pressure plate was triggered, it would work.

The Pujis lay down on the plate in neat layers, stacking themselves like a pyramid.

Thanks to the extra weight of their scales, by the fourth layer the mechanism finally sank into place.

As expected, the stone doors slid open smoothly.

Inside looked very much like the treasure chest room where Lin Jun had once been confined, except there was no central pool. Clearly, it was another chamber.

Not surprising—if the entire dungeon had only one treasure room, that would’ve been strange.

Now came the moment of truth—treasure time!

A Puji waddled forward, hopped up, and kicked open the stone chest lid.

Let’s see what we’ve got—

A scroll!

Lin Jun recognized it immediately. That was an escape scroll!

He hurriedly directed the Pujis to carry this treasure back. On the way, even a slime blocking their path got blasted, just to make sure nothing went wrong.

But it wasn’t for him to use.

The scroll teleported you randomly outside the dungeon—it might even drop you into solid rock.

Far too risky for his main body.

To Lin Jun, this was nothing more than a sunshine coupon.

If he couldn’t use it, he could send a Puji.

He might not be able to feel the warmth of the sun, but seeing it through a Puji’s eyes—catching a glimpse of the outside world—that would be enough.

Of course, he had to make sure the Puji wouldn’t just die the moment it got teleported out.

So he loaded it with survival skills.

[Rock-Eating LV3] for digging, [Underwater Adaptation LV4] to avoid drowning…

As for surviving a fall?

Flight skills didn’t mesh well with Pujis.

Instead, he gave it [Assimilation Absorption LV3].

He’d taken this during the monster tide, from those flesh-beasts known as “Blood of Sargus.”

Those creatures used it to absorb surrounding flesh to rebuild themselves, tanking through Puji bombardments.

But in Lin Jun’s hands, the skill had mutated.

Now, it could only absorb similar matter.

Meaning—Pujis could only absorb mycelium.

Kind of a chicken-rib skill. Maybe useful during defensive battles, where a carpet of mycelium gave them endless material.

But here, it was perfect—

The Puji could assemble a fluffy shell of mycelium around itself, cushioning its fall if it spawned in mid-air.

He also piled on some combat and defensive skills. After all, it’d be ridiculous if the Puji saw the sun for five minutes only to get eaten by a stray dog.

This would be a disposable, weaker version of a knight-Puji.

He decided to call it Explorer One.

For now, Explorer One was still in incubation—there were many skills to graft on.

The precious escape scroll would stay in Lin Jun’s little treasure vault for safekeeping.

“Boss!”

Hmm?

That voice over the Spore Network could only be Gray. She was even calling him “Boss” now.

Though Lin Jun doubted she really understood what the term meant.

She appeared from the tunnels, dripping wet, scales slick with water, carrying the headless corpse of a giant turtle-like monster.

No doubt fresh from the waterways on the seventh floor.

And if she called him immediately upon returning, it meant only one thing.

“Not bad. That’s a rare one. What flavor of Puji do you want today?”

“Stuffed!” Gray answered instantly.

“Alright, alright, stuffed it is.”

Hearing that, she tossed the turtle corpse aside and dashed toward the mushroom grove—her den.

Nearby Pujis crowded in, dragging the new corpse toward the swamp zone.

“Stuffed Pujis” were basically Pujis infused with slime digestive fluid—the same mix Lin Jun once used in the deeper layers to trap mosquitoes.

One of the many bizarre combinations he had invented, but one Gray especially liked.

By the time she reached the grove, two stuffed Pujis were already waiting by her den—a hollowed-out mushroom.

The dragon-girl didn’t care about getting her sleeping space dirty. She hugged the two Pujis and crawled inside, lying down to feast.

Good thing the mycelium could dissolve all the residue and slime, or the place would’ve been filthy long ago.

Once Gray was occupied, Lin Jun turned back to his current project: optimizing skill combos for melee Pujis.

After fully digesting the monster tide’s spoils, he finally had enough options to create real melee units. The only problem was finding the most cost-effective, mass-producible combination.

But he couldn’t focus on that just yet.

From the upper floors, the Spore Network showed him a new sight—

Adventurers were finally entering the dungeon.

The first wave was large. Everyone wanted to be the first to seize opportunity.

And among them, Lin Jun spotted a familiar face.

Dylan had finally returned.