On the barren land beside Venom Lake, silence hung heavy, broken only by the occasional splash from the water—like a world of the dead.

The ground was a dark green, and the air was thick with a sharp, acrid stench.

“This smell is unbearable.” The mage covered his nose and cast a purification spell over the group. “When the Green-Eyed Frog was here, it was all toxic mist, sure, but at least it didn’t reek like this.”

Wells rubbed his nose. To him it wasn’t so bad—just worse than the sour ale from Rot-Willow Tavern.

What caught his attention instead were the ripples from the lake.

They hadn’t taken the mushroom path, and with the darkness pressing in, the light spell barely illuminated the shore. The water’s contents were hidden.

“What do you think lives in the lake now? Should we try fishing one out—see if it’s worth anything?”

The idea tempted the party. New creatures often meant new opportunities.

But Captain Ralph shook his head. “There’s no time.”

“No time for what?” Wells frowned.

“You didn’t notice? Give it a few minutes and we’ll all be barefoot.”

Confused, Wells lifted a foot—

“The hell!?”

His standard adventurer’s boots had lost half their soles.

The others quickly discovered theirs were the same.

“So that’s why my feet felt slippery!”

The worst was Jeanne—the priestess. Her shoes had the thinnest bottoms.

Clutching Wells’s sleeve, she pleaded, “Wells, can you carry me?”

Beneath her priest’s robe, her feet shifted anxiously, close to being eaten away.

“But I’m already carrying these.” Wells patted the two sacks on his back—stuffed with monster corpses.

“Please, Wells! You’re the strongest. Just split the bags with the others. Don’t worry, I’ll help—I won’t let you tire out.” She shook her staff for emphasis.

“I’ll carry her.” Before Wells could answer, Ralph stepped between them.

“Tch.” Wells scowled but said nothing, moving aside.

Jeanne gave him a regretful blink, then climbed onto Ralph’s back.

“Thank you, Captain.” She waved her staff, a flash of gray-white light passing over him. Suddenly Ralph’s burden felt far lighter, and he strode ahead with ease.

“Let’s hurry out of the lake’s range.”

The rest followed quickly.

Only the mage frowned. Did she really need to use Potential Surge here?

——

Lin Jun, however, had long lost interest in the LV42 “Human Slayer.”

What did a Human Slayer matter to a mushroom?

Not when compared to his latest mass-produced combat model of Puji.

【Evasion LV7】 + 【Scale Armor LV5】 + 【Acceleration LV6】 + 【Blade Whip LV5】 + 【Mycelium Regeneration LV3】

Admittedly, five skills consumed a lot of resources. But now that his domain had grown, he could afford a little extravagance.

The artillery-type Pujis were powerful and versatile, true.

But every battle with them left the land wrecked, and the mycelium carpet took ages to recover.

Inside his territory, it was better to use close-combat troops with less collateral damage.

That was also why he hadn’t given these melee Pujis self-destruction.

Their job was to deal with unruly adventurers on the fifth floor.

For anything tougher, the mushroom cannons could roll out.

And if even that failed… he still had Xiaohei.

This security unit was built for agility and evasion.

Blade Whip came from the Dragon Beasts brought during the monster tide, specifically the Whip-Tail Blade Dragon.

With it, the Pujis could grow blades along their mycelium tendrils, sweeping them with deadly force.

Sadly, their tendrils couldn’t extend like a dragon’s tail—from two meters to ten. Four meters was their absolute limit.

And so, the first batch emerged: four Long-Whip Pujis.

Field testing awaited.

Their intended opponents? Adventurers.

Which meant the best test subject was—

“Boss… what did you just say?”

Still groggy from sleep, Dilan found himself dragged to a clearing.

He stared dumbly at the fine steel longsword Lin Jun had “kindly” provided… then at the four Pujis opposite him, their sixteen tendrils gleaming with scales and blades.

A chill shot down his spine. “Boss, I really don’t think I can—”

“Don’t say that! You’re a Silver-ranked adventurer, aren’t you? You escaped alive from a demon squad. You’re an elite!”

“That’s because I ran, not because I fought…” Dilan pulled a bitter face. “Boss, didn’t you say I was on break?”

“This is for your good,” Lin Jun said earnestly. “Exercise is the key to health. You’ve been binging special nutrition lately—keep that up and you’ll go soft. Just a bit of training, don’t worry. You won’t be in danger.”

“Really no danger?”

“Guaranteed you won’t die!”

“Wait—”

Before he could finish protesting, two Pujis lunged at him.

“Shit!”

【Block LV4】

He barely raised his sword before a blade-tendril thrust at him, clashing with a metallic clang.

The next instant, two more swept in from the sides. Dilan rolled aside, leaving two deep gouges in the mushroom behind him.

Two-on-one, with longer reach—the melee fighter could barely close distance, forced to dodge constantly.

Then he thought of something.

When another blade whipped toward him, he didn’t retreat but stepped in, slashing at its midsection.

But his sword didn’t fully cut through the scaled tendril. Instead, it twisted around the blade, looping toward his back.

【Whirlwind Slash LV5】

Panicking, Dilan unleashed a battle skill, slicing through the half-cut tendril and spinning to cleave the one behind him—barely fending it off.

But there was no triumph.

He’d only severed one. The two Pujis still had seven left…

“This… this isn’t a fight!”

He gave up on attacking altogether, darting around the mushrooms instead.

And surprisingly, it worked. The Pujis’ whips sank into the stalks, letting him escape their range.

Satisfied, Lin Jun waved them down.

“Alright, that’s enough. Well done, Dilan.”

As the Pujis retreated, Dilan collapsed against a mushroom, panting and wiping sweat.

Even if he wouldn’t die, the thought of those blades carving him open was pain enough.

“Dilan, this won’t do. That was only two. I’ll get you an item to boost your strength next time.”

Lin Jun, though, was pleased.

He hadn’t micromanaged—the Pujis fought on instinct after receiving their orders.

Dilan might be weak for a Silver adventurer, but the fact that two could suppress him exceeded expectations. He’d thought it would take three.

Granted, without real life-or-death pressure, Dilan hadn’t fought at full strength.

And adventurers in teams would fight very differently than one man chased around.

Next time, he decided, he’d test them on a disobedient party.