Chapter 7: A Divine Weapon?
Facing the flying fire mosquitoes, Lin Jun, who had been their neighbor for a long time, wasn't the least bit flustered.
It wasn't until they flew within a 50-meter range that a few slime puffs finally sprayed digestive slime, drenching the unsuspecting fire mosquitoes.
The fire mosquitoes that fell to the ground tried to shake off the mucus and take flight again, but as the hallucinogenic puffballs enveloped them in a mist, these creatures lost all ability to resist and were crushed to death one by one by the hallucinogenic puffballs' shells.
But it wasn't over yet. More fire mosquitoes swarmed in, and Lin Jun and the fire mosquitoes engaged in a fierce battle at the entrance of the passageway.
Facing fire mosquitoes that outnumbered them by several times, even though the hallucinogenic spores sealed off the space below and restricted the fire mosquitoes' direction of attack, Lin Jun couldn't intercept all the enemies with the mucus.
From time to time, fire mosquitoes broke through the fire network, thrusting their mosquito mouths down to pierce a puji, only to be paralyzed by the hallucinogenic spores on the ground.
"Ice Blade! Ice Blade! Water Snake Technique!"
There was also good news from Inanna—she had finally killed a few fire mosquitoes!
The swarm of fire mosquitoes could hit their targets even with their eyes closed, and now the evasion skills on the fire mosquitoes were practically useless in this situation.
This was the first time she had cast a spell to kill a magical beast in a real battle, and she was so excited that she laughed out loud. Compared to this, the hunts she had participated in before didn't even count as battles.
However, her excitement came to an end when a mosquito broke through the fire network and pinned one of the cannons next to Inanna to the ground with a single bite, causing her to tremble in fear.
If that fire mosquito had charged at her instead...
"Lin Jun! What should we do now? So many cannons are dead!"
Only a dozen puffballs died. What's the big deal?
The entity hiding deep in the mushroom garden sighed inwardly at the new recruits' lack of mental fortitude.
However, Lin Jun still offered his suggestion:
"Stop using attack magic. Use the Illumination spell."
Illumination spell?
What good would that do?
Inanna couldn't figure it out, but she remembered promising to follow orders, so she used the illumination spell anyway. After all, it didn't consume much mana.
To Inanna's surprise, as soon as the illumination spell was cast, the fire mosquito swarm immediately fell into chaos.
The front row of fire mosquitoes began to scatter like headless flies, some colliding with the fire mosquitoes behind them, while others plunged headfirst into the hallucinogenic mist below.
Inanna was stunned.
"It really works!" Lin Jun was also surprised.
"Huh? Didn't you know it would be useful?"
"I just didn't expect it to be this effective... Quick, extinguish it and keep going!"
"Alright!"
The deeper regions were perpetually dark or only dimly lit, so Lin Jun noticed the fireflies had eyes and decided to try using flashbangs. She hadn't expected it to be so effective.
At times like this, the mushrooms' superiority in not relying on eyes to observe their surroundings became evident.
With the assistance of the illumination spell, the fire mosquitoes, which were already no match for them, became even weaker and fell in droves.
When the number of fire mosquitoes could no longer block the entrance to the passageway, these nearly mindless creatures seemed to finally remember the taste of fear and scattered, disappearing into other passages.
What remained was an empty fire mosquito cave and a high-temperature water pool teeming with larvae.
"Finally… it's over."
Inanna plopped down onto the ground.
Even though she had been at an advantage, she had cast several attack spells in a row, followed by more than twenty lighting spells, and Inanna felt completely exhausted, with her magic power nearly depleted.
However, despite her physical exhaustion, Inanna was still in a state of excitement from her first-hand experience of such a "grand spectacle."
"Lin Jun, what's next?"
"Next? Next, of course, is to collect the spoils of war!"
The 20 oxen and horses that had been at the back of the group and hadn't participated in the battle began their work—using their tentacles to pack the fire mosquito corpses into their bodies.
The number was roughly as estimated, and the ox-horse Puji would only need to make two trips to collect everything. By the time Lin Jun finished decomposing these fire mosquitoes, his high-temperature resistance should have increased by another level.
As for this fire mosquito cave, Lin Jun didn't consider expanding the mushroom garden to this area.
The cave had too many interconnected passages, making it impossible to defend effectively.
The mushroom garden was a carefully selected location by Lin Jun, with only one side having four passages, making it ideal for slow, steady development.
As for the white fire mosquito larvae in the pond, after Lin Jun had the cannons blast the remaining magic power into the pond, they turned into debris floating on the water's surface.
"Are these the spoils of war?"
Looking at the mosquito carcasses being carried away, Inanna couldn't help but feel that they were a bit different from what she had imagined as loot.
"What else, Duchess? What else could you expect from defeating some monsters?"
Could it be that if you cut open their bellies, swords and gold coins would spill out…
"No, maybe there's something good in that pond."
"Pond?"
The pond, still steaming with floating flesh, but what was heating it?
Magma underground?
Unlikely. The place where the Flame Demon resides is far from here, and the surrounding environment isn't hot at all.
Lin Jun suspected there might be something inside that could sustain the heat.
But now there's a problem—
he couldn't swim.
Although the Puji weren't completely dissolved by water, they would become swollen and unable to move after being submerged.
These fire mosquito larvae did have the [Underwater Adaptation] skill, but that would require transporting them back, decomposing them, and obtaining the skill to create a new species of Puji.
While Lin Jun was still thinking of a solution, Inanna had already dived into the pond to look for treasures.
Lin Jun then remembered that she had Level 6 underwater adaptation.
The second generation is so awesome...
"Lin Jun! Look what I found!"
Inanna climbed out of the pond, with the Water Snake Technique coiling around a fragment emitting an orange glow, constantly releasing heat and evaporating the surrounding moisture.
The Water Snake Technique couldn't hold it for long, so Inanna dropped the fragment on the ground by the pond.
"Do you know what this is?"
Lin Jun didn't know at first, but this thing actually had an interface?
After all, Lin Jun had never seen an interface on an inanimate object before!
[Divine Weapon: Sunstone (Fragment)]
???
What the heck? Even killing a group of Level 20 mosquitoes can drop a divine artifact? Is the monster drop rate poorly designed?
There's no other description besides the name—is it because it's just a fragment?
Either way, it's definitely worth keeping for research.
"Lin Jun?"
"Um, how would I know? But it seems useful, so I can take it back to keep the mushrooms warm."
A cow-horse wrapped the fragment in mud into a large ball and took it away. Inanna didn't mind; she was working here for that A-grade magic crystal anyway, so the loot naturally belonged to Lin Jun. She was just curious.
Lin Jun and Inanna were happily embarking on a grand expedition here, while another group on the surface was driven to despair by Inanna.
(End of this chapter)