Chapter 324 323. Rabies

The main reason why Riel's shop can survive is the friendly atmosphere among the elves.

If this happened in a human city, it would be... much simpler.

Just add some gold coins and it will be easily solved. Why bother to make Lin Jun exhausted?!

Of course, good things come to those who work hard. After this round of intense overtime, [Spiritual Guidance] has actually been upgraded to level six!

But to be honest, I've been beaten every day lately, so it's time to improve!

Lin Jun has already started to get ready and look forward to the dream confrontation tonight.

Originally, facing the opponent's sudden and significant increase in invasion intensity, Lin Jun was still somewhat unsure.

He was even a little worried that if the opponent's offensive continued to intensify like this for a few more rounds, he might only be able to erect a stone tablet for Fan Puji.

However, this did not happen.

After a round of obvious strengthening, the opponent's invasion strength seemed to stabilize and no longer continued to grow.

Although he could still press his "little finger" and beat it hard every night, that was all he could do.

He now only hoped that this "strange dream" was not a cheating skill that could be unilaterally canceled by the opponent at any time, leaving him with no choice but to take the beating and unable to fight back.

Of course, before the wonderful night comes, Lin Jun still has some other things to deal with.

…

Shenmu Dungeon, sixth floor.

Creep is scattered in forests without Firefly Grass.

Lin Jun did not use the fungal mat to cover the entire area on a large scale, as that would be too conspicuous. The underground mycelium network is the foundation.

However, as the fungal carpet reached the sixth layer, he once again encountered those rats that were keen on digging holes.

This time the varieties are slightly different and the quantities are much larger.

Not only will they gnaw holes in the fungal mat, they will also ambush the Puji that are traveling through the mycelial network.

Lin Jun had to engage in a protracted "underground war" with them again.

Fortunately, these mice have the [Acceleration] skill. Although the level is not high, it is still a gain.

Dealing with mice is a daily chore. What really caught Lin Jun's attention this time was an uninvited guest - a tree demon with only half of its body left.

For ordinary adventurers, tree demons are enemies that they are extremely reluctant to face.

They have high [Physical Resistance] and no clear fatal weaknesses. Even if they are cut in half, they can still crawl and fight. Even a headshot cannot completely eliminate them.

At the same time, they also possess skills such as [Tree Trunk Smash], which may seem clumsy but can be fatal with one strike.

If you don't bring a fire mage, the battle will be extremely difficult; and if you bring a fire mage, there is a high probability that you will not be able to retain complete combat materials.

This was precisely why those tree demons of ours had been able to remain in a safe place on the sixth floor. If they were truly valuable, no matter how well hidden they were, adventurers would have found them long ago.

The tree demon before him, with only the upper half remaining, had clearly endured one, or even several, brutal battles. Not only had its lower half been lost, but even the remaining upper half was shattered and scarred.

However, contrary to its physical dilapidation, it is quite spiritual, or rather, too spiritual.

[Status: Madness]

A faint dark red light shone through the tangled dead branches and broken twigs.

Even though it was on the verge of death, it still stubbornly crawled towards the Puji closest to it, waving the remaining branches in an attacking posture to the death.

This scene immediately reminded Lin Jun of the group of elves he had encountered before. They had also created a tree demon that had fallen into [madness]. Unfortunately, they were unable to track down its whereabouts at that time.

However, it is not the same one as the one in front of you. The panel shows that its level is two levels lower.

Did those elves transform into other dryads? Or... was this "madness" itself contagious?

Just try it and you’ll know.

Soon, a leopard-like monster, stunned by the hallucinogenic spores, was thrown near the tree demon. The tree demon changed its target without hesitation, dragging its broken body towards the prey that was closer to it.

Unfortunately, it was too weak to exert its full strength, and its mighty attack only left a shallow wound on the leopard. Then Lin Jun controlled Puji to separate the two.

The leopards showed no immediate signs of infection.

Just when Lin Jun thought that this might not be contagious, the leopard, awakened by the pain, quickly locked onto the culprit who hurt it.

It dragged its still staggering body, which had not yet completely recovered from the hallucinogenic effects, and pounced on the broken tree demon.

One was weak and powerless, the other was only half dead, and the two "old, weak and sick" started a clumsy and ugly fight.

Unexpectedly, during the fight, a dark red light began to appear from under the leopard's fur, and its eyes gradually turned red.

[Status: Madness]

The same situation! It's contagious!

Lin Jun didn't want to catch rabies, so he immediately ordered the Pujis to fire mushroom cannons from a distance to quickly kill the two monsters.

But it seems that the specific route of infection is still unclear?

Is it like a zombie, with an incubation period after the body is injured?

still……

In any case, it is certain that it is "contagious".

Looking at the seventh floor that he had just begun to explore, as well as the places below that had not yet been touched, Lin Jun had a bad feeling.

Before nightfall, this ominous premonition came true—a second monster in a [Crazy] state stepped into the sixth floor.

Although it was quickly killed by Lin Jun, it was clear that there were more below...

…

Deep in the Scarlet Spire, in the still dark and closed hall without a ray of light, Duke Sigimund once again slowly pushed open the pitch-black coffin in the center of the magic circle and sat up from it.

At this moment, the magic circle under his feet no longer had its original hexagram shape.

It became extremely large and complex in structure, with twisted runes winding and intertwining like living things, flashing an ominous light.

The number of nodes in the formation also increased significantly, reaching a total of eighteen!

On each node, there is a lifeless "consumable" lying limply.

Among them were not only humans, but also dwarves, orcs, and even a lizardman, all of whom were now only empty shells with broken spirits.

Hearing the movement of the coffin, Malgas pushed the door open and walked in.

His face was even paler than last time, almost bloodless, and even wisps of black air occasionally escaped from between his eyes, ears, mouth and nose.

If a brave man could check his condition, he would find that he had even dropped one level.

No wonder he was so eagerly following the progress of the "strange dream".

However, the result disappointed him again.

Sigimund's face was gloomy, with an expression of extreme displeasure. "Still unable to break through. Not only that, but this time the opponent's mental defenses suddenly became much stronger, and even maintaining the suppression was impossible."

Malgas looked puzzled. It would be fine if there was no progress, but why was it worse than the previous times?

He pondered for a moment, then speculated, "My lord, perhaps they have reached their limit and resorted to some drastic measure, recklessly attempting to repel you once and for all. While they appear evenly matched at the moment, this outburst cannot last. In my opinion, within two or three days at most, they will succumb to mental exhaustion, leaving them at your mercy."

Sigimund nodded. Although he always felt that something was wrong deep down in his heart, there seemed to be no more reasonable explanation at the moment, so he could only agree with Malgas's guess for the time being.

Then, he glanced at the "consumables" around him, and his tone turned cold and hard: "Malgus, go find Eleanor! Tell her to send as many prisoners as possible! If you can't help on the front lines, you should at least contribute to the logistics!"

(End of this chapter)