Chapter 548, Section 547: Seaweed Mode
Unlike the fungal carpet that clings to the ground, the network of mycelium floating on the water's surface is constantly subjected to the impact of ocean waves.
Even in the relatively calm waters of the underground city, the continuous surges were tearing at the connections of the mycelium.
They were broken apart, torn apart, and then healed and became entangled again.
Simply increasing the thickness of the mycelium is not very useful.
Faced with truly raging waves, even the thickest layer of mycelium is destined to be torn apart. And if it were thickened enough to withstand any storm... then it probably shouldn't be called a "mycelial carpet" anymore, but rather a "sea platform."
The mycelium mimics the shape of seaweed, floating on the water surface in small, loose clumps, rising and falling with the waves.
This method mitigates the tearing force of the waves, allowing the mycelial clusters to sway with the water flow and remain relatively undamaged.
However, the new structure brought new defects.
Within the terrestrial creep, magic can be transmitted with minimal loss through a tightly interwoven network of hyphae. This allows Lin Jun to easily concentrate magic from a vast area into a single point, efficiently generating troops or advanced Puji units.
However, the mycelial clusters in the "seaweed model" lack stable connections.
While magic can indeed be transmitted across distances, the losses increase dramatically, making it far less efficient than terrestrial networks.
Such floating fungal carpets are fine for expanding sensory horizons, but expecting them to quickly breed large armies or become a reliable source of long-range magic is wishful thinking.
Of course, the fungal carpet can also be laid along the seabed, just like on land.
But this means giving up precious sunlight, directly reducing the source of magic by more than half.
And there are other thorny issues as well.
For example, how to protect your own mycelium.
The magical mycelium is a hot commodity in the water, and everyone loves to eat it.
The number of marine organisms far exceeds that of land organisms.
Investing a lot of effort in maintenance would be counterproductive.
If left unattended and allowed to grow freely, the result will likely be that the mycelium is riddled with holes, and most of the magic power painstakingly collected will have to be used to repair itself, resulting in a futile cycle.
Even digging tunnels to lay underground networks is not easy; digging in the ground or underwater is a very bad situation.
Lin Jun couldn't think of a good solution for the time being, so she could only make do with laying it out for now.
Right now, the primary task is to deal with those seafood monsters, complete the old fishman's request, and retrieve the half of the artifact.
...
On the other side, the merman sage Gulu handed over a rough map depicting the internal structure of the Tide Sanctuary.
As the map was handed over, a young murloc beside the old murloc appeared quite anxious, his skin firm and his scales gleaming with a healthy sheen.
Most murlocs, while not as "naive" as Little Black, are not particularly intelligent either.
Lin Jun believes this is mainly due to a lack of education, a phenomenon that is quite common in tribal societies.
The education level of the merfolk was clearly inferior to that of the tribes in the North, so most of the merfolk warriors gave Lin Jun the impression of being stupid and straightforward.
This young fish-man who always followed the wise man was likely groomed to be his successor.
It is one of the few individuals in the fish-man race whose eyes gleam with wisdom.
Seeing the old murloc take out such an important map, it clearly showed a worried expression, but after a few low gurgling sounds, it finally quieted down.
The map was drawn in a rather rudimentary way, but the key information was still discernible. It was unclear whether it was drawn by the old murloc or the young murloc.
It was from this picture that Lin Jun realized that this underground city was actually a spherical three-dimensional maze.
Countless passageways and rooms of varying sizes are intricately interwoven, together forming this vast spherical underground city network.
The map was marked with a dense network of secret passages and traps, making it look like a very treacherous underground city.
I hadn't noticed it before, probably because there was a merman acting as a guide.
The Gulu and its kin are currently hiding in the lower half of the sphere marked on the map. The soulless seafood monsters, on the other hand, invaded from the dungeon entrance at the top of the map—the actual ocean.
I wonder what it's like outside now.
In the center of the map, there is a huge empty area without any markings. Lin Jun speculated that it might be the core of the underground city.
Lin Jun, the core member, wasn't particularly coveted. One base in the dungeon was enough; having more would be a waste of her control limit.
However, according to information revealed by Shenmu, each complete dungeon should have an auxiliary space.
My own secondary space is filled with treasures and contains the method to control the Sunstone. So, is there any record of the [Ocean Scepter] in the secondary space of the Tide Sanctuary?
Or is it some other secret or treasure?
Moreover, that space might even be used as a testing ground for his abyssal magic, which would save him the trouble of struggling within the Empire.
The spatial coordinates that Shenmu gave last time were located slightly north of the empire's center, right within Prince Vesalius's sphere of influence. Making a move there wouldn't be an easy task.
Hmm...maybe I can ask that old guy Shenmu again later to see if he knows any way to bypass the core of the underground city and directly enter its subordinate space?
After receiving the map, the little pig immediately began a detailed conversation with the old fishman, Gulu, asking about the specific details of each area on the map.
The old fishman can usually give an answer, but the closer you get to that huge, unmarked void in the center of the map, the more ambiguous the information he can provide becomes.
It's unclear whether the fish-people genuinely don't know, or simply don't want to go into too much detail.
However, the little pig didn't seem to care about this.
The goal is to expel the soulless seafood monsters from the Tide Sanctuary. As long as we can reclaim and defend the dungeon entrance, the rest is just a matter of clearing it out step by step.
Therefore, the little pig quickly devised a multi-stage plan, the first step of which was to gather intelligence!
Although the old murloc provided a lot of information, it wasn't enough. Little Pig couldn't completely trust the murloc and could only use it as a reference. Only information collected by himself was reliable.
She selected several mixed squads consisting of Fungus Fortress soldiers, Puji, and Murloc guides.
These squads will split up to conduct preliminary reconnaissance along several different routes she marked on the map. Their main tasks are to understand the terrain and traps along the way, as well as assess the strength and number of nearby enemies.
Only after gathering enough intelligence will she formulate the final offensive route and specific tactics.
Norris and Ming also chose a route to scout, and Lin Jun gave them a special task—to capture a few seafood monsters.
Although they have always been called "seafood monsters" or "soulless monsters," these creatures do have a roughly humanoid outline.
Lin Jun was unsure whether they could be classified as "humanoid creatures," and planned to catch a few to try mycelial parasitism to see if she could control them.
I should have known better than to use electric arcs recklessly in the first place...
As for Xiao Hei, it was accompanied by a Puji fish personally controlled by Lin Jun, who wandered around the area near the fishman's hiding place.
The main reason is to prevent her from staying here.
Upon arriving in the completely unfamiliar environment, Xiao Hei's uncontrollable curiosity and destructive power were fully displayed in just a short time.
Several rows of deep claw marks appeared on the surrounding walls, and she even curiously gnawed off a small piece of the old merman's coral chair.
She also thought it tasted bad and spat it out.
Old Murloc Gulu didn't seem to mind, and simply shook his head gently.
But the surrounding merman warriors clearly didn't think so; they were dissatisfied with the constant "gurgling" sounds.
The young merman who had been standing by his side glared angrily at Xiao Hei, his sharp teeth slightly showing.
Unfortunately, Little Black couldn't read the air at all and completely ignored them.
...
Just as the reconnaissance team set off, a ship carrying ordinary Puji and snake-man mercenaries slowly sailed towards them on the open sea outside the entrance to the Tide Sanctuary.
(End of this chapter)
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