Lin Jun, who had lived next door to the fire mosquitoes for a long time, remained completely calm as the swarm closed in.
Only when they entered the 50-meter mark did the slime Puji open fire—spraying jets of digestive mucus that drenched the unsuspecting insects mid-flight.
The mosquitoes that crashed to the ground struggled to shake off the sticky goo and take off again. But before they could recover, clouds of hallucinogenic spores drifted down, leaving them dazed and helpless. One by one, the chitin-armored Puji crushed them underfoot.
The battle was far from over. Even more fire mosquitoes poured in from the depths of the cavern, turning the narrow passage entrance into a frenzied meat grinder.
Even with the hallucinogenic mist sealing the lower airspace and funneling the mosquitoes into a predictable attack vector, Lin Jun couldn't intercept every single one with mucus alone.
Every so often, a mosquito broke through the barrage, stabbing its proboscis into a nearby Puji—only to stagger and collapse as the spores on the ground took effect.
"Ice Blade! Ice Blade! Water Serpent!"
Inanna finally had some good news: she had taken down several fire mosquitoes!
The dense swarm was so thick that even closing her eyes wouldn't have mattered—their evasion skill was useless in such cramped, overcrowded conditions.
Killing magical beasts with spells in actual combat for the first time filled her with exhilaration. Compared to this, the "hunts" she had joined before felt more like staged performances.
Her excitement didn't last long.
A mosquito that slipped through the line pinned a turret Puji to the ground with a single strike. Inanna flinched.
If that proboscis had aimed at *her* instead…
"Lin Jun! What do we do? So many Puji are dying!"
Only a dozen or so? That was nothing.
Deep in the safety of the mushroom garden, Lin Jun inwardly sighed at the recruit's lack of battlefield resilience.
Still, she calmly gave the order:
"Stop using attack magic. Switch to Illumination."
Illumination?
What good would that do?
Inanna didn't understand, but remembering her promise to obey, she cast the low-cost spell anyway.
To her astonishment, the swarm immediately fell into chaos.
The front-line mosquitoes darted erratically like headless flies—crashing into each other, veering off course, some even diving straight into the hallucinogenic mist below.
Inanna stared in disbelief.
"It actually works!" Lin Jun exclaimed, genuinely surprised.
"Huh? You didn't *know* it would work?"
"I just didn't expect it to be *this* effective… Quick—extinguish it and recast! Keep the light flashing!"
"Okay!"
The deep underground was perpetually dark or only dimly lit. Lin Jun had noticed the fire mosquitoes had eyes and wanted to test a crude flashbang tactic—but she hadn't anticipated it would be *this* devastating.
This was where a mushroom's advantage of not needing eyes truly shone.
With repeated Illumination spells blinding the swarm, the already fragile fire mosquitoes dropped like rain.
When they could no longer fully block the passage, even these near-mindless insects finally remembered fear. The survivors scattered in panic, fleeing into side tunnels and vanishing.
They left behind an empty nest—and a steaming pool still teeming with white larvae.
"Finally… it's over."
Inanna collapsed onto her cap.
Even though the expedition had held the advantage, chaining several attack spells followed by more than twenty Illumination casts had drained her magic power almost completely. She felt utterly exhausted.
Despite the fatigue, she was still buzzing with excitement. This was the first time she had personally taken part in such a large-scale "battle."
"Lin Jun, what's next?"
"Next? Harvest time, of course!"
The twenty bull-horse Puji—who had stayed safely at the rear and never engaged—finally moved forward. Using their tentacles and [Storage Envelope], they began packing the mosquito corpses into their internal compartments.
The haul was roughly as expected; two trips should be enough. Once Lin Jun decomposed them all, her [High Temperature Resistance] would almost certainly gain another level.
As for expanding the mushroom garden into this fire mosquito cave—Lin Jun had no interest.
The cavern had far too many interconnecting passages. Defending it would be impossible.
Her current territory had been carefully chosen: only four entrances, all on one side—perfect for a low-profile, defensive development strategy.
The white larvae still wriggling in the pool didn't fare much better. After the turret Puji unloaded their remaining magic power into the water, the larvae became nothing more than floating debris.
"These are the spoils?"
Inanna looked at the carried-off mosquito corpses and felt a pang of disappointment. This was nothing like the treasure she had imagined.
"What else would they be, Duchess? What kind of loot do you expect from killing monsters?"
Were they supposed to cut open the bellies and find swords and gold coins…?
"No, I mean… maybe there's something good in that pool."
"The pool?"
The steaming water—now littered with bits of larva—was still scalding hot.
Underground magma?
Unlike the Balrog's distant lair, which wasn't particularly warm at all, this pool radiated constant heat.
There had to be something inside generating that energy.
But there was one small problem—
Lin Jun couldn't swim.
Puji wouldn't dissolve in water, but they would simply bob uselessly on the surface, unable to maneuver.
The fire mosquito larvae did possess [Underwater Adaptation], but acquiring the skill would require hauling specimens back, breaking them down, and then breeding new Puji variants.
While Lin Jun was still considering options, Inanna had already plunged straight into the pool to hunt for treasure.
Right—Lin Jun remembered the girl had LV6 Underwater Adaptation.
*Second-generation really is something…*
"Lin Jun! Look what I found!"
Inanna climbed out, her Water Serpent spell coiled tightly around a glowing orange fragment that constantly radiated heat, evaporating the water around it.
The serpent couldn't hold the hot object for long. Inanna quickly tossed the fragment onto the dry ground beside the pool.
"Do you know what this is?"
At first, Lin Jun had no idea.
But then… a display panel appeared over it?
She had never seen a panel appear on an inanimate object before!
**[Artifact: Sunstone (Fragment)]**
???
What the hell? You could get an *artifact* from wiping out a bunch of LV20 mosquitoes? Was the drop system broken?
There was no other information beyond the name. Probably because it was only a fragment.
Regardless—it was definitely worth keeping and studying.
"Lin Jun?"
"Uh… how would I know? But it looks useful. We can take it back to keep the mushrooms warm."
A bull-horse Puji scooped up the fragment, wrapped it in a ball of mud, and stored it away.
Inanna didn't object. She was only here for that promised A-rank magic crystal anyway—the spoils naturally belonged to Lin Jun. She was just curious.
While Lin Jun and Inanna happily wrapped up their expedition, another group on the surface was racking their brains over Inanna's disappearance.