Twisted, unstable edges.

Two regions separated by a boundary, completely different in style.

Before me is undoubtedly a rift.

And it's the size of a manhole cover, much larger than the rift guarded by the Sixth Floor dual-colored Slime, which was only about the size of a fist at most.

The poor Cave Dweller hadn't realized this rift at all and fell directly into it. It's likely a grim fate for them.

Lin Jun's plan to track the Cave Dweller's hometown naturally fell apart—only to see if there might be another encounter later.

But the main point is this rift!

Not having discovered a rift on the Seventh Floor, Lin Jun thought the dual-colored Slime's location was the only breach in the Underground City.

Didn't expect to find a larger rift so easily in the Deep Area.

Lin Jun doesn't believe it's just a coincidence, as if the only rift in the Deep Area happened to be found.

There's likely already a substantial number of rifts in the Deep Area...

Though it's puzzling why the Seventh Floor between the Sixth Floor and the Deep Area doesn't have a rift, it's more important to study the present rift.

There's no curse on the other side, so maybe it can be explored.

Of course, can't sacrifice the relatively precious Elite Puki.

Luckily, right here is a direct passage connected to the newly occupied cavern, and soon a temporarily created Bat Puki flapped its way over.

Controls the Puki to jump in, and simultaneously used [Sound Wave Detection].

Then—

Nothing...

The sound waves sent out in all directions didn't encounter anything to rebound from.

And after the Bat Puki jumped in, it kept moving steadily away from the rift.

Tried flapping back with its wings, but it was futile.

In the perception of [Subordinate Control], this unfortunate Puki was getting farther and farther away... farther and farther.

Then suddenly, at some point, it lost connection without any warning.

Lin Jun couldn't quite understand what happened.

Leaving aside the strange environment on the other side, Lin Jun's [Subordinate Control] could control Scout Puki from afar without hindrance; Lin Jun even suspected the skill had no range limit.

Now this Bat Puki hadn't gone very far before losing connection?

It didn't seem like it was attacked by anything, [Sound Wave Detection] revealed nothing.

No terrain, no creatures—seemingly empty on the other side.

Could it actually be a space rift leading to the void?

Like those stories where it's a void area outside the world?

Soon, several more expendable Pukis were brought over, intertwining mycelial tentacles with each other, one fixed to the rock and another leaping into the rift again.

As they jumped in, the pulling gravity disappeared.

If this feeling were to be described, it's like floating in space.

Lin Jun didn't expect that after traveling to the Otherworld, he could experience the weightless adventure of space... and frankly, it's quite fun!

After enough fun, Lin Jun threw several Pukis out in different directions.

Sooner or later, each Puki experienced the same sudden loss of connection.

It seems the situation with the first Puki wasn't an accident.

The other side ought to be an uninhabitable void region.

Fascinating, but it doesn't seem dangerous—at least there's no worry of any demon or curse emerging from this rift.

But this particular rift alone isn't dangerous.

Soon after, another group of Bat Pukis was brought out, purely for pathfinding purposes.

Each Bat Puki flew into one of the dozen huge tunnels connected to the cavern. After a carpet search, indeed, a second rift was found!

However, this rift was very small, more like a pinhole.

If not for the unique distorted edge effect, Lin Jun would have had difficulty spotting it.

This rift is highly unstable. Lin Jun tried extending mycelium over to investigate, but they were all twisted apart by unstable space.

Finally, it could only be marked as one of the key observation points.

But this also proves the Deep Area might already be full of holes.

Clearly, everything was fine before leaving, but the destruction has accelerated too quickly.

Thinking now, were those Thousand Core Mayflies really from the tide of demons?

Could there still be a massive rift connected to the Mayflies' home, allowing them to migrate constantly?

Anyway, at the point in the upper fork, Mayflies would fly over from time to time in probing fashion, only to be shot down by Puki stationed at the fortress line.

Considering the size of a Great Worm, if true, how large would that rift need to be...

The situation in the Deep Area is dire, and Lin Jun decisively allocated most of the Puki capacity there, preparing for a long-awaited cavern expedition.

Since the Yellow-covered Book claims ignorance of the exact location of the Dungeon Core, only knowing it is in the deepest part—

Hence, Lin Jun could only crudely set the goal of extending downward.

With this in mind, Lin Jun summoned Louisa, the Vampire.

...

"Where is this?"

Suddenly pulled out from the mine to here, Louisa seemed uneasy.

Ever since entering this Purple Crystal Dungeon, nothing good has happened to her...

"Little Pig, you have a new job!"

"..."

"What, don't you want fresh stuff?"

Fresh!?

Louisa's eyes widened instantly.

It had indeed been a long time since she had tasted fresh blood. To be precise, since her capture, she had only been surviving on lifeless blood.

After all, there were no living creatures on the Fifth Floor for her to feed on, and Lin Jun wouldn't let her roam the Sixth Floor, in case of stumbling onto an adventurer, which would be problematic.

"Rea... really?" Louisa cautiously confirmed.

"Or I can send you back if you'd rather. You seem to enjoy mining quite a bit."

"No, no, no, boss, it's up to you! I am Little Pig, and I'd love to have something fresh!" Louisa expressed how she cherished this opportunity!

Seeing this, Lin Jun assigned her a task—to cooperate with the expedition team in expanding territory.

After all, Louisa is a Diamond Level Vampire Viscount, well-fed, and suitable for combat support.

You can't really keep her just to mine, can you?

Of course, there were restrictions; Lin Jun specified she could not leave the Fungal Mat's range, or else, be turned into a Puppet.

Louisa nodded vigorously at the arrangement, fearing Lin Jun might change his mind.

Lin Jun didn't shortchange her either, giving her the turtle still curled up in its shell, challenging Lin Jun's patience.

Actually, a Fat Otaku Puki could blow open the shell, but Lin Jun found that wasteful, better to give it to the Vampire; if she fails, it's on Louisa.

Fortunately, Louisa stepped up.

Her pale palm pressed against the turtle shell, and soon the turtle's blood was drawn out by Louisa; the blood mist gathered in Louisa's hand from the shell crevices.

When Louisa finished, the tightly shut shell loosened, revealing the shriveled turtle corpse inside due to blood loss.

Louisa eagerly devoured the demon blood she wouldn't even consider before, licking even the last bit at the corner of her mouth, and whimpered on the spot...

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