Fifth Floor, Mushroom Forest.

Standing three meters tall, clad in scale armor with an added thick layer of rock armor, and even capable of spewing poisonous mist, the Heavy Armor Puki made its dazzling appearance with 50 points of physical strength and 30 points of power!

It's worth mentioning that to save on skills, the rock armor was actually eaten off other Fat Otaku Pukis through [Rock Eating], and then removed for use.

Of course, in this process, one layer of the Fat Otaku Puki's mycelium must be stripped away, but since it can regenerate, it's not a big issue.

Among the various branch choices for the Heavy Armor Puki, [Mushroom Cannon] was the first option Lin Jun eliminated.

The main problem was the excessive number of associated skills, high installation costs, and attribute requirements skewed towards intelligence, which completely mismatched the role of the Heavy Armor Puki.

[Hallucinogenic Spores] were relatively more suitable, at least unrestricted by attributes.

In fact, the most fitting would be [Self-Destruction]—the higher the physical strength, the more powerful the self-destruction.

But... these Heavy Armor Pukis are for shielding purposes.

With all friendly units behind, a self-destruction would cause friendly fire everywhere.

The reason this particular Heavy Armor Puki was created on the fifth floor, rather than in the Deep Area.

Was because Lin Jun needed Xiao Hai to help test its defense power, and this Heavy Armor Puki was equipped with [Physical Resistance Level 7] instead of [Magic Resistance Level 6].

"Xiao Hai, wake up, stop sleeping."

"Mmm..."

In a room gleaming with silver scales, Xiao Hai's head emerged from the pile of glass beads.

She sluggishly took a long time to realize it was the boss calling her.

Carefully attempting to extricate herself from the pile of glass beads, but even with the utmost gentleness, there were still two loud cracks resounding.

Cradling two crushed beads, Xiao Hai visibly wilted.

Lin Jun watched speechlessly.

Ever since the room filled up with glass beads, Xiao Hai would go through this routine every day upon waking up.

Usually, she'd sob for a while and then settle down, but today Lin Jun was waiting for her to assist in a test, so...

"Xiao Hai, come help, and I'll give you a ruby when we're done!"

Xiao Hai immediately perked up, her golden pupils brightening by several shades!

Gems!

She knew they were much more beautiful than glass beads! Shiny like the pair of earrings dangling from the scales on her tail!

Unfortunately, gems are much harder to find than glass beads, usually only available in the boss's hands.

Though she stopped crying, Xiao Hai still sorrowfully buried the two broken glass beads in a small pit beside her Mushroom House, then followed Lin Jun's instruction and headed to a small clearing.

The Heavy Armor Puki, clad in its thick rock armor, was twice Xiao Hai's height. Standing side by side, it seemed one kick could send Xiao Hai flying.

"Xiao Hai, hit it!"

"Hit the Puki?" Xiao Hai was confused.

Though she loved eating Pukis, she never hit them—Pukis were so fragile that even a slight touch could break them.

"Yes, hit this Puki in front of you hard, and I'll give you a ruby!"

Xiao Hai was puzzled, but the boss's words promised something shiny, so she obediently raised her rather hefty claw and stretched her body into a bow.

Lin Jun was confident, at least in terms of defense; this Puki had even higher defense than a knight.

Given flexibility considerations, knights didn't wear layers of rock armor.

This rock armor isn't ordinary stone; the rock armor from [Rock Eating Level 8] is extremely dense and boasts exceptionally high defense. Combined with its scale armor and resistance, it could withstand an extended mushroom cannon barrage from Lin Jun herself.

Even against Xiao Hai's full-force attack, it should withstand a few punches!

A dark shadow flashed past.

BOOMーー!!!!!!!

The three-meter-high Heavy Armor Puki, along with its supposed unbreakable rock armor, exploded spontaneously and completely, as if filled with explosives!

Amidst the swirling dust, shattered stones and Puki pieces rained down like a downpour, irretrievably shattered.

"Ah...um...you didn't have to hit so hard..."

This time it was Lin Jun's turn to whimper.

No way, was her strongest defense really that vulnerable?

Sixty levels are this fierce?

Xiao Hai stood amid the debris, rubbing her two claws together.

"Can I have, the gem?"

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Beside her, a Puki handed her a crystal-clear ruby, which Xiao Hai happily accepted, cradling both the Puki and the ruby back into her nest.

Lin Jun noticed a black scale on the back of her claw was slightly tilted, with a hint of blood oozing from the vicinity.

Upon checking the panel, she confirmed a few drops of blood had spilled, although it quickly replenished.

So...was it barely a full-power strike?

Feeling a little relieved.

After all, it was a high-cost unit, being wiped out like a common soldier would mean wasted magic power!

...

In the Deep Area, the 20 Heavy Armor Pukis that Lin Jun painstakingly crafted had just landed, when joyous news came from the front lines.

"Boss! We...our army has been defeated!"

The disheveled Little Pig returned to the forward base, which was the former Snake Cave, with the remaining hundred or so Pukis, fleeing in defeat.

Behind them, Chis's fierce pursuit force relentlessly chased them down.

However, by this time, the Snake Cave had already been significantly transformed.

Through the day-and-night frantic remodeling by the Pukis, the original serpentine and narrow natural maze had been transformed into a deadly fortress.

The narrow corridors had been reinforced layer by layer, filled with concealed mushroom cannon shooting holes and lethal crossfire points.

Within the floor of the corridors were hidden self-destructing Pukis, while the ceilings housed hallucination-inducing Pukis capable of releasing toxic mist.

With the support of a hundred Pukis already stationed in the fortress, Louisa managed to hold off the pursuing Chis and eventually repelled them when reinforcements arrived.

"Boss..."

The defeated general Louisa lowered her head, obediently kneeling on the ground, with five urgently dispatched Heavy Armor Pukis behind her.

Lin Jun didn't blame Little Pig; this time it truly wasn't her fault.

While the expedition team was engaged in battle with the ragtag cave demons, Chis's units suddenly burst forth from a rear passage, catching the expedition team completely off guard.

This time it wasn't a single unit type, but a mixed-species army led by an Evil Eye, consisting of beetles, Six Claw, and many other types of Chis Lin Jun hadn't seen before.

The arrival of the Evil Eye was nothing short of a disaster for the Puki Army, with clusters of cannon fodder Pukis being turned to stone en masse.

Louisa attempted a desperate strike, but Chis's equally fearless units held firm, blocking her path with flesh and blood.

The closest attempt came when Louisa leveraged the complex terrain, with a few Puki guards covering her advance through self-destructing explosions, bulldozing a path to within a hundred meters of the Evil Eye!

With the blood of surrounding Chis, she condensed a purple spear, hurling it at the Evil Eye.

Yet the magic shield managed to hold it off briefly; the fatal blow ultimately only pierced the end of one of the Evil Eye's tentacles swinging around.

The assault failed miserably, and with most of the Puki army perished, Louisa had no choice but to flee the battlefield with the remnants of her force, pursued by Chis.

This group of Chis, after suffering a loss, was quick to exact revenge.

What they didn't realize was that Lin Jun had only intended to use a combat unit of six hundred Pukis for small-scale harassment in the Deep Area, trying not to impact the expedition team.

Now that Chis was directly targeting the expedition team.

In that case, let's take this war to the fullest scale!

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