Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 757: Chapter 744: Fusion and Concealment

"What... what happened here?" The mermaid responsible for leading the Fungus Castle vanguard gasped as she looked at the now unfamiliar trench.

Under the glow provided by the dangling mycelium columns, everyone witnessed a terrifying scene.

The trench was originally a deep fissure on the seabed, with steep rock walls on both sides, its depths hidden in eternal darkness.

But now, the fissure’s rock colors were unrecognizable.

A thick layer of blood and flesh covered every inch of the rock wall, grayish-red, pulsating rhythmically as if breathing. It seemed as though they had entered not a trench but the body of a gigantic monster.

"Strange, what’s wrong with this fish?" A half-demon noticed a small fish half-submerged in the flesh, the other half struggling to break free.

He reached to grab the fish’s head and pulled. With a bit of force, he tore off half a fish, but found no trace of the other half within the flesh wall.

"Where’s the lower half... damn, what’s this?!" The half-demon tried to poke around but suddenly realized his fingers were stuck.

He struggled to pull his hand back, but it seemed it had grown onto whatever held it, unable to break free.

The flesh that originally clung to the rock wall began inching upwards along his hand.

"Let go of me!" The half-demon commanded Puki to attack the flesh wall, slicing it to pieces.

After finally freeing his hand, he discovered his palm had fused with the flesh and was still spreading up his arm.

With a swipe of the Tentacle Blade, the enraged half-demon sliced off his entire hand.

At the severed wound, mycelium writhed and soon stopped bleeding.

Frontline personnel typically have regenerative skills.

As a Puki Master, losing a hand didn’t completely hinder combat capabilities.

But it wasn’t over. The severed hand drifted along the current, landed on another patch of flesh mat, and inexplicably began to regenerate, clawing as if trying to grab the nearby Puki.

A blast from the Mushroom Cannon, and the hand and small patch of flesh mat disappeared entirely.

"What are these things? Everyone, be careful and avoid touching the flesh!"

However, another team member pointed downward and said, "It’s difficult to avoid touching them."

Below them, the flesh was no longer just attached to the rock walls. The flesh connected across the opposing rock walls, resembling a spider’s web, layered and endlessly extending downwards.

At that moment, Marshal Little Pig’s voice echoed in the vanguard’s minds: "Try corrosive damage."

Under Little Pig’s directive, over ten black-striped Pukis swam down.

[Corrosive Curse Level 6]

Within the aura skill from Evil Grass, the flesh mats of nearby Chis gradually shriveled and decayed, eventually turning into dark, dry strings of flesh.

Now, even if touched, there was no devour-fusion phenomenon.

The range of [Corrosive Curse] was substantial, making it relatively easy to clear an area of flesh mats; the only issue was it didn’t kill instantly.

Level 6 was chosen because corrosive effects can be reduced to negligible levels by the vanguard’s [Corrosion Resistance Level 10].

Any higher level would improve efficiency but adversely affect their personnel, making it unsuitable.

Armed with vanguard intelligence, more Fungus Castle soldiers equipped with corrosive Pukis submerged, systematically clearing flesh mats around the trench.

Norris was among them, scratching his itchy arm, aware of the mild corrosive effects.

Suddenly, Jida shot a tentacle at a nearby Fishman, wrapping around his feet. Amid his cries, Jida pulled him back fiercely.

The next moment, a Puki beside him was struck by a dark current, instantly torn apart.

"Enemy attack!"

A large dark blue Magic Shield appeared on Jida’s left arm, blocking more dark currents.

Almost simultaneously, nearly all Puki Masters in the team were hit by the dark currents.

Some defended or evaded successfully, while others were injured or killed.

Despite the sudden attack, the soldiers didn’t panic.

They methodically reorganized their formation, lining up Pukis on both sides to block potential follow-up attacks, while beginning to collect their fallen comrades, sending them into the central hanging mycelium columns.

The bodies sent in were quickly decomposed, brightening the glowing mushrooms on the columns.

To devout Fungus Castle soldiers, death was just the beginning.

But the situation wasn’t entirely optimistic.

Norris frowned, alert to surrounding movements.

The dark currents had approached so closely before being detected; with Jida’s extensive reconnaissance skills, such oversight seemed unlikely.

Even against a Sword Saint Puki, Norris could keep up with their speed, not lose track of their attacks.

This was the first since joining Mushroom Garden!

"Mushroom Cannon—Attack!"

With Norris’ command, countless Mushroom Cannons fired at the rock walls on both sides, pulverizing the flesh mat and rocks, raining debris down deeper.

The explosion revealed new activity.

[Vibration Perception]

From the Mushroom Cannon’s explosion, Norris accurately sensed anomalous vibrations, something moving within the rock walls, evading the cannons.

On Jida’s shoulder, magic power began to converge, the resonance cannon’s barrel gathering a glaring magic halo.

Boom—!

The cannon blasted a massive hole into the trench rock wall, causing a whole section to collapse and fall into the trench’s depths.

In the hole, several bloodied mermaids were revealed, their bodies twisted and fused with flesh, unlike the ones embedded in flesh walls, dragging half-blasted flesh tubes, leaking purple blood from severed ends.

One of the tubes was not blasted; a mermaid suddenly convulsed. Norris intended to finish her...

"Mushroom!" The garbled words spilled from the mermaid’s mouth. She raised her head, eyes clouded, "I knew... you’d find me. I know we have one last battle! But it’s okay, I’m prepared. Mushroom... come on... I’m... waiting..."

Lin Jun took control of a Puki, and with a swipe of the Tentacle Blade, the mermaid’s head separated from her neck, the panel disappearing.

"Talking fluently through underhanded means, aren’t you? But why not go down when you say so?"

Above the trench, more Jida and Puki Masters descended.

Numer Four and No. 7, two gigantic Pukis treaded on the seabed, half their mushroom bodies protruding above the surface like two moving mushroom mountains.

Even the surface’s fungal mats continually generated new Puki cannon fodder, densely packed, filling the entire view.

Puki’s tentacle swung forward: "Blast that pest out for me!"