Puki was already fully prepared.
All the magic power of each Puki (including Inanna) was filled up, which not only exhausted the batch of magic power obtained from dismantling the Fire Mosquitoes, but also left nothing in the original inventory.
Subsequent natural magic collection would surely not keep up with consumption, meaning there would be no second replenishment opportunity for this batch of Puki.
The bug hunting operation was set for today.
Seeing 400 Puki squeezed together was quite a spectacle, most of which were turret Puki.
The Earth Worm was not only gigantic in size but also coated with a thick stone shell, rendering hallucinogenic spores and digestive mucus ineffective against it.
As for the Puki with shells, they wouldn't make a difference either; being grazed by the attack of such a heavyweight creature as the Earth Worm would inevitably result in instant death, shell or not.
To defeat such a worm, Lin Jun had no choice but to flood it with damage.
Of course, there was a plan.
These worms, which burrowed in the ground every day, merely fed on various minerals, with their favorite snack being none other than the specialty of the Purple Crystal Dungeon—Demon Crystals.
And Lin Jun happened to know how to detonate Demon Crystals.
In the team, Lin Jun specifically prepared 10 special Puki.
Their hollow bellies were stuffed with Demon Crystals, and they were equipped with the magic storage skills as the energy to detonate the Demon Crystals.
For this hunt, Lin Jun brought out all his savings.
The Demon Crystals originally inserted in the Mushroom Garden soil to accelerate magic power collection were all dug up, directly halving the natural magic collection efficiency in the Mushroom Garden.
These Demon Crystals served as bait to lure the Earth Worm into the open and were also the first strike against it.
As for what comes after the first strike, that would depend on how effective Miss Inanna's Mud Swamp Technique is.
"Are we really going?"
The pink mushroom cap trembled slightly. Facing the Earth Worm at least 15 levels higher, she had no sense of security at all.
"Recruit, as I recall, you've already received the commission, haven't you?"
Feeling the large piece of A Level Demon Crystal on her head, Inanna couldn't bring herself to say she would give up.
It's too tempting!
It not only allowed her to cast spells in Puki form but also almost doubled the power of the spells.
The amplifying effect was far superior to the small piece of B Level Demon Crystal she had before.
"If things really go south, I'll allow you to escape, and I won't take back the Demon Crystal." Lin Jun timely relaxed the conditions.
Though Inanna still wanted to say her short legs might not be able to run away, thinking about it, having permission to flee was better than not having it.
The pink mushroom cap nodded, reaching some sort of consensus.
Allowing Inanna to escape wasn't rooted in Lin Jun's goodwill but purely pragmatic; if something couldn't be achieved, there was no need to let her die in vain.
After the battle at the Fire Mosquito Nest, Lin Jun realized the usefulness of magic indeed.
Puki could be reproduced if lost, Demon Crystals could be dug up again, but if Inanna was gone, where would he find another magic-wielding and obedient one?
————
This journey was indeed much farther than the trip to the Fire Mosquito Nest. Inanna even felt they had deliberately taken a longer route.
However, they encountered almost no obstacles along the way, except for a black and white large spider that Inanna decapitated with a single Tracking Ice Blade.
The destination was a fragmented cave.
It couldn't even be called a cave anymore.
The entire space was densely covered with passages left by the Earth Worms' passing, and even describing it as drafty would be an overstatement.
After observing, Lin Jun found several new channels had appeared since his last inspection.
Placing the self-destructive Puki and Demon Crystals on a relatively intact ground, the other turret Puki were scattered around the cave.
Lin Jun didn't arrange for Inanna to stay elsewhere, instead letting her stay at the entrance of the passage they came from.
Slowly channeling magic power into the Demon Crystals, the magic fluctuation emitted by the vast number of Demon Crystals was tempting even for Lin Jun.
Knowing the specific plan, Inanna looked at the pile of Demon Crystals with a deep sense of regret.
Boss Lin Jun was such a spendthrift that he even used some A Level Demon Crystals as explosives to increase the success rate.
Although not as large as hers, they were still A Level Demon Crystals!
This pile of Demon Crystals could have been used to hire the Diamond Squad to kill ten Earth Worms, and now it's just to blow up one Earth Worm.
What a sheer waste of resources.
After the magic fluctuations spread out, there were no signs of Earth Worms initially, but some other demons came instead.
Some were black and white spiders encountered earlier on the way, others were ferocious, fanged, malformed creatures.
However, they were all blown away by a few shots from the Puki surrounding them, posing no trouble.
What surprised Lin Jun was he actually saw a Level 35 Minotaur, commonly known as the bull-headed man.
It was the first time Lin Jun encountered such a classic demon as the Minotaur.
Evidently, the Minotaur possessed notable intelligence, turning away upon seeing the lineup from a distance.
Had it been another time, Lin Jun would surely have tried to communicate, as being both intelligent, they might coexist peacefully.
Yet not today.
Finally,
A continuous tremor emanated from underground, the rubble beside Inanna shaking crazily within the soil, with newly opened tunnel entrances shedding rocks.
A hapless Puki was crushed into a mass of mycelium by a falling rock from overhead before even beginning, making it the first sacrifice mushroom of this operation.
"It's coming, it's coming, when should I cast the magic? Should I cast the Mud Swamp Technique now?"
At the critical moment, Inanna became tense again.
"Stay calm, Inanna, I'll let you know when to cast, don't mess up the formation." Lin Jun gently advised Inanna to stay calm, but he didn't notice the tension in his own voice, with excitement barely contained beneath his steady tone.
Not leaving the two in suspense for long.
The ground on one side of the cave collapsed with a boom, and a Great Worm burst forth, swallowing 20 Puki whole in an instant.
[Level: LV49]
Precisely Lin Jun's target—Earth Worm!
"Here it comes!"
The Earth Worm twisted midair, lunging directly towards the Demon Crystals.
All the Puki held their fire; Lin Jun even stopped Inanna from casting her reflexive magic.
Just a little more, it wasn't the time yet.
Magic power surged wildly into the Demon Crystals, with the magic fluctuations reaching a frenzy.
Just at the brink of climax, the giant mouth descended, engulfing the ten Puki along with all the Demon Crystals.
1... 2...
Boom—
The earth-shattering explosion tore apart the Earth Worm's massive mouth, as meters-thick Rock Armor shattered from the inside.
Exploding shards flew off at a terrifying speed, causing significant casualties among the Puki.
The entire mouth of the Earth Worm was utterly demolished.
As for the head, Lin Jun wasn't entirely sure where the Earth Worm's head was, or if it even had one.
Despite such injuries, it hadn't lost vitality and was thrashing in agony.
The remaining body frantically writhed, banging against the surrounding rock layers causing collapses, with leftover digging feet desperately burrowing the ground, trying to return underground.
Inanna shuddered violently, Lin Jun's command erupted in her mind with an off-key, broken tone:
"Mud Swamp Technique! Quick!"