"Come on, Little Black, eat a little more."

One Acid-Pudding creature after another gathered around Little Black, eagerly pushing towards her, almost ready to run straight into her mouth.

Little Black opened her mouth, half-chewed Pudding creatures falling out and dropping to the ground.

After a while, Little Black suddenly tossed away the Pudding creature in her hand and quickly climbed up a Mushroom tree, hiding at the top of the mushroom cap.

The Pudding creatures couldn't reach Little Black and could only wander aimlessly under the mushroom tree.

Seeing this, Lin Jun could only let the Pudding creatures disperse.

It seemed that Little Black's stomach wasn't limitless. Usually, she seemed to eat endlessly, but when actually stuffed, she could only eat... hmm, 16 of them.

Of course, for a humanoid being only 1.5 meters tall, the ability to continuously eat 16 half-person-high Pudding creatures was quite an impressive digestive feat.

More than half a day later, Little Black jumped down from the mushroom tree, refusing to eat more Acid-Pudding creatures, opting only for the lightly flavored regular Magic Pudding creatures.

The forced feeding plan failed, so they could only collect normally every two days.

Unfortunately, most of it was gaseous breath, and only a small half-bottle of concentrated acid could be collected.

After a week, they had collected just over a bottle, and Lin Jun divided this acid into ten portions.

At the edge of the Rift, Bat Pudding creatures flew down one by one.

On the bare rock wall, several nutrient supply tubes woven from mycelium pushed the Fungal Mat to the edge of the Mayfly habitat.

And at this position, platforms with several layers were woven, like bird perches, where Bat Pudding creatures hung upside down one by one.

Seeing that the first batch of Pudding creatures were in place, three speedier Pudding creatures flew out.

Although all were Bat Pudding creatures, there were indeed multiple varieties this time, comprising a composite unit.

These three specialized in speed, serving as bait Pudding creatures.

The three baits flew down a distance and soon reached the edge of the Mayfly territory.

The Rift below was filled with Mayflies, either in groups or as advanced individuals.

After probing each location, Lin Jun chose this spot, where the Mayfly density was lower and no higher than Level 50, to conduct the relatively "simple" area's strategy.

As soon as the three bait Pudding creatures entered the Thousand Core Mayfly territory, seven Mayflies immediately flapped their wings and flew over from afar, dragging their segmented bodies.

The Mayflies had [Vibration Perception], and their tracking range was quite large.

This allowed the bait Pudding creatures to lure the Mayflies from a far enough distance before retreating.

The Pudding creatures' bodies were really not suited for flight; even with [Acceleration Level 6], they couldn't outrun the naturally flying Thousand Core Mayflies.

Since they weren't too far away, the three Pudding creatures quickly fluttered back to the mycelium platform.

By the time the seven Mayflies caught up, they were greeted by a dense array of upside-down Mushroom Cannons on the mycelium rack.

The seven ordinary Mayflies below Level 30 were almost instantly shot down by the Mushroom Cannons, their broken bodies falling straight into the bottomless Abyss below.

Watching this made Lin Jun feel terribly frustrated.

So why not avoid the Rift from the beginning!

Setting aside the complexity and supply difficulty of the strategy, once defeated, they couldn't retrieve the demon corpses; there were no gains, purely a thankless effort.

Afterwards, the three bait Pudding creatures set out again.

A few minutes later, they lured another six Mayflies into the trap.

But this time, there was one giant Level 41 Mayfly.

It was larger than the other kind and had more segments

After one round of Mushroom Cannon fire, the other Mayflies all fell down, but it alone remained in the air, charging toward the position.

[Saliva Arrow Level 5]

A blob of black liquid shot onto its head, instantly corroding its tough shell like fragile paper, and the venom directly seeped into its brain.

Within seconds, this giant Mayfly also fell down like its companions.

Little Black's venom was limited, suitable specifically for targeting high-level units.

In fact, the simplest solution would be to bring Little Black down. Since Little Black can fly, dealing with these Thousand Core Mayflies wouldn't be too difficult.

But the problem was, below wasn't a fixed layer with limited scope, but an unknown vast Deep Area.

Without a Fungal Network, if Little Black rushed off into the distance, Lin Jun wasn't confident to find her again.

To be safe, they still had to initially struggle with the Pudding creatures.

As the outermost Mayflies were lured away, the work of the bait Pudding creatures gradually became more dangerous.

Due to the increased distance, even though the Pudding creatures flapped tirelessly to fly back, the Thousand Core Mayflies could barely catch up to the bait Pudding creatures.

Seeing them close in, the bait Pudding creatures could only use their backup skills.

[Wake Jet Level 4]

Gas emitted from beneath the Pudding creatures, and two immediately surged upward, shaking off the Mayflies a bit.

But another Pudding creature lost control due to the jet propulsion, spiraling through the air like a deflating balloon, ultimately being skewered by a Mayfly, resulting in direct sacrifice.

There wasn't much to be done about this; the Pudding creatures had limited self-control, and this skill was used for emergencies. If there was a 60% survival rate, it was acceptable anyway, and there were plenty of bait Pudding creatures...

As the Mayflies below were cleared, the mycelium also spread downward, extending about a hundred or so meters before starting to generate new mycelium platforms, pushing forward bit by bit.

They also had to clear all the webs set by the Thousand Core Mayflies.

For this, Lin Jun specifically summoned a Magic Pudding creature to cast Fireball Technique to burn the Mayfly silk.

...

The next day, after advancing a kilometer, Lin Jun encountered a fork in the path.

The diverging direction seemed to lead to another Mayfly gathering place, but Lin Jun didn't choose to tackle it simultaneously. Instead, they fixed a batch of Pudding creatures to guard the mouth here.

To prevent the roaming Mayflies from cutting off the Fungal Mat at the rear.

On the fourth day, roughly 2,000 meters from the starting point, Lin Jun finally saw something different—a nest.

Attached to a hanging mountain peak, a giant cocoon woven from Thousand Core Mayfly silk.

Some Mayflies could be seen carrying prey in and out at several openings below.

Leaving aside the nest, seeing Mayflies carrying prey meant they were probably not far from the surface, which lifted Lin Jun's spirits considerably.

The days of fruitless battles almost made them sick, and they occasionally faced Mayfly charges, causing significant Pudding losses.

Fortunately, there were plenty of backup Pudding creatures, and these losses hadn't hindered progress.

Looking at the nest below, Lin Jun controlled a Magic Pudding creature with wings to fly up, rubbing a large Fireball in hand.

The previous webs had been burned one by one; this nest, with its concentrated silk, would surely be more satisfying to burn.

The Fireball hit, igniting a section of silk and quickly spreading.

In less than a few minutes, the entire nest became a burning Fireball.

Many Thousand Core Mayflies screeched as they emerged, and those flying upward were blasted back down by Lin Jun's prepared Mushroom Cannon array.

With this, this passage was essentially conquered.

Afterwards, just a bit of cleanup work...

The cocoon's silk soon burned out, revealing a giant insect body coiled on the suspended mountain peak's bottom.

[Race: Thousand Core Mayfly]

[Level: Level 65]

[Fixed State: Cocooned, Stiffness]

Lin Jun barely pulled up the panel when the final fixed state disappeared before their eyes.

The giant insect began moving its long-immobile body, the semi-circular compound eyes reflecting red light.

Although the Thousand Core Mayfly lacked pupils, Lin Jun felt its gaze was already fixed on the Pudding creatures.

So... what kind of ecosystem is this freaking mess?

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