The westernmost part of the archipelago, Giant Horn Island.

This medium-sized island was once famous for hunting Giant Horned Whales during the archipelago's heyday.

But now, it has been completely abandoned, with not a single resident left, only some gradually decaying buildings peeling paint under the salty sea breeze.

The reason for the abandonment of Giant Horn Island is simple, the same as countless other abandoned islands—the mist has spread over.

At this moment, the grey mist is only perched on the northeastern reef, but all nautical charts have marked this island for cancellation, the disappearance of the name Giant Horn Island is just a matter of time.

This time might be three years, or three months, or even three days later.

The expansion of the mist does not follow the tides, its boundaries always fluctuate between the tangible and intangible.

However, at this time, a rare group of outsiders appeared on Giant Horn Island.

In the cold spruce forest on the western side, a hunched figure clutching a decaying hoe handle mechanically moves his arm.

Gray-white skin wraps around a skeletal frame, cloudy eyeballs hang in sunken eye sockets, moving towards the forest edge in an inhuman gait.

A cold gleam flashed across the horizon, and a silver snake-like arrow pierced into his forehead, smashing bones and rotten fluid as it exited the back of his skull, killing him instantly.

[Level Up LV6 → LV7]

[Skill Upgrade: Bow Skill LV2 → LV3]

On the highest building of the whole island, the watchtower next to the Lord's Mansion.

A tall blonde woman lowered the Longbow Light of Mutsuki she held, removed the Power Gloves from her hands, flexing her wrist which had grown sore from continuous drawing.

Her constantly changing geometric pupils also gradually returned to a normal appearance.

Taking the opportunity to rest, she asked a middle-aged man dressed in religious attire next to her:

"Samuel… Priest, can you tell me again about these… um… I still don't quite get it."

"Lady Sofia, just call me Samuel," the priest said.

The priest's dignified expression held solemn majesty, without a hint of contempt for the ignorance and weakness of the person before him.

He bent slightly, and respectfully explained in a low voice:

"These are Lost Souls, lost in the mist; they are no longer the people they once were, just some puppets driven by the mist, devoid of knowing or feeling.

When you shoot them, please feel no burden.

But please, do not underestimate the mist because these Lost Souls are weak, this is just a tiny portion dissipated during its dormant period."

Sofia nodded, half understanding.

Then a Full Armor Guard ascended the stairs, carrying a steaming hot lunch, accompanied by a bottle of highly valuable mid-level Energy Potion at the side of the meal.

The guard approached them, knelt on one knee, and raised the tray above his head: "Lady Sofia, please dine."

Although this was not the first time, Sofia was still somewhat unaccustomed to their respectfulness.

Reaching out, she took the tray and seated herself to eat alone—others would not dine with her, as it seemed disrespectful in their view…

While Sofia ate, Samuel asked the guard about the mist's situation: "How's the mist condition?"

"Quite stable, it won't enter an active phase in the short term."

Samuel nodded with relief.

He watched Sofia, who had finished eating and began gulping down the Energy Potion.

Silently, he calculated the time required for her to reach Level 20—it was only when she reached the corresponding tier could they select a more suitable trial area for subsequent actions.

Before human hope gained the ability to self-protect, he and the forty guards stationed in the Lord's Mansion on Giant Horn Island would protect her with their lives.

-----------------

Puki Puki—

Puki Puki—

Forty Puki stepped onto the ground of Level 6.

Finding herself temporarily unencumbered, Lin Jun naturally chose not to continue enduring.

Having long coveted the ecological environment of Level 6, it was now time to formally annex it.

Not to mention, the skill of producing Paralyzing Liquid by Flower Demons was quite enticing.

Of course, breeding Flower Demons and such would be the last step.

The first step was naturally to lay the Fungal Mat, and to do that, the Slimes must first be cleared out!

There were lots of Slimes on this layer.

Two types, one was the red Neurotoxin Slime, the other was the green Sticky Slime.

These forty Puki as the vanguard needed to first understand their distribution and where they were likely to spawn, paving the way for the subsequent main force's occupation.

But now it seemed a bit of a small surprise occurred—

A group of adventurers stood in front of the Puki vanguard at the stairs' exit.

"Why… why are Puki coming down?" an adventurer said in disbelief, twitching his eye corner.

Previously, there was a cross-level Big Black Mushroom that had tormented everyone, and now even ordinary Puki could come down in large numbers?

What about the rules of the Underground City?

No one acted rashly, the infamy of Level 5 Puki was now well-known, starting a fight was sure to end badly.

"Why not try tossing a demon carcass?" someone suggested.

"Makes sense!"

Soon, a bee carcass approximately the size of Puki was thrown before the vanguard.

…

The vanguard "strided" forward, ignoring the bee carcass on the ground, directly trampling over it.

Seeing themselves blocking the path, the adventurers hurriedly retreated, opting to take another route up.

But in the haste, the priest unknowingly stepped on someone's foot, and stumbled.

"Don't leave me behind!"

The priestess's tearful voice caught her companions' attention, already ten steps ahead.

"Damn it! Get up, I'll cover you!" The Ranger wielding a bow immediately intended to use Arrows to block the Puki vanguard, delaying for the priestess, but was stopped by the two others nearby.

"Pig brain, are you!"

"Don't anger the Puki!"

"But… but…" The teammate's words made sense, but seeing Puki already approaching the priestess…

"Ah—!" The priestess's scream made the ranger's heart tighten suddenly.

The Puki stepped on the priestess as if she was invisible, quickly engulfing her silhouette.

Her three companions could only listen heart-wrenchingly to the priestess's screams from afar:

"Ah—ah—oh… oh… mm… oh… mm…"

The rhythmic "screaming" continued, the priestess's voice sounded quite vigorous, not as if something bad happened.

???

Once the Puki moved away, the three ran back from afar and saw the priestess with her entire back covered with roundish black footprints.

The Ranger lifted her head: "Are you okay?"

"Feeling… feeling pretty good…"

The priestess blinked in a daze, her chest still stirring with the lingering thrill of a brush with death, but it seemed there was a hint of longing for more.

The group exchanged odd looks, helped the priestess up, and checked her over, confirming she wasn't injured.

Not lingering long, the four picked up the bee carcass the Puki left behind and headed for the surface—they had new bragging material!

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