Chapter 777 - 533: Monster Beast Nest (Part 2)
"I always feel like something’s off here."
"It better not be one of those maps where nothing happens until suddenly something big does."
Qian Shanshan held up the night mushroom, moving to the center of the group.
Her words immediately drew hostile glares from Wu Guinan and Long Ren.
They hadn’t forgotten how often her ominous predictions proved to be eerily accurate.
As expected, the moment she spoke, the ever-sensitive Li Pu furrowed his brows.
"Prepare for battle, a beast is approaching."
The aura from the tunnel ahead left him a bit confused.
It felt like a pack of mushroom-eating beasts, or perhaps just one, but it was hard to describe with words.
At the very least, its strength surpassed any mushroom-eating beast encountered before.
Sure enough, before long, a massive figure that filled two-thirds of the passage came into view.
"What... what is that thing?"
"Qian Shanshan, can you stop talking from now on?"
Wu Guinan and Long Ren’s expressions changed.
"What a terrifying thing, goo ha ha!"
The mushroom warrior expressed his fear with a laugh.
Because this thing was none other than a mushroom-eating beast.
To be more precise, it was a bizarre fusion formed by numerous mushroom-eating beasts pieced together.
It looked as if a bunch of mushroom-eating beasts had been forcibly kneaded into shape by a pair of large hands.
The key point was that they had formed into a crude mushroom-man figure.
Unlike ordinary mushroom-eating beasts, these exposed vertical eyes were all blood-red.
"You all step back, just cover me."
Li Pu stepped out from the group.
In the current squad, the only reliable solo combatants were him and his partner, so it was more prudent for him to act.
"I’ll help too, goo goo da!"
As everyone retreated, the mushroom warrior volunteered to stand beside him.
After all, being immortal, it feared nothing.
"Don’t get in the way."
But with a flick of his toe, Li Pu kicked it back.
"Whoa! Be careful yourself then, goo goo ha!"
The mushroom warrior tumbled back into the group.
[Make friends, goo!]
However, the mushroom warrior’s approach seemed to trigger some nerve in the fusion monster.
All the forked forelimbs of the mushroom-eating beasts on its exterior snapped open, lunging towards them.
Li Pu didn’t bother with words, simply raising his hand with a squeeze.
With the aid of hand gestures, the [Gravity Field] became even stronger.
With gravity pressing down and buoyancy lifting up, two massive opposing forces instantly bore down on the fusion.
Crack, crack, crack!
The unsettling sound of metal being compressed filled the air.
The initially aggressive fusion halted in its tracks, its body visibly deflating at an alarming pace.
In a matter of seconds, it transformed from a metallic mushroom-man into a flat metal pancake.
"Impressive, goo goo da!"
"This level, truly amazing, bo."
The mushroom warrior and Span could not help but express their amazement.
"Well, even a big one can be dealt with, it still got taken down instantly."
"But I have to say, that thing did look bizarrely frightening."
"All show, no substance to it."
Wu Guinan and the other two were already accustomed, wanting to move forward.
"Wait."
Li Pu, however, raised his hand to stop them.
He sensed something strange.
The beast’s aura, which had been disappearing after being crushed, suddenly started to revive and become active again.
Moreover, this revival was happening at an increasingly rapid pace.
[Roar goo!]
A few seconds later, the fusion re-inflated back to its original crude mushroom-man form right before their eyes.
As soon as it recovered, it immediately fixed its gaze on Li Pu.
Yet its gaze quickly shifted towards the mushroom warrior.
[Chop this mushroom!]
"Whoa whoa! Didn’t you say you wanted to be friends, goo da!"
The mushroom warrior was startled.
Li Pu remained silent, raising his hand once again.
This time, yellow sand materialized out of thin air, forming a handle-less knife shape above the fusion’s head.
With the [Gravity Field] applied, the sand blade swiftly slashed down.
Clang!
Metal fireworks were ignited as the fusion monster was vertically split into two halves.
[Roar, Mushroom!]
A few seconds later, the fusion monster re-fused.
"Isn’t this just a mutated version of you?"
This scene made Wu Guinan glance at the Mushroom Warrior.
They have seen many ways of dying and various means of revival here.
Aside from the significant difference in appearance, this fusion monster feels like a replica of the Mushroom Warrior!
"But I don’t know it at all, Mushroom Mush Mush."
The Mushroom Warrior shrugged.
"If it’s an ally, that’s fine. If it’s an enemy, it seems it would be quite troublesome..."
"I think if we kill it several more times, its energy should be exhausted."
"Bizarre, truly bizarre."
As the group conversed, they saw Li Pu kill the fusion monster once again, only for it to revive intact.
"This guy is weird, you all go ahead."
"I’ll catch up with you once I’m finished here."
Ultimately, Li Pu realized they couldn’t afford to waste time here.
Once they left, he could let loose completely.
Everyone trusted Li Pu. Once they heard this, they took advantage of the moment when the fusion monster was once again crushed into a metal pancake, swiftly moving past it toward the other end of the tunnel.
When the Mushroom Warrior leaped across, those transformed forelimbs and needle-like mouthparts twitched slightly, as if trying to attack.
"You better hurry."
"We’ll be waiting for you up ahead."
"Be careful."
"Go for it, Mush Mush Mush!"
Each left a final word, and their silhouettes disappeared around the corner of the tunnel.
"I want to see how many times you can die."
With the group gone, Li Pu clenched his fist.
Now he didn’t need to consider anything else.
Ever since coming to the Mushroom realm, restricted by that peculiar turn-based system, he hadn’t fought a monster freely for quite some time.
This was the perfect opportunity.
He activated double-force [Hardening] + quadruple-force [Willpower], feeling his strength multiply.
Especially since not long after entering the maze-like tunnels, the power in his left leg returned.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Seeing the fusion monster recovering and intending to pursue the group, Li Pu blocked its path.
[Wah, Mushroom!]
The blocked fusion monster lunged at him again.
Five minutes later, a shapeless pile of broken scrap metal slumped against the wall.
Bam!
The bashed bodies of mushroom-eating beasts squirmed irregularly, seemingly trying to fuse again.
"Impressive."
Even Li Pu had to admire this scene.
In five minutes, he had taken down the creature 10 times, averaging every 30 seconds.
After grasping its clumsy and singular attack patterns, coupled with his agility, this creature posed no threat anymore.
"Could it be, it possesses immortality as well."
What truly impressed him was this fact.
Just a moment ago, the thrill was exhilarating; now, having vented, his mind gradually calmed down.
"Why do I feel like the color of its eyes is..."
Aside from being a fusion monster, its eye color differed from ordinary mushroom-eating beasts, catching his attention once more.
Looking closely, the color seemed quite familiar.
He rummaged through his storage space, retrieving the Brave Stone previously placed there.
"It’s exactly the same."
With a direct comparison, Li Pu raised his brow.
[Gemstone Mushroom!]
Just barely recovering 10% of the fusion monster, one of the mushroom-eating beasts’ needle-like mouthparts seemed strongly attracted, darting toward the Brave Stone in his hand.
"What are you thinking."
Li Pu’s iron-blue hand grasped the needle-like mouthpart, then pocketed the Brave Stone, swiftly knotting the needle.
[Ow Ow Ow Mushroom!]
Originally a hard feature, under his strength, it turned as pliable as a thin iron wire, causing the fusion monster to squeal in pain.
"If I can’t kill you, can’t I control you."
Li Pu’s gaze turned to the other mouthparts and limbs.
It was somewhat regrettable; he quite wanted the card for this monster.
...
...