The battle on the sixth floor was still dragging on. Although Lin Jun hadn’t secured control of it yet, there were already some gains.

【Seven Sins: Greed triggered】

【Plundered Skill: Neurotoxin LV3 → LV4】

【Plundered Skill: Digestive Slime LV6 → LV7】

【Plundered Skill: Physical Resistance LV5 → LV6】

…

Honestly, the slime skills from this floor were quite useful.

Neurotoxin was basically a liquid version of Hallucinogenic Spores. At the same level, its effect was stronger, though less convenient to use.

Lin Jun thought, maybe he could combine it with Mimicry—wait until an enemy passed by, then suddenly squirt it straight into their face?

Digestive Slime was a form of corrosive damage, handy for waste disposal.

For example, skeletons that mycelium couldn’t decompose, or equipment completely ruined and worthless—he threw them into slime to dissolve.

Physical Resistance needed no explanation. For regular Pujis with tiny health pools, it didn’t matter—they’d die in one hit anyway.

But for elite Pujis, it was a different story.

Since Lin Jun’s mana reserves had grown recently, it was about time to create a batch of true elites that went beyond mere cannon fodder.

That plan would have to wait until after conquering the sixth floor, though. Taking it was a massive mana sink, and even with his current production, he was only just breaking even.

Apart from the Greed-boosted skills, there was one other ability that finally improved through Lin Jun’s own effort and sweat!

【Skill Upgrade: Mycelium Network LV6 → LV7】

No shortcuts here—this core skill had to be raised the slow, grinding way.

From the time he left the Deep Zone until now, it had finally risen a level!

To his surprise, the panel description had a new line: “Can create Relay Nodes within the Mycelium Network.”

It looked like a derivative function. But what was a Relay Node?

Only one way to know—test it.

Lin Jun picked four mining Pujis and turned one into a relay.

It kept working, its shelled cap thumping stone. But then… all four synced up?

When the relay Puji stepped forward, the others stepped forward too—even if it meant walking into a wall.

When it struck stone, the others mimicked the motion—even when there was nothing in front of them.

It looked like… a synchronizer.

Completely useless.

He thought about it, then shook awake Gray, who had been dozing with her glass beads.

She stumbled out, yawning and rubbing her eyes, dragged by a Puji’s tentacle into a clearing where a crowd of Pujis stood.

Lin Jun set her as a relay and linked one Puji beneath her.

The effect was immediate.

The Puji copied her perfectly—stretching out tentacles to rub at nonexistent eyes.

Still just a synchronizer. Not what he wanted.

“Gray, don’t be groggy. Do you feel anything different?”

“Different?”

She perked up a little at his voice, then noticed the Puji imitating her.

“What’s this?”

She stepped forward to pick it up, but it copied her step and kept away.

…

So she chased it, and it fled, both in perfect sync.

Thanks only to her longer legs, she caught it and hugged it tight, examining this strange little creature that felt oddly linked to her.

Lin Jun watched her play for a long while, the Puji only ever mimicking.

But then Gray seemed to figure something out!

Still holding it, its four tentacles suddenly twisted together like a braided rope.

Huh?

She set it down, and it spun around her, whipping the braid.

Lin Jun was sure he hadn’t given any such order.

“Gray, are you commanding that Puji now?”

“I think so!”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement at the discovery of a new toy.

And Lin Jun finally understood the true function.

In short, it outsourced Puji control. A relay was like appointing a squad leader.

But that squad leader needed brains.

If you picked a normal Puji, it was just a synchronizer.

This function seemed tailor-made for Dilan.

Unfortunately, Dilan wasn’t in the Mushroom Garden now, and scout command couldn’t be given to him either.

The scouts were too far away—he could still control them only because of 【Familiar Control】.

If he transferred authority, that link would sever.

And once cut, reconnecting?

Sorry—target not within server range. Please try again later…

Then Dilan would be completely on his own.

While Lin Jun pondered new applications, Gray was already directing her Puji to run straight into her mouth.

She sat still, and it willingly fed her its mushroom cap.

But after a third of its cap was gone, it collapsed dead.

Gray instantly sulked, as though she’d just lost her toy.

What kind of nonsense was this? Playing herself into sadness?

Lin Jun handed her two more Pujis, and as soon as she felt the new links, she forgot the dead one on the ground.

But he wasn’t done—he kept transferring more and more.

Four… eight… fifteen…

Finally, all twenty-one Pujis on-site were under her command.

He wanted to see where the limit was.

But before he hit his own ceiling, hers hit first.

Overloaded, she tripped over her own feet, crashing onto one Puji and flattening it, then flopped on the ground like a stranded fish.

The other Pujis devolved into chaos—some crashing around, some rolling, some standing frozen.

The scene was a total mess.

Only when Lin Jun pulled all control back did it calm.

Gray staggered up, then bolted into the Mushroom House to hide, clearly shaken.

It must have been unpleasant.

How strange. Puji control ability should scale with intelligence. She was dumb, sure, so not many was understandable.

But just twenty-odd?

Even if not precise, she should’ve been able to manage basic commands.

Why had she lost control of her own body?

He guessed it was just Gray being… too special. Born deficient.

If only he could test with someone of normal intelligence.

At times like this, he really missed Dilan—that utterly ordinary man had been very useful…

Speaking of which… what rank did a tree demon’s intelligence count as?