By using the skill [Inspiration], Lin Jun finally figured out what was going on with this bizarre space.
That [Falling Curse] which had clung to the Pujis the moment they arrived—its essence was basically adding “weight” to the soul!
When this invisible weight accumulated to a certain threshold, it was enough to drag the adventurer’s soul down into a deeper layer of the space.
The position of the soul determined the position of the body in reality.
Although Lin Jun still didn’t understand exactly how such a thing was possible, at least he now understood why he couldn’t go down.
Damn it, he was too fat to squeeze through!
What the hell was this supposed to be?!
To put it into an image: entering the Dungeon was like a marble falling onto a flexible net. As the “weight” on the soul increased, the marble grew heavier, stretching the mesh wider and wider, until it finally fell through into the layer below.
However, the marble controlled by Lin Jun… was oversized! Trying to force such a massive object through this net was practically impossible for the net itself…
Even after applying double the “weight” that would normally make a regular adventurer fall, Lin Jun could only faintly sense the weakest tugging force. Who knew how long his scout Pujis would have to waste here before they could actually drop down!And logically speaking, this stacking effect surely had a limit as well…
Didn’t this mean he didn’t have the ability to move between layers of the Strawman Abyss at all?!
The compatibility felt terrible.
Lin Jun began regretting sealing up that rift on the sixth floor.
That side was clearly a deeper region of the Strawman Abyss, while the zones he’d left accessible were all shallow areas with weaker curses.
He never expected to be stuck in a situation where he couldn’t go down!
But if he hadn’t sealed the sixth-floor rift, half the entire floor would’ve become scorched earth, still slowly spreading. He couldn’t just give up on the sixth floor, abandon the treants, could he?
Besides, there was no way he could have predicted such bizarre rules in advance.
By comparison, the Amethyst Dungeon really was straightforward—just descend step by step, floor by floor!
Unbelievable… he had just benefited from his massive soul size in the Amethyst Dungeon, and immediately suffered for it here in the Abyss. Blessing and curse, hand in hand.
If downwards wasn’t possible, then what about upwards?
Lin Jun found a few crow nests and dug through them one by one.
After rummaging through more than ten, he finally found a slightly dim yellow gem.
Flying into another area, he tried using it to “bribe” a crow whose status bar lacked the [Puppet] mark.
The crow was very wary of the suddenly appearing Puji, circling around it repeatedly.
But once it snatched the gem, it still upheld its professional integrity and flew off in a certain direction.
Following its lead, Lin Jun really did glimpse the “edge” region from afar.
However, every time the scout Puji tried flying that way, the scenery ahead would distort and blur. By the time it arrived, it was still the same familiar endless wheat field!
Even the crow, gem in its beak, tilted its head in puzzlement at the Puji.
After thinking for a bit, it decided its job was done. The Puji’s failure to escape wasn’t its problem, so it decisively flew off with the gem.
Lin Jun even tried having the Puji leap straight into a deep gully, letting it free fall.
But no matter how long it dropped, as soon as the Puji flapped its wings, just a few beats would bring it back to the gully’s edge.
Clearly, in the Strawman Abyss, body position was meaningless. If the soul couldn’t cross layers, then leaving was impossible.
Fortunately, Lin Jun still had the rift.
After nearly three days of exploration, the scout Puji returned safely to the fifth floor.
The “Wheat Field Maze,” whether its monsters or its mechanisms, posed no threat to the scout Puji.
That most troublesome [Falling Curse], essentially a kind of time limit on exploration, was utterly meaningless to Lin Jun.
He would have loved for it to matter a little, but unfortunately, it didn’t.
In the end, his evaluation was that this rift had little value. Sealing it didn’t matter.
【Greed of the Seven Sins triggered】
【Skill Looted: Corrosion Curse LV1】
【Skill Looted: Sensory Enhancement LV1】
Still, it wasn’t completely worthless. Before sealing it, a final round of harvesting was only proper.
…
The continuous fluttering of wings echoed through the Mushroom Garden, loud enough that a certain large goblin came over to see what was happening. This time, Lin Jun had cautiously disguised him in advance.
One after another, Pujis flew through the rift, landing at the edge of the gully. Eventually, nearly five hundred gathered there—all specialized Pujis carrying [Corrosion Resistance].
The circling flocks of crows grew restless, their caws merging into an ominous tide of noise.
The wheat field rippled like waves as scarecrows, having received the signal, pushed through the stalks and charged at the Pujis—less than fifty meters away, yet already outnumbered.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A storm of explosions erupted, sending scraps of grass and torn rags flying everywhere!
Lin Jun had long been able to attack; he had simply let them come closer so as not to damage his wheat—or rather, his tainted grass.
He patiently waited, and sure enough, the crow alarms drew in another dozen or so lone scarecrows.
Once those were cleared away, the grand “Autumn Harvest” finally began!
The Pujis worked in orderly divisions of labor.
Scout Pujis perched atop wooden poles, scanning back and forth to guard against ambushes.
Melee Pujis wielded their bladed tendrils, diligently reaping the wheat.
Behind them, Ox-Horse Pujis swallowed heaps of tainted grass into their bodies. Once full, they hauled the loads back to the fifth floor, tirelessly shuttling back and forth.
Unfortunately, the rift left behind was too small for Fat Pujis to squeeze through. Otherwise, the Ox-Horse Pujis wouldn’t have had to work so hard.
But if they didn’t work hard, they wouldn’t be Ox-Horse Pujis at all…
As for the Artillery Pujis, apart from wiping out that first wave of scarecrows, they weren’t much use afterward.
Any stray scarecrows that wandered over were handled by the melee Pujis instead. After all, firing artillery might kill the enemy, but it also destroyed patches of wheat—not cost-effective.
Occasionally, noisy crows that flew too low were picked off by the Artillery Pujis, but that was about it.
Lin Jun had no plans to spread the Mycelium Carpet widely here. Since this rift was destined to be abandoned, he only extended it slightly.
Harvesting was limited to the areas nearby. There was more than one rift leading into the Strawman Abyss, so there was no need to exhaust the resources in haste.
During the harvest, Lin Jun even had the luck to “witness” a party of adventurers shifting layers.
A few vague souls descended first, followed by the adventurers’ bodies emerging suddenly from the mist, appearing within the scout Pujis’ senses.
They were a group of dwarves. They noticed the commotion near the Pujis from a distance, froze briefly, and then turned without hesitation, sprinting the other way.
Lin Jun didn’t bother with them. At that range, the Mycelium Carpet hadn’t spread, so he couldn’t do much to them anyway.
Soon, the once-thick wheat fields were shaved bald, leaving only a few lonely wooden frames standing.
A “farmer” scarecrow, pitchfork in hand, watched from afar as the Pujis departed with their bountiful haul. Who knew what it might have been thinking.
Back in the Mushroom Garden, the cursed tainted grass hauled back by the tireless Ox-Horse Pujis had already piled into a small mountain, radiating a sinister aura!
Dylan, who had been soundly asleep, suddenly felt sharp stinging all over his skin. He yelped and leapt up, and only then did Lin Jun remember—ah, he didn’t have resistance.
He quickly had Pujis carry Dylan, whose skin and fungal threads were already peeling, away from the pile.
【Greed of the Seven Sins triggered】
【Skill Looted: Corrosion Curse LV1 → LV5】
【Skill Looted: Sensory Enhancement LV1 → LV2】
【Skill Looted: Tenacity LV6 → LV7】