The largest burrow entrance was tall enough for an adult to pass through, and the slope wasn’t very steep.

"Cover your mouths and noses."

Allen tore a few pieces of fabric from a camp tent, soaked them with water from his flask, and handed them to the others. "The pollen concentration will only be higher inside."

Bruno took the wet cloth, his hands still trembling. He stared at the pitch-black entrance as if it were the maw of a giant beast.

"Captain, are we... really going in?"

"Our mission objective is inside. We’ll scout first and act according to the situation."

Allen’s voice was devoid of inflection. He tied the wet cloth over his own face, leaving only his pair of unfathomably deep blue eyes visible.

"Besides, that magic plant is worth far more than the Crystal Shell Burrowing Insects."

That single sentence transformed the operation from "a suicide mission" into "a high-risk, high-reward investment."

Without another word, Baston tied on his cloth strip, raised his massive Tower Shield before him, and was the first to bend over and crawl inside.

The cave walls were deeply ridged, like the esophagus of some great beast. A faint, silvery-blue light from an unknown source illuminated the path.

The sweet fragrance in the air grew more intense. Even through the wet cloth, the scent relentlessly wormed its way into their minds.

After less than fifty meters, Baston’s steps began to falter. His heavy breathing echoed in the narrow passage, and an unnatural flush crept across his bronzed face.

"Heh heh..."

Bruno, who was walking behind him, suddenly let out a dopey laugh. He cradled the smooth stone in his arms, nuzzling it affectionately with his cheek. "My little treasure, you smell so good..."

Lina frowned. She could feel her own heart begin to race as a wave of laziness washed over her, a deep-seated urge to do absolutely nothing.

Only Allen’s pace remained steady.

In his Spiritual World, alarm bells were already ringing.

[Warning: Host heart rate increase detected. Abnormal dopamine secretion...]

[Activating emergency protocol: ’Logical Barrier’.]

[Directive: Main thread force-loading "Advanced Runes." Constructing spiritual firewall.]

In an instant, countless cold, complex, and utterly unaesthetic diagrams of Rune structures flooded Allen’s primary consciousness.

Relentless mathematical formulas and runic patterns forcibly occupied all his senses, walling off the cloyingly sweet temptation.

[Protocol directive triggered: Second thread activated. Maintaining environmental awareness, monitoring team member status.]

"Lina, what’s the situation?"

Allen’s voice came out muffled from behind the cloth.

Lina’s vision was blurry. To her, the auras around Baston and Bruno had become a chaotic, dizzying pink.

She shook her head hard and looked toward Allen.

The deep blue ocean that represented Allen was still there.

But beneath the surface, silvery threads of logic were spinning at an unprecedented, frantic pace, weaving themselves into an impenetrable net that shredded and disintegrated all the invading pink mist.

Lina even had the strange impression that she was seeing Allen’s soul hunched over an invisible desk, facing a mountain of exam papers and answering them at an inhuman speed, the tip of his pen making a harsh SCRAPE SCRAPE sound as it flew across the page.

"They’ve been affected,"

Lina replied. "Badly."

As a member of the Mind School, Lina had a strong resistance to this kind of influence.

Just then, the passage ahead suddenly opened up.

A massive underground cavern appeared before the four of them.

The scene at the center of the cavern made everyone stop in their tracks.

A huge, strangely demonic plant dominated the space.

Its main stalk resembled a twisted human torso, its surface covered by a translucent membrane. Beneath it, colorful light could be seen faintly flowing.

Countless deep purple thorned vines extended from the main stalk like an octopus’s tentacles, tightly wrapped around a behemoth far larger than any ordinary burrowing insect.

It was a Queen. Its carapace had a near-perfect crystalline sheen, but right now, its eyes were vacant. It let the thorny vines slither across its body and pierce the gaps in its shell.

At the Queen’s side, three slightly smaller Crystal Shell Burrowing Insects were prostrated, like the most loyal of guards, standing motionless watch over this grotesque "ritual."

[Target Identified: Low-Level Magic Plant, ’Joyous Thorn.’]

[Ability 1: Wide-area mental contamination via pollen. Stimulates low-intelligence creatures into a state of frenzy and reproductive urgency, forcing them to act as ’guards’ and ’seeders.’ Ability 2: Releases high-intensity psychic waves for close-range enchantment and mind control.]

[Current Status: Undergoing deep parasitic control of the ’Crystal Shell Earthworm Queen.’]

As if sensing the intruders, the part of the Joyous Thorn’s main stalk that resembled a human face slowly turned toward Allen and his three companions.

It did not attack.

An irresistible, enchanting presence, thousands of times more potent than the pollen, swept over them like a tsunami.

A message brimming with overwhelming temptation echoed directly in their minds:

"Come... join us... feel ultimate pleasure..."

"Pleasure..."

Baston’s eyes instantly went vacant, and the Tower Shield in his hand fell to the ground with a CLANG.

Bruno was even more direct. He spread his arms wide, a blissful look on his face, and ran toward the magic plant, murmuring, "I’m coming... my love..."

Even Lina felt the world spin. Everything before her eyes transformed into the most splendid and beautiful illusions, and all she wanted was to sink into them and think no more.

Only Allen remained.

Before his primary consciousness could dissipate, he directly ordered control of his body to be transferred to the first thread. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Under the control of the first thread, his body executed the fastest, most effective response.

He didn’t pull out a grenade. In this enclosed environment, the consequences of an explosion would be unthinkable.

Instead, three missiles of pure Magic Power instantly took shape. With a piercing whistle, they shot out in a triangular formation toward the face-like main stalk of the Joyous Thorn.

At the same time, he roared at Lina, who was on the verge of being completely consumed:

"Lina! Max out the ’taunt’ emotion!"

His roar was like a thunderclap, detonating within Lina’s submerging consciousness.

’Taunt?’

Lina jolted, instantly snapping halfway back to her senses.

She looked at the magic plant emitting psychic waves that promised "supreme pleasure," and was suddenly struck by an idea.

She thought of the self-righteous noble apprentices at the academy, the condescending "experts" on the forums, and all the other ridiculously self-important yet pathetic people she knew.

She condensed a potent mixture of "contempt," "disdain," and "scorn" into an invisible Spiritual Thorn.

Then, she aimed this thorn at the consciousness of the Joyous Thorn and plunged it in violently!

Translated into a psychic wave, it was basically two phrases:

"That’s it?"

"Pathetic, bro."

The next second, the Joyous Thorn, which had been radiating waves of universal seduction, froze solid.

It was as if a diva, pouring their heart out in a solo, had just been doused with a basin of dirty foot water.

In a single second, that feeling of supreme temptation and pity transformed into one of utter bewilderment and explosive rage.

"—YAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

An ear-splitting shriek, one that no living creature should be able to produce, suddenly erupted throughout the entire cavern.