With the creation of the third floor, Dalun Li's power increased once more.
He did not hesitate, immediately moving the core along with its stone pedestal to the third floor while simultaneously beginning to remodel the second floor.
Although he wanted to create something grand and novel...
To stall for time, he decided otherwise.
A larger, more convoluted grotto labyrinth rapidly formed on the second floor.
He hoped that the fellows who had struggled through the first floor only to find nothing would be able to hold back their curses once they reached this level.
After his mischievous thought, Dalun Li began to inspect the third floor with his gaze.
The second floor he had just opened was no different from the first; it was the same monotonous grotto.
The third floor seemed to be the same, still just stone...
Wait?
Dalun Li's gaze swept across a corner of the third floor and then stopped.
'Is this... a mineral vein?'
Dungeons were not actually underground; they were carved out of chaotic space, only appearing to extend downward.
Therefore, the nature of a newly opened floor was entirely up to chance.
Unless special power was used to create a new floor, the result was random.
And Dalun Li's power came from the dungeon; the dungeon itself was his true body.
Consequently, special floors could also grant or enhance Dalun Li's unique powers.
'Is this... a copper mineral vein?'
Dalun Li stared in surprise at the copper-red streaks exposed on a section of the rock wall.
Could he use this copper to mint copper coins to help him absorb Earth Vein Power?
Hm... the efficiency would be too low; he simply didn't have the manpower.
No, wait—a copper mine, a dungeon copper mine.
There was no doubt that this would attract many people; the lord might even send men in just to mine it.
In other words, this copper mineral vein would continuously 'grow' people to serve as his nourishment!
Some might even come to live and reside on this floor.
After all, the third floor was still considered a surface layer within the dungeon and wouldn't have overly powerful monsters, making it relatively safe.
But that was all for the future; as for the current use of this copper mine...
'Monster Creation.'
The monster of the first floor was the mandragora.
He had to create monsters for the second floor as well to help him hunt intruders.
If he used this copper as a material...
With his power increased, he could create even stronger monsters.
Furthermore, since there was an abundance of copper here, he could produce a significant number of monsters for the second floor.
However, if he wanted to deal with parties of adventurers, ordinary monsters would just be fodder.
'Hmm...'
While watching the intruders on the first floor, the silver orb pulsed with a glow of wisdom.
It wasn't until he heard someone say, "If only we could find a treasure chest, I'd love to strike it rich in one go," that he had an idea.
'...That's it. Let the experiment begin!'
Dalun Li first decomposed a portion of the brass from the mineral vein to use as material.
Then...
'Monster Creation!'
This creation was more complex than the mandragora.
This monster needed a hard defense, an appearance that would make people lower their guard, and the explosive power to kill in an instant.
The brass continuously shifted its form under Dalun Li's power.
Until finally, it completely took shape.
The monster... a mimic!
[Name] Dalun Li's mimic
[Level] lv3
[Skills] Stealth lv2, Instantaneous Burst lv2, Sharp Teeth lv1, Copper Skin lv1, Copper Bone lv1
[Penalty Skill] Enfeebled lv1 (Can only release a moment of powerful strength, followed by a period of weakness)
[Description] A mimic servant created by the unknown existence, Dalun Li. It is incredibly ferocious, possessing the bite force to snap through steel and iron in an instant. It looks identical to a treasure chest and emits a treasure-like glow.
This was Dalun Li's answer!
The copper-red mimic landed on the ground, its lid opening and closing repeatedly as it affectionately tried to get close to Dalun Li, striving for his favor.
"I'll leave the second floor to you, A-Bao."
Click-clack!
The mimic snapped its lid twice in excitement, then fell into a state of weakness, collapsing onto the ground motionless.
It could only perform sneak attacks.
It would either bite you to death or be beaten to death.
However, its intelligence seemed a bit low.
Hm... or perhaps its intelligence was high, making it seem low; mandragoras only had instinctive emotions and no real intelligence.
After teleporting the mimic to the second floor, Dalun Li continued to decompose the copper to create new mimics.
Having only one type of mimic still felt a bit off.
After all, if the entire second floor was empty and a treasure chest suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it would easily arouse suspicion.
He had to create a proper ecological niche.
Dalun Li decomposed more copper and, combining it with rock, created another type of monster.
[Name] Dalun Li's red-faced gargoyle
[Level] lv3
[Skills] Stone Skin lv2, Sharp Teeth lv1, Sharp Claws lv1, Stealth lv1
[Description] A gargoyle servant created by the unknown existence, Dalun Li. They typically live in groups and have hard bodies, but are relatively brittle. They pose a certain level of danger when attacking in swarms.
Looking at the motionless, red-faced gnome-like statues before him, Dalun Li continued to create a batch of them.
He set these red-faced gnome statues to guard the mimics in groups, hiding the mimics among them, while others were scattered to patrol the second-floor labyrinth.
This made things look much more natural; no one would notice anything abrupt about the mimics anymore.
Creating this batch exhausted even Dalun Li's power.
He watched the first floor while patiently waiting for his power to recover.
As soon as his power returned, he immediately created another batch of gargoyles and threw them onto the second floor.
Finally, the first floor was conquered.
The one who cleared it wasn't anyone else but that conspicuous solo adventurer, Kroos.
Meanwhile, the lord's men had already searched their way to the vicinity of the actual passage.
Watching Kroos walk excitedly toward the passage to the second floor, Dalun Li lay leisurely on his stone pedestal and shifted his gaze to the second floor.
At the same time, he let out a long sigh.
"The conflict... begins now."
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