"Croton! Get him back here!"
"So many men dead, and they've only reached the second floor!"
"That dog... am I feeding him my gold just to have him act like a mutt?!"
Inside the border castle, Lord Fenris Grey was currently in a towering rage.
"Lord Grey, Croton is deep within the second-floor labyrinth and has lost contact with the base; it will take time to reach him."
Upon hearing this, Fenris angrily kicked the person in front of him.
"I don't care what method you use, get him back here."
"I don't want to hear excuses. That bastard, how dare he!"
Fenris vented his fury within the castle.
The attendant he had kicked down merely knelt on the ground, waiting for Fenris's anger to subside, not even daring to breathe loudly.
"Send more men, and then..."
"Write a letter to the Adventurer Association in Copperwater City. Tell that old fossil to send some lowly peasants over to assist in the development of the new dungeon."
"If he asks for payment, spit in his face."
Though Fenris was greedy, he was not stupid.
While Croton was a bastard, Fenris still had some confidence in his abilities.
If this bastard wasn't intentionally trying to harm him, then there was truly something wrong with this dungeon.
What enraged him was that Croton was deliberately evading punishment, defying his orders to continue the exploration.
This was something he absolutely could not tolerate.
As things stood, sending more of his own men might only expand the losses.
In that case, it would be better to let adventurers get involved and act as cannon fodder to scout the way for him.
The Adventurer Association wouldn't refuse; after all...
This was a dungeon.
"Follow my instructions and go."
"Go collect five silver coins. As my attendant, you need a set of more decent clothes."
Fenris spoke indifferently.
The attendant kneeling on the floor finally breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly rose to offer thanks, and then bowed as he retreated.
Fenris watched the attendant leave from the corner of his eye before walking to the desk, taking out a sheet of stationery, and picking up a quill.
After a moment's hesitation, he dipped it in ink and began to write.
"Most honorable Father, I often think of you and wish to share some recent trivialities of my life, as well as some interesting news from the border, and..."
Fenris's pen paused slightly before finally continuing.
"A major event occurring in the northwest of the border..."
Shortly after, a message owl flew out from the castle, crossed the border mountains, and headed south.
...
"Gold!"
"A Golden Legend!"
Dalun Li excitedly looked at a gold coin scavenged from a coin pouch.
He hadn't expected someone to bring a gold coin out; it had increased his Earth Vein Power absorption speed by a full 0.1.
Beside Dalun Li, leather armor, iron armor, and various weapons and shields were already piled into a small heap.
There was also a small pile of coins.
Most were copper coins, with only a few silver coins scattered among them.
A total of 96 silver coins and 234 copper coins.
As well as 2 cloudy rubies, 3 sapphires, and 1 emerald.
He tossed that golden coin onto the small pile.
Dalun Li's speed of absorbing Earth Vein Power had now become 1.894 per day.
As expected, there was a return on investment.
The nine mandragora seeds he had initially lost were now fully recovered.
Furthermore, the mandragora seeds hadn't disappeared; they had simply changed the way they accompanied him.
"Please, give me more of that sweet money."
The more Dalun Li looked at these coins, the more he liked them.
As Croton withdrew his men, the exploration speed on the second floor dropped significantly.
Meanwhile, Kroos was currently a bit unhinged.
He didn't trust anything he saw on the second floor, and his mental state made him look like a vagrant.
However, even so, he had no intention of leaving the dungeon.
Everything was progressing in a positive direction.
Yet, a day later, something even better happened.
Intruders began to enter the first floor again.
Though the numbers were small, they were continuous, entering one after another.
Judging by their attire, they weren't the lord's men, but teams of two or three, and even some lone wolves.
Dalun Li was ecstatic.
The mandragora was making a comeback.
This time, it would not lose.
Of course, Dalun Li couldn't kill them all off, or he would only attract true experts who would steamroll him.
He had to let them taste some sweetness, making them unwilling to let the powerful experts take over, forcing them to settle for the scraps.
He would take the opportunity to pick off a few heads and grow steadily.
Then, he would set up a ninety-nine-floor labyrinth to lead those bastards who tried to steamroll him in circles.
For instance, the red-faced gargoyle on the second floor was something Dalun Li had specifically designed.
Its red copper mask was a special material containing magic power and had some value.
Future monsters would be designed this way too, to cultivate customer retention.
At the same time, he couldn't kill all the lone wolves; he had to let some of them taste the rewards.
Otherwise, if all the lone wolves died and others stopped venturing alone, his mandragora would have to go back into retirement.
"Hmm, did a little mandragora kill another one?"
Dalun Li looked toward the ground as a set of equipment and a coin pouch were teleported over.
At this moment, the 40 points of Earth Vein Power for the fourth floor were finally gathered.
But staying on the third floor was still too unsafe.
Without delay, Dalun Li manipulated the Earth Vein Power and began to create the fourth floor.
Soil and rock rapidly cleared out the fourth floor, and a vast, sprawling land filled the chaotic space.
The corridors of the third floor slowly extended and connected to the fourth floor.
[Earth Vein Power required to create the next floor: 100]
As the passage connected, Dalun Li quickly transferred from the third floor to the fourth.
This included his accumulated, modest wealth.
The fourth floor was finally no longer a grotto, but a forest.
There was no light from above this forest; instead, the forest was filled with glowing moss spreading across tree trunks and rocks, providing illumination.
"A forest?"
Dalun Li landed unexpectedly in the center of this forest, along with the pedestal beneath him.
The power belonging to this floor flooded into his body.
This power was strong and full of vitality, completely different from the cold, stable power provided by the previous three floors.
The first three floors were all caves, and the power they provided was related to rock.
That was why Dalun Li could so easily create a large number of gargoyles and mimics.
But this floor provided the power of plants and trees, brimming with vitality.
If he used this power to create monsters again, his creative range would also increase significantly.
The monsters' power would no longer be so stiff and rigid.
"Though it's not a grotto, these trees can be considered a natural labyrinth with just a little modification."
Flight magic existed in this world.
However, that required considerable magical attainment; if such a person came to this border, he currently wouldn't be able to stop them from steamrolling him.
So he didn't need to worry about someone using flight to bypass the forest.
Furthermore, he planned to design the passage to the next floor to be hidden within the forest.
Flying in the sky would actually make it harder to find.
Dalun Li once again scanned the land of the fourth floor with anticipation.
The fourth floor was larger, but no mineral veins appeared.
As expected, the situation on the third floor was relatively rare.
However, this tree seemed quite good.
Dalun Li noticed a giant, towering tree in a corner of this forest floor.
Its branches were thick, like houses, growing all the way to the top of the floor, and it was covered in glowing moss like a pillar of light.
Beneath the tree was a small lake surrounding the giant tree.
Some algae at the bottom of the lake also emitted a faint glow, reflecting the entire lake in a shade of blue.
The giant tree contained some magic power, though it was quite weak; other than that, it was no different from a normal tree.
Perhaps it would be a good material for making apprentice wands or magical wooden items.
He could try using it to create monsters first.
How should he design the monsters for the third floor?
Dalun Li was lacking inspiration, but those intruders could always provide him with some.
Like the mimics, for example.
Perhaps this time, he could find inspiration from them again.
Rate on N.U.
