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Chapter 209 Dungeon Core: “The Eternal Training Ground”
🕑 Added 2024-09-06 07:29:45 +0000 UTCPov Dungeon Core
The sky playroom was slowly starting to develop an ecosystem while I was working on the next playroom. This one was going to take longer as it was going to be entirely underground. At first, I didn’t realize I had missed such an important part of this world’s ecosystem, but to my credit, how could I have known that there was a whole world of its own under the ground?
At first, the missions to discover more dinosaurs underground went slowly, that is until my creatures found huge pockets of empty space filled with creatures who have not visited or been seen on the surface for who knows how long.
It seems that it was a well-kept secret by the powers of this world, but they only seem to harvest resources and, of course, protect the surface from these types of underworld areas that are directly connected to the surface or have developed a dungeon.
It seems that Pixies have ways of detecting any dungeon, so not even the ones that are able to breach and connect to the underground world before dying are safe from civilization.
This has caused a big uptick in my pattern library. What has also helped is that the living specimen spatial bags we have been purchasing, as we need the very best, have now gotten an upgrade, as in my Academy a team of crafters finally managed to make their own and are slowly working on getting them even bigger and better to bring in more dangerous and bigger creatures who are still alive. This should mean that my pattern library should get even more filled out, and I am incredibly excited for that.
The playroom of the 44th floor was going to be a new kind of ecosystem, the ones that we are seeing in the underground world, and I am hopeful, as their patterns seemed to have quite a lot of potential, which means that I should have a lot more platinum ranks to support my transition into the platinum rank. Only six more floors to go, which seems so little, yet I still remember when six floors were all I had. It seems that I have truly come a long way, but I still have quite a ways to go.
This isn’t the only big news. As many things seemed to have finished at the same time. I finally reached the latest floor with my labyrinth build, and I kind of wanted to open it, but I was advised against it. We were working on manipulating the outside world so less attention would be put on me, they argued successfully that I should hold off until the right moment to reveal this new feature.
On the other side, I finally finished the first phase of my fortress defense project. While I would need to reach platinum rank so I could strengthen my dungeon stone even more—making it impossible for even diamond ranks to break—I felt assured that I could hold off a proper assault by this world’s powers for a long time. The problem was, if they came in from my entrances, I would only give myself a month before they overran my defenses and got to my core.
I would not truly be safe until I had diamond-ranked creatures in large enough numbers to make conquering me cost too much. That’s why I was willing to cut off some of the current entrances I had, to delay them as much as possible. They would believe that this would cause me to suffocate, but I had new entrances to the underground area that the Ant nations had been working on, as I paid them for their work.
Things have changed a little bit with the realization of how big and what could be found under the surface of this world. After the news spread, it didn’t take long for the ants to start exploring more underneath my dungeon. They sent their experienced scouts down there, and it didn’t take long for them to discover smaller underground areas filled with life and opportunity.
So just a few hours ago, all the Ant nations and the United Ants came forward to ask permission to start exploring and even colonizing the world below. That was a huge step, because if dungeon creatures gave birth outside the dungeon, those creatures would no longer be mine. We would still have a weak connection, but that would only last for one or two more generations. After that, they would be like the adventurers who delve into me—they would no longer be mine.
That was sad, and I couldn’t even observe how they would live. This was making me sad. I didn’t have anything against it if they wanted to leave like that. And it wasn’t like they would all be leaving, but it still didn’t feel right. It wasn’t a bad feeling exactly—it was strange.
I explained to them the consequences, which did make them hesitate for quite a while, but they were too curious by nature not to continue exploring and expanding, even if it would be into a world that was not mine.
Of course, my advisors and many others cautioned me against this action and listed the many problems that might come, including that these new ants, who I would have no connection with, might want to see my downfall.
My work on my dungeon ground to a halt as more and more of my mind was occupied with this singular problem. In the end, it took me seven days to make a decision, the entire time the ants waiting in utter nervousness. But it was time for me to address these representatives of the ants.
"You have posed a direction I had not seen coming, although I should have. In the end, my decision came down to the desires of my creatures and the need to protect the ones who would still be living in my world. I will not know your lives of those who leave me, but I support your actions if you want to do so, even if it will make me sad. But there is one huge problem, and it is you, the ancient ants.
"While every other ant colony, if they do not choose to reveal their civilization, will go unnoticed by this world, a big enough colony of yours outside my territory would bring this world’s attention to your colonies, and in doing so, to me and every other ant colony near you. Because of this, I would ask you..." The ancient ant representative interrupted me, to my surprise.
"We are only here to support the others. We do not know what happened to our ancestors to be made such targets, but we can guess. While the United Ants will join the Ant Nations in colonizing, none of our species will leave and bring so much trouble onto others."
"This has been our choice from the beginning. Perhaps one day, when the device or whatever method they are using to track us is made inoperable, we will be able to join our brethren in exploring and colonizing the underground world. But we would still be supporting them from our home to the best of our abilities."
I took a moment to digest this statement, and it made me feel quite happy. "A choice had been made, and with it, my choice had been made. Go out and explore and colonize, but please be careful," was the last thing I said before I started to pull back my presence from that meeting area.
There wasn’t going to be a huge rush outside; they were going to take it slow and careful. It seems that I have taught them correctly. Is this what the adventurers felt when their children grew up and left their homes to start their own lives? Why was this feeling both sad and happy at the same time?
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