Chapter 3

"Half-orcs?"

Staring at the ugly and strong monsters before him, Zane pushed up his glasses, a trace of undisguised disdain flashing in his eyes. He had never had any good feelings towards these creatures with an IQ of 9. Stupid, low-capacity, they only caused trouble. Although Enoa had once suggested recruiting a few half-orcs to defend the dungeon, Zane still rejected this idea.

Relying on these half-orcs to guard the dungeon would be less reliable than expecting them to demolish a house.

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh!!"

Seeing the thin mage before them, the half-orcs, whether they had found a target to vent their anger or had some other idea, saw their leader, the half-orc captain, roar and then tightly grip his battle axe, charging at Zane. Behind him, the other half-orcs raised their weapons and followed closely behind, taking large strides.

Seeing this, Zane only gave a cold snort.

"Foolish trash, you are of no use to me."

As he spoke, Zane extended his hand and pointed forward.

"Boom!!!"

In the next moment, dazzling thunderous light filled the entire passage. Blazing, scorching lightning spears shot out from Zane's fingertips, whistling forward. For a moment, the blinding white light swallowed everything, and the world was nothing but white.

It seemed to have been a long time, or perhaps just an instant. When the white light faded again, what appeared before Zane were only a few completely charred, twisted, and torn corpses.

[The invading enemies have been completely eliminated. The Dungeon Lord has gained 85 experience points.]

That's why I say these experience-less, annoying trash are so detestable.

Glancing at the prompt that appeared before him, Zane frowned. The biggest drawback of the dungeon system was that while it could allow the monsters Zane hired to level up individually, it could not level up Zane alone. To level up, he had to absorb the overall experience points of the dungeon and level up together with the entire dungeon.

Individual monsters only needed a hundred or so experience points to level up, but for a dungeon to reach level two, it required thousands... This was why Zane was so annoyed. In the face of thousands of experience points, a mere hundred or so were not even enough to fill his teeth.

Well, at least it's some income. Thinking of this, Zane snapped his fingers, and soon, five small goblins, carrying bags and holding mining picks, screamed as they rushed out from the depths of the corridor. They began to search and scrape the charred corpses, collecting all usable items and treasures. Then, dragging the bloodied corpses, they ran off, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, the dungeon level is too low. If I could build a cemetery and a prison, these corpses could at least be used to cultivate a few skeleton soldiers.

Zane had long become indifferent to death. After being reborn in this world, he indeed found death hard to adapt to. But after living in the demon world for so many years, death, corpses, and blood had taken on new value for him.

"Hmm?"

At this moment, a trembling figure caught Zane's eye, making him raise an eyebrow. The system's prompt was [All enemies eliminated], which meant that this uninvited guest was not considered an enemy by the dungeon?

Thinking of this, Zane couldn't help but feel a bit curious and slowly walked towards the figure.

Seeing Zane approach, the figure trembled even more. Under the firelight, Zane clearly saw the figure's true appearance.

From the surface, it seemed to be a human girl, around ten years old, wearing a somewhat dirty dress, timidly leaning against the wall and looking at him. However, Zane recognized her true race from her slightly brown skin and slight differences.

She was a gnome.

Gnomes were one of the races of the dark underground. The most distinctive feature of this race, in Zane's view, was their size. Adult gnomes were only as tall as a twelve or thirteen-year-old child, and their appearance was no different from that of a child. They had all sorts of innocent and whimsical ideas.

Of course, if Zane had to summarize, it would be one sentence—entirely a race of legal lolis with a long shelf life (at least a hundred years), which would certainly make loli lovers on Earth weep with joy and celebrate.

"Don't kill me... don't kill me..."

Seeing Zane approach, Bixi was so scared she almost fainted. She had clearly seen how those terrifying half-orcs had died miserably. Even the strongest warriors among them had not lasted a single move under the terrifying demon lord's hands, turning into ashes.

Seeing the dark figure approach, Bixi's face turned pale. The stories her parents used to tell her about the demon lords in the dark dungeons eating people resurfaced in her memory. Would she be caught by this demon lord and eaten as a side dish? Or used as a sacrifice for some terrible experiment? By the stones, Bixi was still young, Bixi did not want to die!

Interesting.

Looking at the gnome, Zane's lips curled slightly, revealing a smile. Gnomes were cautious creatures, and Zane's dungeon was not close to the surface. He rarely saw such intelligent beings. Those who had come to his dungeon before were mostly claw beasts and half-orcs, not worth mentioning. Now, the system had sent him a captive. Although he didn't know what this gnome could do, at the very least, she could serve as a servant.

This way, Enoa could be freed from her part-time maid role.

"Stand up."

Thinking of this, Zane looked at the gnome and said in a deep voice. Hearing his words, Bixi, though very afraid, still supported herself against the wall and shakily stood up.

"What is your name?"

"B-B-Bixi. Bixi Mooncrystal..."

"......"

What a ridiculous name?

"Then, Bixi, are you willing to swear by your true name to forever be loyal to me, to serve me, to dedicate your soul to me, and become my most loyal servant?"

As he spoke, Zane extended his right hand. Soon, a strange, twisted, bright red symbol appeared in the air beside his hand, floating quietly. Bixi stared blankly at the red symbol, her clear eyes gradually becoming dull and lifeless. She raised her head in a daze and nodded at Zane.

"I am willing... Bixi Mooncrystal is willing to forever be loyal to you, great master..."

As she spoke in a dreamlike murmur, Bixi extended her hand. The moment her right hand touched the red symbol, the symbol instantly turned into several fine lines, quickly merging into Bixi's body. Immediately, the gnome collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

At this moment, the pleasant system prompt sounded again.

"Ding..."

[A new member has joined your dungeon. Recruitment of Bixi Mooncrystal (Silver) successful]

[Daily recruitment task completed. Gained 100 experience points, new building—Summoning Crystal]

"Hmm?"

Seeing the second system prompt, Zane was instantly stunned. He remembered clearly that the daily recruitment task was for an architect—could this gnome actually be an architect? Moreover, Zane clearly saw that the system had rated Bixi as (Silver), meaning she was at the same level as Enoa?

Thinking of this, Zane hurriedly focused his attention on the gnome lying on the ground. Soon, another character information panel appeared before Zane.

[Bixi Mooncrystal (Silver)]

[Race: Gnome]

[Combat Ability: ☆ (This is a weakling with a combat ability less than 5)]

[Management: ★★ (She can organize everything neatly, from cleaning rooms to burying corpses, making her the best helper for daily life and murder)]

[Influence: ★ (Even dogs have their masters; without your existence, her words would be largely ignored)]

[Loyalty: ★★ (Fear and terror are also ways to win people's hearts, especially when life is used as bait)]

[Special Traits]

[Invention and Creation—Gnomes are naturally inclined to invent and create, and their wisdom can sometimes bring unexpected results (Additional creation +1)]

[Ingenuity—There is nothing that cannot be done, only what cannot be thought of. Sparks of wisdom often flash unexpectedly (5% chance to discover rare blueprints)]

[Special Skills]

[Strange Item Creation: The ability to invent and create various strange items, of any type]

[Building Design: The ability to design and construct ordinary buildings, of any type]

[Personal Exclusive Quest: Bixi's Future—Don't think you've obtained a precious gem. In the dark underground, nothing is cheaper than gems. Without careful polishing, even the best raw stone will become waste. But even the most foolish can gain a protagonist's aura through a stroke of luck. Requirement: Cultivate Bixi into a talent, advancing her to a Master Architect or Master Inventor. Reward: 5000 experience points, Dungeon Expansion +1]

Master Architect?

Seeing this, even Zane's heart skipped a beat. If he could really cultivate this gnome into a Master Architect, he wouldn't need to negotiate with the greedy gray dwarves. Even if not a Master Architect, with Bixi's current skills, helping him build the dungeon would be no problem!

Plus, with the Summoning Crystal rewarded by the previous quest, his dungeon would finally take shape!