"Damn it!"
"There's a goblin spellcaster!"
"Everyone, rush him and take him down now!"
The adventurers did not falter despite seeing their companions fall. They surged forward together, launching a full assault on the goblin village chief. However, a defensive line formed by the goblin warriors blocked their advance, and two more adventurers were set ablaze and killed in quick succession.
"To hell with you!"
Raging Chick hurled his baton, striking the elderly goblin.
It wasn't a fatal blow, but it successfully interrupted the fireball spell.
"Nice one, Chick!" someone shouted. As the adventurers tied down the goblin warriors, another voice barked urgently, "Wind-in-Sleep, Blade Uncle, now's your chance!"
Wind-in-Sleep and Lonely Blade seized the opening and charged straight at the goblin chief. The old goblin had no close-combat capability whatsoever. Working together, the two quickly finished him off.
The remaining goblins were no longer a serious threat.
Still, their numbers were overwhelming. Riot zombies had high defense, but they were not truly invincible. During the remainder of the battle, three more adventurers were taken down.
In the end—
Miracle City claimed total victory.
Over thirty goblins were wiped out completely.
Miracle City lost seven zombies in total.
Not bad.
Watching from behind the scenes, Kanzaki Ren calmly assessed the battlefield. Losses during combat were inevitable. Eliminating more than thirty dark-race enemies in a single battle was more than enough to generate significant returns for the territory.
"Hahaha!"
"That was one hell of a fight!"
"We won! Dark races aren't all that scary after all. This kind of battle feels amazing!"
"Normal zombies are still a bit weak. If we could control Hunter zombies or Smoker zombies, we'd wipe out this dark-race camp without losing a single unit!"
While celebrating, the adventurers didn't forget to loot the goblin camp. From more than a dozen crude huts, they found supplies including berries, medicinal herbs, and dried meat.
In addition, they discovered an inconspicuous altar in the center of the village.
The altar stood about a meter tall, resembling an ancient roadside shrine. A glowing stone floated within it—and this stone was anything but ordinary.
"It's a Guardian Divine Stone!"
Kanzaki Ren's spirits lifted instantly.
[Ding! You have discovered the "Red Claw Village Divine Stone." Would you like to convert it immediately?]
In the Chaos World, half of every day was shrouded in chaotic energy.
During this period, no living being could move freely. Anyone caught in the chaos tide would have their mind and soul eroded, potentially triggering unpredictable and catastrophic consequences.
For this reason, all underground races required shelters to survive.
From massive dungeons to small villages and tribes, all needed Guardian Divine Stones to form protected domains.
Generally, the larger the settlement and population, the more frequently the Divine Stone was worshipped. This increased its protection radius—and when a lord claimed it, the greater the reward.
By consuming mental energy, Kanzaki Ren could transform a Guardian Divine Stone into a territorial Divine Stone of varying grades. Each successful conversion granted a corresponding reward.
Furthermore, territorial Divine Stones could be linked to the dungeon core—
allowing the establishment of personnel and material teleportation routes.
[You are activating the "Red Claw Village Divine Stone." This will consume 150 mental energy. Continue?]
"Yes."
Refining a Divine Stone required a considerable amount of mental energy.
It seemed costly—but it was absolutely worth it.
[Divine Stone activation successful!]
[You have successfully occupied "Red Claw Village" and obtained "Chaos Treasure Chest (Gray)" ×1!]
[You may view Red Claw Village's construction details, income, and population through the lord panel.]
Success!
Red Claw Village was now under Miracle City's control.
Kanzaki Ren fully understood how critical territorial expansion was. Setting aside economic and military benefits, simply establishing a teleportation point alone brought immense convenience.
If the territory wished to continue exploring in this direction, there was no longer any need to depart from Miracle City. By consuming a small amount of soul crystals, one could teleport directly to Red Claw Village—saving nearly three hours of travel time.
Converting the Divine Stone also yielded a divine reward chest.
[You have opened the "Chaos Treasure Chest (Gray)."][You obtained "Soul Crystals" ×200, "Blueprint: Trading Hall" ×1!]
"A blueprint!"
Kanzaki Ren was delighted and immediately checked the details.
[Blueprint: Trading Hall]Tier 1 construction blueprint.Requires: 100 soul crystals, 50 mental energy, 30 units of Tier 1 material essence.
While the Trading Hall was a relatively common Tier 1 special building, it held immense importance for territorial development.
Special buildings were expensive. Beyond blueprints and soul crystals, they also consumed mental energy and material essence.
Before this operation, Kanzaki Ren had 340 mental energy and 732 soul crystals.
Recruiting mercenaries had cost 90 soul crystals and mental energy. Refining the Red Claw Village Divine Stone consumed another 150 mental energy, leaving him with 100 mental energy and 572 soul crystals.
The treasure chest added 200 more soul crystals.
Current total: 772 soul crystals.
Other resources were sufficient.
The only thing missing now was material essence.
Kanzaki Ren activated teleportation and descended from Miracle City to Red Claw Village.
The adventurers had already cleaned up the battlefield. Over thirty goblin corpses were piled together, and fifteen captured gnomes were bound nearby.
"Lord Kanzaki!"
"How did we do?"
"Didn't let you down, right?"
The adventurers were visibly proud.
After all, this was their first scouting mission—and they'd completely destroyed a dark-race outpost.
What they didn't know was that this "chance encounter" was entirely within Kanzaki Ren's calculations. Everything had unfolded exactly as expected.
That said—
their performance truly wasn't bad.
Kanzaki Ren doubled the contribution points for the surviving adventurers.
As for the ordinary supplies found in the goblin camp—wild fruit, dried meat, and other low-grade items—they were of little use to the territory. He kept only a small portion and distributed the rest as rewards.
Resources were scarce in the surface world.
This was a substantial gain.
Every adventurer was grinning from ear to ear.
[You have recovered "Zombie Soul Essence" ×11!]
After reclaiming the soul essences, the adventurers were released from their mercenary state.
They couldn't stay overnight in the dungeon and were automatically transported back to the surface world. They needed to rest and recover quickly to return the next day when Miracle City reopened.
This battle also yielded fifteen gnome captives.
Men and women alike, all looked malnourished. They knelt nervously, babbling incomprehensibly.
"#%*…%!"
The language barrier made it impossible to understand.
But that wasn't a problem.
[Ding! 15 gnome individuals are requesting protection and swearing loyalty. Accept? Yes / No]
Gnomes were weak—
but kind-hearted and gentle by nature.
Miracle City needed laborers, and Red Claw Village required manpower as well.
Kanzaki Ren accepted without hesitation.
[Mental energy -5]
Converting territory citizens consumed mental energy.
However, because the number was small and their strength low, the cost was minimal.
The moment the conversion was complete, joy spread across the gnomes' faces. Upon becoming protected citizens of the dungeon, they instantly acquired the human language.
"Thank you, great Dungeon Lord!"
"You have freed us from the brutal enslavement of the dark races. We swear eternal loyalty to you!"
Kanzaki Ren's territory population: +15.
There was no upper limit on territory citizens.
As long as the territory could support them, he could accept as many as he wished.
Humans existed only on the surface and underground.
Across the Chaos Continent were countless bizarre races. As long as they weren't dark races, they could all be converted into citizens.
These dungeon citizens played an extremely positive role in territorial development.
Different races had different abilities and purposes.
Some could form permanent territorial forces. Exceptional individuals could even be converted into adventurers—exclusive dungeon adventurers who could never leave the dungeon.
Of course—
converting non-human adventurers had extremely high requirements.
Only a small fraction could succeed.
Kanzaki Ren's gaze swept across the fifteen gnome citizens, finally settling on a freckle-faced gnome girl. Her appearance was ordinary, but her eyes were clear and lively.
Her.
So she really was hiding here.
Kanzaki Ren remained outwardly calm, but inwardly exhilarated.
This freckled girl was no ordinary gnome.
She was merely disguised as one.
Nansilia, the final descendant of the Wood Elf King of this Chaos Continent, originally a resident of Sacred Tree City in the Evernight Forest. After the city's destruction during the Black Dragon King's invasion and the Dark Elf rebellion, she was forced into hiding, constantly on the run.
She appeared randomly in Tier 1 regions at different times.
Disguising herself as a gnome and hiding among the most inconspicuous of them was the safest choice.
One major reason Kanzaki Ren had mobilized mercenaries so early—
was because of her.
She was the only top-tier hidden character in the early game with a chance of recruitment.