There we go. HIDEOUT COMPLETE!

I've created a nest here on the 3rd floor and stayed here for a couple of days already. I've been spending time hunting down weakling monsters (I even leveled up!) and trying to scout the floor, but most of my time has gone to developing this nest. The knights are making a mess on this floor, so I'm preparing myself for a long stay until they leave.

And why am I choosing this route? Because this floor's so goddamn huge! It's probably bigger than Central Park in New York! Even the knights can't cover that much ground, so I've been making my nest so it's as stealthy as possible.

The most basic explanation is that I've created an artificial henge. I've made the nest on top of the wall and covered its underside with lots of rocks. Just enough that the whole thing won't collapse even with me or something else on top. Most of the monsters here, except those Scavenger Snakes, can't climb, so this penthouse nest is perfect for a safe night's sleep. The only problem I had was that I had to get used to sleeping 20 meters above the ground.

The knights could probably reach my home. Maybe with some magic spells or perhaps they could even jump up here, despite them wearing all that heavy-looking gear. Who knows. But I doubt they would. Because the underside of the nest looks like a random, boring outspring in the wall. Nothing worthy of interest. I just have to be careful if the knights get too close to my home.

So yeah, all I gotta do now is wait for the knights to leave for this floor, then I'm heading out of the Dungeon. No need to stay in this dangerous place longer than I need to. And I've already felled one of the trees here, so there's nothing left for me to do.

Yup, that's right. You're seeing the all-famous lumberjack spider demon! Okay, that sounded way lamer than I imagined.

It wasn't that hard. Most of the trees are guarded by these trios of raptor-looking water dinos. I think they're called "Glavras Slipraus" or something. Their info started to appear in the Kigal-Note after the day the knights (probably) registered the rock-disguising turtle to the World System or whatever. Either they did the same to the Raptors, or maybe the System itself is starting to analyze these "Glavras monsters" or whatever.

But back to my story. Most of these filtering trees are guarded by these raptors, but the raptors aren't unlimited. They got a shortage of manpower, especially after the knights started to mess around on this floor. So I simply found an unguarded tree and worked my way to cut it down. It was great for grinding my [Cutting Thread] skill, plus all the other stuff. In fact, between the tree and building my nest, my spider web-related skills have gained levels like madmen! Or "mad skills"?

So yeah, it's low-profile for me until the knights get rid of all these trees and I get my bonus skill as the reward for helping. Meaning I got nothing else to do than laze around. And even doing that is giving me proficiency. Long live the [Sleep] skill! I'm feeling more refreshed than ever after taking it. Who knew it would be that useful?

But since it's boring just to stay indoors, I've decided to take a walk. Most of my skills work around detecting stuff, so doing a little super spy-walk through enemy-filled territories is good practice for them.

...hey, wasn't there a tree over there before? I didn't cut it down. It's too close to my hideout, meaning it's also too close for my comfort. Did the knight group come here while I was on one of my walks?

...no, they didn't. I've seen a tree felled by them, and that wasn't so...cleanly cut through. Not dissing the knights, because their lumberjack skills were awesome. The wood was cleaved clean. It's just, this tree here, it looks like... like someone used a laser on it. I'm not sure here, but the lumber's cleanly...burned off. Without harming the rest of it.

I don't know who did it, but I can guess where they went. Lots of...wheel tracks? How did they get carriages down here?

Whoever or whatever these guys are, they've roused up my curiosity. Let's go take a look.

---

After a while of wheel-tracking, I think I've found my culprits. But what the heck are these guys supposed to be? Robots and some general? Why did sci-fi stuff suddenly appear in a world of fantasy, sword, and magic?

"We got another tree, boss." - Stickman-ish robot

"I can see that. So why are you not going for the next?!" - Black-uniformed man(?)

"So sorry sir. It will be done right away." - Wheel robot

Those three guys seem to be the most lively bunch out of the robot army down there. And I mean it when I use the word "army". Lots of ball-shaped bots are rolling out (literally and figuratively) after being spat out from some big, green bot that seems to be making the smaller ones. A robot that's making robots? It sorta looks like a printing press for some reason. Wonder what madman came up with that machine.

The three guys I mentioned are one extremely slim robot made out of rusty-yellow material with huge, halogen lamps for eyes on his slim face, a bot with a torso that's a disk with a silver outer rim and black sides with his head looking like its part of the disk, probably so he can transform his whole body into a wheel.

Then there's a man dressed in a black uniform. It's not a military uniform, that's the feeling I get from it. But maybe it's the aviator's cap that's covering his whole face (except for one hell of an impressive mustache) that's messing with my impression of the guy. He seems to be the boss of this group.

Oh, and I'm spying on these guys from way high up on the wall. No way I can walk around down there without getting caught by the mass-produced balls.

I tried getting the status page on one of the balls before I reached this group, but the result was damn strange. Its magic-related stats were 0, its INT was damn low, and despite it being... "born" right here and now, these guys are all Lv.10. Outta 10.

Then there's the strange race. "Machinerz mdl: BB.Sb-008", or something like that. "mdl" could mean "model", which would make the ball-bots some sorta thing called "Machinerz", and they're the BB.Sb-008 model? The eighth version of the BB.Sb series? I Identified the status page of some more balls just to be sure, and what would you know? They all had the same status page, all the way down to their LUC.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

If these are supposed to be...magical robots, or whatever, then the low INT must be 'cause they're only supposed to follow the orders of their programmer...I think. In that case, the levels and skills these things have must be something like static levels. They're high-leveled the moment they are...made, but they cannot grow any stronger. Unless they get some upgrades or stuff like that. Probably.

"Eh, boss. What's the point of cutting down these trees again?" - Scarecrow

"Scarecrow, didn't I explain it before we started all this?" - Black-uniformed man(?)

"... I forgot." - Scarecrow

*Clang* *Crash* *BANG!*

Ouch, that looked like it hurt. A whole toolkit right in the face...

"Seriously, Scarecrow, you need to stop bothering the Black Baron all the time." - Wheel robot

"And you need to stop slacking all the time, Breaker!" - Black Baron (?)

Okay, I got their names. Scarecrow is the stickman, Breaker's the wheel-bot, and the Black Baron is the uniformed dude.

"Sir, Assault has come over a problem." - Breaker

"Ugh. What does that bucket of warmonger-bolts have to say now?" - Black Baron(?)

Oh? Sounds like something important happened. And there's another big name in their group? Let's try to eavesdrop.

"There are some problems located by the final tree, the one in the center of this floor. A group of those raptor-like monsters we have encountered on this floor has gathered around the tree, and they seem to be led by an evolved specimen." - Breaker

"So, the Floor Boss decided to take matters into its claws. Just have Assault crush them all." - Black Baron (?)

"But sir... all those evolved specimens are classified as the Floor Boss." - Breaker

"WHAT!?" - Black Baron(?)

EEEEHH!? How did that happen!? Is the Floor Boss some hive-mind with the other evolved dinos?

"Hehehe. Even the big bad Assault can't do anything about that." - Scarecrow

"As if you could. And how can that mechanical muscle-for-brains have such a problem with those low lives? He should have enough firepower to kill all the lifeforms in this place." - Black Baron (?)

Seriously? Webs, that's one heck of a killer machine...

"It seems his logic circuits cannot decide which dinosaur to target first, as they all have the same amount of strength." - Breaker

"Now that's just... they're the same?" - Black Baron (?)

"It says so in the report." - Breaker

"Damn, my luck. Tell that idiot that I'll go and take charge, so just shoot whichever of those monsters he gets his sights on. Urgh, that's what I get for not installing a better Intelligence Chip into that guy." - Black Baron (?)

"Why didn't ya do that boss?" - Scarecrow

"Because, if someone with that much firepower gets too smart, there will be a robot uprising! You don't need to be a genius to understand that." - Black Baron (?)

I hear ya. I've seen sci-fi movies, so I know.

"...... Robot uprising?" - Scarecrow and Breaker

"Yeah. What about it?" - Black Baron (?)

"... Nothing...*Grin*" - Scarecrow and Breaker

Uh-oh.

"And don't get any ideas or I'll recycle you both into waste-management-bots." - Black Baron (?)

"Eww." - Scarecrow and Breaker

I concur. Eww at the highest level. And good job there, Baron! You may have saved the world right there.

The Baron then boarded a machine that was hidden behind the bot-press... is that one of those float boats you use in swamps? It looks like a cross of one and a car, except for being a one-seater. The wheels look like propellers as well...!?

The wheels changed position, and turned into... some sort of anti-gravitational propellers or something. It's a real, deal, hovercraft!? Oi, why's that guy allowed to have one of those!? He should rather be in some sci-fi one instead! And give me that ride!!

"I'll go and take command over Assault's troop myself. You two nincompoops can start readying the explosives across this floor. Activate them when I give the order." - Black Baron (?)

"Roger!" - Scarecrow and Breaker

Wait! I haven't identified the baron yet! ..."Explosives"? Ah, the baron's getting away! Come back!

"Alright, bomb-bots. Place the spheres all over the floor." - Scarecrow

"You're talking backward again." - Breaker

Webs! This ain't good. It would take half a day to reach the 2nd-floor passageway from here if I count in the time needed to move stealthy, but the bombs may go off before that. Meaning the only way left..., is to take care of the bombs somehow. Webs...

---

The Black Baron's PoV:

Where's that stupid hunk of junk?

*KA-BOOM!!*

"Ah, there he is. And a note to self: even if I can't give him some extra INTs, let's try to add some patience into that trash heap when I get back to the lab." - Black Baron

I steered the Hovermobile to the explosions, and guess what I found: A silver-colored humanoid robot, looking not that different from a human wearing full-plate armor. Armor with huge barrels attached to the gauntlets, a huge jetpack, and claws for feet, but who cares for the details?

I do not need to confirm it. That's Assault, no doubt about it. And the idiot's surrounded by the remains of my Spherebots! Who did that? Oh, the answer's obvious. The army of evolved dinosaurs. They look like bigger, more feathery versions of the small raptors that kept on trying to eat me when we entered the floor.

"AETHER BULLETS INEFFICIENT ON ARMY OF OPPONENTS. MOVING TO 'GUNS FESTIVAL' MODE-" - Assault

"Stop that, you scrap-for-brains! Those aren't even real. They're avatars made of magic. Why else do you think you're the only one unscratched?" - Black Baron

"THIS ASSAULT IS LEAGUES OVER SIMPLE SPHEREBOTS. THERE IS NO WAY I COULD BE DEFEATED BY SOMETHING OF THIS LEVEL." - Assault

"That's because of the-! Tch, forget it! Just aim for the real Floor Boss and ignore the trash." - Black Baron

"NEGATIVE. THIS UNIT SHOULD NOT PERFORM SUCH A COWARDLY ACTION." - Assault

"Do you wanna be recycled into a non-lethal machine?" - Black Baron

"COWARDLY ACTION INITIATED." - Assault

Assault has finally started to search for the real pest boss amongst the pest-boss-counterfeits. If he only stopped wasting ammo on blowing away the copies he easily could slip through... No matter. We'll be finished before dinner at this pace. Just wait, Glavras. Just wait!

"Just wait till I get my hands on you, you damn, backstabbing, debt-escaper!!" - Black Baron

"What debt?" - ???

"The debt that snake of a rat has with me after I modified that Dungeon Core of his! If he's not gonna pay me back, then he can say goodbye to his precious Dungeon! O-hohohoho!! ...Huh? Who was-?" - Black Baron

*KA-BANG!*

"Giyaaaa!! Who's firing magic on people right in the middle of a question?!" - Black Baron

Was it the floor boss? No, it's occupied with Assault. Then... ah! That knight armor!

"You're Percel! The no-good knight that was kicked out from Avalar." - Black Baron

"Watch your words! You make it sound like they kicked me out because I was useless, not because I left due to their horrible treatment of non-humans." - Percel

"Good point. But whaddya want anyway?" - Black Baron

"Let's see, looking for the cause of the drought that terrorized the region, taking down this Dungeon, trying to haul the main culprit for this whole shebang to the court... you know, nothing much. Right, mastermind, the Black Baron?" - Percel

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there. It's the guy, er, the snake that made this place that you should have a beef with. Don't invite me to any grill parties I have nothing to do with." - Black Baron

"Yeah, right. And your modifications aren't what made all this happen?" - Gauntlet knight on Percel's team

*Beep*

"We-he-he-he-ell, don't say it like that..." - Black Baron

Seems like I can't fast-talk myself outta this jam. Better try to drag this out until the Spherebots around the floor react to the homing beacon...

*Ka-BOOOM!* *Ra-tatatatata*

"DESTROY! DESTROY!!" - Assault

That guy's not gonna be of any help before he's tired of playing with the Floor Boss. Urgh, this day can't be any worse than this.

*....eep*

Hmm?

*...beep. Beep. Beep*

...do not say it. Please do not say it. Please don't let it be that those two idiots...!