Days passed since I learned the location of the Dungeon attacking the city.
When I decided to help the city in the attack days ago, I thought it would have been a harder fight due to the Golem's levels, but it was surprisingly easy due to the Ant's trap jaws that could bite through tough materials.
I also managed to write down a message on a stone tablet in English that I had Vesh deliver to one of the important-looking Guards, and even though it was a rushed message that seemed ridiculous, I was surprised they gave me the information I wanted about the location of the hostile Dungeon Core.
In this time, I have created four more Widow Ants and have expanded the Dungeon further to the point that my regeneration was now at 75.2
As of now, my Ants were my best miners and overall workers, putting even the Da'gba to shame in the amount of work they could do.
Not to mention even though they didn't have a queen or any leader, they still worked together fluently like a time should and took orders from their Progenitor, Vesh, who took on the role of a leader since there was no one else due its status as the Progenitor of their race.
Speaking of which, all of my monsters got some levels yesterday from destroying the golems, making them even better at working or fighting.
Sadly, I also now knew that I wouldn't get exp for anything killed by my monsters outside the Dungeon.
I also nearly lost some of my monsters due to some Golems in the army that I overlooked at first, called Golem Soldiers, which were a few levels higher than the average Golem and more lethal in combat.
And since I know knew where the Dungeon that was producing the Golems was located, I had my four Horned Rabbits keep an eye on the place and run away if they get discovered by the Dungeon.
Turns out the Dungeon was located in some fancy old tone tower in the lobby of a dilapidated sky scrapper.
"Hey, system, what happens if I defeat another Dungeon Core?"
[1st, you can shatter its core, absorbing its essence to strengthen your own core]
[2nd, you can meld with the core, making a Twin Dungeon Core that would strengthen your Dungeon further. But this comes at a cost. You and the core you meld with will share a Core, Mind, and Dungeon, which can lead to problems if you are not compatible with your twin]
[3rd, you can brand the core, making it your subordinate Dungeon]
[4th, you can disable the core]
"Disable?"
[To disable a Dungeon Core, you must kill the consciousness within the core. With no mind to operate the core, the core will be disabled]
"I see...hmmm...that gives me an idea..."
One that I would be sure to test in the future when I get my hands on a Dungeon Core.
In the meantime, I needed to build up my forces and keep an eye on the hostile Dungeon.
I've noticed that the hostile Dungeon has been sending out workers to gather cars and drag them back to the Dungeon, where I assumed they would be melted down and used to create more Golems.
So, to test this theory, I had a couple of Widow Ants start taking down the Golem workers and destroy them.
After a few more days passed, I realized that this indeed did slow down the Dungeon's production of Golems, and I knew this because other than the Workers the Dungeon sent out to scavenge materials, the Dungeon also sent out Combat Golems.
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These Combat Golems were the bulk of the forces the Dungeon sent to attack the Scrap Metal city and were designed for combat, while the Golem Workers were designed for hard labor.
Following the small parties of Combat Golems the Dungeon sent out, I was surprised to see so many hidden threats from Goblins and Slimes to Packs of giant wolves and other wildlife lurking in the city.
Luckily, I was close enough to the city where nothing lived close by due to the patrols of guards that checked around the city every couple of days and cleared out anything that moved too close to the city.
Luckily, they still haven't found me, which was reassuring.
Since I knew the Golem Dungeon was trying to get rid of the threats around its Dungeon, I have been using a group of ants to constantly take out any Combat Golem Party it sent out and used another Ant Group to keep killing the Golem Workers.
I wanted to weaken the Dungeon, and this would deal a heavy blow to its production and safety.
Plus, I have had the Ants bring back a couple of Golems so that I could gain some EXP as well, but to ensure my location was hidden, I made sure the Ants clawed the Golems' eyes out and removed each of its limbs before carrying it back to my Dungeon where I had an ant lay it down on the ground.
Pushing mana through the Golem, I examined its inner workings, core, and mind.
A little while later, I knew exactly how to create my own golems if I so wished.
Which I wouldn't do.
Golem's strength were limited to their Core, Material, and Mind.
The Dungeon that created the Golems made them basically mindless and able only to follow simple orders, and with its material and core, it would never go beyond level 50.
Think of the Golems as Magically Machines. With no way to improve themselves, they would become stagnant and would never rise in their level.
Sure, it was a way to gain short-term power and armies, but it wasn't worth it, in my opinion, since Organic Monsters were better in the long-term.
Organic Monsters could evolve, level up, think for themselves, and much more.
But Golems were limited in growth, something that I did not like about them.
Level 30 Dungeon Combat Golem has been slain by Widow Ant Level 6
Dungeon: +75 EXP
Widow Ant: +75 EXP
75/300 EXP, these Golems would be good for leveling me up!
And it didn't take long at all for me to hit level 3.
Congratulations!
You have leveled up and are now level 3!
+2.5 Mana Regeneration!
You now gain 0.3 Mana Gathering per 10 Meters of your Dungeon!
Dungeon Slot Limit increased by 5, now at 9/20
Named Monster Limit increased by 1, now at 2/5
With each level up, I felt an incredible sensation through my core and Dungeon and even noticed my core growing a sliver larger with each level up.
My regeneration instantly went from 81.3 to 122 a day!
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Days passed as I continued to attack the Golems the Dungeon has sent out, and I have already started to notice a decrease in the quality of golems but an increase in quantity.
But as the Hostile Dungeon continued to decrease in strength, I have only been becoming stronger, with me now being able to produce two widow ants a day, allowing me to start making more Widow Ant teams to take out the Golems.
I've also used my excess mana to start creating more Da'gba.
It shouldn't be too long until I can overwhelm the Dungeon's defenses and take it down.
At the current moment, I have 10 Da'gba, and I have 23 Widow Ants.
Now that I could produce two Widow Ants a day, I have been much more ruthless in my attacks on the other Dungeon, with my ants constantly attacking a party or two every hour.
Every once in a while, I would have them bring me a Golem so that I could get exp, but I have mostly been letting them get all the EXP and level up.
Vesh, my Widow Ant Progenitor, was already level 9 and approaching level 10. It was currently my strongest monster and could take on even the Golem Workers by herself now.
According to my observation skill, the Golem Workers are level 10, the Combat Golems 30, and the Golem Soldiers 40.
The Golem Soldiers were the special Golems that were much better at combat than the regular combat Golems and even seemed to be cable of more complex orders and thinking.
Something I noticed was that these Golem Soldiers aimed for weaknesses, dodged or blocked anything they assumed would deal damage, and aimed for the leader of the group, such as Vesh.
And I was willing to bet this Dungeon had something even stronger up its sleeve to defend its core, which is why I let the Widow Ants kill most of the Golems and bring so few to me. It's so that they can grow and level up, becoming stronger.
If it had a surprise waiting for any delvers, then I wanted to be ready, and I wanted Vesh to at least be level 10 before I attempt to fight the Dungeon.
And at least 40 Widow Ants, 10 to stay behind and guard my Dungeon, and 30 to storm the Dungeon.
All I needed was time.
Luckily, I have 1,000 years ahead of me.