Mimic Monster

"It stinks. This smell is really something."

The moment Lucas stepped into the fourth floor, he caught the rotten stench in the air. Though he had experienced even more disgusting environments during his years of adventuring, it still made him sick.

"Captain, this fog should be poisonous."

Sophia, the assassin, spoke up with a warning. Poison was one of an assassin's specialties. Even though she had only recently begun learning, Sophia could tell that the thick fog before them contained a considerable amount of toxins. Even full-fledged professionals would not be able to endure prolonged exposure.

Without another word, the five of them pulled out gas masks and put them on. Only after confirming they would not inhale the poisonous fog did they carefully inspect their surroundings. As far as they could see stretched a sea of roiling purple-black mist.

The heavy fog was like a layer of clouds, reducing visibility to less than a meter. Every step on the ground made a squelching sound, while the rotten mud gave off a pungent stench.

"No wonder Mark's group of knights suffered such heavy losses on this floor. This kind of environment is hell for knights."

Lucas glanced down. The mud had already risen past his calves, and the heavy armor on his body had instead become a burden. After thinking for a moment, Lucas removed it.

"Vic, give me my leather armor and chainmail."

"Right away."

Vic, the middle-aged mage, took out a set of leather armor and chainmail from the backpack on his back and handed it to Lucas. He then used Mage Hand to put the heavy armor back into the bag.

"Huh, could that be an Alchemy Expansion Bag?"

Luo Ao, who had been silently observing this group of adventurers who had entered the fourth floor, focused his mental power on the item carried by the middle-aged mage. It looked no bigger than an ordinary backpack, yet it had just stored an entire set of heavy armor.

Having absorbed the souls of numerous adventurers, Luo Ao's understanding of this world was no longer limited to the knowledge inherited from the dungeon.

As far as Luo Ao knew, the region where the dungeon was located lay south of the High Rock Kingdom, at the border between hills and swamps. This kingdom, founded less than five hundred years ago, revered magic and alchemy.

Although the High Rock Kingdom still followed the medieval system of aristocratic and royal rule, the development of the extraordinary knowledge and abilities of magic and alchemy meant it was in no way inferior to the modern technological age. In many aspects, it even far surpassed it.

The Alchemy Expansion Bag was a common alchemical item. It could expand the space inside a backpack and came with weight-reduction magic runes.

I want it. I really want it!

At that moment, Luo Ao was like a child seeing a beloved toy, filled with the desire to possess it. He was also immensely curious about and eager for the extraordinary knowledge and systems beyond the dungeon.

If he could obtain this extraordinary knowledge and technology, could he use them to transform the dungeon and create new monsters, making the dungeon even stronger?

I need to find a way to rob them.

With a thought, he opened the panel and looked at the Primordial Power section. A day and a half had passed, and Luo Ao had accumulated another 156.4 points of Primordial Power, 73.4 of which came from the amount the dungeon absorbed from the void each day.

After reaching level five, Luo Ao could absorb energy from the void every day and convert it into 60 points of Primordial Power. The additional 13.4 points came from the boosts provided by the Fungus Lord, as well as the accumulated magical equipment and treasures.

The remaining Primordial Power came from the contributions of the many dead adventurers.

Looking at the Primordial Power on the panel, Luo Ao took out the materials he had prepared long ago. Now, he was going to create a monster he had been longing for.

Especially after seeing that the adventuring party entering the fourth floor included an elven archer, he no longer hesitated in the slightest. It was not some ancient magic geezer, but it was still a perfect match for a Mimic Monster.

Two portions of Mithril + three portions of Refined Demon Iron Ore + one portion of flesh

"Monster Creation!"

His talent activated, and Primordial Power flowed in. This time, when creating the monster, Luo Ao also added abilities such as Mimicry, Hardening, and Neurotoxin. This was a new ability his evolved talent had gained after he reached level five.

He could add various abilities when creating new monsters. And as the dungeon itself, Luo Ao possessed all the abilities held by every monster within it. So now, he could completely customize skills when creating new monsters.

This ability was an absolutely epic enhancement for Luo Ao. He would no longer have to create monsters like he was drawing cards. He had now entered the age of customization.

He could customize monsters with different abilities according to different adventurers and the ecological environments of different floors.

As the light faded, a massive treasure chest appeared before Luo Ao. Gorgeous Mithril patterns covered its black surface. A sliver of its lid was open, and dazzling golden light shone from within. Just from its appearance, it gave the impression of being filled with treasure.

Looking at the chest's appearance, Luo Ao could not have been more satisfied.

[Name: Mimic Monster]

[Level: Lv. 4]

[Skills: Mimicry Lv. 4, Hardening Lv. 3, Charm Lv. 3, Optical Camouflage Lv. 2, Neurotoxin Lv. 2, Bite Lv. 2]

[Description: A monster that enjoys mimicking treasure chests. It can mimic different types of chests depending on its environment. The light emitted by the chest possesses a powerful charm effect, capable of stirring its prey's desire for treasure. Its powerful bite can sever approaching prey in a single snap.]

"Not bad, not bad. It perfectly meets my needs."

After examining the Mimic Monster's panel, Luo Ao became even more satisfied with it. More and more adventurers were entering the dungeon from outside. Even though the dungeon now had five floors, Luo Ao still found it somewhat difficult to handle the endless stream of adventurers.

Do not be fooled by the fact that only two groups had entered the fourth floor so far, both of them held back by the environment of the Venomous Swamp. Luo Ao did not feel the slightest bit smug or proud. Instead, a sense of urgency rose within him.

After all, when Mark and his group entered the fourth floor, Luo Ao's main body had been on the same floor as them.

By that logic, wasn't it basically the same as adventurers already reaching his deepest depths? He was only a tiny bit away from being turned into an adventurer's shape, and his sense of security instantly dropped by more than ten thousand points.

Even though he had already created the fifth floor, the information Luo Ao had learned from the souls of adventurers told him that most adventurers currently coming to the dungeon were merely ordinary adventurers from several nearby towns.

Even the adventuring party currently on the fourth floor consisted only of people who could not make it in a major city and had come to an ordinary town to scrape out a living.

For that reason, Luo Ao had to accelerate his growth. Moreover, given the current enthusiasm of adventurers, along with the survivor bias Luo Ao had deliberately created by continuously stuffing various pieces of equipment dropped by adventurers into treasure chests recently—

Once he released a monster like the Mimic Monster, something no other dungeon had ever possessed, a large number of adventurers would definitely fall for it and become his nourishment.

Although doing this was essentially spending the security reputation of other dungeons—after all, what kind of dungeon had treasure chests that were man-eating monsters?

But Luo Ao did not care. He only wanted the extraordinary knowledge and memories within adventurers' souls, their equipment, and the adventurers themselves. As long as it was something that could help the dungeon grow, he needed it.