Fourth Layer

"Treasure chest! Look, there's a treasure chest over there!"

On the first floor of the Dungeon, several novice adventurers were cautiously exploring ahead when one of them suddenly noticed a stone treasure chest covered in mycelium in the corner and cried out excitedly.

"Be careful. I heard every treasure chest in the Dungeon is guarded by monsters."

"That's right. We can't let our guard down. Plenty of people have already lost their lives in this Dungeon."

"I heard even several of Margery Town's strongest adventurer teams died deep inside the Dungeon."

The novice adventurers warned one another and gripped their weapons tightly, as though clutching their last lifeline. Even so, none of them were willing to give up the treasure chest within reach.

What adventurer ever avoided taking risks?

Click~

With a hard pry from a longsword, the stone chest opened. The novice adventurers exchanged glances before cautiously leaning forward to peer inside.

"Treasure! No danger!"

The most excited novice stepped forward and snatched up a brand-new leather breastplate from the chest, his face full of delight at obtaining treasure.

The others exchanged looks and stepped forward one after another, taking out the remaining refined steel longsword and pair of iron boots. Looking at the equipment in their hands, the novice adventurers all smiled.

These brand-new pieces of equipment were all forged from fine refined steel, completely different from the junk they carried. Whether they used them themselves or sold them to a blacksmith, they would be worth quite a bit.

"Should we keep exploring ahead?"

After putting away the contents of the chest, a young man in the group spoke up.

"Let's retreat for now. It's getting late."

The oldest adventurer in the group shook his head. They had been inside the Dungeon for quite a while already. Since they had not been among the first adventurers to enter, it was probably nearly evening outside by now.

"All right."

Seeing that his companions were already satisfied, the young man who still wanted to continue exploring nodded unwillingly. Exploring the Dungeon alone was practically suicide.

Meanwhile, in different areas of the Dungeon's First Layer, many adventurer teams discovered treasure chests tucked away in corners. Some chose to stop exploring for the time being and leave the Dungeon, but even more were blinded by greed and ventured deeper inside.

"If you don't bait the waters before fishing, you won't catch many fish even if there are fish."

At the deepest point of the Third Layer, Lucifer smiled as he observed everything with his mental power. He was now like a patient fisherman, and those treasure chests were the bait he had scattered.

Lucifer had even deliberately placed more treasure chests in areas where novice adventurers gathered, all to give the adventurers outside an illusion: if even novice adventurers could find treasure chests, then surely seasoned veterans like them, who possessed skills and had spent years adventuring, could obtain even more.

"Still, this world's Adventurers' Guild really reacted quickly."

Lucifer turned his gaze toward the Dungeon entrance. There stood a cavern the size of a football field, where large numbers of workers, like ants, were continuously hauling in construction materials from outside. A sturdy adventurer camp was rising at a visible pace.

Outside the Dungeon, plans were already underway for an entirely new town.

From the workers' idle chatter, Lucifer learned that less than half an hour after the Dungeon appeared, the Adventurers' Guild in Margary Town had already issued a large number of Dungeon exploration quests.

The reason so many novice adventurers had come to the Dungeon now was largely thanks to the Adventurers' Guild's efforts.

As for Korien Os, the lord of this town, as a noble he certainly wanted to claim the entire Dungeon for himself. Yet faced with the Adventurers' Guild, a colossal organization spread across the continent, he could only grit his teeth and yield.

Unless Korien Os's knights successfully conquered the Dungeon and took control of its core, the entire Dungeon would never truly belong to him.

Until then, the Adventurers' Guild and the local lord would only have a cooperative relationship.

"Interesting. It seems there are still many things in this world that I don't know."

Lucifer silently organized and analyzed all the information he had overheard, allowing himself to gain a deeper understanding of this world. After all, the knowledge that had automatically surfaced in his mind was only basic common sense. He still needed to learn more about this world on his own.

But the most important thing now was to grow stronger as quickly as possible. Only when the Dungeon possessed more layers and greater power would Lucifer have a chance to explore this world.

A night passed.

The Dungeon's First Layer had already been thoroughly mapped by the many adventurers who explored through the night, with even the monster distributions in different areas marked on it.

The Second Layer was no longer exclusive to the lord's knight squad. Adventurer teams confident in their own strength also flooded into the second floor, exploring the new area, constantly searching for treasure chests, and hunting all kinds of monsters.

[Primordial Power +36.34]

"Enough!"

Lucifer looked at the newly gained Primordial Power on the panel. Compared to the previous day, there was an extra 6.34. That had come from the coins and several magical pieces of equipment contributed by the adventurers who died in the Dungeon yesterday.

"Level up."

By devouring the adventurers' flesh and souls, Lucifer was only twenty experience points away from leveling up. As the missing experience was filled, the entire Dungeon began to shake violently.

On the first and second floors, the many adventurers who had been exploring and fighting were startled by the sudden tremors. Several unlucky novices fell to the ground and were seized and killed by monsters.

At the end of the Dungeon's third floor, a brand-new layer was continuously carved out of the Void.

[Level lv4 (0/500)]

When the new layer appeared, Lucifer could clearly feel his power steadily growing stronger. This new power carried the aura of water and poison, completely different from the attributes granted by the first three cavern layers.

With a thought, Lucifer's true form, the great orb of light, instantly transferred to the room at the deepest point of the Fourth Layer. Of course, he did not forget the treasure he had accumulated in the neighboring storage room.

"Huh, the Fourth Layer isn't a cavern?"

At the very center of the Fourth Layer, Lucifer appeared atop a giant tree hundreds of meters tall. His mental power swept across the entire layer, revealing that the Fourth Layer covered an area even larger than the previous three layers combined.

The entire layer consisted of an endless rotten swamp. Dark purple poisonous miasma filled the air, reducing visibility to less than a few meters. The ground was covered in foul-smelling, decaying sludge, with a layer of aquatic grass growing over it.

Above the swamp, the canopy covering most of the Fourth Layer hung countless aerial roots covered in barbs. Like venomous snakes hidden within thick fog, once someone was entangled by those roots, the barbs would pierce their body and turn them into nourishment for the giant tree's growth.