WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom

Time passed on. For the Nephirid, it was a short moment, but from a human perspective, an entire year had slipped by.

Despite his growing impatience, Ben still couldn't find a way forward that wouldn't jeopardize their plan. So instead of rushing blindly, he channeled all his focus into expanding their army and tightening the web of their network.

Golem production had skyrocketed. By now, they were spread throughout the entire kingdom, an indispensable workforce ensuring that everything kept moving. Almost half the labor force across the land now consisted of his golems.

At first, the city lords and nobles were wary, hesitant to rely on these machines. But after seeing other cities grow more prosperous, more efficient, and flush with coin, their pride gave way to pragmatism. Either follow the new trend or get left behind.

No matter how hard they pushed their slaves, they simply couldn't match the performance of a golem that could work twenty-four hours straight, needing only a single day of maintenance every seven days while keeping its output consistent and tireless.

But the rise of golems also brought unforeseen consequences. Slaves, once seen as assets, were now liabilities. Expensive to feed, prone to revolt, easily exhausted. Their usefulness had vanished.

Ben hadn't planned on this exact outcome, but he didn't mind. If anything, it turned out to be to his benefit.

As demand for slaves plummeted, he swept them up in bulk, buying them cheap, then vanishing them without a trace. People assumed he was working them to death or using them for twisted entertainment.

None suspected the truth. All of them had been moved underground, trained in secret, molded into disciplined soldiers.

Now, seated in his office, eyes fixed on the flickering projections before him, Ben muttered under his breath, "Is this enough?"

"We've done all we can," Elvira replied, her voice low, weary. "If we keep waiting, there'll be no end to it."

This past year, she had poured everything, her mind, her time, her very breath, into developing new weapons and upgrading their golems. With the aether reactor finally stable and dozens of scientific principles mined from Ben's old-world memories, the project had progressed smoothly.

Endless possibilities lay before her. Every breakthrough opened the door to ten more. If she kept going, the golems would only grow stronger, but so would the delay.

"But I'm still worried about the daemon," Ben said, exhaling slowly. "There's been no word from the prince… or the others."

He had planned to infiltrate the region where the ancient kingdom of Velmor and its neighbors once stood, but things didn't go as expected. The barrier guarding the area was unlike anything they'd seen.

Elvira, after running countless scans and simulations, concluded it was a remnant from an older civilization, perhaps even from the Third Epoch.

They tried everything. Runes, explosives, stealth infiltration, even bypassing it via underground tunnels. Nothing worked.

With no other options, Ben shifted his focus to locating the prince, hoping to re-establish contact, and began tracking down the mysterious magus from before, along with any surviving members of the Malvek family.

But the trail was cold. The magus had disappeared completely. As for the Malveks, all Ben could uncover were scraps, loose threads leading to vague whispers and scattered reports. He barely managed to learn anything concrete.

Still, one thing was clear: the Malvek family wasn't the mastermind. They were errand boys. Pawns on a larger board.

Each member seemed to serve a different purpose, running independent operations that rarely overlapped. Some were as mundane as overseeing a small trading guild. Others, like Malvek himself, had orchestrated the takeover of an entire city, to resurrect a daemon.

"So, Taleth's gone missing?"

"No. I reassigned him. He's now stationed in the underground facility, supporting the Velmorian princess."

"I see… so he's helping train them."

"Yeah. It was pointless having him keep searching for the prince. If even my Krell ants couldn't find a trace, then it's safe to assume he's already returned, alongside that magus, back to the ancient territory."

Elvira's eyes narrowed. "What about our forces on the surface?"

"Progressing well. If everything stays on track, we should reach your clan's border within the month."

"I see… that's good. Then all that's left is cleaning up this place. We don't need to wait anymore, Ben. Let's begin the rebellion."

Ben didn't respond right away. He was still uneasy.

The ancient kingdom… the daemon… it all felt too quiet. He suspected that the region wasn't locked in civil war just by chance, it was likely caused by the daemon's awakening. Maybe even Apophis.

'Now that I think about it… what's the system doing? That knight… he didn't even tell me his name.'

Ben hadn't forgotten. In fact, he had been actively looking for other Travelers in this layer, but had found nothing.

'Most of them must be up above… maybe even on the surface. And I got sent to the lowest layer.

Just my luck. Though, even getting summoned there must've been a statistical anomaly. Let alone this deep.'

Knock, knock!

A knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts. Ben quickly shut down the interface, then slipped his disguise back on as Tzarek. Elvira mirrored his movements, adjusting her appearance with practiced ease.

"Come in."

The door creaked open to reveal Zarnak, who stepped inside and bowed with respectful precision. His eyes gleamed with admiration as they landed on Ben. "Lord Tzarek, I apologize for the intrusion. Someone has come looking for you. He claims… he was sent by the prince."

"Prince?" Ben's gaze sharpened. Here, in this region, the word prince only referred to one thing, those from the ancient kingdom.

"Bring him to me," Ben ordered.

Zarnak bowed again and departed without question.

Ben turned to Elvira. "Looks like our opportunity has arrived. I'll handle this. Proceed with the plan as discussed. And recall Draeven, he needs to make sure everything continues running smoothly in our absence."

"You're planning to go yourself?" Elvira asked, concern flashing in her eyes.

Ben nodded. "There's no other reason to send a messenger here unless they need something from me."

"It could be a trap."

"Maybe. But even if it is, I need to see it through. Don't worry, Elvira. I'll be fine."

She stared at him for a long moment, then finally said, "Be careful, my beloved. I'll finish the task on my end."

With that, she left. Ben's eyes lingered on the closed door.

"…I need to get this done fast. She's pushing herself too hard… Just when was the last time you even slept, Elvira…" he muttered, sighing deeply.