Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Curious about their words, Simon opened the [Dungeon] function of the [Main Menu] which was crucial for the management of the dungeon. It institutes all of the necessary functions such as upgrading, adding and altering floors, traps and various setups to his dungeon.

In any case, it was a very important option. After Simon opened the [Dungeon] option, he zoomed in on the floor below the thirty-sixth floor and was amazed to find how different the floor was than how he left it.

When he initially created the floor for the Wisp, he only made a small floor and kept it as simple as possible on Irene's insistence. Now though, the floor had changed completely so much so that he can't even recognise it.

It was not only the exterior that had changed, but the whole structure of the floor was different. That was not all, even now, he could see the structure changing little by little. What was more amazing about it was that all these changes had occured without expending any DP.

Yes, all these changes that took place on this floor, did not cost him even a single dime.

"What is going on?" Simon asked gobsmacked.

"It is just one of the many abilities of the Null Elemental. I told you before didn't I, how incredibly lucky you are to even see one of those not to mention subordinate it. This is just the beginning, the Wisp is one of the most mysterious beings in this universe".

"Once it starts to awaken more of its spirituality, abilities improbable to us will start manifesting and you who had established a bond with it, will benefit from it the most" Irene explained.

Then she muttered in a voice that only she could hear "Perhaps with its help you really can stand on the top".

As usual, her words were too cumbersome and deep for the current Simon to understand. However, from all of this, he did realize one thing and that was how the Third Guardian's power didn't lie in combat, and instead its abilities were based on utility.

"What about the troops that you were talking about?" Simon asked to which he only got a simple answer.

"You will have to visit the floor to understand it".

Simon nodded, he along with Irene and Cecilia, teleported to the floor where the third guardian was. Even though he was expecting a totally different floor, the moment he laid eyes on the place, it still stunned him how much it has changed.

If previously, the floor was a small and empty place with nothing to see, then now it was dozens of kilometres big with mountains and rivers popping up everywhere.

These changes were not something installed by Simon nor did he expend any of his DP onto it but instead something that appeared from the abilities of the Null Elemental. The Null Elemental was capable of altering the whole topography of the floor.

"What happened here?!" Simon muttered out involuntarily. His shock was warranted, a dungeon was something that could only be altered by the Dungeon Master or through the use of menu. However, something incredible that defied all logic happened here on this floor.

"Hehe" looking at his shocked expression, Cecilia puffed her chest and smiled proudly for some reason.

Simon shook his head and walked around the floor. Proceeding forward he noticed how all of these mountains were mineral mountains and how tunnels have been dug inside them from which a rail line connected them all.

These rail lines spread like a complex network and all connected at the centre of the floor where a volcanic mountain was.

The scene was astonishing as it is; however, there was also an enormous structure erected near the base of the mountain. These structures looked just like factories and at a glance, it was all around the mountain.

All of these rail lines went inside through the entrances of those structures and into the mountain.

As Simon wondered how they were carrying something through this rail line, he saw a freight car come out through one of the tunnels of the mountains and move towards the factories in the centre.

It was carrying unprocessed and mined ores and was automatically driving itself. As if this marked the start, dozens of other freight carts came in and out of the factories and mountains.

if it wasn't obvious looking at it through the [Dungen] option, now standing in front of it was plainly obvious. The current floor was an industrial area.

As Simon, Irene and Cecilia proceeded towards the factories in the centre of the floor, they found many gigantic and weird equipments finished or unfinished placed on the ground. From what he could see, each of them looked like a component of some machinery used to manufacture something.

As they approached closer to the factory, the temperature started rising up due to the proximity of the volcanic mountain and also they could hear constant metallic noise coming from inside.

"Isn't that" Stepping in through one of the doors, Simon was shell shocked to find a huge workshop that was manufacturing something that could only be called an Andromeda.

Andromedas were powerful war machines from one of the games called Rise of the Demolishers that Simon had worked on in his previous life. In that game, players would have to tackle an army of these dreadful war machines which were built with the most advanced technology that combined physics with magic.

These machines were equipped with all the leading edge weapons and were a force to reckon with even from the perspective of the players. They were designed in a way to have a more humanoid appearance, sleek design, high mobility and high firepower.

These war machines operated like an AI and combined with their tough defence, they were always a tough opponent to beat.

In the Rise of the Demolishers game, players would have to defeat hordes of these war machines with new and upgraded versions of them appearing after every successive quests or storyline.

The one that was being currently manufactured here on this floor, was the lowest grade, Andromeda Mark 11 and there were not just one or two, but thousands of them being manufactured at once.

'What was going on? Why was something, that should have been in a game, doing here?

It was true that the Bloodthorn demonic warhorse was also something that came out of the game but the Andromedas were from a completely different genre of game that he had once worked on in his previous life and was unrelated to Laplace.

"Andromeda Mark 11…" Simon muttered, he was finally aware of the troops that Irene had mentioned.

If it's the Andromeda Mark Eleven, they would no doubt be able to stall the adventurers for some time.

"So you do know what these things are. When you formed a spiritual bond with the Null Elemental, you were connected through a special plane with it. Because of it, the Wisp was able to tap into some of your memories and is currently executing the best course of action to protect your dungeon according to your will" Irene stated dissipating some of his confusion.

"Are you saying that it is doing all that as per my orders?" Simon asked.

"Merging with the floor, creating all these soldiers, altering the floor, is all according to what you willed it. You might not have ordered it directly or consciously, but the Wisp who is linked with you understands what you want the most. That is why, it prioritised defending the dungeon more".

Hearing Irene's explanation, he was amazed for two whole new reasons. First how incredible the Null elemental was to be able to create something from his memories and secondly because of how knowledgeable Irene was about the Null elemental.

As Simon observed the factory that was carved inside the volcanic mountain, he noticed that it was divided into many sections which created different components of the Andromeda, starting from the extraction room where the raw ores were processed to the final assembly room from where the Andromedas are deployed to the various floors of the dungeon.

It was wondrous how the magma and the water from the rivers were funnelled into the various halls of the factory ultimately being used in the manufacturing process.

As he roamed all around the place, he noticed that the place was still slowly expanding with new areas, mountains and buildings slowly being formed on their own just like a living floor. A phenomenon that should have been otherwise impossible without the Null Elemental.

'Where is this guy?' Simon thought internally, by now he had searched most of the areas of the factories but he was still unable to see even a glimpse of the third guardian of his dungeon.

The moment he thought about wanting to see the Null Elemental, he felt a resonance from the latter that came from beneath him. More specifically, from the ground on which they were standing on.

To his surprise, a few seconds later he saw the Wisp permeate out of the ground just like how it disappeared the last time he left it here.

[BEEP-BOOP-PING] Looking at the floating ball of light that released continuous sonar sounds, Simon felt like he could somewhat understand the thing. There was a deeper level of connection between them now than a few months ago.

Simon extended his hands and the ball of light swiftly landed on his palm. Even though he said landed, Wisp was a spiritual entity and thus had no mass.

[BEEP-BOOP-PING]

"Yeah, it's good to see you too. I see that you have put quite some effort into defending the dungeon… I'm truly grateful. Please keep on supporting my dungeon just like how you did up until now" Simon said thanking the third Guardian.

[BEEP-BEEP-BOOP] the Wisp acted flustered, happy that Simon was relying on it.