Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

In the Hunter's Dream.

"Hey, hey, do you know you have a twin sister?"

"Hey, hey, do you know the way to a building like a clock tower?"

"Hey, hey, do you know what your sister's name is?"

"Hey, hey..."

A rare slight frown appeared on the puppet's face because someone was being incredibly noisy.

"Oh! That's the kind of slight frown I'm talking about, if only there was a bit more killing intent, it would be just perfect!"

Uffie exclaimed with a hint of excitement, not bothering to hide her interest in the puppet's "sister." By the way, she still didn't know Maria's name until now.

The puppet wasn't usually talkative, and Fenan and the others wouldn't deliberately disturb her, only admiring her from afar with reverence.

Because the puppet would prepare a banquet every night, it's reasonable to believe that Fenan and the others actually see her as their caregiver.

The puppet was encountering someone like Uffie for the first time, who wouldn't stop until she got to the bottom of things she was interested in. As expected, their personalities completely clashed.

At first, she would answer some questions, but now she only nodded yes and shook her head no, just short of showing resignation on her face.

It's hard to believe the puppet could express such subtle emotions. The one who made her must have put a lot of effort into it... and observed the prototype for an unknown amount of time.

"You don't know anything?"

Without getting any answers, Uffie lay back in the flower bed with some disappointment, while the messengers watched her from a distance, seemingly a bit hesitant to approach.

"Come to think of it, it really felt like a dream just now."

She touched her cheek, which had completely healed, with no traces of being parasitized by a mutant, and the skin seemed even better. This made her wonder if her earlier experience was merely a dream.

However, at her level, she could sense changes in her body. After the battle with Maria, it seemed something had been added to her blood, proving her memory was not wrong.

Anything entering the body without reason warrants caution, especially blood, which easily reminded her of those strange things she saw during empathy with Fenan, like that invisible yet seemingly omnipresent entity.

But currently, she didn't feel any dangerous sensation from the anomaly in her blood; on the contrary, it seemed her powers had slightly increased because of it, and any improvement, however small, was still an improvement.

Until she could prove these anomalies were indeed harmful to her body or find a way to separate them from her blood, she could only wait and see.

Moreover, connecting this to Maria's prior act of injecting blood into her, Uffie had already deduced that the latter was actually saving her.

In doing so, her favorability soared UPUP again!

"When will I get to meet her again..."

She rolled around in the flowers, her shoulders wriggling.

Don't get it wrong; she didn't think she was bent. She simply thought Maria perfectly matched her childhood image of the ideal big sister who would take care of her. Coupled with being saved by her just now, her fondness became a spinning drill that broke through the sky.

"I heard it's trendy to consider a dungeon as your main dungeon nowadays, so should I take this one as my main?"

If that's the case, then Dad's main dungeon must be Sain, right? But I don't even know what this dungeon is called.

Uffie shook her little face, thinking:

No matter what, this dungeon has a cool big sister, so in my heart, it already ranks above Sain Dungeon!

Her thoughts wandered for a moment, then she sprang up, returning to her usual energetic state. She asked the puppet, "Is there a way to get out?"

She had been delayed in the dungeon for a while, still remembering her mission for coming there. Now that she had freed herself from the parasite's control, it was time for action, starting with clearing out Savis City!

This time she learned her lesson and would no longer empathize with others so casually!

The puppet raised her hand slightly, and a teleportation gate appeared in front of Uffie.

"Thanks a lot, I'll definitely be back!" Uffie said, shaking her fingers together, with a flick of her sleeves, she left a dashing silhouette and walked into the teleportation gate.

Puppet: "..."

It's better if you don't come back.

————————————

Sain Dungeon, in the City Lord's room.

At this moment, the altar was covered with a thick layer of white cloth, part of which was already stained with filthy blood. The sound of flesh being cut echoed continuously from the altar.

If it weren't for the sufficient brightness of the lights here, people might think they had accidentally entered some perverted doctor's operating room.

The mutated species that had previously parasitized Uffie now lay obediently on the white cloth, its body already cut open, with various organs sorted and displayed, ready to be immersed in formalin.

It wasn't dead yet, but was in a strange state, as if it had fallen into a deep dream from which it couldn't awaken, letting its body be manipulated at will.

And the one manipulating its body was, of course, Gong Qiying.

At the moment, he had changed into the white coat often worn by doctors, wearing a pair of oddly shaped gloves, using various tools to interact intricately with the parasite's body. Not only the mutated species, but various other parasites were neatly arranged on the table beside.

The dissection marks on these insects were quite meticulous, as if done by the hands of a professional physician, and they were even somewhat pleasing to the eye.

Strange, when did Gong Qiying learn such a technique?

Actually, it was thanks to the wonderful little gadget he had on his hand, which was that pair of oddly shaped gloves.

[Divine Hand Perfectionist]

[Glove-type Imperial Artifact, capable of triggering hundreds of times more precise movements of the fingers, facilitating the crafting of intricate weapons, and can also be used for treating the human body]

A wonderful tool from "Red Eyes," it was just right to be put to use now, making him involuntarily marvel at how reading comics indeed paid off.

But merely having the amplification of the tool isn't enough; relevant knowledge is also needed.

Besides the maintenance and design of the Dungeon, Gong Qiying wasn't running around looking for fun all the time; he also took time to learn and recharge.

Long ago, he had been thinking that although the Monsters he could summon were of an unimaginably high quality, that was all he knew about them.

There are quite a few with unique abilities among the Monsters in this world, and if conditions permit, Gong Qiying actually hopes to expand his Available Monster resources with local Monsters. Thus, he intermittently learned some knowledge about Monsters, and gradually, a few simple Monsters became part of his arsenal.

When he encountered the Sealed Items in the Dungeon, he boldly thought:

Can the Sealed Items be turned into my Available Monsters?

He put this question to some City Lords, and the answers he received were unanimously:

Never thought of that!

The City Lords' reactions were quite peculiar; it was clear they had never considered making Sealed Items part of their forces, making people feel it's a bit eerie.

Since he couldn't count on other City Lords, Gong Qiying had to rely on himself, starting with the Hidden Blood Parasite.

"Indeed, understanding Monsters from scratch is incredibly difficult."

After a long while, the "Hidden Blood Parasite" item was still not added to the [Available Monster] list.

Gong Qiying put down the dissection tools, and with a flick of his hand, retrieved the Imperial Tool and the white coat, casually throwing the mutated species, with gradually reverting dissection marks, into the blood used for Blood Therapy, whereupon the latter immediately slept more soundly.

The blood used for Blood Therapy doesn't directly kill the parasites but enthralls them deeply, their minds attracted by the essence within, inducing a plant-man-like state and losing activity. This is the principle by which Fanen and the others resist parasitism.

And leveraging this power, Gong Qiying could glean some intelligence from the parasites, especially from the highly intelligent mutated species.

For instance, the news he just got from this mutated species—the Insect King is in the capital of Red.

Savis City and several other fallen cities serve as breeding grounds for the parasites. Humans inside are either converted into hosts or processed into meatballs for cultivating more advanced parasites, transported via tunnels to the capital and supplied to the Insect King to command.

What is even more shocking is that the Insect King's action has already begun, which is why this highly intelligent mutated species captured by the Dungeon is no longer needed.

As expected, the traditional performance: the enemy at the stronghold.

"That new white-haired girl seems to really like Maria, so just keep her hanging there."

A smile curled at his lips; he loved seeing people like Uffie or Selene.

Once Uffie is unleashed, she can cooperate with Fanen and the others to clear out Savis City, and the city can be considered thoroughly reclaimed.

Gong Qiying wasn't sure if they knew about the Insect King. If not, he'd have to use some means to leak the information, guiding these people through the tunnels to the capital, for a direct strike to capture the king first, getting rid of the Insect King before it fully matures.

"But the concern is, the number of survivors is too small, the power of the Insect King in the capital is unknown, and with just their manpower, it's hard to make a substantial impact."

Even if they can wait for the Dungeon to lure the Insect King over, how many people will die during that time? Gong Qiying considered the people on this land as his backup source of hidden spiritual power, not one less!

"So, it's time to increase reinforcements."

He opened the [Unity Seeker] module, looking at the illustrations of various adventurers.

Blazing sword, canceled bow, thrusting Big Shield, swift slash... truly a gathering of talents.

It's time for the veteran adventurers to bring a little Sain shock to Red.