By the time the Beast Kingdom's delegation snapped back to reality, Gobta was already gone.

They stood frozen.

Staring at the spider leg still in his hand…

Their brains were on overdrive.

Wearing protective gear crafted by national-level artisans… not because they're strong, but because they're too weak???

…Huh???

Why does none of it make sense?!

Also...

They glanced down at the spider legs again.

A-rank monster.

A goblin… killed an A-rank monster… casually…

And that's considered weak???

That's insanely strong, okay?!

Let's not forget, the Orc Lord they fought before was only a special A-rank threat.

And this goblin just one-shotted an A-rank monster… doesn't that make him a special A-rank himself?

The most absurd part was—

Everyone gulped and looked toward the square.

There were more than 200 of these goblins… all wearing the same armor…

This is what they call weak?

Are you messing with us? How strong do you people think "strong" is?!

They couldn't even imagine it.

Stronger than A-rank… isn't that the same as Carrion-sama's level?

Are you kidding me…

There are people as strong as Carrion-sama here?!

That can't be true!

That's Demon Lord-tier!

"This is just nonsense!"

"If you don't want to say anything, then fine! But don't lie to us!!!"

"This is an insult to our intelligence!"

The Beast Kingdom's elder delegates were practically fuming.

They didn't believe Gobta's words at all.

More like—they couldn't believe them.

"Albis-sama!"

They began complaining to her.

"We came with sincerity, and they just keep stringing us along! This is outrageous!"

"This is basically humiliating Carrion-sama!!!"

"Enough!"

Suphia cut them off sharply, then turned to look at Albis.

Right then.

Albis was deep in thought.

Carrion had only informed the three Beastketeers about the demons involved in the Orc Lord incident.

Four Demon Lords—information so powerful it could shake the balance of the world.

Naturally, they couldn't speak of it carelessly.

But…

She remembered the group they had met at the party last night.

To be honest…

She couldn't get a read on any of them.

But she was certain—she couldn't beat a single one.

She quietly glanced sideways at the man in the lion mask.

Carrion-sama…

When are you planning to come out?

—————————————

Back at the square.

The Queen Ant held a report sheet as she delivered the latest Labyrinth status update to Chishiya.

"The first batch of Treatment Chambers has been completed."

"Construction of a deeper resting area is also underway."

"Well done. Thanks for the hard work."

Chishiya patted her on the shoulder.

Everything was progressing smoothly, both inside and out.

It felt like it was time to open up to the outside world.

"Chishiya! You're back!"

The moment he said that, a dark blur launched toward him.

"Rim, stop it!"

Shuna came running after.

"Nope~!"

Rim clung to Chishiya's neck like a scarf and shook her head furiously.

"Rim is hungry! Feed me! Feed meee!"

Chishiya opened her stat panel.

[Name: Rim]

[Energy Value: 3%]

[Labyrinth Resource Generation Rate: Stagnant]

…What?

Wasn't it over 30% just half a month ago?

So she burned through more than 20% already?!

Chishiya shook his head.

Guess he's been milking her a little too hard lately…

Currently, Chishiya commanded over 200,000 monsters.

Roughly 150,000 lived in Lapris full-time.

The rest were spread out around the central lake and surrounding areas.

In terms of tech and combat power, there were no shortcomings.

The only major problem was… food.

The territory was located in the Jura Forest.

Massive farmland wasn't viable. Agricultural space was extremely limited.

Gazel Dwargo also relied heavily on food imports.

So, the food for the 150,000 monsters basically had to come from within the Labyrinth itself.

Not to mention the recent spree of building wonders, crafting gear, constructing homes…

All of that drained resources mined from the Labyrinth.

Thanks to the Labyrinth's level-up, Rim's mana had increased significantly.

If it weren't for that boost, she'd probably be bald by now.

No.

Chishiya's expression turned serious.

Food was a huge problem. It had to be solved.

Especially with the Labyrinth leveling up, the quality of internal resources kept improving.

But the more you mined, the faster Rim's energy dropped.

"Chishiya-sama, who's this?"

Albis asked, brow twitching as she looked at the little girl clinging to him.

Something didn't feel right…

This girl… seemed incredibly powerful…

"She's just a greedy brat."

Chishiya brushed Rim's head aside like swatting a fly.

"Anyway, let's keep moving."

...

After leaving the square,

Chishiya led the group to tour the Labyrinth's infrastructure and ongoing projects.

Everyone's expressions were incredible.

Especially the old guys from the Beast Kingdom.

They blinked, wondering—

Did I just… see an ant moving bricks?

And then… turning back into a person?

And now they're walking off, arms around each other, heading to get drinks…

This is bad. My eyes must be going.

Ants turning into humans… that's gotta be a hallucination.

They forced a chuckle and shook their heads.

But as they continued to tour the silkworm farm, the medical center, the trading market, and the arena...

Their smiles started to fade.

Then stiffened.

Then warped into pure disbelief.

Is this really something humans can build???

How many Dwarf craftsmen did Gazel Dwargo send?!

How could you possibly build all this?!

Some of these facilities… don't even exist in Dwargo!

Their brows furrowed.

Something's not right here.

That feeling only grew stronger as they reached the far side of the city.

There, they saw a massive swarm of ants constructing a building with bamboo scaffolding.

And finally—

They snapped.

What. The. Hell.

Out in the open.

A huge crew of elite Army Ants was hard at work.

One of the three Dwarf brothers stood at the center, blueprint in hand, directing the build.

The structure being erected looked almost holy.

Thirty-nine steps, separated into three tiers.

All leading to a blue-and-white domed building above.

Everyone stared, throats tight, completely speechless.

Fuze turned to Kaijin.

"Kaijin-san… what is that building?"

Kaijin glanced back at the delegation.

He smirked and replied nonchalantly.

"Oh. That's just a standard library."

…???

Everyone froze, brains catching static.

They stared at the building again. Then back at Kaijin.

…Standard?

Where? Where is this "standard"???

Are we all looking at the same structure?

If you told us it was a royal temple, we'd believe you.

But a library???

And you called it "standard"? Again with that cursed word?

It's bad enough that goblins wearing magic steel armor are considered weak…

Now this?!

(To be continued.)

***

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