Gamers of the Underworld

Brainiac stood at his workplace and healed the Goblins like a robot.

Compared to the previous day’s intermittent flow of Goblins, the flow of Goblins today was rather regular.

They would bring lots of injured and dead Goblins to Brainiac.

After being revived, the Goblins would form teams before leaving noisily to board the next Beetlemon trip.

After an hour, another group of Goblins would bring their dead and wounded to Brainiac.

After observing several waves of Goblins, Brainiac formed a few simple speculations.

During his free time, he took out his journal and wrote.

“Eternal Kingdom Research, Day Two:

1: The Goblins of Eternal Kingdom found the Houndhead Men’s Lair, and they were excited.

2: They exhibit extraordinary aggressiveness and are actively invading the Houndhead Men’s Lair. They are not afraid to die because they can be revived.

3: If I burn their corpses, will they be able to revive? When I meet Lord Sherlock, I will formally request to do this research.

4: They summarize and share their combat experience. I thought they were insane creatures with low intelligence. After two days of observation, I know I was wrong. Their intelligence is an area for future research.

5: They have a forum for special gathering, and they create “Posts” at the location. The actual meaning has to be researched.

6: They were analyzing the attack methods of the Houndhead Men in order to find a pattern. Is that possible?

7: That hot-tempered Blacksmith will purposely destroy their equipment. I feel I have to report this matter to Lord Sherlock.

8: Besides working in the Dungeon, they seem to have other interests, and they discuss them in public. Are they 100% loyal to Lord Sherlock?

9: They seem to lack common sense. After eating, they will shout to everyone that they are going to eat and then fall asleep on the ground for ten minutes.

10: My Beetlemon has been taken over by them.

11: I am very angry.”

As Brainiac put away his journal and lifted his head, a group of Goblins ran over noisily from outside.

This time, they each held an egg in their hands.

…

The furnace fire of the Blacksmith Shop gradually extinguish. Simba locked his Blacksmith Shop and followed Mufasa to their small houses.

A Goblin with tattered clothing stood in the flowerbed. This Goblin did not wear armor like the rest of the Goblins and was not interested in fighting.

According to Brainiac’s observations over two days, that Goblin preferred agriculture.

Most of the Goblins returned to their Living Quarters. Brainiac had followed Sherlock to take a look before. It was a place with incomplete buildings, and the walls were filled with various graffiti.

Brainiac’s instincts told him that the graffiti was good material for his Goblin research.

Brainiac turned his head and looked at the nearby Dungeon Core Main Hall. Most of the eggs of the Houndhead Men were stacked in the middle of the Main Hall.

A few eggs were brought to the Goblin’s Living Quarters, as they were curious about the eggs.

A tall figure walked out from the Teleport Portal Main Hall. It was Sherlock. He had left the night before and had been away for a day.

Brainiac held his journal and walked towards the Dungeon Core Main Hall.

He knocked on the door and heard the Devil Lord say, “Come in.”

Brainiac opened the door and walked in.

Sherlock took off his overcoat and placed it on top of a wooden box. He looked exhausted.

Brainiac was surprised to see Sherlock exhausted. He couldn’t figure out what could make a Devil feel so tired.

“Lord Sherlock, after working for two days, I have discovered several problems that need to be solved.”

Brainiac was curious to know what happened to Lord Sherlock, but he didn’t show it. He took out his journal and started his report.

“From the Goblins’ conversations, they bear a grudge against Simba. I think it is necessary to find out more since it affects the Goblins’ morale. The Goblins seem to be taking other jobs, though I haven’t seen them leave the Dungeon and they return to their Living Quarters to sleep. I think they might be working in their dreams, so I find it necessary to investigate.”

“Thank you for your concern. I will use your leads to do follow-up investigations.” Sherlock took a seat. He looked at the pile of eggs of the Houndhead Men and gazed at Brainiac as he said, “Do you have any research in modifying the Houndhead Men? I mean, do you have any way to take control of them easier? I remember that Creature Modification is one of the topics at Specter College.”

Brainiac thought for a while and said, “Because there are no Creature Modification Laboratories, with my current magical ingredients and crude methods, though I can make them controllable, their strength, agility, and intelligence would be greatly diminished. The modified Houndhead Men would be weak but docile. Are such modified creatures useful to Lord Sherlock?”

“They’re still useful.” Sherlock pondered and said, “Modify them according to the crude method. You may carry the eggs back to your room.”

“Lord Sherlock, Creature Modification is a complex magical skill and requires many magical ingredients. My current materials and Mana can only modify ten eggs within this period,” Brainiac said.

“Ah, in that case, just carry ten eggs back.” Sherlock waved his hand.

Brainiac didn’t carry the eggs. Instead, he took out a journal and said, “The Houndhead Man is a low-level Dragon-type creature. The materials used for modification are closely related to huge Dragons. Ten Dragon Scales, Ten Mana units of Dragon blood, several pieces of dried Dragon eggshell, some highest quality magical powder, and some Creature Modification Catalyst. The initial estimate is 2000 Magic Stones, Lord Sherlock.”

Brainiac extended his hand towards Sherlock.

“Ah?” Sherlock’s tired face looked dazed.

“Two thousand Magic Stones, Lord Sherlock,” Brainiac said. “Though I have the materials and they aren’t rare or hard to buy, I don’t suppose Lord Sherlock intends to make me pay for this modification?”

“No, of course not. How could I do such a thing?” Sherlock slapped the table and said in a principled manner. He stood up, paced a few steps, and turned to look at Brainiac.

“Do you have any research that you are thinking of doing?”

Brainiac’s eye sockets lit up as he placed both his hands on the table and said confidently, “Yes!”

…

When the satisfied Brainiac left the Dungeon Core Main Hall, Sherlock sat in the chair and shut his eyes to rest. Bru spoke to him in his mind.

“I thought he was a dumb bookworm. It seems he has a mind of his own. Did he discover your tight financial situation?”

“Tight financial situation? I have tens of thousands of Magic Stones in my card.” Sherlock shifted his chair back and placed his feet on the table.

“Correct, Lord Sherlock, you are thrifty,” Bru said. “Lord Sherlock, would you like to have an obedient army of Houndhead Men?”

Sherlock opened his eyes and looked at the Dungeon Core.

“You are able to summon Houndhead Man gamers?”

“None of the Dungeon Cores can summon a Dragon-type creature as a servant, including Houndhead Men, who are an uncontrollable, low-level Dragon-type creature. In addition, they don’t register with the Underworld Talent Resource Market, so they are unable to become servants,” Bru said.

“However, my summoning method is different from other Cores. I use your Mana directly to summon the servants. I created a server that connects two worlds. By using the method of creating a character, I summoned the otherworld’s gamers as your servants.”

“You are saying that with the proper conditions, you can create Houndhead Men as my servants. Is that correct?” Sherlock nodded and asked, “How do I do that?”

“First, toss the egg of a Houndhead Man into the Dungeon Core,” Bru said after a long pause. “Then, I need…”

“You need a Huge Dragon, is that right?” Sherlock interrupted Bru and picked up an egg. After weighing it in his hand, he tossed it into the Dungeon Core.

Bru burned with crimson flames and swallowed the egg of the Houndhead Man.

Then Bru said slowly and with satisfaction, “You will become the great Devil King, my Lord.”