Progress Of Each Floor.

Regarding the mechanism of the ninth-floor staircase, testing it for a few more days brought several new facts to light.

First, as for the method of defeat, it seemed that ruthlessly taking down the single female—the Boss Wererat—first was indeed the correct clear condition. If we failed to do this and systematically eliminated the male minions first, or wiped them out all at once, the total count of monsters would undergo a massive escalation upon their next respawn. Although their behavior heavily resembled a mating ritual, as long as we masterfully isolated and neutralized the female first, our progression metrics encountered zero friction.

Next, as for the reproduction rate of the Wererats, I had initially calculated that they multiplied by a fixed value of two, but that turned out to be completely inaccurate. On the second day of re-verification, the count hit nine; on the third day, it was eleven; but on the fourth day, the number suddenly spiked to fifteen.

Furthermore, on the fifth day, a total of twenty-three entities generated all at once, creating a packed mass of squirming rodents that forced me to shut down the experimental loop entirely.

Running a rough mathematical calculation, it was highly anticipated that seven functioned as the base constant, and the system systematically added a doubling multiplier onto that value—adding two, then four, then eight, and so on. Granted, to definitively prove my hypothesis, my system required a bit more field data…

However, the exact fraction of a second the pack size breached twenty, the staircase plaza was so tightly crammed that the hostiles were practically bursting out of the zone. Thinking about the cataclysmic disaster that would trigger if we accidentally failed to neutralize the female first under those parameters was far too terrifying, so I had absolutely zero desire to run further trials.

I calculated that a maximum population cap must exist somewhere in the data, but even that boundary invited a major structural question. Despite the ninth floor possessing a remarkably small geographical footprint, when the Wererat population in front of the stairs escalated, the population density of the other monsters across the stratum remained completely unchanged.

Was my core premise regarding the localized volume of ambient mana failing to align with the environment, or was there a hidden variable that had entirely eluded my analytics? Since our network currently suffered from a distinct lack of both personnel and runtime to execute a granular investigation, I resolved to permanently back-log the mystery for now.

Well, as long as the Wererats continue to multiply along that vector, we can easily find a barrage of high-value utility paths to exploit their drop yields anyway.

At any rate, while managing those trials, a full week had elapsed since I locked in our new administrative policies. The overall state of affairs was shifting beautifully along a highly optimal trajectory.

The Fifth Floor – Ahead of the Western Wall Reservoir

At these specific coordinates, a group of local villagers had gathered to witness the definitive completion of their construction project.

“Alright, pull it open!”

“Yo!”

Shouting to synchronize their movements, the farmers firmly clamped their hands onto the massive timber sluice gate separating the canal from the reservoir. Locking every ounce of their raw physical strength into their frames, they hauled the wood straight upward.

Because of the massive fluid pressure bearing down against the wood, the timber gate initially refused to budge even a single millimeter. However, as it systematically yielded to their force and slid upward inch by inch, the reservoir water instantly began spinning into a violent, churning vortex.

Simultaneously, on the exact opposite side of the threshold, a torrent of crystalline water surged into the barren canal trench, gaining exceptional velocity as it rapidly flooded down the line.

Witnessing the dry channel being systematically filled before their very eyes, the villagers erupted into a boisterous cheer all at once.

“Whoa!”

“It worked! The calculations were flawless!”

Vocalizing their excitement in a massive chorus, the farmers instantly took off, chasing after the vanguard of the rushing current.

Watching their retreating backs move down the line, Dirk, the Village Chief, allowed the corners of his lips to subtly curl upward into a proud smile.

“ …Phew. It appears we have successfully brought the project to a flawless conclusion.“

“Yes, indeed. It is a magnificent display of craftsmanship; I am profoundly impressed. I can guarantee that he will be exceptionally pleased with this yield,” noted the beautiful brown-skinned woman of the demon-kin race.

Hearing Paula’s high-volume praise, Dirk offered a slight, modest shake of his head.

“No, our contribution was completely minor, Paula-sama. This milestone could strictly be checked off because we had the luxury of your magnificent assistance.”

To state the unvarnished reality, the vast majority of the excavation parameters along the canal route had been executed entirely by the raw labor of two Giant Earthworms Paula had brought under her <Subjugation> matrix. Furthermore, just as they had done during our well-excavation event back on the surface, they had masterfully coated the interior soil walls with their bodily fluids (their pee), systematically compressing and baking the earth into an ironclad shield that flawlessly prevented the water from leaking into the ground.

Attributing the spectacular feat of bridging the massive distance separating the center of the fifth floor from its absolute western dead end in a mere seven-day window entirely to the operational efficiency of those two monsters was zero exaggeration.

Granted, the Chief and his construction detail hadn’t been idling around either; their schedules had been thoroughly backed up with managing the structural alignment of the trench, utilizing surveying rods to calculate distances and positions to ensure the path didn’t drift from the blueprint.

Furthermore, one must never omit from their calculations that behind the spectacular contribution of the monsters stood Paula, who had been meticulously managing their loops from the start. Because Giant Earthworms possess a comprehensively low cognitive stat, their systems can strictly process exceptionally basic commands. Additionally, they harbor an ingrained behavioral pattern that drives them to instinctively burrow along a chaotic, winding zigzag vector, making the task of routing a perfectly straight irrigation canal incredibly tedious.

To bypass this bottleneck, Paula had acted as their dedicated tamer, remaining deployed at their side for consecutive days to constantly inject fine corrective directives to realign their trajectory.

Because of this grueling deployment, she had been flatly deprived of the opportunity to remain by the side of her beloved Nino, making it an exceptionally lonely week for her. However, her immense sacrifices had paid the ultimate dividend today, successfully unlocking the permanent operation of this massive irrigation canal.

“ …Hmm. The water volume within the reservoir shows absolutely zero signs of depleting,“ Dirk noted, meticulously auditing the structural readout of the lake.

“Yes. Everything has unfolded in perfect alignment with what he calculated,” Paula responded proudly.

Despite a massive payload of water continuously draining into the new canal network, the overall surface metrics of the lake wall remained completely static. Just as Nino had predicted, the primary water source feeding the subterranean labyrinth possessed an infinite threshold; it wasn’t bound to run dry anytime soon.

Under normal human logic, uncovering a geological anomaly of this magnitude would be a thoroughly blindsiding, astonishing revelation—yet the two figures staring at the water displayed absolutely zero shock. To Dirk and Paula’s systems, every single word that left Nino’s lips was an ironclad, absolute truth; today’s validation loop was merely another textbook confirmation of his infinite wisdom.

“Even so… it is a bit of a shame,” Dirk murmured, his brow furrowing as he slipped into a thinking loop. “If we were permitted to field these Giant Earthworms on the surface world, they would maximize our cultivation efficiency across the community.”

The terrain enveloping the perimeter of the “Starting Village” was exceptionally dense, heavily cluttered with jagged stones and debris, meaning that transforming the wilderness into arable fields required an immense, grueling expenditure of manual labor. To insulate the village against the looming crop failure and subsequent food scarcity crisis Nino had calculated, the Chief believed they should aggressively expand their agricultural footprint on the surface while they still possessed the seasonal window.

However, deploying the earthworms to manage those surface parameters required Paula’s constant, hands-on tamership. And Nino’s definitive conclusion had explicitly stated that her high-caliber taming matrix was a mandatory requirement to anchor our elite vanguard’s progression through the tenth floor. Therefore, the exact fraction of a second this canal project verified complete, Paula was dictated to pack her gear and deploy straight into the deepest sectors of the labyrinth.

Confronted by the Chief’s lingering administrative anxieties, Paula simply let her signature seductive, playful smirk spread across her lips.

“If that is your primary bottleneck, you should count your absolute blessings. A highly reliable, powerful reinforcement unit is scheduled to arrive within our network very shortly.”