Area Analysis.

“It’s a loose classification, but I’ve decided to systematically partition this entire stratum into four distinct operational areas.”

“Areas, My Lord?”

Navigating on foot down to the central lake that splits the tenth floor directly in half requires roughly an hour of runtime. Calculating the distance parameters, it measures about five kilometers out. Since our schedule has a massive chunk of transit time to burn, I utilize the trek to pass along the analytical findings I gathered over the past week to Paula.

“First, Area One is—”

Pivoting on my heel, I use my raised hand to map out the sweeping outline of the precipice behind us. The vertical matrix of the sheer cliffs bounding the visual left and right easily breaches a hundred meters in height, extending for what must be at least ten kilometers across. Giant boulders breach the surface coordinates at various intervals, their stone profiles beautifully accented by clusters of pale pink herbs.

“The perimeter enveloping the southern wall. The primary hostile presence here is strictly restricted to Curved-Horn Sheep, making it a comprehensively safe coordinates.”

The exact zone guarding the landing right off the staircase functions as the primary habitat for the passive Curved-Horn Sheep. Furthermore, it serves as a natural spawn node to harvest Dream-Viewing Grass—a base compound to synthesize sleeping drafts—alongside Insect-Repellent Blossoms, which project an absolute evasion response against insect-type monsters.

However, as a safety directive regarding the Insect-Repellent Blossoms, because they do not naturally cultivate in the immediate vicinity of the stairs, a non-zero risk of encountering hostile ambushes exists the exact fraction of a second you enter or exit the landing, so high alertness must be maintained.

The Curved-Horn Sheep are fundamentally docile monsters whose daily behavioral programming dictates navigating the rocky incline via the cliffside, blankly munching on Dream-Viewing Grass all day long. However, their systems harbor a rigid pack-loyalty matrix: if a single unit is engaged in combat, neighboring specimens will automatically intercept the threat to defend their kind. This constraint requires careful calculation.

Then again, a clever vanguard can easily exploit this trait to lure a cluster of several heads straight off the cliff facade simultaneously. Their active ability metrics include <Stampede>—where they project their horns forward to launch a high-velocity physical charge—and <Soporific Breath>, an AoE move that plunges all biological systems within its tracking radius into immediate slumber. The latter is an exceptionally hazardous capability, though hammering their facial quadrant inflicts enough sensory disruption to block them from executing the vent loop.

“But the absolute jackpot parameter of this area is the infinite harvest threshold: it yields a boundless payload of premium wool and high-grade meat.”

When you calculate that a ranch of nearly a hundred sheep is effectively being self-sustained here completely free of charge, it becomes impossible to suppress a massive smirk. Furthermore, even if we systematically execute a culling cycle to thin their ranks, their population metrics flawlessly reset back to baseline maximum by the following morning. Uncovering this single data node was enough to officially validate that pushing our progression all the way to the tenth floor was a magnificent investment.

“Beyond those basic yields, although my system hasn’t run the experimental validation loops yet, I calculate there are even more magnificent, high-value ways to exploit their presence.”

“Is that so, My Lord?”

“Yeah. The exact fraction of a second we initiate our return sweep today, I intend to have you execute a specific protocol.”

“Understood. My systems are fully locked to execute absolutely any command you dictate, My Lord.”

“Moving on, Area Two comprises—”

This time, I extend both arms wide to indicate the structural boundaries flanking our lateral fields of vision.

“The zones framing the eastern and western walls. The hostiles stationed at those coordinates are the Great-Eyed Moths. The exact fraction of a second the sun parameters dip into dusk, those sectors turn into absolute no-go zones where you never want to navigate your frame.”

Thick clusters of low shrubs carpet the base of both boundaries, forming a network of miniature woodlands. The Great-Eyed Moths utilize the dark canopy of those thickets to run an active stealth matrix during daytime parameters, flatly refusing to manifest in the open.

However, the precise moment the lumen output of the solar stones begins to decay toward twilight, they abandon their roosts and initiate a high-activity flight phase across the airspace.

Having intentionally braved consecutive midnight deployments to audit their data, I verified that their tracking arrays respond exclusively to light sources. The cataclysmic ambush our party suffered upon our very first landfall down here was explicitly triggered because the luminescent wings of the fairies were venting a high-volume visual signature.

The monster’s physical specifications register at roughly thirty centimeters in length, its wings heavily etched with a highly toxic, grotesque eyeball pattern. Its primary abilities include <Beguile>—where it flutters its wings to scramble a unit’s cognitive functions—and <Blinding Powder>, a tedious maneuver that broadcasts a heavy cloud of disruptive scales across the field.

While their baseline physical attack metrics are practically non-serving, they deploy in massive, suffocating swarms, making them a threat you can never afford to miscalculate.

For experimental verification, I previously commanded Bone-ko-chan to march into the zone while holding a glowing glow-stone lantern; within a brief fraction of a second, a high-volume influx of moths converged on her position, comprehensively blanketing every single square millimeter of her skeletal frame. Had that target been a living, breathing human being, their respiratory functions would have hit an immediate failure threshold from absolute suffocation.

While validating that data via Bone-ko-chan was an excellent security check, the exact fraction of a second she attempted to march back to my coordinates while still entirely coated in that squirming mass, the visual triggered such extreme physiological revulsion that I deeply regretted ever initiating the trial. It was an exceptionally traumatic experience.

“Ugh, y-yeah… that encounter was comprehensively terrifying…” Mia shuddered, her face turning pale.

“Yeah. Absolute worst-case scenario.”

“Heh-heh, how unfortunate. I highly desire that my own system could have witnessed that spectacle,” Paula teased softly.

“No, erase that thought immediately. I am enforcing a strict administrative warning: I do not recommend it, with absolute sincerity.”

“Oh, completely! It aggressively hijacked my nightmare loops, it was pure insanity!” Mia chimed in.

Granted, since Ethan-san and the two beast-girls had processed the entire event with absolute neutrality, it seems the psychological horror of the visual won’t register unless a unit possesses standard, ordinary human sensibilities.

Listening to the highly synchronized back-and-forth between Mia and me, Paula’s features briefly shifted as if she highly desired to interject, but the exact moment her scanning arrays caught my eye, she smoothly restored her signature seductive, playful smirk.

“The eastern and western perimeter sectors failed to yield a single harvestable material node. Because of the inherent security hazards, logging consecutive runtime in those zones is a non-serving strategy. While you can technically execute an extraction loop on a downed Great-Eyed Moth to harvest its toxic scales and synthesize blindness drafts, the raw market value doesn’t justify the operational risk. We shall classify the eastern and western boundaries as absolute restricted zones.”

“Area Three comprises the exact southern terrain our platoon is currently traversing.”

Answering my prompt, Paula directed a gaze filled with an immense volume of curiosity toward the surrounding landscape.

The topography features a few minor rolling swells here and there, but the layout is dominated by perfectly flat earth. Aside from sparse patches of low undergrowth intersecting with scattered, jagged boulders that function as makeshift seats, the sector is completely barren. Yes, this zone contains absolutely nothing.

“My, what an empty layout.”

“Yeah. I manually executed an extensive scouting loop across various coordinates to test the structural boundaries, but the data remained completely uniform.”

The entire expanse commanding the southern side of the lake is strictly a repetitive loop of identical, vacant scenery extending as far as the eye can track. Then again, from an administrative standpoint, a clean canvas of this scale is an exceptional asset; it allows us to deploy and exploit the real estate for various community projects without hitting a single logistical bottleneck.

“Which leaves our final zone: Area Four. This comprises the absolute northern sector commanding the far shore of the lake.”

It represents the deep hinterland partitioned away by the central water barrier. The geography transitions into a rolling hill matrix heavily stacked with giant, high-tier timber—a sector our network has flatly failed to breach so far.

According to the high-distance tracking logs processed by Ethan-san’s superior vision, several large flying shapes boasting distinct black-and-yellow striped patterns have been registered actively patrolling the canopy over there.

……Based on those raw parameters, my database can easily calculate the exact taxonomic identity of that monster.

“Additionally, I suppose we must formally catalog this central lake itself as a distinct operational zone.”

The horizontal gap separating our position from the opposite shore tracks at roughly five hundred meters. Branching out to the east is an incoming river that feeds the lake, its upstream vectors tracing back to a massive structural aperture carved into the base of the perimeter wall. Conversely, the western flank features a perfectly functional outflow river that continuously drains the basin, ensuring the lake’s water metrics never breach their failure threshold to trigger an absolute flood event.

The western outflow systematically splinters into a network of multiple tributaries, every single branch predictably emptying straight into corresponding drainage apertures etched along the western wall.

Exactly where that colossal volume of fluid vanishes to remains a deeply fascinating, mysterious structural anomaly.

Hovering directly over the airspace commanding that massive body of water, several high-tier monsters can be flawlessly verified running immediate hover-and-dash flight vectors. Every single specimen boasts a physical scale that completely eclipses my own height parameters. It is a massive swarm of Sword-Tail Dragonflies.

Their compound eyes possess an exceptionally high resolution stat; the exact fraction of a second a unit breaches a perimeter of thirty to forty steps from the shoreline, they will automatically log a hostile target and launch an airborne blitz. Their textbook tactical matrix relies on silently diving from the upper airspace to snare a target within their talons before aggressively grinding them down with their mandibles, or swinging their razor-sharp, sword-like abdomens to execute a clean bisection maneuver, carrying the severed components straight back to their roosts.

Their active abilities comprise <Lethal Cleave>—which masterfully exploits their vicious tails—and <Sonoverb Wave>, an acoustic attack triggered by rapidly vibrating their transparent wings.

Interestingly, while their wings are engineered to be exceptionally durable, they boast a hyper-transparent clarity index that makes them a flawless mechanical match for reinforced safety glass. While the drop matrix for this monster is strictly restricted to these wings, the asset represents an incredibly high-utility material for our manufacturing lines.

“Well, our immediate deployment objective today isn’t to launch a culling campaign against them, anyway.”

Our primary target for today’s itinerary was strictly to initiate the engineering phase for a massive bridge crossing, unlocking our access to run a full diagnostic sweep on the northern quadrant of Area Four.