You promised to wreak havoc on the dungeon, but instead you've got Dragon Slime!

Ron didn't take the hit head-on. Instead, he took a half-step back, raised his crossbow, and fired an armor-piercing arrow that went straight into the gap in the vice-captain's shoulder armor.

The vice-captain groaned, and half of his shoulder slumped. Ron seized the opportunity to fire a second arrow, pinning him to a stone pillar within the formation.

The deputy captain was hanging from the stone post, completely motionless.

Only the axe handle remained, leaning to one side, clanging incessantly in the wind.

The mercenaries on the ground were dumbfounded.

No one expected that their most resilient vice-captain in the Skullcrusher Gang would be taken down by Ron in less than two moves.

The battle line collapsed instantly.

Some of the remaining people retreated while holding axes, some ran away, and a few, in their panic, crashed into the core of the interference array's magic crystal.

The next second—

"boom!!!"

The entire Beiling Canyon was blown up.

Smoke and dust, mixed with red light, shot into the sky, almost burning a hole in the clouds.

Several rocks at the edge of the canyon were blasted away and fell into the ditch below, splashing water columns three or four meters high.

Ron lowered his body and led his guards to the remaining two interference array positions in one go.

The mercenaries guarding the position had already moved up, but their faces turned half pale when they saw the mixed group of bloodthirsty hounds and mermen charging towards Ron.

The merman didn't speak, but twirled the spear in his hand.

"Puff puff!"

All three mercenaries were sent flying and thrown directly into the center of the magic crystal array.

Another loud bang.

Energy turbulence began to erupt from the ground, even causing cracks to appear in the surrounding mountain walls.

The core light of those three magic crystal arrays was extinguished instantly.

Ron glanced down at it.

"Okay."

[Ding—The jamming array has been completely destroyed, and the core energy has returned to normal.]

[Reward: Temporary anti-interference title "Ground Repairer"]

[Reward Distribution: Number of Loyal Monsters in Dungeon +1 (Murloc Chieftain Slu)]

In the distance of the canyon, Bakus was just about to detonate the master crystal.

As a result, the entire stone slab shattered.

His palm was scalded by the backlash energy, leaving a large patch of burnt skin that made him gasp in pain.

"Ron!"

He gritted his teeth, while the black-robed man beside him was so frightened that he took two steps back.

"It failed... The entire Heart-Bombing Array has been broken."

Bakus was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly kicked the map away.

The picture flew far away with a "whoosh" and landed on the fire, burning to ashes.

"He's going to die sooner or later."

……

On the control platform of the Black Language Grotto, the energy pulse diagram has returned to a stable blue curve.

Claudia plopped down in the chair and let out a long sigh.

"nailed it."

Ron walked up to the platform and casually hung the crossbow back on the wall.

"Don't worry, if anyone dares to mess around again, I'll make them disappear from this map."

He glanced at the system interface.

[Instance security level: Steady state]

External interference: 0%

[Current Dungeon Status: Upgradeable]

At that moment, a gray "Dungeon Core" notification icon suddenly flashed.

Ron paused for a moment, then clicked on it.

The next second, a new projection interface appeared in front of me.

[Ding—You have completed the anti-erosion event]

[Dungeon upgrade conditions met, unlock: Dungeon expansion permissions (allow opening of a second dungeon)]

Ron narrowed his eyes and pointed with his finger.

"Unlocked."

[Ding—Second dungeon is now open. Please select a dungeon template...]

A row of gray icons suddenly popped up.

Magma, extreme cold, thunderstorms, nightmares, wind erosion, deserts...

"desert."

He clicked on that column without hesitation.

The next moment, the entire control panel shuddered slightly.

[Ding—The dungeon has been opened]

【Name: Abyss of Ten Thousand Bones】

【Terrain Structure: Dead Sand Dunes + Bone Mound Turbulence + Day-Night Alternation】

[Core Mechanism: Monster Ecosystem Cycle + Day/Night Reversal Drive]

[Special Note: This instance has independent consciousness child nodes, which need to be manually bound to the instance agent]

[Reward: Dungeon Expansion Building Module x1]

Claudia moved closer.

What did you just do?

"I opened the second dungeon."

Claudia was completely stunned.

"What did you say?"

"I told them I just opened a new dungeon, the desert kind."

"Didn't you...didn't you just stabilize things here? How come you're..."

"A system reward."

Ron spoke very casually.

But Claudia felt a surge of anger rising within her.

"Your system is shameless! We just finished a major battle, and before we've even had a chance to sit down, you've already created a second instance?"

Ron stretched.

"Blame me."

……

Half a day later, a crack suddenly appeared in the ground of the area outside the Black Language Cave where mercenaries had been encamped.

Yellow sand surged wildly through the cracks.

It was as if someone had hollowed out the entire underground stratum, causing it to collapse with a loud crash.

Immediately afterwards, a translucent, bony-armored lizard emerged from the sand, its body covered in broken, withered bones, and a gray glimmer flickering in its eye sockets.

It lowered its head and sniffed the ground, then disappeared into the crack without looking back.

A few seconds later, another sand snake rushed into the sand.

Then, a black-spotted sand slime slowly crawled over.

Ron sat on the high platform, watching a large number of red dots on the projected map migrate from the Black Language Cave to that new area, and a smile appeared on his lips.

"The monsters migrate pretty fast."

Claudia stared blankly at the map.

"You...they came from the past on their own?"

"Correct."

"You didn't send them?"

"No."

"...Do they know where they should go?"

Ron nodded.

That's why I felt there was something there.

[Ding—You have triggered the dungeon migration mechanism]

[Note: Some monsters will voluntarily move to the Ten Thousand Bones Sand Abyss dungeon.]

[Current Dungeon Status: Some AI levels have been increased; basic monster AI self-guidance is complete]

[Ding—Dungeon AI Awakening Progress 1%]

Claudia looked completely bewildered.