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

The people from the Dark Abyss silently stuffed the remaining explosive capsules into the ventilation shafts of the barracks. After a muffled thud, the barracks instantly descended into chaos.

Ron walked into the trading hall, stepping on the broken stone slabs, and the lights on the command panel turned red one after another.

The mechanical array beneath the well was now spinning erratically, and with a low metallic scraping sound, the water level of the underground river began to drop sharply.

"First seal the well opening, and wait for the water to recede to the bottom before going down."

His voice drowned out all the noise.

The slime swarm immediately rushed to the wellhead, the slime coating stones and scraps of iron, quickly solidifying into a thick plug.

The roar from underground was suppressed, but the vibrations continued to be heard.

After Claudia confirmed that the seal was secure, she nodded to Ron.

A battle report came from the outer ring direction—the Dark Sea Abyss had sealed off the western entrance, the Abyss Throat had cut off the southern entrance, and the main force's heavy armored beasts and ironback beasts were at the northern entrance.

The entire Grayline dungeon became a death cell.

Ron looked at the map and slowly gathered his instructions: "Next step, clear every single street here."

The monster army advanced in a coordinated attack along the three rings, breaking down shops one by one on the outer ring and turning the mercenary camps into bonfires.

One by one, the middle-level passes were taken down, leaving gaps in the city's defenses, as if teeth had been pulled out.

By midnight, except for the lower energy array area, the entire Gray Vein had been trampled underfoot by the Black Language Legion.

Ron stood by the well, looking down at the sealed opening, and whispered, "Tomorrow, go down and pull out the heart."

The well was sealed for a night, but the tremors from underground never stopped, like a trapped giant beast panting heavily.

Before dawn, Ron ordered his men to remove the plug from the well.

The swarm of slimes slowly retreated, bringing with it a humid, hot breeze carrying a strong metallic smell and a hint of sulfur.

Claudia went down first, carrying a molten blaze pouch wrapped in runes on her back. The wall-climbing beast carried her slowly down the well wall. The inner wall of the circular well was embedded with concentric stone steps, but they had long been cracked by the heat and crumbled when stepped on.

When they descended to a depth of 100 zhang, the first underground river tributary appeared on the well wall. The water was murky and green, with tiny specks of light floating on the surface, like the eyes of dead fish.

The heavy armored beasts of the main formation descended along the hanging chains to a lower section of the well, where the outer ring of the energy array could be seen—a giant disc composed entirely of black iron and stone pillars. The outer shell of the disc was covered with runes, and what flowed within the runes was not energy, but water and sand brought by the underground river.

The sand-water mixture is pumped into the core of the formation, crushed by gears and chutes, and then distributed to various nodes of the Gray Vein City.

Ron landed on the platform outside the formation, reached out and touched the stone pillar. His fingertips felt a warmth, as if he had touched a piece of living iron.

"It's still running."

He looked at Claudia, “Cut its blood vessels.”

The Dark Sea Abyss team immediately entered the outer ring, found the water tanks that led to the underground river, cut open the valves with a bone saw, and stuffed them into the bursting sacs.

The deafening roar continued, the water tank was broken, and the water from the underground river rushed back, flooding the lower level and causing it to boil.

The Abyss's Throat then climbed the stone pillar and inserted sealing nails at the intersection of the runes to block the flow of runic power.

With each insertion of a new bar, the rotation speed of the disc noticeably decreases.

A sharp metallic groan began to emanate from the core of the machine, as gears and slides squeezed against each other, sparks flying everywhere.

Ron raised his hand, signaling the heavy crossbow towers in the main formation to fire—three rune-enchanted rock-piercing arrows pierced straight into the center of the formation, exploding into countless cracks.

Scalding hot mortar gushed from the crack, and once it left the center of the formation, it quickly cooled and solidified, like gray stone blood flowing across the entire platform.

"retreat!"

At Ron's command, everyone retreated up the hanging chain and the well wall.

The mortar rose extremely quickly, and in less than a quarter of an hour, the core of the formation was completely buried, and the sound of its operation disappeared under the cooled stone shell.

When they returned to the upper level, the Grayline Dungeon was completely silent—there was no energy supply, the lights went out one by one, and the only thing left in the air was the smell of burning.

Ron stood by the well and looked down. There was no light there anymore, only a sealed black hole.

"Grey vein, it's over."

He closed the topographical compass, his gaze already moving beyond the southern map to the more distant, unknown regions.

The Gray Vein Dungeon lost its energy array and fell into complete darkness. The remaining underground residents and mercenaries huddled in the abandoned alleys and houses of the outer ring, powerless to resist.

Ron did not rush to slaughter them all, but instead ordered the division and consolidation of the area—the Dark Sea Abyss was responsible for the streets between the outer and middle rings, the Abyss Throat took over all the passes and barracks, and the main force remained around the trading hall and the round well as the new core defense zone.

Claudia erected a bone tower near the ruins of the trading hall, equipped with heavy crossbows and bone javelins, facing the five main passageways, capable of instantly covering any disturbance.

After the people of the Abyss Maw emptied the mercenary barracks, they directly converted them into training grounds and armories. The walls were reinforced with pieces of sand dragon bone, and runestones were laid on the roof to prevent them from being affected when the ground collapsed.

The Dark Abyss is the most flexible; they take over the residential areas, registering those underground residents who are still alive and willing to surrender in batches, and settling them in different areas according to their ethnicity and skills.

Those who could fight were assigned to ragtag units; those who could do manual labor were thrown into repair teams; and those who refused to cooperate were all locked up in the mine's prison.

Ron personally walked around the outer ring, but he wasn't eyeing the streets and houses; instead, he was focused on the underground river beneath the Gray Vein.

After losing the pull of the energy array, the water level in the underground river stabilized, and the water still shimmered faintly.

He drew several new lines on the compass, connecting the underground river to the upper wells, and then extending them to the various defense zones.

This means that Ashbringer will not only be a Legion stronghold, but also a self-sufficient fortress.

Three days later, the mercenaries' bodies were cleared away, and the residential area returned to a minimum level of order.

The Bone Tower on the ruins of the trading hall has been replaced with the Black Language flag, and the seal by the well has been reinforced into a permanent stone cover engraved with new runes, which can only be opened with Ron's token.

At night, the city lights came on again, but no longer the original yellow light; instead, they emitted a cold white glow from the runes, making the entire gray city look like the skeleton of an upside-down beast.

Ron stood atop the Bone Tower, gazing at the subjugated underworld, and said calmly, "The Grey Veins are now the heart of the Black Language."

He turned around, and the shape of the disc had been adjusted to a deeper area in the southern region—the gray veins were just a passage; the real prey was still in the far depths.

On the third day after the city of Grayvein was stabilized, the reconnaissance team from the Dark Abyss brought back even deeper intelligence—downstream of the dark river at the southern end of Grayvein, there was an even larger underground city known as the "Abyss Ring City".

It was a ring-shaped suburban city with a huge hollow at its center, at the bottom of which was a boiling black water lake.

Blackwater Lake periodically spews out jets of gas containing metal and heat, serving as the energy source for the entire ring city.

The outer defenses of the city were as dense as a hedgehog: seven closed passes, each with its own barracks and animal enclosures.

What's more troublesome is that there is a separate ventilation duct in the middle layer of the city, which is directly connected to the surface of Blackwater Lake. Once the enemy invades, the defenders will release poisonous fog to suffocate the entire outer layer.

After hearing the intelligence, Ron simply drew a circle on the map showing the route of the underground river—starting from the Gray Vein, sneaking along the underground river would allow him to directly reach the lower level of the outer wall of the city, bypassing most of the seven passes.

"Go up from underwater, bite off its lungs first, then seal its entrance."

The Dark Abyss accepted the underwater infiltration mission. Their stealthy monsters, equipped with sealing devices, set off from the Gray Vein Dark River and headed south along the current.

As the underground river approaches the city, it widens and becomes calmer, its water growing increasingly dark, like a bottomless pool of ink.

The stealthy monster moved underwater, clinging to the rock wall, until it found a vertical shaft leading directly to the city's ventilation duct.

Meanwhile, the Abyss Throat marched along the fissure above the underground river, set up camp under a fault near the ring city, and deployed heavy crossbows and bone javelins in positions closest to the outer pass.

Once the underwater blockade is successful, they will immediately launch a diversionary attack, forcing the defending troops to make haphazard troop movements.

The main force remained at the southern entrance of the gray vein, awaiting signals from both directions. Once the signals arrived, they would advance along the abandoned mine tunnels, heading directly towards the side gate of the ring city—the only vertical passage leading to the middle level.

At night, a low whistle came from the lower reaches of the underground river, a stealthy signal from the Dark Sea Abyss—the ventilation shafts had been sealed with talismans, and the poisonous fog release channels around the city were completely paralyzed.

Almost simultaneously, the Abyss Throat detonated the first explosive capsule at the outer pass, the flames illuminating the outer walls of the ring city.

Ron immediately ordered: "All troops advance, take the outer perimeter of the city, and we must break through tonight."

The Gray Vein's black banner fluttered silently at the mouth of the dark river, as the monster legion surged like a tide along three routes into the deeper darkness.

The outer walls of the Abyss City are as high as an inverted cliff, made of hard stone and reinforced with countless steel nails and chains.

The gates embedded in the outer wall are arranged in an arc shape, and each one is equipped with a crossbow that can penetrate heavy armor.

The Abyss's Throat made the first move; the wall-climbing beast swung its barbed chain from the shadows below the pass, pulling down the guards who were loading their ballistae.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Shadow Scale Puppet rushed up the stone steps, cut the rope connecting the ballista, and sent the ballista flying over the wall.

Just as the firelight on the pass was extinguished, the lurking monsters from the Dark Sea Abyss emerged from the underground river shaft and charged straight at the lower-level arrow tower on the outer wall. They stuffed explosive sacs into the tower's core, causing the entire tower to collapse into a pile of rubble.

The main force of the heavily armored beasts and ironback beasts pressed down at the outer gate of the city, forming a wall of bone shields that blocked all the arrows raining down from the city.

The bone-throwing soldiers hurled talisman-inlaid broken chain arrows, which struck the chain pillars on both sides of the pass. The talisman's power tightened, and the chain pillars were forcibly torn apart.

Ron stood at the back of the formation, watching the outer markings on the shape plate turn red one by one, and raised his hand to slam down: "Break down the gate."

The Ironback charged forward with its head down, the first row of horns embedding themselves directly into the thick wooden door. The bone shield and the beast's body exerted force simultaneously, causing cracks to appear in the wooden door.

The second row of heavily armored beasts followed closely behind, causing the door hinges to break and the door panels to crash into the city.

The outer streets of the city are narrow and paved with slippery black stones, just wide enough for two rows of heavily armored beasts to walk side by side.

As soon as you enter, the slime swarm disperses into multiple groups, crawling in from the alleyways on both sides and covering the surface with all the movable ones.

After defeating the defenders at the right-hand pass, the Abyss Throat slid down from the outer ring platform and cut directly to the outer main street, severing the outer street defense line in two.

The Dark Abyss entered through the sewers and appeared behind the guards, its swarm instantly covering half the street.

The defenders attempted to assemble in the outer plaza, but flames approached from three sides, and the stone building on the edge of the plaza was destroyed by exploding bottles, with falling debris blocking their retreat.

Ron led the main squadron directly across the square, bone knives and rune spears clashing as they cleaved through the last barrier, and the outer city gate was thus completely torn open.

On the shaped disc, the outer defensive ring is completely broken.

Ron didn't stop; his gaze was already fixed on the vertical passage leading to the middle level, the lifeline of the ring city.

"Middle level, keep attacking."

The middle passage of the Abyss Ring City is like a vertical shaft, plunging straight into the dark depths behind the outer plaza.

The well walls were made of whole rock slabs, and every ten zhang there was a horizontal platform. Various offensive and defensive devices were installed on the platforms—spear throwers, poison tanks, and rock-falling tanks, all aimed at the center of the well.

Ron didn't let the main force rush in rashly. He first sent the stealthy monsters of the Dark Sea Abyss down the outer edge of the well wall to find the connecting links and switches of each platform.

The Abyss's Maw cleared the way, while the Wallcutter carried the Ironback Beast slowly down the well wall, with the Ironback Beast's bone shield blocking the venom pouring down from above.

The venom tank on the first platform was only halfway filled when the Dark Abyss severed the chain, causing the tank to tip over and the venom to splash back onto the faces of the defending mercenaries.

Amidst screams, the wall-climbing beast seized the opportunity to scale the platform and bite off all the winches of the spear-throwing device.

The second layer of defenses was even more formidable, with three repeating crossbows mounted on the platform, their arrowheads coated with talisman powder that could burst into flesh.

Seeing that the firepower was concentrated, Ron ordered the bone throwers to throw explosive bottles from above the well.

The heat from the explosion forced the crossbowmen to retreat. The Shadow Scale Puppet seized the opportunity, darting across the platform like a shadow, severing the crossbow strings with its twin blades, and then casually setting the crossbow bed on fire.