I, Stone Golem, only want to forge.

Murphy glanced around at the nearby stone figures.

But they found that they were all terrified of the egg, and they all retreated in a circle. Even the slime had hopped away at some point.

Murphy and Egg were left alone.

It tries to use its brain... oh, it can't do what it doesn't have.

So it started thinking with some unknown means of reasoning.

Judging from the reactions of those stone people, this dragon egg must possess some kind of dragon power.

There are records of this thing in fragments of memory.

However, the craftsman had never seen a dragon egg up close, so he didn't know exactly what it looked like.

It is even more unclear whether this dragon egg will be coveted by other species or by the dragon that abandoned it.

It doesn't want an egg to affect its life.

So it would be better to move this dragon egg further away?

Thinking of this, Murphy walked to the egg, trying to pick it up and put it away from the cave.

However, the moment its hand touched the egg...

Click!

The eggshell slowly cracked open.

Murphy paused for a moment, then immediately held the egg even higher and started running wildly into the distance.

It remembered that dragons would regard the first creature they encountered as their parents.

It didn't want to get entangled with this strange thing and cause a lot of trouble.

It quickly ran to a secluded cave, put the dragon egg down, hid it with something nearby, and then prepared to leave.

However, it had only taken a few steps when it heard a rumbling rolling sound behind it.

It turned its head and saw an egg behind it.

Murphy stared silently at the egg, and the egg stared back at him in silence.

Without a word, it carried the egg back to its original place, but only took a few steps outside.

There was another rumbling sound as it turned around, and when I looked back, the egg was behind it again.

Murphy: (o…O)

Why are they targeting me?

This thing hasn't been born yet, so it can't just be a crack that allows it to see itself, right?

Murphy scratched his head and took two steps back.

Sure enough, the egg rolled two more times toward it.

Then, mimicking Murphy, he leaned forward as if he wanted to scratch his head, but no hand was there.

Is he imitating his own movements?

Upon seeing this, Murphy jumped up and down twice.

The egg actually jumped up on the spot.

Sure enough, you can see yourself through the opening...

In other words, the dragon already considers itself its parent.

Murphy had no choice but to use telepathy to speak to the dragon egg.

"Go away, I am not a dragon."

The dragon egg ignored it and just hopped around a few more times.

They completely ignored Murphy's meaning.

This gave Stone a headache.

Putting aside whether the dragon egg will hatch, what will it eat after it hatches? Will it attract other creatures?

If the dragon egg were to follow it around all the time, the dragon's might would probably terrify its own group of stone people, leaving them living in constant fear.

I guess I'll have to move out...

However, it had this idea for a while, and now it's just been brought forward a bit.

After all, the cave was too small, and the environment was not suitable for many of its subsequent forging processes.

"Can you wait here? I'm moving."

The dragon egg bounced, indicating its refusal.

Murphy could only scratch his head in annoyance and helplessly return to the stone cave with the dragon egg.

The stone men were about to surround Murphy when they saw him, but they scattered when they saw the egg behind him.

After Murphy explained to them that he was moving, the stone people were sad, but they all nodded understandingly and helped Murphy move.

……

Murphy chose a location that was in the middle of several nearby ecozones and tribes.

This was a location it had chosen long ago; their stone tribe's location was far too remote.

Creatures like slimes, especially the lower-level ones, can easily get cut by sharp stones while walking.

Not to mention other more valuable and rare creatures that might want to use it to forge things, but are afraid of encountering dangers along the way.

As a stone being, it doesn't actually need rest, nor does it get bored from forging, so every extra customer is a welcome addition.

The stone cave had really affected its business.

However, the dragon egg didn't like it very much; it glanced at the rugged and cold environment inside the cave.

Let alone satisfying its ingrained fondness for shiny things, any animal that doesn't prefer dampness wouldn't like this place.

But since Murphy is here, there's no way for it to move.

It could only sway its body from side to side like a roly-poly toy.

However, Murphy didn't actually like this place, except for the location.

While the stone golem doesn't have many requirements for its living environment, Murphy is different; its skills were inherited from that human craftsman.

Therefore, its requirements for caves are not as rudimentary as those for other stone figures.

Moreover, customers will be coming to this place in the future. What if it affects the business?

So it decided to renovate!

It picked up the stone hammer and first smashed the walls and floor of the cave to make them smoother.

The dragon egg next to it, watching it knock and smash, realized that Murphy probably wanted to make this area flat and wide.

So he got interested and joined in, crashing into the uneven stones.

As expected of a legendary creature, the dragon's eggshell was indeed hard.

Its efficiency is even slightly faster than Murphy's.

After the surrounding area was leveled, the dragon egg, just like the stone man it had seen, happily bumped into Murphy.

However, at this time, Murphy was a mid-level Golem, with a level of only around 15.

Even the youngest dragons, like newly hatched eggs, are around level 30.

This impact sent Murphy rolling several times on the spot before crashing into the wall.

The dragon egg was stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

What's amazing is that, despite having no facial features or limbs, one can still see a hint of embarrassment and awkwardness on the egg's body.

Murphy shakily got up.

They didn't say much, as this kind of thing is quite common in the Stone Man tribe.

Not all stone golems are as sensible as it is; in its early stages, it was often knocked away by other intermediate stone golems.

So it just gave a brief reminder and then, without saying anything more, began the next step of decorating the cave.

Apply cement!

Yes, cement paste.

The name "cement" comes from fragments of memory, but the methods of making it and its uses are indeed different.

In addition to the most basic lime and sand, its cement also contains some slime gel, and...

The area is often covered with anti-magic stones, and the powder ground from bones that are scattered on the ground, forming small mountains.

The cement made from these materials can prevent magic from escaping.

All you need to do is create a passageway at the cave entrance or in the workshop and place some magic circles or devices that attract magic.

It can make the magic power inside the cave flow in continuously.

Of course, Murphy also sprinkled some fluorescent powder into it for lighting purposes.

Because of his recent misdeeds, the dragon egg dared not help Murphy rashly again, fearing it might cause some trouble.

It could only watch from afar outside the cave entrance as Murphy mixed those strange things together and then smeared them on the walls and floor.

The dwelling, which was originally the complete opposite of its nature, suddenly became bright and spacious!

The dwelling became warmer, and the magic gradually increased.

The dragon egg excitedly charged forward again, intending to bump into Murphy as a gesture of goodwill, but stopped abruptly halfway through.

Murphy turned around when he heard the noise, his little eyes fixed on the large dragon egg.

Its little eyes were full of questions.

The dragon egg turned around awkwardly, facing Murphy with the side without cracks.

Murphy scratched his head in confusion and continued working.

It took it quite a bit of effort for it to finally understand.

The new home is almost complete!

Egg immediately hopped over to Murphy's side, looked into the cave, then at Murphy, clearly wanting to go inside and stay there.

Murphy nodded; after all, the egg had just finished helping him with some work, and he felt bad about kicking it out.

The dragon egg then rolled in impatiently.

However, as soon as they entered the cave, the eggshell suddenly cracked open a little!

Murphy, seeing this, also entered the cave in surprise.

However, it happened the instant it entered the depths of the cave.

[Promoted to High-Level Stone Golem.]