In the Adventure Town of the Elven Kingdom.
Su Lin and Tashiniya had just emerged from the nearly depleted Dungeon.
To be honest, there was nothing good left to find inside.
Out of a total of ten floors, the first nine were now empty, with more Adventurers than rats.
This pathetic Elven Kingdom Dungeon was almost completely burned out, with not a drop left.
However, the Adventure Town seemed more prosperous than before, with high-level Adventurers from all over the world visible everywhere.
"Because a new Dungeon has appeared in the Elven Kingdom, and it looks very rich."
Weini pointed to the Adventurers wandering around and explained, "These Adventurers came here in advance to wait and seize the first opportunity."
So that's it... No wonder there were quite a few Adventurers around Lv60 here; they were like a house-flipping team, coming to stake out a spot in advance.
"Do they have to wait a long time?"
"It's hard to say."
Weini spread her hands.
"Generally, for a Dungeon that appears within a country's borders, that country has the right to decide whether to open it to the public."
"Some Dungeons have never been opened to Adventurers since their appearance, such as Doragon's Dungeon with magic alchemy technology, which only Doragon has been able to enter for thirty years."
"Some Dungeons, after being developed by various countries for a period, will cooperate with the Adventurers' Guild, allowing Adventurers to explore freely."
It seems... whether a country opens a Dungeon is the country's own choice, and has little to do with the Adventurers' Guild?
But even so, Su Lin was still a bit curious.
"Why do most countries choose to open their Dungeons?"
"Because it's efficient."
Tashiniya stood with her hands on her hips, her expression a bit regretful.
"Do you think Adventurers have it easy? Exploring a Dungeon as an Adventurer requires paying an entry fee, and half of all loot must be handed over to the country where the Dungeon is located."
"The remaining loot must also be handed over to the Adventurers' Guild proportionally, and what's left after deducting quest costs and splitting it among us isn't much."
"So most lower-strength Adventurers rarely enter Dungeons unless they are part of a team."
Su Lin suddenly understood.
So the various countries were essentially treating Adventurers as laborers.
They saved on losses from army exploration, earned money from entry fees, and got half the loot by doing nothing. This was a profitable business.
Anyway, each country definitely prioritized the exploration of its own Dungeons, and all the truly good stuff was taken in advance.
Opportunities to find overlooked treasures were rare.
"In fact, these Adventurers are also coming to try their luck. The Elven Kingdom's new Dungeon is so high-level and also produces alchemy technology, it's very likely to be developed in isolation like Doragon's."
As she spoke, Tashiniya also felt a bit melancholic.
They were also among these 'staking out' Adventurers, though they had it a bit better, being able to stake out in the royal court.
They had even already had early access to the Dungeon's resources.
But no one could say if they would be able to enter, and even if they could, how long would they have to wait in the Elven Kingdom?
However, Tashiniya had already maxed out her self-comforting skills.
Adjusting her mood, she playfully patted Su Lin's shoulder.
"Don't worry, if we can get in later, even if you don't join my team, I'll find a way to take you! Who told you that you're the perfect Pope I'm so fond of!"
Su Lin raised an eyebrow.
"You plan to smuggle me in?"
"I stopped doing that kind of thing a long time ago! I'm a completely mature Archangel now, and such illegal acts don't align with the doctrines of our Tashiniya Church!"
Tashiniya explained with a righteous expression.
In her opinion, as a dignified Archangel from the Heavenly Realm, she should have some standing, right?
No matter what, she wanted to get rich with Su Lin. He was the first Pope of the Tashiniya Church she favored, and one of the few friends she could communicate with normally.
Although Tashiniya always appeared carefree, the meaning of friends was too important to her... as important as becoming a god.
Worst case, she would sell some intelligence about the Heavenly Realm to the Elven Kingdom; Weini said the Elven Kingdom was very interested in the Heavenly Realm anyway.
Tashiniya had no psychological burden about betraying the Heavenly Realm. If it weren't for her obsession with becoming a god, she wouldn't want to go back to that cold place.
She had lived more freely and with more human warmth in the Nether these past few years than she had in all her years in the Heavenly Realm.
Su Lin was about to say something else, but his expression subtly changed.
"I have something to do; I need to leave first."
"Ah? You're not coming with us to clear out monsters?"
"Tomorrow, same place."
"Alright, make sure to come!"
After bidding farewell to Tashiniya and her five companions, Su Lin left the Adventure Town.
As soon as he reached an uninhabited area, Lop teleported to his side.
"How's the situation?"
"The men are fine, with plenty of healing potions, no losses, but the Hydra..."
"Never mind, let's talk about it when we get back."
A teleportation array flashed beneath their feet, and Lop took Su Lin to the MC Dungeon.
---
In the official Elven Kingdom's Resident Hall on the ice and fire legend floor.
The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat oppressive.
Lawrence stood in the middle of the hall, his face full of shame, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Hilulele, Aelita, Beixi, and others sat opposite him, drinking water in large gulps.
It seemed Lawrence had been criticized for a long time.
This awkward atmosphere only slightly eased when Su Lin returned.
"Su Lin, come quickly and criticize Grandpa Lawrence!"
Hilulele hurriedly waved her hand, annoyed, "Too reckless! Fortunately, there were no losses this time, otherwise Grandpa Lawrence would really have become a sinner!"
Upon hearing this, Lawrence bowed his head, even more ashamed.
"I apologize, Mr. Su Lin, I was too reckless. I didn't carefully verify the information in the Beast Bestiary, acting willfully and conceitedly, almost causing a huge mistake. I am willing to accept any punishment!"
After returning, Lawrence felt more and more afraid and ashamed the more he thought about it.
He had thought he was familiar enough with the MC Dungeon and ice and fire legend, and his confidence was overflowing after continuously slaying dragons, believing he could handle any Boss.
As a result, when he encountered the Hydra, without making full preparations and a strategy, he ignored the soldiers' advice and launched a mindless charge.
This not only caused the Hydra to upgrade to nine heads, but also severely wounded a large number of elite soldiers.
It was only because they were in the MC Dungeon, where recovery from injuries is quick as long as they don't die, otherwise, few would have survived such injuries, and he would truly have become a sinner of the Elven Kingdom.
The soldiers responsible for finding dragons in the wilderness on the fourth floor were at least those who had participated in battles to deal with Level 4 dragons.
They had extensive dragon-slaying experience, a thorough understanding of the MC Dungeon's characteristics, and their equipment was top-notch.
Currently, there are less than three hundred such elites in the entire Elven Kingdom, and losing even one would be heartbreaking.
If there were losses during normal exploration, that would be unavoidable and acceptable, even if painful.
But this kind of pure error, especially losses caused by his disregard for advice, was purely criminal.
"How are the soldiers?"
Su Lin looked at Aelita, who replied helplessly, "Fourteen elites were severely wounded, and a lot of equipment was lost. Fortunately, resources were abundant, and no one was sacrificed. They have now recovered and set off again to find the dragon's nest."
Ultimately, the unique nature of the MC Dungeon minimized the losses this time, to the point of almost none.
However, this did not mean Lawrence could escape punishment.
After all, this kind of incident should not have happened in the first place.
Although the Hydra was powerful, the Beast Bestiary clearly stated that fire could inhibit the growth of its heads.
Lawrence probably only saw the suggestion to use the 'Looting' enchantment to obtain the Hydra's heart.
This was a very serious dereliction of duty.
It seemed that continuously defeating a large number of dragons during this period had made Lawrence and his team a bit hot-headed.
Such problems needed to be addressed promptly, otherwise, if they encountered a Medusa later, would this group of people charge forward with wide eyes again?
After pondering for a moment, Su Lin made a decision.
"Although there were no real losses, it is an undeniable fact that you, Lawrence, were derelict in your duty."
"I am expelling you from the fourth floor of the MC Dungeon and reassigning you to the basic development team on floors one to three, where you will search for Woodland Mansions, Ancient Cities, Ruined Portals, and Trial Chambers on the first floor."
"You can only return to the exploration vanguard once you find any one of them."
"Lawrence, do you have any objections?"
There certainly had to be a punishment, but Lawrence himself was Su Lin's highly efficient pioneering vanguard, so he couldn't be punished too harshly.
Having him temporarily return to floors one to three to guide development and search for those hard-to-find resource areas was a win-win situation.
Lawrence nodded decisively; in his opinion, such a punishment was quite lenient.
"No objections, I accept all punishments."
Su Lin reminded him again, "Go back and thoroughly study the Beast Bestiary; such incidents are not to happen again in the future."
"Yes!"
"Alright, now let's talk about the Hydra's situation."
The Hydra's heart... that was a portable 'spawn point' that could make a person stand tall and proud.
It could be said that as long as Su Lin got that thing, anything that couldn't instantly kill him