Square-shaped treehouses, illuminated by the sun, possessed a very orderly aesthetic.
The roads were also quite neat, each stone brick seemingly molded from a template, identical.
At regular intervals, stone pillars with torches on all four sides stood tall, the torches appearing inextinguishable, serene and eternal.
Even the river that wound through the entire Adventure Town was perfectly straight, with clear signs of artificial excavation and irrigation.
Even the bridges spanning the river, the grand and impressive shops, and the cozy and bright inns—everything was meticulously ordered.
All things made of blocks naturally possessed the standard rules bestowed by perfect blocks. This first-layer Dungeon world, seemingly without other civilizations, was filled with wild and magnificent vitality.
And this Adventure Town, brimming with the aura of swords and magic, perfectly amplified that vitality.
As a Lionfang Knight who pursued the ultimate in chivalry, Veronika loved this kind of orderly and standardized town.
Beside her, enthusiastic Elf Race soldiers chatted and passed by, making this grand and mysterious town much livelier.
Honestly, Veronika couldn't see any characteristics of an official Dungeon exploration team in them.
Normally, shouldn't official exploration teams be busy off their feet?
Although these soldiers were busy, each of them wore a relaxed and comfortable smile.
Working in the MC Dungeon seemed to be a form of enjoyment for them.
But strangely, the number of soldiers in this Adventure Town was unusually low.
All told, Veronika only saw fewer than a thousand people.
Even if the Elf Race population was sparse, they shouldn't send so few people to explore, especially a magical Dungeon whose floors were entire worlds.
Hilulele and the others wouldn't be working these soldiers like donkeys, would they?
Finally, Veronika couldn't help but speak.
"Hilulele, if I may ask, how many Elf Race soldiers are in the MC Dungeon?"
Hilulele paused, recalled for a moment, then softly said:
"About four thousand? Around two thousand on the first layer, five hundred each on the second and third layers, and the rest are exploring the fourth layer."
"This—isn't that too few people?"
From what Veronika understood, when the Elf Race explored the old Dungeon, they had at least tens of thousands of troops.
Even human kingdoms like the Kingdom of Lucania invested hundreds of thousands in the early stages.
Four thousand Elves exploring four worlds?
"Not at all!"
Hilulele pointed earnestly at the soldiers rushing around them.
"In fact, these are still the soldiers we just sent in, currently in the training phase. Initially, we only invested a little over a thousand Elves."
".—A little over a thousand?"
"Because the MC Dungeon is very special."
As she spoke, Hilulele's expression couldn't help but show a hint of recollection.
She remembered her conversation with Su Lin after signing the contract; at that time, she had also suggested allocating more manpower.
It was just that the MC Dungeon had given them too many surprises.
"Each layer of the MC Dungeon is a world, but these worlds are completely different from what you imagine."
"Here, as long as one is familiar with the characteristics of the MC Dungeon, the strength of one person can rival the strength of a nation."
"This is also why I said that even relying only on you, Veronika, and Meluti, you could assemble a perfect cavalry team."
Veronika didn't understand.
But no matter how she thought about it, the idea of only needing a thousand people to explore an entire world seemed too fantastical.
"We're here. Let Su Lin tell you the rest; he is the guide of the MC Dungeon after all."
Hilulele raised her hand and pointed to a large cluster of buildings not far away.
It didn't look like a residential area, but rather a factory.
Several strange block structures continuously spewed out threads like an unending waterfall. The Elf Race soldiers standing in front of them chatted and laughed.
After a while, those Elves ran to trade with the block people confined in small cells nearby.
After this process, they could be seen throwing large amounts of emeralds into minecarts for transport to the huge building complex next door.
It looked like a block prison, where many block people, resembling natives of the MC Dungeon, were confined in cubicles.
But this prison didn't seem to be for confinement...
Was it for trade?!
Veronika saw an Elf exchanging emeralds for something from a block person.
Upon seeing it clearly, Veronika's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Those—those enchanted items, are they obtained this way?!"
"Not just enchanted items, but also various types of tipped arrows, food, building materials, and so on."
Su Lin explained with a smile:
"This is the integrated Villager Trading Center built by the Elf Race. You can think of it as the factory of the MC Dungeon."
Tashiniya, standing beside him, nodded thoughtfully.
Her gaze lingered between the Elves and the confined Villagers. After a long moment, Tashiniya stated with certainty:
"Sweatshop!"
"Slap!"
Su Lin playfully tapped Tashiniya's head.
"Don't be so blunt!"
"Hmph! You admit it's a sweatshop then!"
Tashiniya pointed at Su Lin with a knowing look.
"Those block people are definitely the indigenous inhabitants of this world! You've imprisoned them and continuously exploited them to get an endless stream of treasures!"
"Pope, you play even better than the Heavens!"
Su Lin raised an eyebrow, looking at Tashiniya with interest.
It seemed the Heavens also played quite elaborately...
"So, are you going to exercise your Archangel's benevolence and save countless Villagers from dire straits?"
"Huh? Am I that stupid?"
Tashiniya smiled with a wise expression.
"If I hadn't entered the MC Dungeon, I would definitely stand on moral high ground and despise you, but now..."
Giving a thumbs-up, Tashiniya looked approving.
"Well done! As expected of my Pope!"
Tashiniya didn't find such a thing cruel.
The process of primitive capital accumulation in the Heavens was no better than Su Lin's sweatshop.
Moreover, after seeing the Villager Trading Center, she knew where all the treasures she used came from, and it concerned the great cause of getting rich.
Make the Villagers suffer a bit, make oneself rich a bit.
What a profitable business!
Especially since she now proclaimed herself Su Lin's number one Archangel under the MC Ancestral God, she naturally had to prioritize the development of the MC Dungeon.
In short—
If Su Lin did it this way, there must be a reason!
Her teacher had taught her that matters requiring thought should be left to those with brains; this was called proper resource allocation.
Tashiniya felt she was incredibly smart when it came to trusting people.
But while she could accept it, Lulu and Veronika, whose chivalry was off the charts, found it quite worldview-shattering.
However, this was an arrangement made by Su Lin and the Elf Race, and they were also beneficiaries of the dividends.
There was truly no standing for them to voice any objections.
Su Lin saw their dilemma and chuckled softly:
"Don't mind it. In the MC Dungeon, apart from us, no other life has subjective consciousness. You can treat them as magical beasts."
"Besides, you wouldn't seriously think that these block people, who clearly look foolish, are the same species as us, would you?"
To put it plainly, weren't Villagers born to be persecuted by block people?
What kind of Steve would a block person be if he didn't persecute Villagers!
But Veronika and the others still couldn't quite grasp it, so Su Lin simply took them to see the Villager Breeding Center on the other side.
Honestly, a group of people crowding together to peek at Villagers breeding made Veronika's chivalry collapse a bit at the time.
However, after watching the Villagers foolishly stand there and produce babies, she finally gave up on evaluating Villagers as living beings.
Only Weini was a bit displeased.
She had eagerly planned to gather material on the spot, but after watching for a long time, she tore her draft into pieces with a dark expression. In her words, these Villagers were utterly unworthy of being her inspiration for creating art.
After accepting the premise that Villagers were not intelligent life, Veronika quickly caught up with everyone's pace.
Infinite Villager breeding, exchanging emeralds, trading enchanted items...
In that short time, she saw the Elves exchange for over a dozen sets of enchanted items. Such efficiency meant that a single day's production could collapse the economic pillars that the Dwarf Empire and the Magic Dynasty relied on.
Veronika didn't want to do anything so immoral herself. Equipping her loyal cavalry team was perfectly fine, right?
However, this kind of building was developed by the Elf Race. If she wanted to borrow from it, she would have to discuss it first.
Veronika's chivalry told her that taking without asking was stealing.
Copyright fees still had to be paid.
After this tour, Su Lin led everyone out of the Adventure Town.
Aside from extremely confidential war-related Redstone Technology, he wanted Veronika and the others to see as much as possible of the remaining things.
Later, once Veronika had reorganized the Kingdom of Lucania, she could quickly catch up with the Elf Race's progress.
"Finally, we're going outside."
Tashiniya was rather excited.
"I knew it! How could such a great Dungeon stay cooped up in town? We must go out and explore the world!"
"As for exploring, let's talk about that after you're more familiar. Right now, we're going to see other more important buildings."
Su Lin rubbed Tashiniya's Archangel halo.
It was quite smooth.
Tashiniya didn't mind, tilting her head and asking curiously:
"Is it another sweatshop that tramples on moral bottom lines?"
"No."
Su Lin said solemnly:
"It's a white Zombie iron farm."