It doesn't take long before the ant scouting party returns from beyond the wall. They've done well. Working in groups they carry in golden colored coins. They drop it off then return to get more.
Money? The coins melt like everything else, giving me a fat chunk of DP.
Wow! Now we are talking!
None of the ants went missing so it seems safe for now. I assign another few teams of ants to dig for gold. Sweet DP come to me!
Although I'm excited by my gains, just those 5 coins were enough to buy another blueberry bush, money means people, and that could be problematic.
Got to expand my capabilities fast! And DP is necessary so that gold needs to be mine!
While my DP increases I'm suddenly interrupted by a notification.
"Ding! Named creature 'Batson' is trying to evolve."
What! I rush over to the cave mascot. He's rolled himself into a ball and wrapped himself with his wings like a dumpling.
This is a momentous occasion! It must succeed! I'm not sure if it can fail but I'm not taking any risks. I gather mana and start swirling it with Batson at the center. Go for it you little lump!
*******
Day 13
*******
Batson finally emerges from his "cocoon", and I'm impressed with the change. Belly fat is gone, size increased, wings enlarged, more fingers, more muscle, thicker fur, bigger eyes and some sharp looking teeth.
All-round improvement I'd say. Bat 2.0 too bad I can't buy them directly at this level yet...
I call over another 2 bats. The normal and the fast one. I buy them each a Gem Berry bush and tell them to eat one every day before working. Got to upgrade my workforce.
Batson looks at the other bats smugly, and I realize a problem. Batson has been rewarded for being lazy and is a major slacker. This could set a bad standard for the dungeon that would result in a significant drop in productivity.
Batson! Go hunt! As the strongest, and first evolved creature shouldn't you prove your superiority? You know, set the standard, raise the bar?
Batson rolls his eyes before he eventually sets out and I can get back to work.
Back to the gold mine behind the wall! The ants have been working hard! My DP has gone through the roof!
I decide to contribute more personally, so I push some mana through the holes in the brick. Slowly extending my territory until I've got a foothold. Now the ants can just drop things off here instead of waiting for a tunnel to free up.
It's effective! Gold coins are disappearing really fast.
Maybe I should stop. This seems to be a safe storage for money. What if it's still in use and someone notices the deficit?
Find other things! I decide to shift my ants' focus.
Pretty soon something else is rolled over to my foothold. The ants bringing it happily scurry back for more.
Holy! I might have messed up!
A grape sized crystal pulsing with mana just melted into the dungeon.
Woah!!! Mana levels have jumped to an all time high! Things are getting out of control!
Another shiny rock gets absorbed.
Stop!!! I order the ants, but it's too late. A third mana stone rolls into the melt zone.
Ah nuts!
Poof! Most of my mushrooms just send out a cloud of spores, the blueberry plants grow in height and thickness, dropping dozens of overripe berries. The Gem Berry bushes focus all their mana into their fruit until they shining like sapphires.
The mana grass grows to a 1 meter height. Hundreds of moth eggs hatch, and the little worms go forth to munch like crazy.
The glowshrooms are getting steadily brighter a few have already exploded like fireworks leaving behind smoking craters. They are quickly replaced by new ones as the cycle continues.
The colonizer-shrooms are going wild! There are spores shooting in all directions starting a chain of propagation that is frankly dangerous! It's like a war zone.
I suddenly spot one of the ordinary bats (bat 4) returning with a ripe piece of fruit.
You picked the wrong time to return little buddy!
I wince as it immediately gets showered in spores. Before it can react, every kind of mushroom I've got grows out of its fur. The suddenly extra weight throws it off course.
Pow! The colonizers launch spores from the bat like missiles from a fighter jet.
Then the worst thing happens, a big glowshroom sprouts on the bat's head. The bat starts scrambling to get away from the brightly glowing cap on its head.
Ai! I know what's coming next and try to distract myself by focusing on controlling the mana.
Bang! The headless bat crashlands into the corner and melts away. RIP bat 4.
I focus and exert my control over the unwieldy amount of mana that is still increasing. Swoosh! I just push it all towards where I'm expanding.
In just a few seconds, I've conquered the rest of the cave! It's pretty big and I'm pretty sure I just doubled my territory with that addition. There are 2 new entrances in this part of the cave. An opening that seems to lead to the outdoors, and another that leads deeper into the ground.
Mana levels are still high so I push to the outdoors! Push push! Grow! Conquer!
As my mana bursts out to the surface, I finally feel relief. Mana levels stabilize and things start to slow down again.
whew... time for a cleanup. I set some ants to clean up the mess my mushrooms have caused and to stash my berries in a corner.
The new cave space looks a little bare apart from the occasional mushrooms.
I immediately purchase some berry bushes and pine needles. Norwegian Forest floor is what I'm goin for. Just missing the trees.
I set my spiders to block the entrance that leads down with thick webbing. And send a few bunnyrats to explore it.
My ants, in the meantime, have returned to stealing gold. I spend my new DP on more of everything but 've more than doubled my territory so I can afford to support more troops.
My bugs seem to have reached the point of being capable to reproducing fast enough on their own, so I just buy another 5 bats and 5 bunnyrats. As if to confirm my thoughts, another ant queen flies by to claim a spot on the frontier.
The bare cave walls and floors soon have mushrooms of all sorts popping up. I'm supportive, so I fill the ground with organic matter.
I task some ants to look for and destroy my colonizer-shrooms. They have served their purpose for now and are starting to get out of hand. I have no idea how far the my have spread. I can feel their presence at the corner of my senses, ever expanding my vision.
Once I'm ready to move deeper I'll consider using them again.
Returning to my source of DP, I halt the money stealing operations. I need a better understanding of what is happening beyond the wall.
As I'm pondering the options available, a loud shriek interrupts my thoughts. followed by yells and clanging sounds. A lot of screaming and yelling actually, pretty scary really.
Through my dungeon vision I see a bare green foot step onto my territory beyond the wall. Gnarly toenails and leathery skin. That's no human foot! Judging by its size, some kind of goblin.
Hey it's a little green dude! Too bad I'm not equipped to deal with them yet. They'd make a valuable addition to my workforce.
Lucky for me, the goblin doesn't notice that some of the gold is missing. But I'm worried they will be suspicious if something melts in front of them.
I've got to adjust those settings! I quickly scroll through my interface and switch off auto-absorption. Instead, I designate only a few spots as drop off places where things will still melt into the ground.
A few seconds of scrambling and a couple shrieks and yells later, the goblin is gone.
It seems I've got neighbors.