Ben rolled his eyes. "You always overthink things. I'm not giving it to you—just lending it. Consider it a test subject."
Elvira's excited smile quickly turned into a playful pout. "Ugh, you're no fun." But her enthusiasm didn't wane for long. With lightning speed, she snatched the crystal and darted off like a child with a new toy. "Alright! I'm starting now!"
Ben blinked, momentarily stunned by how quickly she'd switched gears. A chuckle escaped him as he watched her eagerly dive into her examination. 'So she's the type that goes nuts over experiments... no wonder she's into those krell.' Shaking his head with an amused smile, Ben adjusted his grip on his pickaxe.' Well, at least she won't bother me for awhile.' He than turn his focus back at the surrounding.
With the Hell Worm's body finally reduced to rubble, Ben took a moment to study his surroundings. The ceiling above was adorned with clusters of blue crystal stalactites. Beneath his feet, plain rock stretched in all directions, offering little else of interest—aside from the remnants of the worm's carcass scattered around. 'Other than these crystals, there's not much here... but this space is perfect for another base.'
The cavern was massive, with plenty of room to work with. Piles of the Hell Worm's remains were scattered across the floor, ready to be harvested for biomass. More importantly, the entire area had only one large entrance and exit—clearly carved out by the worm itself. 'This could work...' Ben mused, his mind already forming plans.
With his system, sealing off the opening would be easy. He could construct a reinforced gate for controlled access, and even set up a maze on either side to deter intruders. The idea remind him of the first base—the one he built back in the Six Cartel area. Feeling curious, he accessed his system to check on its current status.
"[Krell Kingdom
Forces:
Krell Scout: 2
Ant Soldier: 4
Ant Worker: 22
Stockpile:
242x Red Spotted Mush Tree
898x Roasted Mush Ball
18,345x Stone Brick
12x Stone Tile
2x Stone Wall
Facility:
One kitchen, barracks, two houses, two warehouses, one junk storage
Trap:
24x Spike Trap, 43x Boulder Trap…]"
'The base is still working... seems like nothing's wrong.' Ben closed his eyes, reaching out through the hive mind, trying to connect with the other ants and assess the situation firsthand. However, after several attempts, he clicked his tongue in frustration. The connection was there, but it was like listening to a radio filled with static. 'Damn, the distance is too far to get a full picture.'
Even so, he could still issue commands, though with limited precision. Without hesitation, he instructed the ants to continue maintaining the base and ordered half of them to search for an ant princess.
Without his presence, their numbers couldn't grow. Capturing a princess and forcing her to breed more ants was the only viable solution. There's another option to just keep the base like it was, but than in that case there will be no benefit for Ben.
As for the krell scouts, he assigned Airi to guard the base while Aqua explore the tunnel to look for both of them.
The Hell Worm's massive movements had carved out an extensive tunnel system, and Ben needed to chart a safe path back to his old base. At the same time, he want to explore what kind of biomes this new depth had to offer. 'I should create more Krell scouts to map the area from my position too... but how far down are we, really?'
The rising temperature gave him a clue. If the heat before had been like a scorching desert, now it was enough to boil water. They were getting closer to the planet's core. If he stay normal human, he would have been cooked alive without specialized equipment.
With the pickaxe in hand, Ben got to work. BAM! BAM! BAM!!
[Ding! You obtained 1x Grimslate!]
'Grimslate?' Curious, Ben opened his inventory.
***
Grimslate Block x1
Type: Block
Use: Crafting material, building
Understanding: 0.001%
Max Stack: 9999
Rarity: Common
A dense, dark stone found deep underground, often near magma chambers or ancient ruins.
***
Ben sighed, rubbing his forehead. 'So it's basically like granite, just tougher.'
It was strong, sure—but breaking it down took multiple strikes. Constructing anything with it would take more effort than he'd hoped. Even if he summoned more Krell scouts, they'd be useless without proper tools. He'd need a complete understanding of Grimslate to make a new type of tools.
'If only I could upgrade this damn Blockify Pickaxe…' His gaze drifted upward to the glowing stalactites. 'Does that have mana?' he wondered. 'But they're not the same red gemstones I found before. Could they be a better version?'
His first instinct was to ask Elvira, but when he glanced at her, he quickly reconsidered. Floating mid-air, she was deep in concentration, the cracked Empyrean Crystal hovering before her. Complicated magic circles shimmered in and out of existence around it, shifting like celestial equations. It looked mesmerizing, almost otherworldly—but Ben knew better.
'Those are just magical notes... she's probably in deep research mode. No way I'm interrupting her now.' With a sigh, he turned his attention to the Hell Worm's remains scattered around him. "Consume." His hand morphed into a gaping maw, eating the worm's flesh leaving nothing behind.
[Ding! You obtained 8x biomass.]
[Ding! You obtained 12x biomass.]
[Ding! You obtained 7x biomass.]
He focused on clearing the remains, stockpiling biomass, so he can manipulate his carapace armor to farm the stalagmite later.
Despite the grind, Ben found a certain satisfaction in it. Each bite of the Hell Worm's remains sent a wave of energy through his body, healing his body and washing away the lingering fatigue from their battle. His body than use the biomass making to completely heal all the damage from last fight.
After a full hour using consume, Ben finally ready to start grinding the stalagmite there's still many remain of the hellworm left but he decided to safe it for later.