The girls stared at the Dwarf in complete silence.

Tasmin blinked slowly.

Fenna actively cringed, looking down at her own modest canvas tunic.

Elara’s face flushed a bright horrified red at the mere thought of swinging a pickaxe in a steel bikini.

’She is weird...’ Tasmin’s thoughts summarized the collective thoughts of the group.

Silas stood a few feet away, leaning casually on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

He was far too exhausted to argue with localized Dwarven cultural degeneracy.

Thora turned her perverted hopeful eyes toward him.

"Is that operationally okay with you, Boss?" Thora asked, batting her eyelashes aggressively.

Silas let out a massive sigh that seemed to carry the weight of his entire existence.

"Sure," Silas replied, his voice sounding completely flat and deadpan. "I don’t mind. Whatever optimizes your extraction rates... We need ores after all."

Thora pumped her fist in the air, already mentally sketching out bikini blueprints.

"However," Silas continued, stepping forward into the absolute center of the massive stadium-sized cavern. "Before we initiate any further exploration, I need to clear the deck... The decay in this room is going to completely ruin the air quality."

He looked around the massive chamber.

It was a complete slaughterhouse as usual.

The muddy obsidian floor was covered in the bisected, charred, and skewered corpses of hundreds of Corrupted Orcs, Umbral Spiders, and massive Dire-Wolves.

At the far end of the room lay the colossal, severed halves of the Tier 3 Behemoth, and behind that, the shattered rotting remains of the Tier 4 Necro-Arbor Sovereign.

Silas didn’t need to manually haul the carcasses out.

He had the ultimate logistical tool!

"Sigh..." Silas commanded mentally. "Access Lord Inventory and perform a wide-area vacuum sweep for monster corpses."

This was the thing for Lords after the Novice trial, the whole interface was a lot more responsive.

Instantly, a massive condensed pulse of golden sovereign mana erupted directly from his Gold Core.

The golden light didn’t blast outward like an attack.

It swept across the floorboards like a digital scanner.

Wherever the golden light touched a monster corpse, the matter instantly digitized into swirling golden pixels.

VWOOSH! VWOOSH! VWOOSH!

The cavern echoed with the satisfying vacuum-like sound of mass extraction.

Hundreds of heavy bleeding carcasses were rapidly sucked entirely into the void space of his Sovereign inventory.

The rusted iron armor plates, the crude steel maces, the corrupted fangs, and the massive, thick hides of the beasts all vanished from the physical realm.

Within exactly thirty seconds, the entire stadium-sized cavern was completely, flawlessly spotless.

The only thing remaining was the dark mud and the glowing crystals...

’The Umbral Wolf corpses will be perfect for more food...’ Silas thought. ’That gives us some more food rations to our already high amount.’

He mentally sorted the rest of the loot into separate tabs.

’As for the rest of this garbage... the rusted Orc breastplates, the crude iron weapons, and the spider carapaces. They have absolutely zero forging value for my girls but back on Earth?’ Silas smirked. ’The corporate Awakeners and the low-tier Guilds will pay a lot in spirit credits for genuine scrap metal like this... I can sell the trash later and fund my next base expansion.’

It was flawless monetization.

"Alright," Silas announced smoothly, dismissing the golden UI from his eyes. "The primary chamber is secure. Let’s sweep the rest of the rooms before we leave."

With the massive detailed 3D wireframe map of the cavern system actively hovering in the corner of his vision, Silas led the group out of the main boss room.

They spent the next forty-five minutes actively visiting several adjoining subterranean rooms.

The environment was undeniably beautiful.

Without the terrifying, overwhelming threat of the horde, the true aesthetic majesty of the deep-earth cavern finally shined through.

They walked through narrow, winding corridors where the walls were completely lined with soft bioluminescent moss that glowed with an ethereal blue light.

They discovered massive sprawling grottos filled with perfectly still crystal-clear underground lakes that perfectly reflected the jagged stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

And in every single room, there were crystals...

Thora was in heaven.

As they walked, she acted as an enthusiastic loud tour guide, actively listing off the different formations.

"Look at the facet density on that cluster!" Thora pointed excitedly at a massive outcropping of dark violently purple gemstones growing near a black waterfall. "That is pure Void-Tear Amethyst! It is highly conductive for spatial magic!"

They moved into the next chamber, where the walls glittered with a brilliant blinding white light.

"And that over there?" Thora yelled, entirely ignoring indoor voices. "That is Ether-Vein Agate! It’s normally only found in the deepest most highly pressurized tectonic faults of the Sovereign Realm! If you forge that into a shield, it completely disperses shockwaves!"

In another room, she found glowing fiery orange stones.

"Sun-Forge Topaz!" she cheered, her voice echoing. "You grind that into powder, and it acts as a thermite accelerant!"

The visual scenes were magnificent, a perfect serene contrast to the blood-soaked violence they had committed just an hour prior.

The conversations among the Vanguard girls were light, filled with relieved enthusiastic banter.

They pointed out pretty stones, joked about Thora’s promised steel bikinis, and relaxed their tense shoulders.

However, the two SSS-Rank entities flanking Silas were incapable of relaxing.

Morwenna and Eluned were currently locked in a massive petty argument regarding the cavern’s interior design.

"This entire system is completely flawed," Morwenna criticized loudly, her stormy gray eyes scanning a massive dry cavern filled with Ether-Vein Agate. "It is too dry.... The acoustics are terrible. If I was the architect, I would completely flood the lower three levels. Make it a massive submerged grotto. The extreme crushing heavy-water pressure naturally hardens the crystalline structures over time."

Eluned immediately scoffed with her pointed ears twitching in disdain.

"A submerged grotto?" Eluned insulted her directly, floating a few inches off the ground to avoid getting her pristine feet muddy. "You have zero aesthetic vision, you unrefined salt-logged brute. Flooding the grid would completely destroy the natural terrarium ecosystem."

The Goddess of Nature gestured gracefully toward the stone ceiling.

"What this cavern desperately needs is proper cultivated bioluminescent flora," Eluned countered arrogantly. "We need massive sprawling vines of glowing moon-moss cascading down the walls... We need fungal blooms that purify the air. It should be a serene perfectly balanced forest sanctuary. Not a filthy dark puddle for you to swim in."

"A forest sanctuary?" Morwenna mocked her, resting her hand on her weapon. "That is weak... A flooded trench builds character as it weeds out the soft weak-lunged surface dwellers."

"I will grow an aggressive flesh-eating pitcher plant directly inside your lungs!" Eluned threatened cheerfully.

"I will personally drown you in a puddle of your own sap!" Morwenna fired back.

Silas walked perfectly between them, staring straight ahead.

’I’m just going to ignore them... cant they get along?’ Silas thought

Eventually, the comprehensive mapping of the cavern was complete.

Silas had memorized every single access route, every choke point, and the exact coordinates of the highest-yield crystal veins.

"Sweep complete..." Silas ordered. "We are heading out."

They retraced their steps, marching back through the winding corridors, across the massive main chamber, and directly up the long dark entrance tunnel.

They finally stepped back outside.

The transition from the serene glowing crystal caverns back into the gray ash-choked daylight of the Umbral Basin was jarring for the third time.

The heavy monsoon rain was still falling, slicking the black mud of the clearing.

The group turned around, looking back at the massive yawning maw of the cavern carved into the obsidian cliff face.

Silas crossed his armored arms over his Midnight Carapace.

His golden-ringed eyes narrowed in deep concern.

"Since we are officially coming back to mine tomorrow," Silas stated, addressing the problem. "I really want to safeguard this place. It is a highly valuable asset node but if we just leave this massive entrance completely open, any roaming pack of monsters or rival corrupted entities will simply wander in and establish a nest."

He pinched his chin, running through his options.

"But without a proper, reinforced fence or an automated turret system, I have no way to—"

Eluned completely interrupted him.

The Goddess of Nature aggressively stepped completely in front of him, blocking his view of the cavern.

She aggressively puffed her soft incredibly beautiful cheeks out in a massive exaggerated display of indignation.

"Did you completely forget exactly who I am, my Lord?" Eluned asked.

Silas blinked.

"I didn’t—"

Eluned didn’t wait for his defense.

She violently spun around, facing the massive forty-foot-wide entrance of the cavern.

Her glowing emerald-green eyes flared with a blinding divine light.

She didn’t raise a staff and she didn’t chant an incantation either.

Eluned simply raised both of her delicate, slender hands and pushed them aggressively toward the cliff face.

KRA-KOOM!

The entire Umbral Basin violently shook.

The black mud of the clearing physically exploded upward.

From the deep bedrock of the earth, massive, incredibly thick trunks of solid ironwood erupted into the open air.

They didn’t just grow... they shot upward with terrifying velocity.

Dozens of the massive trunks violently converged, intertwining and weaving themselves together in a flawless perfect architectural structure.

In a matter of seconds, a colossal towering impenetrable dome of solid wood was completely constructed over the entire cavern entrance.

It looked like the fortified gates of a massive ancient cathedral.

But it wasn’t just a physical barrier.

As the wood settled, brilliant, violently pulsing green runes naturally etched themselves entirely into the thick bark of the dome.

"The structural density of this ironwood is harder than that deep-earth alloy that Thora keeps talking about..." Eluned boasted proudly, dropping her arms. "And those specific runes are defensive nature-wards. Any hostile monster that approaches within fifty yards of this dome will be instantly blasted into ash by sap-bullets."

The girls stared at the massive, flawless fortification in awe.

She had completely solved a defense problem in exactly three seconds.

Silas looked at the dome and he looked at the glowing runes.

’I initially wanted her to help me get wood so I could build... but it seems I haven’t been using Eluned well at all.’

Silas didn’t offer a simple verbal thank you.

He stepped into Eluned’s personal space.

Silas reached out with his heavy armor-plated hands gently, securely grabbing her soft shoulders.

He leaned his face down and placed a firm affectionate kiss directly onto her pale cheek.

"Thank you, Eluned," Silas murmured softly with his deep voice rumbling. "That was flawless work."

Eluned’s brain short-circuited.

Her glowing green eyes went wide.

A hot bright blush entirely conquered her face, spreading all the way down to her pointed ears.

"Eek..."

She let out a tiny high-pitched undignified squeak with her hands completely freezing in the air.

’The Lord just kissed me!’ Eluned thought, it wasn’t bad but still... It was in front of everyone!

Behind them, the rest of the girls completely stalled.

Tasmin’s jaw dropped.

Fenna aggressively blinked.

Brida awkwardly coughed into her fist, unsure of how to navigate the romantic tension in the air though she was very jealous.

But Morwenna didn’t stall.

The Dread Queen stood there with her stormy gray eyes locked entirely onto the affectionate display.

A wave of pure jealousy flooded her system. Morwenna wasn’t the kind to get jealous but she just didn’t believe that Eluned deserved it.

’Hold on a minute,’ Morwenna thought. ’She threw up some weeds and she gets a kiss?! I single-handedly uprooted a massive Tier 4 Boss with my bare hands and an iron anchor! I literally bisected a subterranean monstrosity to secure this place! Where the hell is my own kiss on the cheek?! Why am I currently being entirely outdone by a cowardly god of all people?!’

Morwenna didn’t tolerate the slight.

She aggressively marched forward with her heavy combat boots stomping violently into the mud. She stepped entirely into the space between Silas and the currently short-circuiting Goddess.

"Captain!" Morwenna barked loudly, her raspy voice demanding absolute, immediate attention.

Silas turned his head, raising a tired eyebrow. "Yes, Morwenna?"

Morwenna aggressively placed her hands on her hips, leaning completely forward until her face was inches from his.

"I respectfully remind you that I was the exact unit that physically uprooted that massive parasitic creature!" Morwenna declared fiercely. "I completely cleaved a Tier 4 Boss in half for this territory! I deserve a kiss as well!"