Chapter 777: Jurassic World (Patreon)

Luke was sixty-three citizens away from leveling up the Kingdom Core. He stood in the Core chamber, staring at the glowing crystal at its center. It was supposed to be a throne room, but like most of the castle, it was still little more than an empty space with no furniture.

Kingdom CoreMonarch: Luke MoonKingdom Name: -Level: 6Citizens: 537/600Soul Energy: 14,482/40,000

Skills: [Dark Lord’s Army], [Citizenship Card], [Sovereign’s Gaze], [Domain Mana], [Kingdom’s Calling], [Safe Domain], [Kingdom Bond], [Core Soul Reservoir], [Crown Vigilance], [Verdant Domain], [Hands of the Kingdom], [Granted Profession], [Sovereign Expansion], [Experience Tribute]

Luke touched the Core and reread one of the skills it had awakened.

[Sovereign Expansion]: The Kingdom Core grows not only through the prosperity of the Kingdom, but also through the greatness of its Monarch. As the Monarch increases his own power, level, authority, and recognition, the Kingdom's sphere of influence gradually expands, extending its natural borders. This growth does not replace factors such as population, stability, loyalty, infrastructure, and internal development, but adds the Monarch's individual strength as one of the pillars supporting the Core's territorial expansion.

It was almost symbiotic, a power that benefited the Kingdom and its Monarch at the same time.

Sixty-three more citizens.

Close.

But it wasn't just about numbers. More citizens meant more mouths to feed, more homes to build, more jobs to create, and more people to organize. For now, most people were busy building, farming, or hunting to improve the settlement. It was a strangely utopian society, not because of ideology, but out of necessity. Everyone was too busy surviving to waste time on smaller problems.

Still, Luke knew it wouldn't last forever. As the kingdom grew beyond a collection of makeshift houses, he'd have to deal with more complicated things: an economy, their own currency, education, security, laws.

That's a problem for another day.

For now, the system seemed more interested in rewarding growth than making him worry about taxes. The Core's level 6 ability made that obvious.

[Experience Tribute]: A small percentage of all race experience gained by citizens within the Kingdom is absorbed by the Kingdom Core. This accumulated energy can later be channeled into the Monarch, granting him race experience points. The larger, more active, and more populous the Kingdom becomes, the greater the flow of experience directed into the Core. Thus, the growth of the people also becomes the growth of the King.

Luke stared at the skill for another second. The bigger the kingdom got, the stronger he got. Luke could work with that.

He left the chamber with Charlie and Franky, and the three of them headed through the forest toward the Great Tree. Inside the cave, Luke passed Norn. The spider was fast asleep, snoring far too loudly for something that was supposed to be an alert predator. He stared at her for a moment, then sent Charlie and Franky back into his soul before stepping onto the teleportation circle.

The magic carried him as deep as the teleportation circle could take him. From there, he continued alone, running through the darkness until he reached the entrance to the underworld, a world beneath the earth.

Luke activated the [ACloak of the Arcane Witch] and sped forward, leaping between rocks and shadows. The first time he'd come here, he'd thought those fields of green stone, hills, and forests were the underworld itself. Now he realized how wrong he'd been. He already knew what was waiting below, but that didn't make the view any less ridiculous. He reached the edge and looked down. The land below stretched so far into the darkness that forests looked like patches of moss and rivers like silver threads. That had only been the top of a mountain.

He jumped. The drop was insane.

Wind roared around him as the ground rushed up from far below. When he landed, the camp was already set up. Luke pulled Charlie out of his soul first. She emerged in her system gear, pulled the rest of her armor from her storage item, and quickly suited up.

Franky came next wearing Luke's old [Novice Adventurer's Outfit (Common)]. It was the only system gear they had that could adjust itself to fit him.

“My lord,” Angie greeted Luke.

She was already waiting for them.

“Brought the short guy,” Luke said.

Franky had insisted they weren't leaving him behind again.

“So this is the place? Where are the giant creatures?”

“Get one thing straight.” Angie looked him in the eye. “You're not leaving this camp without permission.”

“Yeah, yeah. Jealous. You just don't want me stealing the spotlight.”

Angie seemed to be getting used to Franky's nonsense, but one look at her face told Luke otherwise.

“And we're back in Jurassic Park,” Artemis remarked.

Illyra materialized beside them. She would be their guide.

For a while, the group traveled through the underground forest. Franky rode on the spectral spider's back. They encountered plenty of beasts along the way, including a few Luke recognized from textbooks he'd read before the world went insane. It didn't take long before a pack of velociraptors surrounded them. These raptors had feathers.

“Somebody call Chris Pratt,” Artemis said.

The creatures rushed them as a pack, fast, hungry, and coordinated. One darted around Luke and went straight for Franky. Franky threw a fireball, but the raptor barely flinched.

“Oh, come on!”

The raptor kept coming.

“That's supposed to work!”

Charlie stepped in and cut through its neck before it could reach him, while Luke buried his kukri in another raptor's skull. Down here in the underworld, the beasts were dinosaurs.

[You have slain a Wild Raptor - Lvl 73]

[+29 Soul Energy absorbed]

Several more came at them. Franky kept trying to help, but his fireballs barely tickled the creatures. When the fighting ended, Charlie calmly wiped her sword clean.

“That sound again. More are coming,” Angie warned.

They did, always in packs and always moving way too fast.

Night fell over the underground world. Around the campfire, Illyra explained the underworld to Franky.

“It's a strange place. The deeper you go, the bigger it gets.”

Franky listened closely. He liked stories a lot more than studying.

“Didn't you come from somewhere like this when you were a giant snake?” she asked.

“No. I think...” Franky trailed off.

Charlie sat a little farther away, staring at her interface as she distributed her free points. She had reached level 110 as a vampire, but something different had happened this time. She hadn't been given two skill options. This time, the skill had appeared on its own.

“Looking at the skill?” Luke asked as he sat beside her.

“I still think it's strange that I can do this.”

[Create Vampire (Ancient)]: The vampiric blood that once only strengthened your body has been fully assimilated, allowing you to create a new member of your vampiric family. By sinking your fangs into a willing human and offering your own blood, you can rewrite their race, guiding their body through a profound mutation until they are reborn as a vampire. During the conversion, the target’s body is restored, stripping away old age, disease, and physical impurities tied to their former human condition. The new vampire awakens bound to the blood of their creator, recognizing them as the origin of their new existence and part of their family. This bond does not grant absolute control, but it carries the natural weight of shared blood: the transformed vampire cannot directly lie to their creator and finds it extremely difficult to disobey their orders. The conversion requires consent from both sides, and the creator pays a permanent price: 10 Vitality and 10 Willpower.

(Warning: Even if the creator possesses pure royal blood and bears the surname of a vampiric bloodline, this ability does not pass that name or bloodline authority to the transformed vampire. That right can only be granted at Divine Rank.)

It was an incredibly powerful skill.

“It's like my bloodline skill, Charlie. You could have servants. Or in this case, a vampire family.”

Charlie stared at the skill window for a few more seconds, then closed it.

“I don't want a family like that, Master Luke.”

Luke didn't push.

***

Pip explored the forest alone. He shouldn't have been this far from Lord Moon's village, but Nim was still missing. His goblin friend had been kidnapped, and Pip was one of the few goblins willing to regularly leave the safety of the village to look for her. Most of the others preferred to stay there, where they felt safe. Pip didn't blame them. He was scared too.

Lord Moon had captured a few orcs and tried to get information out of them, but the orcs who had taken Nim served the so-called Orc King, not the Orc Lord. They were different groups, which only made things worse. Pip was afraid Nim was dead. One of the orcs had said prisoners ended up as either food or forced labor. He chose to believe she was still alive. A lot of the others had already given up hope, but Pip hadn't.

While exploring, Pip passed several human villages and watched them from a distance. Lord Moon had given him the job of mapping any settlements he found. Pip was grateful for the power the lord had given him, and Lord Moon had also given him some special mud. Whenever Pip smeared it over his body, it masked his scent.

He was moving between the trees when he suddenly froze. One of those terrifying spiders was right there.

“Hey!” the spider called.

Pip ran. The monster had seen him. He sprinted over fallen logs, through puddles, and across exposed roots, with the pounding of spider legs close behind. When he burst out the other end of a hollow trunk, he saw the creature leaping between the trees.

No. Not again.

He'd almost died to wolves once, and he really didn't want to add giant spiders to that list.

“Come back!” the spider shouted.

Pip dove inside a fallen trunk. It was narrow, perfect for him. He curled up inside and held his breath as the spider passed by, calling for him.

“Little goblin!”

After a while, the voice faded. Pip let out a relieved sigh.

“Hello, little goblin.”

The spider's face appeared at the opening of the trunk, all eight eyes staring straight inside. Pip screamed.

A strand of web shot into the trunk, stuck to him, and yanked him out.

“Please don't!” Pip begged.

The spider set him on the ground and started laughing.

“Little goblin, I'm Nara's daughter.”

“N-Nara's?”

The giant super-scary spider?

“I don't eat little goblins,” she said. “You're friends with Lord Tricks-Mothers.”

“Lord Tricks-Mothers?”

“Yes. The lord who talks to our mother. We don't like him.”

“Right. Yeah. I'm his friend. But you're not going to hurt me, are you?”

“No, little goblin. I like tree sap, not little goblins.”

“O-okay. Uh... my name is Pip.”

“I'm Nana.”

She was huge and terrifying, but her voice was surprisingly friendly and childish.

“Lord Moon said he brought you food,” Pip said, still trying to adjust to the situation.

“He brought meat. My brothers like it. But I prefer tree sap. I'm not allowed to drink sap from the root anymore, though. Mom said she's friends with Lord Tricks-Mothers.”

“That's the Great Spirit. Don't hurt her. She's my friend too.”

Nana leaned closer. “Little goblin, do you know where I can find trees with good sap? I explore all the time, but I never find any. Mom lets me go farther now.”

“Sap...” Pip blinked. “Oh. I never really paid attention.”

“What do you eat, little goblin?”

“We eat fruit. Mostly fruit.”

“Fruit? That's it?”

Pip pulled one from his bag, and Nana leaned in for a closer look. Then her mouth snapped open so fast Pip thought he was about to get swallowed along with it. Instead, she sucked in a breath, and the fruit flew out of his hand.

“I love it, little goblin,” she said around a mouthful.

“You shouldn't talk with your mouth full... but I guess you probably don't care.”

“Do you have more, little goblin?”

“I do.”

Nana ate them one by one.

“I want more of the first one you gave me.”

“The yellow fruit?”

“Yes.”

“That one's pretty rare. I'm always bringing Lord Moon new kinds of fruit.”

“I don't like Lord Tricks-Mothers.”

“He's nice.”

“I don't care. Tell me about the fruit, little goblin.”

Pip scratched his head. “I still don't know exactly where to find them. But when I went toward the mountains, I saw some growing on trees. I should've picked more... now I don't have anything to show Lord Moon.”

“Toward the mountains?”

“But don't go there.”

“Why?”

“Because Lord Moon said that place isn't part of his kingdom yet. He hasn't gone there to clear out the dangerous monsters either. I've only been there once.”

Nana made a sound that might've been her version of clicking her tongue.

“I don't take orders from Lord Tricks-Mothers. Thanks for telling me, little goblin. I'll bring some back for you too.”

Then she bounded away, disappearing between the trees before Pip could say anything. Suddenly, being alone out there felt a lot scarier.

“That's enough exploring for today.”

Pip ran off.

Near sunset, he spotted a light in the forest. Fire. It had to be coming from a village, but the glow spread quickly, far too bright to be normal.

Pip crept closer until he found a safe-looking spot to peek through the trees. Then he went cold. Humans were running and screaming, houses were burning, and among the flames he saw the attackers.

Ratmen.

It was a huge raid.

Several of them suddenly began sniffing the air, then turned their heads toward Pip's hiding place. He ran, shoving a hand into his bag for more mud and smearing it across his body.

What's going on? Are they from the Ratmen Tribe?

There were far too many of them for a simple raid.

***

The next morning, Luke and his group followed the river. Along the way, a massive serpent attacked them. Luke threw his kukri, and the blade slammed into the creature's head hard enough to kill it instantly.

[You have slain a Riverfang Serpent - Lvl 105]

[+42 Soul Energy absorbed]

“It has a core!” Charlie said excitedly.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

Core: Spectral BeastRank: ERank D Cores: [599/1000]Core Skill: [Form Devourer]Beast Skills: [Spectral Rend (Rare)], [Predatory Sovereignty (Epic)], [Typhon (Mythic)], [Form Devourer Slot I (Legendary)], [Extended Bond (Rare)], [Spectral Roar (Rare)], [Spectral Devour (Epic)], [Spectral Fusion I (Legendary)]

Form Devourer: [Ivory Leaping Spider (Rank E)], [Empty Slot]Form Devourer Skills: [Silent Stalker (Rare)], [Predator’s Pounce (Ultra-Rare)], [Venomous Fang Strike (Epic)]Form Slot I Skills: –

Luke hesitated for a few seconds. After a month of killing beasts, he'd gotten surprisingly few cores.

Either I add the snake as a second form, or I absorb the core.

He sighed and absorbed it.

[You absorbed a Rank D Core]

[Rank D Cores: 600/1000]

Four hundred more. Still too damn many.

[The Spectral Beast has unlocked a new skill!]

Okay. That helped.

He opened it.

[Spectral Claws (Rare)]: The Spectral Beast condenses its essence into claws capable of tearing through flesh, armor, and magical defenses. When assuming another form, these claws merge with the creature's natural weapons, turning every fang, claw, or blade into part of the same arsenal.

Skills like [Spectral Fusion] really aren't that common. Too bad.

Luke let the Spectral Beast feed on the creature's corpse for a while. After living alongside the goblins, Norn, and other monsters, he'd started seeing the whole thing differently. If creatures grew stronger by devouring other creatures, there was no point in letting the bodies go to waste.

Charlie sliced apart the giant serpent, and Luke stored the meat in his dimensional storage.

“More food for Nara and her babies.”

“How's she been acting?” Angie asked.

“Surprisingly reasonable,” Luke replied. “She's more interested in taking care of her young. As long as nobody bothers her, she'll keep to herself.”

“She's old, experienced, and extremely protective of her young,” Illyra said. “That makes her more cautious than most predators.”

“Exactly. She's a top-tier MILF,” Artemis said.

“What's a MILF?” Charlie and Illyra asked almost at the same time.

“Just more of her nonsense. You're better off not knowing. And Artemis, watch what you say.”

“Oops. Forgot the little guy was here,” Artemis said.

Luckily, Franky was asleep on the spider's back as the group continued onward. After a while, they left the valley behind.

A distant roar echoed somewhere in the underworld. There was always one of those. Beasts were constantly hunting, fighting, or simply making it clear that the weak didn't survive down here.

“We're here,” Illyra said.

Ahead of them, earthen houses clustered together along the river. A settlement, and somehow that was stranger than the dinosaurs.

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