The last time Kim Jin-Woo had seen Uther, he was barely a bit bigger than an adult Terran. However, Uther now looked so swollen that he seemed able to fill the entire passageway of the vast Grand Labyrinth. On top of that, the slime covering him was so shiny that Kim Jin-Woo could practically feel its brilliance.

“Oooooooh, my King!” Seeing Kim Jin-Woo looking at him speechless and wide-eyed, Uther suddenly fell at his King’s feet. “Please forgive meee!”

Something must have happened, but Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t figure out what it was, so he quietly waited for Uther to explain himself. Uther, noticing Kim Jin-Woo’s appearance, stuttered as he confessed everything that had happened.

“Urgh.” When Uther finally finished explaining himself, Kim Jin-Woo clutched the back of his head.

It had been a while since the Underworld Veins had been discovered by complete accident. There had been nowhere to use the unripe down gems at the moment, and Kim Jin-Woo had had no time to pay attention to them; thus, he had ordered Uther to protect the Veins from the Moai.

But it must have been like handing over the entire fish shop to a hungry, greedy cat. Unbelievably, Uther had absorbed all the down gems in the Veins.

It wasn’t completely incomprehensible for that to have happened, considering that Uther’s Greed Slimes were lumps that wrapped themselves around their prey and digested them slowly. However, from Kim Jin-Woo’s point of view, it was a heartbreaking turn of events, especially considering how precious those down gems were given the lack of supply in the current state of the Underworld.

In hindsight, leaving Uther in charge of the Veins had been a mistake in the first place.

“So that’s why you’ve gotten so huge!” Kim Jin-Woo said angrily.

“No, this just inevitably happened because the Greed Slimes were being eaten by the Moai constantly…” Uther started to come up with excuses, but to no avail.

The sight of Uther’s slime swaying heavily each time he spoke was nothing but abhorrent in Kim Jin-Woo’s eyes, and it only further angered him.

But what could he do? It was he who had entrusted Uther to take care of the Veins, so he couldn’t blame him now. Uther had complained several times from the beginning that he couldn’t hold that position, after all.

“Sigh…” With a long sigh, Kim Jin-Woo barely managed to calm his boiling anger. He then asked what had happened next. He felt regretful about what had happened, and hoped that there would still be some remaining down gems. However, Uther shattered those hopes and replied that there were no down gems left.

In the end, Kim Jin-Woo, who had a massive headache from this unexpected situation, headed to the place where the Veins had been with his Nagas. He decided that it would be better for him to check the situation out himself with his Devil’s Sight ability, rather than trusting completely in Uther’s report.

The Frost Nagas have won the battle.

There were several battles along the way, but the newly formed Frost Nagas easily slaughtered any Moai they encountered.

They were said to be several times more ferocious and cruel than the original Nagas, and the way they used spears and knives, as well as their claws and fangs, to rip the enemy to shreds was truly ferocious.

After confirming the strength of the newly formed Frost Naga unit several times in the battles along the way, Kim Jin-Woo was finally able to arrive at the location where the Veins were.

The parasite’s ability, ‘Guidance’, has been activated.

You have discovered down gem seeds.

The down gem seeds that have just begun to ripen have almost no energy, but they are definitely down gems.

You have discovered down gem seeds.

You have discovered down gem seeds.

You have discovered down gem…

You have discovered…

Was this the silver lining? Just as before, as soon as he arrived, the whole passage flashed with green light. But that was the end of it. Most of the down gems discovered by the Mystic Parasite’s ability were seeds that had just begun to germinate.

-9th Floor Veins.

-These are the Veins of the Underworld, managed by Uther the King of Greed and his Greed Slimes. The Veins that were once full of down gems that had germinated and started to shine are now only left with down gem seeds. As time passes, the down gem seeds will germinate again and regain energy, but for now, this is just a passageway through which the energy of the Underworld flows.

-Over time, down gems will be created again and energy will begin to accumulate. But no one knows when that will be.

Even if one wanted to use the down gem seeds right away, they contained no accumulated energy, so they were no different from ordinary rocks.

“Phew.” Kim Jin-Woo had to be content with the fact that the 9th Floor Veins hadn’t completely disappeared. After returning to the Grand Labyrinth, he explained the situation to Daedalus and asked if there was a way to make the Grand Labyrinth embrace the 9th Floor Veins.

However, Daedalus shook his head, saying that the expansion work on the Grand Labyrinth had already begun, and that all the work and sacrifice put into reducing the Grand Labyrinth by half would go to waste.

Thus, Kim Jin-Woo had no choice but to entrust Daedalus with a further expansion after the current work.

“I-I apologize,” Uther stammered.

“Urgh, let’s not talk about this anymore,” Kim Jin-Woo replied.

Most of the useful down gems had already been devoured by the Greed Slimes. Kim Jin-Woo didn’t want to think of the matter any further; thus, he closed the matter by ordering the Frost Nagas to frequently check on the Veins.

After all, it was Uther who had reported the 9th Floor Veins to him when he could have consumed them for himself in the first place, so Kim Jin-Woo thought of it as rewarding Uther for his honesty.

But that didn’t mean that he was going to leave Uther alone.

He tore off the slimes covering Uther, which had grown to the point where not even Uther could control them himself, and threw them in all directions. Uther, whose movements had already been severely restricted in the past due to his size, now didn’t even seem to shrink even as he was being torn apart.

“Are you feeling that they’re being put to waste, huh?” Kim Jin-Woo asked.

Uther, who had been trying to make himself as small as possible by tucking in the slimes that had been protruding out, was startled and responded, “Oh my, how could that be?”

Despite his words, his eyes were bitterly filled with regret as he looked at the Greed Slimes that had been torn apart.

Seeing Uther sulk, Kim Jin-Woo seemed to have relieved his anger a little bit, and smiled. Now that he thought about it, Uther’s absorption of the Veins’ energy might not have been entirely a bad thing. Because he had an all-out war with the Deep Floors in mind, he needed as much information as possible at the moment.

Since it had come to this point, Kim Jin-Woo wanted to test out Uther’s strength. When the test was over, he was more than surprised. Not only had Uther grown in size, his physical strength had also grown considerably.

“Ah, what kind of powers would a guy like me have? It’s just that you guys are taking it easy on me.”

But just because he had grown stronger didn’t mean Uther’s personality had changed, as he was still the same cowardly, sly being that was reluctant to engage in direct combat.

Kim Jin-Woo also had no intention of putting Uther at the forefront of battle.

That was because there were many warriors who could take the place of the King of Greed, but it was difficult to find an entity that could consistently collect information like his Greed Slimes.

From that day on, Kim Jin-Woo set up a residence for Uther in the depths of the Grand Labyrinth, allowing him to monitor the situation in the Deep Floors.

Just before the day had passed, however, Uther came to seek an audience with him and said, “Please take a look at this.”

The Greed Slimes that had been scattered around were illuminating the territory of the Counts.

“If you look closely here, doesn’t it feel somewhat similar to this place?” Uther asked.

Even without Uther’s words, Kim Jin-Woo would have noticed. He already knew what the slight sense of incongruity was in the Counts’ estates. Mimir must have sold the restored Grand Labyrinth to the 11th Floor Counts, as each Count’s estate contained a fake Grand Labyrinth.

“Mm?” Kim Jin-Woo noticed that something was off. The shape and energy of the Counts’ labyrinths, which expanded their boundaries at will, was identical to that of the Grand Labyrinth, but somehow Kim Jin-Woo felt a further sense of incongruity. Thus, when the fake Grand Labyrinths started to expand, he couldn’t take his eyes off them.

“Ah!” After observing them for a long time, Kim Jin-Woo discovered the reason behind the oddity.

“Do you know what that is?” Uther asked curiously.

Instead of answering, Kim Jin-Woo got up from his throne. “I have to pay a visit to the Deep Floors.”

“What do you mean, all of a sudden…” Uther tilted his head, puzzled at his king’s sudden action.

But Kim Jin-Woo had already called Dominique and left behind a few orders before heading straight out of his labyrinth.

***

Kim Jin-Woo secretly went to the 11th Floor, and was finally able to see a restored Grand Labyrinth in the distance.

“Mm?” Having seen one for himself, his expression revealed more doubt than clarity. “No way…”

As he had entered the 11th Floor in secrecy, he had to avoid exposing his presence to the Counts, but there was something that bothered him. Without closely inspecting the restored Grand Labyrinth, it was unlikely that he would be able to put the matter to rest. Thus, he looked around carefully before slowly crossing the border of the Count’s estate, as he slowly approached the fake Grand Labyrinth.

The fake Grand Labyrinth was constantly expanding its boundaries, even at that moment. However, the direction of its expansion was inward, rather than outward from the center of the labyrinth. Kim Jin-Woo observed for a long time, but the Grand Labyrinth didn’t grow even a centimeter outside of its territory, and continued to encroach on the insides of the territory.

His couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. He tried to hold back, but his laughs slipped through his teeth. At this rate, it was impossible to know if and to whom he might be discovered by, but he didn’t care anymore.

After that, Kim Jin-Woo toured the Counts’ estates one after another, personally checking all the newly-created restored Grand Labyrinths.

“Mimir.” Finally, after checking the fake Grand Labyrinth created in Parthenon’s estate, he murmured quietly as he gazed beyond the darkness. “Did you intend to do this from the beginning, or was this something even you didn’t know about?”

Kim Jin-Woo’s fiercely glaring eyes were like those of a savage wild beast staring at its prey.

The restored Grand Labyrinths purchased by the Counts hadn’t been engraved by a master. Kim Jin-Woo didn’t know if that had been Mimir’s intention, or if it was because he was ignorant of what a Grand Labyrinth was capable of.

However, one thing was certain: It was that there was only one person in the Underworld who was qualified to become the master of a Grand Labyrinth, even if it was a fake, restored one.

A Highlord. Only a true Lord who had inherited the ancient powers was qualified to become the master of a Grand Labyrinth, and there was no Highlord among the Deep Floor Counts.

And Kim Jin-Woo—a true Highlord and Lord of Greed—already ruled one Grand Labyrinth.

In the eyes of the Highlord, the fake Grand Labyrinths that were slowly encroaching on their own territories were looking absolutely delectable.