WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 57: Building Outpost
Ben look around the battlefield, taking in the carnage. Black blood soaked the ground, broken bodies of Ravagers and Krell littering the area. His eyes flicked toward where the leader had been. Nothing. Gone. His fingers curled into a fist. ’That bastard… it used the chaos to escape.’
He let out a slow breath. Chasing after it wasn’t worth the risk. Who knew what kind of creatures were lurking out there, just waiting for him to wander into their hunting grounds? Sure, he could regenerate. Sure, he could fight. But he wasn’t some battle-crazed lunatic. His goal here was simple—resources, expansion. Nothing more.
Ben stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders. ’This place will do.’ A temporary outpost—somewhere to collect materials and regroup when needed.
Pulling up the creature creation screen, he created two Krell Workers. They skittered into existence, immediately setting to work gathering scattered supplies and usable remains. He then replenished his Krell Soldier count, bringing it back to six. They would guard the area while the work continued. As for a Krell Scout… that could wait until the outpost was fully set up.
Ben worked quickly, laying down the foundation with dark Grimslate blocks. He shaped the base into a 13x13 square, keeping the layout simple, but the walls took up most of the space. They weren’t just for show—he built them five blocks high and three blocks thick, ensuring they could withstand heavy attacks. "This should be enough to put some Krell on guard," he muttered, stepping back to inspect his work. "Now I just need to make some bows for them to use in combat."
He let out a sigh, crossing his arms. ’If I had something like an automated turret, this would be a hell of a lot easier.’ The Krell were strong, but they still needed to take turns standing guard. That meant building facilities to house them, organizing shifts, and maintaining their weapons.
But turrets? Those would keep working nonstop, as long as he had gemstone to power them. His mind drifted to Elvira. She could probably build something like that, but it wouldn’t come cheap. The materials, the mana cost—it’d be a massive investment.
"Yeah… I’ll ask her about it later," he muttered, shaking his head before turning back to the walls.
Reinforcing them was next. He pulled out his Grimslate Ingots, activating the creation system to reshape them to his needs.
Layer by layer, he embedded the ingots between the blocks, pressing them deep into the gaps to fuse them together. This wasn’t just about making the walls thicker. The ingots acted like binding rods, locking the structure in place and preventing weak points from forming. If something tried to smash through, the impact would spread across the reinforcements instead of cracking a single spot.
Next, he reshaped the remaining ingots into solid plates. One by one, he set them as an additional outer layer, reinforcing only the side facing outward. More protection where it mattered, without wasting material. The smooth surface gleamed under the biome’s dim light, giving the wall an almost fortress-like sheen.
Ben ran a hand over it, feeling the solid resistance beneath his fingers. The Grimslate was already tough, but now? This thing could take a lot of beating. He stepped back, giving a satisfied nod. "Not bad. Even those ravager will take a long time to destroy this."
Turning his attention to the entrance, he decided a simple door wouldn’t cut it. . He crafted a Grimslate Gate, thick and reinforced with solid ingot bars.
Inside, he divided the space into sections. One side became a storage area, where he stacked crates and reinforced chests along the walls, making sure to leave enough room for expansion. Across from that, he set up a break area for the Krell, raising platforms covered in Grimslate tiles. It wasn’t exactly luxury, but it would serve its purpose.
At the very center, he built a staircase leading up to the second floor, where he planned to set up his private quarters and command space. From there, he’d have a clear view of the entire outpost, able to monitor the Krell, direct them, and react fast if anything went wrong.
The second floor took shape quickly. He used Grimslate blocks to made reinforced walls, ensuring it could withstand attacks just as well as the ground level. The floor itself was solid Grimslate slabs, smooth and sturdy under his boots.
His private quarters were simple but functional. He shaped a bedframe out of Grimslate using the creation system, embedding it with a layer of softened fiber padding from the harvested mushroom trees. It wasn’t exactly luxury, but it beat sleeping on the cold ground.
A sturdy table and chair sat in the corner, also made from Grimslate, designed for planning, crafting, and whatever else he needed. Shelves lined the walls, storing extra weapons, tools, and a few gemstones—useful in case of emergencies.
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The command space took up the opposite side, a raised platform overlooking the outpost. Standing there, he could see everything—the gate, the storage area, the Krell moving about. A simple Grimslate railing ran along the edge, enough to keep him from accidentally stepping too far back while keeping the view clear. He even left space to expand upward if needed. A section of the second floor was designed with an opening, where he could later build a staircase leading to a third floor if the outpost grew.
As the final block snapped into place, Ben stepped back, rolling his shoulders. He hadn’t expected to enjoy this part so much. Something about fitting the pieces together, shaping the walls, setting up the defenses—it was satisfying. It reminded him of his old days messing around in games, but now? Every structure he built had a real purpose. He let out a deep breath, taking one last look at his finished work. "Yeah… this’ll do. Now I just need to polish it up, add a bit of decoration, then make the bows for the Krell Scouts."
