WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 67: Pitfall

"Please give name, Master." In front of Ben, a humanoid insect knelt. Its form was almost human—two arms, two legs, five fingers on each hand. But its face was unmistakably insectoid.

Large compound eyes, chitin plating that curved unnaturally over its skull. It reminded Ben of a certain alien race from Mars in one of his favorite mangas from his past life. He rubbed his chin, barely giving it much thought. "Hmm… a name… how about Supervisor One?"

The Krell visibly stiffened. "I-If you say so… Master." Its tone was obedient—but something about it felt… off.

Ben narrowed his eyes. ’Rejection.’ It didn’t like the name. Ben clicked his tongue. ’So human-level intelligence means they also have emotions? Great. That’s gonna be annoying.’

Emotions were one of the biggest catalysts for rebellion. Ben had seen it before. History, war, even in his past life—rebellions never started out of pure logic. Emotion was the wildfire that burned reason to the ground.

A man could be offered everything—safety, wealth, power—and still throw it all away just because he felt slighted. Hatred. Pride. Resentment. People made irrational choices just to prove a point, even knowing the consequences would be disastrous. They’d sacrifice themselves, their futures, everything— Just because they didn’t want to submit.

Ben exhaled slowly. He needed to keep it in check. ’At least with the hive mind, I won’t have to worry about misunderstandings.’

Misunderstandings. Another dangerous thing. If emotions were the fuel for rebellion, misunderstandings were the spark. History had no shortage of wars started by simple miscommunication. Orders given that were taken the wrong way, loyalty broken over misheard words, leaders betrayed over assumptions.

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Hell, even in his past life, entire business deals collapsed because one person interpreted a contract differently than the other.

Ben glanced at his creation. It still knelt, waiting silently. Its mouth twitched slightly, those large compound eyes locked onto him. "Alright," Ben muttered."Your name is One. Got a problem with that?"

One’s head tilted slightly. "…If it is Master’s will." No obvious resistance this time.

Ben nodded. "Good. Now let’s test your brain." Ben scribbled numbers onto the dirt with a piece of broken stone. "Solve this."

One studied it for barely a second before answering. "Five."

"Correct." He upped the difficulty. More complex equations. Some basic logic problems. Again—no issue. ’So, they’re already equipped with problem-solving ability,’ Ben thought. ’That’s useful.’

But what really intrigued him was its common sense. Because somehow—it partially mirrored his own. Ben had no idea if this was because of the hive mind or if the system had implanted knowledge upon creation, but it saved him a lot of explaining.

However—there were gaps. To test it, Ben asked, "If I order you to remove a problem, what do you do?"

One hesitated. "Eliminate it."

Ben frowned. "Define ’eliminate.’"

"…Terminate. Destroy."

Ben clicked his tongue. ’Yeah, that could be an issue.’ If One took things too literally, it could end up making problems worse rather than solving them.

That was another danger of intelligence. The more self-thinking a creature became, the more it relied on its own interpretations—and that could spiral into disaster.

Ben exhaled sharply. "Alright, new question." He crossed his arms, watching One carefully. It wasn’t just about how it followed commands—he needed to see how it processed and questioned them. "Let’s say I tell you to ’fix the walls.’ What’s the first thing you do?"

One paused. Its mouth twitched, compound eyes shifting slightly as if analyzing the request. Then it spoke. "Clarify… which section of the walls?"

Ben raised an eyebrow. ’Not bad.’ That was exactly what he needed. Instead of making assumptions, One reconfirmed the task with him. It meant it could take precise orders—and wouldn’t screw things up with unnecessary improvisation.

Satisfied, he moved on.Through the hive mind, he sent One a mental projection of the stronghold. Every section before it destruction. "This is your first task," Ben said. "Order the Krell to fix it. Can you do that?"

One nodded immediately, without hesitation. "Yes, Master. I can." Ben felt the eagerness through the link. It was ready to fulfill its purpose.

’Good.’ With a flick of his hand, Ben took out all the necessary building materials onto the ground. Unlike when he personally constructed things through the system, where structures magically formed with just a thought, the Krell had to manually handle and place everything. It would take time. But better than doing it all himself. Before One left, Ben added, "After that, separate the trash. All meat and anything edible—bring it inside the castle for food stockpiling. Any ruined materials, just leave them outside."

"Understood." With the order given, One turned and immediately began directing the Krell. Ben observed for a few minutes, watching its efficiency. It calculated each step, issuing instructions through the hive mind, dividing Krell workers into optimal roles.

Ben smirked. This was a good decision. Now, with the repairs handled, it was time for the next task. "Alright… now to design more traps."

If the Ravagers wanted to storm his base again, he’d make sure they paid for every step they took. He didn’t need advanced magic formations or complex mechanisms just something simple and effective. The human from his past world had already perfected the art of killing intruders with cheap, effective traps. Pitfalls A classic.

Deep trenches, disguised under thin layers of dirt and debris. The moment a Ravager stepped onto it—down it went.

A Ravager was tough, but not invincible. A pit filled with sharpened stakes, soaked in rotting flesh and poison from whatever fungi he could find, would turn every fall into a slow, agonizing death. ’I’ll use ingots to create sharpened spikes. As long as the pit was deep enough, they should be able to pierce through even the Brutes. And if not? At the very least, it’d trap them like rats.’ Ben’s gaze shifted to the piles of Ravager corpses. His lips curled into a smirk. ’Well… I can use them for my experiments.’