WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 66: Smarter Krell

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling through his teeth. "This is a pain." If he kept handling everything himself, it was going to be a never-ending cycle of building, fighting, and rebuilding. That was inefficient. He needed something to take over these tasks, manage the construction, oversee operations, and keep things running without him micromanaging every detail.

It’s time to create a smart Krell. Something capable of handling logistics, assigning labor, and ensuring his stronghold functioned efficiently.

Now the question was—should it have human-level intelligence or be a genius?

A genius-level Krell might end up smarter than even him. Ben frowned. If it really was that smart, wouldn’t he just need to mass-produce them and start advancing technology at an insane pace? That seemed a little too easy. He rubbed his chin. ’The lower level is human intelligence. But just how smart is that?’

After some thought, he made his decision. He would create one with human-level intellect—but weaken its body on purpose. Even with the hive mind, he didn’t want to take any risks. If things ever went south, he needed to make sure he could put it down easily. ’Alright, humanoid form. Two arms, two legs. No claws. Just an exoskeleton for basic protection.’

As for the exoskeleton type, he kept it basic—not the reinforced version from the Ant King or the new one he get from the ravagers. ’Eyes… let’s go with compound vision. Now for size…’

At first, Ben considered making it tiny—weak, easy to control. But then, a memory hit him. A superhero movie from his old world. The kind where tiny guys were even more dangerous than big ones. ’Actually… should I make a tiny scout variant?’

Smaller bodies meant better stealth, harder to detect, perfect for recon. But then—he hesitated. Because in this world, everything was massive. The Ravagers, the mushroom trees, Hellworm, the ecosystem itself—everything he had encountered was large. And it made sense It’s because of the heat.

Higher temperatures increase metabolic rates. In extreme heat, small creatures struggle to regulate their body temperature—they lose water too fast, overheat quicker, and can’t store enough energy to survive.

Larger creatures, though? They handle heat better. More body mass means slower heat dissipation. Thicker exoskeletons act like natural armor, preventing dehydration and resisting extreme temperatures.

This wasn’t the surface. It was a world where size was an evolutionary advantage. ’A tiny scout might survive in a cooler biome, but here? It’d be a walking corpse.’ Ben exhaled through his nose. "Guess I’m sticking with Medium-sized." With that, he finalized the design.

[Processing… Making final adjustments and calculating final cost…]

[Complexity: 10 | Cost: 96 Mana, 70 Biomass]

Ben stared at the numbers, blinking. "…That’s it?" It was far cheaper than any Krell he had created so far. "Does intelligence really cost this little?"

For some reason, he had expected a massive mana drain—but this? This was practically a bargain. A rare win. Ben crossed his arms, exhaling. "Alright. Now for the name…" Something fitting. Something that reflected its role. After a few moments of thought, he nodded. "Krell Supervisor. That’ll do."

[Name Confirmed….]

[Warning!!! Process error detected. Current creature slot limit has been hit.

Do host want to increase the slot? Unlocking the first slot will cost 100,000 Mana.]

Ben’s eye twitched. His excitement died instantly, replaced by pure, unfiltered irritation. "Fucking system! I knew it! No way it would let me off that easy!" He started mentally reviewing the Krell variants he had made so far. "Wait— I have Krell Cargo, Worker, Soldier, and Scout. That’s already four slots. But I remember the system telling me I only have three?! Why the hell is it complaining just NOW!?"

[Accepting host complaint… Processing…..]

[Error detected. Current slot limit should be three, not four…]

[System adjusting… Error fixed. Krell Cargo has been blocked. Can only be created after host purchases more slots. Price adjusted.]

[Would host like to proceed with unlocking two slots? Total cost: 200,000 Mana.]

Ben stared at the notification, veins nearly popping from his forehead. 200,000 mana was affordable. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was the sheer audacity of this system. "So first, you tell me I CAN’T do something. Then when I point it out, you just—oh, whoops, my bad, let me ’fix’ that for you—and now I need to pay!?"

This was bureaucracy levels of bullshit. He had flashbacks. Standing in an office, endlessly waiting in line, only for some bored-looking employee to tell him, "Sorry, sir, your documents will take at least a month to process."

Then—magically— They finished in one day. After he ’provided an incentive.’ Ben groaned, dragging a hand down his face. This was exactly like dealing with customer service. Like those corporate helplines that keep bouncing you between departments until you either give up or pay extra for ’priority assistance.’

In frustration, he started spitting out a string of curses at the system. The system remained silent Completely ignoring him. Ben took a deep breath, calming himself. Then, muttering under his breath, he sneered, "Hey, system. You already woke up from hibernation, right? Answer me."

Silence.

Ben’s eye twitched again. "If I die, you die. Why are you acting like this?!"

Nothing.

He gritted his teeth. "You’re like a goddamn ISP company," he growled. "Never helpful, always charging extra, and ignoring complaints until someone threatens to leave."

For a moment, there was silence.

Then—

[Would host like to proceed with unlocking two slots? Total cost: 200,000 Mana.]

Ben froze. Then his rage erupted. "FUCK YOU, SYSTEM!!!" His shout echoed through the ruined stronghold, shaking the charred debris. The Krell paused for a moment, their heads turning slightly—then, wisely, went back to work.

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Ben stood there, seething, fists clenched. The system remained silent. Completely ignoring him. After a few more minutes of fuming, pacing, and mentally preparing an entire lawsuit against it in his head, Ben finally exhaled. He gave up. The damn thing wasn’t going to respond.

Now that he thought about it, it probably woke up just long enough to scam more mana out of him, then went right back to sleep. And how the hell had he even managed to have four slots before this? Bug? Glitch? Some divine idiot authors running this world forgot?

Who cares. There were more important things to deal with right now.