A night after the tea party with Erneah-san and Dragon Grandpa, Teto and I were standing in front of the Dungeon Core.
"It is finally time to create the biotype dungeon we learned from Dragon Grandpa."
"Yay! It'll be fun to grow lots of delicious food on the floating sea island!"
I brought up the first-floor dungeon's layout to plan everything out. First, I set up the range of the dungeon floor. The maximum size of a dungeon floor was 5km by 5km.
Next, I used sand and rocks from the materials absorbed by the dungeon and started shaping the outline of an isolated island.
"As for the land-to-water ratio, I think 7 for the sea and 3 for the land should be enough."
"Majou-sama~, but if there is more land, we would be able to grow more fruits!"
"Well, I do plan to release sea creatures and let them breed, so having less sea area would limit their breeding potential."
"What a dilemma...... Teto likes to eat fish as well."
It was a hybrid of a biotype and resource-type model that would rely on the world tree to supply the mana for floor maintenance.
For the biotype section, I selected the mandatory world tree, then fruits that grew in southern nations like bananas, mangoes, palm trees, cocoa, and sugarcane. In addition, we also chose a cluster of medicinal plants that only grew in the southern environment.
As for the sea section, it still has yet to be filled with seawater but my layout for it consisted of seaweed, which was edible and had medicinal properties, in abundance, and reefs formed from small and big rocks.
"Let's see, let's place a spring to serve as a safety area, then turn the flow of water from the sea to this direction, and finally, plant the world tree in the center of the island...... This should do it."
In the center of the island's plateau, I installed a large world tree with a spring at its base that would serve as a safety area.
The dungeon facilities could be installed in two ways: one had auto-restoration while the other had change permission.
The former included consumable or usable facilities like clusters of medicinal herbs, ore veins, and traps which could be harvested, mined, or, in the case of traps, triggered or disarmed. Consequently, this would lead to depletion of resources, however, through the power of dungeon and mana, the lost parts could be replenished— This was the repop setting.
The latter involved facilities that couldn't be reverted to their original state but changes to them were allowed. This setting was used when you wanted random placement of treasure chests or when you wanted specific installations to undergo growth or transformation.
This way, the world tree I had transplanted from outside of the dungeon would be able to grow.
"Majou-sama, what is this space on the sandy beach for?"
"Southern sandy beaches tend to be sunny places so I'm planning to produce salt there."
However, it would depend on the will of the residents themselves whether they would bother to come to the dungeon to manufacture salt for trade or not.
I created it as a contingency measure in case the salt trade was to stop for any reason.
"Majou-sama, let's grow beautiful flowers! The island would be brighter and more beautiful with them!"
"After all these additions, this is no different from a resort, eh......?"
I murmured while looking at the beach house.
Following her suggestion, we planted beautiful flowers in the empty lots and built a wooden single-story rest area along the coastline.
With each change, it was gradually taking the shape of resorts that could be found in the southern nations, but as someone bad at swimming, I couldn't imagine myself frolicking around on this beach.
The only plausible thing I would do was to change into a swimsuit and read a book in the shade if I went with my preference......
After everything was ready, I injected seawater around the perimeter of the island, planted seaweed and corals, and summoned quasi-lifeform aquatic animals to cull out the excessive population of the sea creatures.
"Ohh, it's almost done, Majou-sama!"
"Yeah...... Now let's see if the mana income and expenditure are as expected or not...... No issues for now it seems."
I specifically stored mana in the Dungeon Core earlier to help out with the initial creation cost for today. What I needed to check was if the island floor layout's cost had crossed the initial amount I calculated.
As for the rest, like the maintenance cost of the floor, it was to be covered by the mana produced by the world tree and the surrounding vegetation.
"Alright, I'm starting. Dungeon Core, floor creation— Execute!"
*Tremor*
The next moment, the dungeon itself rumbled, the entrance to the Dungeon Core room which we were in disappeared, and the stairs to head to the upper floor appeared to replace it.
"Ohhh! The exit disappeared!"
"I think the Dungeon Core room has shifted down by one floor."
With the shift in the level of the Dungeon Core room, I guess that completed the birth of the Solitary Island.
Then, with Teto in tow, I headed to the upper floor. There, we were greeted by the bright sunlight pouring down from the pseudo-sun and the sight of the giant world tree I had transplanted into the dungeon.
"It's so hot here~ Majou-sama~"
"Hmm, yeah. It's because this is a tropical environment.“
I agreed with the Teto, it was hot in here. I used magic to defend myself from the intense sunlight and surveyed the situation of the Solitary Island.
Near the staircase leading downstairs, there was also a staircase that seemed to connect to the dungeon's entrance. This should be our way out.
As we walked around the island, lush plants and trees came into view, flourishing and bearing fruit. We picked some of them to taste while continuing our survey and moved towards the sea, finding a vast sandy beach below.
"Ah, well of course, given we haven't poured the seawater in yet."
In fact, the water from the river flowing from the plateau of the Solitary Island which was situated at an altitude above sea level, had been pouring into the sandy soil but it was instead absorbed by the dungeon due to its characteristic.
I didn't choose to fill it with seawater yet since the dungeon could be managed even after floor creation.
"Teto can't wait for it to be fully completed, Majou-sama!"
I took Teto, who was already bursting with excitement imagining the completed floor, to a place a bit further away from the beach and installed a «Transfer Gate» there.
"Are you ready, Teto?"
"Yes-nanodesu!"
"Very well, here we go!"
I adjusted the passage setting in the «Transfer Gate», and—
"Kyaa!? The flow is too strong!"
"Ohhhhhh! A lot of things are flowing out!"
The water flowed from the mirror-like teleportation gate's entrance with a forceful surge, eager to escape into the new location.
The tumbling liquid wasn't alone, as it also brought along all sorts of creatures confined within its flow.
Microorganisms, aquatic creatures of all sizes, torn seaweed, sand, and hidden beings within the sand— all of them were carried by the tide.
Along with the influx of seawater on the beach, I tapped on the dungeon's panel to induce some changes within the dungeon.
"Absorb the injected seawater and fill up the rest of the floor with it— execute!"
Gradually, the vast expanse of sandy terrain was filled with seawater, and the creatures that were washed into the dungeon began spreading in all directions.
Simultaneously, I created habitats necessary for the survival of organisms like the imported seaweed, and gradually, the water rose to a level where it reached us.
"It's not the best setting, but I hope these creatures manage to settle here!"
"Dragon Grandpa was super helpful, too!"
When I considered how much time it would take to selectively breed specific organisms while adjusting the ecosystem's balance, I sought the help of Dragon Grandpa and had him transport the pair of our «Transfer Gate» to a location that shared the same climate conditions as our dungeon. Currently, the seawater was flowing from the said place through these gates.
"Woah, there are also monsters mixed in between, Majou-sama!"
"Teto, if you please!"
"Leave it to Teto!"
As seawater continued to fill the dungeon, I moved toward the sandy beach, monitoring the dungeon's condition.
Along with other creatures, aquatic monsters also flowed in and tried to attack us only to be sliced by Teto as she unsheathed her magic sword.
"Hmm, the water has reached the required level. Now to adjust the movement of the waves alongside random surges of a certain range— and done. Synchronizing the ebb and flow of the tides with real-world movements. Placement of quasi-lifeform monsters to protect the dungeon sea— complete. Settings for thinning out and eliminating intruding monsters are done... Let's keep the «Transfer Gate» submerged for a while for observation."
"Alright-nanodesu!"
The influx of seawater from the «Transfer Gate» connecting the dungeon and the warm coastal sea had ceased, indicating that equilibrium had been achieved. However, sea creatures were still coming out of it.
This should allow the passage of the creatures that couldn't enter when seawater came flowing in. So the next step was to let the «Transfer Gate» be submerged for an extended period. Hopefully, the creatures would decide to settle in the dungeon.
As for the invading monsters, the size of the transfer gate limited the strength of the monsters which could enter and potentially terrorize the other creatures. For the rest, I was expecting the dungeon's quasi-lifeform creatures to take care of them.
