Chapter 139: The Core of the Vow

In fact, the "Oath" template was a template originally invented by Jan. Its core concept was simple: treat the entire dungeon as a strategic simulation game, focusing on multi-point expansion and comprehensive development to achieve all-around balance. Once a certain level of influence was established, one could then employ a tactic of massive troop deployment to simply overwhelm the opposition.

The weakness of the "Oath" system was also quite obvious: it was extremely fragile in the early stages. Because the core of the template relied on balanced development across all attributes—"Anomaly," "Humanoid," "Nature," "Undead," "Divine," and "Dark"—it meant that in the beginning, a player had to recruit at least one unit from each of these categories and develop them fully. Only after these units reached the mid-game and evolved into Lair Lords could one begin the path of mass troop production. The mutual reinforcement between these attributes made it difficult for enemies to find a way to counter them in a short period, bringing victory within reach.

However, this placed incredibly high demands on the player. Due to limited early-game resources, to accumulate enough for mass production as quickly as possible, one could only summon one unit of each attribute initially. Summoning an extra unit of the same type would significantly delay the mid-game snowball effect. If the "Oath" system could not start snowballing by the mid-game, it would be impossible to compete with other factions. After all, other dungeons only needed to focus on one core model, whereas the "Oath" system had to juggle all attributes simultaneously, making it very vulnerable before a synergy was formed.

It was precisely because the "Oath" system required such high levels of player skill that, even in the game, fewer than a dozen people, including Jan, had mastered this high-end core cultivation method. Even they could not guarantee success every time, as the difficulty of this core template was immense. The early stage required upgrading the core troops, and upgrading meant those troops had to go out and fight. Fighting meant attracting armies of heroes to raid one's dungeon. The challenge lay in how to skillfully cause enough damage to the outside world without provoking a hero army so powerful that it would dismantle the dungeon. A misstep would lead to total ruin.

Yet, this very thrill was the joy of the Oath template.

Currently, in Jan's hands, the "Undead" attribute was occupied by Banshees, and the "Anomaly" was occupied by Xenomorphs. That left the "Humanoid," "Nature," "Divine," and "Dark" attributes. In the "Oath" system, the player's core must be "Humanoid," as only it could effectively integrate the six attributes into a unified fighting force. Otherwise, the drop in morale caused by conflicting attributes between races would be a problem in itself.

In reality, however, the problems Jan had to consider were far more complex.

Troops need experience, and dungeons need to plunder resources. But mindless looting is not sustainable; a robber steals less in a year than a noble does in a single raid. Yet the former is a social pariah, while the latter walks down brightly lit streets, enjoying the worship and awe of the masses. That is the greatest difference: identity, status, and standing. Just as every war requires a righteous cause, whether for wealth or land, it is impossible to initiate hostilities and position oneself as a "just army" without a sufficient pretext.

Jan could certainly take his Banshees and Xenomorphs to the surface to burn, kill, and loot, but there would be no benefit in that, and it might invite more trouble. For this reason, Jan devised a complex plan: he wanted to "disguise" his army as a force of justice—preferably one that had been renowned in history but had long since perished, had no ties to gods or demons, and had enough reason to reappear. Humanity has never lacked wars, and as long as he could blend his army into those conflicts, he could enjoy the benefits of leveling up and plundering resources through the chaos of war.

This was not easy. First, the army had to be "presentable." If you lead a pack of Xenomorphs into battle, no one will believe you are an emissary of the gods. "Phantasmal Beasts" wouldn't work either; while they looked impressive, the dogma that "those who are not of our kind have different hearts" was deeply rooted in humanity. Though humans were prone to killing each other, they still viewed the greatest threat as coming from alien races.

To put it bluntly, if Jan led an elven cavalry to wipe out a human army, all humans would view the elves as untrustworthy, as they were not human and thus had no affection for humanity. But if he led a human army into a civil war, others would only see it as a dispute over interests rather than a matter of "racial discrimination." They might even cheer for the prowess of Jan's cavalry and marvel at their slaughter... Double standards are sometimes truly useful.

Jan's distress wasn't because such an army was hard to find, but because there were too many "alternatives." From the Holy White Knights who vanished after the Second Great War to the Heavenly Peoples from the dawn of creation, the legendary forces that left their mark on history before dying were as numerous as the stars. As time passed, nation after nation collapsed, and legend after legend followed in their footsteps, proving with piles of bones that nothing is eternal.

Furthermore, the most troublesome issue was that summoning was random, entirely dependent on luck. Jan didn't know what kind of humanoid unit he would summon, so he couldn't choose an "identity" in advance. If he prepared for a Heavy Knight Order but ended up summoning a group of Light Infantry, he would be in deep trouble.

"Has the expansion of the lair been resolved?"

"Temporarily, Master. But five goblins are simply too few; we need more to continue digging."

"We'll see."

Hearing Enya's complaint, Jan sighed helplessly. In the game, producing goblins relied on magic—these little creatures were products of the dungeon's mana crystals. However, with Iris currently away from the Great Library, research into the fourth spell had stalled. Jan had no other units capable of digging, so he had to make do. Fortunately, as magical creatures, these goblins were hardworking and never complained, working twenty-four hours a day without wages and never even considering a strike.

They were the kind of labor force capitalists dreamed of...

With that thought, Jan pulled his mind back and opened the system interface before him.

[Dungeon Construction System]
[Dungeon Master: Jan]
[Level: 4]
[Development Progress: 1542/50,000]
[Dungeon Resources: Ore (82,100), Mercury (71,700), Gems (51,030), Crystals (82,850)]
[Special Resources: Sulfur (10,280), Wood (500)]
[Subordinates: 127]
[Buildings: Dungeon Heart, Study, Bedroom, Lair, Black Stone Watchtower, Prison, Dark Temple, Forge, Great Library, Training Ground, Portal, War Room]

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Looking at the rapidly growing resources in the system, Jan couldn't help but click his tongue. Back then, he could only summon Banshees to hold the line because of a pittance of resources; now, he could actually summon a core army. The change was significant. Yet Jan knew very well that while these resources seemed plentiful, maintaining them required resources too—healing, construction, repairs. Added together, even hundreds of thousands wouldn't be enough in the late game. But for now... he wasn't a millionaire, but he had at least escaped poverty.

With this in mind, Jan walked into the Dark Temple. As if sensing its master's arrival, the dim temple radiated a soft magical light. The calm pool began to ripple, and accompanied by spraying fountains, massive stone hands emerged, reaching out toward Jan.

Damn it, I didn't notice it in the game, but now it looks like it's just obsessed with money.

Jan twitched his eye at the sight of the giant stone hands. He knew now wasn't the time to complain, or rather, it wouldn't change anything. He focused his attention on the hands, and soon, lines of system information appeared before him.

[Dungeon Master detected. Open Summoning Crystal?]
[Please select summoning mode: Normal Summoning / Large Summoning / Core Summoning]

Glancing at the golden text, Jan gritted his teeth. The system was just as annoying as it was in the game. When he lacked resources, the "Core Summoning" option was nowhere to be seen. Now that he had enough, it appeared as if it were eager to please.

Select Core Summoning.

Swearing to himself that he would tear this wretched system apart when he had the time, Jan made his choice.

Suddenly, the Dark Temple began to tremble. Massive obsidian pillars flickered, and ghostly purple light traced patterns along the floor, forming a gorgeous and mysterious motif. In an instant, the gloomy space transformed into a dreamlike, beautiful realm.

[Summoning Crystal opened. Please input summoning materials.]

On the surface, there was little difference between Core Summoning and Large Summoning; both required at least a four-digit resource investment. However, Large Summoning brought forth individual hero units, while Core Summoning produced an entire army. The typical player strategy was to use [Normal Summoning] to get a few monster squads for leveling, then unlock Large Summoning at level four to summon a hero to lead. Finally, once enough resources were gathered, they would use Core Summoning for a regular army.

Compared to Normal Summoning, units from Core Summoning had better stats and were greater in number. Normal summons usually came in groups of fewer than ten. Xenomorphs were an exception—though it's hard to say if that was a good thing.

Core-summoned armies were larger in number, though Jan could adjust the quantity to boost combat effectiveness. For example, with an investment of 5,000 resources, one could summon an army of 100 soldiers with a two-star rating. But a player could reduce the number of soldiers to increase the quality; if the count were reduced to 50, the combat effectiveness would rise to three stars. Conversely, increasing the number to 300 would drop the army's effectiveness to one and a half stars.

"Master, what kind of army do you desire?"

Watching Jan adjust the resources, Enya tilted her head, watching him curiously. Jan shrugged in response. Balancing resources for Core Summoning was a technical task; only by reaching a specific ratio of ore, mercury, gems, and crystals could one summon a unit with a specific attribute. The challenge was ensuring that while the attribute was set, the combat effectiveness wouldn't be compromised.

"We'll see... I'm not entirely sure myself. But I would certainly hope for a group of cute girls. That way, I wouldn't have to be blackmailed by Clarice. She makes excuses whenever I ask for a few maids. As the saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself... H