Over the next few days, the trade routes continue to expand further into the desert in both directions. The trading posts, inns, shops, and restaurants outside of the Crimson barrier grow as the construction teams use up all of the remaining supplies available. An outer ring of the city is built for those that do not wish to stay and be under the Flame Emperor's protection. Sixteen more small villages are connected to the trade route, and over 300 more links of loyalty are created through my rising emperor's domain, bringing the total in my interface beyond 500 now. They are all integrated into the town and fit into place exactly where they fit best. Some open shops with foreign goods that they'd like to sell, others farm in the dungeons to collect materials for the guildhall, and some just want a change of pace and reassurance that they're safe. Villages out in the middle of nowhere get raided and pillaged often, so they migrate and seek safer lands frequently. Many come to a larger city when given the option to seek a more stable lifestyle. However, many like the traveling trader's life and just see the Crimson City as another stop on their journey through the Dark Continent. There are an additional 2000 individual travelers that come by from the surrounding villages to trade. The number of individuals farming the dungeons to make their own stands in the outer village to sell loot increases dramatically. Anything people can sell to the guildhall, they do. My prices to buy loot are far higher than anything any smart buyer would be looking to pay. We continue to train as usual over the next two days, collecting MCP, and I watch them spar with each other to master their new ranked-up forms and abilities. I keep adding mana to the B-Grade dungeon, bringing it to level 940-950, making the boss room monsters reach up to level 980 sometimes. It's so close... yet so far... It eats up over a hundred full containment stones per new rank now. This dungeon is stronger than the 38th floor in the labyrinth. It has enormous white birds that soar through high mountain peaks and wide open blue skies. It is similar to the 39th floor; one out of every 15 spawns has a bird with extreme wind magic, and the element stone it drops is strong enough to withstand a mythic-grade plunderer imbument. This discovery lets me double my speed of containment stone and luminite farming, bringing the amount of fragments in my item storage above 100, but also clears out almost every rogue dungeon within a 600km radius of the Crimson City. The only ones I leave be are those very close to villages, as it seems some rely on them for resources, and any of them that are above middle D-Grade, because it takes way too many stones to collapse them to be worth my time. I've been stuck on this same B-Grade mountain dungeon for a while. After dozens of stones, it hasn't even become unstable to hint that it'll reach the next stage, so I just start saving up containment stones instead of letting them loose in the dungeon. I want to do it all at once and not risk creating a break that would need more stones than I have available to satisfy and push to the next stage. It isn't until two days later, exactly one day before Ember's pod will open, and the trade deals are due, that something very unexpected happens. I feel memories of the surveillance body double that watches over the Crimson City send me an instant message. It's midday, with the sun high in the sky, with over 1100 people below me. About 200 are in the Crimson City Inner village, 200 are outside around the outer barrier selling to the 600 travelers from nearby cities doing trade, while roughly 100 people are in the dungeons farming loot. My double senses a very intense energy wave rippling out from the center of the Dark Continent. It feels familiar, and it isn't until I see the light grey shockwave coming out from the abyss that I realize exactly what it is. "It's been a while. That's... Another surge..." Without my All-Seeing Eye, this wave is invisible, but the sheer size of the wave is impossible to stop; there's nothing I can do but watch. The black wall of fog that is the abyss expands, moving forward about a full 2 kilometers before my eyes, then coming to a halt as the shockwave continues to travel toward the outer edges of the settlement. The Abyss is nearby, but luckily far enough away that this kilometer of movement doesn't bring it too close to the city itself, but it is now fairly visible from the canyon of dungeons, when before it was just a black speck on the horizon. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. My double watches the invisible grey wave move through hundreds of unsuspecting people surrounding the city, but it doesn't affect them at all. No one notices it, even as it collides with the Crimson Barrier. I watch the red dome ripple, and my eyes widen as the grey shockwave moves through it, not slowing down at all. It flows out the other side almost like nothing at all was in its way. The surge travels far off way into the desert. I'm sure this same exact grey shockwave is headed toward the 8 great nations. I wonder to myself if this is what happened in the past surges, and if whatever this is can possibly cause dungeons to break and so much panic to ensue. However, before I can fully formulate this thought, my gaze falls down onto the Canyon of Dungeons, and I sense many irregular mana readings down below me. Even my science experiment, the B-Grade dungeon is starting to fluctuate and show very odd readings after the grey pulse of energy passes through it. My double dives down through the Crimson Barrier and into the dungeons to watch my other double that is usually standing watch in this canyon jump into a glowing red portal. It scans through all of the dungeons in the area, and over 20 of them have started to break. At this, the memories stop; this is when my double kills itself to send me the message. I speak up, talking to all of the Elemental Elites that I'm training using my telepathy throughout the entire dungeon. "We have a new mission to deal with. There is trouble in the city. I'm going to separate all of you into groups to make sure no monsters get out of the dungeons I leave you in. Whatever you do, do not kill the boss monster, and protect any hunters inside the dungeons if these monsters are out of their league. If they can handle them, let them fight; I don't want anyone to miss out on unique loot that is only available during breaks. This is a surge, usually a catastrophe, but we'll make it into a profitable and enjoyable event for all. Keep killing mutants, protecting the boss rooms from anyone trying to challenge them, and keep the public safe until I come by your selected dungeon with the means to stop the break, we do not have to destroy these dungeons just neutralize the threat." They all understand the assignment, and I dungeon walk groups of 1-2 into the canyon. They all fill their roles instantly, and get to work protecting the E-C grade dungeons that are breaking all throughout the canyon. Many hunters are farming inside these already, and the Elemental Elites explain to them what is going on. Offering escorts to lower level breaks if they wish, or offer a hand in fighting these monsters if the hunters present have the skills to defeat them. This is a chance for them to use the teachings I've given them and apply them to help others directly. Once I teleport all of them out of the labyrinth and into dungeons, I dungeon walk to the B-Grade break down at the deepest point in the canyon. Once I get inside, what I see is far more dangerous than I expected, but at the same time, very exciting. Once I have these ready, I begin releasing their mana into the B-Grade dungeon. After about 300 stones, the monster type changes again, making the birds disappear and a new level Elite scorpion-like monster form in a new dungeon. Some are level 950-965 in their base state, but others reach up to level 995 in their mutant form. I use the exit portal to walk outside, expecting for it to be stable after the new rank up, but to my surprise, the spinning portal is still bright red. I jump back in and start defending the exit from dozens of massive creatures that are programmed to leave this dungeon by any means necessary. I decide to release even more full containment stones into the dungeon to try and bring it up in rank again to stabilize it further. I set off chain reactions of dozens of stones at a time, protecting myself within a soul energy shielding barrier at the far edges of the dungeon near the exit to release more mana inside. It takes another 500 stones to make the dungeon move up in rank again. The creatures are all aquatic, with long bodies and sharp teeth, with their base forms ranging from level 970-985. Some mutants hit level 999. However, they're all aggressively hard wired to leave the dungeon too. The portal is still bright red. I don't dare challenge the boss room because I'm almost positive it would destroy the whole dungeon once defeated. My plan is to continue charging this dungeon higher. I'm so close to my goal of level 1000 monsters, I might as well use the rest of the stones to try and reach it. If this dungeon actually stays unstable forever, I'll have a double stand by and farm it while standing guard. However, if it is really a lost cause and seems too dangerous to keep in the canyon, I'll take out the boss and end things here. I have a feeling there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm almost there. It takes another 4 hours and 1100 stones before the dungeon finally hits its new rank.