Under the light source, there was indeed no vegetation or signs of life, only the corpses of Eyeless Spider and a few pieces of mechanical debris.
"This is...?"
Leo was drawn to the stones at his feet and immediately picked one up to examine it closely.
Alice noticed that Leo was curious and looked at the stones on the ground. The entire underground world was full of these kinds of stones, which were just as common as the yellow sand above.
"This is actually energy metal ore number 78! The Black Skull Stigmata Wizard is going to be rich!"
Leo never expected that this seemingly barren world would be full of elemental metal ores, and these ores alone would be enough to offset the cost of this expedition.
Leo couldn't believe that if there were even elemental metals here, then there must be plenty of other mineral resources. This wasn't some barren world; it was practically a world paved with money.
Leo collected a few pieces of ore and threw them into the Shadow Space for research, then followed the main group.
For the first expedition, the principle remained the same: not to make money, but to learn and observe as much as possible, so we simply followed the main group.
As for the lone wolf mentality, Leo has no intention of emulating it. While this behavior does have a high probability of making a fortune, it also carries a high probability of leading to certain death.
The underground space is extremely vast, with no end in sight; or rather, the Black Tomb World is like a multi-layered, enclosed structure.
The layer above is a world of yellow sand, this layer is a world of mineral veins, so are there other geological layers below this one?
They hadn't gone far when most of them started to disperse, breaking up from a single group into ten.
Ten small units began to charge in all directions. Even though most of them were divided into ten, each part still numbered in the millions.
Leo and Alice chose one of the troops to continue following them. They didn't encounter a single Eyeless Spider along the way, only seeing a few scattered, broken corpses of Eyeless Spider.
The killing was happening too fast. The first wave of mechanical slaves, like these undead, knew neither pain nor death. They were programmed to kill exactly as programmed.
Leo heard from other wizards that the reason these mechanical slaves were only released after half a year was because they were not originally conditioned slaves.
When it was brought from the Wizard World, the program wasn't set up yet. It wasn't until it arrived in the Black Tomb World that the program was specifically set up to deal with the Eyeless Spider.
To put it bluntly, they specifically studied the weaknesses of Eyeless Spider, found them, programmed them into these mechanical slaves, and then sent out these Eyeless Spider assassins to carry out an organized massacre.
This approach is similar to how the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard had Gavarci study Leo's blood to develop a targeted toxin to counter the Jeft World.
Wizards are terrifying because they possess not only absolute power but also absolute wisdom.
Leo followed the main force for a full six months before the force dispersed again, splitting into dozens of smaller groups that scattered in the surrounding areas.
Each army is small, only tens of thousands, and the number of wizards may only be a few thousand; the majority are slaves.
There wasn't any intense fighting; it seemed the Eyeless Spider had all been wiped out.
"Our unit is responsible for clearing out the Eyeless Spider in East-D-45 District. All wizards will be assigned to teams based on their combat strength."
This force, consisting of only three thousand wizards and seventy thousand slaves, was commanded by a Level Three Elemental Great Wizard who was directly under the command of the starship's command center.
According to the plan, the cleanup will be carried out in designated, contiguous areas.
Tactical squads were easy to allocate. The three thousand wizards were divided into one hundred squads according to their combat strength, with each squad consisting of ten wizards and seven hundred slaves.
Leo and Alice were also assigned to a ten-person wizard squad.
Originally, this squad was commanded by a Level Two Wizard, but after seeing the Third-Class Wizard Medal on Leo's chest, as well as the level three Benji, Alice, and ten Level Two Fire Elemental Spirit, the female wizard named April wanted to step down and hand over command to Leo.
Wizard medals represent authority. Leo had even heard that high-level wizard medals could directly command an entire expeditionary war, and even Stigmata Wizard had to consider the opinions of high-level wizard medal holders.
"Master, you flatter me. This is only my second expedition. The last one was completely unexpected, and I have no experience at all. Please take command, Master."
When asked to command the wizard squad, Leo waved his hand and refused. He knew his own strength very well and was currently incapable of commanding a battle.
"Alright then, feel free to raise any opinions you may have, and we can discuss them together." The Level-Two Elemental Wizard April, seeing Leo's predicament, didn't force him. He took over command of the squad, but also adopted a humble attitude.
The command centers on the three starships have divided the entire Black Tomb World into small sections, with wizard squads making targeted eliminations. Completing these missions will earn you substantial battle merits.
April's team, led by Leo, needed to clear an area of nearly 100 kilometers. Fortunately, the mechanical slaves had already done a large-scale cleanup, scattering the army of Eyeless Spider, leaving enough for their small squad to handle.
" Allison, Amanda, search for the Eyeless Spider," April commanded.
"Yes."
Allison and Amanda are two reconnaissance wizards with outstanding abilities in detection.
" White Pupil Witchcraft "
" Subtle Sensing Witchcraft "
Energy fluctuations emanated from them, spreading outwards and covering the surrounding area in a 360-degree radius.
There are no Eyeless Spider moving on the ground anymore, but that doesn't mean they've been completely eliminated. They've all gone into hiding. Now we need to find them.
Six months of intense fighting have eliminated at least 50% of the Eyeless Spider, but there are still at least tens of billions of Eyeless Spider remaining in this underground world.
Leo lightly touched the ground with his feet, and as the shadows distorted, one of them disappeared.
The shadow possesses the ability to Shadow Jump, a spatial ability that allows it to move freely within shadows. This ability can also be used for reconnaissance, but its only drawback is its limited range of only 500 meters.
" The Eyeless Spider are all inside underground caves; they've hollowed out the underground space."
"We've found the entrance."
Before Leo's shadow could provide any feedback, Amanda had already found the entrance to the underground cave.
When the team was first formed, April had a general understanding of each wizard's abilities. Leo, needless to say, was the Body Refinement Wizard standing at the forefront.
The other nine wizards each have their own unique skills, from reconnaissance and combat to logistics. Although the number of ten wizards is small, the combat power formed by the team is definitely not weak.
Following Amanda's directions, the team arrived at an unremarkable location. Before anyone could speak, Amanda swung her staff, creating a large crater in the ground.
A dark, gaping hole appeared before them. With a wave of his hand, April sent hundreds of slaves charging into the underground cave.
"Walk"
A few hundred slaves alone cannot kill Eyeless Spider hiding in the cave; in the end, they will have to rely on the wizards.
Leo walked at the front, with Benji on his shoulder already half-closing his single eye, ready for battle at any moment.
Although it's a cave, it's spacious enough for a car to run, and in some places, even Benji could easily revert to his true form.
The sounds of battle could be heard ahead; the slaves and the Eyeless Spider were clashing.
"There are 10,000 Eyeless Spider within three kilometers, and there is no sign of them escaping, nor any trace of Eyeless Spider from other places coming to reinforce them." Allison's eyes turned completely white, and her pupils were no longer visible. This eye technique of hers allowed her to observe energy fluctuations within a three-kilometer radius.
After the slave army clashed with the Eyeless Spider, she determined the changes in the Eyeless Spider ' behavior and the decrease in their numbers based on energy fluctuations; the barrier of the earth was of no use to her.
Before they had gone far inside the cave, several forks in the road appeared before them.
"Take the middle path."
Leo continued walking towards the middle path without stopping. His Thunder Spear was already hissing, and he could feel the atmosphere of battle.
There were severed limbs of Eyeless Spider and the blood of slaves underfoot, but even more Eyeless Spider corpses.
"Aww"
The battle was imminent. Leo saw a gigantic, shriveled Eyeless Spider, over five meters tall, slaughtering slaves in reverse. In the blink of an eye, three slaves were impaled by the Eyeless Spider.
" Level Two Eyeless Spider "
With this Level Two Eyeless Spider at the forefront, the Level One Eyeless Spider behind it followed and charged forward.
There were also quite a few second-level slaves on the slave army's side, but the underground cave was too small, and they were all stuck together, so even eight hands couldn't reach out.
Judging from the situation of the slaves, at least a dozen first-level slaves must die before this Level Two Eyeless Spider can encounter a second-level slave.
" Body Refinement Wizard, First Layer Hunter Bloodline, Activated!"
Seeing more than a dozen level-one slaves being killed, Leo's blood boiled and he roared as his body grew to three meters tall, his muscles bulging and exuding a violent aura.
As Leo transformed, his armor continued to lengthen, completely enveloping the Hunter. Beneath the dark armor, only a pair of scarlet eyes gleamed with a chilling killing intent!
" Shadow Jump "
Before the other wizards could react, Leo had vanished from his spot, Leo beneath the Level Two Eyeless Spider.
Amidst the astonished gazes of all the wizards, Leo's sudden appearance did not alert the Level Two Eyeless Spider. It merely slowly lowered its head to look down, its pace as slow as that of an old man on his deathbed.
The large, withered head lowered, only to be met with a long spear crackling with the power of lightning!
"Boom"
One shot to the head,
The six-meter-long Thunder Spear, carrying the Hunter's immense strength, blew the head off the Level Two Eyeless Spider with a single shot.
The battle was over in an instant, but the battlefield felt strange. When that Level Two Eyeless Spider was killing the level-one slave, it was incredibly agile, its eight long legs moving like the wind, able to dismember a slave into dozens of pieces in a flash. Why was it so slow when it came to Leo?