Chapter 227: Exploration of the Arachnid Demon Kingdom
The Arachnid Demons were accustod to staying underground for long periods, yet they often surfaced to hunt.
Their prey included monsters, mutant creatures, and even humans across the various regions of the Polar Continent.
They also possessed strong subrsive abilities, sotis diving into the sea to hunt.
Their weapon of choice was the hunting silk they secreted themselves.
Once prey beca entangled in that silk, it was almost impossible to break free.
The Level 0.5 Mobile Cities moved at trendous speed—advancing like lightning—soon arriving before the entrance of the cavern.
They lined up in a long formation and entered one by one.
To facilitate observation, caras had been installed throughout each city.
Those stationed in the Ice Do Research Base could observe the scenery inside the tunnels through various screens, as well as the readouts of the Mobile Cities’ instrunts.
Thick. Deep.
It seed the Arachnid Demons’ tunnels were crafted through a mix of excavation and corrosion.
According to Lin i’s analysis—
The Arachnid Demons first dissolved the rock layers using highly corrosive acid silk, then scraped out smooth, curved surfaces with their steel-hard limbs, and finally reinforced the structure with load-bearing silk.
A dozen minutes later, the Mobile Cities arrived at a vast open chamber.
This was clearly a central node of the Arachnid Demon Civilization’s tunnel network.
It resembled a grotesquely expanded beehive—countless tunnels converging, branching, and twisting, forming a labyrinthine three-dinsional maze.
Standing in the center of such a node felt as though one were at the junction of a colossal subterranean creature’s veins.
Every tunnel led toward an unknown fate.
And from the depths of the darkness, it felt as if so presence was silently watching.
The air unknowingly grew heavy and oppressive; even each breath carried a damp chill.
The echoes coming from distant tunnels made it impossible to tell whether it was the sound of the wind—
or the breathing of so living thing.
“Professor Lin, which way should they go next?” Li Ye asked instinctively.
“There’s no need to be too nervous,” Lin i replied. “For a first exploration, there’s no need to go too deep—just a rough survey will do.”
Under her direction, the five Level 0.5 Mobile Cities advanced.
The Level 3 Climbing Treads they were equipped with unfolded—appearing like spider limbs several ters long.
The Mobile Cities climbed the rock walls with spider-like agility, entering their respective tunnels.
Just then, a beeping sound suddenly echoed within the five Mobile Cities.
“What’s going on, Professor Lin?” Li Ye asked.
“That sound ans the device has detected tal,” Lin i replied. “Clearly, this tunnel node contains magnetic silk.”
She imdiately ordered the Special Forces to scout the nearby silk within the tunnels.
Before long, the Special Forces discovered the magnetic silk.
Unlike the faintly transparent silk of ordinary spiders, this one looked like a stream of liquid starlight forcibly solidified into threads.
The magnetic silk hung suspended within the tunnel, not stretching straight but instead rotating gently in a spiral, as if alive.
Lin i’s expression gradually turned solemn.
“In truth, the Arachnid Demons have already sensed our presence through these magnetic silks.”
“What did you say?”
Li Ye was montarily stunned.
Had the Level 0.5 Mobile Cities really been discovered that quickly?
Lin i then instructed a mber of the Special Forces to slowly bring his firearm close to several nearby magnetic silks.
As the weapon approached, the threads suddenly straightened into sharp, taut lines, sending rippling waves into the distance.
“Do you see that? The instant the Mobile Cities entered the tunnel node, the magnetic silk deployed here reacted and transmitted those vibrations,” Lin i explained. “The Arachnid Demons will soon sense those fluctuations and realize that enemy vehicles have arrived.”
Li Ye shook his head helplessly.
Such an arrangent by the Arachnid Demons was practically impossible to guard against.
The underground was their domain to begin with. For humans to explore it, they had to rely on tal tools and vehicles.
Lin i next ordered the team to test the magnetic silk’s strength.
According to the report, when within 10–20 centiters of the silk, the soldier could already feel a faint magnetic pull.
As the distance decreased, the silk firmly adhered itself to the firearm.
“The magnetic force is that strong?” Li Ye exclaid in surprise.
A look of deep reflection appeared in his eyes soon after.
He had to admit—the evolutionary thods of the Arachnid Demons were truly ingenious.
They did not blindly strengthen their own bodies, but instead evolved various specialized types of silk.
Combined with the terrain of their civilization’s habitat, they ford an exquisite counterasure against humans.
The magnetic silk alone was already enough to severely restrain human vehicles and firearms underground—
let alone the other specialized types of silk.
“In the Wasteland, high-level monstrous civilizations always have their own unique ways of survival,” Lin i concluded.
“So, Professor Lin—does that an the Arachnid Demon Civilization belongs to Natural Selection?” Li Ye asked.
Lin i shook her head lightly.
“That, I’m not certain,” she said. “But in past encounters, Natural Selection has neither deployed Arachnid Demons in battle nor used their silk. So they likely aren’t affiliated with them. Moreover, Natural Selection is extrely strict in choosing which monstrous civilizations to include, usually based on combat strength, so—”
“Oh.”
Li Ye nodded slowly.
He understood what Lin i ant.
In the eyes of Natural Selection, the world-class organization composed of highly evolved Monstrous Civilizations, the evolution of the Arachnid Demon Civilization perhaps still fell short of their standards.
Especially on the surface, the Arachnid Demons’ combat power was drastically reduced.
They possessed no vehicles, no Mobile Cities—at best, they could only serve as cannon fodder.
After the discussion ended, everyone continued to watch the screens.
Upon a closer look, they noticed that the five Mobile Cities were already covered with nurous strands of Magnetic Silk.
Lin i imdiately ordered the Special Forces to remove them.
The magnetic silk that was detached from the cities wasn’t discarded but carefully stored on Lin i’s orders, to be brought back to the Ice Do Research Base for study.
Just then, an alarm suddenly blared inside Ice Do A3.
Following the sound, mbers of the Special Forces turned their attention to the Radar, discovering a red blip ahead.
However, when Ice Do A3 illuminated the area with its Searchlight, there was nothing there but emptiness.
“Radar doesn’t make mistakes. There’s indeed an Arachnid Demon lurking there, waiting for a chance to attack you,” Lin i said.
“It’s using camouflage silk to conceal itself!”
Under her command, several Special Forces mbers quietly exited the city, anchoring themselves with hooks and taking positions before the Cannons, Heavy Machine Guns, and Light Missile Launchers.
“Listen for my signal. When the countdown ends, fire together,” Lin i said softly. “Five, four, three, two, one.”
As the countdown ended, Ice Do A3 unleashed a barrage of firepower forward.
Under the bombardnt of Level 3 Cannons, the Arachnid Demon’s carapace erupted into brilliant fireballs. Shrapnel and shockwaves shredded the rock walls, raining debris down upon its body.
The Arachnid Demon let out an ear-piercing shriek—a horrifying mixture of twisting tal and a baby’s cry—that echoed like a terrifying wail through the tunnel.
The autocannons followed, their bullet chains forming a crimson whip. Armor-piercing rounds tore bowl-sized holes into the creature’s body. Its steel-like shell finally gave way, shattering with a tooth-aching crack.
Most of its body was torn apart, yet it still struggled to charge forward, dragging a trail of thick sli from its torn abdon.
One Special Forces mber imdiately raised a Grenade Launcher and fired a High-Explosive Grenade.
Upon impact, the explosion engulfed the Arachnid Demon’s remains in roaring flas. Its bodily fluids boiled and evaporated in the heat, its body twisting and deforming amid the inferno.
Its final convulsion slamd into the tunnel wall, creating massive cracks as rocks and dust cascaded like a waterfall.
When the explosions and smoke finally dissipated, only a twitching, charred corpse remained.
Oleg placed his hands on his hips and let out a long sigh.
“Seems the battle wasn’t too hard.”
Li Ye, however, focused on sothing else entirely.
“It’s safe now, right? Go check the Arachnid Demon’s loot.”
After the battle, the tunnel had beco unstable, with several collapses and hollow sections.
But with the Jetpack and Climbing Claws, one Special Forces mber easily reached the corpse.
“Twenty-two units of Level 3 Iron Ore, fifteen units of Level 3 Fabric, seventy-two Crystal Coins,” ca the report.
Hearing this, Li Ye’s eyes revealed a flicker of surprise.
“The loot’s not bad.”
Yet compared to the Giants, it still fell a little short.
With the danger eliminated, Ice Do A3 switched tunnels to continue the exploration.
Their view gradually expanded as the five Level 0.5 Mobile Cities advanced along separate paths.
In the tunnels crafted by the Arachnid Demons, the Mobile Cities’ Searchlights appeared tiny and feeble. The walls were no longer bare rock but coated in thick black liquid, bubbling with cyst-like sacs. When the cities’ chanical Limbs crushed the surface, they emitted sickly, sticky squelches.
Li Ye’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Is that... mycelium mats?”
“Yes,” Lin i replied. “The Arachnid Demons, like the Zerg, also possess the ability to secrete Mycelial Mats.”
She gave a brief explanation.
The Arachnid Demons’ mycelial mats were specialized for the Underground World, serving three main purposes.
First, the mycelial filants combined with minerals within the tunnel walls to slowly repair cracks.
Second, they absorbed carbon dioxide to produce oxygen while filtering toxic gases. They stored geothermal heat during winter and cooled the tunnels during sumr, maintaining constant temperatures in both tunnels and underground cities.
Third, the filants contained bioluminescent proteins that emitted a cold glow through chemical reactions, providing illumination underground.
“Mycelial mats are actually quite nutritious and edible,” Oleg added.
Li Ye’s expression turned uneasy.
The re thought of bugs crawling over those mats made him sick—eating them was out of the question.
A few seconds later, Ice Do A4 detected an anomaly.
As it was about to enter another tunnel, alarms blared within the city.
Once again, the system had detected tal.
There was no doubt—sothing was wrong with this tunnel.
After a careful investigation, they finally discovered the cause.
The entire tunnel was covered in countless strands of Magnetic Silk.
Because of them, the tunnel generated a massive magnetic pull that even began drawing in Ice Do A4.
Lin i imdiately ordered a full reverse.
“This is a trap tunnel set up by the Arachnid Demons. Once a vehicle gets pulled in, it’s completely trapped,” she explained.
Ice Do A5 soon encountered its own crisis.
The tunnel it entered was filled with Acidic Silk. When the Mobile City advanced inside, its chanical limbs were unknowingly corroded more than halfway through.
Fortunately, the limbs had built-in sensors. Once damage was detected, alarms imdiately sounded throughout the city—louder even than when Magnetic Silk had been detected earlier.
Ice Do A5 quickly withdrew from the tunnel and entered another nearby passage.
Each Mobile City was equipped with spare chanical limbs precisely for such situations.
Through the screens, they saw the removed limbs.
Dozens of Acidic Silks clung to them like maggots gnawing bone, tightly wrapping around the machinery.
The entire limb emitted dying groans as its once-precise gears and components warped and broke under corrosion. Lubricating oil leaked from ruptured pipes, mixing with acid into a bubbling, tar-like sludge.
The corrosion spread rapidly—the circuit boards were soon eaten away, green foam seeping from the integrated circuits as they curled, peeled, and lted into a semi-liquid tallic sludge.
All chanical limbs were thus completely scrapped.
Seeing this, everyone broke into a cold sweat.
The Arachnid Demons’ traps were terrifying.
Had Ice Do A5 been delayed even a few seconds longer, its limbs would have been entirely destroyed, and the whole Mobile City would have been slowly “lted” inside the tunnel.
If an ordinary creature had unknowingly stepped inside, it would’ve triggered the Acidic Silk and been reduced to liquid in monts.
“This trap makes no sense,” one Researcher said, trembling. “At least Magnetic Silk can be detected—but this one’s impossible to scout out.”
The Special Forces began urgently installing the new limbs.
Everyone watching the screens grew increasingly tense.
For a Mobile City, losing mobility was extrely dangerous—even underground.
And as if things couldn’t get worse, another round of alarms erupted within the city—
even louder than before.
The city’s radar detected three red blips rapidly approaching from afar.
It was clear that three Arachnid Demons had sensed the disturbance and were racing through the tunnels.
“How much longer until you finish replacing the limbs?” Li Ye asked sharply.
“Roughly five more minutes!” a Special Forces mber replied.
Li Ye shook his head grimly.
Judging from the radar, the three Arachnid Demons would arrive in less than two minutes.
“It’s too late—prepare for battle,” he said in a deep voice.
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