When he got outside, Oliver saw that the Lamia had returned to the river, but he didn't see Leo anymore.
With his strength, there was no way he could have been killed. He probably just went somewhere else who knows where.
He walked to the area where the Lamia were.
To his surprise, when they saw him, they were as if afraid, seemingly very wary of him.
This was a little strange because the other monsters continued to attack even though they realized the enemy was strong.
'Are they more intelligent than the other monsters?' Oliver wondered.
He continued to step towards them, and sure enough, they began to move backwards.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
They suddenly dived into the river and swam in the opposite direction from him.
Apparently, they were running away from him.
Without hesitation, he jumped into the river to chase after them.
By controlling the water, he could move above or below the water without having to move personally.
He cut through the river as he moved after the Lamia.
His speed was far above theirs. In no time, he was only a few meters away from them.
However, he then saw them dive further.
The river below now seemed to be very deep.
Curious, he dived in as well.
Only after diving did he see a sizable stone tunnel under the river.
The Lamia were diving into it.
Oliver didn't follow immediately, he stopped in front of the tunnel, observing it from there.
It was so dark inside that he couldn't see anything.
This of course made him wary, worried that there was something dangerous in there.
Perhaps before today, the tunnel hadn't existed, but then it appeared since the test of civilization began.
Buzz!
Oliver controlled the water around to create an open area without water so that he could finally stand on the ground from the river.
It was full of rocks.
After standing up, he knelt down and touched the water inside the tunnel.
This he did to detect its depth.
As a water power user, such detection ability was basic. The stronger he was, the broader his detection ability would be.
Currently, he could at least detect up to 500 meters away.
When he started detecting, his eyes widened somewhat because even up to his detection range, he only sensed the existence of the tunnel that continued to lead downwards.
He did not sense the existence of other spaces. In other words, up to 500 meters away, the tunnel still hadn't reached its end.
Even 100 meters was too scary, let alone 500 meters. Oliver was instantly made to hesitate to enter it.
Of course, he had too many worries, like what if the tunnel suddenly collapsed and he was trapped down there.
"It would be better if I had a shadow army living in the water," he said.
Despite having a shadow army, unfortunately they were not shadows of aquatic creatures. They were naturally unable to dive into the tunnel.
Even after becoming shadow army, if they were from land creatures, they still needed oxygen troops.
Too long in the water could cause them to die.
"Right!" He had an idea instantly.
The Lamia who entered the tunnel had not gone very far. They were still in an area where she could control the water.
Realizing that, he pulled the water in the tunnel upwards.
Instantly, the water rose very quickly in the shape of a large pillar.
Within moments, the Lamia who had been running away from him appeared in front of him, looking extremely shocked that they had been brought up in such a way.
Splash!
Oliver pushed aside the water around them.
From his hand, golden flames surged rapidly towards them in a wave-like shape.
The heat of the fire made the water in the river begin to boil, emitting smoke.
They were unable to escape, drowned by the flames and screamed loudly.
However, their screams were also momentary.
Oliver waved his hand to dispel the flames only to find not a single corpse except for the falling dust.
Then shadowy figure after shadowy figure of the Lamia appeared.
"Bro!"
Oliver hadn't done the next thing yet. He suddenly heard a voice behind him.
When he turned around, he found Leo emerging from behind the water, like he had just been swimming.
The man looked amazed when he saw him.
When his eyes met his, he tried to smile.
"Hehehe, bro, I apologize for my behavior earlier," he said with a quiet laugh while scratching his head.
"What do you want?" Oliver asked in response.
At first he seemed hostile to him, but now he probably realized that he was dealing with someone too unpredictable.
His water power was far above his, and now he was unleashing a fire so hot that the water in the river was boiling.
That was why he had hurriedly appeared. He could no longer stand the heat of the river water.
"Uhmmm..." He cleared his throat awkwardly when Oliver asked about what he wanted.
"P-perhaps it would be rude of me to ask who you are. It's just that, if you give me permission, I'd like to follow you," he said.
Of course, his words made Oliver narrow his eyes.
After all, in a world like this, for those who are strong, moving alone is definitely better. Letting others follow them would only inconvenience them, and could even get them in trouble if that person somehow had bad intentions.
"I don't need someone to follow me," Oliver replied.
Leo became awkward at being rejected so directly.
"I know it's rude, but honestly, I just want to get along with you. You know, they say a thousand friends are too few and one enemy is too many," he said.
"Aren't you saying that because you know I'm strong?" replied Oliver with a cynical expression.
"How about this, you go inside this tunnel with my army, are you willing?"
This man made room for him to take advantage of him. Since it was like that, he would take advantage of him.
He pointed his hand at this tunnel as he spoke while the man swallowed his saliva when he saw the tunnel.
"Bro, it's very dangerous. I've been watching that tunnel before you came. There are many Lamia coming out of there, and most of them have gone far away from here. I'm worried it's their lair. There could be a boss inside." He replied.
Leo's rejection was something Oliver expected. Even he didn't dare to go inside, let alone that guy.
However, the information he provided was quite interesting.
He didn't respond to the man, then waved his hand to the Shadow Lamia, giving them orders to enter the tunnel which was actually starting to fill with water again.
There seemed to be water from inside that was rising to the top.
The Shadow Lamia unhesitatingly entered the tunnel.
Leo watched them with narrowed eyes as he wondered, 'What exactly is this skill? It seems like he can create shadows of the monsters he kills.'
Of all Oliver's skills, this one actually interested Leo the most.
Oliver could sense the existence of those shadows even though he couldn't see what they saw.
They dived into the tunnel at high speed without holding back.
They covered a hundred meters in no time and they were getting farther and farther away.
Only, as they got farther away, Oliver felt his connection with them become smaller.
This didn't mean they wouldn't obey him. It was just that he was starting to have trouble sensing their presence.
If he wanted to be able to sense them over a longer distance, a higher Will was absolutely essential.
"Mmm..." His eyes then narrowed.
When the Shadow Lamia reached about 1km below the tunnel, he felt like their bodies were in contact with light.
This probably meant that deep down there was light illuminating the tunnel.