34 METERS
Leonel collapsed and took a breath. What a headache, all that trouble and it had bought him what? Maybe a couple dozen minutes at best? What an annoyance. His old man really knew how to screw him over even from beyond the grave.
Leonel shook his head and returned to his alpha form, forcing the wolves to rush up from the third layer into the second layer.
Sergeant Amon was beyond all of them in strength. Culling this sort of beast tide would only be slightly complicated for him because of the winding tunnels and the various soldiers and researchers he would have to protect. If not for this, Leonel might not even have more than a few minutes.
He had done his best; now he just had to mine a billion kilograms of ore, and he didn't even have an hour to do it. Perfect. Not to mention the fact he would also have to find a method of escaping as well as the only entrances and exits were guarded on the surface. But that would be easy enough.
Leonel stood and stretched out his back. Then, he grinned.
The third layer was massive.
The ceilings were at least 50 meters tall, and it was at least a half-kilometer of diameter from one end to the other. This was only about 80% of the region as well. Outside of this, there were several chains of tunnels which would be where the wolves of the third layer normally hid until Leonel goaded them into coming out in full force today.
The walls were lined with a shimmering metal that almost looked like obsidian with a touch of the faded black of charcoal. However, what was interesting was the fact that there wasn't a single mark on them; they hadn't been touched at all.
Of course, most of the mining had taken place on the first layer, so it made sense there wasn't much movement on the second and third. In addition, this had been the realm of the researchers.
As for what they were researching, Leonel had a few guesses.
Aside from looking for a potential fourth layer, they could be looking for the core of the mine which would be responsible for the production of such a large mine to being with; they could be trying to see if there were any Ores of higher evolution here, or maybe any invasive Ores that would need to be weeded out to keep these Ores strong.
Unlike on modern Earth, metals in these worlds had real life to them. They were better treated like plant life than inanimate objects. As such, caring for the mine so it could continue to produce for many centuries until its core ran dry was of utmost importance.
During that procedure, they would also likely check to see if this mine could be upgraded from the Fifth Dimension to the Sixth, and so on. If it was possible, they'd probably close off the third layer and begin the evolution process while continuing to only mine in the first layer.
Simply put, there was a lot the researchers could have been doing, and there were even more reasons why Leonel should be interested in their goals.
"Where's the core of the mine?" Leonel asked Anastasia.
"It's about 70 meters to your 11 O'Clock and 34 meters down."
"That deep?" Leonel was actually quite astonished.
That meant that even if there wasn't a fourth layer, there was practically a fifth layers' worth of Urbe Ore here alone. In fact, that might not be enough of an exaggeration.
"Yes, for some unknown reason, the mine core is a bit peculiar."
"Peculiar how?"
Anastasia fell into silence, and Leonel knew that she couldn't explain. So, instead, he asked something different.
"What about the Ores down there? Are they higher than the Fifth Dimension?"
"No... In fact, they looked Fourth Dimensional."
Leonel was shocked again. That made little sense. Logically, the further down you went, the older the Ores should be and the more valuable and precious they should be. He had never heard of Ores getting less valuable as you moved down. That was asinine.
"How many layers are there?" © content.
"There's about one a meter or so."
"And they get progressively weaker?"
"Yes."
Leonel's eyes flashed with a blinding light.
There was only one explanation: something was pushing the Ore downward.
No... maybe something was pulling it.
The Core of the mind had likely started nearer the surface, and then over long, grueling years, it had been pulled further and further away from the surface, eventually creating this thick slab.
"How far into the earth can you sense?" Leonel asked.
"It's harder to scan into the earth. The closer I get to the core of the world, the harder it will be."
"Why's that?"
"Well, that's where the World Spirit would be. Even if it's a World Spirit from a weaker world than mine, it would have precedence in its own territory."
Leonel's brows shot up. "Wouldn't the World Spirit be in the possession of the Godlens?"
"World Spirits in Complete Worlds don't work like that. In most worlds you visit, there won't be anyone who can wield a World Spirit. They're often too strong for the average Ninth Dimensional existence. Only someone who has touched upon the Creation State can do so."
Leonel was shocked again. He had never expected that the requirements would be so high, but now that he thought about it... it made sense.
Just controlling one World Spirit in a fragmented Incomplete World was so valuable. How valuable would the World Spirit of a Complete World, the cumulative total of all of the World Spirits of the Dimensional Verse fused into one, and then some, be?