Chương 55: Chapter 53 - Unwelcome Visitors

Unfortunately it looks like the sewers here were designed to handle flushing the entire content of one of the farm tanks, in case of emergencies. There are four manholes outside your perimeter, but inside your laser grids, and one located in the middle of your fortifications. I didn't reply, I was too busy sprinting towards the manhole cover in the middle of the intersection. I was a half dozen paces away when a Model Three started poking its head above the surface.

I unslung the axe from my back and, without breaking stride, brought the weapon down so it lodged squarely in the Antithesis's skull. The body immediately went limp and slipped back down into the sewer. Without a moment of hesitation I dropped the axe and brought up my rifle and emptied it into the opening, catching another half dozen Threes trying to climb up after the first. It was only after my gun ran out of ammo that I felt safe enough to peek inside.

The tunnel was dark, and appeared to be empty, so I switched my visor over to night vision. There were two massive, hubcap sized, compound eyes right there, staring at me. The shrimp. As soon as the creature realised I could see it, it began to thrash about, causing minor tremors.

"Can that thing actually dig its way out like that?" No, it can only attack straight ahead, but it could cause major damage to other utilities down there. I'd be more worried about Model Eights getting ferried to the area and tunnelling up, that flood-way is wide enough for twelves to carry reinforcements. I stared into those giant eyes, which hadn't left my position despite the creature smashing whatever it could reach.

"Gimme a gel tracker grenade, I don't want to lose this bastard again." As soon as the grenade appeared in my hand I casually tossed it onto the back of the shrimp. The creature's eyes followed the grenade, tried to evade the best it could in the limited space it had, then immediately lost interest when it realised the grenade didn't hurt it. I snorted, "Stupid thing. Display its location in my augs at all times, until someone actually kills it. We should probably share that data with the others too." Done.

"You mentioned something about gas traps earlier, right? Anything that I could use to convince the Antithesis down there to kindly fuck off until we're done here?" Of course, any requirements?

"Quick working, hands off, and nothing that will harm the residents when they finally get back here," I said, counting off my fingers as I went. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I have just the thing. An Aerosolized Sulfuric Acid, specially designed to automatically neutralise itself after an hour. Normally effective within twenty feet, but in that enclosed space it'll spread much further.

As I watched, a Model Three attempted to sneak past the mantis shrimp, but was crushed against the wall by its erratic movement.

"I don't think I have a ton of time to be picky here, if that thing moves out of the way the smaller models are going to flood through here. Just make sure you give me the relevant safety precautions too." Two different boxes materialised next to my feet. The larger box had a device which looked like a pair of oversized acetylene welding tanks, which fed into a long hose which ended in some sort of gas dispersal nozzle. On the back of the tanks there were a series of metal hooks spaced evenly.

The smaller package had some sort of unmarked spray can. There is a ladder mounted within the sewer access, lower the gas dispersal device down and hook it on to the rungs. The spray contains a sealing foam which you can use to make the opening airtight and keep the gas within the sewers. The tanks weighed a ton, and I struggled to put the device within the sewers without dropping it, it was something I never would have been able to carry before the muscle replacements.

When the gas was in place I replaced the manhole cover and cemented it shut with the foam. After a few moments I could hear a faint hiss from within the sewers. The dot on my Augs stopped moving for a moment, then vacated the area at a relatively high speed.

"That's not going to be enough to kill that thing, is it?" Probably not, but there's a chance. The gas will seep between the armor plates and eat at the more vulnerable flesh. I doubt anything will survive an extended period down there.

"Good to know." I let out a tired sigh, "I still need to seal those other manholes." The bears are dealing with any Antithesis which claw their way out of those, and there should be enough Acid to weaken any that make it that far.

"Yeah, but I probably should do it anyway. If I intentionally leave weaknesses in my defenses I'm just inviting trouble." That's a pretty mature way of looking at the situation.

"Yeah, well, I prefer to keep my organs on the inside, and don't mind doing a little extra busy work to keep it that way. How come the team hasn't finished those other hives yet? It feels like it's been hours already," I moaned. It's been less than five minutes, you've just been putting out a lot of fires ever since you activated that lure.

"Fuuuuuuucccckkkkk…." Cheer up, a couple more hours and it'll be all over. Clearing the other four manholes was relatively easy, I just repeated my previous strategy. Clear the surface around the manholes, with the bear's help, fire a clip down the hole to gain some time, fill with more gas and seal. The entire process took less than five minutes, and at the end of it I was starting to feel like things were relatively secure.

Of course that's usually when things went wrong for me, so I spent the next ten minutes obsessively checking my defenses. It was only after Nyx received some news that I had a reason to interrupt my relentless pacing. The third hive just went down, and in addition to that your points for saving civilians have just been processed. That's another token and a couple thousand more points, do you have any important purchases to make?