Day 17
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Sooo most of my trapped mice are missing.
Not sure what to do about that. They're gone, and I don't even know if they did their job.
I guess not every plan can be a winner...
The goblins on the other hand seem to be quite excited about their recent discovery. They've harvested all the meatshrooms. Not to worry, a bit of mana and new caps are already growing out of the root systems.
I bought a few birds yesterday and it's already starting to pay off. The Kingfishers really live up to their name, they've been dropping off tiny fish at a nice steady rate. I've seen a lot of different looking fishes but they all just ended up under one listing in the shop.
-Minnow: unspecific name for various small fish. Often used as bait.
To complete the foundation of my ecosystem, I needed water. That's why I had my Dig team carve channels inside the cave walls for water to flow through. It's like installing plumbing. It's also made so that if too much water enters from outside, the extra will just flow down into the deeper unexplored part of the cave.
It's raining outside now, so my small pond in the main cave will soon be filled. It's already a few inches deep so I buy a few minnows. My newts are also enjoying their access to water.
My time spent decorating the new waterpark is interrupted by a notification that I've been waiting for.
"Ding! Intruder alert!"
Alright troops! Man the battle stations!
I shift my view to focus on the entrance and soon I see the mouse that I left there as bait.
Bait-1 looks panicked. It scurries deeper into the dungeon but just as it reaches the first obstacle and jumps to clear it, a dark shape snatches it out of the air.
Ah! That's not good... RIP Bait-1 your sacrifice was for the greater good!
The intruder pauses once the mouse stops its struggles. Then in a horrifying few moments proceeds to swallow it whole.
I'm looking at the monster that just ate my bait. It's not what I had expected or hoped. I was thinking something along the lines of a ferret, weasel, a cat, or even a small fox. Nope.
An angular head and a long flexible neck. Well it would be a neck if it had any other body parts before it ends in a long coiled tail. Zigzag shaped patterns adorn it's scaly hide. Cold eyes without an eyelid look around as a forked tongue flickers.
SNAAAAAAKE! It's a snake!!
One mouse was clearly not enough for this long boy. It's probably over a meter long!
Pretty sure it's some kind of viper as it looks like the ones I'd seen while hiking in Norway. Not usually dangerous for humans, but it's venom is bad news for anything I can throw at it now.
Ah, nothing to see here... please leave
It doesn't listen. Not that I'm surprised. I can't actually speak audibly in my current form, and I'm not gifted with the ability to speak to snakes. Rare gift that, slightly creepy too.
The snake slithers further into my dungeon. Come on traps! Do your duty!
Pit trap? More like a small ditch. Mr Snek just slithers down then up again. He's too long!
Spike trap? No spikes other than my kingfisher's beaks. They try for a bit but I call them off once one gets swallowed. They couldn't even scratch its itch.
Water trap? Too shallow. Mr Snek gulps up some minnows in passing.
Poisonous toadstool trap? Snekky boi don't eat mushrooms. It's ignored.
Web trap? Works! Sticky web is attached to the scales. More and more is getting stuck. But they can't stop Mr Snek. He's too heavy.
Spiders? Can't pierce the thick scales. They are ignored.
Ants? Same problem.
Things are really not going according to the plan!
Retreat! I call off all my critters. Let's wait and see what it does.
A few minutes later...
Argh! No you can't jus move in here! This cave is already claimed by me!
Mr Snek seems to like it here. Lots of food, no danger, and nice ambiance. I mean I can't really blame him. Well I do actually.
Hmm, what to do?
Newts. I think I've read somewhere that their skin's toxicity is a defense against snakes. Time to put that to the test.
Go forth Bait-2!
I send out a lone newt. It walks up to the resting snake.
Wham! Viper strike! RIP Bait-2. As the newt succumbs to the viper's venom, Mr Snek is also having a bad time. Bait-2 gets tossed to the side rudely as the snake starts showing signs of drowsiness.
Ha! Jokes on you! I laugh as the snake's head eventually lays down. Jump him boys! Kick him while he's down!
I send the swarm! Ants, spiders, mice, bunnyrats, birds, even another newt.
It's chaos for a while but suddenly one of the bunnyrats shrieks in pain.
Ah! That wore off too quickly...
Mr Snek is not happy. He slaps with his tail, rolls around and bites. Ants and spiders get crushed accidently. Another bunnyrat goes down. A bird get slapped to the ground.
Hold your ground!
Things are obviously not working. So it's time for a change of tactics.
Newts! Assemble! I send another 10 newts to attack. Their goal? Force themselves into the snake's mouth.
As the chaotic melee continues the newts finally manage to poison the snake again. Their short lasting neurotoxin paralyses the snake again.
While it's out, I get my bunnyrats to open its mouth. Then I order my newts to walk into its belly. That should keep it knocked out longer. Then my mice and ants carry all sorts of mushrooms and toadstools into the snake's mouth.
After that it's time for me to deal the finishing blow. Mana time!
I gather and compress a large amount of mana, then force that down Mr Snek's throat too. I keep doing that until I can feel the change.
The ingested mushrooms are rapidly multiplying and growing. I'm going to colonize this snake's insides!!! The snake has already started swelling, it looks like it swallowed a whole pig.
Then light starts shining through its skin. Like how you can see light through a lampshade. It's getting brighter!!!
Mr Snek wakes up with a painful belly, and tries to barf. Bits of mushroom starts flowing out it's mouth. It's a nasty glowing mess of spores and mycelium.
It's too late! You're toast! The snake can't keep up with the boosted rate of propagation.
Boom!! The explosion shakes the cave. Guts and mycelium fly everywhere leaving only the smoking tail of Mr Snek behind.
FATALITY!