RB Chapter 60 The House On Top
Eric looked around rapidly, his focus, not staying on one scene for long.
Then something caused his eyes to light up. It was a staircase leading upwards.
This floor must have been an office as the destroyed cubicals were in his sights plus desks.
He didn't stop at all and made his way towards it at the fastest speed possible, jumping over desks and corpses in his way. He didn't even stop for a moment even though he heard cries for help from multiple people.
'Why should I save someone I don't know and delay my way over to save someone that I do know?' He shook his head upon reaching the staircase to clear away such random thoughts.
"You idiot! Can't you wait for me?" Chloe's voice reached his ears but he didn't even turn around to look behind.
It looked like she had decided to follow after him.
As he raced up the stairs, his pupils flickered between red and dark blue colors. He was scanning for any traces of people and ants. Even though the ants were like drones, they still had their own brains which released a weak electromagnetic wave which could be picked up by his vision.
He had found out that, it seemed like the head or the ant queen had lost control, but in his eyes, she was still in control of all of them. They were performing all the activities related to killing the people in an orderly way.
They killed the person, split his body into parts and then swallowed them. Switching between multiple visions, he managed to capture that the ants had two separate stomachs, one acted like a storage sac, storing some devoured parts while the other, like a typical stomach, complete with digestive juices.
'It looks like their leader wants some of the food that they are gathering.'
While lost in thought, an ant appeared in his way it had been descending on all six, and it jumped off towards him the moment he entered its sights.
He hurriedly jumped to the side and once again released an invisible wave from his brain. This time, it was omnidirectional since there were no allies.
It only stopped after a diameter of 5m. He didn't look back and simply continued climbing.
The ant crashed at the bottom, unconscious!
'Its still not powerful enough to kill!' He lamented in his mind.
'Though! That's a good thing for now as I only have little control over it. It would be bad if my allies died when I released it unintentionally.'
This flight of stairs ended on the next floor and he had to look for more. Many ants were left unconscious in his wake. This time he didn't allow any of the ones in his path to impede him as he continuously weaved in between them releasing the invisible waves.
30 floors later, he was panting. The clan building, like all the others was below the 100 floor threshold. It was around 80 floors tall if you excluded all the underground ones.
'Too tall, I need to find a way to get there faster.' He put his brain to work. The ants were far faster than him when travelling. He had even managed to catch a glimpse of some scaling the building from outside! They simply dug through the concrete with their six appendages.
'I must have left her pretty far!' He thought as the image of the inquisitive blue haired woman flitted through his mind.
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Above, a different scene was taking place...
The rain was pouring heavily, many ants were crawling around on the roof and light beams were being released from a single house at the top, eradicating them.
Lisa currently wore a look of panic on her face. She was watching the outside through multiple cameras which had been installed around the house.
'Where is Baguma? And what are these ants?' She was dressed in knee length pajamas signifying that she had just awoken.
She had been sleeping peacefully as she had been the past few days.
Waking up early had been a staple for her as she had to prepare the boys for school, but now that they were on leave and Baguma had decided to take them to the wilderness, she had had plenty of time to rest.
She had been gradually getting used to waking up late, but now, an alarm had blared loudly and the house had automatically activated its defenses.
"Where are these creatures coming from?" She asked.
[From underground.] An emotionless voice replied. It even switched to the cameras located on the streets.
Lisa gasped loudly despite herself. A large amount was still streaming out of the large holes which had appeared in her vision.
"What about the clan forces? They must have been in the building!" Lisa regained her calm and her demeanor changed to fit her status as the wife of the clan lord.
[They were caught off guard.]
"It looks like the ATTCA moved far faster than we anticipated. Have you managed to locate Baguma, or the boys?" She asked. She wasn't expecting an answer as Baguma had cut off all contact when he departed the city.
[Eric is currently in the building.]
"What? What about the others? Baguma? Elec?"
[They appear not to be with him.]
"Switch to camera which are near him." She ordered.
(Boom!)
A loud sound caused her to shift her attention to cameras showing the outside of the house.
[Laser gun No.4 has been destroyed.]
Her face paled when that report came in. She hurriedly directed her vision to the multiple screens showing the outside and was stunned!
Even with the lasers taking down multiple ants with every shot, many more were still appearing endlessly.
"What are those idiots doing? Even if they were caught offguard, they should have been eliminating multiple!" She shouted agitatedly.
That was when something caught her eye on another screen.
People clad in what appeared to be tactical gear were wielding handheld laser guns and were shooting every ant they were seeing. They were travelling in neat formations.
"Finally! Hack into their communication earpieces and order them to come rescue me!"
[They have replied! "The people in the building are in greater peril! You are still safe, so they will currently prioritise them." Said the captain.]
"What? Connect me with the captain!" She shouted.
(Yes, ma'am?)
"Captain, in my authority as the clan master's wife, I order you to drop whatever you are doing and come rescue me!"
(Ma'am! Many of our fellow clan members are dying as we speak! You are still safe. Allow us to save these people first!) The captain asked.
"I don't think this place will hold for that long!"
(I have tried to be polite but you have refused. Let me say this bluntly then, these people are our fellow clan members. On the other hand, you aren't from our clan!) He terminated the connection the moment he finished.
"These people must be taking me for a joke because Baguma isn't around!" She banged her fist onto the table in rage.
"Where is Eric?" She asked after taking a deep breath.
'The house is built with sturdy materials. I hope it manages to hold out until someone saves me.' She thought as her eyes roamed the screens in search of Eric.
She clasped her hands onto her lips when she caught sight of him.
"What happened?" That question leaked out of her lips. He was missing half of his right arm and his face was adorned with an ugly looking scar.
She moved her features closer to the screen. She was wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"Is this the current state of Eric?" She asked in confirmation.
[Yes]
Tears slid down her eyes the moment the A.I confirmed.
'What happened to the boy? And where is my son? Is he okay?' Her heart skipped a beat when she imagined what might have happened to Elec.
Eric vanished from the screen since he was moving.
[Can't continue...He has entered a sector which has been cut off from the rest of the building]
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'Oh! This place is dark! Could it be that those ants destroyed the power system?' He wondered. He was rapidly shifting through multiple vision systems in his All spectrum vision. X-ray vision, heat vision, night vision and even brainwave vision. He didn't want to be caught off guard.
'I still have enough energy reserves!' He continued after confirming it.
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Somewhere, in the sector whose power had been cut off, composed of two floors, something's heavy breathing could be caught in a dark room. The room was situated far away from any windows.
"The queen ordered me to wait here in case Baguma showed up but I am bored!" The voice bellowed in the room. It was a deep male voice.
A light appeared, causing the previously dark room to gain a subtle glow. They were two eyes, both normal, pupils a green color, except that they were releasing light.
"Oh! Something has agitated my feelers! Could it be that Baguma has arrived? Well, let me just ascend to the roof. I will take care of that pesky construction that has been stalling the queen's soldiers as I wait. Hahahaha..." The unseeable creature moved out of the room leaving such ominous laughter in its wake.
"Hmmm!? What was that?" Elec paused when he caught a liitle of the sound through the echoes. The sound alone had made his hair stand on end.
'Something else is here! I need to hurry up!'