Chapter 48 - Florida Man Caught Smoking Near Oil Derrick, Claims It Kills Insects Around the Facility
Early in the morning, Felix woke up and was greeted by the new additional daily report.
"…"
Felix bitterly laughed. He felt slightly better that Eins had returned something for the trouble.
After sorting his private affairs in the morning, Felix continued his journey west. He grumbled as he had to backtrack to the oil deposit again.
…
Without anyone hindering him, Felix arrived at the designated location according to his mana oil radar. He found a strange barren land in the middle of a dense forest. Estimating with his eyes, the dried land was about an acre.
Felix knelt and touched the soil between the dried land and the forest. The contrast between the fertile soil and the sandy ground looked too unnatural, leading him to believe this place was man-made.
"Is this the place?" Felix asked Jessica to make sure.
Felix wondered if the oil deposit was the cause of this barren area. After ensuring that no hostile creatures, Lamias, or humans were within the threat radar map, Felix opened the quest window, rechecking the conditions.
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Main Quest #4 - Surveying the Mysterious Oil Deposit
Your PMOS has detected a potential deposit of crude oil. Head to that location and deploy the "Liberty Scanner" to pinpoint the location of the deposits. Liberty Scanner can be purchased from the Florida Man Online Store. You will receive a 100% discount for the first unit.
Mission: Deploy Liberty Scanner on any location with a potential crude oil vein.
Reward: Unlock Oil Extractor in Florida Man Online Store, Mysterious Crate (Class F)
---
After reviewing the quest guidelines, Felix accessed the online store, searching for the quest item 'Liberty Scanner'. The shop window, however, showed him a sci-fi puzzle cube resembling something that could summon a Hellraiser.
The item was on discount as the quest had mentioned. Since it was free, Felix bought it and checked his inventory.
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Liberty Scanner
This cube is a beacon to summon and instantly deploy the Liberty Scanner. By simply inputting the password attached to this product to the console, the cube will be activated. You can place or throw the cube on the ground, and the Liberty Scanner will appear at the designated location.
The password is UP, DOWN, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN.
---
The item package came with a tablet and a cube. Felix ejected them from his inventory and carried them in his hands.
The square cube had six crimson crystals attached to each side, which Felix believed to be where the beacon light would come out. Dropping it at the center of the plain, Felix turned his attention to the tablet next.
Pressing the only button on the side, the console booted up a strange operating system, which only asked for a password. On the screen, the direction icons that became popular in the 90s dance games were the only pressable buttons.
Felix followed the instructions and pressed the buttons in the specified order. As soon as he finished, the cube lit up, sending a straight red light to the sky.
*RUMBLE*
Instantly, a metallic pillar dropped from the sky and crushed the beacon device. The tablet also started emitting smoke and flames, breaking apart.
Felix threw the tablet away and complained, "WHAT THE HELL?!"
Jessica explained,
"…"
Felix had a bad feeling about this. He hated classes, schools, and memorizing things as they made him sleepy. He shook his head and pushed this matter to the back of his mind, then he approached the weird obelisk-like pillar.
The black metal rod automatically deployed four legs, supporting the tall pillar at the center. Another console emerged from the pillar.
Felix stood in front of the console and watched it activate by itself, showing a floating animation of a general store logo 'We Sell Weeds'. When the logo faded, the operating system booted up and prompted Felix with more direction buttons, waiting for another set of password inputs.
However, there were too many buttons. Moreover, there was no instruction.
"What's the password for this? Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right?"
"What is the password then?!"
"…"
Felix looked down and found four buttons - UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT. He then looked at the monitor and discovered a series of random directions. Following the guide on the screen, Felix started pressing the buttons.
"Up, Down, Left, Up, Down, Right, Up, Down… Why do I feel like it's a reference to something?"
*DING*
The console accepted the input and sank into the pillar. The mysterious obelisk machine hummed while its inside rotated, drilling the ground at a terrifying speed.
The earth shook as if a dune worm had passed by. Yellowish, stinky gas started fuming from the barren land. At that moment, Jessica revealed a rare smile and teased Felix.
"Bug breach? What is that?"
Felix turned around and looked at the map monitor. On the screen, multiple red dots popped up in the area around him and multiplied. Confused and stunned, Felix yelled, "What the hell is going on?!"
"…Are we the baddies?"
"…"
*RUMBLE*
The earthquake grew more severe. A portion of the forest and the barren plain collapsed due to the movement of underground plates and soil.
Crawling out of the collapsed ground, the lustrous black shell of a giant dung beetle emerged. As soon as its face appeared, it shrieked. A dozen bugs followed, screeching as if they could communicate.
"…"
Although the sight of multiple giant bugs seemed terrifying, Felix only raised one of his eyebrows and tilted his head. He put the gun in his hand away and pulled out a cigarette. Calmly, he lit it and exhaled deeply.
The bugs immediately turned toward Felix. But instead of attacking him, they paused.
Suddenly, one of the bugs in front of Felix collapsed and stopped moving. Its body slowly crumbled into dust.
Felix held the lit cigarette between his lips while smirking at Jessica. His index finger pointed at his head, flexing his intelligence.
"Bugs generally live a short lifespan. Even the long-living species can't live longer than humans. Therefore, I only need 10 seconds at most to kill everything here."
Jessica gasped in astonishment.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! It DOES snow in Florida, mind you!"
While the two were bickering, the other bugs emerged from the ground. As these mutated insects had a keen nose, they instantly detected the scent of Felix and the odd tobacco. Their sharp instincts kicked in, and their minds panicked upon contact with the smoke particles.
Some unlucky insects inhaled a mouthful of insecticide air. Instantly, they lay on their backs, flailing their legs and arms, suffering from shock and seizures before dying.
Meanwhile, many bugs emerged outside the affected area. They gave Felix a meaningful look before fleeing into the forest. Still, some short-lived insects lost their strength and died while fleeing. Only 10% of the bugs managed to escape.
Felix didn't pursue them. He leaned on the Liberty Scanner and chain-smoked, waiting for the tool to finish its job.
.
.
Terra City
The once-flourishing city was covered in flames. Lamias roamed the streets, dragging every human they found outside while they burned every building they saw. The elderly were murdered left and right, while children and adults were captured.
The city had fallen!
Zhu Xin Ci stood in front of Robert's citadel, watching her champions attempt to break through the front door, which was protected by a magic array. She crossed her arms and yawned, bored of the battle.
Behind the door, Robert and Roland were inside, using the last bit of their mana to reinforce the door's protective magic. Behind them, a hundred civilians and injured soldiers trembled in fear, crying in desperation.
Bored with the result, Zhu Xin Ci shouted, "Give up already! Your weapons did nothing to us! Be nice and accept your fate as our seedbeds! We don't want to kill good mages like you. Human mages have abundant mana suitable to nurture our children. We promise that we won't treat you badly!"
Robert screamed back, "Surrender?! Won't treat us badly?! We all know that only a fate worse than death awaits us! We'd rather die fighting!"
Zhu Xin Ci shook her head and sighed. She turned around and looked at Mei, who was soaked with human blood. The pink Lamia then raised her eyebrows as Mei was not supposed to be here.
"Didn't I ask you to demolish all human structures and capture the men? What are you doing here?"
Mei lowered her head. "We have a problem."
"What?"
"One of the buildings has a weird magic barrier around it. None of us can approach or attack it. My warriors tried to break the magic barrier, but they got struck by unknown thunderbolts and died."
"Some of us died?"
Zhu Xin Ci smacked her lips. She slithered to the town, "Guide me to that building! I want to see it!"
"Yes, your highness."