章 9: Giant Fly

I can either try to get away or silence that thing for good. I dodged another swoop from the gigantic fly by what felt like an inch. This encounter wasn't good for my heart.

Speaking of which... Am I dying? I could barely hear the rhythmic beating of my heart even under such a high-stress situation. It seems like my heart and overall just functions had stopped causing Professor Requiem and his assistants to think I died.

SWOOSH

Another clean dive. At this rate, I might end up completely exhausted.

The fly then shot a volley of green acid towards me. I simply ran forward to avoid it. If I can't kill it I'll just have it follow after me. It is currently rather inoffensive all things considered.

The cavern was fairly wide. It was also full of holes and the like on its walls and ceilings. Those were probably made by some sort of insect or animal. I had no intention to find out that's for sure.

F*ck. I felt some of my arm burning up as the fly's acid slowly corroded my bare skin. The pain almost made me falter in my steps. It looks like I might need to kill it after all. Otherwise by the time I reach the end of this tunnel if ever, I would just be a pile of bones.

I dodged another dive and grabbed a large pebble that was near my area. This thing wasn't even a quarter of the fly's size but it should at least serve as a deterrent. With that thought in mind, I stopped my full out sprint and waited for the fly to swoop in once more.

SWOOSH

I mustered some strength and threw the stone at full force. By a stroke of luck, the fly, which tried to maneuver around the pebble, ended up being hit on one of its wings.

The fly thus fell from the sky without much dignity but it was not at all willing to give up. The giant fly buzzed around the tunnel skipping here and there in a futile attempt to fly.

This, of course, meant that I still couldn't find a chance to rid it of its annoying existence. I grabbed hold of a much larger stone and tried to predict the fly's random jump path.

A couple of more random jumps as well as increasingly larger breaks and I knew just what to do. I ran forward towards the area of the fly. It quickly took another leap only to hit itself against the cavern wall. It fell for the umpteenth time.

I rapidly approached its position and with a jump, I pummeled it. I pummelled it repeatedly with the rock, It let out what sounded like dying screeches over and over again. Each screech sounding fainter than the last as I carefully whacked it.

Carefully since I didn't want to end up covered in its putrid acid. The burn wound on my arm still stung and the pain became more pronounced with each strike.

After what felt like a very long minute of dying wails, I finally vanquished the fly. I fell back a bit out of exhaustion and tried to put my breathing back under control.

"It was you or me…" I said as I finally caught my breath and stood up. I examined its body from a distance only to catch sight of a green shimmer. It was unlike the green glow of the acid in the area.

With interest, I carefully pounded at the fly's exoskeleton to open up its body.

Pop.

I jumped back in fright at a sudden burst of acid. Even handling this thing's corpse was annoying.

Without many other mishaps, I finally caught sight of a small green crystal. It was laying inside of a small pool of acid. The acid was spilling out thanks to the fly's battered body so I was able to catch sight of its exposed top.

I carefully pulled it out of the acid only to have my fingers burned by the leftover corrosiveness.

The fist-sized crystal dropped harmlessly on the ground where I left it to cool off.

Paranoid, I glanced around everywhere to find a hiding spot somewhere in these tunnels but apart from the creepy holes, there weren't many areas where I could just bide my time.

Giving up, I inspected the crystal. It reminded me of the ones found in the mining sectors. Wait, could it be? Are these crystals some sort of mutant waste… Like… literally…

The thought wasn't quite pretty but this thing was bound to be useful since such a large scale mining industry was formed around it.

For some reason, I couldn't help but recall the words of the girl grey when she cautioned me the day before. The spillage was likely referring to actual radioactive waste that these mutants likely consumed and converted into crystals. It would explain why a waste worm appeared but…

If they eat nuclear waste… Why do they attack humans? Unless their purpose for eating nuclear waste was not nutrition… Maybe it powers them up?

I cautiously poked the crystal. I felt a tingling sensation. Thus I kicked it around the rock surface as I made my way forward to hopefully let it loose that acidity. I also paid close attention to it to check its toughness.

I couldn't help but think that this sh*t was pretty sturdy.

A couple of boring minutes went by and there were no signs of any flies or any other mutant for that matter. The only thing that I could hear was the tumbling crystal as it rolled around the floor with every kick.

Some more time went by and I noticed that the holes in the walls became much more scarce. Not only that, but I saw… light!

Somehow I am still able to see light even though I can already see everything as clear as day down here. The reasoning behind it might have some scientific explanation but it didn't matter to me.

What mattered was that the only possible source of light was… humans! The light seemed fairly distant but I nonetheless hurriedly grabbed the rolling crystal. I wouldn't want its noise to alert people that could potentially be enemies.

I silently made my way towards the light. My eyes were trying to adjust with each step but the light still felt hurtful. I ignored the small pain and observed what laid in front of me.

What I saw was a blockade. A wall separated this side of the tunnel and a couple of people could be seen wearing guard uniforms casually conversing.

Now… What will happen if I come up to them?