Chapter 1337: Kicking into Full Gear

Chapter 1337: Kicking into Full Gear

It was truly impressive to see what the family was capable of when they really put their minds to it. I'm so used to my siblings' unified way of thinking, thanks to the Vestibule, that I've stopped considering what it actually looks like to others when all the ants work in such a coordinated fashion.

During a break from exploring and fighting territorial monsters, I take a little time to creep back up to the entrance to the fifth, just to check things out.

I have to say, I like what they've done with the place.

It hasn't been that long, all things considered, but the narrow entrance into the tunnel, and indeed the tunnel itself, don't look anything like what I remember when I first came down here.

In fact, it couldn't be more different.

The entrance has been widened and the engineers have been busy working on it. A series of lifts are in constant motion, rising and falling as a never ending stream of ants, people, materials and everything else needed to fuel the invasion comes down. I can only imagine the shenanigans going on above in the fourth to maintain this flow. Solant's logistical mastery at work, no doubt.

The tunnel itself has transformed completely. Cleansed by the blue mana, it's lost the toxic atmosphere and hazy yellow-green hue I see everywhere else in this place. Instead, the carvers have turned it into a massive hub for receiving and distributing everything coming down from above. There are stockpiles, warehouses, wide paths filled with traffic I guess I could describe as roads.

Take any stratum, and during a wave, whatever makes it a pain in the carapace is dialled all the way up to eleven and beyond. I still shudder to think of the never ending hordes of demon larvae on the third clawing and chewing on each other as far as the eye could see. Just what is the fifth going to be like? How much more awful could this place really get?

I spend ten minutes moving this way and that, doubtless getting in the way of many people, but for some reason, this is really sticking in my mandibles, and I'm determined to work out why. Eventually, I come to what I'm fairly sure is the source of at least one of the disturbances, but find myself quite confused to be staring at a wall.

I mean... it's a nice wall, as far as they go. Natural, Dungeon-formed tunnel, vintage stuff, newly cleaned of slime and mucus, top quality rock, all that good stuff. So why in the heck am I getting vibrations coming from it? The wave hasn't started, so there shouldn't be monsters forming in there, so what exactly is going on?

That's when I notice the very slight hole, little more than a crack, and I lean closer to investigate. Yes, there's definitely a cavity of some sort behind this wall, though it isn't very big. I don't suppose it'll cause much of an issue, so I shrug and engage my mandibles, tearing chunks of stone away to reveal the little hidden pocket... and the monsters tucked away inside.

Aha! A sneaky little spawn point must have formed in there, but... but what have we got here?

There's roughly a dozen of them, bigger than demon larvae, possibly the size of ant hatchlings, and they are aggressively red, glaring up at me with fluid-adjacent eyes and limbs. With little to no warning, they throw themselves at me and I rear back, instinctively unleashing a barrage of fire magic that evaporates the little creatures.

[You have slain Level 1 Vas Rubrum]

[You have gained XP]

Uh... excuse me?