Chapter 384: Chapter 384

Kato guided his team further and further into the depths of the mines. Not long ago, Skullface had ordered him to take a carefully selected group of operatives and venture into the underground maze.

All of them were outfitted with an array of advanced gadgets, from state-of-the-art night-vision goggles to personal shield generators that enveloped the carriers in shimmering defensive force fields.

Though these force shields weren’t designed to withstand close-range melee attacks, they could expertly deflect fast-moving projectiles like bullets and shrapnel, providing a critical layer of protection. The weapons Kato and his people carried were also top-notch: high-level and of epic rarity.

Kato’s team had one primary objective and two secondary ones. The main one was to enter the underground tunnels below the bottom level of the mines and conduct a thorough inspection. They were not permitted to exit the mines and return to Level A until they located the resistance hideout and dealt with everyone inside.

Although those escaped slaves, who had turned rebels, couldn’t actually overthrow Los Demonios or even capture the mines, their occasional successful attacks still stung, causing irreparable damage to the organization’s operations. For that reason, Skullface dispatched a team of highly trained operatives led by his second-in-command to find the resistance fighters and deal with them once and for all.

Unlike Skullface, Kato didn’t believe it was a good time to send a team to search for the resistance, considering the morphus could attack their base at any moment. Kato felt they should keep as many people on Level A as possible, preparing for the morphus’ arrival instead. Once the mutant was finally dealt with, they could shift their focus to other important matters, like taking care of the resistance.

However, Skullface was the kind of leader who didn’t appreciate being told what to do. Once he made up his mind, there was no changing it, even if his decision was questionable.

Sometimes, Kato really wished he could understand what went on in the mind of his friend, who was also his superior. Their relationship was complicated. While they shared a bond, being the two last members of the original Los Demonios, his friend often asserted his authority, dismissing Kato’s objections or concerns with a wave of his hand. It was frustrating, as Kato believed he had valuable insights to offer, but his friend’s stubbornness made it difficult to communicate.

So Kato’s main objective was to locate and deal with the resistance. In addition to this, he had a secondary objective: to create a detailed map of the underground tunnels. There was a reason why this was important.

The resistance fighters were holed up somewhere below the bottom level of the mines, which was why that level was guarded not by armed guards but by mechs. However, the resistance fighters sometimes managed to bypass the bottom level and emerge on higher ones.

They managed to accomplish that thanks to the intricate maze of natural underground tunnels created either by geological processes or by overgrown bugs living underground. Some of these tunnels connected to various levels of the mines, and the resistance fighters exploited them, launching surprise attacks from unexpected locations.

It became increasingly difficult to predict where and when they would strike next. Frustrated with the situation, Skullface decided it was time to put a stop to it.

For this reason, Kato’s team carried small drones no larger than a fist. These miniature aircraft were controlled by AI, tasked with investigating every underground tunnel and recording everything captured by their cameras. The drones remained in constant contact with one another, sharing the data they gathered and collectively creating a visual map of the underground maze, which was updated in real time and transferred to Skullface’s computer in his quarters.

As Kato’s team progressed through each level of the mines, they examined every cavern and meticulously checked every connecting tunnel. Most tunnels created by the oversized bugs were quite narrow, forcing a person to crawl on their belly.

Some tunnels were wider, allowing a person to move on all fours. Kato’s team didn’t waste time personally exploring these tunnels. Instead, they deployed drones through every passage they discovered as they gradually descended deeper into the mines.

The drones also installed small cameras in strategic spots, allowing Skullface’s people to monitor the feeds and send a team if they detected a resistance group preparing for an attack.

At one point, Skullface contacted Kato to inform him that something bad had happened on Level A. One of the pilots, Omar, the last one expected to return, had just arrived back at the base. He explained that he had been held captive at Base Rex, which accounted for his delayed return. He managed to escape when the morphus attacked the base. Following protocol, he and his helicopter were thoroughly checked for any potential threats. Everything checked out, so he was permitted to enter Level A.

However, after that, he suddenly returned to the hangar for no apparent reason. Skullface dispatched a team to intercept him, but Omar managed to kill them all. He then returned to Level A, where he killed more guards as he made his way to the mana storage room. After that, he hacked into the elevator system to descend into the mines. He disappeared from sight once he reached the top level.

Skullface informed Kato that he had reached out to all the guards in the mines to be on the lookout for Omar, but so far, none had reported any sightings, indicating that Omar was still at large.

This meant that one of Kato’s team’s secondary tasks was to keep watch for Omar and apprehend him if they encountered him. As Kato’s team ventured deeper and deeper into the mines, he couldn’t stop thinking about this strange situation.

Why would Omar attack his own people? Had he switched sides and started working with the survivors who had captured two of their bases in the city? What was Omar’s goal? Why descend into the mines? The first thought that crossed Kato's mind was that he might be trying to make contact with the resistance fighters. But how was he going to find them? After all, even Skullface and Kato’s previous efforts to locate the resistance had not yielded any results.

So many questions without answers. Kato couldn’t help but wonder how none of the guards in the mines had spotted Omar yet. To reach the resistance’s hideout, Omar would have to navigate through several levels of the mines filled with guards specifically instructed to watch for him. There was no way he could sneak past all of them without being noticed.

The only explanation Kato could come up with was that Omar had some sort of invisibility spell. Or, perhaps, he had been killed by the underground bugs, and his body was dragged into one of the tunnels, never to be found. Kato found that hard to believe, though. Omar was obviously not an easy target. He wouldn’t have fallen to a bunch of oversized but dumb bugs.

The main question that nagged at Kato was what could possibly be the point of contacting the resistance. Did Omar plan to join them? But one more member wouldn’t make much of a difference, would it?

On another note, he had somehow managed to kill so many guards on Level A all by himself, so perhaps he wasn’t just a regular survivor. He obviously was tough as nails and likely had a range of defensive and offensive spells at his disposal, which would explain why he visited the mana storage room before descending into the mines.

But what did Omar plan to do after contacting the resistance? Even if he and the other fighters managed to kill all the mechs and guards on the various levels of the mines, then what? The only way to reach Level A from the mines was by the elevator. Once Skullface discovered what was happening down there, he could easily deactivate the elevator, and the resistance would never be able to leave the mines. They would be completely trapped.

Kato was so engrossed in wracking his brain for answers to all these questions that he didn’t immediately notice when his team finally reached the bottom level of the mines.

Some of the captured survivors who were toiling to extract crystals from the mana-bearing veins spotted Kato and his team. They gaped at the newcomers, clearly trying to figure out what was happening. Then the pilot of one of the mechs positioned in the center of the cavern barked at them to continue their work, her voice booming through the loudspeakers of her mech suit, and the lollygaggers quickly resumed their tasks, eager to avoid punishment.

As Kato and his team began to cross the cavern, he spotted something strange in the darkness of the tunnel on the opposite side. He paused briefly, staring into the shadows, trying to figure out what was happening. He lowered the visor of his night-vision goggles, but he didn’t immediately comprehend what he was seeing.

All he could make out was a strange, moving mass that spanned the entire width of the tunnel. He had no idea what it was, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. Unease washed over him, prompting him to instinctively step back.

His team quickly noticed the unusual movement and pointed their weapons at it. Unlike him, they seemed to keep their cool, and he was grateful to them for that. It had been a long time since he was just a regular soldier. He had grown unaccustomed to the constant danger of a fight. Being a leader had definitely dulled his edge. Sure, his skills hadn’t gone anywhere, but his confidence had taken a hit.

As the strange mass quickly approached, Kato was able to make out more details and finally realized what was happening. A swarm of enormous creatures was moving up the tunnel toward him and his team!

At first, he mistook them for just overgrown bugs, and he momentarily relaxed because, from experience, he knew those oversized pests were weak and easy to kill. It shouldn’t be much trouble for his team and the mechs to deal with them.

However, he quickly realized he was mistaken. These weren’t mutated bugs from the depths of the underground maze. Instead, they were gigantic spiders, each larger than a grown-up human, with numerous legs.

There were so many of them that they spanned the entire width of the corridor, which was why they had first appeared to him as a single living mass. The arachnids rapidly advanced up the tunnel and in the next instant, began to flood into the cavern!

Hey guys! Thank you for reading!

I have recently posted Chapter 5 of my new story called Cryptborn.

If you're interested in checking it out here’s the link to the story:

https://www.NovelHub.com/series/2001792/cryptborn-a-dark-fantasy-revenge-litrpg-with-a-villain-protagonist/ The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NoveI-Fire.ɴet