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The Apocalypse Grinder - Chapter 210
🕑 Added 2025-09-07 21:46:01 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 209 | Index | Chapter 211 >>
Apparently his excuse worked better than he’d planned. He’d not had a reason to worry, but the long pause had made his heart race.
The faces of the two soldiers lit up. “Indeed, a shining example of Grathen values and technological accomplishment.” The one who spoke was the same one who’d questioned him stopping. He had to suppress a laugh.
“Indeed. Now, I need to speak to the—” Ronan paused. He realised he had no idea about their bureaucracy. What would the person in charge of the city be called? “Take me to the central hub.”
The soldier on the left nodded. “I will escort you, if that is what you mean, Lieutenant. Grigun 10 needs to return to guarding the gate.”
Ronan nodded in affirmation. “Of course. Good work, soldiers. Let’s go.” With that, the two soldiers split up and the one who had been speaking began walking directly to the street that was empty. He now understood why it had no traffic. A military disguise had great perks.
They walked past hundreds of buildings that were all nearly identical. It reminded Ronan of the Barbican, in a strange way. He decided to dub this architectural style ‘Space Brutalism.’
They saw a few other people while walking down the street, but all of them had either military uniforms or another kind of uniform that Ronan didn’t recognise. While the military uniforms were dark-coloured with patches on the shoulder, these uniforms were brighter shades. He saw whites, cyans, and ocean-blues, though none of them had patches.
The closer they got to the centre of Kayir, because that was clearly where they were heading based on the road layout, the more of the light-uniformed people he saw. The road split into intersections at regular intervals, criss-crossing through the city. However, they never once saw a ‘pedestrian’ on the route they took. About thirty minutes of walking later, the buildings stopped and opened up into a large roundabout. It was about ten times the size of the one at the entrance to the city. Rather than a tree in the centre, it had an enormous tower that rose about four stories higher than the uniform buildings lining the streets of Kayir.
“This is where I must leave you, sir. I cannot enter the Logistics HQ.” The soldier gave Ronan a final salute and stood straight, unmoving.
He realised that the soldier was waiting for him to dismiss them, and nodded his confirmation. “I appreciate the escort, soldier.”
Despite not knowing about their culture or customs, Ronan had somehow managed to make his way to the offices of one of the most important people in Kayir. He wondered if it would be as easy to get inside and get face-to-face with the Grathen in charge of the city’s logistics.
If it was… Ronan had a great idea for how to accelerate his conquest of the planet. If this was the place where all the resources came into the planet to be distributed elsewhere, then where better to start his invasion? Cut off the food supply and they would have no choice but to come to him. Not to mention the entire population would be weakened and pose less of a threat.
He began to walk towards the building. There were no soldiers in sight, but as he approached the entrance it opened and a Grathen wearing a white uniform strolled out. The alien paused and stared at Ronan. Its eyes widened a little and it shook its head, but walked off without saying anything.
A little tension left his shoulders. Covering his face and wearing the torn uniform were clearly earning strange reactions but they weren’t casting outright suspicion on him. Or perhaps the military just weren’t meant to be in this place?
Then again, he suspected the soldiers would have reacted very differently to his request if they knew he was trying to go somewhere he wasn’t allowed. The one who’d escorted him specified that it was the soldier not allowed inside, rather than soldiers in general.
The gate was still open when Ronan walked through it. He was grateful for the uniformed alien leaving just before he reached it. Perhaps it would have opened for him, but he had been prepared to blast it open if it didn’t. Inside the lobby there was no reception desk, only five more entrances. Two on either side and one at the end of the corridor.
The one directly in front of him was made of black stone rather than the ubiquitous grey material that the other four—and every other building and gate in Kayir—were made of. Clearly it was the most important, so Ronan made a beeline for it. He heard one of the gates behind him opening as he walked forwards, but he was already in front of the black gate when the pair of Grathen that had walked out shouted at him.
Apparently the gate recognised the uniform, because it slid open without protest. Inside there was an enclosed room made entirely of black stone with three blue buttons on the back wall. He stepped inside and turned around to face the two who’d called out to him.
They seemed taken aback by his covered face. He wasn’t sure what to do or say, if anything. Was he not supposed to enter the black gate? It had opened for him, after all…
He just copied the salute that the soldiers had done to him before. The uniformed aliens seemed taken aback, and immediately mirrored him. The last thing he saw before the gate closed in front of him was them looking at each other with wide eyes.
The buttons inside what he assumed was an elevator were not labeled, which left him with a dilemma. He wanted to find the most important person in the building, so he pressed the top button of the three. Hopefully it took him to the top floor.
There was a soft hissing noise after he pressed the button. A moment later he felt the floor beginning to rise. He looked through his inventory as the elevator took him to whatever was waiting on the other side of the black stone door. There were many weapons, but he felt now was an apt time to use one he had little experience with. He wanted to make a good first impression, so he took out the rare bow he’d earned for completing the tutorial.
It was large, beautifully varnished wood and a string that felt as soft as silk, but seemed as though it wouldn’t break even if he fired ten thousand arrows from it. He had no idea how to hold a bow the right way, so he just went off his knowledge from movies and games, doing his best approximation.
Once he felt he had a good enough grip, he sent a trickle of mana into the bow. It drank it up eagerly, and a faintly shimmering blue arrow began to form between his fingers. The fletching seemed otherworldly, like the feathers of an angel, while the arrowhead seemed poisoned due to the shade of blue that the mana gave it.
He didn’t want to damage the elevator while he was inside it, so he refrained from testing the power of the bow. It was strange, the more he held the bow the more comfortable he became with it. He felt as though he would be able to precisely shoot a target at a distance of at least fifty metres despite his lack of experience. He realised this must be the effects of his new ranged weapons mastery skill.
He wasn’t sure when he would reach the end of the elevator journey, so Ronan raised the bow and pointed it towards the door. Whoever was waiting on the other side would be receiving a big surprise.
A few seconds later, the elevator came to a halt. Ronan tightened his grip on the bow slightly, but felt a twinge in his mind. He loosened it again so that he was more mobile. His gaze was locked on the door as it started to slide open from the top down. He saw flashing lights through the gap at the top of the door.
When it fell further, he caught sight of a bank of glowing screens. They were covered in images and language in a script he’d never seen, but could somehow understand. The translation skill worked for written language too. There was a Grathen in a white uniform with blue patches on the shoulders standing directly in front of the screens. He’d never seen the uniform before and immediately assumed that was the most senior figure in the room.
Unfortunately he wasn’t just here with one other alien, but at least two dozen. The room was some kind of control centre and aside from the large bank of screens there were plenty of others around the room as well as strange machinery that looked nothing like the tech he remembered from Earth. Grathen in white and light blue uniforms manned them, constantly talking into metal devices attached to their faces.
He heard a shout to his right. A Grathen had been walking towards the elevator and saw him as the door opened. It started to yell something but barely got a single word out before Ronan turned his bow on the alien and loosed the arrow held between his two fingers.
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