Chapter 70: The Doomsday Device
The beauty of the tree made me completely forget that I was still on my back with a vine wrapped around my ankle. One quick tug from that vein, though, reminded me quickly that I might be fucked.
The vine was pulled into the tree like the line of a fishing pole, and I was soon hanging in the air from my ankle. At least now, I could say that I knew what a fish on a line felt. Not like I really cared to know that feeling in the first place.
I was hoisted higher in the air until I was dangling over the top of the tree. Looking down, I saw the center of the tree splitting apart to reveal a mouth with razor-sharp teeth. It looked almost like a Venus fly trap, but I had never seen one that looked like a willow. Maybe that was why there was such as large clearing around it. It had literally eaten all of the indigenous species, giving itself access to all the sun and nutrients it needed without competition.
There was no way that something like this could be native to the jungle. For the most part, every other part of the forest was a multilayered canopy. Some trees were higher than others in a symbiotic relationship. The taller ones give shade to the smaller ones, while the smaller ones protect the root system of the taller ones.
In fact, the trees were so well adapted to their environment that, for the most part, the sun couldn’t even reach the forest floor. There were also different species that would live on different layers of the jungle, everything living in complete sync with each other. That was what a healthy, functioning terrestrial ecosystem produced.
The way this tree stood was completely contrary to that, indicating that it was not part of the ecosystem.
And seeing as it was trying to eat me, it needed to die. "Sha Shou, is the laser big enough to destroy a tree before it eats me?" I asked as the vine continued to dangle me over the mouth. I didn’t know if it was studying me since I was different from its natural prey or if it was just sadistic and liked to draw this part out.
Either way, it worked for me.
"I feel like I am missing a large part of the story, but depending on the size of the tree, it might do the job," said Sha Shou, not sounding particularly concerned.
"Don’t you have access to my lens feed?" I asked. "And I really don’t have that much time. I need something that can blow up everything in a 50-foot radius. Maybe more, just to be on the safe side."
"Why would you—holy shit, what is that thing?" she yelled, making me feel a bit better.
"A tree that is trying to eat me," I deadpanned.
"Your laser isn’t going to cut it, but I did add something new to the Nanos. On your wrist unit, go into the weapons section. Select mass destruction and choose the ’Doomsday’ option. It should come out."
"Doomsday? Are you serious?"
"Look, do you want to be eaten? We can argue over the name later. For right now, it is in your system as Doomsday," yelled Sha Shou.
"Fine," I grumbled under my breath. I quickly went through my wrist unit as the vine started snapping me back and forth. Just before I lost my equilibrium with another flick or my lunch, I pressed the Doomsday button.
A cannon came out of my right shoulder. A fricking cannon came out of my right shoulder. It was lit up in a bright blue light, but the thing itself was massive. It was probably half of my size and definitely more than half of my weight. I would have had a problem even lifting it if I wasn’t in my armor.
But it did look really badass. I would fully admit that.
"Press fire!" shouted Sha Shou just as the vine let go, and I was dropped into the waiting mouth. I slapped down on the wrist unit, not sure if I hit the button or not. A blinding blue light appeared right beside my face cutting through the branches and leaves as it extended its reach to the ground.
I was expecting a bang or a bomb of some kind, but Doomsday was a much bigger, upgraded version of my laser. At least this one wasn’t attached to my helmet.
There was a shriek around me as the tree was cut by the laser. Then something I didn’t expect happened.
As soon as the laser beam reached the bottom of whatever it determined to be the bottom, the beam rebounded on itself, shooting back up like a bat out of hell, bringing with it heat, fire, and debris. This was not the time to start questioning my suit’s ability to protect me.
I was shot backward with the pressure of the explosion and went flying into the air. It was not until almost everything was done that I finally heard the sound of the explosion. If I survived the fall, I would have to commend Sha Shou on this particular weapon. However, maybe next time, we could go over the upgrades before I leave the ship.
I landed in the upper canopy more than 50 feet away from the center of the explosion. I grunted at the impact as I fell through the smaller limbs and leaves that weren’t able to support my weight. However, they were managing to slow down my fall enough that when a larger branch was under me, I was able to grab it and stay put.
That was until I heard the cracking of the branch supporting my weight, and I continued to fall down towards the jungle floor... that was until I wasn’t.
My downward descent was halted abruptly when I fell into a large game net of some kind. It looked like it would be in a cartoon or Indiana Jones, but wherever it came from, I was momentarily glad that it helped to stop my momentum.
