The next morning 2 rats climbed up the hole as expected. I didn't shoot them this time, the maids did. I just watched from afar wondering.
"Hey system, where are my superpowers? Everyone else in the world supposedly got them." I spoke aloud
…
…
Sigh
"Ohhh divine system of the chosen, where are mine superpowers?" I repeated.
[Content Locked]
[You will recieve your 1st Ether after clearing the second round]
"Can I preview the rest of the waves of the second round?"
[Round 2, Wave 2 begins in: 15:43:08]
[Monsters incoming: 4]
[Monster classification: Rattus Rattus/ The Black Rat]
[Round 2, Wave 3 begins in: 39:43:07]
[Monsters incoming: 8]
…
[Round 2, Wave 4 begins in: 63:43:06]
[Monsters incoming: 10]
…
[Round 2, Wave 5 begins in: 89:43:05]
[Monsters incoming:100]
…
[Round 2, Wave 6 begins in: 111:43:04]
[Monsters incoming: 1000]
…
[Round 2, Wave 7 begins in: 135:43:03]
[Monsters incoming: 10,000]
…
[Round 2, Wave 8 begins in: 159:43:02]
[Monsters incoming: 100,000]
…
What the… that's not exponential. Well it is but isn't jumping from powers of 2 to powers of 10 too extreme?!
How the heck am I supposed to kill a hundred thousand rats with just 7 days to prepare.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I spent the rest of yesterday pacing around, Anna noticed I was on the verge of collapsing and asked me what's wrong so I enlightened her on the catastrophe we're about to face.
Now we're both on the troubled and collapsed on the bed but we have some ideas on how to survive.
The first line of defence is the explosives we have at hand. Both of us are certain that 1 ton of tnt isn't enough. I don't know how much is enough but I know in my case there is no such thing as excess firepower.
The second line of defence will be a kill box. 4 paths from the hole 2 will be 45° from eachother and 2 will be 90° from eachother as to create 2 main supply points and also to avoid direct line of sight with the other paths so that the staff don't shoot eachother by accident.
These 4 paths will funnel the rats to the respective firing squads at each end.
Each firing squad will consist of two riflemen (maids) armed with fully automatic rifles, two shotgunners (also maids) armed with shotguns and two supply men (other staff) who are to supply ammunition and replacement weapons when needed.
The arson team of 4 aides will monitor the flow of fuel from the tankers and ensure a fire is always burning in each path.
**Check the image in the comments if you are confused.**
There were other mesures we planned but the time limit just didn't permit them.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Day 12
4 rats emerged from the hole, some maid took care of them. I was busy with the preparations.
In the evening the first bad omen came; there were no more explosives in the quarry. There were no more explosives in the quarry because the quarry manager didn't order another batch of explosives as they hired teams of people with powers related to exploding instead.
Right… the rest of the world already has superpowers.
I instructed Anna to kidnap the team instead.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Day 13
8 rats were killed today.
A 10 meter deep moat covering 270° of the hole was dug, tarp was setted and weighed. The tankers of water to fill the moat will arrive tommorow.
Rudimentary brick walls were set up, I was told they lack stability but we don't have the time to stabilise them, instead we added wooden supports and made the walls triple layered so that they don't collapse as easily.
In the evening the maids returned from their kidnapping mission with only one person.
…
Why did you only bring back one child?
" He was the only one who didn't know how to defend himself." Anna shrugged.
" And…? " I asked
" Lady Jean, kidnapping a superhuman who can kill you in an instant without any special abilities of your own is quite a challenge."
Anna continued " Still I believe this child is strong enough to help us. His ability is to self destruct, presumably only once. We don't know how strong the explosion is, but I'm assuming it won't be short of a nuke, Ether abilities are known to be extremely powerful after all."
" I suggest you toss this kid into the hole right before the 8th wave to kill all 100,000 rats at once."
"But-" I tried to speak but Anna interrupted me.
"Please don't let morals affect your desicion Lady Jean, your safety is above all more important than the life of a single boy."
I looked at the unconscious boy, he was not particularly cute.
"I've made my choice" I spoke, making firm eye contact with Anna.
"I'll keep the boy alive."
Anna opened her mouth to speak, I sensed an incoming lecture and quickly hurried to state my reason.
"I'm not being driven by any morals here Anna, let's think rationally. You say he has the explosive power of a nuke. While that will most certainly help us survive the 8th wave with ease but what about afterwards?"
"I don't think the rounds will stop at just rats, the trend that I see with these rounds predict that the 3rd round will have even bigger and stronger animals than just rats. Could we survive with our own tools by then? What about the round after that? Saving this nuke for the future is more beneficial to our survival."
Anna nodded silently
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Day 14
10 rats were killed today.
The moats were filled today, 2 excess tankers of water were used to fill the hole at the idea of a passing labourer. I don't know if it filled up at all but we did pour it in.
Before sunset 5 trucks of cinder blocks arrived, half of them were placed today to surround the hole, right before the moat. Ideally the cinderblock walls contain the overflow of rats and block all routes but the kill boxes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Day 15
100 rats were killed today, but only 92 of their carcasses were found on the ground. My hypothesis is that pouring the water into the hole did actually work and caused 8 rats to drown before surfacing.
This is huge news!
Today 3 truckloads of ammunition and crates of firearms arrived, these were placed by the kill boxes.
Oh, how did I acquire these weapons so fast? Well my late father's brother in law is the head of homeland security, these weapons were caught being smuggled into the country. As per regulation they were supposed to be checked and remodeled to be fit for military use but now that everyone has superpowers, firearms have lost some appeal as such I was easily able to convince him to give them to me.
Connections and charm are important to survive in this world.