Apocalypse Architect: A Tower Defense LitRPG

Chapter 146: The Plan Accelerates

The car sped away from the core district, leaving the villa and the dead assassins behind.

Jax sat in the passenger seat, his mind racing.

“Who wants me dead?” he muttered, rubbing his chin. “The families here are stingy, but they aren’t stupid. Killing the only person with a defense plan right now is suicide. It’s not them.”

He looked out the window at the ruined city.

“If we hold the line, who loses? Redrock Bastion. Their plan relies on The Sprawl falling. They need us to be the meat shield. If we survive, they lose their buffer and their easy harvest.”

Jax slammed his fist against the dashboard. “It’s Redrock. They sent the hit squad.”

“Raven,” Jax barked. “Change of plans. Go to Slum District 97.”

Raven nodded, spinning the wheel. “On it.”

They arrived at the refugee encampment, which had been transformed into a maze of small, fortified cubicles. Jax found Liu Hu supervising the construction.

“Sir Jax?” Liu Hu asked, wiping sweat from his brow. “Is something wrong? We’re on schedule.”

Jax waved him into a quiet room. “The explosives. Are they ready?”

“Almost,” Liu Hu nodded. “We should be done by nightfall.”

“Good. Because the timeline has moved up. Notify the crews immediately. We blow the walls at midnight tonight.”

Liu Hu’s eyes widened. “Midnight? Sir, the original plan was three days from now! We aren’t ready!”

“We don’t have three days,” Jax said grimly. “The enemy is already inside the gates. If we don’t act now, we lose everything.”

“I… I understand,” Liu Hu stammered. “I’ll give the order.”

“Also,” Jax added, “spread the word quietly. Tell the civilians and the other families to get to the designated safe zones before 12:00 AM. And tell the Defense Tower command to verify all ammo supplies. Everything needs to be online by midnight.”

“Got it.”

Liu Hu ran out to mobilize his men. The camp erupted into organized chaos as the orders spread.

Jax pulled out his map. “Redrock probably has my original blueprints by now. They know the layout. But they don’t know about Phase Three.”

A cold light flickered in his eyes. “Since you want to play dirty, let’s see how you handle a flood.”

Meanwhile, Sawyer returned to his villa to find it trashed. The furniture was smashed, and valuable art lay in ruins on the floor.

“Bastards!” Sawyer screamed, kicking a pile of debris.

He rushed to the office. He found the bodies of the two assassins Jax had killed, but no sign of Jax or the women.

“They’re gone,” Sawyer breathed a sigh of relief. “He made it.”

Suddenly, a section of the wall slid open. A secret door.

Sawyer spun around, leveling his pistol. “Who’s there?”

His butler stepped out, looking pale and shaken.

“Young Master!”

“Butler?” Sawyer lowered the gun. “You’re alive? Why are you in the panic room?”

“Thank god you’re safe,” the butler gasped. “A hit squad came. They… they took everyone. The staff, the guards. They took hostages from the other families too.”

“Hostages?” Sawyer frowned. “What for?”

“It’s a leverage play,” the butler explained, trembling. “Redrock is going to sacrifice the city to the swarm. They’re ensuring no one fights back.”

“I know the plan,” Sawyer cut him off. “What about Jax?”

“He escaped. His bodyguards… those women are terrifying. They cut a path out.”

“Good.” Sawyer slumped against the wall. “As long as Jax is free, we have a chance.”

The butler hesitated. “Sir… there is something else. You need to prepare yourself.”

Sawyer looked up. “What?”

“The Old Master… your father. He’s dead.”

The world stopped. Sawyer slid down the wall until he hit the floor. “What? No. He was fine last week. How?”

“It wasn’t natural,” the butler whispered. “The men who came… they were bragging. They said Slade did it.”

“Slade?” Sawyer whispered the name like a curse. “My brother killed our father?”

“He’s the Head of the House now, sir. He seized control this morning.”

A primal rage exploded in Sawyer’s chest. His eyes turned bloodshot.

“I’ll kill him,” Sawyer snarled, trying to stand up. “I will tear him apart!”

The butler grabbed him. “No! You can’t! He has the army, sir. You’d be dead before you reached the gate. We have to be smart.”

Sawyer collapsed again, sobbing. The betrayal was absolute. His brother had murdered their father and sold their city to the worms for power.

“Why?” Sawyer wept. “I gave him everything. I stayed out of his way. Why?”

Minutes passed. Slowly, the grief turned into cold, hard hatred.

“Where is Jax?” Sawyer asked, his voice hollow.

“He went to the slums to find Liu Hu,” the butler said. “He’s safe for now.”

Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the hall. They scrambled back into the panic room.

“Young Master? Butler?”

It was Auntie Liu, the cook.

Sawyer stepped out. “Auntie?”

“Oh, thank goodness,” she said. “Jax sent a message. Everyone needs to be in a hardened shelter by midnight. Do not come out.”

Sawyer looked at his butler. A grim smile touched his lips.

“Midnight,” Sawyer said. “Phase Three.”

He walked to the window and looked out at the dark city. Somewhere out there, Slade was watching, thinking he had won.

“You want a war, brother?” Sawyer whispered. “Jax is about to give you one.”

He turned to the butler. “Get to the shelter. I need to go to the Defense Tower command. We need to make sure the ammo is ready for the show.”

Now, the entire city was plunged into chaos.