Apocalypse Architect: A Tower Defense LitRPG

Chapter 180: Entering the Nuclear Power Plant

Dressed in the bulky, yellow high-voltage insulation suits, the team looked like a squad of hazmat troopers from a bygone era. Despite the heavy gear, there was an undeniable tension in their posture—a mix of fear and adrenaline as they prepared to step into the heart of the forbidden zone.

Jax scanned the group, his voice muffled slightly by the faceplate.

“Listen up. We stick to the plan.”

He pointed a gloved finger at Elena. “Elena, you’re on point. You’re our primary DPS. Keep the Soul Collector Rifle ready and stay in the center of the formation.”

Elena nodded, slapping the receiver of her weapon. The thick rubber suit made the movement clumsy, but her eyes were sharp. “Loud and clear.”

“Vance,” Jax shifted his gaze to the scavenger lord. “You and your men take the rear. Watch our six. If anything tries to flank us, I want to know before it gets within biting distance.”

Vance, along with his assistant and the guide, gave a thumbs-up.

“I’ll take the lead,” Jax finished. “Let’s move.”

They descended the stairwell, moving heavily toward the ground floor.

The lobby wasn’t empty. A lingering squad of insect monsters was prowling the area, sniffing for prey. As soon as they spotted the yellow figures emerging from the stairs, they shrieked and charged.

Elena didn’t hesitate. She braced her rifle and opened fire.

Phwt. Phwt. Phwt.

The suppressed shots were rhythmic and precise. One by one, the beetles’ heads exploded in showers of ichor.

Within minutes, the lobby was clear. As the host bodies hit the floor, the Parasitic Silkworm larvae began to squirm out of the wounds, looking for new hosts.

“Stomp them,” Jax ordered coldly. “Don’t leave a single one alive.”

The team moved in, their heavy insulated boots crushing the neon-green worms into paste. The sound of popping larvae echoed in the silent hall—a wet, grim percussion.

With the immediate threat neutralized, Jax led them out the back exit toward the transformer yard.

They arrived at the perimeter of the high-voltage grid. A concrete security wall blocked their path. Jax looked up, gauging the height, then bent his knees and launched himself upward.

He didn’t use [Aero-Step]. With his physical stats now exceeding 170 points, a four-meter vertical leap was child’s play. He landed softly on the top of the wall, looking down at the stunned group below.

He uncoiled a length of rope and tossed it down. “Climb up. Quickly.”

One by one, he hauled them up to the platform.

The view from the top was intimidating. Ahead lay a forest of steel transmission towers and massive transformers. The air buzzed with the sound of angry hornets—the audible hum of leaking electricity.

“Get ready,” Jax shouted over the static noise. “We’re going into the grid.”

Everyone nodded, swallowing hard. The insulation suits were rated for this, but staring at the arcing electricity was another matter entirely.

Jax prepared to jump down into the yard, but a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Wait,” Vance said, stepping forward. “Let me go first.”

Jax paused, surprised. He looked at the scavenger leader.

Vance offered a crooked smile behind his visor. “It’s safer this way. I’ve got no family, no strings attached. If I fry, I’m just one dead bandit. But you? You’ve got a city depending on you. The Sprawl needs its Architect.”

Jax stared at him for a moment, seeing the genuine resolve in the man’s eyes. The image of the “greedy bandit” faded, replaced by something far more respectable.

“Alright,” Jax nodded, stepping back. “Lead the way, Vance. Be careful.”

Vance took a deep breath and vaulted off the wall. He hit the ground with a heavy roll, coming up in a crouch.

Immediately, shadows detached themselves from the transformers. Insect monsters that had been basking in the electromagnetic field rushed him.

“Contact!” Vance shouted.

From the wall above, Elena was already firing. Her aim was impeccable, picking off the creatures before they could reach Vance.

“Clear! Move up!”

The rest of the team dropped down into the yard, forming a tight defensive circle as they advanced toward the main reactor building.

Zzzzt! SNAP!

Above them, blue arcs of electricity danced between the deteriorating cables. The insulation on the towers had rotted away years ago, turning the air into a minefield of stray voltage.

They ran, heads ducked, praying that gravity wouldn’t pull a lightning bolt down on their heads.

Miraculously, they made it across the yard without incident. The suits held, and the electricity stayed in the air.

They reached the end of the grid, stopping before a heavy steel hatch set into the concrete ground.

“Underground maintenance access,” Jax said, kneeling to inspect it. “This leads to the tunnels. It’s safer than the surface.”

The hatch was secured by a heavy-duty, military-grade electronic lock. Jax tugged on the handle. Locked tight.

He looked at Elena. “Open it.”

Elena didn’t ask questions. She leveled her Soul Collector Rifle at the locking mechanism and pulled the trigger.

Hiss!

A superheated round slammed into the steel. It didn’t ricochet; it melted straight through, turning the lock into a puddle of slag and blue smoke.

Jax kicked the latch, and with a grunt of effort, heaved the heavy cover open.

Darkness yawned below.

Vance jumped down first.

Click-click-click.

Motion sensors triggered, and a strip of emergency LEDs flickered to life, illuminating a long, concrete corridor.

“Power’s still on,” Vance called out. “Air is dry. Ventilation is working.”

The team descended, the hatch clanging shut above them.

They marched through the tunnels for several minutes until they reached a junction. A faded sign hung from the ceiling:

[<-- Staff Dormitories | Reactor Control & Turbine Hall -->]

“Right,” Jax said. “To the core.”

As they moved deeper into the facility, the temperature began to spike.

It started as a dull warmth but quickly escalated to an oppressive heat. Jax checked his HUD. The ambient temperature was pushing fifty degrees Celsius—hotter than the deserts around Redrock Bastion.

Inside the suits, sweat began to pour down their bodies, soaking their clothes. But no one dared to crack a seal. The suits weren’t just for electricity; they were the only thing shielding them from potential radiation leaks.

Jax felt like he was boiling in his own skin. He adjusted his collar, and a vent hissed, pumping a blast of cool air across his neck.

“Whoa,” Jax blinked. “Climate control. I thought these things were just rubber ovens.”

“Thank god for pre-war tech,” Vance groaned, triggering his own suit’s cooling system.

They pressed on, finally reaching a heavy blast door that stood ajar. Beyond it lay the Central Control Room.

They stepped inside.

The room was a massive, semicircular gallery overlooking the reactor pit. Through a wall of reinforced lead glass, they could see the heart of the beast.

Down in the deep well, a hellish red glow illuminated the machinery. Massive pipes fed steam into colossal turbine fans, which spun with a low, rhythmic thrum. The sheer scale of the engineering was breathtaking. Even at minimum power, the reactor was a sleeping giant, generating enough energy to run a metropolis.

Jax walked to the main console, staring at the sea of buttons, dials, and screens.

“Alright,” Jax muttered. “How do we crank up the output?”

Silence.

He looked at Vance. Vance looked at the guide. The guide looked at Elena.

None of them moved.

“Uh…” Vance scratched his helmet. “I fix cars, Jax. I don’t know how to tune a nuclear reactor.”

Jax slumped into a swivel chair, staring helplessly at the control board.

“Damn it,” Jax cursed. “We fought through an army of bugs, crossed a lightning field, and broke into the most secure facility in the wasteland… only to realize we’re too uneducated to turn the knob.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow. This was high-level, specialized engineering. Pressing the wrong button wouldn’t just fail the mission; it could trigger a meltdown that would turn The Forgotten City into a crater.

The team stood around the console, looking defeated. The solution to their problem was right here, humming beneath their feet, but they lacked the key to unlock it.

While Jax sulked, Elena wandered around the room, poking through the debris left by the former staff.

“Hey,” she called out from a corner desk. “What is this?”

Jax turned his chair around. “What?”

Elena was holding a crinkled, colorful plastic packet. She squinted at the bold, cheerful writing on the wrapper.

“Instant… Nood-les?” She sounded out the words slowly. “What are instant noodles?”

Jax froze.

He stood up and walked over to her, snatching the packet from her hand. His eyes widened.

“You don’t know what these are?” Jax asked, looking at the team. “You’ve never eaten them?”

Vance shook his head. “Pre-war food? That stuff expired a decade ago. We eat synth-paste and rat meat.”

Jax looked at the packet. It was a brand he recognized from before the Apocalypse. But that wasn’t what made his heart race.

He brought the wrapper to his nose and sniffed.

The smell of artificial beef seasoning and MSG was faint, but distinct.

And it was fresh.

“This isn’t a ten-year-old wrapper,” Jax whispered, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “The seasoning still smells strong. Someone opened this recently.”

He looked at the dark corners of the control room.

“We’re not alone in here.”