Chapter 301 Tricky Mines, and the Spiders Attack
Samantha was blank for a moment. “You should’ve come sooner. Chris was here just now.”
Recalling the handsome middle-aged man, Luke asked, “Is he the man who just left?”
Samantha nodded. “Yes. He’s old McCormick’s son and now owns those mines. Do you want me to call him and ask him what he thinks?”
Luke and Selina were of course happy about that.
Instead of going into the house, they sat on the porch and stared at the town in the morning sun.
“What a beautiful place,” Selina remarked. “It’s a shame that this is going to be abandoned.”
Luke simply nodded, but he didn’t feel much regret.
There were too many such beautiful and remote towns in America as well as China in Luke’s last world, but for various reasons, these towns often eventually ended up as desolate lands that n.o.body ever visited.
After a dozen minutes or so, Samantha returned in embarra.s.sment. “He must be in the mines. I can’t reach him. Do you want me to take you over there?”
Unwilling to waste more time, Luke immediately accepted her offer.
A moment later, the three of them set off in two cars again.
When they reached the mines, Luke observed the environment and found that it was only one kilometer away from the spider farm in a straight line, with a small hill in between.
He suspected that the spiders had found their way into the mines and had made their new nest there.
They spoke to Chris via a walkie-talkie and asked him to come up. Samantha talked to him in private for a moment, before they went over to Selina and Luke.
They shook hands politely, and Chris said with a bitter smile, “My aunt is too obsessed with this place; after all, she and my father worked here their whole lives. In any case, I think I can help. There are a few old miners who know the mines better than I do. You can ask them about the details. How does that sound?”
Luke thanked him and felt greatly relieved.
Old miners were sometimes more helpful than maps, they knew a lot more about the specific situation that wasn’t indicated on a map.
They didn’t go into the mines yet since it would be too dangerous. Chris also mentioned that new exploration was happening again underground, and it was possible that there was high density gas in the abandoned tunnels.
Before the existence of a new mother lode was confirmed, few people dared to risk their lives in mines filled with gas.
A few old miners were summoned. They talked to Luke and Selina in turns.
In the end, Luke found out that the mines on the spider farm’s side happened to be a hotbed of gas, and that workers hadn’t explored that part yet.
Luke got a strong headache.
If the place was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with gas, he wouldn’t be able to shoot down there. Then, did he have to rely on a sword?
He wasn’t the Hulk, with boundless physical strength. It would be dangerous to fight the spiders in their nest.
But he also couldn’t blow up the mines just because of the suspicion of enormous spiders.
These were gold mines, even if they had dried up. Many miners and families in town were still hoping to find new mother lodes to revive the town.
In order to resolve the problem of enormous spiders, Luke would have to investigate it himself after he made full preparations.
After he obtained concrete evidence, he could report to the FBI and have them take care of the monsters.
After the conversation, Luke made a deal with Chris, and would wait for the latter to bring information on the mines to the fast food restaurant in town at noon.
He also made it clear that he only needed maps, and he didn’t need more geological information on the mines.
Luke and Selina then tactfully left, and didn’t ask Samantha to go with them.
Seeing how she and Chris made eyes at each other every now and then, they knew that something had to be going on between those two.
When they returned to the town, Luke and Selina began to examine their guns carefully; their equipment would most likely come in handy later, and they couldn’t be negligent.
They brought all the clips with them. Luke even placed a few tear gas grenades in the
car.
Selina didn’t suspect anything.
The weapon compartments in the front and back of the car were all organized by Luke, and she knew how many guns there were in them. However, she didn’t know how many clips there were, though there definitely had to be more than ten.
So, she had no idea that Luke had thrown yet another ten clips and twenty tear gas grenades inside from his inventory.
It was noon by the time they were done with preparations. They had lunch at the fast food restaurant.
Chris came as promised and gave them the maps of the mines.
Watching him leave in a hurry, Selina chuckled. “He shaved. It seems that he’s quite into Samantha.”
Luke rubbed his face regretfully.
He had been planning to grow a beard so that he would look more mature.
The type of neatly trimmed beard which Tony Stark had wasn’t bad. Luke had plenty of time, and his hands were nimble and precise, so it wasn’t troublesome for him to trim his own beard.
Unfortunately, while he did have facial hair, it wasn’t lush or thick enough yet for him to trim it into an attractive shape.
Selina chuckled when she noticed what he was doing. “Just drop the idea. You’ll be a pretty boy for the rest of your life.”
That left Luke speechless.
His face was indeed quite fair, and it never tanned because of his self-healing ability.
In the afternoon, they studied the maps in a corner of the fast food restaurant.
Luke felt that he had to explore the mines the next morning.
If guns couldn’t be used, he could go in with cold weapons such as a bow or a spear.
If he ran into any danger and he didn’t want a fight to the death, running away was always an option.
He also had irritant sprays and gas masks in his inventory, which might be of some use against the spiders as well.
His time in this town was limited, and he couldn’t waste it.
It slowly turned six in the evening, and the sky turned a golden color at sunset.
Suddenly, Luke p.r.i.c.ked his ears. He frowned and said in a low voice, “Selina, let’s go and get the guns, and be careful.”
Selina followed him and asked in a low voice, “What’s up?”
Luke continued in a low voice, “The spiders are out.” Looking at the sunset, he remembered what Mike said.
Most spiders were scared of the light, which was why they liked hunting at night.
As they walked, he called Samantha, but the beautiful sheriff was the first to speak when she picked up the phone. “Luke, something happened. Gladys was captured by spiders.”
Luke was lost for words. Why did that line sound so familiar?
With no time to waste, he simply said, “I was going to tell you that I’ve spotted spiders attacking the residents. If possible, gather everybody in a safe place.”