Chapter 387 - 387: Mach 10
Jayden returned into the city, and the rest of the afternoon dissolved into a blur of routine and necessary maintenance.
He spent the hours completing his daily quests and working out at the gym, pushing himself through sets of intense calisthenics until his muscles burned.
From there, he slipped away to the dense, overgrown perimeter of the city's outer forest. Deep in the treeline, he met up with his pack beasts in Emerald city. He spent an hour collecting the beast cores and loot drops they had accumulated over the past few days, before leaving them to continue their hunt.
By the time the sun dipped below the city skyline, painting the clouds in bruised shades of violet and orange, Jayden was back home.
The house was quieter than usual. Jacob had taken Harleen out for a dinner date, leaving Jayden, Jessica, and Tasha alone for the evening.
They sat around the kitchen island, picking at a spread of takeout noodles and dumplings. Despite the comforting food, a heavy, anxious tension hung over the room.
"I'm just saying, I have a bad feeling about all of this," Tasha murmured, swirling her chopsticks in her bowl. "Half a million credits, Jayden. People have killed for a fraction of that. If anyone even suspects..."
"Tasha, I told you, I have it under control," Jayden reassured her gently, taking a bite of his food. "Don't worry about me. I'm not going to get caught."
Jessica leaned forward, her expression shifting to a more practical concern. "Okay, but what about the giant, frozen magical wolf currently sitting above our heads? How long is she going to be napping inside that ice ball, Jayden? We can't guarantee Mom and Dad won't go up to the attic to look for old winter coats or something. And we can't always be home to stand guard."
Jayden sighed, glancing up toward the ceiling. "I honestly don't know when she's going to wake up. But we have to do the best we can to protect her while she's vulnerable. When she awakens, she is going to be an incredibly valuable asset."
Jessica and Tasha exchanged a look before nodding in unison. "Okay. We've got your back," Jessica affirmed.
Trying to lift the heavy mood, Tasha aggressively stabbed a dumpling with her chopstick and pointed it at Jessica. "Anyway, enough doom and gloom. We need to finalize our combos for the Global Tournament. If we get paired up in the duos bracket, I want to use my lighting constructs to blind the opponents while you flank them with your wind bursts."
As the girls immediately dove into a rapid-fire discussion about tactical formations and tournament brackets, Jayden leaned back on his stool. He let their voices fade into background noise, his mind drifting back to the milestone he had hit that morning.
It was the perfect time to test out the Pack Stat Boost.
With a mere thought, the glowing blue interface of the System materialized in front of his eyes, invisible to the girls.
He navigated to the subordinate list and focused on Tasha's name. The panel expanded, revealing a localized, condensed version of a status screen. But unlike Jayden's complex array of attributes, his pack members only possessed four core stats.
——————
*Name: Natasha Smith
*Level: 25
*Ability: Lightening Manipulation
*Hp: 800/800
*Strength: 32
*Speed: 25
*Stamina: 40
*Power: 52
——————
Jayden raised a brow. "What's this 'power'? I don't think I have that stat." he thought.
[Power' is a generalized metric used for subordinate entities] Luna's crisp voice echoed in his mind. [It dictates the raw kinetic output, elemental potency, and overall effectiveness of the host's innate abilities. For Tasha, increasing her Power stat will directly increase the durability and blinding intensity of her ability]
"Hm, I see," Jayden murmured.
He had 90 unspent stat points saved up. He decided to distribute them evenly among his human pack members, leaving his beasts alone since their baseline physical parameters were already incredibly high from their natural evolution. He tapped the interface, allocating 20 points to Tasha—adding 5 points each to her Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Power.
He then pulled up Jessica's and Cassandra's tabs, giving them each an identical 20-point boost. When his gaze landed on Penelope's name, he paused. He was certain her stats were already high enough. But he decided to check anyways, out of curiosity.
As soon as her stats populated the screen, Jayden nearly choked on his noodles.
——————
*Name: Penelope Isley
*Level: ???
*Ability: Pyrokinesis, ???
*Hp: 50,000
*Strength: 20,000
*Speed: 35,000 (Mach 10)
*Stamina: 80,000
*Power: 500,000
——————
Jayden couldn't believe his eyes. Her base numbers were astronomically high, a terrifying testament to her status as an SSS rank. She definitely didn't need any of his spare points.
Satisfied, he saved the remaining 30 points for himself to use in future emergencies and closed the interface. Then he looked across the island at the girls, who were still fiercely debating tournament strategies.
"Hey," Jayden interrupted casually. "Do either of you... feel any different?"
Tasha paused, blinking in confusion. "Different how?"
"I don't know," Jayden shrugged, playing it off. "Like a sudden rush of energy? Or feeling a bit stronger?"
Jessica gave him a weird look. "No? I just feel full from the dumplings," she chuckled. Then she tilted her head. "Why do you ask?"
"Nothing," Jayden smiled softly. "It's not important."
He concluded that the stat boost didn't trigger a physical sensation like a sudden level-up did. It made sense; even Jayden himself rarely felt an immediate physical change when he dumped a few points into his attributes. The difference only truly manifested when they actively pushed their bodies to the limit.
After dinner, they cleared the dishes and retreated to their respective rooms.
Jayden closed his bedroom door, the silence of the room allowing the events of the day to finally crash down on him. He sat on the edge of his bed, thinking back to the diner and the pleading look in Fred's eyes when he told him to quit. His warning echoed in his skull persistently.
But as Jayden stared at his own hands, he knew he couldn't stop. He was in far too deep. He had seen the corruption, he had seen what the Black Cobra did to innocent people, and he had seen the EVA's willingness to let them keep operating. If he quit now, the syndicate would rebuild, hire new pioneers, and would remain untouchable. He had to see this through to the bitter end.
Suddenly, a faint metallic glint outside caught his enhanced vision.
Jayden stood up, sliding the glass balcony doors open. Resting neatly on the railing was a small, black, vacuum-sealed package. Attached to the top was a physical paper tag that read "From your cool Aunt"
Jayden picked it up, his brow furrowing as he read the tag. It was obviously from Miss Kate.
He stepped back inside, locking the balcony doors, and tore the package open. Inside rested a sleek, metallic device no larger than a coin, alongside a folded letter. Jayden unfolded the paper.
[Jayden, I heard about your escapades regarding the Black Cobra Syndicate. (You can thank Fred for keeping me in the loop). I just wanted to say that I am very proud of how far you've come. You are doing good work out there. I wish I could be in Emerald City to join you in your crusade, but I am currently tied up with several leads, including trying to track down your sister.
I also heard the news today. About the EVA putting a massive bounty on your head. This changes the rules of engagement. You are going to be targeted by every mercenary and hitman on the continent. I figured you might need the device I put in the package.
It is a military-grade tracker disabler. Now that you are a high-value target, mercenaries might try to avoid direct combat and instead slip a micro-tracker on your person during a brief scuffle to follow you home. This device projects a localized electromagnetic field that instantly shorts out any foreign tracking signal placed on your body. But it only works if you have it on at all times. Good luck, kid. I'm rooting for you. Take care, and I'll see you soon. - Kate]
Jayden stared at the device, absolutely stunned by his own oversight. He had been so confident in his speed and intangibility that he hadn't even considered the most basic espionage tactic. If a mercenary grazed him and planted a tracker, they could follow him straight back home, to his family. It was the exact same trick he had pulled on Frost. And if he could do it to a powerful Pioneer like her, someone could definitely do it to him.
He silently thanked Miss Kate, profoundly grateful for her foresight. But carrying a small coin around in his pockets while fighting was risky; it could easily fall out.
"Luna," Jayden called out mentally. "If I place this device inside my Inventory, will its electromagnetic field still project around my physical body? Does it count as being 'on me'?"
[Yes] Luna replied instantly. [The System Inventory is a direct, localized spatial extension of your physical being. Items stored within it remain tethered to your personal aura. The disabler will function perfectly]
"Perfect," Jayden whispered. Then he reached out to his inventory and willed the small metallic coin into the spatial void. It vanished from his palm, safely secured.
Jayden walked over to window and stared at the moon. Suiting up and going out into the city tonight—the exact same night the EVA dropped a bounty on his head—was arguably the most reckless, stupid move he could make. Every cop, agent, and thug with a weapon would be scouring the shadows looking for him.
But Jayden didn't care. He wasn't scared of them.
The EVA had made their move. They had used the media to paint him as a monster and placed a price on his head to intimidate him into hiding.
It was time for him to issue his response.
He equipped his tactical suit, letting the dark fabric weave over his skin, pulled his heavy jacket on, and slid his mask over his face.
Pulling his hood up to obscure his silhouette, Jayden opened the balcony doors and stepped out into the cool night air.
With a powerful surge of kinetic energy, he vaulted off the railing, plunging into the darkness, heading straight for the crime-filled alleys and syndicate gang points of Emerald City.