Chapter 416
Chapter 416
His hand a blur of motion, Jake yanked his revolver from its holster and aimed at the group of charging mutants. There were eight of them in total, and his sidearm held exactly the same number of bullets in its cylinder. Six mutants sprinted in a nearly perfect line toward him and the human, while the remaining two lagged slightly behind. The two were clearly visible through the gaps between the front line of attackers. All of these details registered in Jake’s mind in a fraction of a second.
Using his left palm to cock the hammer after each shot, Jake fired eight times in rapid succession. His movements were so quick that the eight gunshots didn’t sound like separate shots. Instead, they merged into one prolonged, thunderous roar. Each bullet found its mark, striking each of the eight mutants squarely in the head. The epic revolver he was using was powerful enough to cause their skulls to burst apart in a gruesome explosion of blood, bone fragments, and brain matter.
From Jake’s perspective, the eight mutants were moving in slow motion. In reality, they weren’t slowed down at all. Instead, it was Jake who was moving with incredible speed while time flowed as normal. His left hand, cocking the revolver’s hammer after each shot, became a blur, while his right hand shifted aim from one mutant to the next with machine-like precision. Barely two seconds passed between the moment he reached for his sidearm and the moment he twirled it back into its holster.
Just like that, the fight was finished, over before Ragnar had the chance to line up a shot and pull the trigger. He stood frozen, disbelief etched across his face, his eyes wide like saucers as he muttered, “How… What… Huh?!”
Jake, unfazed, spoke in a calm voice. “Do you want to search the bodies for loot, or should we move on to the anomaly?”
However, the human still couldn’t process what he had just witnessed. “What… What just happened?”
“You saw what happened,” Jake remarked with a casual shrug. On the surface, he seemed relaxed, but inside, he scolded himself for overdoing it. He had wanted to show off, but he had clearly gone too far.
It was simply a matter of habit. He was accustomed to moving in combat at his top speed, all while spotting the smallest details in his enemies’ behavior and predicting their next strike before it happened. Since he often chose opponents far more powerful than himself, maintaining peak reaction time in battle was often the difference between winning and losing.
In retrospect, however, he realized he should have restrained his agility and reflexes. Apparently, no human could move so fast or deliver shots with that kind of flawless precision.
“But… that’s impossible! How’d you pull that off?!”
“Like I said, my Perception and Agility attributes are off the charts,” Jake replied, flashing the human a grin and hoping he’d buy into that explanation and move on. “Always dreamed of being a gunslinger who could strike with perfect precision.”
Ragnar continued staring at him for a few seconds. Finally, he seemed to get over it. Shaking his head, he said, “So you weren’t pulling my leg earlier. Damn. I’ve never seen anything like that. Absolutely incredible. Now I almost feel guilty for even thinking you’d slip up and hit the anomaly by accident.”
Jake let out a chuckle. “That’s fine. By the way, are you ready to head toward the anomaly, or would you rather check the bodies for loot first?”
Ragnar’s gaze drifted to the dead bodies strewn across the pavement as he said, “I didn’t even have a chance to do anything. Barely lifted a finger. So I’m guessing all the loot belongs to you alone.”
“Honestly, I’ve got everything I need,” Jake replied, waving a hand dismissively. “So go ahead, grab anything you need. I don’t mind.”
“You sure? Thanks, man. That’s generous of you.”
About a minute later, they had settled back into their route toward the mall.
“So, you’re from Base Samantha?” Jake prompted, resuming the conversation that had been cut short by the mutant attack. “I’ve heard quite a bit about your group.”
“Yeah?” Ragnar shot him a sidelong look. “What exactly have you heard, and from where? You said you’re not affiliated with any base, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah. I prefer to survive on my own. But that doesn’t mean I don’t interact with anybody. Occasionally, I trade with people I meet and exchange different bits of news. The group I met not long ago told me you guys were prisoners at the Los Demonios main base.”
“That’s true,” Ragnar confirmed.
“Wow… escaping from that place? That’s seriously impressive.”
Ragnar only shrugged, the gesture casual, as though breaking free from Los Demonios was nothing worth bragging about.
“Word is you had help from the morphus. Haven’t crossed paths with him myself. Is he really as terrifying as they say?”
“Well, it’s true that Samantha’s group mostly consists of those who were held captive at the Los Demonios stronghold. But I’m not actually one of them. I joined them after they arrived in the city and established their base.”
“I see,” Jake said, disappointed. Since Ragnar wasn’t part of Samantha’s original group, he likely didn’t hold a high position within her ranks and probably wasn’t trusted with many of her secrets.
“I’ve never encountered the morphus, either,” Ragnar admitted. “Only heard rumors about him.”
“Samantha must be very grateful to him for rescuing her group from the Los Demonios stronghold and helping her strike back at those scum.”
“On the contrary, she’s furious with him,” Ragnar replied. “I’m short on specifics, never talked to her myself, but I’ve spoken with some of the guys close to her, the ones who were captured and later fought alongside her at the bandit base. They say she despises the morphus and is already planning to raid his lair at some point.”
“Is that so?” Jake’s tone held the faintest trace of feigned surprise.
“Yeah. If you ask me, that’s pretty dumb. She seems to hold a grudge against him for something minor, but she isn’t nearly powerful enough to take him on. At least she seems to understand that, since she isn’t planning to confront him in the near future.”
“That’s good, right? From what I’ve heard, the morphus is literally unkillable. If she decides to attack him, she’ll be putting the lives of all her people at risk.”
“Yeah. Luckily, not all of them agree with her that attacking the morphus is necessary. Some clearly don’t understand her obsession with waging war against him. Still, a few of her most loyal followers would follow her anywhere, no matter the risk… even straight into the morphus’ lair.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jake said, shaking his head.
“Exactly. I’m not one of those zealots. If the morphus isn’t a threat to humans, then why go looking for a fight?”
“I’m with you on that,” Jake replied.
“After hearing what Samantha’s planning, I’m honestly starting to regret joining her group,” he admitted. “I’m hoping she’ll come to her senses, but if she pushes ahead with an attack on the morphus’ lair, I’m out. I’ll pack my things and leave. Better to be alive than die for a hollow cause.”
“I don’t get it,” Jake said. “How exactly is Samantha hoping to defeat the morphus? Does she really think she’ll ever be strong enough to match him? Even Los Demonios failed to stop him, and she’s nowhere close to their level. But even if she manages to reach their level of development someday, the morphus is constantly evolving, always staying miles ahead of her. How can she not see that?”
“She does. That’s why she’s been holding back, waiting until she can find or develop a weapon strong enough to harm the morphus.”
Jake arched his brow. “And how exactly does she plan on pulling that off?”
“Well, from what I’ve heard, she plans to salvage useful tech from Los Demonios’ destroyed main base.”
“Really?” This time, Jake was genuinely surprised. The information was new to him.
“Yeah. She regularly dispatches a team to fly out there, recover whatever tech they can find, and bring it back so she can try to repair it, and, if possible, replicate it.”
“Any luck so far?”
“None that I’ve heard of. The place is complete wreckage, barely anything survived the explosion the morphus caused. Still, Samantha holds on to the hope that her people might be able to salvage some tech, so she keeps sending them to the site, digging through the rubble. Seems like a fool’s errand, if you ask me. The morphus made sure there was nothing left of the Los Demonios main base. He didn’t just destroy the base, he erased it”
Hearing that Samantha had failed to recover any salvageable tech somewhat eased Jake’s concerns. He pressed the human for more information regarding her possible plans, but he didn’t have anything else to share. After that, the discussion drifted into small talk. Jake wasn’t particularly interested, but he did his best to keep the conversation going.
They continued their journey through the city streets, steering clear of zones tainted by Ravage Contamination, until the looming silhouette of the ruined mall came into view.