Chapter 488
Chapter 488
D entered the helicopter first, Jake right behind him. Once inside, he turned his head to check the cockpit. To his surprise, he saw that nobody was there. Both chairs were vacant, but the dashboard was lit up, showing that all the systems were operating within normal parameters and that the aircraft was ready for takeoff.
For a moment, Jake thought that one of them would need to pilot the helicopter. But as it turned out, he was wrong. When D slid the side door closed behind them, Jake felt the vibrations radiating from the engine intensify, and in the next second, the helicopter lifted skyward.
Soaring high in the air, it banked away from Dead City. The craft then leveled toward its destination and sliced through the open sky at a good pace. So the helicopter was either on autopilot or remotely controlled by someone.
Jake stepped around D, who stood motionlessly in the center of the main area, and made his way to the cockpit. He stood just behind the two chairs, looking out through the transparent bubble of the cockpit.
The helicopter zipped over the Scarlands. There was nothing below them but huge chasms marring the ground. Wherever they were going, it was still a long way off.
Jake then shifted his attention to the dashboard, checking various gauges and readouts. On one of the screens, he saw a timer that displayed the approximate amount of time it would take them to arrive at their destination: just a little shy of two hours.
So he had to brace himself for quite a lengthy and uneventful trip.
He turned around and glanced at D. His counterpart remained in the same spot, still as a statue, silently watching him. Since Owen was in control, Jake contemplated trying to talk to him.
Sure, Owen couldn’t write, as this effort would consume too much of his mana, and he was already low on that particular magical energy as it was. But he could ask his counterpart simple questions to which he could either nod or shake his head.
However, before getting to that, Jake decided to do something else first. After killing the Titan, he had leveled up, so now was a good moment to allocate his skill points.
He closed his eyes and pulled up the status screen.
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Name: Jake Turner
Race: Ex-Human Morphus
Evolution Stage 3: “Apex Manifestation: Corruptor”
Level: 192
XP: 216,175 / 262,800
HP: 398,894 / 415,000
MP: 412,935 / 450,000
Shield Integrity: 0 / 175,000
CP: 583
SP: 5
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Body: 315
Mind: 353
Magick: 350
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Chainsaw Arms: Rank IV (45%) (Upgrades: 4 of 5) (Epic)
Drill Gauntlets: Rank IV (41%) (Upgrades: 4 of 5) (Epic)
Grappling Hook Arm: Rank IV (39%) (Upgrades: 4 of 5) (Epic)
Rotary Blade Launcher: Rank IV (47%) (Upgrades: 4 of 5) (Epic)
Cinch Net Blaster: Rank III (23%) (Upgrades: 3 of 6) (Legendary)
Ground Strike: Rank I (100%) (Upgrades: 1 of 5) (Epic)
Shardflare: Rank I (100%) (Upgrades: 1 of 5) (Epic)
Restoration: Rank I (60%) (Upgrades: 1 of 5) (Epic)
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All his combat abilities were gradually progressing. The Restoration skill, however, remained stuck at 60%. It only advanced when he slept, but since Jake didn’t need to sleep, he only did so when he needed to gain an energy shield as an additional protection measure. For example, when he knew he was going to face a particularly powerful opponent. Which didn’t happen all that often. For that reason, the skill hardly progressed. Still, Jake made a mental note to use Restoration more often, if for nothing else than to unlock more upgrades for it.
Two of his abilities had reached the 100% mark, Ground Strike and Shardflare, so he used two skill points to elevate them from Rank I to Rank II. He currently had an upgrade purchased for each of the two abilities.
Shardflare allowed him to detach a small piece of his body, fill it with mana, and basically turn it into a grenade that exploded on impact. The first upgrade for this ability was called Remote Control, allowing him to trigger a Shardflare at will. As for Ground Strike’s first upgrade, it basically made the ability more powerful. So each of the two abilities now had a second upgrade unlocked, and Jake took a moment to examine them.
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Shardflare: Rank II (0%) (Upgrades: 1 of 4) (Epic)
1. Remote Control: Already Owned
2. Elemental Damage: During the creation of a shardflare, you can add a magical gem to the forming projectile to infuse it with an elemental type of damage. Cost: 1 SP
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Ground Strike: Rank II (0%) (Upgrades: 1 of 5) (Epic)
1. Increased Power: Already Owned
2. Pounding: Upon landing and striking the ground, you can proceed to pound the ground with your fists for a few seconds to create a localized earthquake around you. Every enemy caught in the ground tremors you cause will receive a Dazed debuff, slowing them down for a short amount of time. Cost: 1 SP
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Jake spent two more skill points to acquire both upgrades. He now had one SP left. After giving the matter a second of consideration, he decided to keep it for now. He then opened his eyes, and all the information vanished. He looked at D. He was where he had been a minute before.
A thought occurred to Jake. He had received over 200,000 XP for killing the Titan, which was quite a lot for a single enemy. However, he hadn’t been the only one dealing damage to it. He and D had inflicted about an equal amount of damage on the monster. Which meant that the total amount of experience for a single Titan was well over 400,000 XP, a really huge amount.
He remembered that regular survivors split the experience for killing a mutant based on the damage they dealt to it. If the system worked the same way for him and D, then his partner should have received about the same amount of XP.
Jake looked at D and summoned his stats. He was surprised to see that D’s level was still 233. Which was weird. It was the same level he had when Jake had first met him. Sure, Owen had been over fifty levels higher than Jake was at that time, so progression should have been slower for him. Still, Jake felt D should have gained at least one or two levels by now.
Retrieving the electrolarynx from his inventory and pressing it against his mandible, he asked, “Can you evolve?”
Owen met his gaze and shook his head, confirming what Jake had already suspected.
“Can you level up?”
Owen shook his head again.
“Is something preventing you from evolving and leveling up?” Jake asked.
Owen nodded.
“What is it?” Jake asked, even though he knew Owen wouldn’t be able to provide an explanation.
For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then D raised a hand and pointed a finger at his temple. Understanding dawned on Jake at once.
“The brain chip?” he asked. “The one the Spartans implanted in your head?”
Owen nodded. So that was it. The brain chip was preventing him from evolving and leveling up. The Commander had claimed Owen had agreed to have it implanted, but Jake found that hard to believe. Even if Owen couldn’t have known what consequences it would carry, it still seemed unlikely he would willingly accept something that might hinder him. And considering how many lies the Commander had already told, this was probably just one more.
There was so much he wanted to ask Owen, but he was aware that he wouldn’t be able to reply to most of his questions. Mind Reader also didn’t work on him, as he already knew. So he decided to just wait. He turned to look out through the cockpit again. By that point, it was pretty obvious where they were going. He would soon learn what had really happened between Owen and the Spartans, he just needed to wait a little longer.
To keep his mind off it, he established a mental link with the Hollow Apex and checked what genetic material had been extracted from the sample of the Titan’s body. He learned that it was called Ontogenetic Node and that it greatly facilitated the growth and development of large creatures.
Jake got really excited. After reading the description of the genetic material, he discovered that maturing a Kaiju from a primorph to a fully grown specimen could take only a few hours instead of a few days if an Ontogenetic Node was applied at the beginning of the process.
It was definitely great news. His very first Kaiju had taken several days to develop. It was still locked away in the Behemoth Cavern. As soon as he returned to the Apex Hollow, he intended to release the Kaiju, and he would likely immediately begin developing another one. And thanks to the genetic material harvested from the Titan, he would be able to decrease the development time to just a few hours.
Being away from Dead City, he couldn’t check the status of the Ravage Contamination. Still, he was well aware that now that he and D had killed one Titan, there were four more left. He wondered if they all had the same type of genetic material to offer.
He remembered the Commander telling him that every Titan was different, so perhaps each one yielded a different kind of genetic material. But even if they were different kinds, they should all be equally powerful.
In any case, Jake had four more powerful genetic materials he could extract, so he was really excited about that.
The helicopter kept slicing through the skies toward its destination. About two hours later, they finally arrived. The craft landed next to a huge chasm, and D signaled for Jake to follow him as he stepped to the door. After getting out of the helicopter, D stepped up to the edge of the chasm, pointing into the darkness below.
Apparently, they were going to jump down. Without waiting for him, D stepped off and dropped into the abyss. Jake followed. A moment later, he landed next to D on a flat surface that was clearly artificial. He looked around but didn’t spot anything of note. Owen stepped to the center of the area just as a circular section before him split into two halves, sliding in opposite directions.
Immediately, what looked like an elevator car slid out. The door opened, and D entered. Jake followed suit. For a moment, they descended, then the door slid open, and they got out. Jake found himself in a futuristic-looking corridor lined with doors on one side. Everything was clean, and the metal interior was minimalistic. The ceiling was lined with fluorescent lights, bathing the hallway in soft light.
Owen purposefully strode down the corridor, with Jake following close behind. The corridor was curved, constantly bending gently to the left. Jake had a feeling that if they walked long enough, they would eventually return to the elevator they had emerged from.
But their walk wasn’t that long. Owen soon stopped before one door, which was identical to the rest. The door slid into the wall, and Owen stepped aside, motioning for Jake to enter. He stepped in, cautiously looking around. Even though he was sure there was no danger, he still kept his guard up.
The room was rectangular and quite spacious, but other than a bank of monitors lining the wall opposite the door, it contained nothing else. Jake wasn’t looking at the monitors, though. His attention was fixed on the male figure standing in the center of the room, facing him.
Or, more accurately, it was only half a man. Its upper body was human: a lean, naked torso. Since not a single thread of cloth covered it, Jake could see it was heavily scarred. The torso had one natural arm and one artificial. The head was completely hairless, and deep furrows carved harsh lines across its face. Bright blue eyes stared at Jake intently.
Below the waist, however, the human body ended. The lower half of the figure was entirely artificial, made of eight mechanical, spider-like legs. The human torso and the artificial body fused seamlessly.
For a moment, Jake and the man just stared at each other. Then the human’s lips curved into a smile.
“Welcome to my little sanctuary, Jake,” Mad Mick said. “It’s great to finally meet you face-to-face.”