Chapter 158
Jake felt a wave of excitement wash through him as he finally id eyes on the Los Demonios base. However, while he had finally pinpoihe base of the bandit gang he had decred war on, he was relut to be hasty. So he spent the several hours taking iivity withiall perimeter walls, p his move.
As he had already noticed, various structures and traptions y scattered around the camp. They hummed with activity, ing out essential supplies like food, tools, and ammo. The base seemed to be self-suffit, produg everything its inhabitants o survive in this harsh world. The air was filled with the sounds of maery, voices, and the roar of the engines of vehicles, which occasionally drove in or out of the base.
So, this was the stronghold he had vowed to take down, and now it was right in front of him. He carefully absorbed everything—the t perimeter walls that loomed above the base, the vigint guards patrolling the grounds, the AI-trolled turrets sing the area outside, and the stant activity within. From his vantage point, he could see clusters of people engaged in various tasks: some tinkering with makeshift maes, others hauling supplies, and a few deep in discussion, perhaps pnning their raid.
Jake paid special attention to the people ihe base. He noticed that not all of them wore red bandanas or scarves. Those who did were legitimate members of the gang, each armed and carrying themselves with an overfident demeanor, ag like they owhe pce. The roup of people was unnamed and not wearing anything red. From the way they were treated, it was obvious they weren’t members of the gang, but rather regur survivors who had been captured and coerced to do manual bor for the gang.
The workers toiled diligently to keep the facility running smoothly, dug maintenan various meisms and traptions. They were probably categorized as maery meics ineers based on their skills. Each peculiar, rge meism featured a puter panel ied into one of its surfaces, and Jake frequently saw workers stepping up to read the data dispyed on the ss. Other workers collected items from the traptions that had produced goods and carried them to peared to be ste units.
The armed gang members who weren’t engaged in patrolling the area or any other activities watched the workers, occasionally yelling at them to work harder and faster, even though the workers were too scared to sck off. The bandits s the workers for visibly no other reason than to assert their dominance.
At one point, Jake even witnessed a garide up to a worker reading data from a traption’s s and suddenly strike him with the butt of his assault rifle, sending the unfortunate worker sprawling to the ground. The bandit followed up by kig him in the ribs food measure.
When the worker finally got to his feet, blood trickled down from the side of his head where he had been struck. The gangster shouted at him, but Jake was too far away to hear the exact words, leaving him puzzled about the cause of the bandit’s fury. Had the worker actually done something wrong, or had the gangster simply taken out his pent-up anger on him? Jake couldn’t tell. The worker resumed his duties, a trickle of blood running from the wound. The puy wasn’t even offered a stim to heal himself.
Then the bandit left the worker alone, and the tter tio work on the rge device, occasionally stealing quices at the s to read the data. The nearby workers pretended not to notice the brief aindless violehat had just occurred. As the aggressive bandit strode past them, they averted their gazes, trating ily on their own assigs and hoping he wouldn’t take his anger out on them . They made every effort to appear fully occupied and hard at work.
Some of the workers visibly trembled with fear as the bandit sauntered by. He couldn’t help but notice the effect he had on them, relishing every sed, a smirk curling at the ers of his lips. Though he was just a regur soldier in the gang, he took pleasure in the power he wielded over the ordinary workers. While the angsters refrained from viole that moment, they clearly treated the workers in a simir manner, regarding them with the same pt.
Jake was torn by flig feelings. Anger bubbled inside of him as he eyed the gang responsible for so much suffering. Yet, a spark of curiosity flickered within him as well. How had Los Demonios mao achieve this entirely self-sustained operation? The iy it took to build such a ptrigued him, even if it was for nefarious purposes. He wondered where the resources to build this facility had e from. He loo know.
As he tio observe the activity within the perimeter walls, Jake carefully pondered his move. Although he didn’t pn to un immediate assault on the base, thoughts of an attack were already brewing. A Gravity Leap followed by a double jump could easily take him over the tall perimeter walls and onto the base grounds. However, charging in recklessly could lead to a failure—or worse, death. Jake was fident in his ability to deal with the bandits, but he had no idea how powerful the turrets that topped the watchtowers might be. Before initiating an attack, he knew he o gather more intelligence, learn his foes’ patterns, and pinpoint vulnerabilities in their defenses. After all, information could be as powerful as any on.
Jake tio patiently observe the movements ihe pound, noting the patterns in the guards’ shifts and the behavior of the AI-operated turrets. He knew he o remain hidden, biding his time until the right moment arose. It wasn’t just about obliteration, but it was about dismantling Los Demonios from the i, crippling their operations in a way that would ehey couldn’t simply rebuild. Destroying this base would only be the first step toward aplishing his goal, as it was clear that this location wasn’t their main stronghold—it was just too small for that.
He was aware that the gang had an impressive fleet of vehicles, including not just cars but also numerous helicopters. There had to be many more members in the gang, yet the base beloeared capable of housing only a few dozen people in total. The small parking area ihe base tained a couple e SUVs, and there was only enough space left for a handful of additional vehicles.
On the eastern side of the base was the only helipad, and it was currently empty. There weren’t any other suitable nding spots for helicopters within the pound. Clearly, this base was merely one of many trolled by Los Demonios, and it certainly wasn’t their maiional hub. Wherever nd vehicles and aircraft belonging to the gang were manufactured, it definitely wasn’t done here. Jake was vihat all the gang’s vehicles were created from scratot sged, because they didn’t have a post-apocalyptic look to them. Instead, they appeared pristine, brand-new, as if produced in factories. Some of the vehicles, particurly the aircraft and motorbikes, even sported futuristic designs. While the base produced some survival ies and equipment, it was obvious that rger items like vehicles were manufactured elsewhere.
Suddenly, a disturbance broke out at the farthest side of the base from his position, and Jake quickly turned his attention to that area to see what was going on.
