Chapter 181

  Jake spun around, ready to front whatever enemy was behind him. As he turo face the other side of the tent, he spotted someone croug behind a rge chest with its lid open. The chest had been rge enough to pletely hide the person when Jake had just ehe tent, which expined why he hadn’t noticed him. Now, the figure rose slightly to peer over the lid, revealing himself.

  Jake crouched slightly, preparing t across the tent to take down the human before he could make a sound. The person must have sehe impending attack because, in an instant, he leaped to his full height and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

  “Wait,” he whispered urgently. “I’m not your enemy.”

  Judging by his clothes, it was clear he was a worker, not a bandit. Jake hesitated, uain about what to do. The person looked at him with a mix of terror and awe, but there was something else in his gaze. Despite the obvious terror at Jake’s appearahe worker seemed to look at him with a hint of hope.

  “My name is Johnny,” he introduced himself.

  Jake watched him, making no movements at all. One of the upgrades he had acquired for Feral Instincts allowed him to sehe emotional states and iions of nearby humans, pig up on their potential hostility. Thanks to this skill, he khat the worker across the tent posed no threat, so Jake allowed himself to rex just a little.

  Johnny watched him for a few seds. When it became obvious there would be no reply from the obsidian-bck mutant, he said, “ht. You ’t speak, you?”

  Johnny stepped around the chest to stand directly opposite Jake. He could sehe fear radiating from the human. It felt almost palpable to him.

  “And I heard you have some trouble with writing, is that right?” Johnny asked cautiously. “But while unig might be difficult for you, you uand human speech perfectly. You are an intelligent beie… the way you look. I once heard someone say you were just a regur survivor until something happeo you, turning you into… whatever you are now. I believe… this story. I think it’s true.”

  Johnny came to a halt just a few steps away. He was clearly terrified of Jake, even though he was trying hard not to show it. By walking so close, the human aimed to appear unafraid. Perhaps, he also wao stay near so he wouldn’t have to raise his voice above a whisper. He definitely seemed i on avoiding attrag the guards ient, which Jake certainly appreciated.

  Johnny made a brief pause, giving Jake another scrutinizing look. He visibly struggled to suppress a tremor that threateo overtake him. Jake was desperate to flee the bandit base before his earlier massacre at HQ was uncovered. Yet, he still hadn’t devised a pn for leaving unnoticed. With little mana remaining and uo use Cloak, avoidiion had bee impossible. The momeepped out of the tent and attempted to cross the base, both the turrets and guards would surely spot him. Perhaps, though, the worker in front of him could be useful in some way?

  Jake stayed motionless, his rge, unblinking eyes fixed on the human before him. Johnny seemed to have finally mao overe his fear, at least to a degree—just enough to prevent himself from shaking.

  “There are many rumors about you, you know?” Johnny said, l his voice even more. “They say you’re fighting a war against Los Demoniht? Everyoalking about it.”

  He gnced around, as if to make sure no one was eavesdropping, even though there were only the two of them ient.

  “And you know what? They’re absolutely terrified of you. Those Los Demonios who believe this city is theirs begin to shake with fear the moment someone brings you up.”

  Johnny’s lips twisted into a crooked smile.

  “It’s really funny to see those guys who think they’re so tough tremble in fear. We workers happen to overhear some of the guards’ versations, so we know you’ve siy of them by now. Some are so scared they won’t even step outside the base for fear of running into you. What a bunch of chis pretending to be tough guys!”

  Johnny even chuckled softly.

  “They have no idea what you look like because you leave no survivors. Every time you e across a bandit group, they all end up dead. No one makes it out alive. I did hear a rumor, though, that once, you let one go just so he could take your message to the gang leaders. But that guy was so terrified he couldn’t give an accurate description of you. His portrayal was overly dramatid pletely wrong. The only thing he mao get right is that you had pitch-bck skin and huge, scary eyes.”

  Johnny’s expression shifted back to serious.

  “But it’s the regur soldiers who are afraid of you, not the gang leaders. After all, the leaders never e after you themselves. Instead, they send their subordio hunt you down. None of the leaders have ever entered you, which is why they aren’t afraid of you. But it’s only a matter of time before you go after them as well, right? We think you first want to take care of all the soldiers to leave their leaders pletely vulnerable.”

  He then took a breath before stepping a little closer to Jake.

  “It’s Los Demonios who are your true enemies, not us—regur survivors who were captured and forced to work for them, right?” he asked, a hint of hope in his voiot esg Jake’s attention. “So you’re really waging war on Los Demonios, aren’t you? And you’ve been at it for quite some time, haven’t you?”

  Jake wondered how Johnny had reached such a clusion. After all, he had killed sur survivors too. Moreover, for all Johnny knew, Jake could be fighting Los Demonios solely in self-defense, and that wasn’t too far from reality. There were plenty of times when he had to ehem simply to defend himself.

  “So you’re pnning to save us all, right?” Johnny blurted out in the sed.

  If Jake had the ability to ugh, he would have done so. Johnny pletely misuood the situation. Him? A hero saving lives? That was absurd. Just ask Elena or Isra how they felt about him.

  He then recalled the gruesome sight of several dead survivors who had been tortured to death by Los Demonios. It was after witnessing that se that he decided to wage war against the gang. Until then, his frontations with them had been purely acts of self-defense. However, that brutal se ignited a fury within him that he rarely felt as a mutant.

  Still, Jake knew he was not some kind of superhero. His decision to put ao Los Demonin rimarily for his own sake. He relished the surge of ahat washed over him after witnessing that horrific se because it reminded him that he could still feel passion. He wao hold on to his humaions to retain what little humanity he had left. So did that make him a hero? He didn’t believe so—especially not after having taken the lives of many regur survivors himself.

  “It ain’t just my clusions,” Johnny said, as if reading Jake’s mind. “I heard a story about how you killed several members of the gang whoing to torture sur survivors to death. That shows you’re aiming to protect us from Los Demoniht?”

  Johnny’s words made Jake stop and think again. Maybe there was some truth in what he was saying after all.

  “Anyway, I was just sg off here,” Johnny said, his voice pulling Jake back from his musings. “They work us until we’re about to colpse from fatigue, so we try to grab whatever rest we . But I have to get back to work before one of the guards notices my absence.”

  He took aep closer. Now he was so close to Jake that he could touch him if he extended his hand toward him.

  “I dunno why you’re here,” Johnny said. “No arms are bring, and there have been no sounds of fighting, so I guess you’ve sneaked into the base for intel, right? It’s known that you turn invisible, but you weren’t when you darted into the tent. By the way you moved, I assume you suddenly ran out of mana and couldn’t keep your disguise up anymore. Am I correct? I might be wrong, but there’s a rumor that you need mana to survive and use your abilities.”

  Survivors had definitely learned quite a bit about him by that point.

  “Anyway, if I’m right, it means you’re trapped here, right?” Johnny asked. “You either don’t want to fight right now or yinally po sneak in and out unnoticed. But now, without your disguise, you ’t leave without being seen.”

  Johnny had been speaking hurriedly as if he were running out of time. He took a brief pause to catch his breath before tinuing.

  “What I’m trying to say is, I help you,” he said. “I get you out of the base without aig.”

  Johnny paused, staring ily into Jake’s eyes. He seemed to hesitate for a moment.

  “But iurn, you have to… to do something for me, okay?”

  Jake waited for him to eborate.