Chapter 190

  Following the order in which the three evolution forms were listed, Jake shifted his gaze to the oer Ravager. It was called Corruptor, and when he focused on it, a new vision filled his mind. Just like before, he perceived the events from an outside perspective, almost as if he were watg a movie.

  At first, Jake thought he was looking at his current form, but he quickly dismissed that thought. The mutant in the vision undoubtedly had to be Corruptor, and the momentary fusion he had just experienced came from the fact that the Corruptor in the vision didn’t look any different from Jake’s current form at all.

  While Jake couldn’t help but wonder why this evolution subcss looked no different from his current appearance, he chose not to dwell on it because he was sure he would find out soon enough.

  Jake kept watg as the Corruptor dashed through the rown streets. Eventually, the mutaered a high-rise aured deeper into the building. Suddenly, he found himself in a strange enviro. The walls of the corridor he moved along seemed to be covered in some pitch-bck substance.

  However, the Corruptor wasn’t affected by it. In fact, he felt right at home. Jake realized that it was the Corruptor’s ir, created by the mutant himself. As the mutant tio move into the deeper parts of the building, which he had reshaped into his ir, Jake examined his surroundings. The obsidian-bck, textured substance c the walls was strikingly simir to both his and the Corruptor’s bodies, clearly made from the same material.

  The alien corridor was shrouded in almost total darkness, but the Corruptor was unfazed. After all, he didn’t need much light since his night vision was nearly perfect. Finally, he reached what had to be the main cavern of his ir.

  It was hard to determine urpose the rge room had served before its transformation. Whatever the room had been before, it looked very different now. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all coated in the same obsidian-like material as the corridor the Corruptor had just emerged from.

  However, it was brighter in the cavern. The vast space was faintly illuminated by a bluish glow. Jake immediately spotted the source of the light—bulbous, shapeless masses ging here and there to the walls.

  Those strange glowing bubbles varied in size, the smallest roughly the size of a cat and the rgest parable to a human being. They reminded Jake of replication pods, but the creatures being developed within those bubbles were greatly different from ex-humans. Their exterior walls were translut, allowing Jake to peer inside, so he could see all kinds of nightmarish creatures being developed within.

  The Corruptor moved from one bubble to another, iing its tents and occasionally making some adjustments. Jake somehow instinctively uood what the Corruptor was doing. The mutant maniputed the geic traits of its creations still in the process of development, causing them to morph into different shapes, sprouting various natural ons like cws, pincers, ah as well as equipping them with various unique abilities.

  The Corruptor was experimenting with the geic code of its creations, striving to develop various types of creatures inteo serve different roles for its master. However, not all of the Corruptor’s creations were successful. Wheant did not achieve the desired oute, he destroyed the failed experiments and began the process anew. Some of his creations never even reached the final stages of development—upon realizing that the creatures f in the bubbles did not meet his expectations, the Corruptor obliterated the undeveloped spes, not even pausing to let them fully grow.

  It was a slow aiculous process, but the creatures that reached the final stages of development and were released from their bubbles turned out to be truly exceptional. Those who would face them would describe them as nightmarish, both in appearand in their dangerous abilities. However, to the Corruptor, they were remarkably beautiful, and their formidable powers made them invaluable allies.

  The geic code of the species that successfully pleted the development process and pleased their creator was memorized, allowing the Corruptor to initiate mass produ of these successful creations.

  The vision suddenly fast-forwarded and theuro normal speed. Jake saw that the Corruptor was ba the streets, surrounded by a rge group of various armored vehicles and armed survivors, attag him from every angle. He swiftly maneuvered among them, presenting aremely difficult target to hit. Simultaneously, his mind worked in overdrive, telepathically summoning his creations from different parts of the city. Jake realized that the ir the Corruptor had retly visited was just one of many he possessed.

  Obeying his telepathic call, his creations rushed toward his location as quickly as possible, and in under a mihey reached their master. The Corruptor issued a mental and for them to attack the humans surrounding him, and they instantly obeyed. Now swarmed by the Corruptor’s creations, the survivors seemed tet about him, their attention shifting to the various creatures attag them.

  There were all kinds of creatures, differing in size and abilities. Some moved on fs while others walked on two. Winged beings soared above, and some leaped toward their victims with deadly agility. Some creatures were equipped with cws ah, while others bore different ranged ons. The humans stood no ce against them, being sughtered in droves.

  As for the Corruptor, he didn’t take part in the massacre—at least, not personally. He hid in a nearby alley, croug low to the ground and remaining pletely motionless. While his body stayed inactive, his mind was anything but. The Corruptor had seized mental trol of one of his creations, a creature resembling a hellish dog. He trolled the beast, seeing through its eyes, attag survivors, tearing pieces of flesh out of their bodies with its razor-sharp teeth.

  When the survivors were all killed, the Corruptor severed the mental link to the dog-like creature, once again regaining trol of his own body. He then issued a mental and for his creations to retreat to their irs, and they immediately obeyed. Though some of the creatures had perished in battle, Jake somehow khe Corruptor would eventually replenish their numbers.

  The Corruptor then issued another mental and. Soon, the ground trembled, and a terrifying creature that resembled an enormous tipede appeared, having emerged from another ir. It was the width of a sedan and the length of about a dozen of them. The Corruptor stepped out of the alley and approached the massive i-like creature. He climbed atop its head, and for a moment, it seemed like he was going to ride it like a mount. However, something else happehe Corruptor y down on top of the creature’s massive head, and then his flesh seemingly merged with its body.

  The huge i-like creature raced across the streets, but now that it was oh its creator, it was actually the Corruptor who trolled it. He surged through the ravaged streets, moving incredibly fast on its numerous segmented legs. At times, it crawled up the walls of buildings, ging to them with surprising ease. At the sight of the monstrosity, survivors scattered in panie opened fire, but the bullets impag the creature’s hardened body caused minimal damage.

  There was another fast-forward moment. When it was over, Jake saw that the sery had ged once more. The colossal tipede now scurried across the parched, cracked earth that stretched endlessly in every dire beyond the city’s boundaries. At some point, the Corruptor reached a massive crevice—at least several meters wide—and crawled into it. He tio move deeper and deeper underground until he finally found himself inside another of his hidden irs.

  Just like the previous ir the Corruptor had visited, the walls were abundantly covered in the obsidian-like substance. Uhe previous ir, however, this one was signifitly rger. It was truly enormous but mostly empty. Jake wondered why the Corruptor needed so much vat space. He discovered the answer almost immediately.

  The Corruptor detached from the tipede-like creature’s head and jumped to the ground. He moved across the enormous cavern, where aremely massive bubble was attached to one wall. The Corruptor stood before it, peering inside and admiring some kind of Kaiju creature being developed within the massive bubble.

  That’s where the vision cluded.

  Wow, Jake thought. That was incredible.

  Then a system message appeared in his mind.

  Do you wish to choose Corruptor: Y/N

  Jake couldn’t help but notice that there was n this time. The Ravager subcss was inpatible with the Morph Disguise ability, but it appeared that the same did not hold true for the Corruptor subcss.

  Jake also now uood why the Corruptor’s appearance didn’t differ from his current form. Rather than ging outwardly and acquiring a range of new abilities lio a neearahe Corruptor had the power to create different creatures. He could issue telepathiands to them, take direct trol over their bodies, and even merge with some of the rger ones. It was definitely an intriguing subcss.

  However, before making a final decision on which path to take, he still o check out the final evolution form called Devastator.

  Happy Valentine's Day!