Chapter 44

  Jake peered into the replication pod in front of him. Back when he was just a regur survivor, he had examihose human-sized co-like pods at some point. He already khat a replication pod had the remarkable ability to gee a mutant, nurturing it from a single-celled anism to a fully growure within a matter of minutes. Once a mutant reached full development, a replication pod unfurled, allowing the creature to emerge before sealing itself once more to begin crafting another being.

  However, now that he was a mutant, his heightened senses allowed him to dis more details ihe translut pod. For a moment, he was mesmerized by the intricate process of mutant creation unfolding before him. The translut pod was filled with some kind of life-giving liquid, in which a mutant was gradually taking shape, growing rger and filling the interior of the pod. The creature was alive, but its eyes remained closed. Jake watched its fingers eloo menag cws while sharp teeth protruded, filling its oversized mouth.

  Even though the process wasn’t finished yet, Jake could already tell that the mutant was a walker. It mostly looked like a regur human, but its feet and hands were cwed, and there were way more razor-sharp, poieeth is enrged mouth than there should be.

  In his mind, a system notification popped up.

  Creature analyzed. The status of mutation research has been updated.

  Jake gnced around the room, taking note of the numerous pods but finding no mutants in sight. He closed his eyes and called up the quest menu. The active oood at the top of the list, followed by the retly pleted hunt. He focused on his current quest.

  Type: Mutation Research

  Objective: Analyze replication pods with three different types of mutants.

  Reward: Bded Tentacles

  Status: In Progress (1 of 3)

  He opened his eyes and sed the area once more. Some of the nearby pods housed more mutants. They were ie stages of development, so he could already tell they were walkers. To advance his quest, he o locate pods taining different types of mutants. He stepped away from the pod he had already ied and was about to explore another when a sound caught his attention.

  It was the disgusti sound of a pod on his right opening abruptly, resulting iransparent liquid within spshing outward. A fully formed mutant, a familiar walker breed, emerged from the pod. Jake’s mutant eyes granted him an expanded field of view, allowing him to track the movements of the newly created mutant without needing to turn his head as it lurched toward him.

  The walker held its cwed hands toward him, about to tear into his face. Jake sidestepped with ease as he swiped at his oppo, his own cws digging deep into the mutant’s flesh. The walker growled more in rage than pain, blood p from the ssh in the side of its neck. The mutant spun to face him, but it was moving too slowly for Jake. He waited for his eo finish its turn, exposing its throat before immediately striking again. The cws on his right hand sliced deeply into its flesh, nearly beheading the creature.

  Enemy killed. +10 XP

  The replication pods that had taihe mutants in the final stage of development moments earlier began to open, disg fully developed creatures one by one. Among them, Jake spotted a leaper to his left. This mutant type stood out more from a regur human than a walker did. Due to their uered anatomy, it was easier for leapers to move on all fours, resembling the fluid motions of a lizard. Leapers were definitely mile and faster than walkers, which was why Jake had developed a strong dislike for them during his time as a survivor.

  Transformed into a mutant himself, now possessiened senses and enhanced reflexes, Jake no longer felt threatened by them.

  The mutant scurried toward him, then paused for a sed and suddenly leaped. Jake jumped to the side, simultaneously throwing a cwed hand toward the approag mutant. The tips of his talons dug deeply into the creature’s flesh, rending muscle and cartige with ease. A sed ter, the headless leaper dropped to the floor behind him, the fountain of blood p from the stump of its neck. The severed head flew farther away, striking a wall before boung off the floor. It rolled across the room, leaving a trace of blood in its path aually settling in one of the ers.

  Enemy killed. +25 XP

  More mutants moved toward him from several dires. He ducked when a walker reached out for him with cwed hands. With a swipe of his talons, he opened up its belly, the steaming insides falling out. Before the dead mutant could even colpse to the floor, Jake was already dealing with another walker, attag it in a flurry of swings, making a bloody mess of its torso. He attempted to stab another mutant with his cws, but they didn’t inflict much damage. His cws were more suited for sshing than pierg. In the Geic Development Interface, there was a on called Swords. Eventually, he po acquire it to have a range of ons for various situations.

  Another mutant lu him, ending his line of thought. He turo face the hreat, dodging its attad shing out with his talons. His cws dug deeply into its throat, tearing its flesh and causing blood to spray. Jake had long since learo always go for the throat when he had the ce to do so. It was the most vulnerable spot of this mutant type. Jake then finished off the previous walker that he’d pierced with cws a moment before.

  Yet another mutant uself at him from the side. This one almost mao catch him with its talons. Jake spped its cwed hands aside with one hand and attacked the mutant with the talons oher, digging all his pointed fingers into its throat and tearing out a huge k of flesh. The mutant didn’t live long after that.

  Multiple enemies killed. +50 XP.

  Another notifierged in his mind.

  You have gained enough XP to level up. Your level went up from 3 to 4. You have gained 1 SP.

  Jake looked around, ready to engage another enemy. There weren’t a. The replication pods that had disged the mutants had already started produg new ohe creatures in the remaining cos had not yet reached their final stages of developmeher. Jake strolled around the room with bouncy strides, iing each pod closely. The majority were in the process of developing walkers. To advance his quest, he o locate a pod taining a different type of mutant.

  Finally, he discovered one. Peering inside, he sapeared to be a leaper in the early stages of development. It floated ihe liquid the pod was filled with, gradually growing and maturing. Jake watched the process for a few seds until a system notification appeared in his head.

  Creature analyzed. The status of mutation research has been updated.

  A thought occurred to him. Could he check the status of his quest without shutting his eyes and summoning all of his stats? He attempted to access only the status of his quest, and it worked—the system message popped up in his mind.

  Status: In Progress (2 of 3)

  So he o shut his eyes only when he wao review all of his stats. If he wished to check a specific detail, he could do so even with his eyes open. It was good to know.

  To plete his quest, Jake o i one more pod. He resumed walking around the room and searg for a co with a different kind of mutant within. After some time, he located one. In one of the ers of the room, he came across a pod with a rge mutant being developed i, potentially a shambler. As the mutant grew rger, it expanded and pressed against the walls of the pod from withie the strain, the pod’s material resiliently stretched without tearing, revealing its remarkable esticity.

  Enhanced Senses reached 100%. You ow increase it to Rank II.

  He’d been peering into the pods so hard his skill had advanced surprisingly quickly.

  Status: plete (3 of 3)

  Just as he checked the status of his quest, yet another system notifierged.

  Mutation researplete. Bded Tentacles has been added to the Geic Development Interface.

  So he’d just leveled up, maxed out the current rank of Enhanced Senses, and received a new ability. However, before delving into these new developments, he decided to destroy all the replication pods to prevent any new mutants from emerging while he trated on his stats. Now that the quest was plete, he no longer hem, anyway.

  He set about tearing apart replication pods with his cws, getting some XP for destroying each of them. His hard-skinned obsidian-bck body was covered in mutant blood and pods’ stinky liquid from head to toe by that point, but it didn’t bother him at all. Surprisingly, even the repugnant smell, which he could seremely well due to Enhanced Senses, didn’t perturb him much.

  He tio destroy the transparent cos, tearing apart the anic material they were made of. Underdeveloped mutants wallowed in the pod liquid spread across the floor. He crushed the immature creatures with his hard feet, turning each of them into a pulpy mass, earnira experience points for that.

  At st, only one pod remained intact. He turoward the co led in a er of the room, in which the shambler he’d spotted earlier was nearing pletion. The co appeared so swollen in every dire it seemed to be on the verge of rupturing. Jake waited. He could have destroyed the pod a long time ago, but he’d opted not to. He desired to challenge himself against a shambler because he’d never fought one as a morphus. With no other mutants or pods to produce them left, it was going to be a one-otle.

  He didn’t have to wait long. The pod unfurled, and the fully-developed shambler emerged, immediately log eyes with him.

  Let’s dance, Jake thought.