Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 286

Chapter 286

He had been searching for a group of Los Demonios for a while. So far, he had failed to catch a bandit, despite spotting Los Demonios vehicles a few times. However, it was always from a distance, and as soon as the occupants noticed him, they sped away, giving him no chance to approach.

He couldn’t help but wonder what it all meant. Previously, he could hardly encounter a group of Los Demonios without them attacking him on sight. Now, however, the situation was completely different—every bandit group he came across immediately fled without engaging him.

He tried using Mind Reader on them, but even though he could use this ability from a distance, he needed to be within about thirty yards of a target. Los Demonios, however, didn’t allow him to get that close.

So he still wasn’t sure what was going on. Perhaps the leader of the bandit organization had finally decided to leave him alone. Somehow, Jake didn’t really believe that. A more plausible explanation was that the regular soldiers were consciously avoiding getting into any confrontation with him.

He was currently jogging down one of the overgrown streets, swishing through the tall grass bursting from the cracks in the damaged asphalt. Suddenly, his enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of several human voices in the distance. He couldn’t see anybody yet, but he could already tell a group of survivors was moving in his direction from ahead. 

Activating Cloak, he turned and moved to the right side of the street. Once he emerged onto the sidewalk, he performed a Gravity Leap. When he reached the height of the third floor, he launched his grappling hook at the wall. Once it latched onto the surface, he pulled himself toward it. Upon contact, he employed Adhesive Secretion, then turned around so that his back was against the wall. Pressing the tips of his fingers and soles to the surface behind him, he adhered securely to the building.

He went completely still, waiting for the group of humans to get closer. In his peripheral vision, he could see them coming from the right. He already could tell they were regular survivors, not Los Demonios.

However, they were equipped with quite impressive gear. The weapons they carried were high-level, and until now, Jake had only seen such top-notch guns in the hands of bandits. He couldn’t help but wonder where this group had acquired such high-end equipment.

He kept watching them as they drew closer. Once they were within the effective range of Mind Reader, he activated the ability, scrutinizing the memories of each human one by one. With the ability upgraded to the maximum, it took him only a few seconds to review several days’ worth of each target’s memories.

After delving into the humans’ minds, he learned something intriguing. They had received their high-level weapons from Melissa. Over the past few days, she and Catalina had been actively recruiting survivors for their cause. Those who agreed to join the fight against Los Demonios were given powerful weapons and granted shelter at their bases whenever they needed it.

With more and more people joining Catalina and Melissa, it was obvious Skullface would soon learn what had happened at those two bases. It was just a matter of time before he tried to reclaim the lost territory. The two women were aware of this, working real hard to recruit as many people as possible, gather resources, and upgrade their bases’ defenses.

Jake also learned that each of the humans nearing his position had a piece of red fabric hidden beneath their clothes or tucked away in one of their pockets. If they stumbled across a Los Demonios group, they planned to display the pieces of fabric to pretend to be members of the bandit organization. For now, they kept the pieces of fabric concealed, as they didn’t want to be suddenly attacked by a group of regular survivors if they happened to meet one. 

Jake kept watching the group, struggling to choose a course of action. One part of him wanted to jump down and grab one of the humans. It would be easy for him to subdue one and take them to his lair. However, the other side of him tried to reason with him, persuading him not to go down that path.

Despite being a monster, he believed it was worth preserving the small amount of humanity he had left. It was justifiable to slay Los Demonios for all the trouble they had caused him and the ordinary survivors. But hunting down regular survivors and using them as mere resources in his twisted plans to expand his lair should be off-limits for him, especially since they seemed to be his allies now.

Still unsure of what to do, Jake kept watching the group pass his position. They were completely unaware of the invisible predator clinging to the building’s wall far above them. They should have paid more attention to their surroundings. Instead, they completely ignored everything around them, talking loudly among themselves and not even trying to keep their voices down.

The city had recently been upgraded to the next level, becoming more dangerous than ever. Old types of monsters had become stronger and new mutant types had been introduced. Jake had already encountered some of them and, from personal experience, knew how dangerous those new types of mutants were. 

The group of people below him, however, seemed to have grown overconfident—a dire mistake on their part. With high-level weapons at their disposal, they likely considered themselves a formidable force, capable of handling anything this world could throw at them. 

Jake’s supernatural hearing picked up snarling and hissing sounds coming from deep within the building, to which he was clinging. The humans, however, were none the wiser. They kept talking and laughing without a care in the world. As Jake listened, the sounds made by the mutants grew increasingly louder, and a moment later, the monsters surged out of the building.

The humans only then became aware of the swarm of monsters coming at them. The mood within their group shifted instantly. They turned to face the approaching monsters, bringing up their weapons. However, it was obvious they would be overrun long before they could kill all the mutants. 

The humans were about to pay the ultimate price for their overconfidence. Jake expected the group to be slaughtered within seconds, yet something unexpected happened. A semi-transparent bluish shield enveloped the group. One of the humans must have cast a magic spell. The first few mutants to reach the shield bumped into it, bouncing back and tumbling to the ground.

The energy shield bubble seemed to be powerful and resilient, protecting the survivors from all angles. However, it seemed to be stationary, unable to shift with the caster, as the group chose to stand their ground rather than retreat to safety.

The humans formed a defensive circle at the center of the bubble, standing back to back and aiming their guns in different directions. By that point, the swarm of mutants had surrounded the shield from every angle.

The survivors fired their guns at the monsters, taking down one after another. While the mutants couldn’t get inside the shield, the bullets fired by the survivors had no trouble passing through the bluish barrier from within.

Jake watched as the shield grew increasingly transparent with each passing second, its strength diminishing. Although the survivors were slaying mutants in droves, there were far too many, and the shield’s power was waning alarmingly fast.

It was clear to him that the shield would soon burst, and the humans would be overwhelmed and slaughtered well before they could take down the mutants.