Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 296

Chapter 296

Jake glanced between the three structures—the Biomass Processor, the Larvae Chamber, and the Hive Nexus—wondering which one to upgrade first. Probably, it didn’t really matter as long as he had enough resources to upgrade all of them at the same time.

He shifted his gaze to the Mana Core to see how much mana it still had. 

MP: 46,327

The Mana Core had used more than half of the mana it had initially contained, which wasn’t surprising considering building each of the three structures had cost him 10,000 MP. Maintaining all the structures and the Corruption, to which they were attached, also consumed some of the mana, but Jake wasn’t quite sure yet how much it consumed over time. 

Upgrading each of his structures wasn’t as expensive in terms of mana as building them—only 1,000 MP was required for each upgrade. While 3,000 MP wasn’t much, Jake decided that after upgrading his structures, he would look into methods of refilling the Mana Core with magical energy. There should definitely be a way to do so.

Just as he was about to instruct one of his structures to initiate the upgrade to the next rank, the spider he had created earlier scuttled past him, distracting him for a second. As Jake glanced at the eight-legged creature moving randomly from one spot to another, a thought occurred to him.

All three creatures he had just created were Rank I, and the same was true for the larva developed in the Larvae Chamber. This made him think. The Mana Core was Rank II, which was why all his structures could be upgraded to that rank. But what about the larvae created directly through the Mana Core rather than the Larvae Chamber? Shouldn’t they also be Rank II?

Jake opted to put his theory to the test. Since he currently had three larvae crawling on the Corruption, which was the current limit, he couldn’t create any additional ones. Therefore, he needed to turn one of them into another creature to be able to create an extra larva. He selected one of his larvae and instructed it to move to the Hive Nexus and transform into a spider, choosing the type of creature at random.

After ten minutes, a new spider scuttled across the Corruption, and one larva was gone, permitting him to create another. He turned to look at the Mana Core, walked closer to it, and gave a mental command to create a larva. As usual, some of his flesh was taken, forming a lump on his body before detaching and dropping to the floor, where it began to morph into a larva.

– 1,000 MP

– 10% HP

Ten minutes later, the process was finished. Jake gave the newly formed larva a quick look-over. It didn’t look any different from any other larvae he had created before. He checked its stats.

Name: Larva

Rank: II

So since the Mana Core was Rank II, the larvae created through this structure were also the same rank, which made sense. For the next several minutes, Jake watched the Rank II larva move around the Corruption, comparing it to the two Rank I larvae that were also aimlessly wandering.

The newly created larva crawled a bit faster than the rest, which were one rank inferior. It could probably process Biomass a bit faster, too. However, other than that, it didn’t differ much from the others. Like the Rank I larvae, it was also confined to the limits of the Corruption patch, unable to venture beyond its boundaries.

Jake then issued a command for the larva to crawl to the Hive Nexus and transform into a fly. The small creature obeyed and, a few seconds later, floated inside the liquid-filled chamber of the structure, where it began to change into another type of creature. Ten minutes later, the fully developed creature emerged from the Hive Nexus.

Name: Fly

Rank: I

So, even if larvae designated for the creation of new creatures were of a higher rank than the Hive Nexus, the resulting creatures would still possess the same rank as the structure that produced them. It was useful to know.

He then released one larva from the Larvae Chamber and instructed the structure to develop another. Some of the Biomass stored inside was transferred from the Biomass Processor to the Larvae Chamber, and the process began. 

Now that he had dealt with all of that, he decided to finally upgrade his structures. He chose to upgrade the Hive Nexus first.

Evolve to Rank II: Y/N (Cost: 100 Biomass, 1,000 MP)

Jake confirmed. As soon as he did so, the remaining Biomass was transferred from the Biomass Processor to the Hive Nexus. When it emerged from the tube, the pitch-black mass enveloped the base of the upgrading structure, crawling up its walls, merging with them and increasing the size and robustness of the structure.

A system message flashed through his mind.

The Hive Nexus initiated its upgrade to Rank II.

Jake summoned the structure’s stats.

Evolution in Progress

Current Status: 4% Complete

Estimated Time Remaining: 58 minutes, 36 seconds

Jake wondered whether the structure could perform its function while undergoing the upgrade process. Most likely, it couldn’t. 

He could see there wasn’t nearly enough Biomass to complete the upgrade. Once the current Biomass was used up, the process would stop. It meant it was time to go outside again and fetch another walker.

He left his lair through his usual route. Before starting to look for walkers, he decided to try something. Standing in front of the diner, he looked back at it. He wondered if he could exert control over his lair while being outside of it. He gave a mental command to summon the stats of the Mana Core. Nothing happened.

He then mentally directed one of the other two structures to start the upgrade to the next rank. However, no system messages confirmed that his command was executed. He thought of one of the two flies and ordered it to fly out of the lair toward him. He had left the hatch door leading to the basement open, so the creature should be able to comply. 

He waited a minute or so, which was more than enough time for the fly to get out. However, it didn’t emerge from the diner. By that point, Jake was sure he couldn’t control his lair when he was outside. He remembered that when watching the visions of the three subclasses, he saw the Corruptor summon his creatures from his lairs even when he was far away from them. However, Jake apparently couldn’t do so yet. 

By that point, it had become painfully obvious that he couldn't control his lair from outside. Still, for one final test, he directed one larva to turn into a roach and instructed the Larvae Chamber to create another one. He wasn’t sure if the Hive Nexus could actually produce a creature while being upgraded, though.

However, it didn’t really matter. Inside his lair, he always felt a mental link with his structures, allowing him to control them. Yet he couldn’t sense that connection now. Though he was sending mental commands, they felt like mere thoughts, lacking the true power of his usual commands.

He returned to his lair. Sure enough, nothing changed, as none of the commands he issued from outside were followed. Obviously, he needed to be inside his lair to control his structures. Regarding the ability to summon his creatures from outside, he believed he should be capable of doing so. While he couldn’t manage it at the moment, he was confident he would learn how in the future. With that thought, Jake stepped back outside.

Standing in front of the diner, he looked around. It was very dark outside now. The night had already fallen, which was a good thing. The fewer humans there were in the streets to spy on him, the better. He looked left and right. There were no survivors in sight, and the streets were much quieter than they had been during the day. He picked a random direction and set off.