Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG] -
Chapter 298
Chapter 298
It didn’t take him long to top off his mana reserves. Since mana clouds usually ranged from 10,000 MP to 100,000 MP, all he needed to do was locate a few mana clouds and absorb them to fill his mana to capacity.
Once that was done, he began to hunt for mana consumables. It was night, and the regular daily refresh had recently happened, so there were plenty of them around. Jake was focused on collecting only crystals, next to the top rarest mana item. Above it was only a mana orb, which was tough to come by. Jake had never seen mana orbs casually lying around.
He spent the whole night collecting mana consumables and placing them in his inventory. When it was completely filled, he made trips to his lair to store the items. When he first discovered the basement, he had spotted several empty cardboard boxes lining the walls. So each time he returned to his lair, he put the collected consumables in the boxes before resuming his search for more crystals throughout the city.
At some point, when he returned to his lair to stash the collected crystals, he took a look at the Mana Core to check how much mana it had used since he last checked. Since he had recently topped off the Mana Core to 100,000 MP, it was easy for him to keep track of its consumption. He discovered that the Mana Core currently drained a little over 3,000 MP per hour: 1,000 MP for each building in his lair, plus additional mana for the Corruption patch.
He spent the entire night gathering crystals. By the time he made his last trip for mana and headed back to his lair, his inventory was full, and morning had already broken. He went down to the basement, approaching the corner where he had stacked all the cardboard boxes filled with crystals.
One by one, he retrieved mana consumables from his inventory and placed them into the last box waiting to be filled. When he retrieved the final crystal and stashed it atop the others in the box, he took a step back to admire his collection. He now had over a dozen cardboard boxes filled to the brim with mana consumables.
He wasn’t planning to use them the next time the Mana Core ran low on mana, though. Since he could easily refill the Mana Core using his own reserves and then replenish them from mana clouds, there was no reason to use the crystals he had just stored. Instead, he intended to save them for a rainy day.
He turned away from the crystal-filled boxes and walked to the center of the Corruption patch. It was time to inspect the upgraded structures. He decided to start with the Biomass Processor. It was definitely larger than before, but there still wasn’t enough space inside the chamber to accommodate more than one walker.
Other than being somewhat larger, there weren’t any visible changes to the structure, so Jake summoned its stats and reviewed them. Once again, nothing new caught his eye. He decided to process the final walker he had brought in earlier. The mutant was still lying on the floor, tightly wrapped in the cinch net.
Jake carried the ex-human to the Biomass Processor and shoved it inside. When he activated the structure and checked its status, he saw it would take twenty-five minutes to convert the walker into Biomass. Before the upgrade, the process required thirty minutes.
He then checked the Larvae Chamber. Again, there were no changes in its stats, except for one: he could now create and store seven larvae instead of five. Next, he turned to the Hive Nexus, noting its larger size, which suggested it could produce multiple creatures at once.
Generate a Creature: Roach, Fly, Spider (Cost: 40 Biomass, 1,500 MP, Larvae (x1))
While there were no new basic types available, the requirements had changed. It now needed 40 Biomass, up from 30, and 1,500 MP instead of 1,000 MP to create a single creature. This suggested that the resulting creatures would be somewhat stronger and tougher.
Additionally, the Hive Nexus displayed new information in its stats.
Available Upgrades:
Corruptor’s Call: This ability allows you to summon your creatures from your lairs when you are outside. No matter how far you are, you can call your minions with a telepathic command, and they will come to you. Unlock: 10,000 MP
Vision Link: This ability allows you to perceive the world through the eyes of your creatures. Unlock: 10,000 MP
Jake decided to obtain both abilities right away. One by one, he purchased them.
You have unlocked a new ability: Corruptor’s Call.
You have unlocked a new ability: Vision Link.
The purchase was instantaneous, and the mana cost was subtracted from the Mana Core rather than from his own reserves. Jake decided to create a creature to try out the newly acquired abilities.
After the Biomass Processor finished working, he instructed the Hive Nexus to create a fly. Immediately, some Biomass was transferred from the Biomass Processor to the Hive Nexus. One of the three larvae crawled across the Corruption and into the structure, initiating the development of a new creature.
Jake released one of the larvae from the Larvae Chamber. He couldn’t help but notice that it was still Rank I. Even though the structure had been upgraded to Rank II, all the larvae inside remained Rank I because they were created when the structure was still Rank I. They hadn’t evolved to the next Rank along with the structure, but Jake knew that the next larvae to be developed would be Rank II.
There were now four larvae inside the Larvae Chamber, but he decided not to create another one just yet. He released the remaining Biomass from the Biomass Processor and let it merge with the existing patch of Corruption to make it wider, expanding its reach.
Ten minutes later, a fully developed creature emerged from the Hive Nexus.
Name: Fly
Rank: II
The fly was somewhat bigger than Rank I flies, but other than that, it didn’t look any different. It was time to test the abilities he had just acquired. However, before getting to that, he first wanted to do something else. He shifted his gaze to the Mana Core and summoned its stats.
Name: Mana Core
MP: 68,357
Evolution Rank: II
GP: 748/500
Available structures: Hive Nexus, Larvae Chamber, Biomass Processor.
Available creatures: Larva, Roach, Fly, Spider
Larvae: 3/3
Structures: 3/3
Evolve to Rank III: Y/N (150 Biomass, 15,000 MP)
After the Mana Core is evolved to Rank III, the following structures will be available for creation:
Biomass Storage;
Extractor;
Creation Chamber.
After evolving the Mana Core to Rank III, three new structures would become available for construction, which filled him with excitement. He now had enough GP to initiate the Mana Core’s evolution to Rank III, but he needed to gather 150 Biomass first.
So he headed out to fetch them. It didn’t take him long to catch two walkers. Once back inside his lair, he shoved one into the Biomass Processor and used his three larvae to process the other. It took them about the same amount of time to process half the walker as it took the structure to finish processing the whole body of the other mutant.
He gained just over 150 Biomass. He instructed it to move toward the Mana Core and then mentally commanded the structure to start evolving to Rank III. The Biomass surrounded the stem atop which the mana orb was secured. The pitch-black goo slithered up the stem, merging with it and reinforcing it.
Jake checked its description. Since it was currently undergoing evolution, instead of the usual stats, the progress status appeared in his mind.
Mana Core (Evolution in Progress)
Current Status: 1% Complete
Estimated Time Remaining: 2 hours, 55 seconds
So he would need to wait three hours for the evolution to finish. In the meantime, he planned to test the two abilities he had acquired earlier. With that in mind, he headed out.
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