Jake threw a haymaker at the center of the meatpound’s chest. This powerful strike could have easily shattered the ribcage of an ordinary ex-human, but the creature before him barely flinched.
Before his opponent could attack, Jake unleashed another punch, this time aimed at its head, which seemed disproportionately smaller compared to the monster’s massive frame. Yet again, it achieved zero effect.
Scratch that. While the strike didn’t seem to damage the meatpound at all, it did enrage the mutant. Tipping its head back, the massive creature let out a tremendous roar. At first, Jake thought it had used its third special ability, Dazing Roar, prompting him to leap back instinctively.
As it turned out, the meatpound had actually used Frenzied Pursuit. The mutant turned toward him and charged, moving much faster than before. Before Jake could leap aside, the monster was atop him, swinging one of its massive metal maces—whatever they were called. He ducked just in time to avoid the strike.
The meatpound continued swinging its maces at him, forcing Jake onto the defensive. Despite his best efforts to dodge the mutant’s strikes, it managed to land a blow. Jake felt as if he’d been hit by a freight train. The blow sent him flying across the room until he crashed into the wall.
Just as he jumped to his feet, the meatpound lunged at him again. The massive mutant roared and swung one of its wrist-spheres at him, using the Might Blow ability. Fortunately, Jake managed to leap aside, and the mutant’s mace smashed into the wall instead. The impact was so powerful that it created a massive hole in the wall.
The mutant’s lower arm appeared to be lodged in the wall. It struggled to pull its limb free, but it was firmly stuck. Noticing the mutant was trapped—at least for the moment—Jake decided to act on an idea that had just popped into his head.
He jumped behind the meatpound and then leaped onto its back. The massive ex-human froze briefly, unsure of what was happening. Jake wrapped his left arm around the mutant’s head while using his right hand to grip its lower jaw, the only part of its face not covered by the helmet.
Jake tugged at the meatpound’s lower jaw. At first, it resisted, but as he exerted all his strength, it came off with a brief spray of dark blood. The mutant froze, clearly taken aback by this turn of events. What remained of its long, repulsive, mutated tongue writhed like a slug stripped of its shell.
Before the monster could do anything, Jake morphed his right hand into a drill and guided it into the monster’s oral cavity, tearing its tongue to shreds in the process. He pressed the spinning tip of his drill against the roof of its mouth and drove it in. The monster thrashed around as his drill went deeper and deeper until it pierced its brain.
The meatpound stopped thrashing, and its body began to tumble. Jake quickly withdrew his drill from within its head and jumped down just as the massive mutant collapsed to the floor with a resounding thud.
Right after that, several system messages flooded into his mind.
Enemy defeated. + 5,000 XP
You have received 125,000 XP, 35,000 MP.
For finishing the challenge within 60 minutes, you are rewarded with the opportunity to upgrade one of your skills or abilities to the next rarity level, bypassing any requirements.
You have gained enough XP to level up. Your level went up from 120 to 121. You have gained 10 SP.
After taking a moment to think, Jake decided to raise Enhanced Intelligence from Uncommon to Epic, which would make another upgrade available for learning.
Enhanced Intelligence: Rank IV (13%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
With a thought, he upgraded the skill to the next rarity level and immediately checked out the new upgrade.
Jake felt a wave of excitement wash over him. He had longed for the ability to hack into devices used by humans for quite a while, and now, he could finally do it.
He acquired the upgrade and then allocated the other nine skill points to his attributes.
With that done, Jake took a moment to ponder. Perhaps he should now return to Base Ryder. The leader could still be missing, but that was no longer a concern. With the upgrade he had just acquired for Enhanced Intelligence, he should be able to hack into the computer located inside the base’s HQ.
It took him little time to return to Base Ryder. Once again, he found himself perched at the edge of the ten-story building, staring down at the bandit compound below. Nothing seemed to have changed during his absence. The parking lot remained empty, indicating that Ryder still hadn’t returned.
However, he soon noticed that the two machine gun turrets, which had been undergoing upgrades to the next level, were fully operational, and now all of them kept watch over the base and the surrounding area. With his Cloak activated, they failed to detect him, though. Jake intended to keep it that way.
To avoid attracting the attention of the sensitive 360-degree cameras outfitted on the turrets, Jake decided to crawl down the building wall instead of jumping. It didn’t take him long to reach street level. He glanced at the two turrets on his side. Their alert lights remained green, indicating they weren’t aware of anything suspicious.
Jake began to sneak his way toward the wall of the base, moving deliberately slow and carefully to avoid causing any visible distortion in the air. Sure, he could easily destroy all the turrets, but since he planned to let the freed survivors take over the base, he had something else in mind.
At last, he reached the wall. He looked up, turning his head left and right. The turrets on the watchtowers flanking him remained oblivious to his presence. Good. He began to scale the wall.