Jake pulled up to HQ and exited the SUV. Swinging the rear door open, he dragged the still-unconscious Ryder out of the vehicle and hefted him over his shoulder. Then he entered HQ and, a few seconds later, walked into the security control room. He dropped Ryder near the wall without much care, eliciting a moan from him. However, Ryder didn’t wake up.
“That’s an excellent idea, Jake,” Catalina remarked. “Keeping him alive could work to our advantage.”
Melissa responded with skepticism, “How so?”
Jake couldn’t help but notice a lack of hostility in her voice now. It seemed that while he was busy bringing Ryder here, Catalina had filled Melissa in on everything that had happened to her—the circumstances that forced her to join Los Demonios. So Catalina and Melissa were definitely friends again.
“You can keep him prisoner in HQ,” Catalina explained. “If Skullface calls, have Ryder answer to maintain the appearance that he’s still the leader of the base. Skullface doesn’t know what happened at our bases yet, and the longer we can uphold the facade, the better for us.”
“I doubt it’s going to work,” Melissa replied, her tone skeptical.
“Why do you say that?”
“Don’t you think he’ll attempt to alert Skullface?”
“That’s why you’re going to explain the situation to him once he comes to,” Catalina said. “You need to tell him that if he doesn’t follow your orders or tries to warn Skullface, you’ll kill him. You have to convince him you’re serious. If he suspects you’re bluffing, he’ll definitely try to warn Skullface at the first opportunity.”
“I can easily kill him if needed,” Melissa said with a menacing look on her face. “That sonofabitch deserves it. All those so-called ‘demons’ do.”
“Perfect,” Catalina responded. “That’s the expression you should wear when you talk to Ryder.”
The person they were talking about moaned and stirred slightly. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to regain consciousness, but it didn’t happen.
“I have to tie him up,” Melissa stated.
“Is he waking up?” Catalina asked, the webcam’s position blocking her view of Ryder.
“He could be soon,” Melissa answered.
With nothing left to do there, Jake started to leave.
“Wait,” Melissa’s voice came from behind him. He halted and glanced over his shoulder at her.
“I—I just wanted to thank you for your help,” she said. “You gave us a fighting chance against Los Demonios. I’m so glad you’re on our side. Words can’t express how grateful I am for your help.” She paused for a moment, then smiled and continued, “Also, I apologize for how I treated you before. I wasn’t sure what was going on or if you were a friend or enemy. I was really freaking out.”
Jake nodded and moved toward the exit. Just as he was about to slip out of the security control room, he heard Catalina call out behind him, “What are you going to do next, Jake?”
Her question made him pause. He had just liberated two bases that previously belonged to Los Demonios. He wasn’t going to stop until he had done the same with all the other secondary bases, freeing them and allowing regular survivors to take control. Once that was done, he would head out of the city to strike at the gang’s main base.
For now, though, he needed a break. After liberating two bases and using some of his most mana-demanding abilities, he felt drained. He had also written a piece of text to Melissa. Sure, it was short, but crafting even brief messages required a considerable amount of mana.
So before attacking any of the other bases, he needed to replenish his mana reserves. He also wanted to build a lair to understand how it was done and how it could benefit him. Now that he had evolved into the Corruptor, he could create a lair and develop his own creatures. He couldn’t wait to delve into all that. So it was definitely time to focus on himself for a little while.
“Ah, right, you can’t speak,” Catalina remarked, snapping him out of his thoughts. “It’s quite the shame, you know. Anyway, about the item you asked me to create—don’t forget to pick it up tomorrow, alright? As I mentioned earlier, we should have enough resources by then to complete it.”
“What item?” Melissa asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I believe it may be something to help him communicate,” Catalina replied. “Though I’m not really sure how, considering Jake can’t make any sounds at all.”
Melissa said something, but Jake didn’t quite make out her words, because he was already out of the room and sprinting down the corridor.
A few seconds later, he was back on the roof. He leaped down and raced across the compound. A mana-infused jump combined with Gravity Leap propelled him over the wall.
Once on the other side of the base, Jake ran toward the nearest high-rise building. He clung to the surface with Adhesive Secretion and climbed upward with the agility of a lizard. In less than a minute, he was on the roof’s edge, gazing down at the base he had just exited.
He was certain that as soon as Skullface learned what had happened at Base Catalina and Base Ryder, he would attempt to take them back. Catalina and Melissa needed to maintain the facade for as long as possible to recruit more people and strengthen their defenses.
Since Catalina was the officially appointed leader of the base, she could continue to fool Skullface as before. As for Melissa, even though they had a plan to maintain the facade by using Ryder as a puppet, it was hard to tell whether it would actually work or how long it would last.
Eventually, Skullface would discover what had happened and try to reclaim the two bases. By then, Catalina and Melissa needed to be prepared to defend their territory. If they didn’t reinforce their defenses, the consequences would be dire for them and everyone else involved.
Jake wished he could be notified whenever one of the two bases was attacked so he could get back and assist the defenders. Since there appeared to be no means to achieve this—at least none he knew of—he decided to check on his newly acquired allies from time to time.
After setting these thoughts aside, he shut his eyes and activated Mana Vision. Once he pinpointed the nearest source of mana, he opened his eyes and set off.