Chapter 304

After returning to his lair, he shoved the walker into the Biomass Processor and activated it. He then turned his attention to the Mana Core, which had finished evolving to Rank III. It was time to check its new stats.

Name: Mana Core

MP: 51,236

Evolution Rank: III

GP: 248/1,000

Available structures: Hive Nexus, Larvae Chamber, Biomass Processor, Biomass Storage, Extractor, Creation Chamber.

Available creatures: Larva, Roach, Fly, Spider

Larvae: 3/5

Structures: 3/10

Evolve to Rank IV: Y/N (300 Biomass, 20,000 MP) 

After the Mana Core is evolved to Rank IV, the following structures will be available for creation:

Bio-Fusion Chamber, 

Spore Generator, 

Resource Node.

Three new structures were now available for creation: Biomass Chamber, Extractor, and Creation Chamber. The first was self-explanatory, and Jake already knew that processed Biomass would be automatically transferred to any available Biomass Storage. Since he had not created any storage yet, processed Biomass remained inside the Biomass Processor until he released it.

Obviously, it was better to store Biomass in designated storages to keep the Biomass Processor empty and ready for use. However, before creating these storages, Jake decided to step back from the three built structures to assess how much space was available on the Corruption. Since structures could only be built on Corruption, there was always a need to expand it.

The current patch of Corruption could accommodate a few more structures, given that they were approximately the same size as the three existing ones. The three old structures were well spaced apart, as Jake had taken precautions to position them at a distance from one another on different sides of the Corruption patch. Therefore, this careful planning left plenty of room for a few additional structures.

Now that the Mana Core was at Rank III, the maximum number of structures he could build increased to ten, allowing for the creation of seven more. The Mana Core was sturdier than before. It was now as thick as the trunk of a small tree, yet it still didn’t occupy much space.

As Jake continued to gaze at the Corruption before him, he realized that if he built seven more structures, most of the Corruption patch would be filled. While there would be some space remaining between them, it wouldn’t be much, and he wasn’t particularly fond of that.

He wanted to maintain enough space between his structures to weave through them freely. Sometimes, he loved to watch what was happening inside his structures—for instance, he liked to observe the creatures as they developed in the Hive Nexus. Therefore, he needed to make sure there was plenty of space to maneuver without accidentally bumping into anything.

Rather than cramming the existing Corruption patch, Jake realized it was wiser to expand it. He decided to do this before growing any new structures. He turned toward the hatch door and began to move in that direction. To expand the Corruption, he would need plenty of walkers and likely would spend the rest of the day doing so. 

He was just about to leave his lair when a thought occurred to him. He turned back to look at the corrupted area of the basement. He wondered if he could reposition the already-grown structures or if they were locked in place. If they couldn’t be moved, he wondered whether dismantling them would be possible and how much Biomass he could recover.

He focused on the nearest oval-shaped structure and mentally commanded it to move to a nearby spot, which he indicated with his gaze. To his delight, the structure began to shift toward the designated area. It was reassuring to know that he could actually reposition his structures.

The structure crawled across the Corruption, moving rather slowly, but that was fine. He hadn’t even been sure if the existing structures could move at all, so the fact that they could was already good enough for him. As for dismantling the old structures, Jake decided not to test it for the time being.

It was time for some redecoration. Jake left his lair and set off in search of walkers. It didn’t take long for him to encounter one. He captured the mutant, enveloping it in a cinch net, and brought it back to his lair before continuing on.

One by one, he continued bringing walkers to his lair, dropping them along one wall. When the Biomass Processor finished processing Biomass, he would instruct it to release the Biomass so it could crawl to the edge of the existing patch of Corruption to merge with it and expand it. Then, Jake would push another walker into the Biomass Processor and resume his search for more.

The sun was setting, and darkness was creeping in. Jake pressed on. Eventually, when he entered the first floor of a high-rise building, he discovered a vast room filled with replication pods hanging from the ceiling.

That’s when a thought occurred to him: could he bring a replication pod to his lair? If he could, collecting Biomass would definitely become much simpler. Replication pods produced various types of ex-humans, but most created walkers and leapers, which was a good thing since they didn’t take much time to develop from single cells to fully grown creatures. 

Another question popped into his mind. What would a mutant do after emerging from a replication pod and finding itself in his lair? Would it attempt to destroy his structures? Jake knew he needed to avoid that somehow. No immediate solution came to mind for preventing a newly developed ex-human from wreaking havoc on his lair, but Jake realized he first needed to check if replication pods were movable before thinking about it further.

There were a bunch of ex-humans milling around the vast room. Dealing with them posed little challenge for Jake, though. Once they were all taken care of, he shifted his gaze to the nearest replication pod. Raising his left hand, he aimed at the silky cord hanging from the ceiling. With a mental command, he conjured a rotary saw blade that zipped through the air, severing the cord cleanly.

The replication pod, where a walker was developing, crashed to the floor and rolled over. Instantly, the cocoon started to wither and shrink, transforming the undeveloped walker inside into a dry pulp that rapidly exsiccated. Within moments, both the pod and the walker were lifeless and utterly dry.

Jake approached the replication pod lying on its side and stepped on it. The section beneath him crumbled easily, turning to dust. Jake turned his attention to another replication pod, looking up at the spot where it was connected to the ceiling. The cord was attached to a silky patch. If he could detach it from the ceiling without cutting the cord, perhaps he could keep the pod alive. Jake decided to give it a try.

He leaped high and clung to the ceiling, crawling toward the nearest silky patch to which a pod’s cord was attached. He managed to tear the patch away, but as soon as he did, he felt the cord in his right hand go dry, and he noticed the same fate befalling the replication pod. 

It was no use. Obviously, replication pods weren’t meant to be moved. The mechanisms behind their function remained a mystery: how they created mutants by growing them from single cells to fully grown organisms, and where they sourced the energy to do so. While those questions remained unanswered, it was now clear that replication pods were not designed for relocation. Any attempt to move them from their designated places resulted in rapid desiccation and death.

Having figured that out, Jake exited the building and continued to collect walkers in the old-fashioned manner.