Chapter 446

Chapter 446

“And I assume you’re not on good terms with that morphus?” Jake asked.

“You’re right,” the Commander said. “No, we, the Spartans, and D are not on good terms. Nothing escapes your attention, eh? You’re quite sharp.”

“As I explained earlier, your people were terrified when they saw me,” Jake said. “They thought I was someone else, which means this other morphus and your group are obviously enemies.”

The Commander frowned but didn’t respond. Before Jake could continue, Silvia spoke.

“Is this the first time you’ve learned about the existence of someone like you?” she asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“It seems you took the news surprisingly well,” Silvia said. “I mean, you’ve just learned there’s someone else like you, yet you hardly seem surprised. Then again,” she added after a brief pause, “it’s difficult to tell. Your face doesn’t show any emotion, and the voice coming from your device lacks any emotion as well.”

“No, you’re right,” Jack said. “I’m not all that surprised. It’s just that I always suspected I might not be the only one of my kind, and I was prepared for the possibility that I might encounter someone like me at some point.”

“I see,” Silvia said.

Catalina looked at the Commander and asked, “D? Is that the name of the other morphus?”

“It’s just what we call him,” the Commander replied non-committedly.

Jake remembered something. When evolving to Stage III, he’d have to select one of three subclasses: Devastator, Corruptor, or Ravager. Could it be a mere coincidence that the Spartans referred to the other morphus as “D,” or was it actually shortened from Devastator? And if the latter were the case, how come the Spartans knew so much about creatures like Jake and D, being even aware the two of them had needed to pick one of the three subclasses during their evolution into Stage III? He figured he was about to find out, assuming the Commander was going to tell him the truth, of course, without trying to hide something.

“Our group and D didn’t quite get along,” the Commander said, looking at Jake. “You’re right about that. But we weren’t always enemies. Something… happened between us.”

Jake stayed silent, encouraging the Commander to continue his story. However, before he could say another word, Silvia shook her head.

“Sir, I strongly advise you to tell him everything without bending any facts,” she said.

The Commander made a face as if he had just bitten into a lemon. He was clearly beginning to lose his patience with his subordinate. Turning sharply toward her, he snapped, “Silvia, I’m the one recounting our relationship with D here, not you. It’s up to me to decide what they need to know and what they don’t. So you either shut the fuck up or get back to your duties.”

Silvia remained seated, staring into the distance with an angry expression on her face.

“You’d better tell me everything without trying to hide facts,” Jake said to the Commander. “Sure, you can hide the truth from me, and since I can’t read your mind, I won’t know it. At least, not right away. But eventually, I’ll learn the truth anyway. And let me tell you, if I find out later that your story doesn’t match the truth, then… Well, it won’t necessarily make you my enemy. But you’ll never be my ally, either. If you ever need my help, I won’t give it. Understand?”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” the Commander replied flatly.

Silvia, seemingly encouraged by Jake’s words, spoke up again. “Sir, we need Jake on our side, and you know exactly why. If he’s with us, he can protect us against D if, or should I say when, he comes.”

The Commander lost his patience, his face turning red. Barely able to keep his emotions in check, he snapped at Silvia, “Come with me for a second,” and, without so much as a glance at Jake or Catalina, strode away from the makeshift briefing area. Silvia pushed back her chair and followed after him.

They spoke in hushed voices, but they hadn’t gone far from Jake, allowing him to hear every word they said. Despite their previous encounter with another morphus, they clearly didn’t know much about it or its abilities.

“We already have D breathing down our necks,” Silvia said to the Commander. “The last thing we need is Jake turning into another enemy. If he and D were to join forces, we wouldn’t stand a chance. But if Jake is with us, we might finally be able to take D down. We don’t know when or where D will strike, but we can be certain it’s only a matter of time. And when that happens, we need to be ready. With Jake’s help, we’ll have a real chance of fending D off.”

The Commander was silent for a moment. Jake watched the big human’s expression closely. It was obvious the Commander didn’t appreciate being told what to do. He was accustomed to giving orders, not following them.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he told Silvia at last.

“Will you tell Jake the truth?” she asked, staring intently into the Commander’s eyes.

“I’ll tell him everything,” the Commander said through clenched teeth. “Now return to your duties, Silvia.”

She was taken aback. She clearly hadn’t expected to be dismissed. She wanted to stay and hear what her leader would say to Jake.

When she didn’t immediately leave, the Commander snapped, “That’s an order.”

“Yes, sir.” Silvia spun on her heel and stormed away.

The Commander didn’t immediately return to Jake and Catalina. For almost a full minute, he stood in the same spot, his gaze fixed on Silvia’s back as she retreated. Eventually, he turned and walked back to his usual position near the map of Dead City, a spot he was clearly accustomed to occupying. He had likely conducted many briefings there before sending his people on various missions.

“All right,” he said, locking eyes with Jake. “Let’s pick up where we left off. I’m going to level with you. You want details about the other morphus, so let me tell you who he is and how we came to know him.”

Jake didn’t reply, letting the Commander continue on his own. The human fell silent for a moment, as if expecting Jake to respond or perhaps challenge him with a difficult question. When Jake remained quiet, the Commander seemed encouraged by it. He resumed speaking with confidence.

“In the beginning, D was a lot like you, Jake. Your friendly neighborhood morphus, y’know?”

He even made an attempt to grin, but apparently, the Commander wasn’t used to smiling, as the attempt came out crooked, unconvincing, and even slightly creepy. When Jake didn’t say anything again, the Commander wiped away the grin, his face reverting to its usual hard, no-nonsense expression.

“What I’m trying to say is that D and the Spartans initially got along,” the Commander said. “We didn’t become enemies from day one, y’know?”

“Sorry for interrupting,” Catalina interjected, “but when exactly did you first meet D? Was it before or after the Ravage overtook your city? I’m just trying to get the timeline right.”

“You make a good point. I probably should’ve started from the beginning,” the Commander conceded. However, for some reason, he didn’t immediately answer her question. He hesitated for a second or two before finally saying, “After. We encountered D for the first time after the Ravage completely swallowed the city.”

Catalina gave a small nod in acknowledgment.

The Commander went on, “As you can guess, we initially mistook him for just another type of ravagespawn. This was months ago, when a group I dispatched on a reconnaissance mission encountered him in the city. I hate to admit it, but my people even tried to kill him. Luckily, D wasn’t vengeful. Instead of fighting back, he did everything in his power to convey to my people that he was intelligent and meant no harm.” The Commander looked directly at Jake. “Unlike you, D never learned to speak, but he did try to communicate with us, mostly through gestures to get his point across. So my people realized he was intelligent and friendly.”

Jake drifted back into his thoughts, trying to remember the first time he had run into humans as a mutant. He recalled that it hadn’t ended well, at least not for the humans. He had brutally killed them all, except for one, Elena. Apparently, for D, his first encounter with humans had gone much better… if the Commander was telling the truth, that is.

“So, my group and D began to meet from time to time,” the Commander continued.

“Where?” Catalina interjected. “You didn’t bring him here, to your base, did you?”

“Of course not,” the Commander said. “Friendly as D was, I wasn’t stupid enough to reveal our location. Instead, we met every few days at an agreed-upon location in the subway.”

Catalina nodded. “I see.”

“Writing was hard for him,” the Commander went on, “at least in the beginning. However, after he evolved into Stage II, it became easier for him, and with that, communicating with us became simpler. He told us he was battling the ravagespawn. However, while he could kill individual types of ravagespawn, just like us, he couldn’t defeat the Ravage Contamination as a whole with any of his weapons. Unlike us, though, the ravagespawn weren’t much of a threat to him. While we struggled to survive, clinging to life by a thread, he moved through the city like it was his hunting grounds, killing the ravagespawn, leveling up, and gradually growing even stronger.”

The Commander paused, his expression darkening. “You know, we were all rooting for him. We hoped that after he evolved a few more times, he’d eventually grow powerful enough to defeat the Ravage Contamination. Then, the city would be cleared, things would return to normal, and we would no longer have to live deep underground.”

He paused again, and Catalina said quietly, “Guess things didn’t turn out the way you expected, did they?”

“No, they didn’t,” the Commander replied grimly. “Everything changed after D evolved into the Devastator.”