Chapter 523

Jake darted aside just as a bolt of energy streaked toward him. The glowing projectile zipped past and slammed into the wall, exploding on impact in a burst of white-blue light and heat. The wall remained intact, though, not even scorched.

While those energy projectiles could deal a lot of damage to Jake, whatever material the internal walls of the living vessel were made of completely absorbed the blasts, taking no damage at all.

Jake returned his attention to the synthetic monster he was locked in combat with at that moment, already shifting his stance before the next attack came. His opponent was about seven feet tall, and it looked like a nightmarish mix of a crab and a praying mantis.

Its upper body had two forelimbs fused with energy cannons, each one humming faintly as it cycled up for another shot. Its body was covered in armored chitin plates, dark and hard, but Jake already knew that his smashfists and drills could shatter them quite easily. The problem was getting within striking range without getting blasted to pieces first.

The synth fired another shot, prompting Jake to dart aside again. The glowing projectile streaked past his shoulder, searing his armored flesh and leaving a burning furrow in the plating. The monstrous crab-thing immediately fired from its other cannon, not giving Jake any chance to recover from the previous attack. Still, he managed to twist just in time, the second blast grazing past him and slamming into the corridor wall behind.

The synth’s cannons were already charging to fire again, energy gathering in bright light that reflected off the slick, organic-metal walls. Jake sprinted down the corridor, feet hammering against the floor, trying to close the distance before his opponent could fire again. It was easier said than done, though, because the crab-thing’s rate of fire was more than decent, it was relentless.

Before he could get within striking range, the synth fired again. This time, the enemy discharged both cannons at the same time, lighting up the corridor with twin beams of bright light. Jake managed to evade one of them, but the second slammed into his shoulder and sent a jolt of force through his entire frame.

The impact spun him around, but he managed to keep his balance through sheer momentum control. He quickly recovered and bolted toward the synth once again. The crab-thing was already preparing two more shots, cannons recharging with a rising whine, but this time, before it could fire, Jake finally reached his opponent.

He grabbed one of the synth’s cannon arms mid-aim and wrenched it aside just before it discharged. Since the weapon was no longer pointed at him, the bolt of energy streaked past harmlessly, slamming into the wall somewhere behind him and briefly illuminating the corridor.

Jake didn’t waste the opening. He slammed his smashfist into the center of the synth’s chest, crashing through its chitinous armor in a single brutal strike and leaving behind a gaping, fractured hole. The crab-thing attempted to scuttle backward on its numerous legs, claws scraping desperately against the floor, but Jake wasn’t willing to let it widen the distance between them.

He clung to the synth’s torso, anchoring himself against its shifting body, wrapping his left arm around its neck-like joint while pounding its body with his right smashfist. Each impact shattered its chitinous armor further, spraying hardened shards and thick green ichor in every direction.

Since he was so close to the crab-thing, literally pressed against its body, the synth couldn’t angle its cannon arms enough to target him. And as it had no other weapons at its disposal, it could do nothing to harm Jake in return.

He kept up his assault on the crab-thing, reducing its armored exterior to fractured ruin and pounding the vulnerable flesh beneath the broken plates. The sound of cracking chitin and rupturing internal organs filled the corridor.

A few moments later, the synth let out one last distorted screech before going limp. Jake let go of the dying creature and leaped away on instinct, allowing its body to collapse to the ground in a heap of twitching limbs and shattered armor plating.

Enemy Killed. +15,575 XP

Bonus XP. +47,271 XP

XP: 264,938 / 382,795

The chip Mick had implanted in his head allowed him to gain extra experience any time he earned it, and quite a lot at that. He knew that thanks to that, he could gain XP and level up quickly, at a pace that would have been impossible otherwise. He had to admit, the chip Mick had implanted in his head was useful, even if the implications of something like that sitting in his skull weren’t exactly comforting. He planned to focus fully on grinding later, once the immediate objective was done, but before that, he had to destroy the bio-ship.

He continued making his way through the interior of the living vessel, deeper into its shifting, organic corridors. Every now and then, he encountered synthetic monsters that tried to swarm him from side passages or drop in from the openings above. Most of the aerial synths were locked in battle with his wingclaws outside the bio-ship, so he encountered mostly ground-based combat units like the crab-thing he had just dealt with.

The monsters he ran into varied in shape and form, having been made from various species. But sure enough, they all had one thing in common: they were fused with artificial parts like armor and weapons, and they were controlled by whoever was at the helm of this living vessel.

Most of the synths were armed with ranged weapons, which sucked, because they could attack him from a distance while he had to get close to them. Energy fire constantly cut through the air ahead of him, forcing him to weave, duck, and occasionally even take cover in whatever structural folds the ship offered.

Sure, he had a couple of ranged weapons and abilities at his disposal too, but his most powerful weapons were melee-based. To use them, he had to get close to his opponents while being peppered by their energy blasts all the way in.

Still, despite being outnumbered by powerful enemies armed with ranged weapons, he advanced through the living airship at a steady, relentless pace, carving a path through every synth in his way.

And while he fought his way toward the heart of the vessel, his Kaiju kept attacking it from outside, applying constant pressure to its massive, organic hull. Every now and then, the living walls around him shuddered and convulsed as the Saurian Prowler unleashed flurries of slashes at the bio-ship or tore into it with vicious, grinding bites that echoed through the corridors like distant earthquakes.

Finally, Jake reached the final stretch, at the end of which was a closed door leading directly to the bridge. However, as soon as he entered the corridor, he stopped in his tracks. Up ahead, right at the center of the corridor, stood a familiar figure. It was Owen. And he had clearly been waiting for him.