Chapter 447

Chapter 447

The Commander seemed to know plenty of details about D and therefore, about creatures like him and Jake in general. He was aware of the

Mind Reader

ability, the fact that beings like Jake and D could evolve from one stage to a more powerful one, and who knew what else he knew. He even knew that, during the transition from Stage II to Stage III, a morphus had to choose one of three subclasses to evolve into.

Jake couldn’t help but wonder how the Commander knew all that. Had D really told him everything? But why? Could it be that, unlike Jake, D was simply too trusting of humans?

He decided to ask the Commander directly. Before the human could continue his story, Jake said, “Hold on. How exactly do you know all of this? Just like me, D can apparently read human minds, and you somehow know about this. You’re also aware of our evolution stages. So how do you know all this?”

“Well, let me clarify something first,” the Commander said. “That ability of yours doesn’t actually let you read a person’s mind. It’s more like it allows you to view their memories.”

For some reason, Jake felt the Commander had deliberately chosen to clarify this point first, as though giving himself time to think about how to answer the actual question Jake had asked.

Before the Commander could stall any further, Jake pressed, “Quit beating around the bush. Answer the question I asked.”

The glare the Commander gave him was ice-cold. “I am not beating around…”

“Answer the damn question.”

“Alright, no need to lose your temper,” the Commander replied. “You want to know how I know so much about your kind? The answer is simple: D told me.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’? He just did, alright? Just because he’s the same kind as you doesn’t necessarily mean he’s your exact copy. He’s a completely different… person. Apparently, unlike you, he’s much more open to communicating and interacting with humans in a friendly manner. At least, he was before he evolved for the second time.”

But Jake knew it was a lie. Being a morphus, he knew firsthand what it was like. After becoming a mutant, a deep, ingrained mistrust of humans became part of one’s very nature. It was impossible for D to be so drastically different from him. But of course, humans would never be able to truly grasp what it meant to be a morphus.

Jake didn’t ask any more questions. It was obvious the Commander was hiding something, and he wasn’t going to spill the beans, not if he could help it.

For a moment, nobody said a word. The Commander fixed him with a piercing stare, almost daring him to poke holes in the story. Jake remained silent, though. One way or another, he would learn the truth, but now wasn’t the right moment.

Seeing that he was unwilling to press further, Catalina shifted her gaze to the Commander and said, “You said D can evolve, eh? This is the first time I’ve ever heard about it.”

“Figures,” the Commander said, casting a quick glance at Jake. “Creatures like Jake and D evolve from one stage to another, gradually becoming stronger and gaining new abilities. At the first stage, a morphus isn’t all that powerful. Believe it or not, it doesn’t even have a mouth at that stage, it only develops after the morphus evolves into Stage II. With each subsequent stage, a morphus’ body undergoes various changes, becoming tougher and significantly more powerful.”

“I see.”

“Another interesting detail is that there are three subclasses a morphus can choose from when it evolves to Stage III,” the Commander continued. “One of them is Devastator, the one D chose to evolve into. Another is Corruptor, the one Jake has obviously evolved into. As you mentioned, Jake can develop and command his own army of monsters, and that is exactly what the Corruptor subclass is all about.”

Catalina shot Jake a quick sidelong glance but said nothing. After that, another pause followed. The Commander waited for any follow-up questions from either Jake or Catalina, but they stayed quiet, each coming to different conclusions.

At last, Catalina asked, “So what happened after D evolved into the Devastator?”

“He changed,” the Commander said and went silent.

“Changed how?” Catalina prompted.

“Y’know, he was always really excited about evolving,” the Commander said, sidestepping her question. “And he was particularly eager to reach Stage III because he had to choose one of the three subclasses. He told us he liked the Devastator subclass much more than the other two and planned to pick it. That was the last time my people saw him before he evolved. He preferred to undergo evolution alone, so we didn’t know exactly what the process looked like. Anyway, when my people met him again, he was already a Devastator.”

“Let me guess. He stopped being your friendly neighborhood morphus, eh?”

“Exactly,” the Commander replied. “Out of nowhere, he grew hostile. Communication with him became almost impossible. He rarely attended our meetings, and on the rare occasions he did… my people wished he’d stayed away.”

“What do you mean?” Catalina asked. “Did he try to attack your people?”

“Not exactly. Back then, he still clung to fragments of his humanity, but it was becoming harder and harder for him to do so. Eventually, my people started avoiding assignments that involved meeting with him. That’s when I decided to go myself, to find out why they’d grown so wary. But D didn’t show up at the next meeting spot we agreed upon. Or at the few after that. At some point, I began to believe I’d never see him again.”

The Commander’s expression darkened as he shook his head. For a moment, he said nothing, as if speaking about it was difficult. Or as if he was coming up with the whole story as he spoke. Then, after a pause, he went on.

“Then, when I had almost lost all hope of seeing him again, he suddenly showed up. That’s when I realized how much he had changed. Sure, the last time I saw him, he was in Stage II, and after evolving into the Devastator, his physique drastically altered, becoming much larger and more powerful, but I’m not really talking about the physical changes. I mean the changes that happened here.” The Commander tapped a finger against his temple. “D seemed like a different person. If ‘person’ is even the right word. He was barely able to keep himself together. I tried to communicate with him, but it was no use. On numerous occasions, it seemed like he was about to pounce on me, and only with a sheer amount of willpower did he stop himself just in time. I began to understand why my people were willing to take any other job rather than meet with him. He seemed lost in his own mind, barely aware of my presence. At one point, I gave him my PDA so he could write a message explaining what was wrong with him. However, it seemed that writing had become even more difficult for him than before.”

“Hold on a moment,” Catalina interjected. “Didn’t you tell us earlier that after he reached Stage II, writing came more naturally to him, making communication between you two simpler?”

The Commander hesitated. “Yes… I did say that.”

“Then, by that same logic, shouldn’t it have become even easier for him to write after he evolved again?”

“Yeah, it should have,” the Commander said. “But the exact opposite thing seemed to happen. He could barely form simple, two-word sentences. At one point, he finally managed to write a short message for me, but when he showed it to me, I saw it was just gibberish.

“When he realized I couldn’t make sense of it, his frustration boiled over. He yanked the PDA from my hands and gave it another shot. However, he quickly gave up. The futile attempts to write something comprehensible visibly frustrated him. He got mad and hurled my PDA against the wall. Thankfully, those devices are nearly indestructible.

“For a moment, it seemed D was going to attack me. I pleaded with him, telling him I was his friend, insisting that all I wanted was to help him. Luckily, he didn’t attack. He seemed to regain control of himself. Then, he spun and ran away. That was the last time I saw him.”

“So he never attended your meetings after that?” Catalina asked.

“No. But much later, maybe a few weeks after I last saw him, a group of my people ran into him in the streets,” the Commander said, then fell silent.

“I take it his condition had worsened?” Catalina pressed.

“That’s putting it mildly. Without any provocation, he attacked my people, pouncing on them like a wild beast. He tore them to shreds without much effort. Only one of my people managed to escape and tell me what happened upon his return.”

The Commander stopped for a moment, his expression grim. “By then, D was no longer truly human. It seems he had been battling his monstrous nature for some time, but in the end, the human part of him lost, and he became a full-fledged monster.”

Catalina didn’t say anything, her expression tinged with sorrow.

“It happened several months ago, right?” Jake asked after a brief pause.

“That’s correct,” the Commander confirmed.

“And since then, you haven’t seen him at all?”

“Nope.”

Jake fell silent, sinking deep into his thoughts. The Commander watched him, impatience etched across his features.

“What are you thinking, Jake?” he asked a second later.

“By now, D must have reached the final stage of evolution.”

“Most likely,” the Commander said. “If D was powerful before, now he must be nearly unkillable. That’s why my people were terrified when they first saw you, Jake. They thought you were D, and D obviously no longer views humans as his friends. So, if he comes after us, it will take him no effort to wipe us out. That’s why we’d be grateful if you could track him down… and kill him.”