Chapter 336
Jake spent some time creating a few more managatherers and then watched them work. Each of these winged creatures could hold up to 30,000 MP, and it usually took them about fifteen to thirty minutes to locate a mana cloud, absorb some of the mana contained within, and bring it to the lair.
So in a matter of just half an hour or even less, they could fill the Mana Core to capacity, which was great. He no longer had to worry about his lair running out of mana. It was now self-sufficient, capable of replenishing mana on its own.
When the Mana Core was filled to the top, the managatherers with mana contained within them stayed inside, simply hovering in the air and gradually nourishing the central structure of the lair. After transferring all the collected mana to the Mana Core, they left to search for more.
The managatherers always flew through the air at a height of two or three stories, constantly maintaining a good pace. Occasionally, a group of survivors spotted them and even opened fire, but due to their speed, his winged creatures consistently avoided getting hit.
There were even a couple of times when a group of survivors tried to chase a managatherer in a vehicle.
The first time it happened, the winged creature could easily evade them, but it chose a different tactic. Instead of accelerating, the creature flew through the window of a high-rise building. It skillfully navigated the building’s interior before reappearing on the other side. Then, it soared away, vanishing into the distance before the survivors could figure out which direction it had taken.
When another vehicle attempted to chase one of his managatherers, it flew through the city, taking random turns that made it difficult for its pursuers to follow. After putting some distance between itself and its chasers, and remaining out of sight, it employed its Cloak and stayed hidden until its pursuers finally gave up searching for it.
The managatherers he had developed were clearly very careful creatures. He had genetically programmed them to avoid confrontations at all costs, and they did an extremely good job of staying alive and avoiding getting injured.
Their intelligence allowed them to invent numerous tactics for escaping pursuers and remaining undetected. They strategically employed their Cloak ability, utilizing their flying skills and the surrounding environment to their full advantage.
The managatherers took extra precautions when they had their abdomens filled with mana and were in the process of transporting the valuable magical energy back to their lair. While carrying mana, they avoided any risk of being noticed by survivors. Rather than escaping if detected, they prioritized avoiding attention, swiftly coming to a motionless hover and employing Cloak at the first sound of gunfire or sight of nearby survivors.
Jake was really proud of the managatherers he had developed. So far, there had not been a single instance when survivors managed to injure them, and they always transported mana to the lair without spilling a single drop, so to speak.
Seeing how well his managatherers performed, he began considering the creation of a special creature designed to catch ex-humans and bring them in for future extraction of biomass and various unique materials.
Such a creature needed to be quite powerful, as collecting mana from clouds was one thing, but catching ex-humans and bringing them back to the lair was an entirely different challenge. This was especially true for elite ones, from whom rare and unique materials could be extracted.
From experience, he knew how fiercely they fought and struggled against the cinch net that enveloped them while he carried them home. So a predatory creature that could catch its prey should be not only powerful, but cunning, and inventive as well.
Also, before developing a special creature for obtaining biomass and unique materials, it would also be a good idea to build a second lair dedicated entirely to extracting and storing biomass.
Before getting to all that, though, he intended to focus on something else first. Now that he had human allies, Jake knew he needed to find a way to communicate with them. And some time ago, an idea had come to him regarding how he could achieve this.
A little while back, when he first learned about the Morph Disguise ability, he wondered if it would allow him to speak. Then, during his first visit to Catalina’s base, he browsed the list of items that could be created via the machine called the Fabricator, and one particular item caught his eye. He then asked Catalina to create it. She told him to come back in a day, promising the device would be ready by then.
It had been several days since he last visited Catalina, and he still hadn’t returned for the device. At that point, he had been aware that Morph Disguise might not be flawless enough to allow him to speak, which was why the device had caught his attention, and an idea formed in his mind. At that moment, he hadn’t been entirely sure how Morph Disguise functioned, but he had a feeling that between the ability and the device, he could speak.
Now it was time to test his theory. He was now aware that he couldn’t make any sounds, even while disguised as a human. Still, he wondered if that ability might allow him to create some sort of voice box. This organ contained vocal cords that vibrated when air passed through them, enabling humans and many animals to produce vocal sounds.
So if he succeeded in developing even a partially functional voice box, the device he requested from Catalina might allow him to speak. On the other hand, if he was unable to create some version of a voice box, he wouldn’t even need to return to Catalina Base to collect the device, as there would be no point in having it at all.
The device was called an electrolarynx and was used by people who lost their voice box, usually due to laryngeal cancer. It was pressed against the skin under the mandible, producing vibrations that allowed for speech. This enabled communication that could be understood, even without traditional vocal cords.
So perhaps if he were able to create a rudimentary voice box, he could make good use of such a device. It might work, or it might not. He didn’t know for sure.
In his mutant form, he lacked a tongue and even lips, which played a crucial role in shaping sounds and articulating words in normal speech. Obviously, having a functioning tongue could significantly enhance clarity and articulation because it helped in forming different sounds and modulating speech.
If his idea worked, the produced speech might be far from perfect, and he would face challenges in producing clear, understandable speech. Alternatively, his idea might yield no results at all.
Or perhaps he would be able to speak, but only in his human form. While this wouldn’t be ideal, it would still be better than having no results at all.
Anyway, it was time to put Morph Disguise to the test and see if he could achieve what he wanted.