Chapter 337

Chapter 337

On the morning of the next day, Jake made his way through the city at a brisk pace, heading to Base Catalina. He was excited. After some effort, his experiment with Morph Disguise had eventually yielded good results.

He successfully developed a specialized organ deep within his throat, designed to generate base vibrations. This organ could produce sound waves, though its range and clarity were greatly limited.

So even though he lacked a tongue, lips, or a conventional voice box, he should now be able to produce understandable speech by using an electrolarynx. Such a device should be able to interface directly with the unique organ he had developed. When activated, Jake expected it to enhance and modulate the vibrations produced by this organ, creating robust sound signals.

He had also developed specialized connective tissue that allowed him to use his entire throat cavity as a resonating chamber. This design should enable the vibrations from the device to travel through his throat, resonating and generating acoustic amplification. 

While experimenting with Morph Disguise, he had been able to manipulate the shape of his throat and surrounding tissues. This manipulation allowed him to alter the flow of air and sound produced, which should help create distinct phonetic sounds when using the device. He had even developed unique muscle control to tighten or loosen the shape of his throat to produce different pitches and tones.

So while he still couldn’t speak, he believed that with all the recent changes to his mutant anatomy, the electrolarynx he intended to retrieve from Catalina would allow him to produce clear and understandable speech.

He would no longer need to rely on someone’s PDA to write a text when he needed to communicate, a method that used up a significant amount of his mana. Now, communicating with humans should be a much easier and faster task than before.

Also, since an electrolarynx was a handheld device, it was quite small, allowing him to carry it in his internal inventory and retrieve it when necessary. It would likely occupy just a single slot.

Jake was aware that the internal organs he had developed could be severely damaged in future battles against Los Demonios or mutants, but that was fine. Now that he had created these organs, he was confident he could recreate them if necessary, consuming much less time for that than it took to initially invent them.

So Jake was currently running through the city, getting closer to Camp Catalina, excited to receive the electrolarynx from her and test it out. As he neared a four-way intersection, the sharp sounds of gunfire echoed ahead.

He slowed down, listening carefully. Judging by the sounds of various guns and the absence of mutant screams, he could tell that it was two groups of survivors shooting it out rather than one group fighting off a horde of mutants.

Jake didn’t really want to make any detours, but if a group of survivors was under attack by Los Demonios, he would be ready to help them.

He reached the intersection and turned his head to the right, where the sounds of gunfire were coming from. A Los Demonios

From inside the building was coming the return fire of those hiding within. At first glance, it appeared that the Los Demonios group had pinned down whoever was inside, leaving them unable to escape on their own.

Activating Cloak, Jake began to move toward the SUV. He didn’t bother to move slowly to avoid detection, as there was no need. The gunner and the other bandits behind the large vehicle were preoccupied with the gunfire erupting from the building, diverting their attention from any other possible threats. 

As Jake got closer, he noticed the volume of gunfire coming from inside the building aimed at the SUV was much greater than he had initially assumed. So it appeared that the group in the one-story building was not the one in trouble. Rather, the opposite was true. The intense, constant barrage from the shop had the bandits pinned down behind their vehicle. They couldn’t even peek around the body of the car for fear of being hit by the bullets flying their way.

As for the person manning the machine gun mounted on the roof of the SUV, he was protected by an energy shield that effectively stopped the gunfire coming from inside the building.

Jake stopped not far from the SUV, watching the battle unfold.

There were three bandits taking cover behind the SUV, which was heavily riddled with bullet holes. They seemed to be in a dire situation. They could neither escape nor return fire at those attacking them from inside the building. Their vehicle was probably not even in a drivable condition anymore.

He could see a barely noticeable bluish mist escaping from the bullet holes in the hood of the vehicle. Mana was leaking, but while the engine was obviously damaged, there was likely no risk of it exploding. Instead of gasoline, the SUV operated on mana, which had mysterious properties. Unlike conventional fuels, it couldn’t be ignited by sparks, functioning in a distinctly different manner. 

The person manning the machine gun suddenly stopped firing because his large weapon had run out of bullets. He quickly began to reload it.

As for the amount of gunfire erupting from inside the building, it never ceased even for a moment. It was clear that several people were hiding inside. While some fired at the SUV, others reloaded their weapons, maintaining a relentless rate of fire. 

Jake could see the energy shield protecting the gunner positioned in the roof hatch fade with each bullet that struck it. By that point, the magical barrier was almost transparent, making it clear it wouldn’t hold for much longer.

Suddenly, Jake noticed something alarming. One of the bandits hiding behind the SUV opened the back door and reached inside. He pulled out what appeared to be a grenade launcher and a pouch filled with grenades. The bandit broke open the weapon and loaded a grenade into the breech, taken from the pouch.

With a click, the bandit closed the breech, getting ready to take the shot. The survivors hiding inside the building were in big trouble now, and Jake realized it was time for him to join the fray.