Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 150

Chapter 150

The wood golem charged through the forest, relentlessly chasing the fleeing humans. For such a massive creature, it moved with astonishing speed. Its colossal legs crashed into the ground, making the earth tremble beneath it. Bushes were crushed underfoot, and smaller trees snapped with resounding cracks as the beast barreled forward, quickly closing the distance on the gangsters.

Up ahead, Jake saw that some of the plant monsters—incredibly fast and agile—were already on the survivors’ heels. The bandits fired blindly at their pursuers and even managed to take down a couple, but there were still too many remaining.

One of them pounced on one survivor, sending him sprawling on the ground. The person’s screams penetrated the air as the plant monster sunk its talons into his body. A different plant monster lashed out with its whip-like vine, knocking the legs out from under a nearby survivor and sending him crashing face-first into the ground. Two other plant monsters immediately sprang onto the fallen human.

The remaining gangsters kept running, showing no concern for their fallen comrades. While some of the plant monsters were preoccupied with killing the two survivors, the rest of them had a better chance of escaping—that’s what the bandits were likely thinking.

The wood golem almost caught up with the fleeing humans. One of them suddenly tripped over a root and collapsed to the forest floor. The massive monster was immediately on top of him. Before the survivor could scramble to his feet, the golem slammed one foot on the fallen human, turning him into a pulp. The gangster didn’t even have time to scream before he died.

The wood golem’s brief pause allowed Jake to catch up with the massive creature, which was as large as an elephant. Remembering that his claws weren’t very effective for gripping the golem’s wooden exterior, he transformed both hands back into human-like ones. Then, he leaped toward the side of the wood golem.

The moment he hit the golem’s body, Jake pressed his fingertips and the tips of his feet against its wooden surface. Adhesive Secretion immediately kicked in, allowing him to cling securely to the golem. Like a giant insect, he crawled up the creature, making his way along its back until he reached its thick neck. The wood golem seemed entirely unconcerned by his movement. After finishing stomping on the dead survivor’s body, leaving behind nothing more than a wet patch on the ground, it resumed its relentless chase of the rest of the fleeing gangsters.

Perched atop the creature like a rider on a horse, Jake pressed his left hand against the golem’s exterior to stay anchored. He transformed his right hand into a smashfist, ready to start hammering at the creature’s head again when something caught his attention ahead. Looking up, he realized they were nearing the edge of the woods that marked the boundary of the former city park.

A second later, the wood golem burst from the tree line, snapping one of the smaller trees in its path. Suddenly finding itself in the middle of a street, the golem came to an abrupt halt. The jarring shift from sprinting to halting was so abrupt Jake would have been thrown off its back if not for the grip of Adhesive Secretion holding him securely in place.

For a brief moment, the wood golem surveyed the desolate street. Jake scanned his surroundings too, quickly noticing two SUVs parked nearby, each adorned with red demon skulls painted on the hoods and sides. The remaining bandits were climbing into the vehicles, with two jumping into the first SUV and the other two entering the second one.

With a screech of tires, the lead vehicle bolted forward as the plant monsters leaped at the speeding car from every direction. Some managed to cling to the car frame, their long claws piercing the metal, allowing them to anchor themselves to the vehicle. The other plant monsters sprinted after the fleeing SUV. They were fast, but not nearly as fast as a car, yet that didn’t stop them from trying. Within just a couple of seconds, the lead SUV and most of the plant monsters vanished into the distance.

The two survivors who hopped into the second car were less fortunate. Three remaining plant monsters assaulted the vehicle—one leaped onto the hood, another scrambled onto the roof, and the third broke through the driver’s window, reaching inside the cab. The passenger shouted for the driver to get them out of there, but the driver was too preoccupied trying to prevent his throat from being ripped out.

The wood golem charged toward the SUV and stomped onto its roof, crushing it inward in a shower of shattering glass, killing one of its minions in the process. The massive creature continued to stomp and punch the vehicle, crumpling and breaking the car’s body with an ease that made it seem like a cardboard box.  

In just a few seconds, the vehicle was reduced to a heap of twisted and crumpled metal. Both its occupants and two of the golem’s minions were dead. The third plant monster was alive but gravely injured, lying on the ground next to the wreckage, unable to stand, its legs shattered.

The wood golem stepped back from the vehicle, pausing for a brief moment as if to admire the destruction it had caused. Then its attention shifted to Jake, who remained perched on its neck. The massive beast shook its body violently, trying to throw him off. However, thanks to Jake having used Adhesive Secretion to cling to the beast’s exterior, he was now much more difficult to dislodge than before.

Jake set about hammering the wood golem’s head with his right smashfist. Each powerful strike cracked the surface, causing ethereal light to radiate through the fissures. With every hit, the light that seeped from the cracks intensified, illuminating the area around him. Then in a sudden flash of light, the beast’s head burst apart, large splinters flying every which way. The headless monster remained on its legs for a second or two, then heavily dropped to the asphalt in the middle of the street.

Enemy killed. +1,000 XP

Hunt complete. You have gained 10,000 XP. Ground Strike has been added to the Genetic Development Interface.

You have gained enough XP to level up. Your level has gone up from 62 to 63. You have gained 5 SP.

Something caught Jake’s attention. Still perched atop the dead wood golem, he turned his head to see the plant monster lying on the ground burst into flames. In just two seconds, they consumed the monster, reducing it to a pile of ash. It seemed that now that the wood golem was dead, all the minions it had summoned died off as well.

Jake leaped from the monster’s body to the ground and accessed his stats. He saw that none of his skills and abilities had reached 100%, meaning they couldn’t be upgraded to the next rank just yet. Additionally, he had already purchased all available upgrades for each of his skills and abilities. With no other options, he allocated the earned skill points to his attributes.

Body: 55 → 60

Mind: 57 → 60

Magick: 62 →64

He was now one step closer to fulfilling the requirements for evolving into Stage 3. To advance to the next form, he needed to reach level 75 and elevate each of his attributes to 70.

Suddenly, he heard the roar of an approaching vehicle. He quickly opened his eyes to see the SUV that had fled a few minutes earlier returning. It screeched to a halt some distance ahead of him, its metal frame marked by scratches where the plant monsters had attacked. However, with the golem now defeated, all its minions had died as well, allowing the two occupants of the SUV to return. One of them took position at the machine gun mounted on the roof and aimed directly at him.

It was now obvious that the gangsters had ventured into the city park because they had indeed been tracking him. This was becoming really annoying. How many members of Los Demonios had he already killed? He couldn’t even remember anymore. Yet, they kept coming back. Why couldn’t these guys just leave him the hell alone?

Well, of course, he knew why. It was the gang leader known as Skullface who had a mission to kill him. Instead of doing it themselves, they passed the mission to their subordinates. When one group got killed by Jake, failing to complete the mission, Skullface simply reassigned it to another team. And the members of the gang had no choice but to follow orders. By now, they must have realized that Jake was a tough target, but they just couldn’t ignore their boss’s orders. Los Demonios had extremely cruel rules and traditions inherited from a cartel, so the members understood that insubordination wouldn’t be tolerated. They were simply caught between a rock and a hard place.

Jake decided to do something about that. It was time to send a clear message to the leader of Los Demonios.

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