Chapter 532

Catalina couldn’t believe it was all happening for real. Sure, she had been living in the post-Collapse world for quite some time now and had witnessed plenty of weird stuff. She was well used to fighting all kinds of mutants and dealing with various anomalies. Even so, what she was seeing now went far beyond anything she had ever encountered in this new world.

High above the rooftops of the high-rise buildings, a fierce battle raged. The air echoed with distant explosions, inhuman shrieks, and the thunderous beating of countless wings. An enormous airship that looked more like a living creature than any machine floated high in the sky, while all around it, Jake’s winged creatures darted through the air in a chaotic aerial battle against the weird squid-like monsters the living airship had deployed.

The two swarms collided over and over again. Dead creatures from both sides occasionally tumbled from the battle, disappearing behind the surrounding buildings before crashing somewhere out of sight. Huge arachnids, which also belonged to Jake, scuttled across the bio-ship’s hull with unsettling speed. Their sharp limbs easily found purchase on the rubbery organic surface as they tore into the vessel’s engines with claws and streams of sizzling acid. Wherever the acid struck, chunks of living flesh blackened and peeled away, exposing strange metallic structures hidden beneath.

As for Jake’s Kaiju, the beast clung to the side of the enormous aircraft like some monstrous predator refusing to let go of its prey. Every swing of its massive claws ripped open another section of the living hull, sending torrents of dark fluid spilling into the open air. Jake himself was somewhere inside the bio-ship at that very moment, having entered through one of the enormous holes his Kaiju had carved into the hull.

So yeah, this battle was definitely much weirder than anything Catalina had witnessed in this world so far. Judging by Silvia and the other Spartans’ expressions, they all felt the same way. Their eyes remained fixed on the impossible spectacle above, their faces caught somewhere between disbelief and awe. None of them had ever seen anything like it, not living airships, synthetic creatures, or Kaiju-sized monsters like the one Jake controlled. It was all completely new to them, and for once, even the battle-hardened Spartans seemed to be in a state of awe.

Before Jake rushed toward the living airship, he warned the group to return to the safety of their base. They had hurried through the deserted streets, putting as much distance between themselves and the battle as they could. So they heeded his warning, at least at first.

However, it didn’t take them long to realize that, despite what Jake had said, there was nothing to be afraid of. All the synthetic monsters deployed by the bio-ship were completely focused on Jake’s wingclaws, ignoring everything else. None of them paid any attention to what was happening on the streets far below, where the humans appeared too insignificant to bother with.

So eventually, the group slowed to a stop. One by one, they turned around, unable to resist looking back. Before long, they simply stood there in the middle of the empty street, silently staring up at the aerial battle unfolding overhead. Every few moments, flashes of light illuminated the clouds as explosions erupted around the living vessel. Distant roars echoed across the contaminated city while fragments of burning organic flesh and twisted debris occasionally broke away from the battle, tumbling toward the ground somewhere far off in the distance. Despite the danger, none of the Spartans could bring themselves to look away.

At one point, they saw one of Jake’s wingclaws dive toward the bio-ship and disappear through one of the massive breaches the Kaiju had torn into its hull. It vanished inside the living vessel for several long seconds before what appeared to be the same wingclaw burst back out through another opening, banking sharply to avoid colliding with the bio-ship’s twisting body.

Before Catalina could give it any more thought, the Spartans noticed something else. The bio-ship had begun to lose altitude. Thick trails of smoke and dark fluid streamed from the damaged engines as the crippled vessel slowly tipped to one side. At first, the descent was almost imperceptible, but with every passing second, it became faster. Judging by its angle, the enormous living craft was falling directly toward their position.

“Oh crap,” one of the Spartans muttered.

The moment they realized that, the Spartans broke into a sprint, racing away from the projected crash site. Their earlier fascination vanished instantly, replaced by pure survival instinct. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them, knees pumping and fists flying. None of them dared glance back for more than a split second. Behind them, the shadow of the descending bio-ship swept across the ruined street, growing larger with terrifying speed.

A few seconds later, a tremendous crash erupted behind them as the living vessel slammed into the large four-way intersection where they had been standing only moments before. The impact shook the ground so violently that Catalina nearly lost her footing. A deafening boom echoed through the city as chunks of organic matter were hurled into the air. A powerful blast of wind surged through the streets, rushing after the fleeing Spartans.

The group gradually slowed to a stop and looked over their shoulders. A thick cloud of dust rolled through the intersection before slowly beginning to settle, revealing the fallen vessel beneath it. The enormous bio-ship lay sprawled across the middle of the intersection, its colossal body wedged tightly between the surrounding buildings. Portions of the living hull had split open on impact, exposing layers of pulsing organic tissue intertwined with metallic structures hidden beneath.

The enormous living creature shuddered as ripples of violent spasms coursed through its body. Every now and then, one of its damaged engines twitched weakly before falling silent again, while streams of dark blood-like fluid seeped from countless wounds and pooled across the ruined street. The bio-ship was a blend of machine and living organism, and it was painfully obvious that it was dying.

To Catalina’s surprise, she felt a pang of compassion for the strange, enormous creature. Whatever it truly was, she doubted it had been born to serve as a weapon. Looking at its broken body convulsing helplessly in the middle of the ruined intersection, she couldn’t shake the feeling that being turned into a war machine was the last thing it had ever wanted. Someone had clearly done this to it against its will.

The enormous body of the bio-ship spasmed several more times, each convulsion weaker than the last, before finally going still. For a moment, nobody said a word. The Spartans simply stood there, staring at the motionless vessel, unsure whether they were looking at a machine that had shut down or a creature that had just taken its final breath.

Then movement caught Catalina’s eye. From various gashes and ragged holes torn through the hull, weird crab-like creatures began to emerge one after another. Each was roughly the size of a bear, and each was another disturbing blend of machine and living being, their chitinous bodies reinforced with metal plating and strange mechanical components that clicked and whirred as they moved.

The crab-like monsters were in various states of injury. Some could barely hold themselves upright, their damaged limbs trembling beneath their own weight, while others limped and stumbled as they scurried across the ground on their chitinous legs. Jagged cracks ran through their armored shells, exposing pulsating organic tissue and twisted mechanical components beneath. Several trailed dark fluid behind them as they moved, while sparking cables hung from torn sections of their bodies. A few, however, had been lucky enough to escape the crash mostly unscathed.

For a few moments, the strange creatures seemed disoriented. They clicked and chittered to one another in harsh, mechanical voices, their glowing eyes sweeping across the devastated intersection as though trying to understand what had happened. Then, almost as one, they noticed the Spartans standing several dozen yards away.

It wasn’t long before the creatures fully fixed their attention on the humans and immediately opened fire. Bolts of brilliant energy streaked through the air, momentarily leaving glowing trails in their wake before slamming into the ground and nearby buildings with violent bursts of light. Chunks of organic matter exploded into the air as the Spartans scattered in every direction while returning fire with disciplined bursts from their rifles.

Suddenly, a large winged creature swooped down from above with astonishing speed. It landed between the humans and the crab-like monsters. Catalina immediately noticed that the wingclaw carried a familiar figure in its talons. It was the morphus the Spartans called D.

When the winged creature opened its claws and released the mutant onto the street, D landed on the ground, barely making a sound. He spared the humans only the briefest glance before turning his attention to the crab-monsters.

Another similar figure began to form on the wingclaw’s back, its organic surface shifting and reshaping itself as though molding living clay. Within seconds, the familiar silhouette of Jake emerged. He detached himself from his mount and dropped lightly to the ground. The wingclaw spread its massive wings and launched back into the air with a powerful leap, beating the air hard enough to send a gust of wind sweeping through the street.

At the same time, Jake and D charged the group of crab-monsters. The creatures immediately redirected their fire toward the two mutants, but neither of them slowed down. Jake moved with frightening speed, easily weaving between the incoming energy bolts before crashing into the front ranks of the enemy. D arrived only a heartbeat later, throwing himself into the melee with equal ferocity. Claws tore through chitin, blades flashed, and bursts of acid and energy lit up the battlefield. The surviving crab-monsters fought desperately, but after surviving the crash, they were no longer in any condition to stand against opponents like Jake and D.

The battle didn’t last long. Within moments, the last of the creatures collapsed to the ground. The street was strewn with shattered pieces of chitin, broken mechanical components, and pools of dark organic fluid that slowly spread across the ground.

Jake glanced over the battlefield for a brief moment before turning and walking toward the humans. As for D, he remained where he was. Standing a dozen yards away, he silently watched the Spartans without making any attempt to approach them. Catalina now knew everything that had happened between Owen and the Spartans, so she understood that he had every reason to hate them.

“Why are you still here?” Jake asked as he approached the group. “Why didn’t you return to your base like I told you?”

He was clearly addressing Silvia, but his eyes were on Catalina. She noticed it immediately. She had a feeling he didn’t care much about the Spartans, or probably any other humans, for that matter. But she also had the distinct impression that he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. He seemed to genuinely care about her, and that realization filled Catalina with a pleasant warmth she couldn’t quite explain.

Silvia ignored his question. Instead, she turned her attention toward the massive body of the fallen living vessel. She studied it for a moment, her expression filled with curiosity and suspicion, before motioning toward it.

“What is that thing? Where did it come from?”

“Apparently, humans aren’t the only intelligent beings in this new world,” Jake said. He glanced back at the ruined bio-ship for a moment. “There are others. I killed the captain of this ship, but there are more of them wherever it came from.”

“And where did it come from?” Silvia asked. 

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” Jake replied. “But not now. First, I’m going to deal with the last remaining Titan. As for you, you should return to your base. I’ll let you know when it’s over. Within half an hour, your city will be free of the Ravage Contamination.”

For a moment, Catalina thought Silvia was going to argue, as always. She could already imagine the questions and objections forming in her mind. However, her people were exhausted, and after everything they had just witnessed, they were clearly in no condition for another confrontation. Silvia could see that as well.

“We’ll do that,” she said.

She then turned and began leading her group away. The other Spartans followed, though several of them continued glancing back at Jake and the bodies of the strange creatures strewn across the ground, still trying to process everything they had just witnessed.

But Catalina lingered for a moment longer. She looked at Jake with a gentle smile, unwilling to leave without saying something. “See you soon, I hope. Don’t disappear on me again, okay?”

For a moment, Jake simply stared at her. Then he gave a small nod without saying anything. It wasn’t much, but Catalina found herself smiling anyway.

She was about to turn away when she caught sight of the other morphus standing a dozen yards behind Jake. Owen stood completely motionless, watching the retreating Spartans as they disappeared farther down the ruined street. While his face couldn’t display any emotion, there was something unsettling about the way he carried himself. His posture was rigid, almost tense, and the sheer stillness of his body made him appear more like a predator waiting patiently for the right moment to strike.

A chill ran down Catalina’s spine. Jake and Owen had clearly become friends. They fought together, trusted each other, and seemed to share some kind of bond. However, while Jake no longer viewed the Spartans as enemies, that didn’t mean Owen felt the same way. Catalina knew enough about what had happened between him and the Spartans to understand why he might still hold onto his hatred. She couldn’t blame him for feeling that way, but that didn’t make the thought any less frightening.

She shuddered at the possibility of what might be going through his mind. She really hoped he wasn’t considering making a move against them.

Suddenly, Owen moved. It was only a slight motion, barely noticeable, but enough to make Catalina tense. He turned his head ever so slightly. For a brief moment, she wondered if she had imagined it. Then she realized he was no longer watching the Spartans. He was staring directly at her now.

The realization made her deeply uncomfortable. Owen remained as still as a statue, showing no reaction whatsoever, but the emotionless stare of his unblinking eyes unnerved her more than any expression of anger could have. His gaze was unreadable, making it impossible for her to know what he was thinking.

Suppressing a shudder, Catalina quickly wheeled around and hurried after the Spartans. She didn’t look back again, but she could still feel Owen’s eyes following her as she moved away.