Chapter 534

“What do you mean exactly, Jake?” Mick asked. He still hadn’t turned to face him, his full attention fixed on the piece of Grafter tech he was holding in his hands.

“I received a message that it leveled up from 1 to 2, which unlocked a new skill,” Jake explained. “You never told me it was capable of something like that.”

For a brief moment, Mick remained completely still. Then he carefully set the piece of Grafter tech aside on the workbench and finally turned to face him.

“You received a message saying the chip leveled up, huh?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “That’s quite interesting.”

Mick sounded calm and confident, as though the news merely piqued his curiosity, but Jake’s acute senses still caught the faintest hint of nervousness beneath his composed tone. It lasted only an instant before disappearing, though.

Jake waited for the human to continue, but Mick simply looked at him in silence, his expression thoughtful.

“So why did you lie to me?” Jake finally asked. “Did you really think I’d never find out?”

“My dear friend, I never lied to you,” Mick said. “I never told you the chip could level up because I had no idea it was capable of doing that.”

Jake said nothing for a moment, staring directly at Mick and trying to determine whether he was telling the truth. The human calmly met his gaze without flinching, giving nothing away. Jake even used Mind Reader on him, but since the ability didn’t let him read a person’s thoughts, only view their memories, it wasn’t much help in that particular situation.

Or maybe Mick could somehow alter his memories, hiding the real ones behind fabricated ones? After all, he was the one who had invented the technology the Spartans used to shield their memories from being accessed. Who knew what other similar technology Mick had managed to create? If anyone was capable of fooling an ability like Mind Reader, it would be him.

It was then that Jake remembered the Mind Breach skill the chip had recently unlocked. There was no description of the skill anywhere in his stats, not even a brief explanation of what it actually did. Curious, he decided to use it on Mick’s mind just to see how it worked.

The skill activated the instant he willed it to. A brief moment later, it informed him that Mick’s mind had no defenses for it to breach.

So Jake now understood how the skill worked. Mind Breach allowed him to strip away any mental defenses a human might have set up to protect their thoughts or memories from intrusion. Once those defenses were gone, his Mind Reader ability would be able to access what had previously been hidden from him.

He remembered that he hadn’t been able to view the Spartans’ memories before because of the technology Mick had invented to shield their minds from Owen’s intrusion. So perhaps, thanks to Mind Breach, he would now be able to tear down those defenses and access their memories anyway. If that was true, then even the protection Mick had designed was no longer an obstacle.

As for Mick, his mind wasn’t protected, which meant his memories were already open for Jake to view without using Mind Breach at all. There was nothing to strip away. Unless, of course, Mick was capable of fooling even Mind Breach. 

Even though he was now suspicious of Mick, Jake still found himself thinking that he actually liked this new skill. It complemented Mind Reader perfectly, making the ability even more useful than before.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Mick said, interpreting his silence in his own way. “I genuinely had no idea the chip was capable of doing anything other than giving you extra XP.”

For a moment, Mick fell silent. His brow furrowed as his face took on a thoughtful expression, his gaze drifting away as if searching through his memories.

“Come to think of it,” he said after a few seconds, “when the skill that allowed me to create this chip was unlocked, I read its description, and one particular detail stood out. It mentioned that the chip was self-learning. I remember wondering what exactly that meant. But there was no additional information explaining it, so eventually, that little detail just slipped my mind.”

Jake had no idea whether Mick was telling the truth or not. There was no way he could read the human’s memories or see what his skill showed him in his mind. Because of that, there was no way for him to know for sure whether Mick was trustworthy or not.

Still, he was willing to give this particular human the benefit of the doubt.

“Jake, can you tell me exactly what the chip told you when it leveled up?”

“It only told me it leveled up from 1 to 2 and that a new skill was unlocked.”

“It’s very interesting indeed,” Mick murmured, rubbing his chin. “So you can see its experience bar as well as its skill tree, huh? What kinds of skills can it unlock for you?”

“Actually, I don’t have that kind of information. I can’t see its experience bar, skill tree, or anything like that. I don’t even know what actions let it gain XP. Whatever is happening inside the chip is completely hidden from me. The only thing I seemingly get are messages whenever it levels up.”

Mick frowned, his expression growing more puzzled. “Odd. Very odd.” He tapped one of his thin fingers against his chin. “What was the first skill the chip unlocked for you?”

“It’s called Mind Breach. From what I can tell, it allows me to break through any mental defenses a human might have set up to protect their mind from being accessed by someone like me.”

Mick’s eyes lit up with interest. “Well, you can’t deny it’s quite a useful skill.”

“It is.”

They fell silent for a moment, each lost in thought. Then Mick suddenly scuttled across the room on his metal spider-like legs toward one of the control consoles. The sharp metallic clicks of his limbs echoed through the workshop as he leaned over the console and pressed a few buttons. After a moment, a holographic display flickered to life above it.

He motioned for Jake to come over and pointed at the screen. “See for yourself, Jake. That’s all the information I actually have about this chip.”

Jake stepped closer and glanced over the information displayed on the screen. It contained nothing beyond what Mick had already told him about the chip. There was no mention of levels, skills, or anything else of that sort.

But there was no mention of the self-learning function Mick had just claimed the chip possessed, either. Had he lied? Or had that information only been included in the initial description of the blueprint for the chip?

Jake wasn’t sure what to think. He didn’t trust Mick anymore, but at the same time, he didn’t want to accuse him of lying outright. Up until this point, his relationship with the human had been surprisingly good, and he didn’t want to ruin that by jumping to conclusions. 

“So, as you can see, I never lied to you, Jake,” Mick said.

“Sure seems so.”

He said that, but he was thinking something else entirely. Perhaps Mick had fabricated the information that was now displayed on the screen. But Jake kept this thought to himself.

A faint smile spread across Mick’s face.

“So we’re good?”

“Yeah.”

At least, for now, he mentally added. 

Mick grinned. “Great.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Considering how unusual this whole situation is, I can’t exactly blame you for being suspicious.”

He fell silent for a second before speaking again. “Look, if you don’t like having the chip in your head or think it might cause you more harm than good, I can remove it right away. Just say the word.”

Jake thought about it for a brief moment before shaking his head. “I’ll keep it for now.”

“Alright then.” Mick nodded. “Just keep me in the loop about what it does and what new skills it unlocks for you, alright? I’m really interested in that, since I had no idea it was capable of something like this. Every new piece of information helps.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

The human’s attention soon drifted back to the pile of Grafter tech resting on one of the workbenches. His eyes lingered on it for a moment, curiosity plainly written across his face. It was obvious Mick was eager to get back to examining the strange devices, his mind already occupied with whatever secrets they might still be hiding.

“I should get going,” Jake said, breaking the brief silence that had settled over the room.

“What do you plan on doing next?” Mick asked.

“I’m going to kill the last Titan and destroy a few more nests to finally rid Dead City of the Ravage Contamination.”

Mick let out a quiet hum of acknowledgment. “I take it you’re not doing it for yourself, eh?”

“Just helping the Spartans out.”

Mick studied him for a moment before nodding slowly.

“That’s quite noble of you, Jake. Alright then.” A crooked grin spread across his face. “If you ever need anything from me, any kind of help, you know where to find me, friend.”

Jake returned the nod. Then he turned toward Owen, who had remained silent throughout the entire conversation, patiently watching the exchange unfold.

“What about you?” Jake asked. “Do you want to lend me a hand in slaying the final Titan?”

To his surprise, his counterpart shook his head without a moment’s hesitation.

At first, Jake was baffled, unsure why his friend had refused. Until now, Owen had clearly enjoyed fighting Titans alongside him, even though doing so hadn’t earned him any XP or any other kind of reward. If anything, he had always seemed eager for the next battle.

Then it hit him. Owen had to be resentful about Jake helping the Spartans. Which wasn’t surprising. After all, Jake knew exactly what they had done to him. Owen had every reason to hate them, and from his perspective, Jake’s decision probably made little sense.

“They aren’t my friends,” Jake said. “Catalina is the only human I truly care about, the only one I can call a friend. As for the Spartans, I don’t care about them one bit. But I promised to help rid their city of the Ravage Contamination, so I need to keep that promise. Do you understand?”

Owen remained motionless for a second. Then he slowly nodded. Jake watched him for a moment, trying to gauge whether his explanation had gotten through.

After that, he turned and headed for the exit. At the door, he paused briefly and glanced over his shoulder one last time.

Mick paid him no attention, already completely absorbed in the pile of Grafter tech spread across the workbench. One of his mechanical spider-like legs delicately picked up a strange device while his hands began examining a different one.

Owen, on the other hand, hadn’t moved at all. Still as a statue, his unblinking eyes remained fixed on Jake. For a second, the two mutants simply held each other’s gaze in silence.

Then Jake gave him a brief nod, which Owen didn’t return. He turned away and left the room. A moment later, he stepped through Mick’s shimmering portal and was teleported back to Dead City.