Chapter 73: Papa Jupiter’s Trump Card

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Papa Jupiter’s Trump Card

Chapter 73: Papa Jupiter’s Trump Card

Axel Vance twisted the dead Creeper’s wings in his hands and tried to angle them like a crude glider. The useless flesh could not truly fly anymore, but it gave him just enough control to steer toward the center of the crater. A second later, Axel and half of the Creeper’s corpse slammed directly into the enormous roasted animal beside the bonfire.

The impact produced a deep, wet thud as the giant carcass collapsed beneath him. Hot grease and meat juices sprayed in every direction, while the thick hide, layers of fat, and sheer mass of the animal absorbed most of the force that otherwise would have shattered Axel against the ground. Even with Physique 3.1, he still felt as though every bone in his body had been violently rearranged.

Axel slowly pushed himself out of the ruined meat and shook his head until his vision cleared. Pain radiated through his entire body, but aside from that, the strongest sensation was the overwhelming smell of roasted flesh clinging to his clothes. Lionel Cosgrove and Dr. Seth Brundle had already made their way down from the crater rim and hurried toward him.

Lionel stopped a few feet away and immediately pinched his nose. "What the hell were they roasting? That doesn’t smell like any normal animal I’ve ever eaten." He walked around Axel once, staring at the grease and chunks of meat hanging from him with visible disgust.

"Still better than becoming a crater decoration," Axel replied as he carefully rolled his shoulders. He glanced toward the smashed carcass beneath him, then at the remains of the Creeper scattered nearby. Something immediately felt wrong.

His system had not reacted.

There was no EXP increase.

No progression.

Nothing.

Axel’s expression tightened. "Where’s the Creeper’s head?" The question instantly erased Lionel’s amusement, and both he and Seth raised their weapons while scanning the surrounding settlement.

The crater had become disturbingly quiet. Hundreds of mutant bodies covered the slopes where the first assaults had failed, while the survivors had apparently retreated into caves after witnessing the aerial battle. Aside from the crackling bonfire and distant movement somewhere underground, the entire settlement looked abandoned.

Lionel slowly turned in a circle. "You cut that thing’s head off in midair. Don’t tell me the head grew legs and crawled away." Even for him, the possibility sounded ridiculous, but the Creeper had already proven that ordinary rules meant very little.

Axel looked toward the raised platform.

The bone-covered throne was empty.

Papa Jupiter was gone.

Lionel followed his gaze and scoffed. "Father ran away too?" Seth crouched near the base of the platform, checked the disturbed dirt and nearby tracks, then shook his head.

"He probably didn’t go far," Seth said. "This entire crater is his territory, his family, and apparently his kingdom. Someone like that doesn’t abandon everything unless he has somewhere nearby to retreat."

All three men slowly turned toward the broad cave from which the stone coffin had originally been carried.

Axel nodded. "Then that’s where we look."

He walked over to the enchanted chainsaw, which had landed several yards from the carcass. Decayed tissue from the Creeper still clung to the chain and housing, producing an odor bad enough to rival the bonfire, but when Axel fed it a trace of Psionic Power, the engine came alive immediately. "Still works."

"Wait," Seth said before Axel could start toward the cave. He opened his pack, pulled out three flashlights, and tossed one to Axel and another to Lionel. "If we’re going underground, I’d rather actually see whatever tries to kill us."

Lionel slung the heavy belt-fed weapon over his shoulder and rearranged the ammunition around his body. "I’m taking point this time. That bird-faced bastard almost jumped me from behind earlier, and I’m not letting that happen twice." He grinned and added, "Anything that pops out gets introduced to modern engineering."

The three entered the cave in single file. Their flashlight beams revealed a descending passage carved roughly through the rock, with tool marks along both walls showing that at least part of it had been excavated by human hands rather than formed naturally. After several dozen yards, the narrow tunnel suddenly opened into something much larger.

Lionel stopped so abruptly that Seth nearly walked into him.

The joke already forming on Lionel’s lips disappeared.

They had entered a huge underground facility.

Rows of metal cabinets lined the walls, while old control stations stood beneath banks of gauges, switches, and mechanical displays. Much of the equipment was coated in dust, but enough remained intact to show that this had once been a serious federal installation, and faded radiation warning signs were still visible on several walls.

Seth’s exhausted face lit up.

"A nuclear-test research base," he said, almost reverently. "We finally found the damn place." After everything they had gone through since leaving Florida, the sight of the old equipment seemed more exciting to him than surviving the entire mutant settlement.

Axel continued sweeping the room for movement. "Maybe this place explains what happened to the people outside." He glanced toward the warning symbols and added, "Living beside old test sites for generations probably didn’t help."

Seth immediately shook his head. "Radiation alone doesn’t explain them. Severe mutations are usually unstable and often come with major organ, developmental, or immune problems." He gestured back toward the crater and continued, "Those people are strong, fertile, socially organized, and capable of producing physically specialized adults. Something else interfered with the process."

"So artificial intervention," Axel said.

"Almost certainly."

Seth moved deeper into the facility as his excitement returned. At the far side of the room stood a heavy metal door with a narrow observation window, although the glass had been shattered long ago. Seth pushed it open and revealed a long corridor lined with rooms on both sides.

Axel raised his flashlight. "We split up, but stay close enough to hear each other. Find Papa Jupiter, and assume he may have more surprises hidden down here." Lionel nodded and moved toward the rooms on the right, while Axel started checking the left side.

Seth barely waited for permission.

He headed straight toward the far end of the corridor as though he already knew where the important equipment would be.

Axel kicked open the first door on his side and found an abandoned dormitory. Several rusted metal-frame beds stood inside beneath deteriorating blankets and stained mattresses, but nothing moved when his flashlight swept across the room. He checked beneath the beds and behind an old locker before continuing.

From the opposite side came a loud crash.

Then Lionel shouted, "I found something!"

Axel immediately turned while Seth doubled back from farther down the corridor. They reached Lionel’s room and discovered him standing inside a storage area filled with shelves of canned food, field rations, crackers, and other long-term supplies. One cardboard case had fallen when Lionel opened the door, spilling dusty cans across the floor.

Lionel’s eyes practically glowed.

"We’re rich."

Before Axel could stop him, Lionel grabbed an old can of luncheon meat and opened it. The printed manufacturing date was more than a decade old, but Lionel sniffed the contents, dug out a piece, and shoved it into his mouth anyway.

Axel stared at him.

Lionel chewed thoughtfully. "Still edible."

Seth ignored him completely.

Lionel swallowed. "Little salty."

Axel shook his head. "If that finally kills you after everything else you survived, I’m not explaining it to Paquita."

Seth was already walking away. "You two can debate food poisoning later. I found the control room."

They followed him to the far end of the corridor, where another doorway opened into a larger chamber. A broad curved observation window dominated one wall, most of the glass broken away, giving the room a clear view across the crater outside. Rows of consoles confirmed that this had once been the command center for the entire underground installation.

One object immediately stood out.

A crude chair made from animal hides, scavenged metal, and pieces of old furniture sat directly in front of the main console.

Seth touched the seat.

"Still warm."

Axel’s eyes narrowed. "Papa Jupiter."

"He was here recently."

Seth’s attention then shifted toward an old computer terminal built into the central console. Despite the age of everything around it, the monitor was still glowing, and lines of code continued scrolling across the screen. Something had clearly been activated only moments earlier.

Seth dropped into the chair and immediately started working.

His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard while Axel and Lionel watched the corridor behind them. After several commands, the scrolling stopped and a directory appeared across the monitor.

Seth froze.

Then his breathing quickened.

"Found it."

Axel looked over. "What?"

"Everything."

Seth scrolled through the directory with increasing excitement. "Local activity records tied to the cult, experimental files, and the raw data from the old nuclear-testing program." He looked almost ready to kiss the monitor. "This is exactly what I came here for."

Without wasting time, Seth secured the old magnetic storage medium containing the data so he could take it with them. Once it was safely packed away, some of the tension finally left his shoulders. "Papa Jupiter is still loose, but technically, our original mission is complete."

Axel did not share his relief.

He stared at the now-dark terminal.

"Why was the computer already running?"

Seth looked back toward the screen.

Axel continued, "Someone used it before we got here."

Seth’s expression became more serious. "Yeah."

"How recently?"

"About three minutes before we entered the room."

Axel felt the same bad instinct that had warned him about the gas station return.

"What did he activate?"

Seth remained silent for a moment, recalling the command log he had seen before removing the data.

Then he looked directly at Axel.

"Deep isolation room gate."

Lionel slowly lowered his can of luncheon meat.

Seth finished the sentence.

"Lock released."

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