Rex aimed his legendary shotgun at the massive arachnid charging toward him. The blast from the powerful weapon shattered several of its legs, sending the creature crashing to the ground.

It attempted to rise, but its remaining legs couldn't support its weight. Rex quickly pumped another shell into the chamber and finished the creature off with a second shot.

He spun toward the noise of approaching footsteps and saw two more massive arachnids advancing toward him. He pumped his shotgun, chambering another round, and fired at one of them, hitting it square in the head, blowing it apart and killing the creature instantly.

Just as he aimed the shotgun at the second spider, it launched a glob of acid in his direction. The projectile hit the human right in his face, and the acid immediately began to eat at his flesh.

Screaming in agony, Rex dropped his shotgun, bringing his hands up to his face in a futile attempt to alleviate the excruciating pain. As soon as his fingers touched his face, the acid adhered to them, eating away at the flesh and stripping his fingers down to the bare bones.

The spider pounced on top of screaming Rex, causing him to collapse to the ground. In the next moment, the arachnid sank its fangs deep into the human's skull, ending his suffering.

While the wingclaws and crawlers dealt with the bandits, Jake remained perched on the roof edge, not bothering to participate in the massacre. His army of monsters was more than capable of slaying the bandits, so he didn't feel the need to join the battle personally.

His minions kept slaying the bandits. At some point, some of his creatures breached the gates, allowing the captured survivors to escape.

Once all the bandits were killed, Jake leaped from the roof to the street below and set about obliterating the base, starting with the concrete walls and the four tall guard towers. Once reduced to piles of rubble, he moved on to destroy various machines and structures scattered throughout the compound.

To accelerate the process of laying waste to the base, he absorbed two gems to grant his smashfists the ability to cause small explosions with each punch.

It didn't take him long to completely flatten the base. Standing amidst the rubble, he surveyed the scene of destruction.

As his eyes fell on the legendary shotgun lying next to Rex's dead body, he walked over and picked it up. For a brief moment, he considered what to do with the weapon. Now that the base was destroyed, he didn't really need the shotgun anymore.

However, while he personally didn't need the firearm, he recognized that it might be of great use to somebody else. He recalled how quickly Rex had been taking down his crawlers with this weapon. This legendary shotgun was undeniably powerful.

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He thought about bringing it to Catalina. She would certainly be thrilled to get her hands on such a powerful weapon. However, after some consideration, he decided against giving the weapon to her, or anyone else, for that matter.

He knew that while the regular humans were currently his allies, they were apprehensive of him and didn't trust him completely. He was well aware that after Los Demonios was no more, his relationship with the regular survivors might eventually deteriorate.

For now, they needed him, but he knew that Catalina and Melissa were already contemplating hunting him down once the bandit organization was gone. Therefore, he decided it was wise not to arm those who might turn against him in the future.

Using his inhuman strength, he shattered the weapon into several pieces, rendering it beyond any repair.

He then gave the remaining wingclaws and crawlers a mental command to return to the main base. They immediately obeyed, and Jake watched them go until they were out of sight.

He wasn't planning to bring any of his creatures to the Los Demonios main base, as they would prevent him from infiltrating it discreetly. That was fine, though. Even though he was accustomed to relying on his army of monsters in battles, he knew he would be able to take down the main base without them.

While he focused on dismantling the main base, his creatures would continue carrying out their usual tasks, collecting biomass and mana, making sure the lairs had enough magical energy to function and always remained stocked with supplies. And after he destroyed the Los Demonios main base and returned, he would resume developing his lairs.

Without looking back at the remnants of the base, he made his way back to the building where he had parked the helicopter. Once on the roof, he assumed the identity of the pilot. He now possessed all the necessary memories of the human that would aid him in infiltrating the Los Demonios main base.

Settling into the pilot's seat within the bubble canopy, he powered up the engines. Once the rotor blades reached the required take-off speed, he took hold of the controls, launching the helicopter into the sky.

After pivoting in the correct direction, he guided the aircraft over the rooftops of the tall buildings at a dizzying speed. He knew that the helicopter he was piloting was vastly more advanced than those from the pre-Collapse era. It was significantly more powerful and operated solely on mana.

It didn't take long for him to cross the city limits. He was now flying over vast wastelands that extended as far as he could see. Below him lay nothing but hardened ground, marred by chasms that ranged from a few yards to several hundred yards across.

From the pilot's memories, Jake learned that the bandits referred to these desolate lands as the Scarlands. All the known land between the cities was like this.

However, while the surface seemed barren, the earth beneath teemed with life. Massive insect-like mutants dwelled underground, navigating through a network of natural tunnels as well as those they had constructed themselves.

Jake knew that the Los Demonios main base was located deep underground, accessible through one of the huge chasms. That was where he was headed.

He knew it would take him a couple of hours to reach his destination, so he braced himself for a long and uneventful flight.

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