All Chapters of The Evolution System of the Drowned: Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
106 chapters
Chapter 71: The UN Ultimatum
I stood on the deck of the rescue boat, staring at the clear water, but the peace didn't last long. A massive, gray destroyer was cutting through the waves, heading straight for Oakhaven. It wasn't a Thorne ship. It carried the crest of the United Nations."Osric, the radar is lighting up!" Kael shouted from the cabin. "It's not just one ship. They’ve got a blockade forming five miles out!""What do they want?" I asked. My eye was still stinging from the voice I’d heard earlier."They want to talk!" Kael said. "But they’re using a military channel. They’re patching through a broadcast now!"The ship’s speakers crackled to life. A man with a cold, stiff voice began to speak."This is Admiral Vance of the UN Task Force. We are speaking to the individual known as Osric Thorne. You are in possession of unregistered Pre-Deluge technology that has caused global ecological instability. By international decree, you are ordered to surrender the Pearl immediately.""Ecological instability?" Jax
Chapter 72: The Iron Curtain of Water
Jax didn't even have time to pull his trigger. The woman in the white suit just looked at him, and his rifle turned into a handful of wet sand. He stared at his empty palms, then back at the woman."Who invited you on my boat?" I demanded, stepping between her and Jax."The Pearl invited me, Osric," she said. Her voice was flat, like a recording. "I am the Administrator. You’ve successfully triggered the lockdown. Now, the rest of the world has to pay for your little rebellion.""The blockade is already failing," I snapped. "I pushed the UN back.""You pushed back a few ships," she countered with a cold smile. "But you didn't stop the quarantine. Look at the horizon. It's not just Oakhaven anymore.""Osric, look at the satellite feed!" Kael’s voice screamed from the cabin. "It’s happening everywhere! Every major port on the planet... London, New York, Tokyo... they're all being sealed!""Sealed how?" I asked."Walls of water, Osric!" Kael shouted. "Just like the ones you made! But the
Chapter 73: The Black Market King
I dropped from the pillar of water as it collapsed back into the bay. My boots hit the wet wood of the Oakhaven docks with a heavy thud. The crowd was still there, but they weren't looking at the sky anymore. They were looking at the man stepping off a sleek, black cutter that had just pulled alongside my rescue boat."You look like you've seen a ghost, Osric," Lord Abyss said. He stepped onto the dock, his long coat snapping in the wind. "Abyss? I thought you were hiding in the southern trenches," I said. My hand went to my side, though I didn't have a weapon."Hiding is for people without a plan," Abyss replied. He looked at the smoking ruins of the Thorne Manor. "I told you Silas was a short-sighted fool. He built a wall, but he forgot that walls can be turned into cages.""What are you doing here, Abyss?" Jax barked, stepping up behind me. "The world is falling apart. We don't have time for your games.""Games? This is the greatest sale in human history!" Abyss laughed. He held u
Chapter 74: The Assassination Attempt
I slammed into the stone floor as the white light finally released its grip on my body. The metallic screech from the bay was still echoing in my ears. I couldn't see straight, but I felt Jax’s rough hands grabbing my shoulders."Osric! Get up! We have to move!" Jax shouted."The eye... it's still out there," I groaned, wiping blood from my nose."Forget the eye for a second!" Jax hauled me to my feet. "Abyss is already retreating to the lower vaults. He says his scanners picked up something small and fast entering the airspace!""A ship?" I asked."No," Kael said, her voice trembling over the comms. "It’s too small for a ship. It’s a drone, Osric. But it’s not using a standard signature. It’s stealth. I can only see it because of the heat it's throwing off.""Is it UN?" I asked."Worse," Kael said. "It’s coming from the Sunken Vault. It just bypassed the water walls like they weren't even there.""Abyss, you coward! Where are you going?" I yelled as I saw the Black Market King disapp
Chapter 75: Bio-Electric Feedback
The green colored water was burning my skin, but I couldn't let go of the drone. I grabbed the small black machine before it could sink into the dark. My fingers felt like they were melting, but the Pearl in my eye was screaming for more."Osric! The radiation is spiking! You have to drop it!" Kael’s voice cracked through the static."I can't! If it goes off in here, the whole vault collapses!" I yelled."The detonator is jammed!" Kael screamed. "But it's still pulsing! It’s sending a signal back to the satellite network!""Is that how they’re tracking me?" I asked."Yes! They’re using the drone as a beacon for the whole orbital grid!" Kael said. "Once they lock on, they’ll send ten more!""Not if I send something back," I growled."What are you doing?" Abyss’s voice came over the intercom. He sounded like he was miles away. "Don't touch the pulse emitters, boy! You'll fry the entire sector!""I'm not frying the sector, Abyss!" I roared. "I'm blinding the sky!""Osric, that’s suicide!
Chapter 76: The Refugee Crisis
"Lower the rod!" I shouted, my voice cracking as the Gardener stepped closer. "We aren't weeds! We're living people!""The Gardener doesn't care, Osric!" Kael’s voice screamed through my headset. "The sensors show a massive energy buildup! It’s going to vaporize the entire square!""I won't let it!" I roared. The Gardener paused. The mirrored mask tilted toward the shoreline. A low, rhythmic horn blast echoed from the sea."Osric, look at the horizon!" Jax yelled, pointing his rifle. "It’s not the UN this time!"I turned my head. Thousands of small lights were bobbing on the waves. It was a swarm of fishing boats and makeshift barges. They were packed with people."Who are they?" I asked."Refugees!" Kael cried. "The water walls in the other cities are crushing the piers! Everyone who escaped is coming here! Oakhaven is the only clear port left!""Identify the biological influx," the Gardener commanded. "They’re survivors!" I yelled at the giant. "They’re looking for help!""They ar
Chapter 77: The New Currency
The steam was so thick I could barely see my own hands. The golden beam from the sky had stopped, leaving the harbor hissing like a giant kettle. I stood on the edge of the pier, my skin stinging from the heat, but I was still breathing."Osric! Are you alive?" Kael’s voice cracked through the external speakers of the vault door."I’m here," I grunted. I slammed the manual release on the vault. The heavy steel door groaned and slid back.Jax stumbled out first, coughing. He looked at the boiling water and then at me. "The Gardener? Where did that monster go?""Back to its pod," I said. "The beam was just a warning. They aren't sterilizing us yet. They're waiting.""Waiting for what?" Jax asked."For us to starve," Abyss said. He stepped out from behind a stack of crates, smoothing his black coat. He looked remarkably clean for someone who had just hidden in a hole. "The gold markets just hit zero, Osric. Literally zero. Nobody is buying. Nobody is selling.""What are you talking about
Chapter 78: The Underwater Embassy
I didn't bother greeting the men in suits as they stepped off the pressurized lift. I just kept my back to them, staring through the thick glass of the new dome. Outside, the purple glow of the harbor water lit up the seabed like a neon nightmare. "Is this supposed to impress us, Osric?" A man with a German accent asked. I knew him from the news. He used to run half of Europe. "Building a palace under the sea while the world burns?""It’s not a palace, Chancellor," I said, turning around slowly. "It’s a cage. And you’re the ones who begged for an invite.""We didn't beg," a woman from the American delegation snapped. She was clutching a briefcase like it was a shield. "We came to discuss the illegal seizure of Thorne assets. This facility is built on international waters using stolen technology.""Stolen?" I laughed, walking toward her. "I am a Thorne. This is my house. And right now, the only thing 'international' about these waters is that everyone is drowning in them. You want to
Chapter 79: The Spy in the Palace
"Osric! The dome is venting! Get out of there!" Kael’s voice screamed over the speakers.I didn't move. My eyes were locked on the Drowned warrior standing by the airlock. It was Elara. She had been with me since the first raid on the Sunken Vault. She was one of my best. But she wasn't moving to help. She was just watching the water spray across the floor."Elara! Help me with the seal!" I yelled, pointing to the growing crack in the glass."The seal is irrelevant, Osric," she said. Her voice sounded wrong. It was too flat. Too steady."What are you talking about?" I barked. "If that glass goes, we’re all dead!""No," she said. "Just you. The transition has already been recorded.""Osric, stay away from her!" Kael yelled in my ear. "I’m looking at her bio-signs right now! She doesn't have a heartbeat! It’s a rhythmic pulse, but it’s not coming from a heart!""Elara?" I whispered."Elara is dead, Osric," the thing said. It tilted its head. "She was harvested three weeks ago. I am a bi
Chapter 80: The Trial of the Tides
I didn't give him a chance to move. The gray sludge of the mimic was still steaming on the floor, but the real traitor was the man standing by the elevator. It was Silas’s old lieutenant, Miller. He was the one who had cleared the mimic's security codes. He was the one who had brought the Navy to my door."You really thought a bag of gel could take my place?" I asked, stepping through the rising water."It wasn't just a bag of gel, Osric!" Miller shouted, his back against the jammed lift doors. "It was a mirror! It was supposed to show you how little you actually matter to the world!""I matter enough to be the one holding your life in my hands," I said."The Navy is right above us!" Miller screamed, pointing at the cracked glass ceiling. "They have the God-Slayer blueprints! They don't need you anymore! They just need the Pearl, and they’ll rip it out of your skull once the Gardener finishes you!""Is that why you did it?" I asked. "For a seat at their table?""I did it because you'r