The Evolution System of the Drowned

Chapter 8: The Sewer King

The stench of the city's underbelly was thick enough to gag a normal man, but my new lungs processed the rot without a flinch. I waded through the waist-deep filth of the primary filtration canal. Above me, the streets of Oakhaven hummed with life, unaware that a prehistoric nightmare was chewing through their foundation.

"System, give me a lock on that signal," I whispered. My voice echoed flatly against the moss-covered concrete.

[LEVIATHAN-CLASS SIGNATURE DETECTED. 300 METERS AHEAD. TARGET IS EMITTING 50,000 VOLTS.]

"Perfect. Just what I need to jumpstart my heart," I muttered.

I shut my eyes. The darkness was total, but as I clicked my tongue, a pulse of silver light rippled out from my mind. [SONAR ACTIVE.] The world rebuilt itself in my head as a wireframe of echoes. I saw the rusted pipes, the crumbling brickwork, and the massive, pulsing coil of muscle waiting in the junction ahead.

"Osric? Do you hear me?"

I tapped my earpiece. It was my broker, sounding like he was about to have a stroke. "I'm a little busy in the basement, Marcus. What is it?"

"The Vane board is panicking! They've sent a team of 'containment specialists' into the sewers near your location. They know something is down there. They're calling it a gas leak, but they're carrying heavy ordnance!"

"Let them come," I said, my sonar picking up the rhythmic splash of heavy boots. "They're just bringing more snacks for the King."

I reached the junction. The water here was boiling. A massive, mutated eel—thick as a subway car and shimmering with a sickly blue light—was wrapped around the city's main power conduits. It was feeding on the grid.

"Hey, ugly," I shouted.

The eel uncoiled. Its head was a jagged mess of teeth and sensory pits. It didn't roar; it hissed, a sound that sent a literal shockwave through the water.

"Target identified," I said. "Let's see if you taste better than the shark."

The eel struck like a whip. I dived, the brick wall behind me exploding into dust as the beast's tail slammed into it. I surged forward, my obsidian claws out, and raked them across its flank. Sparks flew as if I'd hit a live wire.

"Damn it!" I yelled, my arm going numb from the feedback.

[WARNING: VOLTAGE EXCEEDS CURRENT BIO-INSULATION. ADAPT OR BE FRIED, HOST.]

"Shut up and help me move!"

I scrambled up a rusted ladder as the eel lunged again, its massive jaws snapping the iron rungs like they were toothpicks. I leaped onto its back, digging my claws into the thick, rubbery hide. The beast went wild, thrashing against the walls. The ceiling began to crack. Above us, I could hear the screech of car brakes and the screams of people as the street began to cave in.

"Sir! The street! You're under the financial district!" Marcus yelled through the comms.

"I know where I am!" I shouted, holding on for dear life as the eel slammed me into a support pillar. "I'm about to give the Vane headquarters a real power surge!"

The 'specialists' arrived then. I saw their flashlights cutting through the gloom from the upper tunnels.

"There it is! Fire! Fire!" a voice commanded.

A hail of high-caliber rounds peppered the water. They weren't just hitting the eel; they were hitting me. I felt the lead bounce off my hardened scales, but the force was staggering.

"You idiots!" I roared. "You're just making it hungrier!"

The eel, enraged by the gunfire, released a massive discharge. A blinding dome of blue light filled the tunnel. The specialists didn't even have time to scream. Their equipment exploded, and they were thrown back like ragdolls.

The eel weakened after the blast. This was my window. I dived off the ledge, falling straight into the beast's open throat. I didn't let it swallow. I drove my fist upward, punching through its palate and into its brain.

"My turn to feed," I growled.

I found it—the core. It was a pulsing, crystalline heart of pure electricity. I grabbed it and yanked.

[CONSUMPTION COMMENCING. INTEGRATING BIO-ELECTRIC CIRCUITRY...]

The world turned white. I felt every nerve in my body being ripped apart and rewoven with copper and lightning. I screamed, but the sound was drowned out by the roar of the collapsing tunnel.

I felt the eel's power flooding into me. The system wasn't just changing my skin anymore; it was changing my frequency.

[EVOLUTION COMPLETE. NEW ABILITY: BIO-ELECTRIC DISCHARGE.]

I stood up in the ruins of the junction. The eel was a shriveled husk. Above me, the street had completely collapsed, creating a massive crater in the middle of the business district. People were peering over the edge, their faces pale with terror.

I looked at my hands. Tiny arcs of blue lightning danced between my fingers.

"Sir? Are you alive?" Marcus's voice was faint through the static.

"I'm more than alive, Marcus," I said. I looked up at the Vane Plaza building towering over the crater. "I'm the new grid."

"What are you going to do?"

"Watch," I said.

I slammed my palms onto the wet concrete of the tunnel floor. I didn't just release energy; I commanded it. I felt the city's electrical veins. I reached out and grabbed the Vane Plaza's main line.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Every transformer on the block exploded. The massive Vane logo on top of the building flickered and died. Then, the darkness spread. I pushed harder, sending a surge through the entire district.

"I'm a walking blackout," I whispered, watching the lights go out for miles.

I stood in the center of the dark, the only thing glowing in the crater. I saw Elowen and Cuthbert standing on their balcony, looking down into the pit. Even from here, I could sense their fear. It tasted better than the eel.

"Osric? What was that?" Elowen's voice echoed down into the crater. She was holding a flashlight, her hand shaking. "I know you're down there! What have you become?"

I didn't answer. I just let a single spark jump from my fingertip. The flashlight in her hand exploded, showering her in glass.

"I'm the one who turns off the lights, Elowen," I said, my voice projected by the electricity in the air so it sounded like it came from everywhere.

I stepped back into the shadows of the remaining tunnels. I had the power I needed. Now, it was time to move the pieces.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: POWER LEVEL CRITICAL. TIER 3 EVOLUTION STABILIZED.]

[NEW MISSION: THE POISONED DANCE. INFILTRATE THE VANE MASQUERADE.]

"A masquerade?" I laughed, the sound crackling with static. "Perfect. I've always wanted to see what she looks like when the mask finally slips."

I vanished into the dark, leaving the city in a silence so deep it felt like the bottom of the ocean.