The sun had long since disappeared behind the smoky veil that hung low over the ruined skyline of San Francisco. The air was still choked with ash and the reek of scorched concrete, but deep beneath the foaming tides of the Pacific, in a trench carved into the seafloor by battles no human eye had witnessed, Mark lay still; motionless but not at rest.
Before him, sprawled across the stony bed of the abyss, floated the savaged remains of the Female MUTO. Her body had collapsed under the relentless onslaught he had unleashed; every poisoned barb, every devastating blow, every coiling, muscle-driven strike wearing down her titanic mass until her regenerative tissues failed and she simply collapsed, spasming once, then forever falling still.
The final hours of battle had left Mark bloodied and drained, his own flesh bruised from grappling with such a juggernaut of evolutionary supremacy.
And now… he consumed her.
Not with the brutality of a predator feasting upon raw flesh, but with the almost reverent patience of something older, something deeper; an entity now aware of its place on the food chain and the inexorable path ahead.
He tore into the alien tissues with calculated purpose, consuming every strand of bio-luminescent sinew, every internal gland saturated with radiation, every chitin-plated extremity engineered for destruction. As the last filament of her otherworldly biology dissolved within his ever-adaptive gut, Mark felt the familiar weightless pull of the system reasserting itself.
His consciousness dimmed momentarily, plunged into the pulsating darkness of that strange neural interface where evolution was not only witnessed, but measured, archived, and catalogued like scripture carved into the bones of reality itself.
And then… the voice returned.
[New Genetic Material Acquired: Titanus Chiropteris — Female MUTO]
[Potential Traits Catalogued:]
[Radiogenic Regeneration (Level 2): User will be capable of accelerating healing by absorbing ambient radiation, redirecting its energy toward cellular regeneration. Functionality increases exponentially near concentrated radioactive sources.]
[Adaptive Radiotrophy (Level 1): Passive absorption of radiation allows the user to fuel gradual enhancement of existing abilities. Once ability reaches Level 5, system unlocks Fusion Protocol: compatible abilities may be combined to form evolved traits.]
[Chitinous Flex-Skin (Level 3): A molecular restructuring of the outer dermal layer grants the user hyper-dense yet flexible chitin armour. This skin resists high-velocity impacts, piercing trauma, and energy conduction; rendering it immune to its own internal barbs and similar attacks.]
The words hung there, suspended in the darkness, each line of glowing data searing itself into his awareness. Mark did not speak. He merely let the implications settle around him like sediment in the trench.
These were not simple additions. These were cornerstones; fundamental augmentations that would reshape the very nature of his survival.
The ability to heal from radiation, not merely resist it, made him infinitely harder to kill. The passive absorption of radioactive energy now allowed him to improve over time, without the need for direct mutation. And that final trait; the armoured skin, would provide him with the defence needed against creatures who might one day mirror his own strengths.
'She was a parasite… but she evolved to become a tank. A fortress of her own biology…'
Mark extended one of his now-slick tentacles and examined it in the filtered light rising from his own bioluminescent nodes.
And yet, it wasn't enough. Not even close.
The system remained dormant, unwilling to begin the next evolution cycle. Despite the massive infusion of high-tier genetic material, he still stood below the threshold; one complete apex kill having only brought him to roughly one-thirds of what was required.
Mark's thoughts turned cold, focused, and deeply analytical. He knew what was coming.
Ghidorah; the golden hydra from beyond the stars. A creature whose very existence warped planetary balance.
He had time. However, years if he recalled the timeline correctly. Which meant he had opportunity.
'I will not wait around for another apex predator to fall from the sky. I will not leave this to fate.'
His massive, undulating body began to stir again, his tentacles spreading out and contracting like coils preparing to spring. Already, the bio-luminescence coursing beneath his skin was brighter, stronger, fuelled by the nutrients he had claimed. His musculature, already dense beyond human comprehension, moved now with far greater control; thanks to the simian enhancements that let his brain govern his own flesh with the precision of a concert conductor.
'There are billions of species… on land, in the deep sea, in remote jungles and irradiated zones. Every one of them carries DNA; some worthless, some redundant, but many carrying pieces of a larger puzzle. A puzzle I need to finish.'
With a twist of his tail and a flex of his skin between tentacles, Mark pushed off from the ocean floor like a torpedo, disappearing into the abyss. His mind no longer dwelled on defeat. It no longer feared the unknown.
Instead, it focused entirely on accumulation. If each apex predator provided three to four potential traits… If weaker but still genetically distinct creatures could provide just one or two… Then he would find them, and eat them all.
He would become the ocean's shadow; striking down great squids, consuming warped whales, sinking beneath dormant tectonic trenches in search of volcanic parasites, consuming every ancient fish and mutant species that evolution had birthed and time had hidden.
And when the oceans ran dry of worthy prey… he would turn to the land.
The jungles and deserts. The tundra and abandoned nuclear zones. He would consume them all. Even if each addition was a single, humble Level 1 trait, eventually he would push past the gate, activate the system's evolution trigger, and once more ascend.
Because Ghidorah was coming.
And Mark would be ready.