The world was on edge.
The ninth crack in the Atlantic had sealed the truth — Earth was no longer what it once was.
Seismologists confirmed it: the **planet was expanding**.
Submerged landmasses had risen from the sea like ancient giants waking from slumber.
Inland deserts had cracked open with rivers of glowing blue light.
Forests grew faster, denser — but wilder.
And amidst all of this, the **mutated animals** began to gather near the cracks — each one more monstrous than the last.
The global authorities — fractured but united by necessity — launched **Operation Black Tundra**: a coordinated, multi-national military strike to **eradicate the growing concentration of threats** surrounding each major crack.
The objectives were simple:
1. **Annihilate** the highest-threat creatures with concentrated force.
2. **Test weapon effectiveness** against ARC-induced mutations.
3. **Reclaim ground** near the cracks for research and stabilization.
They expected resistance.
They did not expect **failure**.
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### **Pacific Crack – Operation Begins**
The operation started at dawn.
American carriers positioned near the **Pacific crack** deployed drones, stealth bombers, and amphibious assault units. The ocean churned violently as mutated marine creatures moved in coordinated patterns beneath the waves.
The centerpiece target: a **colossal whale-like beast**, nearly 700 meters long. It had already swallowed an aircraft carrier days prior — now it swam in erratic, looping motions, sending whirlpools crashing into each other.
A tactical nuclear missile was authorized and fired.
The ocean erupted in light and fire.
Shockwaves thundered across the Pacific horizon.
For a moment, it seemed like the plan worked.
Then — something emerged.
The whale — **still alive** — now radiated a deep violet hue. Its scales had hardened, its movements sharpened. From the irradiated waters came mutated sharks and serpents, drawn to the ARC resonance.
The nukes hadn't destroyed it — they had made it **stronger**.
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### **Los Angeles – Fire and Fury**
In LA, the mutated **lion** with a mane of fire roared across the skyline, sending jets of superheated flames down upon tanks and fighter jets.
Missiles exploded harmlessly against its shimmering heat field. Napalm only seemed to **feed** it.
When ground troops attempted to push in, they were incinerated in moments.
The lion's roars twisted the air, sending burning shockwaves through concrete and steel alike.
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### **Antarctica – The Polar Anomaly**
The massive **polar bear**, still asleep, now measured over 35 meters tall.
Satellite feeds showed an expanding **gravitational field** around it. Debris floated, rotated, then violently repelled in random bursts.
Drones couldn't get near it.
Missiles veered off-course as if the laws of physics bent around its slumbering form.
It had yet to move — yet **no one** dared approach.
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Across all eight crack zones, the results were the same: **modern weaponry failed**.
Then came the **unexpected variable**.
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### **ARC-Enhanced Individuals – A New Force**
In the midst of retreat and chaos, something changed.
In Tokyo, as mutated felines prowled the streets in swarms, a single man stepped forward.
He wore no armor — only tattered clothing, his arms lined with glowing runes of ARC energy.
He raised a hand.
The cats lunged — and were met with a **wave of frost** that froze dozens in mid-air.
From Spain, a woman with eyes like molten gold created shockwaves with every step, her skin glowing with internal heat.
In Egypt, a teenager moved faster than the eye could follow, tearing through an ARC-hardened crocodile with a pair of jagged energy blades sprouting from his forearms.
A pattern emerged: **only ARC-powered humans** could inflict lasting damage to the mutated beasts.
Their weapons — sometimes forged from ARC material or extensions of their own bodies — **bypassed the natural resistances** the creatures had evolved.
The discovery reshaped everything.
These individuals were few — **less than 0.01%** of the global population — but their combat potential was terrifying. Abilities ranged from elemental manipulation (ice, fire, lightning) to enhancements (strength, regeneration, sensory perception), and some even stranger phenomena like illusions or gravity shifts.
The scientists named them:
> **ARC Users.**
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### **Global Response – Crisis Command**
Inside a subterranean UN crisis command bunker beneath Geneva, generals, scientists, and intelligence officials watched the reports.
"Status update," barked General Roth, head of the newly formed **Global ARC Crisis Unit (GACU)**.
A woman in a lab coat tapped her screen.
"Phase I is a confirmed failure. All primary targets survived. Casualties are in the thousands. But…" she hesitated, "…the presence of ARC Users led to successful elimination of smaller threats near Tokyo, Madrid, and Manaus."
The room fell silent.
A British liaison leaned forward. "So, you're saying **they're our only hope**?"
"No," the scientist replied. "I'm saying they're **our only effective weapon** for now."
"But we have no control over them," someone muttered.
"Then we better learn how to," Roth growled. "Find them. Train them. Equip them."
Another official leaned in, voice tight: "And what if we can't control them?"
The screen showed the burning lion of Los Angeles, locked in a standoff against a lone ARC User — a boy who walked through fire like it was air.
Roth said nothing.
Because deep down, he knew the truth:
This was no longer a war fought by armies.
This was becoming a war of **evolution**.
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### **Retreat and Regroup**
Within hours, all global military forces received the same command: **Retreat. Do not engage without ARC support.**
Fleets pulled back from the Pacific.
LA was abandoned to the fire lion.
The Sahara was swallowed by new sandstorms as mutated serpents multiplied.
Safe zones were established. Governments began registering any civilian showing signs of ARC awakening.
And in the shadows, secret organizations moved to **recruit — or control — ARC Users**.
Because while the authorities had failed this time, the real battle was just beginning.
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