The sea smelled like rust, salt, and secrets.
Lin could feel it even through the titanium walls of his transport cage. The low thrum of engines vibrated through his claws. Chains thicker than a man's torso clinked whenever the carrier pitched over a swell. Someone somewhere cursed — a muffled, panicked human voice.
Good. Fear made them sloppy.
He lowered his head until the metal floor nearly touched his snout. His dorsal plates pulsed faintly like dim blue coals, casting shifting light across the reinforced bars. In his mind, his HUD flickered: Transport vessel 404. Destination: Skull Island perimeter. Estimated arrival: 18 hours.
> Patience, he told himself. Wait and watch. Then strike.
Above the cage, boots pounded across the deck. Soldiers barked orders. Hydraulic arms creaked as drones checked his restraints. He flicked a claw and sent another low-frequency pulse into the steel — not enough to trip alarms, but enough to make the crustacean-centipede hybrid in the adjacent hold shiver awake.
Wake. Feel. Listen.
A faint answering tremor came back, weak but alive. Lin almost smiled.
"Holy moly, he's glowing again," a tech muttered.
"Shut it," growled a sergeant. "Eyes front. The dampeners are holding at 60 percent. That's still enough to fry your organs if it flares."
Another voice — younger, shakier: "Why are we even moving it out of containment? This is nuts."
Lin tilted his head, pretending lethargy. Inside, his system highlighted their chatter like glowing threads. Fear, resentment, doubt. Perfect pressure points.
---
On the Bridge
Dr. Keller stood at the bridge window, arms crossed. Rain slicked the glass. The transport carrier — a monstrous hybrid of submarine and cargo ship — cut through choppy waves under a slate-gray sky.
"Status," Keller barked.
"Stable vitals," a comms officer replied. "Energy signature steady. Hatchling also stable."
"Good. I want the dampeners synced every five minutes. If either of them spikes, we vent the bay."
A junior scientist flinched. "Sir, vent—"
"You heard me." Keller's tone was ice. "Project Aegis can't afford a breach before Skull Island."
The junior fell silent. But behind him, another crewman's hands trembled. He slipped a small data stick into his pocket while no one looked.
---
Below Deck
Lin's pulse crawled along the deck again. He could sense the crustacean-hybrid's fear and pain, but also its potential. They'd taken its claws, broken its exoskeleton, pumped glowing fluid into its veins. Yet its heart still beat.
He closed his eyes and sent a deeper message: Together… free… soon.
The hybrid twitched, IV lines rattling. A faint green glow pulsed under its cracked armor.
"Fuc.k," hissed a guard. "The hatchling's readings just jumped."
"Dampeners up!"
Lin stayed still, his glow fading. False calm again. Let them think they had control.
His HUD flickered. Progress Toward Evolution: 84%. New Resonance Pattern Acquired.
Good. One more tool for the storm.
---
Sabotage
In a cramped storage room near the ship's stern, a woman in a soaked lab coat typed furiously on a hidden tablet. Her name tag read Dr. Naomi Reyes. Sweat streaked her face despite the cold. She whispered into a mic, voice barely audible under the hum of generators.
"This is Reyes. Project Aegis is moving the Titan known as 'Specimen Alpha' to Skull Island. ETA under 20 hours. Anyone receiving this, get word to Monarch. Do you copy?"
Static hissed. Then a faint reply: "Copy. Stay alive. We're trying."
She stuffed the mic away and wiped her hands. Her heart pounded. She'd seen enough in the containment wing — embryos, bones with runes, the hatchling's screams when they cut it. She didn't know what Alpha was exactly, but she knew it wasn't a mindless beast. It had looked at her once, deep in the base, and she'd felt it.
It knows me.
Above her head, something boomed — a pulse through the steel. She froze.
---
The Pulse
Lin felt her. A faint signature, unlike the others. Not pure fear. Something else. Guilt? Compassion? His pulse swept the ship again, tasting the crew like a shark tastes blood.
There. Lower deck. A heartbeat out of rhythm.
> Tool, his instincts whispered. Use her.
He sent a subtle resonance down the walls, not words, just a pressure that made her ears pop.
Naomi gasped, clutching the bulkhead. "Oh God…"
Another pulse: See. Hear. Help.
Her knees buckled. She pressed her forehead to the cold steel, whispering back without thinking, "What are you?"
No answer. Just silence.
Then a final pulse, softer: Soon.
---
Stormfront
The sky darkened as night fell. Waves grew teeth. Rain hammered the deck. Soldiers cursed and tightened straps. Keller barked orders over the intercom: "No one below deck without clearance. No one touches the dampeners."
Lin's cage rocked. Chains groaned. He closed his eyes, feeding false data to their sensors while his system devoured more of their network. Every camera feed, every sonar ping, every heat map — his now.
He found the transport's schematics in seconds. Escape routes glowed like veins. Weak points blinked red.
The crustacean-hybrid in the next hold thumped a claw weakly against its wall. Lin answered with a low rumble. The two pulses mingled, undetectable to human ears but echoing like thunder under the sea.
---
The Leak
Naomi crept back toward the lab station. Her tablet buzzed: Signal intercepted. Warning compromised.
"Shit," she whispered.
A soldier rounded the corner. "Hey! You're not cleared down here."
She forced a smile. "Just checking the IV regulators."
The soldier's eyes narrowed. "Move it. Now."
She slipped past, heart hammering. If Keller found out she'd contacted Monarch, she was dead.
Above, thunder cracked. The whole ship shuddered.
---
The Play
Lin's HUD flickered again. Estimated Arrival: 12 hours. Resonance Amplification Possible.
He could burst the dampeners now, maybe even crack the hull. But Skull Island called. And something huge waited there — the ape from his stolen feeds, the one humans called Kong.
> Not yet. I need the island.
He dimmed his glow, slowed his heart, and whispered one more message to the hybrid: When the chains break, follow me.
A faint green flicker answered: Follow.
---
On the Bridge – Midnight
Keller stood alone at the window, watching lightning dance across the waves. His reflection stared back at him: a tired man, eyes shadowed.
"This is madness," he murmured. "We're moving gods in cages."
Behind him, a comms light blinked. A voice crackled: "Director Keller, command wants status."
He hit the mic. "Specimen Alpha stable. Hatchling stable. Arrival on schedule."
Another pause. "Good. Remember, field test priority. Skull Island first. Antarctica later."
Keller's stomach turned. He shut the mic off and muttered, "Antarctica… God help us."
---
The Whisper
Below, Lin opened his eyes. His dorsal plates glowed faintly, like lightning under skin. He felt the hybrid's pulse, Naomi's panic, Keller's doubt. Threads in a web he was weaving.
He sent one last resonance across the ship, a slow heartbeat echoing through the steel. Humans shivered without knowing why.
In her bunk, Naomi sat up, heart racing. She whispered into the dark, "What the hell are you planning?"
No answer. Just the sea, endless and black, and a storm building on the horizon.
---
Dawn
Gray light crept over the ocean. Skull Island rose in the distance like a jagged tooth, wrapped in mist and thunder. Birds wheeled overhead, their cries lost in the wind.
"Landfall in three hours," a deckhand called.
Lin lifted his head slowly. The chains clinked. His eyes burned like molten gold.
Almost there.
His HUD flickered: Progress Toward Evolution: 90%. New Mission Fragment: Confront or Ally with Apex.
He sent one final pulse to the hybrid: Ready.
The hybrid's green glow answered: Ready.
On the island, Kong lifted his head from the trees, eyes narrowing. A low rumble rolled from his chest, echoing across the cliffs. Something was coming. Something different.
And in the belly of the ship, Lin smiled.
---
⚡ Next Chapter Tease:
Chains snap, alliances shift. As Lin hits Skull Island soil, Monarch operatives scramble to intercept, while Project Aegis thinks they're still in control. Meanwhile, Kong senses a challenge — or a partner.