CHAPTER 14: EVOLUTION OF THE PREDATOR
Sanctuary Front Yard - Frozen Zone.
Thick white vapor from the liquid nitrogen still billowed, shrouding a massive ice statue in the center of the crater: Nemesis. The monster was frozen in a terrifying pose, his Adamantium claws halted just inches from an invisible face.
Aryo walked with a limp toward the frozen beast. His ribs were broken, his breathing heavy, and the effects of the Berserker-X serum began to fade, leaving behind excruciating pain throughout his body.
"You're strong, Ugly..." Aryo muttered, wiping blood from his lip. "But you're just a failed lab rat."
Aryo pulled out an extraction tool—a titanium drill needle. Without hesitation, he drilled through the ice layer and Nemesis's tough skin, going straight for the adrenaline gland in the monster's neck.
He siphoned out a glowing neon green fluid: Nemesis's Blood.
"Alia, prepare the Bio-Synthesizer," Aryo ordered.
Inside the makeshift lab, Aryo worked fast. He didn't rest. He isolated the Rapid Regeneration Enzyme from Nemesis's blood, removed the heat-triggering toxins, and combined it with his Panacea formula.
The result was a stable teal-colored serum.
[Serum: REGEN-Z]
Aryo injected it directly into his own heart.
"Arghhh!" Aryo groaned as a cold sensation rushed through his veins.
The next second, a crack sounded from his chest. The broken ribs knit back together. The bruises on his skin vanished. The muscle fatigue from the battle evaporated instantly. Aryo took a deep breath; his lungs felt brand new. He didn't just heal; he had adopted his enemy's regenerative ability.
***
Main Laboratory - 2 Hours Later.
Aryo stood tall, fully fit, in front of a digital surgical screen displaying Nemesis's anatomical structure.
"Alia, analyze Nemesis's weaknesses besides heat metabolism and heavy metals."
"Processing..." Alia displayed a neural graph. "Nemesis's fatal flaw is Cognitive Linearity. He only reacts to what is directly in front of him. He cannot anticipate complex traps or sudden strategic shifts. He is a blunt instrument."
Aryo nodded. "Exactly. Uncle Hardi and the Obsidian Council think physical strength is everything. They are wrong. In this world, the winner is the one who adapts the fastest."
Aryo typed a complex series of codes into his automated factory fabricator.
"We don't need stronger robots. We need smarter robots. Robots that can become anything to kill their enemy."
The factory robotic arms began working at high speed, assembling a new type of metal frame.
PROJECT: CHIMERA (Tactical Adaptation Unit)
One hour later, the factory doors opened. Out marched a platoon of strange-looking robots. They weren't perfectly humanoid, but resembled mechanical wolves coated in Liquid Nanometal.
"Field test," Aryo commanded.
In the simulation room, Aryo released a target practice Drone Tank.
The first Chimera unit advanced. Its eye sensors scanned the tank.
[Target: Heavy Armor -> Counter: Armor Piercing Laser]
The Chimera robot's shoulder shifted, the nanometal forming a pointed laser cannon. ZASH! The tank was destroyed.
Second simulation: A group of fast infantry.
[Target: High Speed/Swarm -> Counter: Shockwave Area]
The Chimera's body shifted, legs solidifying into anchors, and its back erupted with a 360-degree electric shockwave.
"Perfect," Aryo smiled with satisfaction. "They detect the threat type, then their bodies mutate to create the most effective weapon to kill that threat within 0.5 seconds."
Aryo turned to Alia.
"Mass produce the Chimera Units. Station them in every corridor, every vent, and every corner of the forest. If the Obsidian Council sends troops again, they will face an army that knows their weakness before they even realize it."
***
Secret Laboratory Sector 9 - Dr. Thorne's Lair.
On the other side of the world, the atmosphere was far more silent and terrifying.
Dr. Thorne was no longer screaming in madness. He worked with the calm of a psychopath. In front of him sat a small glass tube, only the size of a drinking glass.
Inside, a thick black smoke swirled. If viewed under a microscope, the smoke wasn't gas, but millions of biological micro-bots shaped like tiny insects with metal jaws.
PROJECT HIVE.
"So beautiful..." Thorne whispered. "You don't need muscles. You don't need bones."
He dropped a piece of thick steel into the tube.
The black smoke swarmed the steel. No sound of explosion. Just a faint hissing like termites eating wood. In seconds, the steel vanished—turned to dust.
Thorne then dropped in a piece of fresh meat.
The same result. The meat was consumed until not a single cell remained.
"Aryo's Chimera might be able to adapt..." Thorne chuckled softly. "But how do you shoot an enemy made of millions of particles? How do you punch smoke?"
The lab door opened. Mr. V entered, looking impatient.
"Thorne! Nemesis is frozen! Aryo gets stronger! Is your new 'toy' ready?"
Thorne turned slowly, holding the tube of black smoke.
"More than ready, Mr. V. But there is one condition."
"What?"
"This HIVE... it is hungry. It needs to eat to multiply. Once I release it in the Kalimantan forest, it will eat Aryo, his fortress, and perhaps the entire forest ecosystem until nothing is left."
Thorne smiled broadly.
"You won't get the chip back. The chip will be eaten too. You will only get the victory of Aryo's death."
Mr. V fell silent for a moment. Losing the chip meant losing trillions of dollars in potential. But letting Aryo live was an existential threat to their power.
"To hell with the chip," Mr. V decided coldly. "Burn it all to ash."
Thorne nodded respectfully. He pressed a button on the tube. The black smoke inside began to vibrate, as if cheering in delight.
"Go, my children," Thorne whispered as he loaded the tube into a hypersonic delivery drone. "Eat the King of Technology alive."
The drone shot out, piercing the night sky, carrying millions of microscopic plagues toward the Sanctuary.
In the Kalimantan forest, Aryo's Chimera robots stood guard gallantly, their sensors scanning for physical movement. They were ready for tanks, planes, or monsters.
But they didn't know that the enemy coming this time couldn't be seen by radar, and couldn't be shot with bullets.