"Well, thanks for the trust, and congratulations on entering the race," Yuki said, not minding the groaning of the lady beside him.
"Now, let's link that system of yours, shall we?" As he spoke, a symbol appeared on all the screens, before flashing a couple of times, and the systems returned to normal.
But what only professionals noticed was that all the scanning and compilation algorithms, along with their detectors, had increased in precision and range. This came from Yuki linking Mana-1 and routing all the linked scanner systems to the Guild's specialized hardware around the zone, including some nearby drones. Additionally, he added the energy reads to their output.
"Amazing," Jaxx murmured. As the one who designed the whole system, she knew best the limits of the physical scanners and detectors along with the stuff linked to it. All the limitations vanished from her face with one command.
"What do you need?" Cracking her knuckles, she asked directly, knowing that he did it to help with something.
[Oh, see if you can track their movement before they got up. See if you can find anything in the history of the subs. Ruri, take over the monitors for the main sub] Yuki said,
[The sub is three miles away. Also, we got tracking feed for twelve, breaking now fourteen. What are they doing?" Wanda said, confirming the reading on her screen. "Ruri?"
Understanding her task, a video feed from below the sub showed a man in a diving suit with a shotgun in hand swimming between the giant sharks like it was nothing and putting trackers on their dorsal fins underwater.
"He, hahah, well look at that! You even got someone to share your craziness with?" Wanda teased.
"I thought all the Sky People are like this," Yuki said, as if revealing his genuine belief. Not finding any comeback to his words, she slammed her fist on his side.
"Hey, careful, I am still injured," Yuki said, but Wanda only snorted. "I thought it was just a scratch."
"Even a scratch can leave a scar if it's reopened," Yuki said seriously.
"Okay, sorry, little prince," Wanda rebuked, sounding almost disgusted.
Anna smiled warmly behind him, counting this as a family outing (deducting the sharks and all that jazz part).
The Observation Deck: Discovery
In the observing deck, still reeling from the weird bet, a man was now thrown onto the screen, free-swimming with a whole pack of prehistorical sharks, tagging them like cattle.
"Hehe, this looks more and more interesting," DJ said with a smirk, but most of them gave her a 'you think?' look before getting back to the show. Honestly, some wished for some popcorn now.
As they were lost in thought, the sharks stopped swimming randomly and started to swarm around one place. From the trackers, they noticed they were circling and would pool around one zone.
"Check if they have a drone below. See what's going on there," Mac asked Jason to confirm.
And their worst thoughts came true. The red giant fish was floating there, not swimming, not hovering, but floating still, with its head tracking something above, not even minding the drone a couple of meters away.
"What is it doing?" Jonas squinted his eyes as he saw the small movement of its head. He looked at Mark. "Is there a way to know the direction she is looking at?"
"Sure. Jaxx, can you?" Mark asked, seeing what his friend was thinking. "On it," and there you go: a moving line was generated in front of the creature, with its eyes as the starting point.
For seconds, silence reigned as no one figured anything out until Jonas jumped. "Does it cross the route of the sub?"
"The sub?" Jaxx gave a humorous look. "The one that's still diving?"
And to their surprise, both the line and the live position of the sub always crossed.
"Feather, do a full stop. We need to confirm something," Jonas said on the comm. As they asked, the sub stopped, and so did the creature's head movement.
"This is a smart bastard," DJ stood up in shock. "And how the hell is he tracking their movement?"
"Fascinating to have the perception ability to that level," Doctor Heler commented.
"And that's not all, check this out," Sending a live feed of the weird reaction of the sharks, Miying cross-referenced it with many normal shark reactions. "I cross-referenced the shark reaction, and I found the same kind, but only in one condition: when they feast."
Then a new video of sharks devouring a whale and the same whirlpool motion around appeared.
"The monster is setting a trap," Jason said, terrified. "But for who?"
[Damn it! Seriously, guys, will it do you any wrong to be a little normal, my Magnum!] Skull roared. [And how did you figure they would find out?]
[Well, that's more like an eyes problem on your side,] yuki voice came before his face followed on the main screen.
As a matter of fact, all the action of the creature and the sharks was spotted by Yuki the moment the sharks started to swim around that specific spot.
[Well, we know, and that was a brilliant mind, Jonas. I don't know how you ended up with 'delusions under pressure' in your files.]
Mac held back a laugh at the obvious punch at Heler.
"And why didn't you stop before we asked?… Oh, it was a test, right?" Heler asked, not minding the joke.
[No, more like we didn't want to be fun killers,] Anna said. [You see, discovering new things and new types of unique reactions of natural creatures has its own sacredness for us, and we respect those who try.]
She said, then added playfully, [And there is the bet of these two.]
"You bunch of people with weird minds, as they told me," Heler said in defeat. "And what's your plan?"
"Kick his ass?" Yuki said in a confused voice. "What else?"
"How so? Last time you got your ass bitten," DJ exclaimed.
[Pff, good one!] Wanda laugh amused. [But last time was, how to say it…. strictly PG?] she added, not sure how to explain it.
[What are we, a kids' show?] Li Ming asked wryly.
[Well, first, it's not always you take out a group contact, and it's a pain in the ass from the Council,] Anna add. [As a matter of fact, if I didn't have a personal connection with some of Mana-1 personnel, you wouldn't be having this conversation.]
"Are you looking down on us?" DJ asked. From the tone, she didn't seem to hold them in high regard.
[No, it's a matter of level,] Yuki said. "And to be clear, the contract is to protect you, not the other way around. And why?]
[Thirty seconds to reaching the heart position,] Ruri's voice came, declaring their position, before continuing down.
Looking at his mother, who nodded and headed to suit up, he swapped the pilot position before heading to follow his mother.
[Hatch 1 open, Fox in dive,] Ruri's voice came after seconds.
[Hatch 2 open, Black Feather in dive.] A second time, Ruri's voice came.
Looking at the hatch sides where Anna and Yuki positioned themselves, Wanda murmured, "Damn, how I'm jealous now."
[Come on, I am letting you use your tricks on my ride, don't get grumpy on me,] Yuki teased.
[Okay, that's enough joking,] Anna's voice came, decisive, pressing her neck.
[As the Guild Master, and under the current situation, I confirm the mission is above the 3-S level. Avatar use allowed.]
After that, a Guild mark shone on her neck, and Yuki and Wanda had the same happen.
"Well, let's get wild." With this soft murmur, nine tails appeared behind her, and instead of swimming, she was now standing on water as if it were solid land. Along with it, her visible eyes from the mask became completely black.
Yuki, on the other side, gained a pair of wings, flapping them to swim.
"YEEEEHAAA!" With a scream, flames caught on the submarine, and with direct contact to the water, it started to bubble. Later, the form of the submarine changed to more oppressive and life-like.
"Well, let's dive." Yuki let this word out, flapping right into the sharks. Surprisingly, they were about to attack them too.
Anna crouched down before vanishing and appearing on top of a shark, and with an extended claw, she severed the head, vanishing and reappearing on the side of another one.
The Observation Deck's Reaction............
The Mana-1 Observation Deck had just witnessed a political coup, received a 3-S level mission contract, and been told by a kid to track a pack of deep-sea Megalodons. They thought they were prepared for the weird.
They were wrong.
The moment Anna and Yuki stepped out of the sub and Avatar use was authorized, the screens in the deck went haywire, showing the energy spike.
On the live external feed:
Anna (Fox) stood on the water as if it were glass. Then, nine glowing, shadowy tails erupted from her lower back, swirling like dark ink made solid. Her movement was an instantaneous flash of speed, blurring the camera as she sliced a Megalodon's head clean off. The massive creature, heavier than a bus, simply drifted, headless.
A collective gasp swept the room. Heler dropped his clipboard.
"Wh... what in the name of evolutionary biology was that?" Heler stammered, staring at the instant, impossible decapitation.
"Nine tails? Like a... a myth?" Mac whispered, his face pale.
"Watch the kid!" Jonas yelled.
The live feed shifted to Yuki (Black Feather). Large wings unfolded from his back, not for gliding, but for propulsion. He wasn't swimming; he was flying underwater. But the sub, Wanda's sub, was the real shocker.
As Wanda activated her ability, flames appeared to ignite around the sub, even though they were underwater. The sub's hull buckled, transforming into a skeletal, angular form with glowing red seams, charging through the water like a demonic torpedo.
Mac slowly raised his hand and put it on his head. "Okay. Okay. I get it now."
Miying was staring, not at the destruction, but at the analysis screens. "Wait, the wings are burning a super-cavitation tunnel around him! He's moving at Mach 1 underwater! And the sub… it just gained mass and propulsion without visible fuel consumption! What did she use? A fusion core?!"
"That's not tech, Miying," Jonas said, his voice a low, reverent hum as he watched Anna reappear, ten meters away, taking down another Meg. "That's ability unleashed. We're not watching explorers. We're watching Awakeners engage a high-level Breach. This is what the world looks like when the veil drops."
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The chapter is here! Hope you liked it.
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