RB Chapter 178 It Wakes!

Pah!

A drop of water fell onto a leaf causing it to splatter, while weighing down the leaf with its force. It was just the first of many which came down from the rain clouds above. The rain had not started with a drizzle, jumping straight into a downpour. The dust which had accumulated started being soaked up by the rain and dropping down onto the ground below.

In just a matter of seconds, the rain became so heavy that, visibility dropped to a low. There were no high winds, so the drops simply dropped down horizontally. Drops accumulated into streams after the ground had absorbed its fill. The streams led into puddles which in turn fed into larger streams. The streams all flowed into the lower areas, like what used to be underground parking areas in the ruined buildings.

The force of the drops also nocked away any loose dead leaves which had been struggling to stay on their branches, causing them to fall into the streams. Many leaves, twigs and soil were washed away to the lower areas.

One such low area was the basement of the skyscraper in the middle of the city...the tallest ruin.

The water gained strength and went inside the basement, falling onto the carpet of roots on the ground. But what was peculiar was that the water started sinking as if it was being absorbed. There were also telltale signs to support that theory since the roots where the water was pouring were enlarging by the minute as if they were absorbing all that water.

As the roots absorbed more and more water, it was moved towards the oval egg in the middle. They appeared like blood vessels. As the water passed through the roots, they expanded and contracted, acting like pumps. All that water, upon entering the oval like egg, filled it up and then, from the top where the vines were in contact with it, the liquid continued into them.

The vines enlarged due to the massive amount of water. Then they started to shoe signs of growth. New sprouts also grew out of some of the vines and extended upward, crushing through the concrete like it was just mere paper. Dust and large concrete pieces continuously fell onto the roots, some sustained damage, but in the blink of an eye they closed up the wounds.

As the vines grew wantonly, the fetus in the oval sphere opened its eyes, they were emerald and horizontally slitted, like those of a frog. Its skin was green, containing vague patterns denoting the birth of scales.

Kreeeee!

Is mouth opened, unleashing a very potent scream, though it was muffled due to it being in a liquid. Jagged saw-like teeth were inside the mouth, resembling those of carnivorous plants.

The scream acted as a trigger, the slow metabolism which had been taking place, abruptly sped up, causing the growth of the vines to speed up by almost ten times! Even the absorption of water by the roots had sped up, but the water was still limited since it had just started raining. So the roots forcefully grew towards the surface to absorb more water.

-----

Back in Kampala city, within the theater of operations, the staff were busy working, monitoring all the live feeds in their screens. Almost all the screens were showing that it was raining, causing the visibility to lower by several folds.

Elder Muti was pacing around seeming as if he was monitoring the situation, though if you looked closely, you would see that he appeared to be deep in thought.

"This damned rain!" One of the people among the staff cursed.

"Yeah, it came at the wrong time. We can't afford to slack off now...haaa...I wish it would just stop." Someone seated nearby supplemented the one who had spoken first.

"Hey! Look at this!" 

"Vines? Where is this area?" 

Someone's shout attracted the others causing a few seated nearby the person who had shouted to take a look. Elder Muti hadn't yet noticed the commotion, still deep in thought.

"This is Balimi city."

"Balimi city...aaah! Hasn't it already been conquered? What are those vines creeping along the side of that building?"

"They are huge!"

"This is an urgent situation! Why aren't you reporting it yet?" Someone asked causing the person who had been monitoring Balimi city to hurriedly stand up and approach the elder.

"Elder!" He called out, rousing the older man from his thoughts, gaining his full attention.

"There is a situation in Balimi city." The man didn't waste any time reporting. Elder Muti hurriedly asked the man to lead the way to his monitor. The elder hadn't particularly taken the time to remember all these people who were working here, so he hadn't known where the man's station was.

When they arrived, the blurry scene of massive vines creeping along the side of a skyscraper entered his vision. They were growing so fast that it was surprising! Some of the vines were even arranging themselves in the shape of a funnel, forming the image of a building about to be devoured by a large green mouth.

"What is this life form? No no no...time is of the essence! Simulcast this video feed with the Cairo main theater!" The elder ordered. His gaze never left the screen. These people here didn't know that there was someone inside that building, but he did!

'Now, this is an interesting situation. If they die, no one will be able to pin this on me!' The elder was gleeful inside, but he made sure to present the image that this situation was of grave importance, causing the staff to work extra hard.

-----

"What is this?" Cleo asked as she watched a video from the Kampala sub theatre.

"Madam, this is where Black Diamond Group's team are situated...the ones hunting down Monki." The secretary whispered into her ears.

"What is this lifeform? How could that city lord's offensive have missed it?" Cleo asked again. This time her tone sounded grave.

"They haven't provided any information, but judging from the fact that its a plant life form, it must have entered a state of hibernation to evade the attackers." The secretary posed a logical explanation.

"Is it at the level of a spectrum warrior?" Cleo asked.

"So far we haven't been able to tell its exact level." The secretary answered.

"Which floor are those people on?" 

"Floor number 87." The camera zoomed in. They had taken control of all three drones without asking for Elder Muti's permission.

"Could this have been a plot orchestrated by those people?" Cleo asked, her gaze gaining a sharp glint. If this turned out to be a plot, she would make sure that all those people died. 

'We are in the midst of a war for fuck's sake!' Cleo howled in her mind, but she had to maintain a stoic expression in reality.

"No ma'am. This was a coincidence...but those people are probably gleeful." The secretary said.

"...add this live feed on the large screen. We will need to monitor the situation. I believe all the people there have enough combat experience to at least not be killed instantly." Cleo said.

"Should we send a spectrum warrior?" The secretary asked.

"No...you already know that the group at least has two of those. They will handle it. We will also get to see their prowess." Cleo said, her gaze moving to the large screen.

"Tell the people managing that feed to do everything in their power to make it clear and viewable. I don't want those pesky rain drops to mar the screen." Cleo ordered, upon which the secretary went away to act upon said orders.

'Brat, you will either have to perish, or create a legend of your own.' She thought, her full attention on the feed from Balimi city which was occupying one of the corners of the large screen.

-----

Eric was deep in thought, seated while leaning against the wall and listening to the sound of the rain. To him, it appeared to be oddly calming. He even felt the drowsiness creeping in but, he was making sure that it didn't claim him.

They were all still situated within the hall within which they had managed to find Monki a d Leah. No one was in the mood for conversation, they were simply leaning against walls, either deep in thought, or looking through the frames where the glass windows used to be, staring out into the rain. Visibility had been hampered to the point that they couldn't see something 500 meters away.

"Hmmm...mmm" a groan entered his ears, originating from his shoulder. Someone had borrowed his shoulder to sleep. That person was Leah, who was now mumbling in her sleep. Eric had thought that Elena and Chloe would be against it, but surprisingly, they hadn't said anything.

He looked down at her sleeping face, finding it cute, eliciting a curve from his lips. The smile he had was warm and sincere. 

"It looks like she trusts you." Elena commented softly so that she didn't wake her up.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked back.

"She has let down her guard. It took like forever, for her to sleep very peacefully near me." Envy was thick in Elena's voice.

"..." Eric didn't comment. He knew the reason, it was love. She loved him...no that would be jumping the gun, but he was sure that she at least liked him enough to let down her guard.

"Something is causing minute vibrations in the building!" Someone's shout attracted Eric's gaze. He instantly went on full alert the moment he heard those words. Though, he still made sure to wake Leah who was at his side. He didn't have time for gentle methods, so he simply sent a jolt if electricity from his shoulder, stimulating her body into jumping up instantly, a reflex action which also served to wake her.

"What?" Leah asked the moment she became fully awake. Eric didn't waste time on small talk, so Elena filled her in. All the people in the room had practically stood up and made themselves combat ready the moment they heard that voice.

Eric passed a low voltage current through the soles of his feet into the floor, trying to detect any anomaly. Due to the vibrations, his electrical signals sometimes shifted minutely, but with his senses, he managed to detect the deviation. That caused him to come to the same conclusion as that woman, who he had found out to named Rose.

"Something must be rising up. These vibrations...many things!" Rose once again said, this time providing more information.

Eric had already deduced that her genes were those of an elephant. Elephants could even detect the shift in tectonic plates, thereby predicting earthquakes, so this ability was simply a minor one in her repertoire.

"Find out the number and the type of organism!" The captain's voice entered his ears.

"Okay!" After answering, the woman stamped her foot on the floor.

'Echolocation!' Eric exclaimed in his mind. He saw her ears moving, like satellite dishes. They had even enlarged to increase the area of capture.

"Snakes...no...they are entirely made of liquid, no solid structure, worms! Worms can't be this high up...they are vines!" At first, she mumbled to herself before shouting in realisation.

"They are vines, they are growing at a very first speed, and they have closed off every route of retreat!" Rose continued.

"Vines...ah!" As if she had come to a realisation, Sally's small eyes widened considerably.

"This is going to be a very hard battle! Prepare to abandon the building if the need arises! We will use the vines themselves as stepping stones!" Eric barked orders to Chloe, Elena and Leah.

Seeing all of them nod, he turned away, lighting arcs coating his body in the process. They were thick, rivalling the width of an arm.

His eyes lit up, becoming a darker shade of blue, until they became violet. Eric even released his magnetic domain, enshrouding the entire room and even surpassing it. Chloe didn't release hers to avoid clashing with his, but since their powers were essentially the same, she could borrow some of its might, sharing in whatever Eric could detect.

Like sharp worms, something entered his domain. The moment the vines appeared in his domain, Eric and all the people in the room simultaneously jumped upwards, only for the floor to instantly be pieced through. The vines had hardened tips, like spears, and there was no chance of evasion, only defence or attack!

Eric brought his palms together and clapped, releasing thick electric arcs to meet the vines.

Zzzzzzzzt!

The water within the vines was heated instantly, causing it to become steam, causing expansion, and then the vines abruptly exploded, scattering hot water vapor into the air. The lightning had been so powerful that it took out four floors, the length of the vines, leaving a very large hole below. Water vapor obscured their vision, so they couldn't see that much below. The explosion had been powerful enough to destroy more of the already weakened concrete.

Since they had put in a lot of strength in their feet when they jumped, everyone used their own means, and shattered the ceiling, making it to the next floor.

"That was terrifying!" The captain was the first to say after pulling himself up.

"Don't let down your guard! They are still coming!" Rose said while giving a grateful gaze to Eric.

Eric nodded in return. She wasn't the only one, he could feel the others giving him various gazes. His power had either shocked, awed, or terrified them.

Eric didn't have time to even think about the implications of their gazes, that one attack had exhausted almost a fourth of his energy!

'Shit!' He cursed in his mind. Even though he had ATP capsules, wasting this much energy at the beginning still made him feel a pinch. These vines had probably taken over the entire building! He suspected that even if he used up all of his energy, he might not even be able to destroy all of them!

"The energy is coming from below." Chloe said. She had borrowed Eric's domain to scan the energy within the vines. It was coming from below.

"We all know that!" Monki shouted.

"I also detected a few brainwaves. The vines were destroyed instantly, buy I managed to detect their presence." Chloe continued, completely ignoring Monki.

"Were they at the spectral level?" Eric asked. His question puzzled the others, since they didn't know what he was talking about, though some managed to connect the dots instantly, upon which their gazes fell on Chloe. Their gazes contained nervousness and fear.

"No" Her answer brought in a collective sigh of relief.

"But even if it is still not at that level, its still dangerous. The number of vines it is controlling are too many!" Eric said, trying to keep them on their toes.

"Incoming!" Someone shouted, upon which they all heard the sound of multiple things climbing up.

"Its probably regenerating the vines." Sally said. Her knowledge was unmatched, coupled with her deduction ability, she was a top notch scholar.

"Chloe, this time it will be you." Eric shouted. Chloe was at the other side of the hole they had created when they had burst up into this floor.