’What is this feeling?’ Francis paused.
His instincts told him he was in danger, yet nothing around him seed out of place.
’Weird... I’m pretty sure I covered my tracks well. Even if they managed to trace , it should take ti for them to catch up.’
He double-checked again, and all he could see were the pipes and the more well-maintained walls of the treatnt plant.
Normally, he would have ignored it, but after hosting multiple animals, he naturally gained so of their instincts—like how a bird could sense sudden changes in weather or ground vibrations before they fully hit.
A faint vibration traveled through the tal beneath him. It was subtle, almost impossible for a human to notice, yet his body reacted instantly. His muscles tightened, and his tail lifted slightly off the ground.
The feeling disappeared just as quickly as it ca.
Francis grew serious. The feeling creeping over him felt the sa as when he fought on the front line, the mont after a missile detonated nearby.
But the signal was too faint to confirm.
’I should hurry.’
He continued through the water treatnt plant. Along the way, he saw workers stationed along long, open bridges, with only railings keeping them from slipping into the water below.
Looking closer, they did not look worried at all despite working in this place, and for good reason.
Before he reached this place, he had jumped into the whirlpool and been carried through a long underground trench. No normal beast could have survived that journey unless it had gills and could withstand the pressure.
Yet Francis endured.
His body shifted repeatedly during the trip, adapting to pressure, compressing when needed, and expanding when the current weakened. Each transformation consud energy, but the result was worth it.
In addition, he noticed that his consumption rate had beco more efficient. He attributed it to so hidden stat that improves the more human livers he devoured.
The defense chanisms of the treatnt plant did not stop there. Along the way, there were sharp grilles designed to slice normal beasts in half.
But thanks to his ability, Francis managed to strike them at the right mont, creating a small enough opening for him to slip through.
’I must say, the underground water system of this city is huge. No wonder even when I flew over it, I couldn’t see its end.’
To put that into perspective, this city was as large as three or more gacities combined from his old world, based on his rough estimate.
That was a lot—aning there were at least 30 million people living here.
’Now that I think about it, a thousand is a very small number.’
His attention slowly swept across the long tal bridge. Workers stood far apart, unaware of what was about to happen.
His body lowered slightly.
Then he moved and took out the first target. One strike to the head crushed the skull instantly.
Next, he lashed out at the nearest target, grabbing the neck and twisting it. The bone snapped easily, as if it were made of brittle glass.
Finally, one of them noticed him first and trembled after seeing two of his co-workers hit the ground almost at the sa ti.
"Monst—"
BANG!
An invisible attack struck his face. It was not enough to kill, but strong enough to send him crashing down.
The loud noise generated from Francis’ shockwave attack alerted the others, but it was already within his calculations.
"Monster!"
"Run!"
Francis did not chase them one by one.
He turned slightly and began whipping his tail.
Another wave burst outward each ti his body segnt compressed and released, producing sharp popping sounds.
It was weaker than a direct hit, but still heavy enough to slam into their bodies. The force threw them off balance and knocked them down like they had been hit by an invisible punch.
So hit the pipes. Others crashed into the tal floor.
One worker lost his footing and slamd shoulder-first into a railing. The impact knocked the air from his lungs before he slid down helplessly.
Another tried to crawl away, dragging himself forward with shaking arms.
Francis moved forward through the slaughter without stopping. He finished each target quickly, crushing their heads, ensuring no one remained conscious long enough to suffer.
A worker stumbled back until his heel hit the edge of a tal walkway.
The railing behind him rattled as he pressed against it, trying to make space that did not exist.
His hands went up on instinct.
"Wait—wait!" His voice cracked halfway through the word.
’Talking to a monster is useless.’ Francis twisted the man’s neck. His eyes bulged as the pressure built, before blood began to spill.
Soon, silence returned.
Only the sound of flowing water remained.
Drops of blood and brain matter slid along the tal floor before falling into the dark water below.
He retrieved their livers, consuming them. Once done, he tossed the bodies into the water below, where they were carried into the filtration system and broken apart by heavy industrial grinders and waste processors deep within the plant.
This would at least make it harder for the Defense Force to figure out that he was the sa beast that had been targeting only livers all this ti.
’I need to be quicker.’
Roughly ten minutes later, the sound of alarms finally spread through the entire facility.
The number of victims had already reached over forty, and he made sure to strike their stomachs hard enough that it would be difficult to identify which organs were missing.
’This should be enough to get the Defense Force’s attention.’
Just like that, the wheel had begun to turn again, and Francis was manipulating things to his advantage.
He began compressing his body until he shrank to three feet. Monts later, he slipped into the pipe like liquid, moving through the passage that led out of the treatnt plant and into the sewer system.
The plan he had in mind was a classic military strategy.
Strike multiple locations at once, divide the enemy’s attention, and force them to stretch their forces thin. Once their coordination broke apart, he could hunt isolated targets.
This approach was often used in guerrilla warfare and asymtric conflicts, where the weaker side avoided direct confrontation and relied on mobility instead.
And he had the right ammunition to pull it off.
Hidden beneath the city, the tunnels gave him cover, allowing him to disappear after each strike and reappear sowhere else. By the ti the Defense Force responded to one incident, he would already be moving toward the next target.
And even if they tried to pinpoint him, they would need specialized equipnt to track his movents, or resort to bombing the entire network. Both options were unlikely.
The city above was packed with civilians. A desperate move like that could cause massive casualties.
Worse, the underground network also housed gas lines, water pipes, and electrical conduits. One wrong strike could trigger explosions or shut down entire districts.
Because of that, the Defense Force would be forced to move carefully to minimize collateral damage.
And that was exactly what he wanted.
While they fried their brains trying to handle his hit and run tactics, he would locate the weak links and pick them off.
’Victory belongs to the one who controls the battlefield.’
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