Morning broke over the endless desert, the sun casting a harsh golden light across the dunes. The wind whispered through the sands, carrying with it the distant hum of an approaching helicopter. Raymond Cooper stirred from his restless sleep beneath a rocky outcrop, his body aching from the previous night’s escape.He blinked against the sunlight, his eyes bloodshot and weary. His mind raced as he replayed the events of the night before. Harley was gone. Taken. And now, the Morphidons were using the remnants of human governments to hunt him down.The faint rumble of engines pulled Ray from his thoughts. He scrambled to his feet, peering over the rocks. In the distance, a convoy of jeeps and a low-flying helicopter approached, kicking up clouds of dust.“They’re not giving up,” Ray muttered, his heart pounding in his chest. He grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder, and started moving. The desert offered little in the way of cover, but Ray knew he had no choice. He had to

Ray continued to walk in the desert, heading towards the next city, but suddenly, like an instinct or natural adaptation hinting he was in danger.He crouched low behind a large boulder, his breath steady but his mind racing. The desert stretched endlessly around him.He felt an unnatural presence nearby. His newly acquired Apex Predator System alerted him with a subtle vibration in his mind.Threat detected. Scanning.Entity identified.A Phantom Prowler. Is stalking you. The system said.The system’s voice was calm, almost soothing, despite the chilling information it conveyed.“What’s a Phantom Prowler?” Ray whispered, gripping the pistol he had taken from his bag. His arm still throbbed where the blue crystal shard had embedded itself, but the pain was fading, replaced by a strange sense of vitality and awareness.“The Phantom Prowler is a stealth predator employed by the species called the Morphidons. It specializes in stalking its prey, using advanced cloaking adaptation and pr

As the drone drew closer, the system slowed down Ray’s heartbeat and lowered his body temperature. It displayed a video of an African sand viper hiding in sand to ambush prey. In an instant, Ray, in a similar fashion, slowly dug through the sand and covered himself, completely masking his presence from the drone.When the drone finished scanning and was unable to find him, it left.He managed to escape and ran for several kilometres before coming to a halt by a dried-out tree in the middle of the desert.He made a camp fire.Ray sat by the dwindling campfire in the middle of the desert, his mind racing with a million questions. The shard embedded in his arm pulsated faintly, illuminating the dark surroundings with a soft blue glow. The system's voice echoed in his head, calm and calculated."You need answers regarding Harley, Ray. And you know where to start."Stark. He was the only person Ray could trust to have struck a deal.Stark had been his partner during his time in the Secret

Ray stood in the endless expanse of the desert, his mind buzzing with newfound power and confusion.The Apex Predator System had changed his life in ways he couldn’t have imagined, yet he felt more isolated than ever. Harley was gone, and Morphidon prowlers were hunting him. His only solace was the system embedded in his body—the alien intelligence that promised evolution, power, and survival.Suddenly, the system’s voice echoed in his head.The host has accepted to embark on the journey towards evolution, the way of the predator. Commencing now.Before Ray could respond, a swirling vortex of shimmering light appeared in front of him, like a tear in the fabric of reality.“What is that?” Ray muttered, shielding his eyes from the blinding light.The rift pulsed with energy, beckoning him forward. Before he could have the time to ask questions, the vortex started sucking everything around into itself.The system had gone silent and a new window appeared in his view.On the window, it wa

The forest stretched endlessly in every direction, an ocean of dark, towering trees whose leaves shimmered under the twin suns of Vorrak. Ray staggered through the underbrush, exhaustion weighing him down after his escape from the arena. The gravity of this planet still pressed heavily on his every movement, but his body had begun to adapt—slowly but surely.“You’re getting stronger,” the system's calm, ever-present voice echoed in his mind. “The increased gravity is forcing your muscles to evolve at an accelerated rate. Given time, you will thrive here.”Ray grunted in response, brushing aside a low-hanging branch. His thoughts were scattered, his emotions turbulent. He had fought, he had bled, and he had barely made it out alive. Now he was on a planet that seemed to revel in violence and chaos, with no clear path forward. But he wasn’t about to give up, not when he had come this far.Suddenly, a rustling sound from the shadows caught his attention. His senses sharpened, instincts