The glow crawling up the cliffs turned the jungle into a hallucination of green fire and shadows. Vines quivered as if alive. Massive stone heads—half-buried in moss—shone with ancient runes. Even Kong had stopped moving. His huge chest rose and fell, nostrils flaring, eyes darting as the island's heartbeat changed.
Lin crouched on the beach, claws dug into black sand, spines flickering a nervous blue. The hum of Resonance vibrated through his bones, like a giant tuning fork pressed to his skull. He could feel the island's pulse, the same way he felt the pulse of other Titans. But this was bigger. Older. It wasn't just a heartbeat. It was a network waking up.
Behind him, the Aegis survivors clung to their weapons, faces pale in the eerie glow. Keller whispered something like a prayer. "We've tripped an ancient system…"
Lin's system chimed, its voice calm but urgent inside his head:
> [System Notice: Island-Scale Titan Energy Detected]
[Warning: Multiple Guardian Signatures Approaching]
[New Feature Detected – Human Function Locked]
[Timer: 47:59:33 Until Activation]
Lin's claws flexed. "What the hell is 'Human Function' supposed to mean?" he growled, his voice a guttural rumble that shook pebbles on the beach.
The system answered with cold neutrality:
> [Human Function: Temporary Anthropomorphic Form for Stealth/Negotiation. Full Integration Pending. Countdown Active.]
"Great," Lin muttered under his breath. "I get to be a guy… in two f—king days. Super useful right now."
Another tremor rolled through the island. Far inland, something roared—a sound deeper and older than Kong's, laced with stone and thunder. Birds exploded from the canopy in black swarms. The runes on the cliffs brightened to white.
Kong's head snapped toward the jungle. He grunted low in his throat, a sound Lin couldn't quite parse—warning or recognition. He straightened to full height, fists tightening.
Then the ground in front of them cracked.
Sand heaved upward. A shape like a mountain's shadow rose from below—a creature the size of a cathedral, plated in moss-covered stone, its shell carved with the same runes as the cliffs. Six legs the thickness of tree trunks slammed into the beach. Two massive tusks jutted from a beaked mouth. Its eyes glowed like molten emeralds.
Keller gasped. "That's… not in any file—"
The system filled Lin's vision:
> [Guardian Detected: Island Warder "Muk'Tahl"]
[Objective: Survive or Pacify. Failure = Termination.]
Muk'Tahl bellowed, the sound like a rockslide amplified through a canyon. Waves raced back from the shore. The Aegis soldiers staggered, one dropping his rifle.
"Holy sh*t…" Lin growled. "It's a goddamn walking fortress."
The Guardian lunged, tusks gouging trenches in the sand as it charged. Kong roared back, stepping forward to intercept. The two giants collided with a shockwave that flattened the dune grass. Kong's fists slammed into the Guardian's shell with bone-shaking force; Muk'Tahl shoved back with its tusks, lifting Kong half off his feet.
Lin leapt sideways as debris rained down. He could feel the island's energy spiking. His spines flared bright blue, Resonance building to a painful pitch.
> [System Suggestion: Assist Kong to Increase Survival Probability.]
"No kidding!" Lin snapped.
He lunged at Muk'Tahl's flank, claws sparking against stone-hard shell. He poured Resonance into the cracks, trying to destabilize it. Energy rippled like water under his palms. The Guardian bellowed and kicked out with a massive leg, sending Lin flying into a rock outcrop. The impact cracked stone and left his ears ringing.
He staggered upright, snarling. His evolution meter was at 99%. The edges of his vision flickered white.
"Stay together!" Keller shouted to her people. "Don't draw attention—"
Too late. Muk'Tahl's head snapped toward the humans, emerald eyes flaring. It stomped forward, tusks lowering.
Lin's heart lurched. "No!" he roared, sprinting across the sand. He threw himself between the Guardian and the soldiers, spines blazing like neon knives. He slammed both claws into the beach and unleashed a Resonance Pulse so deep it rattled the cliffs.
The Guardian hesitated, head cocking, as if hearing something. Lin pushed intent through the pulse: Not prey. Not now. Fight me.
Muk'Tahl roared back, the sound a jagged burst of stone-shard thoughts. Intruder. Interloper. Test.
Then it charged again.
Kong hit it from the side like a freight train, wrapping his arms around its shell and heaving. The Guardian screeched as Kong wrenched it sideways, flipping it partly onto its back. Stone plates cracked, spilling streams of glowing green fluid.
Lin didn't think. He leapt, claws stabbing into the exposed underside, Resonance humming through his whole body. He poured everything he had into destabilizing the runes carved into its shell.
The world went white.
A pulse of energy blasted outward, flattening trees. Lin felt his spines overload, his whole body trembling. His system chimed:
> [Human Function Activation Threshold Reached Early]
[Override Countdown: 00:00:03… 00:00:02… 00:00:01]
[Initiating Transformation.]
"Oh, f—k me…" Lin croaked.
Light swallowed him. His body compressed, bones shifting, scales retreating. His claws curled into hands. His spines folded like wings into his back. When the light faded, he was kneeling in the sand—human-shaped, panting, still glowing faintly with blue veins.
He looked at his hands—fingers, nails, skin. Taller than his old human self, lean but corded with Titan muscle. Eyes still bioluminescent. Spines now subtle ridges along his spine. He was half-Titan, half-man.
Keller stared, jaw slack. "It… turned into a person."
Lin swayed on his feet. "Not… exactly…" His voice was rough, still resonant like a low speaker.
Muk'Tahl froze, emerald eyes narrowing at the new form. It sniffed the air, confused.
Lin raised his hands slowly. "Hey, big guy. Different look, same dude. Wanna… chill?"
The Guardian snorted, hot mist billowing from its beak. Then it lunged again.
Lin reacted on instinct. In human form his Resonance felt sharper, more precise. He pivoted aside, sliding under a tusk, and slammed his palm against a glowing rune on the Guardian's chest. Blue sparks shot outward. The rune flickered, dimmed.
Muk'Tahl bellowed and stumbled. Kong took the opening, driving a fist into its head. The Guardian reeled, legs scrabbling for purchase, and crashed onto its side with a quake that shook the whole beach.
Lin fell back onto his knees, chest heaving. His system whispered:
> [Human Function: Active – 47:59:59 Remaining]
[Note: Power Output Limited but Control Increased.]
He grinned weakly. "Control… yeah. That's new."
The Guardian groaned, its emerald eyes dimming. Slowly it rolled onto its belly, tusks lowering. Not defeated, but appeased. It rumbled something low—stone-thoughts Lin only half understood: Chosen. Key. Follow.
Then, to everyone's shock, it turned and began trudging inland, its massive shell scraping the trees aside like matchsticks. The runes on the cliffs dimmed a fraction, as if satisfied.
Silence fell except for the hiss of the surf. Keller exhaled shakily. "Holy moly… Did you just… tame it?"
Lin wiped sweat from his forehead, still glowing faintly. "Not sure. I think it just decided not to kill us. Yet."
Kong stared at him, amber eyes unreadable. Then, with a grunt, the great ape turned and began following the Guardian into the jungle.
Lin looked down at his human hands again, flexing them. "Two days like this, huh?" he murmured to his system.
> [Affirmative. Reversion to Titan Form in 47:58:12.]
He chuckled bitterly. "Guess I better make 'em count."
Behind him, the Aegis survivors regrouped, eyes wide. No one dared speak. They just followed at a cautious distance as Lin stepped after Kong and the Guardian, into the glowing jungle of Skull Island.
Above them, storm clouds swirled, and far inland another roar answered—a call from something even older.