The Great Unity War.

Two centuries ago, in the year 2050, Earth was plunged into chaos.

A strange creature was discovered wandering the streets of Russia and was captured for testing. Though it appeared weak and unaggressive, the creature was anything but frail.

Despite the scientists' best efforts, they could not determine its diet or origin. Its skin was impenetrable, defying all man-made tools, and no known organism resembled its structure.

The creature's only remarkable feature was its ability to lash out its tongue at lightning speed, assessing anything brought before it.

Despite its frail nature, it moved slowly, seemingly burdened by its own weight. Yet, the creature refused to consume anything: plants, animals, cooked food, or even inanimate objects.

The scientists were at a loss, unable to offer anything that could satisfy the creature's mysterious hunger.

There was only one untested hypothesis—human flesh.

The scientists had a hunch, but it was an unthinkable idea, one that no one was willing to test.

Unless one was willing to take a gamble, prepared to sacrifice his life, the experiment would come to a halt.

Sure, that outcome was okay since it was not that serious and nobody would be sacrificed in the end, but then reality struck them.

They hadn't thought of it before, but in a situation where humans are, in fact, its diet, then human society was potentially at risk.

Considering the lack of information on this creature, its unknown origin, how randomly it appeared, and its unrealistically fast-moving tongue, if another were to appear elsewhere, it could end up spreading some sort of disease or even killing people in the worst-case scenario.

Now these points made the experiment's completion crucial. There was no more room for anything other than further procedures.

The urgency of the situation demanded action, and the scientists knew they had to find out the creature's diet to protect humanity.

A sense of danger is, after all, a spark that fuels new possibilities and ideas.

Left with few choices, the Russian government, desperate for answers, came up with a solution.

If no one was willing to die for others, then why not use those who had no choice in the matter? People who had lost their rights to live—death row inmates.

Five of these condemned souls were lined up, their fate sealed as the next subjects in the experiment.

The first inmate was led through the layers of the creature's entrapment. As soon as the creature sensed her presence, it struck with a speed that defied comprehension.

Its tongue lashed out, instantly ensnaring the lady and pulling her into its gaping maw. She was gone in an instant, with her blood gruesomely littering the creature's entrapment.

Right at that moment, humanity witnessed its very first blow from the Mutanauts.

The creature, once thin and weak, grew monstrously large after consuming the human. It broke free of its confinement, killing and devouring everyone in the lab.

This marked the beginning of the Great Unity War.

The monster was unstoppable, slaughtering civilians and soldiers alike. No weapon could harm it, and with each human it consumed, it grew stronger and more powerful.

As the beast rampaged through the city, the Russian military scrambled to contain it, but all efforts proved futile. The creature was unstoppable, devouring everyone in its path, growing stronger with each kill.

It seemed that no weapons could harm it, and while it continued its rampage, other Mutanauts began to appear across Russia.

With no way to fight them, the Russian government called for international assistance. But before help could arrive, the monsters began appearing in other countries as well, causing the reinforcements to be called back to assist their own countries instead.

In just days, the world was thrown into chaos. Hundreds of Mutanauts appeared across the globe, wreaking havoc wherever they went.

The cities they came across were reduced to rubble, and the soldiers became nothing more than food for these beasts, and humanity's defenses crumbled.

The Mutanauts were mindless, unrealistically powerful, hostile towards anything, and had a seemingly infinite appetite for destruction.

As the monsters spread across the globe, humanity was pushed to the brink of extinction.

Missiles, nuclear weapons, NAAs (Nation-Annihilation Airstrikes), and every form of human ingenuity failed to stop them.

Humanity lost its hope, with no further attempts to attack these monsters; all manpower focused solely on humanity's survival.

Humanity had resigned itself to inevitable annihilation.

But just as all seemed lost, in a world gripped by fear of extinction, a beacon of hope emerged.

George Lutannica, an English multi-billionaire, presented a solution. George's company, Xenotech Arms Corporation, had been secretly developing advanced weaponry in anticipation of an alien invasion.

When George's hometown was attacked by Mutanauts, he deployed his personal defense force, armed with Xenotech weapons, in a desperate last stand.

To the shock of the world, the weapons worked. For the first time since the Mutanauts appeared, there was a glimmer of hope.

But George knew that hope alone wouldn't be enough.

Realizing he held the key to humanity's survival, George seized the moment. He demanded that the world's military leaders place their best soldiers under his command, and with no other options, they agreed.

Thus, the Hyper-Vigilant Corps (HV) was formed. Comprising 3,000 of the world's most skilled soldiers, and an additional 1,000 from George's private force, the HV Corps became the only hope left in a world overrun by monsters.

Trained to perfection with the use of Xenotech's advanced machinery and equipped with advanced weapons, these soldiers were a force to be reckoned with.

By the time the HV Corps was ready, the number of Mutanauts had swelled to over ten times what it was, spreading across the globe like a plague.

The HV soldiers were deployed to every corner of the world, engaging more than a thousand Mutanauts in rigorous battles. With their advanced technology and unyielding determination, the HV soldiers fought back against the monsters.

In the end, the Hyper-Vigilant Corps emerged victorious, defeating the Mutanauts and securing the future of humanity.

The Great Unity War had ended, and Earth was saved, but the scars of the battle would never be forgotten.

The war had ended...

The Mutanauts were completely annihilated...

Wasn't that common knowledge? It's even been 200 years since then. Except for the irreversible damages in some lands, humanity had peacefully recovered from the attack over the years.

Wasn't it clarified?

Mutanauts are clearly supposed to be extinct... A problem that died with the past...

Wasn't that the point of everything?

But what is this?

The thoughts rang in both Vonn and Janet's heads as they witnessed this monster gruesomely chew down the remaining body of a dead pedestrian.

A Mutanaut?!

Or perhaps... some other kind of alien invading Earth?

They both pondered endlessly, watching the creature spit out skull bones as it grew larger, its being covered in blood.

The air was thick, as the Mutanaut's menacing figure loomed over Vonn, its presence seeming to darken the space around him.

Vonn, who watched this, trembled, unable to move.

The Mutanaut's thick serpentine hand shot backward, the three large clawed fingers on it splayed, poised to strike.

Vonn's eyes were wide with fear, his pupils dilating. His instincts were telling him to run, but his body wouldn't move. It was as if the weight of the world was pressing down on him.

Cold sweat dripped down his spine, and,

WHOOSH!

Like a thunderbolt unleashed from its shoulder, propelled by an unseen force, the monster's arm hurled towards Vonn's face.