Protagonist

"Agh!"

When Hikaru had a fast regeneration speed, he gradually lost the sensation of pain. It wasn't just that his body toughness meant that only real damaging hits can hurt him, even if bones broke or his limbs and tentacles were severed, he was numb.

Now that he was weak, punching the wall reminded him of what it was like to be human.

Hikaru felt that Mega had cheated because he had come from the future. He knew of Hikaru's weaknesses and was better equipped.

When they were fighting, it also felt like Mega had an insight into his fighting patterns. It was like a time traveller going back to the past to kill a baby Hitler, weak and defenceless.

"NO!"

Hikaru heard the voice of a child from the storm drain next to him and a boat dropped from it. He snatched up the boat in the stream with a tentacle. He found out that the toy boat belonged to a boy named Will.

"My dad said not to talk to strangers..."

Will sounded like he was going to say that he'll be leaving.

"My name is Hikaru. Will is your first name, right?"

He had planned to lower the boy's guard and prey on him to recover his strength. He didn't want to risk letting Will get away since he was unaware of his current abilities.

"Bzzzzt Bzzzt Boom"

"Boom Boom Boom Hehe" Will mimicked the sound of a battery of battleship guns firing.

"Bzzzzzt Hahaha!"

Hikaru stopped smiling. He started to feel... guilty.

He was reluctant.

He started to like the boy and wondered if what he was doing was really necessary, but he will need to harvest later anyways.

If he completely ran out of biomass in fights in the future, how was he going to use most of his abilities? Perhaps change to animal meat diet only?

Getting money and buying meat sounds completely inefficient. Should he raid a farm that's far from here? It sounds like a total waste of time.

Black fluid gushed from his mouth and nose reminding him of his condition.

He tricked Will and bit his arm off. Since Hikaru was weak, his tentacles slowly grew in length. He caught Will's leg and pulled him into his body.

Will started drowning in the black water inside of Hikaru which was pooling out of his body. As their bodies merged, Hikaru tapped into his brain and Will stopped struggling.

***

*Hikaru's mind*

Will was hugging his knees and weeping.

"Don't worry. It'll all be over soon. In return, I'll grant you a wish. Tell me, Will, what do you wish for?" Hikaru's voice echoed in complete darkness.

Will wiped his tears and thought for a moment. When he thought about it carefully, he opened his mouth.

"Please, █████████."

***

"Your wish shall be granted," Hikaru said.

After he said that, the sewer gradually lit up. Although that was not his doing.

He saw a white light in the distance. At first, he thought it was a torch, but the light wasn't concentrated in a beam but radiated in a perfect 360.

Literally.

It was impossible but he saw a ball of light floating. There weren't any shadows nor was it operated by a string. Since the rays of light weren't obstructed by anything, it meant that it was an actual floating ball of light.

It was hovering without any obvious means of propulsion and it freely danced in the air without difficulty like it was alive.

It was as big as a golf ball.

He thought that he was seeing things. Maybe that ball of light was his soul that he saw one time in his mental world when organism X was taking over his body. Now that he thought of it, advanced technology that was never seen before, he had seen it in Mega.

Hikaru's trauma stemming from defeat not so long ago made him grunt in anger and fear. He got into a fighting posture.

Should he run?

'If he found me here, I wouldn't be able to escape if I wanted to.'

The only solution was to fight.

Hikaru was sweating profusely. His ego had been crushed since he had a close brush with death.

A figure appeared in the darkness ahead.

'So, it is you!'

As the shadow moved closer to the light, he could see Mega wearing a red waterproof suit with black on the lower parts of the legs, the hands and on the shoulders. He was wearing a dive helmet.

For a cyborg, you would think hygiene would be the least of his concerns, but a cyborg was still human after all. Mentally it must be uncomfortable.

'Wait!'

The other reason for wearing personal protective equipment dedicated for sewers was if one was working in a sewer. Hikaru immediately relaxed but kept his guard up.

He felt disgusted at his earlier reaction.

'Fear? I fear no one.'

Hikaru just realised that his eyes had skipped a detail before. Something unusual. He looked at what the sewer worker was holding in his hand.

It was a sword.

'Is it really Mega after all!'

It could also be a parasite sewer worker holding a sword as a murder weapon...

Suddenly, the ball of light flew straight at him as if he had just spotted him.

It moved surprisingly fast, covering 50 metres in a few seconds.

Hikaru jumped back but it followed him. He swiped at it but missed. It then circled him at a safe distance. It was like he was exposed by a spotlight. Hikaru subconsciously made himself a black waterproof suit that covered his nude body.

The person in the sewage proof suit arrived, holding the sword steady in front of him.

No one spoke for a while.

"Umm who are you? And what are you doing down here?"

The voice sounded different from Mega's.

"... Aren't you hear to kill me?"

" HUH! You're a boy?"

"What?" Hikaru asked puzzledly. He had a bewildered expression on his face.

What kind of person would ask that in this situation? Hikaru could not see his face through that helmet of his. Was this guy some sort of sewer pedophile?