Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 720: Mutated fish in the river.

With the watchers missing in action, the group did not have to worry about mutants attacking them. The bright light of the sun also gave them confidence.

Soldiers in exo suits were already outside, scanning the river for dangers below, following Hunter’s guidance. When they arrived at the banks of the Kingsbridge River, Vicente’s jaw hit the dirt.

The river had become darker than an abyss, which was expected as the toxins became stronger. What wasn’t expected were the three bright yellow tourist vans parked right on the edge of the splash zone.

Standing there, holding a megaphone and wearing a sun hat that was way too big for her head, was Tracy Kingsley. She was surrounded by a group of tourists in ’I Survived the apocalypse’ t-shirts, all snapping photos of the toxic river. It almost seemed like an ordinary tour, on an ordinary day.

"Tracy Kingsley!" Vicente bellowed, marching over. "What in the name of all the stupid things in the world are you doing here? This is a hazardous place, and ordinary people are not allowed here!"

Tracy didn’t even look flustered. She adjusted her sunglasses and gave him a bright, corporate smile. "Oh, hello Vicente! We’re just on the ’Ruins of the apocalypse’ dark edition tour. It’s a bestseller. As soon as I heard that soldiers were heading out here to start clearing the river, I made calls and spread the word. Sixty people signed up immediately, at ten thousand dollars each. It’s pretty steep but we have to pay private security and toll fees at the gates."

"You can’t be here!" Vicente gestured wildly at the bubbling water. "This is a toxic river! It’s literally melting the rocks, Tracy!"

"Actually," Tracy said, pulling a laminated sheet of paper from her clipboard, "I have a Class-A permit signed by the fortress committee. I can take my groups anywhere in the Fortress Four bases. It’s perfectly legal. We’re boosting the economy, Vicente. Do you know how much my tour company pays in terms of taxes! Hades and Sunshine are taking almost half of my earnings. Do not be a buzz kill, move along."

"A buzzkill? What if someone slips? What if a tourist decides to go for a forbidden swim? You know how people are," Vicente growled. "They’ll be bones before they hit the bottom!"

Tracy patted his arm condescendingly. "We have safety measures, dear. See that yellow tape? That’s the ’No-No Line.’ No one crosses the tape. We’re perfectly safe." Her voice suddenly dropped into a calm, almost hypnotic tone. "Besides, we won’t get in your way. You do your little cleaning project, and we’ll just watch. It’s educational. And I can see you even brought little kids with you. Now which one of us is being foolish? I am dealing with adults."

Vicente looked at the tourists_ some of them were literally eating popcorn_ and then at his team, who were waiting for orders. He sighed so hard his chest hurt. "I have kids on my team, but they are superhumans. You win the battle of foolishness. If something happens to your people, I’m not the one explaining it to the disciplinary committee how it happened."

"Section one, all clear." Hunter declared. It was the center of the river, the part nearest to the port and road leading to the fortress.

Vicente turned to his crew. "Alright, jump in! Let’s give everyone a show."

The Toxin-absorbers didn’t need to be told twice. With cheers and whistles, they dove headfirst into the river. Vicente pulled a folding stool out of his pack, snapped it open, and sat down with a huff.

The tourists gasped in "oohs" and "aahs." As the superhumans submerged, their skin began to react to the filth. Their veins started to glow a brilliant, electric blue, pulsing with every gallon of toxin they absorbed.

"Look at that!" a tourist yelled, pointing a camera. "They’re like human glow-sticks!"

It actually looked like fun. The team started playing around_ splashing each other with toxic water like it was a summer day at the lake. One guy, Marco, did a backflip, his body trailing a streak of shimmering light through the water. The river was actually getting clearer where they swam, but it would quickly get dark again.

They had to throw down segment blockers from Sunshine that would partition the river, separating the clean parts from the dirty ones.

Soldiers in exo suits dove down, shooting the blockers with very large tubes that looked like giant hoses.

The tourists squealed and clapped.

"See?" Tracy whispered to Vicente, smugly. "It’s a win-win. You get a clean river, I get happy customers, and nobody gets hurt."

For about an hour, everything went on just fine. Vicente actually started to relax. He watched a mutated butterfly flutter near the water and thought, Maybe Tracy was right. Maybe he was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Then, the air changed.

A piercing, jagged scream ripped through the laughter. It wasn’t a ’this is fun’ scream. It was the sound of someone realizing they were dying.

Vicente jumped to his feet, his stool toppling over. "Everyone out! Get out now!"

The tourists froze.

In the water, Marco who had swam far off was thrashing. But he wasn’t playing. Something was moving under the surface_ something fast. It looked like a streak of silver lightning, zig-zagging through the teal water.

"What is that?" Tracy whispered, her professional mask finally slipping.

Before anyone could answer, another Toxin-absorber was yanked under. Then, a second later, his body surfaced. Or rather, half of it did. He had been sliced clean in two, as if by something sharp.

"Mother fucking weird fish!" someone screamed from the bank. "They’re like fish, but bigger! Faster!"

Fishlike creatures began jumping out of the water. They had scales that thickened like armor and their faces were gecko like.

"Get out of the water, its’s the fish men!" Poncho recognized them immediately, they were the same ones that attacked them at the Redway basin. "Soldiers use your fire dragonoids and toast them!"

"Do what he says" Vicente yelled, reaching for his weapon. "Get the tourists back! Get them to the vans!"

Emmet grabbed the twins and pushed them into one of the buses. "Stay quiet, close your eyes and cover your ears." He told them something that they were already doing, having been in such situation’s multiple times.

The "No-No Line" was forgotten instantly. Tourists trampled over the yellow tape, screaming and dropping their popcorn. The Toxin absorbers tried to scramble for the shore, but the creatures were moving at impossible speeds, slicing through the water_ and anything in it_ with deadly precision.