GTAG Chapter 38: Target Found
What was he doing?
At that moment, it wasn't just Cage who was confused—everyone who saw Godzilla's movement began to question it.
The next second, they all realized a possibility.
This monster… was looking for someone!
But the instant that thought appeared, they dismissed it.
Human arrogance made them instinctively believe that other beings, whether alien or native, were all creatures of inferior intelligence.
The idea that a monster with such terrifying power could also possess sharp intelligence was something they refused to accept.
If it were true, how could humanity ever hope to survive?
As Cage ran and turned his head, he suddenly noticed that Godzilla seemed to be looking right at him.
Cage instinctively met Godzilla's gaze, and for a brief moment he felt an illusion—he was locked in eye contact with this colossal beast.
Then, the next second, he saw the monster's massive claw reaching straight toward him.
Boom, boom, boom!
Yet when Cage instinctively raised his arms to protect himself, he didn't feel his body being lifted into the air. Instead, what came to his ears was a deafening roar!
Alongside it came a scorching wave of heat.
The next instant, Cage felt his body hurled backward uncontrollably.
If not for his exoskeleton acting as a buffer, he was certain the shockwave alone would have killed him.
"Puh, puh, puh—!"
Cage shook his head violently, spitting out mouthfuls of dirt.
When he collapsed onto the beach and looked upward, he saw countless streaks of light flying across the sky, striking the monster's head.
The deafening sound of explosions never stopped!
All the surviving aircraft that hadn't yet been destroyed by the alien creatures unleashed everything they had at Godzilla. At that moment, who knew how many shells and missiles rained down on him.
Even Godzilla had to squint under the barrage.
The explosions themselves weren't strong enough to truly hurt him, but the flashes of fire and blinding light interfered with his vision.
So, in less than three seconds, Godzilla evolved a transparent protective membrane over his eyes, shielding them from the blasts and glare.
Now, even the missiles couldn't make him blink.
Godzilla raised his claws and clapped them together!
A shockwave erupted from his palms, spreading outward in a perfect circle.
Everything caught in its path—humans, aircraft, ground vehicles—stopped moving and collapsed into paralysis.
Even the alien creatures froze as though someone had pressed a pause button, standing stiffly for a second before finally resuming movement, as if their connection had briefly dropped.
Silence fell at last.
The damaged aircraft in the air began to crash one by one. On the ground, soldiers in powered exoskeletons staggered and stumbled. With their suits disabled by the EMP, the heavy frames became dead weight, leaving them barely able to move.
Fortunately, the suits were designed with failsafes. A single button could release the wearer in case of power loss or EMP interference.
But without them, their speed dropped drastically.
Godzilla reached down and snatched up the nearest human without a helmet.
He sniffed the man—wrong scent. He tossed him aside and moved on to the next.
"What's happening? What's happening? There wasn't a monster like this last time! Why is it here now? Why!?"
Cage ran, shouting incoherently.
The words spilled from his mouth without thought, as if speaking nonsense was the only way to release the fear and frustration that had built inside him.
And in the middle of his frantic escape, he failed to notice someone running right beside him.
"You just said 'last time.' What do you mean by that?"
A woman grabbed his arm, nearly yanking him off balance.
Cage turned toward her, stammering. "What… what did you say? Last time?"
"Yes. When was the last time?"
"Wasn't it just a few hours ago?"
"A few hours? How long is that? I've lost track."
"I don't know how many times I've lived through today. I don't know how many times I've fought on this battlefield. To be honest, I don't want to keep doing this. And…"
Cage glanced at the hand gripping his arm. "Can you let go? My arm really hurts."
The force of her pull had nearly dislocated his shoulder.
But he didn't notice the complicated expression on the woman's face.
"Listen. When you wake up, come find me."
She cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.
"What?"
"Why would I look for you? What do you have to do with me?"
"Let me go! That monster's coming this way!"
Cage tried to break free, his eyes darting nervously toward Godzilla.
Seeing his panic, the woman slapped him hard across the face.
Smack!
The sharp sting jolted a shred of clarity back into him.
"Listen! When you wake up, come find me! Understand!?"
She shouted at him.
Cage nodded blankly. He still had no idea who she was.
But for some reason, her face looked oddly familiar… as if he'd seen her somewhere before.
The next second, he watched her pull a pistol from her waist and aim it at him.
The sight of the black muzzle brought Cage's mind into sharper focus—not from fear of death, but from the realization that something was terribly wrong.
Wake up? What did she mean by that?
"You…"
Before he could finish, her finger squeezed the trigger.
Bang!
At the same moment, Godzilla finally spotted Cage.
He had long detected a scent of high alien-human hybridization in this area. And among the fleeing masses, Cage and this mysterious woman standing together stood out like a beacon.
Could it be…!?
Instinct told Godzilla he had finally found his target.
But when the human female aimed her gun at Cage, his pupils shrank in alarm.
Stop, damn you!
At that moment, Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath faster than he ever had before.
And the last thing Cage saw before losing consciousness was a blinding blue beam obliterating the woman in an instant, reducing her to ash.
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