Rain poured like a waterfall. It was early morning, the first hint of dawn breaking through.
In the churning, surging ocean, two truly terrifying behemoths slowly surfaced. Their frames, well over a hundred meters tall, were intensely oppressive in the pre-dawn darkness.
"ROOOAR!"
"ROOOAR!"
The Kaiju's roars parted the water. Fierce, torch-like eyes fixed on the two Jaegers, which had sustained varying degrees of battle damage.
A murderous atmosphere spread wildly in that instant. They were the Precursors' weapons, designed to destroy Earth's civilization. They came only to kill!
"Striker Eureka and Gipsy Danger are about to reach the battlefield—only four kilometers out!"
"Crimson Typhoon, Shaolin Rogue—prepare to disengage and await support!" Marshal Pentecost shouted over the comms from the command center.
A battle against a Category V Kaiju would inevitably be brutal.
They absolutely could not engage rashly.
In the sky not far from the battlefield, the searchlights of the two incoming Jaegers were already visible. The roar of their engines added a burning fighting spirit to the scene.
"ROOOAR!"
The massive Abomination launched its attack first, charging toward Crimson Typhoon and Shaolin Rogue. Its size far exceeded the Jaegers' frames, making the sight of it swimming through the water to strike intensely oppressive.
At this moment, the two Jaegers that had received the disengagement order each took action.
Crimson Typhoon's arms switched to plasma cannons, preparing to maneuver and engage.
Shaolin Rogue, having already lost one arm, charged straight at Abomination!
The heavy Jaeger wasn't fast in the water, but it ran nonetheless, stomping across the rocks. As it neared the massive Abomination, it even leaped into the air above the ocean surface, twisting its frame to execute a move like a warrior monk.
"ROOOAR!"
"BOOM!"
Meeting the beast's charge, the Jaeger spun and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to Abomination's body. Explosive force erupted. The armor plating on Abomination's exterior instantly cracked, even as parts flew off the Jaeger's leg!
With a thunderous impact, the beast—over a hundred meters tall and nearly twice the Jaeger's size—toppled backward into the water. Its assault was completely nullified!
"Beautiful!"
"That's our Xia!" Inside Gipsy Danger's cockpit, Raleigh couldn't help but shout.
Watching Natsuki pilot a Jaeger in combat—though not as world-shaking as the giant he knew—still left him awestruck.
When Marshal Pentecost learned Natsuki had proactively engaged and kicked a Kaiju away with one strike, his eye twitched involuntarily.
Could one ignore tactics just because they were strong enough?
He couldn't help wondering—the Land of Light was such an advanced civilization. Couldn't their super-brains provide them with precise, brilliant tactical thinking?
He wasn't wrong.
But he never considered that Natsuki's super-brain's tactical recommendation was simply to use his super-muscles.
"ROOOAR!"
"ROOOAR!"
The injured Abomination surged back up from the water. Its originally ferocious eyes now held a trace of instinctive wariness.
Venom—the Category V Kaiju—opened its gaping maw and roared, asserting its dominance. The sound drove the wariness from Abomination's mind. Then, it looked toward the silver-white Jaeger approaching, swung its nearly two-hundred-meter frame, and lunged forward to kill!
Shatterdome Command Center:
Marshal Pentecost watched Striker Eureka and Gipsy Danger enter the combat zone and slowly exhaled.
With the other three Jaegers coordinating with Mr. Natsuki, eliminating these two Kaiju shouldn't be a problem.
But just then, a figure with a cane stumbled into the command center.
"Marshal!"
"Emergency situation—you need to see this!"
Dr. Hermann rushed behind Marshal Pentecost, panic written across his face.
"Sorry, Dr. Hermann. The battle situation is critical right now," Marshal Pentecost said, not turning around, still focused intently on the combat status.
This mission was far too important. He had to remain here throughout. There was no time for academic matters.
"No!"
"It's not what you think!" Hermann explained incoherently. "It's Newton... Newton drifted with a Kaiju brain!"
What had just happened was too shocking; he hadn't recovered yet.
He never imagined Newton would actually find the drift device Albert supposedly used with Kaiju.
"What?" Hearing this, Albert—standing in a corner of the command center, also monitoring the battle—immediately frowned.
He had claimed his intelligence came from drifting with Kaiju, which was purely a cover story to hide his identity as a Traveler.
He had never actually drifted with a Kaiju.
So if Newton had drifted with one now, he must have cobbled together a drift device himself.
Drifting was bidirectional. Humans could learn enemy intelligence, but the enemy could learn human intelligence too. That's why he had warned Newton not to rashly drift with a Kaiju.
He couldn't help worrying about their intel...
Oh. The only noteworthy information was that Natsuki would enter the Breach as a Giant of Light.
But that intel...
Thinking of an Ultraman's combat power—well, even if that information leaked, it probably didn't matter.
"Newton says our plan can't possibly succeed!" Hermann dropped his bombshell, finally capturing Marshal Pentecost's full attention.
Hearing this, Marshal Pentecost frowned. This was exactly what he feared most.
What intelligence did Newton extract from the enemy to make him say such a thing?
"Dr. Albert..." Marshal Pentecost was about to ask Albert's opinion.
Then he saw Newton already crawling into the command center on his stomach. His glasses were crooked, and blood flowed from his nose onto his white shirt. He looked utterly wretched. A nearby guard quickly helped him up.
"Ha."
"I did it!" Newton was lifted to his feet, his body twitching involuntarily. He grinned and said, "I got inside a Kaiju's brain and dug out their intelligence!"
Seeing his condition, no one dared doubt him. The symptoms matched exactly what Jaeger pilots experienced under extreme neural load.
Speaking rapidly, he rushed to share the latest intelligence, afraid he'd pass out the next second.
"Our nuke can't possibly detonate inside the Breach!"
"They... for some reason they knew our plan in advance. They've prepared tons of Kaiju—completely different from what we've encountered. Like an army!"
"The Breach's limitations prevent deploying them all at once, but once we go in, we'll be swarmed!"
"This... this is a trap! Yes!"
"They're just waiting for us to fall in!"
Finishing those words, Newton seemed drained of all strength. His vision went black, and he collapsed.
The command center fell silent.
If the enemy knew their plan and prepared accordingly, could their plan still succeed?
Could this one nuclear warhead truly achieve its intended effect?
Marshal Pentecost's expression grew grave. His mind raced.
Yes.
He reached his answer quickly.
Having come this far, the mission couldn't be aborted.
They... had another nuke. No, something more terrifying than a nuke.
Originally, he hadn't wanted to place humanity's fate entirely in another's hands. He believed only a future fought for with their own hands held the most hope.
But now, reality had shattered that belief.
They could only place more hope in that giant!
When humanity exhausted every effort and still couldn't see hope, perhaps only the giant emerging from the light could bring the last hope.
They had already proven humanity's courage.
The rest... leave it to Ultraman.
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