He was worried that one wrong move would send him flying at Qi Ming's hands.
Qi Ming asked, "Am I really such a bad person?"
Kishida instinctively nodded, then hurriedly shook his head.
The yellow Falcon 1 cruised through the stratosphere. Sitting in the back seat, Qi Ming listened to the shrill howl of the wings tearing through the air, his eyes fixed on Kishida's hand pulling the control stick.
Could he really learn just by watching? The thought flashed through Kishida's mind.
In the past, he would have definitely said it was impossible.
But after witnessing Qi Ming's various methods, he had begun to waver.
So he cleared his throat and began explaining, "This is the control stick. It adjusts the control surfaces on the wings and tail..."
As he spoke, Mamoru Shirogane's voice came through.
"There's been a change of plans. A monster has appeared at that quarry!"
"Prepare to attack. Nagi and the others are arriving in Falcon 2 shortly."
Well, there was no need to investigate anymore. The monster had already burst out from underground.
Kishida immediately accelerated to full speed. Once they reached the location, Qi Ming recognized the whip-wielding figure at a glance.
It was Gudon! There was no way he could mistake such a workhorse-class monster.
Kishida said, "This is Kishida. I've arrived at the scene in Falcon 1. What's the evacuation status of the ground personnel?"
Emi at the base replied, "They've reported that everyone has been evacuated."
Kishida said, "Good!"
He was planning to show off in front of Qi Ming, this "flight rookie," and let him witness a senior's superb skills.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Falcon 1 continuously fired green needle-beam shots, blasting sparks all over Gudon's body and making it stagger.
It could not fly and had almost no anti-air capabilities, so it could only take the hits passively.
After getting beaten one-sidedly for a while, Gudon realized it could not stay any longer and prepared to dig its way back underground.
"This is a quarry in the outskirts. There are no buildings nearby, and the civilians have all been evacuated. This is the perfect time to destroy it in one go with the powerful Anti-Monster Missile." Kishida was brimming with passion.
Meanwhile, Qi Ming scanned the area around the battlefield.
Gudon appearing at a quarry, Kishida in a plane... One factor is still missing... Here it comes!
Qi Ming tugged at Kishida. "Team Member Kishida, there's an urgent situation you need to know about—a girl carrying a butterfly net is running toward Gudon."
Kishida froze. "What kind of joke is that? The civilians have already been evacuated!"
In the original Jack series, Hideki Go and Kishida had been in the same aircraft. Kishida had told Hideki Go to fire the missile, but Hideki Go, thanks to the super vision brought by Jack possessing him, spotted the little girl and did not fire.
The result was that he got thoroughly chewed out.
Things like, "Are you still half asleep? Didn't you say there was no one there?" "I won't let you wriggle out of this with such a pretty excuse," and "Go must be punished for his mistake."
In the end, Hideki Go was confined for three days.
Now, it was Qi Ming's turn to face this situation.
Trying to pressure me? Sorry, I'm only ever the one others stand up to toast.
Qi Ming did not hold back. He forcefully shoved a pair of binoculars he had prepared beforehand up to Kishida's face. "Can you see it now?"
"There really is someone!" Kishida's expression immediately darkened.
He spoke into the radio. "Captain, there's an unexpected situation. A child wearing a yellow cap has entered the combat zone. Team Member Qi Ming and I both saw her. Now..."
Qi Ming took over. "Now fire the missile and eliminate the monster."
After saying that, he moved to push the control lever and launch the missile at the already locked-on Gudon.
Kishida was so frightened that his soul nearly left his body. He hurriedly stopped him. "Team Member Qi Ming, what are you doing?!"
Qi Ming said, "Eliminating the monster, of course."
Kishida said, "If we fire the Anti-Monster Missile at this distance, that girl will die!"
Qi Ming said, "But if we don't destroy Gudon here and it escapes, what if it appears in Tokyo next time?"
"If we fire the Anti-Monster Missile now, only one girl will die. If it starts wreaking havoc in the city, how many people will die then?"
Kishida was stunned. His hand gripping the control stick began to tremble, as though he were holding an unimaginably difficult problem.
"Then... why did you stop me just now?" Kishida asked dryly.
Qi Ming answered calmly, "Because once you became aware of it, we became accomplices. We'll share the guilt and responsibility."
In short—Kishida did it too.
Kishida simply could not bring himself to act. He could only watch as Gudon returned underground.
The other members of the Defense Team also heard their argument through the communications channel. Even Yamanaka was so shocked by Qi Ming's "ruthlessness" that he could not speak.
At last, Mamoru Shirogane's voice rang out. "Come back first..."
On the way back, Kishida looked at Qi Ming with sheer terror in his eyes, feeling that this guy was one of the demonic path.
He was far too wicked!
After returning to base, the entire Command Room fell silent. Everyone looked at Qi Ming with awe in their eyes.
Mamoru Shirogane hesitated to speak. If this had happened before, he would certainly have berated Qi Ming for not valuing life and harshly criticized him.
But things had become a little awkward between him and Qi Ming a few days ago. He was still thinking about how to improve their relationship, so naturally he could not step forward to criticize him.
He coughed a few times and had Nagi Saijo say something instead.
Nagi Saijo nodded. She walked up to Kishida, her expression grim. "What were you hesitating for? Why didn't you follow Team Member Qi Ming's suggestion and fire the missile? Your mission is to defeat the monster!"
Mamoru Shirogane said, "?"
He had meant for Nagi Saijo to criticize Qi Ming a little, so that he would not go this far again in the future.
But to Nagi Saijo, who believed that defeating monsters came before all else, Qi Ming's actions had been entirely correct!
Wasn't it normal for people to die when monsters caused destruction? If they let the monster escape now, what would happen if it reappeared and caused an even worse disaster next time?
She immediately gave Kishida a fierce scolding. He lowered his head, his face alternating between pale and green.
Seeing that it was about enough, Qi Ming stepped in to smooth things over.
"No, now that I think about it, perhaps I was too negative and pessimistic. I always assumed the worst."
"After all, the fundamental purpose of our battle against monsters is to protect humanity and preserve peace."
"If we can find the monster and destroy it before it appears again, then Team Member Kishida's idea would be correct."
At those words, Kishida could not help shooting Qi Ming a grateful look.
Look, he still had to thank me.
Before you continue