Misunderstanding

Rosen walked ahead with a blank expression, while Angie could only trail behind him with her lips pursed.

Before long, they arrived at the third level of the Shatterdome—the research district.

The first level of the Shatterdome housed the Jaeger storage and maintenance areas, where most workers and logistics personnel lived.

The second level contained the pilot rest area and the Command Center. Only probationary cadets and those of higher status were allowed to stay there.

As for the third-level research district, it was the most unusual area in the Shatterdome.

Researchers studying kaiju, all manner of top-secret kaiju files, equipment of every size, and the design blueprints for all domestically produced Jaegers were stored here. Calling it the heart of the entire base would not have been an exaggeration.

Sure enough, the moment Rosen stepped out of the stairwell, he was stopped by a heavy iron door.

However, this posed no problem for Rosen. Besides being a Jaeger pilot, he was also a senior researcher. For example, he had participated in developing Anshan, China's 7th Generation Light Jaeger. He even had his own laboratory on this floor.

Under the watch of two surveillance cameras, Rosen merely pulled out a card and swiped it casually. The thick door split in two and opened up a path.

"Angie, what lies ahead isn't somewhere you should go." Rosen warned her without looking back.

"Hmph, who are you to tell me that? There's nowhere in this base that I can't go!" Angie shot Rosen a fierce glare, but unfortunately, he did not have eyes on the back of his head.

"...Do as you like."

Rosen said nothing more and walked inside.

Beyond the door stretched rows of metal corridors, with all kinds of laboratories on either side. From kaiju dissections to Jaeger weapon testing, they had everything.

Angie clearly did not come here often. She looked around with her little mouth hanging open in surprise, while Rosen headed straight ahead. His destination—Gessler Laboratory—was not far in front of them.

"Good morning, Dr. Rosen."

"Hello."

"Mr. Rosen, I've read your paper. It was truly excellent."

"You flatter me."

Along the way, many people in research uniforms greeted Rosen warmly. He nodded in response to each of them, but when they passed Angie, not one of them even glanced at her.

It was as if none of them cared about the daughter of a hero.

"What's wrong with these people? Don't they recognize me?" Angie's delicate brows knitted together slightly as she complained in confusion.

"You can't blame them. Many of them haven't stepped out of their laboratories in years, so naturally they wouldn't recognize you. Some of them even think your father is still alive." Rosen explained casually.

"No way... My father's been dead for so many years..."

"Just as you and your father regard piloting Jaegers as your mission, they have devoted their entire lives to scientific research."

"Oh..." Listening to Rosen's explanation, Angie nodded as if she only half understood.

As they chatted idly, they arrived at Gessler Laboratory.

This laboratory was clearly styled differently from the surrounding ones. There was actually a kaiju totem painted on its door—a depiction of Yamalaki, the kaiju Gipsy Danger had killed in 2017.

Even the laboratory's outer walls had been painted the greenish-brown color commonly found on silicon-based lifeforms' skin, making it feel utterly out of place amid its surroundings.

The moment Angie saw that color, her brows furrowed and her expression turned tense. Rosen, however, was clearly used to it. Without knocking, he pushed the door open and walked in.

Seeing Rosen enter, Angie followed without a second thought. But the moment she saw the scene inside, she immediately regretted it!

"Oh my god, what are these???"

Just as the exterior suggested, the laboratory was crammed full of kaiju-related things. Kaiju organs, glistening green, sat on the tables. Judging from the steam still rising from them, they had clearly been pulled from a kaiju's belly less than two hours ago.

Along the walls stood rows of kaiju specimens: kaiju eyeballs two meters across, kaiju tongues that could nearly stretch across an entire basketball court, and clumps of kaiju brains that looked like moldy cotton...

"Ugh!"

Angie's face turned green, then white. She felt like she was about to throw up.

She had killed plenty of kaiju, but getting this close to her prey was truly a first for her.

Rosen casually took off his coat and draped it over Angie's head.

"I told you not to follow me in. Do you understand now?"

Ignoring Angie, Rosen pulled aside a section of kaiju intestines blocking the way and headed directly into the inner room.

"Dr. Newton, are you here?"

"Rosen? You came at just the right time. Come take a look at what I found!"

As soon as the words fell, an old man rushed out from the inner room. His hair was exceptionally messy and dirty, and he wore... well... a black lab coat. Though he was already old, he looked remarkably energetic.

Most importantly—he was holding a ten-clawed centipede in his hands. Judging from its unusual form, it was definitely not something from Earth!

"Tsk, tsk, look at this. A brand-new parasite. This is the first time I've ever discovered this kind of parasite!"

As he spoke, the old man pressed the ten-clawed centipede onto the table. He did not mind the filth at all; he was not even wearing gloves.

Just as he was about to ask Rosen to lend a hand, he spotted Angie hiding behind Rosen with a deathly pale face.

"You... look familiar. You are..."

"Uncle Newt, it's me, Angie Betker," Angie said timidly, not daring to look directly at the ten-clawed centipede on the table.

"Oh! Right, right! Angie, you're Angie?!" The old man smacked his forehead as he finally remembered. Still fiddling with the centipede, he said, "My god, it's been so many years. You've grown so much... Oh, right, I'll turn this new species into a specimen and give it to you as a gift. How about that?"

"No, no! Please don't!!"

Newton Geiszler

Affiliated with the Kaiju Science Department. Born in 1990. Enlisted in 2016.

The greatest kaiju research scholar of the present day.

Eighteen years ago, Dr. Newton completed the first Drift between a human and a kaiju, gaining insight into the kaiju's plans and weaknesses. This paved the way for Gipsy Danger's act of salvation.

Now over fifty and eccentric in temperament, this scientist still fought on the front lines of the Shatterdome, contributing his strength toward humanity's victory.

"Haha... I think I messed up again." Seeing Angie's pale little face, Dr. Newton, whose social skills were practically at zero, wiped his hands like a big child who had made a mistake, his face full of awkward smiles.

"All right, Doctor, forget about that for now." Rosen smoothly came to the rescue. He reached out and handed Newt the briefcase he had been carrying. "Here's the paper you wanted, a feasibility report on installing kaiju **** on an 8th Generation Jaeger."

"Thank you, thank you! Rosen, you've helped me tremendously. I truly don't know how to thank you."

Newt hurriedly took the briefcase, looking as flustered as though he had caught some priceless treasure.

"How about I treat you to a big dinner another day? I heard you Chinese people all like big dinners?"

Newt hugged the briefcase tightly, his face filled with sincerity.

"No need. I'm only interested in the information on several new types of kaiju that have appeared recently. It would be great if you could let me take a look." Rosen replied.

"No problem, no problem! Look at whatever you want. With this paper of yours, those old geezers next door will be miserable again for a while, haha!"

Rosen smiled faintly at that, then walked straight into the inner room, leaving only Newt and Angie outside, staring at each other.

"Do you want to see my research too?" Seeing that Angie did not seem inclined to leave, Newt immediately perked up. His brows rose as though he were ready to share everything he knew.

"No, no... I'm just waiting for Rosen."

"Waiting for him? Then you may be disappointed. Rosen usually stays until tomorrow morning before he leaves."

"Huh?" Angie's eyes widened in disbelief. Pouting as she looked toward Newt's inner room, she muttered, "That idiot is already a probationary cadet, yet he still has no sense of urgency. Let's see what he does when next month's elimination comes!"

"Probationary cadet?" Newt usually paid little attention to the pilots, but since it was Rosen, he asked casually, "Isn't he a pilot?"

"Uncle Newt, that idiot got demoted ages ago!"

Seeing that Newt cared about this, Angie told him everything about Rosen's situation over the past year. At the end, she added indignantly, "Hmph, he doesn't seem anxious at all. He's still in there reading useless things. I bet he doesn't even know how tall Kunlun is!"

"You're wrong about that." Newt shook his head when he heard this, cutting off Angie's complaint.

Then he called toward the inner room, "Rosen! Do you still remember Kunlun's specifications?"

A few seconds later, Rosen's voice drifted out from the inner room.

"Seventh Generation Jaeger, J35Ⅷ Kunlun, J-35 model, Level 8 modification, heavy Jaeger, responsible for frontal assault and frontal defense. Height: 145 to 148 meters. Weight: 6,520 tons. Uses a head-mounted piloting system. Its operating system is the Sanyang Horizon Gate. The head is equipped with a high-precision predictive targeting system capable of anticipating kaiju movements. The torso is constructed from the shell of a seventh-generation kaiju. Its power system is a 12IX nuclear turbine engine with a built-in nuclear reactor. Maximum frontal armor thickness: 455 centimeters. Side armor thickness: 203 centimeters, sufficient to withstand the full-force attack of a seventh-generation kaiju. The left hand is equipped with the Chain Sword and Particle Cannon. At full charge, they can cause damage equivalent to the explosion of 10,000 tons of TNT. The right hand carries the Yunlan high-voltage magnetic storm ring, which strikes kaiju while releasing electric currents to stun them. Its feet are modeled after the fourth-generation Jaeger Crimson Storm and equipped with Achilles shock absorbers. The powerful magnetorheological dampers allow the Jaeger to perform various high-difficulty maneuvers. Overall, although Kunlun is a heavy Jaeger, it possesses high mobility and ranks among the upper tier of Seventh Generation Jaegers."

Rosen recited the entire passage in one breath without pausing, as though it came naturally to him.

Angie was a little dazed after hearing it. If she had not known what Rosen was like, she would have thought he happened to be holding Kunlun's specifications in his hand!

"No way, you remembered all that?" Angie touched her ear, her face slightly red. "I pilot Jaegers by feel... I've been working with Anshan for almost a year, and I still don't know what model its engine is..."

"See? Rosen isn't the kind of person who gives up halfway through. Not long ago, he was reciting these specifications in front of me every day." Newt nodded with a smile. "There must be some special reason his Sync Rate has declined."

Seeing Newt's certainty, Angie nodded skeptically. "It'd be good if that's true... If Rosen stops being a pilot, it'll be so boring."

"By the way..." Newt suddenly pointed at the ten-clawed centipede on the table. He was still persisting. "You really don't want this gift?"

"Take it away! I don't want it!"