Chasing Shadows

--June 16, 2043, 7:03 a.m.--

Leaving aside the mobilization meeting underway in the Command Center, Rosen and Sun Zheng Tang, who were in the hospital, also heard the suddenly blaring alarm. Both froze, then instinctively rolled out of bed—

The kaiju had arrived.

But the moment their feet touched the floor, they remembered their current predicaments—one had nearly broken his neck, while the other was still a convicted offender.

Their bodies stiffened, and in the end, they slowly came to a stop.

It seemed this fierce battle was destined to have nothing to do with them.

Still, sitting around doing nothing had never been Rosen's style. He liked studying kaiju. Though his purpose differed from Dr. Newton's, the essence was the same—

To better understand the methods and types of kaiju, then lead humanity to victory.

Rosen hurriedly switched on the old small color television in the room, and a news broadcast immediately appeared on the screen. Sun Zheng Tang cooperatively brought over two stools. The two men promptly stared without blinking at the small color display.

"At around 6:00 this morning, the Australian military was the first to discover traces of a kaiju."

Every channel had been replaced by the national network's "Live Battle Report." Onscreen, the female anchor Rosen found familiar reported from the studio. She wore formal attire and had a solemn expression, though she still could not conceal her slight nervousness.

A video was playing on the left side of the screen—in it, steam rose from the sea as waves surged. Then a massive shadow leaped high into the air, blotting out the sun and completely swallowing an ocean-going vessel.

This had definitely been the work of a kaiju. Even an idiot could tell.

From that short clip, the experienced Rosen immediately drew several conclusions—

First: judging from the way this kaiju had leaped, it likely possessed a thick, powerful tail. Only long-tailed creatures like crocodiles could launch themselves from the water like that.

Second: its combat ability in the water was likely far greater than on land. They should avoid engaging it in the Pacific Ocean whenever possible.

As all kinds of possibilities ran through Rosen's mind, the anchor spoke again.

"At present, the Australian military has notified all Pacific Rim nations to raise their alert levels and strengthen patrols throughout Oceania," the anchor added. "Five countries, including our own, have dispatched fighter jets to investigate and search the target area. As of now, the kaiju's latest location has not yet been found."

When she mentioned fighter jets, the screen showed the Royal Australian Air Force's F-22 Raptor fighters. These were powerful new aircraft that had only entered service in the 2020s. Though they could not eliminate kaiju, they were more than capable of reconnaissance. In the blink of an eye, the footage shifted to two flight squadrons—a total of eight fighter jets—taking off and soaring into the sky.

Below the fighters, Rosen caught sight of Australia's seventh-generation heavy mech, Boxing Kangaroo. It formed a perfect sea-air coordinated formation with the fighter jets—

This was a tactical approach humanity had frequently used since the disaster began. Fighters, bombers, or attack aircraft would first establish visual contact, then lure the kaiju into a predetermined combat zone, where the mech warriors were usually already waiting. The aircraft would then withdraw, and the clash of giants would begin. If the weather was poor, missile destroyers would take over reconnaissance duties.

The only drawback of this tactic was that it was too heavily affected by the weather. If they encountered a storm—the isolated mech warriors could only rely on themselves.

I'd never flown a plane, but Lin Yin seemed to have. I wonder how it felt to pilot those nimble little birds compared to a colossal machine weighing thousands of tons, Rosen thought.

Just then, the original footage was suddenly cut off. The female anchor in the studio looked somewhat flustered, speaking continuously into her earpiece as though confirming something.

Something big had happened.

The same thought surfaced in both Rosen and Sun Zheng Tang's minds.

"Just moments ago, we received the latest information from the Australian military." As she spoke, a map of the Pacific Rim region appeared to the anchor's left. "Reconnaissance forces have discovered traces of a kaiju in waters east of Guam—near the Marshall Islands. Fighter squadrons have already launched an attack."

The "Live Battle Report" was far from the only recipient of this information.

The Hong Kong Shatterdome Command Center had received it as well, with far greater detail. At that moment, the Command Center's main screen was even playing live combat footage. The footage came from a camera inside a cockpit. The fighter pilot was diving toward the sea, the aircraft roaring and shaking as it neared the sound barrier. Then, at last, the kaiju appeared below the fighter—

It had a protruding maw filled with serrated teeth, along with an exceptionally thick tail tipped like a long spike. Its entire body was greenish-brown, long and flat—somewhat like a crocodile.

Jiang Tianzheng immediately judged it to be a reptilian kaiju. Though they could not yet obtain its exact data, it was undoubtedly seventh-generation.

"Name it immediately." Jiang Tianzheng turned to the communications officer beside him. "Call it... 'Raptor.'"

At that moment, the fighter pilot pressed the attack button, and two Aurora missiles flashed out from either side of the screen!

Boom!

Two air-to-ground missiles struck the target precisely, and two enormous explosions erupted across Raptor's body.

But just as everyone had expected, conventional weapons were pitifully weak against a kaiju. Raptor did not even raise its head, as though it regarded the attack with utter disdain.

The pilot immediately pulled up, but when the fighter dove again, all he saw was Raptor plunging violently into the water before vanishing from sight.

"Command Center, should I continue tracking?" the pilot's voice asked from the footage.

"Continue tracking."

"Roger."

The pilot began circling low over the sea, tilting his head to look below and carefully observing every ripple on the surface.

Unfortunately, humanity still had no especially effective tracking methods. Jiang Tianzheng sighed inwardly. Silicon-based creatures had no body temperature and did not actively emit sound waves, making them extremely difficult to detect. Finding them in the vast ocean was truly difficult. While passively waiting, humanity could only defend itself. This not only placed them at an enormous disadvantage, but also subjected everyone in the Command Center to immense psychological pressure.

Why wasn't it visible yet? After waiting for some time, Jiang Tianzheng frowned.

What exactly was going on?

As though it had heard Jiang Tianzheng's call, a sudden change erupted onscreen!

"Beep—beep—beep!"

The aircraft's target-acquisition radar suddenly registered something. Something was approaching the aircraft at high speed!

The enemy was directly ahead. The pilot immediately adjusted his posture and sent the aircraft diving downward. He was already preparing for another attack run!

But then something astonishing happened—the sea ahead of the aircraft was perfectly calm. Where was the kaiju's shadow?!

"Hm?" A question mark rose in everyone's mind at the Command Center.

The pilot also lowered his head in confusion and looked at the radar. At that moment, the red dot on the radar had already overlapped with the aircraft.

Then he suddenly felt the cockpit darken—as though something had blocked the sun above him.

Then the footage vanished.

"..."

The moment the screen went dark, Jiang Tianzheng understood.

"A second one. Codename: 'Goshawk.'"

Damn it. Jiang Tianzheng cursed inwardly. There were at least two kaiju—

And one of them could fly.