Beast Tide

By the time Rosen had finished going through all the materials, lunchtime had long passed. Dr. Newton was still tinkering with a nearly completed centipede specimen, while Angie had disappeared who knew where.

"You finished so quickly today?" Though Newt was indeed greeting Rosen, his eyes never left the specimen. "Come take a look at these works of art... Tsk, tsk, they really are fascinating."

Newt kept muttering as he worked without pause.

In just a few swift motions, he finished dissecting the centipede, then carefully placed its greenish internal organs, at least in Rosen's eyes, into glass jars one by one.

Watching from the side, Rosen felt rather helpless. Over the past decade or so, although Dr. Newton had always firmly claimed that he did not love kaiju, his actions seemed completely at odds with his words.

These colossal creatures were clearly trying to destroy human civilization, yet some people insisted on giving them a romantic, legendary aura.

"Were you looking through that information to study them too? It's fine, come find me anytime. I can teach you." Newt turned to Rosen, his tone brimming with confidence.

"No..." Rosen smiled and picked up the conversation. "I study them only to figure out how to blow them to pieces."

"Mm... all right." Newt was not angry. He merely curled his lips and nodded awkwardly. "Seems like someone said the same thing to me many years ago."

Newt was about to return to his work in peace, but Rosen spoke before he could.

"Doctor, judging from the information I just read... the next beast tide isn't far off, is it?"

"I knew it. You must have noticed too..." Newt paused, then nodded gravely. "That's right. In the seawater samples retrieved from those polluted stretches of the Pacific Ocean over the past few times, I detected a highly concentrated substance..."

"Anaerobic amino bacterial colonies?" Rosen blurted it out almost without thinking.

"Yes. Whenever this substance, which exists only in ammonia water, begins appearing on Earth in large quantities... we have very little time left."

"..."

The two looked at each other in silence.

A beast tide was a special phenomenon that only appeared after kaiju launched their second wave of attacks against Earth in 2032.

Previously, kaiju attacks had always involved one creature emerging from a specific location at a time, with intervals between each wave. Humanity dealt with them as swiftly as a starving man attacking fried chicken at the dinner table.

But after 2032, everything changed. Sometimes there was one, sometimes a group, and sometimes humanity would not see a single kaiju for half a year. Their appearances became utterly unpredictable.

At certain times, there would even be a massive all-out offensive—the so-called beast tide. When that happened, kaiju would march in groups and openly attack humanity. Dozens of kaiju would advance in a single line, destroying every trace of civilization and life within sight.

This had happened twice before. The first time was in 2032, when the disaster was resolved by the heroic Becketts, who nearly wiped out every kaiju. The second occurred in 2038, when an all-out attack by nearly thirty kaiju almost reached Beijing. Even now, the kaiju corpses piled up in Bohai Bay had not been fully cleared away. The bay had been heavily polluted as a result, becoming the largest dead-water bay on Earth.

Afterward, to prevent another crisis, countries around the world began producing Jaegers at full speed. In recent years, there were estimated to be around three hundred active Jaegers worldwide. China possessed fifty Jaegers of various kinds, with twelve stationed at the Hong Kong Base alone in case of emergency. If necessary, the Shatterdomes in Shanghai and Singapore would also join the coordinated defense against outside threats.

"But... as long as we report what we know to the higher-ups, the rest has nothing to do with us, right?"

Rosen sighed, straightened his clothes, and prepared to leave. But before he could, Dr. Newton's door swung open, and a figure in white burst inside.

"Newt! Newt! You bastard, you dumped those disgusting things outside my room again! Have you forgotten the rules?!"

He was a white-haired, blond old man wearing a lab coat completely opposite in color to Newt's. He leaned on a cane in his left hand and walked with a limp, though judging by his furious expression, he probably did not need the cane at all.

"Calm down, Hermann! I'm busy!"

"Busy my ass! You're just playing with kaiju guts, making everything bloody and disgusting all day long without end. And put 'Doctor' after my name—Dr. Hermann! How many times have I told you..."

Hermann sprayed spittle as he ranted on and on, but when he noticed Rosen standing nearby, his eyes suddenly widened, and his complaints came to an abrupt halt!

"Rosen! You're finally here!" Hermann grabbed Rosen and promptly used him as a cane. "Come on, hurry. This is no place for you. I have plenty of problems over there waiting for you to solve."

"Hey! You can't do that! Rosen just got here!"

Newt wanted to stop Hermann, but he looked at the work in his hands, then at Rosen, and froze, unable to decide which one to choose.

"Let's not bother with this kaiju lunatic who's completely lost his mind." Hermann looked utterly disdainful as he limped out, dragging Rosen along...

Well, actually, Rosen should have been the one dragging him out.

"The programming for the 8th Generation Jaeger is driving me insane. That bastard Newt keeps causing trouble every day. As long as I'm alive, I'll keep filing complaints against him! I'll complain until the day he packs up his junk and gets out!"

Listening to Hermann's endless grumbling, Rosen could only agree helplessly.

Hermann's laboratory was right beside Newt's, but the scene here was completely different...

The laboratory door was ordinary, and the inside was exceptionally tidy. There was only a desk, a blackboard, and a three-dimensional computer.

The surrounding walls were pure white, soothing to the mind, but the blackboard was covered in dense equations. Anyone who did not understand mathematics would probably get a headache just looking at them.

"Rosen, you have to help me!"

"All right..."

The moment he sat down, Hermann turned on the computer, and a string of complex formulas immediately appeared on the screen!

Rosen merely glanced over them a few times before finding the source of the problem. He immediately began correcting the flawed portions.

"Wonderful!" As the problems were resolved one by one, Hermann's face lit up with delight. "How should I thank you? How about another day... another day, I'll definitely treat you to a grand meal!"

Is that really what you think of Chinese people?

Rosen was utterly speechless.

Hermann Gottlieb

A member of the Kaiju Science Research Department, born in 1989 and enlisted in 2015.

He was one of the greatest scholars in kaiju-related scientific research at the time.

Eighteen years ago, Dr. Hermann successfully predicted the timing and number of kaiju attacks through mathematics. He also proposed the plan to destroy the Breach, paving the way for Gipsy Danger's world-saving feat.

Now, this scientist, also past middle age and equally eccentric, still fought on the front lines of the Shatterdome, contributing his strength to humanity's victory.

Although Rosen had no idea where the two doctors had gotten the impression that "Chinese people like grand meals," he could still understand them.

They had not left the base in a very, very long time. To them, human society beyond the Shatterdome was not much different from the kaiju world. Perhaps their understanding of society remained stuck in the early twenty-first century.

Rosen did not dare show them the slightest disrespect. All he felt was heartfelt respect and admiration.

Before long, Rosen had solved most of Hermann's problems, but then the broadcast in Hermann's room suddenly sounded.

"Cadet Rosen, please report to the pilot administration office. Cadet Rosen, please report to the pilot administration office."

The crisp synthetic female voice over the broadcast interrupted both of their thoughts.

After hearing it, Rosen could only tilt his head and shrug, making his position clear.

"What? At a time like this?" Hermann glared angrily at the broadcast, though unfortunately his gaze could not travel through the wires to reach the other side.

"Then I'll see you next time, Doctor."

"All right... Next time, remember to come straight to me. Don't go looking for that lunatic again!"

Hearing Hermann's instructions, Rosen could only nod with a laugh of helpless disbelief.

Before leaving, Rosen specifically spoke with Hermann about the beast tide. After reaching the same conclusion, both of them could not help frowning in concern.

"Although we can't determine the exact time yet, it seems unavoidable."

"Rosen, you need to be careful too. Stay safe."

Though Rosen thought he would probably never have another chance to pilot a Jaeger, he ultimately did not voice what was on his mind.

Hermann gave Rosen a solemn salute. Rosen could only smile helplessly in acceptance.