Hero's Proof

The "Gecko" came ashore from the shallows southwest of the Shatterdome. Helan lay smoking black on the shore. Two Chinook helicopters and a news chopper circled endlessly overhead, their floodlights sweeping the ground, but they alone had no way to stop the "Gecko" from advancing.

People still could not see the "Gecko's" exact location—these beasts' silicon-based skin absorbed all electromagnetic waves, rendering tracking radar useless against them. Jiang Tianzheng could only judge the "Gecko's" direction from the dust on the ground, its footprints, and the car alarms rising and falling across the docks.

In short, it was coming for the Shatterdome.

"Are the other Jaegers still not ready?" Jiang Tianzheng asked the staff beside him in a low voice. "Other than Shandong, which ones are left?"

"Kunlun, Taihang, and Hengduan!" the staff member added. "Taihang is in good operating condition and is preparing to deploy through Sea Gate Four, but..." He suddenly paused.

"But what?" Jiang Tianzheng pressed at once.

"Hengduan, which was supposed to deploy through Sea Gate Two, has run into trouble. That hit from Luoyang just now damaged Sea Gate Two." Knowing the urgency of the situation, the staff member hammered anxiously at the keyboard. "Fallen debris has jammed the gate's opening and closing tracks!"

"Can it be repaired?" Jiang Tianzheng's heart sank. "Or can we switch to another track?"

"The repair crew is already on its way! Give me a few minutes!"

One disaster followed another. Jiang Tianzheng had initially thought this would be an ordinary defensive battle, but in barely thirty minutes of fighting, the Hong Kong Shatterdome's Jaeger force had suffered devastating losses. Dongting, FL, and Helan were nearly total losses; Huangshan, Tianshan, and Luoyang were temporarily unable to move; Changbai and Anshan were locked in bitter battles—it seemed every sign showed the scales of victory tipping toward the Kaiju.

Under pressure, Lin Yin, whose right shoulder was injured, had already headed for Jaeger Hangar One. Jiang Tianzheng's worst-case plan was to have Shandong face the enemy one-handed—

At this point, they might not even be able to hold the base. How could he still think about counterattacking the breach?

"What about Kunlun? What's its status?" Jiang Tianzheng finally asked hesitantly.

He had not wanted to bring up that "problem Jaeger" so soon, but the situation forced his hand. Mike Kane was a veteran. Perhaps he had the ability to break this deadlock.

"It has completed startup. The system is loading..."

The staff member had been reporting to Jiang Tianzheng when Newt suddenly cut in from the side.

"Kunlun? Kunlun's activated?" Newt's face lit up with excitement, as if he had forgotten they were in the middle of a crisis. Then he set the device he had been carrying in his arms on the floor—Jiang Tianzheng thought. He had been holding that thing ever since he came in. Was it really that important?

"Buddy, let me plug this in."

Ignoring the staff member's protests, Newt skillfully connected the device to the Command Center database. The data just transmitted from Kunlun immediately appeared on its screen.

Newt promptly pulled another set of equipment from his pocket and carefully compared the two.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Tianzheng warned, anger in his voice. "Dr. Newton, this is not the time for your research."

"Ignore him. He's gone crazy again." Hermann pulled Jiang Tianzheng's attention back. "Sir, I believe we should recall those two missile destroyers immediately. Their firepower can delay the Kaiju for the moment, until..."

"HAHAHAHA!!!" Newt's sudden laughter startled them both!

"Sir." Newt turned around abruptly, his face beaming. "Who's piloting Kunlun right now?"

"Mike Kane?" Jiang Tianzheng answered instinctively, but his expression immediately changed. "Dr. Newton, I order you to leave here at once—"

Bang!

Before Jiang Tianzheng could finish, the entire base shook violently once more. Everyone lost their footing and crashed to the floor!

The "Gecko" had pounced!

Rosen witnessed the same scene.

He first saw Helan fall beneath the sharp blade of "Fangtian" in the southwest, then watched the transparent "Gecko" stride toward the Shatterdome. Though Rosen still could not make out the Kaiju's full form, his mutated eyes proved crucial at that moment—the "Gecko's" movements had slowed. Judging from its faint outline beneath the dawn light, Rosen thought it was rooting along the ground with its snout, crawling forward.

Why was it digging around with its nose?

Rosen wondered, then could not help guessing. Was it tracking a scent? Was it looking for something?

Not long after, the "Gecko" suddenly threw back its head and howled, as though venting some emotion.

Before Rosen could take another look—the "Gecko" immediately broke into a run and charged straight toward the Shatterdome!

The dockside residential district southwest of the base instantly fell apart beneath the Kaiju's mad sprint. Huge slabs of road were ripped up by the suction cups on its feet as it rampaged forward, unstoppable!

A few seconds later—

Bang!

The Kaiju had an intimate encounter with the Shatterdome's wall!

The colossal building, spanning thousands of acres, actually trembled from the "Gecko's" impact. A huge hole was smashed through the southwestern wall!

Rosen and Sun Zheng Tang were knocked down by the tremor as well.

"Fuck!" Sun Zheng Tang cursed, then sprang back to his feet!

"We can't let that bastard get into the base!" he shouted to Rosen. "If you've got guts, come with me!"

"Of course." Rosen got up as well, gritting his teeth as he spoke in a low voice. "I still want to meet that old bastard Raleigh in hell."

Without another word, Sun Zheng Tang tossed Rosen a tactical pistol, and the two immediately sprinted toward the Shatterdome.

But saying that was one thing. By the time they got downstairs and circled around to the Shatterdome, it would be far too late—so Sun Zheng Tang expertly took a shortcut.

They first reached the hospital rooftop through a ventilation shaft, then climbed onto the Shatterdome's eaves—there was a protruding ledge less than half a meter wide, with the Shatterdome wall on the left and a hundred-meter drop on the right.

Rosen was astonished that such a shortcut existed. Keeping his balance as he ran forward, he called out to Sun Zheng Tang ahead of him, "How do you even know about a route like this?!"

As he spoke, Rosen's right foot slipped, and he nearly fell!

Damn it! If I fall to my death here, then I've wasted more than twenty years of my life.

"This is Hero's Proof." Sun Zheng Tang's voice came from ahead. "During the first wave of Kaiju attacks, those bastards came straight for Hong Kong to get revenge on your master. Back then, Raleigh Beckett was still in the hospital recovering before battle."

Rosen was stunned—he had never heard about this before!

"Your master ran from here to the Jaeger hangar, haha, wearing nothing but shorts." Sun Zheng Tang laughed loudly. "The first thing our batch of pilots did back then was walk this route. Who knew it would come in handy today!"