When dealing with ordinary monsters, mechas could still achieve partial victories.
But in battles involving the King of Monsters, the mechas' sense of powerlessness immediately became overwhelming.
Helpless, powerless, and exhausted.
But they still had to persevere, because that was what humanity was.
Face difficulties bravely. As long as they were not crushed by those difficulties, victory would come sooner or later.
What could not defeat me would only make me stronger!
After getting out of the special vehicle, Chen Yuxin looked around twice but did not spot General Luo.
She did not waste words and immediately called him.
"General Luo, is my laboratory ready? Have the new equipment listed in the document I sent over been procured? Are the materials and data ready?"
"Have the partial remains of Scythe Head, Serpent King, and Thunder Beast, which were killed by Beast King, been dismembered?..."
Finally, Dr. Chen stated in an unmistakably firm tone:
"The latest information on Yamata must be obtained from Sakurajima. The latest!"
"I don't believe Sakurajima has never had designs on Yamata over the years. All their relevant data must be requested. I want to review every bit of it!"
Listening to the string of questions pouring from Dr. Chen's mouth, Luo Bing felt a headache on Old Luo's behalf.
Fortunately, he only needed to sympathize with Old Luo, because he was not the one with the headache.
With the official business temporarily handled, Dr. Chen turned to the four young pilots.
"Thank you all for coming to pick me up. I won't trouble you four any further. General Luo will handle everything properly."
Old Luo was just a tool to be moved wherever he was needed.
Hearing that, the group inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and bid Dr. Chen farewell.
Communicating with Dr. Chen really was somewhat stressful. Her forceful personality and extreme pragmatism simply did not mesh well with Luo Bing and the others.
Young people like them were more emotional and valued friendship and feelings.
Dr. Chen was simply too rational.
After parting ways, the Lin Sisters turned and headed toward the mecha docking area.
Lin Wange was unusually quiet, no longer smiling and laughing as she usually did.
Luo Bing took Koizumi Junko on a tour around the base, then went to the Training Hall for two sets of physical training to keep their bodies from getting rusty.
After that, they did a simple Spiritual Connection synchronization test in the Training Hall.
This little test roughly simulated the interior environment of a large mecha and assessed the compatibility of the two pilots. It would not connect their memories.
Only the deepest level of Spiritual Connection synchronization—deep synchronization with a large mecha—would produce that kind of shared sensory memory.
That state...
In Luo Bing's understanding, it was actually the mecha, the main pilot, and the co-pilot, three individuals all undergoing a Spiritual Connection synchronization.
Although it was strange to treat a mecha as an individual, that was indeed Luo Bing's own interpretation.
The firsthand experience of a pilot with a Spiritual Connection Index of 99 should carry some credibility.
Luo Bing kept this question in mind and planned to seek an answer later.
The training ended with perfect scores.
Both of them were outstanding pilots. Dealing with basic training was a piece of cake.
Afterward, they took a walk, then picked Luo Yun up from school when class ended and brought her home.
Luo Yun's school had been established within the base itself.
The school had no certification issued by the cultural authorities, and there were no diplomas after graduation.
The only thing that mattered was that students could learn useful knowledge there. The teachers were all top experts from within the base taking on part-time work in their spare time, so their standards were beyond question.
After dinner, the three of them walked off the meal, played a game of badminton, and watched a movie. They were all internal base facilities, free for members to use.
Finally, they returned to the dormitory and waved goodbye.
That was an ordinary day in Luo Bing's life as a pilot when there were no monster attacks...
Maybe it was not so ordinary after all.
Because in the middle of the night, he got up and became a masked hero protecting humanity.
This time, he planned to make a trip to Mount Fuji and see what this so-called Yamata was all about.
During the day, Dr. Chen had talked at length about her theories concerning Titan Beasts.
Luo Bing knew his own situation best.
But the other Titan Beast—Yamata—was harder to judge.
Luo Bing did not know whether Yamata was a native giant beast of Earth, or whether it had merely been deemed one of the good guys after accidentally strangling a monster years ago.
"It is difficult for humans to judge a monster's true nature, because humans are simply too insignificant to monsters. And if mechas are deployed, one careless move could lead to war."
If Yamata had originally been neutral, but the appearance of mechas caused a fight to break out, that would be a massive loss.
But if Luo Bing were the one making the judgment, it would be much more convenient.
After all, Godzilla was best at reasoning with others through force.
"If Dr. Chen's hypothesis turns out to be true, that would naturally be for the best. We would have another helper in the future."
"If the hypothesis proves empty... then it should be eliminated as soon as possible. That would remove a hidden danger."
"A giant beast living inside an active volcano... that is practically courting death. How can Sakurajima sleep soundly? Aren't they afraid the volcano will erupt one day?"
Though he muttered to himself inwardly, Luo Bing's hands did not slow down.
At that moment, in his Golden Finger space, a glittering Evolution Points Little Star was circling around the three-dimensional image of the King of Monsters.
Thanks to the selfless contributions of the two Thunder Beasts, the experience bar had risen past 80% after reaching full. Killing one more monster would earn him another Little Star.
Luo Bing did not use the Evolution Points this time and chose to keep them sealed away for now.
Subjectively, he still wanted to upgrade his Body Size. After all, bigger was more beautiful, and an increase in size represented an all-around improvement.
But considering that all sorts of unexpected situations could arise...
An Action Duration of one hour seemed sufficient, but there was no guarantee it would always be enough.
In the end, Luo Bing chose to keep one Little Star in reserve as a trump card to turn the tables.
"It's 23:45. There are still fifteen minutes until the Action Duration refreshes!"
"When I went out at dawn to kill the Thunder Beasts, I spent a total of forty-five minutes."
"With these remaining fifteen minutes plus the sixty minutes refreshed at midnight, I have seventy-five minutes total. That is more than enough for a trip to Mount Fuji!"
"Target: Yamata at Mount Fuji. Move out!"
A Half-Step Beast King Without Any Weaknesses?
In the silent dead of night, a shadow flashed past beneath the cover of darkness.
Beast King set out from the sea behind the base, advancing in a straight line toward Mount Fuji.
Since Sakurajima served as the defensive line, there was no need to consider threats from the mainland. They only needed to guard against monster attacks from the Pacific Ocean.
That was why the sub-base had been built on the side facing the Pacific Ocean.
A little farther west lay Sakurajima's most prosperous region—Tokyo.
And Mount Fuji was not far from Tokyo. At least for Godzilla, it was only a dozen or so minutes away on foot.
After reaching the nearshore waters, Godzilla's distinctive thorny dorsal spines emerged from the sea behind him.
The Mecha Base detected the target at once.
"It's Beast King! He's appeared again!"
Someone in the Command Center looked toward Old Luo, who had rushed over.
"General Luo, are we still not sounding the alarm for everyone?"
With the experience from last night, they were already far more familiar with handling Beast King today and directly copied their previous approach.
General Luo stared at the pile of data for a long time before slowly nodding.
But then he asked another question.
"Has Dr. Chen been notified? She should be the one most eager to see this."
Before anyone beside him could respond, Dr. Chen walked in, dressed in long sleeves and fastening the buttons at her collar.
"Where was Beast King first detected this time?"
Bai Qingxin pointed out the location for Dr. Chen to see.
After looking at it, Dr. Chen fell into thought.
"It seems the straight-line distance from our base is not too far? Does he usually hide somewhere nearby beneath the sea and sleep?"
She pondered for a while.
"But he has appeared at this time again. Beast King has strong nocturnal habits."
Bai Qingxin looked at Dr. Chen with admiration.
"Doctor, have you figured something out?"
Dr. Chen shook her head decisively.
"Without more evidence to support it, any hypothesis is merely wild speculation! Keep watching and see what Beast King intends to do."
"Mhm, mhm."
Bai Qingxin nodded repeatedly, looking exactly like a fangirl meeting her idol.
Meanwhile, the satellite feed had already mapped out numerous possible Route Maps for Beast King's movements.
Some led into the depths of the Pacific Ocean, some continued onward until he vanished, and some went ashore.
Dr. Chen looked over them all, and her brows immediately furrowed.
"Beast King seems... to be heading for Mount Fuji?"
One minute later, Beast King left the sea and stepped onto land, entering the region where Mount Fuji stood.
When Beast King's eventual landing site turned out to be Mount Fuji, Dr. Chen became even more focused, while General Luo let out a long breath.
The area around Mount Fuji had been gradually evacuated after the volcano stirred once eight years ago. With a giant beast still sleeping within it, the surrounding residents had long since moved away.
Even those unwilling to leave their homeland had been forcibly relocated by Sakurajima.
"Over the past eight years, Sakurajima cleared the area around Mount Fuji and conducted quite a bit of research on the monster inside the volcano... though in my view, it was mostly pointless effort."
Dr. Chen gave her assessment after thoroughly reviewing the materials sent over by Sakurajima.
"Clearly, Sakurajima wants to research something, yet fears waking Yamata, so they act with excessive caution! They invested enormous manpower and resources, yet gained nothing!"
"The only thing that could count as a result is confirming that Yamata sleeps deeply and does not strongly resist human activity on the surface!"
Serrated Mammoth had merely passed near Mount Fuji, yet Yamata had rushed out and strangled it on the spot.
Meanwhile, Sakurajima had no idea how much they had fussed around, yet Yamata still had not reacted. That could only mean one thing:
Either Yamata slept deeply, or he had an exceptionally good temper... or perhaps he loved deeply, which was why he had not moved?
Dr. Chen stared intently at the large screen, her eyes seeming eager to take in every detail.
"There is no second possibility. Beast King landed this time to find Yamata!"
"Then, Dr. Chen, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
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