Playing God

The Metropolitan Police Department's attempt to test Mrs. Inoue didn't go smoothly, because a new situation had arisen.

"Alert! Alert!"

"Abnormal tremors detected in Arakawa Ward!"

"It's the Earthquake Catfish! It's appeared again, moving around in Nishio-gu Town, 1-chome!"

Alarms blared through the Special Operations Room, while emergency calls kept coming in from other departments. People had spotted the extraordinary creature the Metropolitan Police Department had named the Earthquake Catfish. It had appeared again in Arakawa Ward.

"Pull up surveillance footage of the target area!"

"Send out the armed helicopters! Get to the scene immediately—"

After a moment's thought, Director Takeya issued another order.

"Contact the First Division."

"Ask them to send out the Self-Defense Force to assist us."

The Self-Defense Force's First Division was stationed in Nerima Ward, one of Tokyo's 23 wards, in the city's northwest.

It had about 6,500 professional soldiers, and included an engineering battalion, an armed reconnaissance battalion, an air-defense battalion, a chemical defense company, an aviation company, and three infantry regiments.

As the force tasked with protecting Tokyo, it was responsible for disaster relief and the city's defense. The pay and benefits went without saying, and its discipline and resolve were among the best in the otherwise woefully inadequate Self-Defense Force.

Unlike someone like Tanimura Wataru, an ordinary person transformed into an extraordinary being, the Earthquake Catfish clearly wasn't something they could communicate with. And since its mere appearance could cause widespread destruction in the city, the Metropolitan Police Department urgently dispatched a team of negotiators while also calling in the First Division, preparing for both possibilities.

"What's that?"

"A monster! Ultraman—no, where's the Self-Defense Force?"

Somebody help!!

Arakawa Ward, Nishio-gu Town, 1-chome.

The pedestrians stared dumbfounded at the enormous Black Fish emerging from the ground and making its way down the street. Phones clattered to the ground all around them.

Rumble, rumble~~

The house-sized Black Fish paid no attention to the "ants" around it.

It simply swam through the earth on its own. That's right, half its body was underground, leaving only its enormous, flat head and a pair of eyes full of "wisdom" aboveground. It swung its two python-like whiskers and moved leisurely down the street.

Perhaps because the road was relatively "wide," it didn't swim toward the sidewalk or the buildings. As for the cars on the road:

"Get out! Get out!"

"Run! There's a monster!!"

"What's the car in front doing? What the—???"

As the enormous Black Fish "swam" straight toward them, cars on the road slammed on their brakes, and drivers and passengers alike jumped out and ran.

The huge Black Fish, with a vermilion torii gate on its back, swam lazily forward. Every so often, it swept a car out of its way with a whisker, drawing shocked cries and commotion from the onlookers.

But gradually—

"It doesn't seem to be attacking us?"

"Could they be filming a movie? But do they really make props that realistic?"

"Mom, it looks like a catfish."

After ducking to the side of the road, the pedestrians who'd fled in the initial panic began pulling out their phones:

Time to post!

LINE, Facebook, Discord. Plenty of them even turned their phones on themselves, then spun around to capture both the enormous Black Fish and themselves in the frame.

"Hey, everyone! Your old friend Feng Lan is livestreaming for you! You'll never guess—"

"This is so cool! Take a look, everyone—"

The streamers in the crowd had even started broadcasting live on the spot!

Tsk.

Did I have to show you lot what I could do, just to prove I wasn't harmless?

The enormous catfish suddenly stopped. As the crowd watched from beneath the eaves and along both sides of the road, its gaze settled on a heavy truck up ahead.

"Wooooo~~"

The enormous Black Fish raised its head and opened its broad, flat mouth, letting out a shrill cry.

Two rows of gleaming white teeth appeared inside its huge mouth. Its fangs were longer than a person's arm, and the shocked onlookers slowly came to their senses.

This wasn't some harmless little animal. It was only the long peace that had made people lose their vigilance.

The catfish crouched as if gathering strength. The next second, it shot forward at incredible speed.

It "rode the waves" down the street!

Boom—

Though the two were dozens of meters apart, the enormous catfish charged and slammed into the truck.

If time were slowed a hundredfold, one could see the truck's front crumple instantly. The cab's windows burst and shattered. Before the shards could scatter, the massive fish head was already driving them backward into the trailer.

The four-meter-tall heavy truck's metal cab crumpled like paper, offering no resistance!

Then a shock wave spread across the vehicle, visible to the naked eye! Ripples of distortion and web-like cracks raced across the entire trailer.

The impact had yet to expend its force. At last, it flung the wreckage of the heavy truck away like a lobster.

The wreckage hurtled through the air, and a terrifying gale swept across the street!

Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!

The flying wreckage slammed into a building up ahead. Twisted metal smashed through the wall and plunged inside, only stopping when it hit a supporting pillar.

?????

Faced with such a violent scene, the entire street fell silent.

"Run!"

"Monster—"

"Mom! Waaah~~"

The next second, someone shouted, and everyone turned and ran for their lives. They fled like a retreating tide, like ants in a nest doused with boiling water. This wasn't a movie, or some rare spectacle to gawk at.

This was a monster that could kill with the slightest gesture!

"Woooo~~~"

The enormous Black Fish let out a steam-whistle-like howl toward the sky.

Having "killed" its "enemy," the delighted Black Fish raised its tail high out of the earth.

Bang!

Its tail slammed hard into the street.

Cracks spread across the road in a web, and ripples of tremors radiated outward, sending anyone still there scrambling away on all fours, screaming.

Hmph~~

Still gawking?

Did they really think monsters were all good-natured?

Akihi Yu, controlling the enormous Black Fish, gave a cold snort and continued searching for its next target.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—

Just then, an armed helicopter flew in overhead. In the open doorway, a negotiator picked up a radio, his face full of bitterness.

"Earthquake Catfish below. Sir, please stop destroying the area."

"I'm with the government—a government worker."

"We can talk this out."

The enormous Black Fish seemed drawn to the "voice" from above. It raised its head, its lantern-sized pupils looking in opposite directions—one left, the other right.

"Rest assured, we mean you no harm—"

As the negotiator racked his brain, trying to figure out how to communicate with an "extraordinary catfish," the Black Fish opened its enormous mouth toward them.

"Danger!"

"Get out of the way!!"

Even if you hadn't eaten pork, you'd at least seen a pig run.

In tokusatsu shows, anime, and movies, that kind of movement usually meant only one thing:

Pff!

The enormous Black Fish spat out a small pebble.

Compared to its house-sized body, the pebble was tiny as a fingernail, almost impossible to notice.

But as it flew upward, it kept growing out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye, it had become a boulder the size of a millstone!

Earth Release: Rock Iron Cannon Technique

This was a ninjutsu that involved spitting a small pebble from the mouth, which then grew larger in midair and struck its target like a solid cannonball.

It was a basic D-rank ninjutsu that every member of the Rock Ninja Group had to learn. Its power was decent, but its speed was a weakness, so it posed little threat to an agile ninja.

In the World of Fire, the Rock Ninja Group only used this move for concentrated bombardment in group battles. But its supposedly slow speed only mattered against ninjas who could run along walls, walk on water, and climb trees.

"Get out of the way—ah!"

The millstone-sized boulder struck the helicopter before it could turn in time. Trailing thick smoke, it plunged toward a nearby high-rise.

"So we really can't communicate with it."

In the Metropolitan Police Department's conference room, Director Takeya sighed.

"Proceed with the capture plan. Try to take it alive."

Although he gave the order, he had no real expectations.

This extraordinary creature was an Earthquake Catfish that could swim freely through the earth!

"Sorry for the trouble!"

"The road ahead is closed. Please turn back immediately!"

"Why should I?"

"I'm in a hurry to—"

Every road around Nishio-gu Town in Arakawa Ward had been sealed off by the police, who had set up barricades.

The people stuck there began to grow restive. It was four in the afternoon, when schools let out, and many homemakers were out buying groceries as well. The crowds grew thicker, and complaints rose from every side.

But before long, the noise died down!

One armored vehicle after another came roaring in, shoving the cars ahead of them out of the way. Their dark gun barrels left the nearby drivers afraid to complain.

Type 87 Armored Patrol Vehicles. Type 16 Maneuver Combat Vehicles.

These steel beasts were only "light" armored vehicles, but their cold, hard armor, cannons angled toward the road ahead, and the grim, unsmiling Self-Defense Force soldiers aboard made everyone instinctively fall silent, realizing that something serious was happening.

There were no heavy tanks, but these armored vehicles were more than enough to fight a small-scale battle.

People might have heard how brazen this or that yakuza gang could be, but in a real fight, this force could sweep through every gang in Tokyo as easily as eating or drinking.

These were weapons humans had invented to kill one another. Even if they were used to fight monsters—

Boom!

The Self-Defense Force had only just charged into Nishio-gu Town along the street when the lead armored patrol vehicle suddenly went flying.

The other vehicles watched in horror as it tumbled through the air like a toy tossed by a child and crashed into another armored patrol vehicle behind it. A high-tech machine worth tens of millions of yen had turned into scrap without firing a single shot.

"Just as I thought, it won't work."

Armed helicopters, armored vehicles, and drones all pointed cameras at Nishio-gu Town, monitoring the battlefield from almost every angle.

The important figures in the Metropolitan Police Department looked at the "giant net" spread across the street and grimaced.

It was a "fishing net" launched from an armed helicopter, woven from aircraft-carrier arresting cables. Four-pronged barbed anchors fired from a net gun had sunk dozens of centimeters into the street. Once something was caught in it, even an elephant would be helpless, let alone a mere animal—though even a blue whale would have no choice but to submit.

But—

The netted Earthquake Catfish simply sank into the ground and evaded this high-tech creation.

"The target has earth-based powers. There's no way this can hold it."

The Chief Priest from Yushima Tenmangu gave a slight shake of his head. As a shrine's Chief Priest, he gave the impression of being a sage removed from worldly affairs. At home, though, he often played Dream X Treasure. True ascetics who had completely turned their backs on worldly life no longer existed.

"Then, in your opinion, how should we deal with it?"

In response to Director Takeya's question, the Chief Priest raised a hand and pointed at the torii gate on the Earthquake Catfish's back.

"The key—"

"Is this torii gate."

Then he fell silent, leaving everyone rather at a loss.

The vermilion torii gate on the Earthquake Catfish's back was so conspicuous that everyone knew it had to mean something.

But none of the senior priests or Chief Priests from the major shrines could explain what it concealed. The others were even less likely to know.

"Director Takeya,"

"Let's see how this extraordinary creature fares against modern firepower."

The Americans, meanwhile, were all eager to watch. A "monster" fighting the military was exactly the sort of spectacle they loved. After all—

Even if anything got damaged, it would be the islanders and their buildings paying the price.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—

In Nishio-gu Town, Arakawa Ward, the fierce battle raged on. The gunfire and artillery boomed without pause, making it seem less like Tokyo and more like the Middle East.

The Type 87 Armored Patrol Vehicle's 25 mm Oerlikon Self-Propelled Gun belched lethal shells. The 600 rounds per minute formed a steel whip that lashed across the enormous Black Fish's body.

"Wha—?!"

Such dense firepower could tear flesh to shreds.

Lightly armored troops were left with only one fate in front of such a weapon: slaughter. But the gigantic Black Fish let the bullets sink into its body without reacting at all. If anything, they only drew its attention, and it charged toward the armored patrol vehicle.

"Back up, back up, back up!"

As he shouted, the gunner cursed his superior in his heart.

In fact, he didn't need to say a word. The commander had already cranked the steering wheel, and the armored vehicle was skillfully reversing and turning at the same time.

"Commander, they're ordering us to keep firing!"

?

"Let them go and—"

The radio operator tapped the commander's tactical helmet, reminding him they were on an open channel. The commander shut his mouth with a disgusted look.

"Understood. We'll keep attacking!"

But the armored patrol car's attacks achieved nothing.

"The 7.62 mm machine gun and the 25 mm autocannon are both ineffective. In that case..."

In the Metropolitan Police Department's operations room, Director Takeya rubbed his brow.

"Send in the assault vehicle. Use its 105 mm cannon!"