The Warrior

When it came to tearing the place apart, Zhou Hong had already left that to the professionals. After all, Uncle Li was a true master craftsman.

Although he was retired now and living a carefree life, Zhou Hong thought that would only make him grow soft. He figured giving Uncle Li something to do was the best way to help him pass the time.

On top of that, the alien deadbeats had begun all kinds of rebuilding work.

Meanwhile, Zhou Hong had started his special training—or rather, their special training.

"What's wrong? You're not going to come closer?" Zhou Hong took a small step forward, and Daigo slowly backed away.

"If you don't come closer, you'll never beat me."

He's got a point. Daigo decided he should make a head-on charge. He let out a shout and rushed at Zhou Hong.

Zhou Hong had made a good point, Daigo thought, as he lay sprawled on the ground, panting heavily. This sucks.

His textbook straight punch had been intercepted by Zhou Hong, who'd grabbed his wrist. Then Zhou Hong had thrown him sideways, slamming him into the ground. Even now, Daigo still hadn't quite caught his breath.

His ability to take a beating was improving by leaps and bounds. Mm, Zhou Hong's ability to dish them out was improving just as quickly.

Daigo cautiously got to his feet and raised his fists into a fighting stance, slowly edging closer.

Once he was within striking distance, he suddenly burst forward, throwing a heavy punch upward from below.

But the gap between them was simply too great. Daigo's swift movements were riddled with openings in Zhou Hong's eyes.

Zhou Hong easily slipped past Daigo's left-hand guard and grabbed him by the collar. The muscles in his thick arm tensed in an instant, and he lifted Daigo off the ground with one hand.

With Hibiki Gousuke wearing an expression that said, I knew it would go like this, Zhou Hong tossed Daigo away.

Daigo rolled across the ground a few times, cushioned by Zhou Hong's controlled force, then got back up unharmed—if you didn't count how dizzy he felt.

Zhou Hong didn't pause. He shifted his feet, skimming lightly across the ground, and reached Daigo in just a few steps.

Daigo grabbed downward with his right hand. Without any concern for looking dignified, he rolled rapidly along the ground and kicked at Zhou Hong.

Joneus had often faced this sort of thing. Every time he knocked an enemy down, they would pull the same move, so he'd taught Zhou Hong how to deal with it.

Go for it.

The muscles in Zhou Hong's leg suddenly tensed, and he kicked at Daigo's foot.

A straight kick and a side kick collided with a sharp smack of flesh against flesh. The sound was like a slap as Daigo skidded across the ground.

The sight of his back crashing into the wall made everyone wince, though the wall had padding to absorb the impact. The sound alone was still enough to make their skin crawl.

The hairs on the backs of everyone training nearby stood on end, and they couldn't help worrying about Daigo.

"Captain, is Daigo really going to be okay?" Yumimura Ryo asked Hibiki Gousuke beside her, sounding worried.

To be honest, Hibiki Gousuke was worried too. The difference in their builds alone had made him uneasy from the very start of Daigo and Zhou Hong's sparring session.

"He should be fine, right?"

"Captain, that sounded like a question," Koda Toshiyuki quipped.

Hibiki Gousuke pursed his lips. "Daigo asked for this himself. A real man doesn't back down."

Daigo got back up again. He crouched slightly, with one foot planted perpendicular to the ground, and held his hands beside his cheeks. The determination in his eyes hadn't changed.

His fighting spirit remained undimmed. Even the slight fatigue and chill in his body couldn't dampen his enthusiasm.

Just as Zhou Hong was preparing to launch his next attack, the communicator Daigo had left to one side rang, forcing him to stop.

Daigo hurried over to answer it. "This is Daigo."

"We need to hoist the monster's body in Qinggang County. To prevent any mishaps, you'll need to pilot Guts Wing 2," Megumi Iruma quickly relayed the order.

Monsters couldn't be understood by ordinary standards, so the ace pilot, Shinjoh, needed to remain on standby in case one appeared. That meant Daigo would have to pilot the aircraft while Rena handled the hoisting.

"Understood."

After taking a beating over and over these past few days, Daigo had learned how to reduce the damage he suffered. He was back on his feet in no time.

"By the way, can someone ask our mythological consultant if he knows anything about this monster?" The voice over the PDI came through loud and clear.

I had no idea what you were talking about before, but now I get it.

"That monster isn't a corpse. According to ancient legends, it's an undying monster that crawled out of the underworld. The records no longer tell us its name." Zhou Hong delivered his complete fabrication with a perfectly straight face.

This monster had no myth or legend associated with it at all.

After hearing Zhou Hong's words, Megumi Iruma's pupils suddenly contracted. She had already been worried, and now she was more certain than ever. "It seems my instincts were right. I've had a vague sense of unease for a while now."

Megumi Iruma felt they should trust Zhou Hong's words.

"Rena, cancel the hoisting plan. Refit Guts Wing 2 with its weapons," Megumi Iruma said, turning to Rena.

"Understood." Rena immediately got up and headed for the hangar. Guts Wing 2 had already begun its refit, but there was still time to call it off.

Munakata suddenly had a thought. "If it was called undying in ancient times, would modern weapons like freezing rounds and high-powered incendiary rounds be effective against it?"

Megumi Iruma thought that made sense too, and immediately ordered Yazumi to tell the support staff to add incendiary and freezing rounds to the aircraft's armament.

Generally speaking, if something was immune to physical attacks, its magical defenses probably weren't very strong. But this monster was clearly not what Munakata had expected.

Zhou Hong wasn't going to warn them. He wasn't going to the scene himself, either.

That monster was simply too much to handle.

Its stench was so foul that even the GUTS helmets couldn't block it. Its entire body looked like rotting meat; one punch wouldn't kill the monster, but it might make you sick to your stomach.

His body instinctively recoiled from it. He'd rather be beaten up by Joneus and Nexus working together than face that monster.

That difficult job could be left to Daigo.

"Daigo, report to the Command Room first. Head to Qinggang County as soon as Guts Wing 2 has been refitted."

Daigo had no idea what lay ahead, but his voice was resolute. "Understood."

Under Zhou Hong's gaze, full of admiration for a brave warrior, Daigo hurried out of the training room.

Hibiki Gousuke noticed Zhou Hong acting differently from usual. He walked over and asked, sounding puzzled, "A-Hong, is there something wrong with that monster?"

"A lot. You've seen the news, right?"

"The locals are demanding that the monster be removed as quickly as possible. It has an unbearable stench."

"Rotting meat soaked in seawater—it's like taking a foul-smelling sock out of a sewer, tossing it into a rice cooker, and cooking it with a can of surströmming. It'll put your vision and sense of smell to the test."

That wildly exaggerated description had made it clear to everyone just how disgusting the monster was.

"Daigo really has his work cut out for him."