Golza: Don't Come Any Closer!

The GUTS Wing was completely unharmed. The giant gave a slight nod, then lowered his head to look at Tiga beside him.

"It's been a long time, Tiga."

"Was he talking about me?" Daigo responded immediately.

Zhou Hong was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected an answer.

During the first battle, it had been Tiga's remaining fighting instincts that defeated Golza and Melba. That wasn't to look down on Daigo; it was just that Tiga had been so dazzling in that first battle.

The way he'd skillfully changed forms was clearly not Daigo's Happy Form.

If it had been Daigo himself, he would have used Daigo Happy Form to catch the flying Melba barehanded, then slammed him to the ground.

"So you're merely a human who inherited Tiga's power." Zhou Hong put on the air of an old Ultra Warrior.

Then he stopped Daigo from asking again. "We'll save the chatting for next time. I'm going hunting."

His imposing body strode slowly toward Golza. His muscles bulged more prominently with every step, while the light shining from his diamond-shaped eyes made Golza shudder again.

Golza struggled to back away, only to realize that its bulky frame couldn't match the giant's speed.

Even a cornered rabbit would bite, let alone a sixty-meter-tall monster.

Golza opened its gaping maw and roared at Zhou Hong, trying to bolster its courage. Its eyes reddened slightly as it charged toward him.

Its claws tore through the air with a shrill, ripping whistle.

The giant lowered his stance slightly and charged straight at Golza without the slightest hesitation.

The mere force of his sprint made the earth groan beneath him as gravel flew everywhere.

With a thunderous crash, the two colossal figures collided.

The instant they made contact, Golza flew backward, its face twisted in pain.

It felt as if it had been hit by a fleet of those super-sturdy spacefaring ships from thirty million years ago.

The giant looked bulky, but he moved without any hint of sluggishness. He rushed forward and seized Golza's airborne tail with both hands. Neither the impact nor Golza's weight could budge him.

He planted his legs far apart, the muscles across his body suddenly swelling as he prepared to throw Golza.

The people aboard GUTS Wing 2 couldn't help wincing.

Munakata, a fitness enthusiast himself, shouted in disbelief, "No way! That monster weighs tens of thousands of tons!"

"Hyah!"

With a mighty yell, Golza's body slammed into the ground. Its tremendous weight blasted the dust aside in an instant.

Before Golza could react, it felt itself lifted into the air again, then crashed against that same familiar yet unfamiliar earth once more.

Golza's eyes rolled back, and it looked ready to pass out. But perhaps the instinct to survive after thirty million years in hiding brought it back to its senses.

What was that?! What was that?! What the hell was that?!

Tiga had only ever thrown one of his own kind. This guy could even grab Golza after knocking it flying and throw it again!

Faced with strength it couldn't possibly resist, Golza finally recognized its own limits and chose to run.

Run for it!

The soft earth turned rock-hard under Golza's pounding. It dug furiously with all four limbs, its tail writhing as it tried to escape the monstrously strong Ultra Warrior.

Even the hardened ground couldn't stand up to its claws. Desperate to escape, it even used its teeth, swallowing mouthfuls of dirt as its strength grew.

Zhou Hong felt the tail in his hands becoming harder and harder to control. He tightened his grip and tried to haul Golza back out. The immense force made his fingers sink deep into Golza's flesh.

Well, it was a kind of pain Golza hadn't felt in thirty million years. Pretty novel, really.

The pain of its dislocated tail grew worse. Golza, digging almost straight down, understood the danger it was in.

"Crack, crack."

A bone-chilling snap rang out. Zhou Hong felt his grip suddenly loosen, and he fell backward. His solid back hit the ground.

All he could see was the blue sky and blood gushing from the severed tail.

So now you're playing lizard, huh?

He really hadn't seen that move coming. Zhou Hong ripped the piece of tail in his hands in two, tossed it aside, then rolled onto his feet and looked toward Golza.

All that remained was a patch of ground already filled back in with dirt.

You're lucky you got away. Next time, I'll beat you senseless.

Come to think of it, which volcano did Golza run off to again?

Zhou Hong shook his head. Charging into someone's home just to beat them up did seem a bit much, so he gave up on the idea.

"Until next time." He kicked off with both legs, taking flight in The Next's signature pose, like Shunichi Maki. A flash of red light, and he vanished into the vast sky.

"Wait, can you tell me—" Tiga reached out, but Zhou Hong was already airborne, beyond his reach.

Tiga glanced helplessly at the still-intact Melba, turned around, and finished it off with a single Zeperion Ray, blasting it to pieces.

As the timer on his chest blinked, he held his hands together above his head and shot vertically into the sky, disappearing into the clouds in moments.

Only then did the people aboard GUTS Wing 2, their eyes wide as saucers, come back to their senses.

"What an unbelievable day," Munakata said gravely. "A giant and all..."

Beneath the dusk, the stars glimmered beautifully around the giant as he sped through the sky.

"If only Daigo could have seen that, too," Rena said, feeling sentimental.

At the mention of Daigo, everyone's mood sank.

Hori looked down and suddenly glanced at the detector. On GUTS Wing 2's screen, he spotted a familiar figure.

His eyes widening, he asked, "Is it just me, or is that Daigo down there?"

The only person who would have taken off his GUTS helmet and stood by the water, waving desperately at the GUTS Wing, was Daigo.

Amid the beautiful scenery, the sudden flash of white stood out sharply.

Shinjoh recognized his partner at a glance and grinned. "Well, look at that. Daigo's one lucky guy."

Leaving aside how Daigo had managed to escape, Zhou Hong returned at dusk feeling refreshed.

He'd worked during the day and trained at night. After that fight, his mood had improved considerably.

He pulled out his phone to check the time. Not a minute early or late—it was exactly when he usually got off work and headed home.

"Well, would you look at that? I'm pretty punctual."

Finishing the day's work right on schedule gave Zhou Hong, a former wage slave in his past life, something like a spiritual awakening.

"Grandma, I'm home." Grandma, who had been sitting by the entrance, smiled and slowly stood up, then took dinner out of the insulated box.