As for the situation in Shishinohana Forest, TPC Far East Headquarters ultimately decided to send out a team to retrieve the bodies.
It was what most people wanted. As the only person who had entered Shishinohana Forest and made it back out alive, Zhou Hong was also assigned to the team, thanks to Shinjoh's jinxing.
A dark mass of people carried all kinds of equipment that could barely tickle a monster. The only things that could truly threaten one were the two high-tech vehicles from GUTS.
But seeing Daigo riding his motorcycle at the back of the team put Zhou Hong somewhat at ease.
There were many more people this time, but as TPC's elite troops, they marched with remarkably little noise.
Pacing along the roadside was probably the last thing it could cling to.
The journey was uneventful, and they soon reached the spot where the cars had been piled up. GUTS and Rookie Squad secured the perimeter while the medical team began retrieving and documenting the bodies.
And standing guard inevitably left room for chatting.
"This place is so quiet, and the air is so fresh." Horii took a deep breath of the cold air and shivered. "It's just a little too cold."
"Senior Horii, I think this place is great. Training in the cold can build up your strength and your willpower."
Hibiki Gousuke shared his thoughts, though his disobedient legs kept trembling. Even after he thumped them, they still wouldn't stop.
"Give me a break. You're so frozen you can't think straight, and you're talking about training?" Zhou Hong quipped.
"I don't like this place. It's so quiet. Who knows what's hiding underground?" Shinjoh scanned the area with a grim expression.
As soon as he finished speaking, a familiar female scream suddenly came from behind them.
"Mayumi!" In an instant, Shinjoh seemed to go Super Saiyan. His eyes blazed, and he shot off, covering a huge distance in a flash.
Without waiting for anyone to say a word, the others quickly turned and raced toward the site where the bodies were being retrieved.
Shinjoh covered the short distance in no time. The sight before him made the flames in his eyes seem ready to leap out.
A hole had opened in the ground, and fleshy tentacles had emerged from it, coiling around Mayumi and another nurse. Mayumi was being dragged across the ground, her pristine white uniform stained brown with dirt. She looked utterly disheveled.
Shinjoh immediately squeezed the trigger of the Hyper Gun in his hand. Its laser precisely struck the blackened spots that the ground support team had been attacking, snapping the two slender tentacles.
He rushed over to Mayumi without slowing down and quickly checked her for injuries, asking repeatedly, "Are you all right, Mayumi?"
"I'm fine, big brother. Go check on Huihui." Mayumi pushed Shinjoh away, toward the other nurse.
With no choice, Shinjoh shifted his concern to Mayumi's colleague. The young woman's face turned a little red, and she kept glancing away.
"Shinjoh, get the injured ready to move immediately. We can't stay here!" Munakata began giving orders as soon as he arrived.
Carrying the young woman, Shinjoh moved with remarkable speed. The convoy started up quickly too, and everything seemed to be proceeding in orderly fashion.
But when the DeLaM Car crashed into an invisible wall, causing a series of rear-end collisions, something seemed wrong.
Whether it was the Hyper Gun's beams or the weapons mounted on the DeLaM Cars, their attacks struck the wall like drops of water falling into the ocean. They didn't even make a ripple.
"Horii! Think of something!"
"I've finished analyzing the wall. It contains substances that don't belong to Earth."
"We don't have any materials on hand that can affect this wall. There's nothing I can do!" Horii replied, sounding desperate.
Without a proper research facility and with all kinds of materials in short supply, Horii had no idea where to start.
And the Rookie Squad, still a bunch of reckless brawlers, could only punch and kick the wall. One particularly muscular man was the most enthusiastic of them all.
Their blows made the wall ring with a series of thuds.
Just as they attacked, the ground suddenly began to shake.
That familiar vibration immediately brought one thought to the battle-hardened GUTS members' minds: "A monster's coming!"
The soil churned and the earth split apart. The first thing to emerge was a curved horn. A moment later, the monster stood in the forest.
Its most distinctive feature was probably its thick arms.
Each arm had only two claws, and between them was the tentacle that had just been attacked.
It let out a roar that was anything but intimidating, then fixed its gaze on the huge convoy.
Though only one foot had struck the ground, two separate sounds rang out.
Puzzled, Gagi turned around. A silver monster had entered its field of vision, an obvious wound on its head.
In those pupil-less eyes, Gagi clearly sensed anger.
"Another monster!" someone cried out in despair.
Zhou Hong's expression only grew stranger. He sighed for this Gagi for a few seconds.
Relying on the protection of its barrier, Gagi fearlessly roared at Silvagon. Then it watched as the enraged Silvagon tore its vaunted barrier to pieces in no time.
With a kick from its thick, stubby leg, Silvagon shattered the barrier in that direction and charged straight at Gagi, whose whip-like tentacles were writhing.
It had been beaten yesterday, and it had accepted that it couldn't win. But now another beast was acting so arrogantly on its turf. That was absolutely unacceptable!
Fueled by Silvagon's immense strength, its claws easily left deep wounds on Gagi's body.
The pain drove Gagi into a frenzy. It wrapped its tentacles around Silvagon, which was right beside it, hoping to strangle it to death.
Silvagon didn't defend itself at all, letting Gagi attack. But its thick muscles protected it so well that Gagi's attacks barely did any damage.
Silvagon's claws plunged into Gagi's body and pulled its head closer.
Its huge mouth gaped open. With its powerful jaws, it sank its teeth deep into Gagi's throat. After struggling weakly for a while, Gagi's eyes gradually went blank.
Silvagon excitedly pounded its chest to show off its strength, then happily swished its tail. Through its blurry vision, it suddenly spotted a figure walking around, waving his arms and pointing.
Its tail abruptly froze. Without even looking back, Silvagon quickly headed the way it had come. Its stubby legs even tripped once, making it leave all the faster.
The people in the convoy were speechless, all of them staring in shock.
The next chapter would probably be around ten o'clock.
Before you continue