Hibiki Gousuke's brow twitched as the barbell grew more and more terrifyingly oversized. It was almost as big as Zhou Hong himself.
The floor beneath Zhou Hong's muscular body was already drenched with sweat. Hibiki Gousuke had no idea what had gotten into his deputy captain, making him steadily ramp up the intensity of his training lately.
But he knew that no one could keep forcing themselves through such grueling workouts without hurting their body.
Interrupting Zhou Hong's training without warning might actually injure him more easily, so Hibiki Gousuke quietly waited until Zhou Hong finished his entire set, then cleared his throat a few times.
"Is something wrong, Captain?"
Zhou Hong slowly set the barbell down. Even with a padded mat beneath it, the sound it made when it hit the floor still made everyone wince for the floor's sake.
Hibiki Gousuke planted his hands on his hips. "Hong, how about taking another day off?"
"Last time, you got called back to work while you were on leave. Headquarters specially approved a day off for you, and I happen to have one day of leave left too. Want to go out and have some fun?"
After Hibiki Gousuke put it that way, Zhou Hong naturally didn't refuse. It wasn't as though he had anything else to do besides train.
After changing into casual clothes, he squeezed himself into Hibiki Gousuke's car, where he sat miserably as Hibiki Gousuke drove them to their destination for the day.
The moment Zhou Hong saw the place, the corners of his eyes twitched.
His mouth twisted into a bizarre expression. "Captain, are you out of your mind? We're two grown men coming here?"
The enormous Ferris wheel turned slowly, the pirate ship rocked back and forth, and the roller coaster sped along. Everything looked like something out of a fairy tale, while Zhou Hong, with his body covered in bulging muscles, looked completely out of place.
It was like dropping a JoJo character into Snow White—the art styles didn't match at all!
"Ahem." Hibiki Gousuke coughed twice. "I don't come to places like this very often. Just think of it as keeping me company."
Zhou Hong nodded stiffly and followed Hibiki Gousuke like a soulless puppet.
"I'm very sorry, sir. Our equipment wasn't designed for someone with your build. We'll issue you a full refund and give you a gift as an apology."
The staff member beside the roller coaster kept wiping cold sweat from his forehead and bowing again and again to the hulking man with a look on his face that said he was about to beat someone up. He held out a red envelope with both hands.
The scene looked just like a mob boss coming to collect protection money.
The employee looked like he'd get on his knees if Zhou Hong didn't accept the money. Zhou Hong blankly took the red envelope.
The staff member let out a sigh of relief, bowed once more to thank him, then backed away.
Zhou Hong turned to look at Hibiki Gousuke, who was just as dazed. Judging from the vacant look in his eyes, he hadn't expected things to turn out this way either.
"Should we go check out somewhere else?" Hibiki Gousuke said with an awkward laugh.
Zhou Hong let out a long sigh. "Forget it. With a build like mine, even riding the carousel would probably put the horses on the ground."
This was awkward. He'd just wanted to go out and have fun, and the idea had been so last-minute that he hadn't thought it through.
Zhou Hong felt like he'd sighed more today than ever before. "Whatever. Let's find somewhere more suited to us."
Having failed to do anything except collect an apologetic red envelope, the two of them slunk toward the exit.
With Zhou Hong's build, he was the most eye-catching person wherever he went. A certain ace pilot sitting in a chair rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then suddenly called out, "Hey, Hong!"
After beating up Shinjoh so many times and hearing him scream so often, Zhou Hong naturally recognized his voice.
"Shinjoh? You're at the amusement park too?"
After wrestling and training together so much, Shinjoh had built up some muscle and gotten hooked on working out too. Normally, he should've been holed up in some gym right now.
Or maybe chatting with a girl in the medical department?
Shinjoh wore a suit stretched tight across his muscles. He scratched his head helplessly. "Can't be helped. Mayumi wanted to come."
Got it. Little sister came first.
Noticing the little boy standing beside Shinjoh, Zhou Hong's expression turned a little strange. "Shinjoh, hear me out. I feel like something happens every time we take a break."
Mayumi had been the one who got herself involved in the Shishinohana Forest incident. This time, she'd dragged Shinjoh along to get caught up in Gagi's mess. You could only say that the siblings had an extraordinary connection to Gagi.
Shinjoh's lips curled into a smile. "What are you talking about? You're probably just unlucky. How could I possibly—"
Shinjoh stared, mouth agape, at the golden pillar of light shooting into the sky.
What the hell was that?!
"Headquarters! Something abnormal is happening at my location! Hong is here with me too!" Shinjoh took out his communicator and reported to the GUTS Command Room.
Zhou Hong was famous in GUTS as a magnet for monsters. As soon as he said that, the GUTS gears could start turning at full speed.
Nearby, a young man walking along bumped into something. A sound like a melon cracking rang out.
Shinjoh hurried over, asking the young man if he was all right, but he himself ran straight into an invisible wall.
That familiar transparency, that familiar solidity—Shinjoh's eyes widened at once. "Is this the same monster we encountered in Shishinohana Forest?"
Horii heard the report over the communicator in the Command Room and quickly stood up. "After the Shishinohana Forest incident, I prepared a weapon to deal with that barrier. Now we can finally put it to use!"
That frustrating defeat last time—I'm going to get even with this fellow creature now!
"Shinjoh, get the crowd to the edge of the barrier and have the amusement park make an announcement over the PA. The monster is probably at the center of the barrier. I'll leave the captain to you." As Zhou Hong spoke, he was already running off.
Hibiki Gousuke could only complain, "Which one of us is the captain here?" before getting to work with Shinjoh on the tasks Zhou Hong had assigned them.
A pillar of crimson light suddenly flashed. A thick arm thrust out of it, and Jostar's powerful body floated in midair.
Jostar had no intention of politely waiting for the monster to emerge from the ground before attacking. Energy quickly gathered around his feet.
After checking the area around Gagi's horn and confirming there was no one nearby, Jostar's powerful body plunged down like a meteor.
The surging force made the earth tremble. Gagi's sturdy horn shattered on impact, and the tremendous burst of energy turned its brain to mush.
Buried beneath the ground, Gagi had lost its brains and was confirmed dead. It never even managed to dig its way out before it died.
Horii arrived late in the first TPC craft, the Wing 1. All he saw was Jostar, who shot straight upward, tearing through the barrier with his powerful muscles.
He began to question his life.
Please vote! The illustration's done, but no matter how I look at it, I'm not satisfied. As expected, there really is a difference between three-digit and four-digit prices...
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