The Beginning of a Legend

New York City.

The sky was burning, and the earth was wailing. Towering flames lit up the night sky as black smoke spread through the streets and between the buildings. Violent tremors shook the ground as though someone were pounding it fiercely with a drumstick, leaving the streets riddled with craters.

Even residents who lived on this street would have found it hard to imagine that this was the heart of New York City.

This should have been hell.

The streets were filled with terrified people fleeing as though escaping an endless sea of fire. Corpses and blood lay everywhere, and some roads had been dyed crimson red. Armored vehicles and tanks rolled into the district while soldiers shouted and charged forward, pouring firepower madly at something within the flames.

But it was useless. The demon bathed in fire, stepped over scorching corpses and shell casings, and charged out of the inferno with a heaven-shaking roar!

No words could describe what kind of monster it was. It seemed like something that should exist only in hell! It was enormous, yet unbelievably fast, darting and leaping through the burning ruins of the streets like an agile gorilla. Its skin was impervious; bullets striking it were no more than an itch, and even direct tank fire did nothing. The demon could overturn tanks with one hand, and its sharp claws could tear open armored vehicles as though they were made of paper. To it, these modern weapons were nothing but ridiculous jokes.

Another squad had been wiped out. A badly wounded soldier curled up inside a military jeep whose frame had been horribly twisted. Sticky fluid covered his forehead, and his vision had already blurred. He grabbed his radio and screamed, "Alpha Squad has been wiped out! I repeat, wiped out! We need more men, heavier firepower..."

Boom!

It was as though lightning had struck the ground outside his vehicle. The demon landed beside him.

The soldier turned his head with difficulty. After all this fighting, this was the first time he had seen with his own eyes what they were fighting.

It was a hulking creature over three meters tall, covered in rough, earthy-yellow skin pitted with craters. Its eyes were as chilling as a venomous snake's, and horrifying spikes protruded from its spine. Its breathing was heavy and scorching, like the flames burning through this living hell.

This was also the last thing the soldier would ever see in his life. Meeting that thing's gaze was like looking directly at Death himself.

The next second, he felt as though his weight had vanished—he and his vehicle had been hurled more than ten meters into the air.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.

Ever since that earthy-yellow monster had appeared on the streets of New York, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dedicated lines had nearly been flooded with calls. Director Nick Fury's face was as black as the bottom of a pot—though it normally looked about the same. His one eye remained fixed on the enormous suspended display, where that lively yellow-brown thing was bouncing about. The words "furious and flustered" might as well have been plastered across his face.

"Commander Fury, General Os is calling!"

"Don't take it."

"The Secretary of State is calling!"

"Tell him I'm busy!" Fury said, turning irritably to the person beside him. "Where's Stark? Where the hell is Stark?"

"Mr. Stark isn't in New York City right now," said a communications agent in a headset, sweat pouring down his face. "He went to Washington last week to negotiate with the military over ownership rights to Iron Man technology. He hasn't returned yet..."

Fury cursed under his breath.

"The World Security Council..."

"Reject them directly," Fury said impatiently.

"The President is calling! He specifically emphasized that he must speak with you."

Nick Fury frowned, considered it for several seconds, then nodded. "Put him through."

"Commander Fury, you've seen what's happening in New York, haven't you?"

"Yes, Mr. President."

"Then I want to know what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s response is," the President said. Apparently feeling his tone was not forceful enough, he added with particular emphasis, "Right now."

"We are still assessing and observing the situation," Fury said gravely. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has no weapons equipped for dealing with this kind of situation."

"I must remind you, Commander Fury, that while you are 'assessing and observing,' innocent people are dying!" the President raised his voice.

There was no doubt that this was direct pressure. But Fury calmly said, "General Ross's forces are already engaging it on site. In the end, Abomination was their mess to begin with, and no one has more experience dealing with gamma-mutated monsters than General Ross's forces. So my judgment is..."

"Commander!" an agent shouted. "You need to see this!"

Fury glanced at the nearby screen and instantly froze as though struck by lightning.

He had always considered himself well-traveled and knowledgeable enough to have seen everything in his lifetime. As S.H.I.E.L.D.'s commander, he had witnessed the strangest things this world had to offer. Yet even so, he could not help doubting the sight before his one remaining eye...

"The situation... has changed a little," Fury said, his lips suddenly feeling dry. "I'll call you back later."

It was not just S.H.I.E.L.D. that saw it. Everyone saw it. The cameraman aboard the news helicopter filming from above faithfully recorded this scene—a moment that would undoubtedly be recorded in the history of this world.

Like a meteor tearing through the night sky, golden light illuminated the darkness as brightly as day. A huge, blurry object wrapped in that golden radiance descended from the heavens, shooting straight toward the monster in the street like a smart missile locked onto its target.

The monster had just torn apart an armored vehicle squad with its bare hands. It was riding high, throwing its head back with its eyes closed and roaring in defiance, as though it believed itself invincible. By the time it sensed something was wrong, opened its eyes, and looked up, that enormous shadow was already close at hand, bearing down on it like Mount Tai...

BOOM!!!

Like a meteorite falling from beyond the heavens, the monster that had been so arrogantly rampaging just moments ago was smashed deep into the ground in the next instant. A transparent shockwave erupted like a typhoon, blasting the flames apart with overwhelming pressure and instantly scattering the billowing black smoke.

It was a fist.

Yes, an incomparably massive fist.

A silver giant as tall as a building crouched in the middle of the ruined district, his right fist buried deep in the ground—exactly where the monster had been standing moments before. When he slowly withdrew his fist and rose to his feet, the monster had already been pinned into the ground like a tiny shrimp, unable to move even a finger.

The district remained in ruins, and the flames still burned, but in that instant, it was as though the whole world had fallen silent.

This was where it all began.

This was the moment the legend called Ultraman was born into this world.