Outside the atmosphere, in Earth's satellite orbit, the mysterious giant flew along the orbital path at speeds humanity couldn't fathom.
Initially their satellites could barely capture the giant's figure, but when it flew at full speed through space, none of their satellites could observe any imagery of the giant.
Circling Earth, lap after lap, passing over every nation on the planet.
Finally, it stopped.
"Message from Russia's Special Astrophysical Observatory—they've observed the giant!"
"Message from the Indian Space Research Organisation—they've also spotted the giant!"
"Message from Japan's National Astronomical Observatory—they've found the giant too..."
More and more astronomical institutions detected the giant outside Earth. This time not just the Western Hemisphere—after the giant stopped, Eastern Hemisphere institutions also discovered it.
"What is it trying to do?" Taylor sat in the chartered plane, hands clasped together, struggling to deduce the giant's motives.
From his perspective, after the giant began flying at full speed, it might as well have vanished.
After slowing down, they captured its image again—like it had suddenly appeared.
What the giant did during that blank period, where it went—they had no way of knowing.
"Flying... circling Earth... could it have flown a complete orbit around Earth's satellite path during that time?"
"No... at that speed, it definitely flew more than one lap."
"Is it observing Earth's civilization?"
"From disappearance to reappearance... the time between was..."
Taylor stared at the computer screen before him, frowning, mind racing.
He slowly spoke an astonishing number: "Two minutes, fifty-seven seconds."
"If I'm not mistaken, those two minutes and fifty-seven seconds were the time the giant spent flying through space, passing over every nation."
After reaching this conclusion, he suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine into his limbs.
He imagined—if this giant released that beam from earlier during such flight, what would the result be?
"...This giant is far more dangerous than the Precursors." Taylor pictured that scenario in his mind and instantly realized: if the giant ever conceived the notion of destroying human civilization, it would need less than three minutes.
No matter what, if they could negotiate with the giant afterward, they absolutely couldn't display any hostility toward alien civilizations.
For a politician, he deeply cherished everything he currently possessed.
Outside the atmosphere. Space.
Natsuki gazed at the azure planet before him.
He sighed slightly. "This guy really knows how to hide... flew a whole lap and didn't find him."
Natsuki had circled Earth several times, originally planning to use Ultra vision to directly locate Leiman's position. But unexpectedly, the other party was hiding rather deep.
This rapid-search method could only observe structures above ground. Detecting enemies hidden underground would be extremely time-consuming.
Of course, this also related to his deteriorated vision.
"If I had my vision from back then, I'd have dragged this guy out already." Natsuki spoke. Sure enough, as an old-timer now, he still couldn't compare to youngsters.
Forget it. Better use an old-timer's approach.
"Plan A failed."
"Initiating Plan B." With those words, Natsuki's figure slowly vanished in space.
He prepared to negotiate with human government leadership.
His mind worked through the phrasing for later, thinking he could speak more forcefully in a moment.
But he hadn't anticipated—his series of actions had already left humanity's leadership with some psychological trauma.
Before the two sides even made formal contact, Taylor, the United States' UN representative, was already thinking about how to grovel.
This negotiation would go far more smoothly than Natsuki imagined.
United States. San Francisco.
A black helicopter landed on a shore piled with garbage.
Amid roaring engines, two figures emerged from the cabin.
"Why do I have to accompany you to this godforsaken dump?" Hermann leaned on his cane. The sudden cold wind made him shiver. He tightened his black down coat, walking forward while complaining to Newton beside him.
His sharp voice dripped with dissatisfaction.
"Why?"
"You should ask yourself that!" Newton wore a thick leather coat, equally gesticulating at Hermann, expression somewhat smug. "Admit it—you just can't stand being left behind by me."
"My research progress is way ahead of yours now."
Earlier, through Drifting with a Kaiju's secondary brain, he'd brought intelligence to Marshal Stacker. Though it hadn't made much difference, at least in terms of research progress and credit, he was far ahead of Hermann.
"Your lead is only temporary!" Hermann seemed stung, though right now he really had no words to refute Newton. Scientists dealt in facts.
So after finishing that sentence, he shifted his gaze toward the distant street.
They'd come here to find a black market dealer.
To Drift with Kaiju, they needed an intact secondary Kaiju brain. This black market dealer happened to possess such a thing.
Now their enemies included not only Leiman with his unmanned Jaegers, but also a Traveler still hidden among the Precursors. They needed to Drift with Kaiju to obtain further information about them.
"This city... really is..." Newton walked, approaching what used to be a street. Staring ahead, he suddenly stopped and took a deep breath.
This city, severely ravaged by Kaiju, showed not a trace of its former prosperity. Ruins everywhere. Most newly constructed buildings were cobbled together.
Very cyberpunk wasteland aesthetic.
Entering here, he instantly remembered: they were still living through the apocalypse.
Though they knew their side had a powerful Giant of Light, countless ordinary people, countless refugees—they didn't know when dawn would arrive.
He'd almost forgotten: despair was this world's main theme.
January weather was absolutely not warm. Those hiding in damaged buildings mostly wore tattered clothes, curled up against the cold.
"Please... I haven't eaten in three days..." As the two advanced, a man with half his hair missing and a filthy face approached, kneeling before them in supplication.
Newton and Hermann wore clean clothes—clearly not refugees.
"I..." Newton looked at the man, face complex. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a protein bar, quickly pressed it into the man's hand. "Take it. Don't let anyone see."
Without waiting for thanks, he grabbed Hermann and hurried forward.
Though he spent every day in the lab, he knew what the outside world was like.
Nations still maintained surface order, but displaced homeless people grew more numerous.
The unmanned Jaegers governments viewed as hope were actually tools for realizing someone's ambitions. As if the suffering they'd endured wasn't enough—now dragging them toward an even deeper abyss.
So our fight... isn't over yet.
"Hurry up, Hermann!" Newton turned to shout, seeing his difficulty moving and directly shouldering him forward. "If we waste time, that's all your fault!"
"What!?"
"You bastard!"
Most of the time, he bickered with Hermann. His whole personality leaned optimistic, occasionally neurotic.
But he also knew what he should be doing right now.
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