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"As expected, pretty much what we guessed."
"You chose to fight the Titans to save those people." Dr. Vivienne looked at Natsuki as she said it.
His answer confirmed everything they'd suspected.
A giant from outer space, standing before them in the flesh. It felt surreal, like something out of a dream...
But then he'd speak, or move, or tilt his head, and he was just a person. That kept pulling her back to earth.
"That was what I should do. Don't worry about it."
"What I want to know is , what exactly is hiding in Antarctica that has Godzilla this concerned?" Natsuki asked.
He'd only crossed paths with Godzilla twice. But even through those brief exchanges, he could read the creature clearly: immense pride, immense self-assurance. For it to send him toward Antarctica instead of going itself, whatever was down there had to be something it couldn't handle on its own.
Anything that gave the planet's guardian pause, he had to take seriously.
"Monster Zero." Dr. Ishiro Serizawa raised his head and met Natsuki's eyes. He tapped a control, and the information bloomed across the central holographic screen.
Night had fallen outside. An eerie blue glow pulsed from the projection.
"Dr. Emma Russell — the developer of the Orca Device — calls it 'Monster Zero.' A top-tier predator."
As Serizawa spoke, the projection filled with a massive three-headed silhouette, locked inside solid ice.
The colossal creatures living within Earth, they called them Titans. But this thing , they called it a monster. The monster numbered zero.
"Monster... Zero." Natsuki stared at the frozen image, brow furrowing slightly.
"Three years ago, we found it buried in the Antarctic glaciers and established Outpost 32 on-site," Serizawa said. His expression had gone heavy. "At first, we assumed it was like the other Titans , an ancient beast, active in prehistoric times, dormant in the modern era, preserved in human memory as myth and legend."
Every Titan on Earth came with its own mythology. Ancient stories, passed down through generations. They were the source of those legends.
"But when we combed through every related myth we could find, we discovered..." Serizawa pulled up records of cave murals and projected them one by one. "It doesn't appear in any of them."
The murals were covered in ancient imagery , giant creatures, battles, catastrophe. But the carving that depicted the three-headed beast had been left half-finished. As if whoever made it had stopped deliberately. As if the creature's existence wasn't meant to be recorded.
The ancient humans hadn't forgotten it. They had tried to.
"Based on its physical profile alone , nearly one hundred and sixty meters tall, wingspan of five hundred meters , this thing is unquestionably a top-tier predator."
"There's more." Serizawa's voice dropped. "According to intelligence from Mr. Rivers, this monster is not native to Earth. His account holds that it was an invader from Venus, arriving on Earth in ancient times. The ancients called it 'King Ghidorah.' The Titans of that era joined forces to freeze and seal it." He paused. "Mr. Rivers provided no hard evidence for this. It remains a conjecture. But it's one we take seriously."
Monarch had outposts scattered across the globe, each one watching a slumbering Titan. In all their years of observation, across every known Titan they had catalogued, not one of them compared to King Ghidorah.
Not in size. Not in the sheer, suffocating aura of threat it radiated even in its dormant state. King Ghidorah was something else entirely. A nightmare given form.
Even Godzilla might not be its match.
Natsuki had been listening, quietly turning over the question of what kind of creature this King Ghidorah actually was.
Then Serizawa said the word "invader," and something shifted behind Natsuki's eyes.
"You said..." His voice came out low. "It's an invader?"
"A highly probable conjecture," Serizawa answered carefully.
Natsuki gave a small nod.
Their conjecture, combined with what Godzilla had communicated to him , that was enough. The picture was clear.
Godzilla was Earth's guardian. It had every reason to distrust him, an alien. Yet it had reached out anyway, pointed him toward Antarctica. There was only one explanation for that: whatever was down there didn't belong to Earth either. The monster called King Ghidorah was an invader.
And in the regulations of the Space Garrison, eliminating invaders was one of their core duties.
"Understood."
"I'll eliminate it," Natsuki said. No hesitation in his voice.
Serizawa blinked. "It may be more powerful than any Titan we've encountered. You're certain you want to engage it directly?"
Direct combat wasn't their only option. The ancient Titans had sealed King Ghidorah once , a similar approach might be worth considering. Going in head-on carried enormous risk.
And if Serizawa was reading the situation correctly, Natsuki had limitations in his giant form. Time constraints, most likely.
"Eliminating invaders is one of our duties."
"The rest isn't something you need to worry about," Natsuki said.
Against Earth's Titans, he'd hold back. He had to. In this world, Titans were one of Earth's own intelligent races , coexistence with humanity wasn't out of the question. He couldn't treat them like enemies.
But an invader? No restraint. Full force.
"Hold on — I have a question." Jared, wine glass in hand, spoke up.
"Monster Zero is still frozen. Who's trying to let it out?"
Because once it got loose, the destruction would make Godzilla and the MUTOs look like a minor incident.
"Alan Jonah." Serizawa switched the projection. "Former British Army Colonel. Leader of the eco-terrorist cell." He let the image settle. "He's the one who hit our Mexican outpost and released Rodan."
The words Jonah had said before withdrawing from Mexico came back to him.
He'd said Emma's ideals aligned with his.
"If the lead Godzilla gave us is correct..." Serizawa said slowly, "then the person trying to release Monster Zero may be Emma."
He didn't want to say it. Every part of him resisted it. But it was the most probable conclusion.
Jonah's aircraft couldn't have beaten them to Antarctica , the departure times from Mexico were too close. Which meant another unit of his organization was already there. Had been moving independently.
Their Dr. Emma Russell wanted to release Monster Zero.
The eco-terrorists believed humanity was a plague. A cancer on the Earth. They wanted to use the Titans to wipe the species clean, and Emma had chosen to stand with them , which meant she believed it too.
"Dr. Emma joined a terrorist organization?"
Jared stared, genuinely baffled. He'd known Emma back in his Monarch days. He could not picture it. Not her.
Serizawa was quiet for a moment.
"The truth of it," he finally said, "probably won't be clear until we're standing in front of her."
"I just hope we're not too late..."
If Monster Zero was actually released...
He didn't finish the thought. He looked over at Natsuki instead.
Could the giant's power truly defeat Monster Zero?
➤ Next: King Ghidorah
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