"Kraboom—!"
A relentless string of explosions rang out.
Chabashira Sae looked up, and through the gaps between the skyscrapers, she watched helplessly as countless artillery rounds poured down onto Godzilla.
But before the barrage even let up, she noticed that some of the shells were striking the high-rises around Godzilla—as if they meant to bury it under the rubble.
Seeing this, Chabashira Sae stopped hesitating.
She grabbed the still-dazed Hoshimiya Chie and, without a backward glance, sprinted toward the underground passage entrance at the street corner.
"Stop spacing out! Move!"
When gods fight, mortals suffer.
Even if this monster called Godzilla currently seemed to be rampaging through the city on sheer size alone, without displaying any flashy abilities...
Chabashira Sae's mind was crystal clear.
If it really took too long to kill the thing, forcing the authorities to bring out even more extreme heavy firepower, she doubted the stray rounds and shockwaves would have eyes—that they'd politely swerve around two frail women like them.
Fortunately, though this was the Tokyo of another world, the general city layout wasn't too different from what she knew.
Following the panicked crowd, the two of them squeezed into a broad underground tunnel without incident, using it as temporary cover.
"Haah... haah..."
Hoshimiya Chie leaned against the cold wall, gasping for air, her eyes brimming with terror.
But Chabashira Sae's brow only furrowed tighter.
This clearly wasn't a long-term solution.
If the surface buildings collapsed on a large scale and the exits got sealed off, hiding down here would be no different from being a turtle trapped in a jar.
What's more, she wasn't entirely sure whether there were other monsters besides that Godzilla.
She couldn't just sit and wait for death; she had to find a way out for herself.
Just as Chabashira Sae forced herself to stay calm and glanced around for another safe passage...
following a wave of rising and falling gasps up ahead, she witnessed the sight of Parasyte casually tossing down a group of White House staff.
Though it looked rather grotesque, the White House staff who'd been flung in hadn't suffered any fatal injuries.
"Ayanokouji!"
Chabashira Sae instinctively took a step forward, about to call out to him.
But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka merely gave her a faint, indifferent glance.
There wasn't a shred of a student's deference in his eyes, nor any desire to communicate. He simply turned without a backward glance and vanished into the chaos outside.
Chabashira Sae raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the meaning behind his actions.
Could it be... just because she'd spent a while playing the Riddler before, he now considered even acknowledging her beneath him?
Before she could puzzle out an answer.
"Chabashira... look over there!"
Hoshimiya Chie tugged hard at her sleeve, lifting her chin to point toward the other side of the tunnel.
Chabashira Sae turned her head to look and saw an exquisite mechanical doll made entirely of metal walking slowly toward them, leading several young girls.
She didn't recognize the doll, but she did recognize the Advanced Nurturing High School uniforms worn by Kushida Kikyo, Hasebe Haruka, and Kamuro Masumi trailing behind it.
As the sheltering civilians around them panicked and gave the mechanical doll a wide berth, Chabashira Sae gritted her teeth and walked up to meet them, Hoshimiya Chie in tow.
"Chabashira-sensei? And Hoshimiya-sensei too?"
Kushida Kikyo blinked slightly at the sight of the two, clearly a little surprised.
Chabashira Sae nodded, her gaze shifting to the mechanical doll beside her.
Before she could even ask.
Oriana's voice already rang out: "Hello. I'm the mysterious merchant for this exam. We'll protect you."
"We?" Chabashira Sae paused. "Are there many mysterious merchants this time?"
If that were the case, it wouldn't be impossible to explain why the exam's difficulty had risen.
After all, if there were safe zones and supply points everywhere, survival rates would indeed increase dramatically.
But Kushida Kikyo quickly waved her hand, explaining with a wry smile:
"No, sensei. When Miss Liana says 'we,' she means herself and the magic puppet floating beside her... They're a single, unified being."
Oriana nodded and turned around with a light, graceful motion:
"You all, stay here."
"I'll go bring the other 'friends' who got separated. I can't let you die."
Hearing this, Chabashira Sae suddenly cut in:
"As this exam's mysterious merchant, do you know anything about that monster called Godzilla?"
Kushida Kikyo caught on too and hurriedly chimed in:
"Right! And while you're at it, show us this round's shop list!"
"If we run into classmates with enough points later, we could even help Miss Liana push some products, couldn't we?"
Oriana halted her steps.
A moment later, the metal magic puppet beside her spun in a quick circle, and a pale blue holographic screen instantly unfolded in midair.
[RX-104FF · Penelope]: A fifth-generation top-tier MS of the Earth Federation Forces. Height to the top of the head: 26 m. Total weight: 112 tons. Powered by a Minovsky nuclear reactor, capable of free supersonic flight within the atmosphere. Comes equipped with twin large MEGA particle cannons, a beam rifle, beam saber, multi-linked missiles, head Vulcan guns, and other powerful gear. Purchase includes a free operation manual.
—Price: 220,000 item points
[Phantom Masks]: A set of 9 masks. Worn together, they can summon a phantom legion and boost the wearer's physical attributes, but they also corrode the mind and amplify dark desires. Wear them too long and you'll fall completely to darkness, becoming a demon.
—Price: 15,000 item points
[Beta Box]: Its core is based on a Planck membrane—alien high-tech capable of enlarging ordinary creatures. It can blow a human up to a colossal, tens-of-meters-tall body, and shrink them back to normal size with a single press. It's the key item the Alien Mefilas used to turn all of humanity into an army of giants—his interstellar muscle—so he could rule the Earth.
—Price: 350,000 item points
[Temporary Compound No. 5]: After injection, an ordinary person gains superpowers for 24 hours, with all-around physical enhancement during that window. Whether you get strong or weak is pure luck—you might become Superman, or you might end up Hedgehog-Man. As a consumable, it won't persist; before use, it can be upgraded in the presiding god's space to the first-generation Compound No. 5.
—Price: 10,000 item points
[Iron Balloon]: A naturally top-tier physical body—almost immune to physical attacks, with an extremely high ceiling. Even with zero training, you could easily reach the combat power of a Warlord of the Sea, and with effort, becoming an Emperor wouldn't be hard either. The single most absurd pure-physique bloodline talent in One Piece, bar none.
—Price: 70,000 item points
[Marine Rokushiki (Six Powers)]: The techniques widely taught among the Marines in the world of One Piece—Tekkai, Shigan, Geppo, Rankyaku, Kami-e, and Soru. Master them and you'd qualify as an elite Vice Admiral. Skills can be upgraded in the presiding god's space by spending points.
—Price: 15,000 item points
Looking at this genuinely lavish product list—especially that towering 26-meter Gundam mecha and the human-enlarging [Beta Box]—
not just the two of them, but even the onlookers peeking from nearby went wide-eyed.
After waiting a short while to let everyone digest the information, Oriana finally spoke again:
"As for Godzilla... I actually don't know much."
"I only remember Papa once saying it's an ancient sea creature that mutated from being contaminated by nuclear waste dumped into the ocean—not some alien monster..."
Meanwhile, somewhere amid the street ruins of the Tokyo district.
"Beep—"
Horikita Suzune activated the Controller on her wrist, projecting Godzilla's detailed information into the center of the group.
[Target: Godzilla]
[Value: 150 points]
[Trait: Infinite Evolution. It is itself a living nuclear reactor—so long as its cell division never stops, its endurance is effectively limitless, and its defense is extremely strong. Ordinary missiles can't breach its defenses; instead, they only get their radiant energy absorbed. When attacked, it also absorbs information to evolve, adapting to its environment by growing new organs and extending new abilities.]
[Its signature move is the Atomic Breath—a scorching plasma beam fired from its mouth at tens of millions of degrees, instantly melting steel and vaporizing buildings. Its dorsal fins can unleash an all-directional beam sweep for wide-area destruction.]
[Note: And this is only Godzilla having just appeared on the surface, at the level of merely a few days' worth of evolution...]
[Fatal Weakness: It's purely a mobile artillery platform. Its enormous size limits its agility. Its survival depends on internal cell division and nuclear power supply—if you forcibly halt its cell division, its entire body's functions will grind to a halt. Deep within its chest is the living nuclear reactor; once it's pierced and destroyed, it will go berserk or even self-destruct.]
"Adaptive evolution..."
After reading the intel, Nanatsura Tsubasa stroked his chin thoughtfully and murmured, "In other words, the 150 points marked in the bestiary right now is nowhere near Godzilla's limit?"
Kouenji Rokusuke combed his golden hair and pursed his lips as he replied:
"That much is obvious."
"But judging from the Controller's hint, Godzilla can absorb energy... which means the military's conventional artillery bombardment would actually become nourishment that fuels its evolution?"
His eyes narrowed slightly. "If so, then we probably don't have time to slowly dance around with the local authorities and wait for them to face reality."
At this, Katsuragi Kohei sighed with some regret:
"Too bad Ryuen isn't here right now. Otherwise, whether it's hacking directly into the authorities' command system over the network, or restraining them from continuing to use missiles and other high-heat weapons... for someone with his gear, none of it would be difficult."
"Heh heh..."
Kouenji Rokusuke waved his hand dismissively:
"No matter the situation, an optimal solution always exists. But Katsuragi-boy, we can't always assemble the conditions to pull off that optimal solution, now can we?"
"In a critical moment like this, the only thing we can do is trust in our own perfect abilities!"
Amanatsu Kazuha smiled and agreed, "Indeed."
"No matter the moment, pinning all your hopes entirely on someone else is, in itself, a display of cowardice."
Yotsuya Miko swallowed and forced herself to join the tactical discussion:
"But... convincing the authorities to stop attacking in such a short time won't be easy either... And there seem to be a lot of Intruders in this exam. We might have to split into several teams to search for the scattered classmates?"
"Time is just too tight!"
At that moment, Shiraishi Asuka walked over from the ruins not far away, holding up a smartphone whose screen was somewhat cracked but still lit.
"I just checked the local news livestream. Godzilla's current route is heading straight for the nuclear reactor near Kasumigaseki."
Shiraishi Asuka held up the screen for everyone to see: "And before we arrived, the Self-Defense Forces had already dumped most of their stored ammunition on it... Now Godzilla is faintly glowing red all over, like a volcano about to erupt—it could go berserk at any moment."
Horikita Suzune knitted her brows.
Though she had [Crazy Diamond], she didn't think she could easily repair the buildings to exploit some bug.
"Looking at it this way, neither the Intruders who came with us nor the local Tokyo residents have time to flee now."
"They can only find a sturdy underground shelter nearby to hide in."
Kouenji Rokusuke let out a rare sigh.
Casting his gaze toward the distant smoke:
"You all discuss the rescue plan here."
"I'll go tend to my own business first. With a perfect existence like mine, I might just be able to stop those bureaucrats before they do something stupid and launch a second wave of attacks."
"Second wave..."
Katsuragi Kohei pondered for a moment and quickly grasped the meaning behind Kouenji's words.
If Godzilla really completed its next stage of evolution, catalyzed by the artillery fire, that would be a true dead end!
He nodded firmly. "In that case, I'll go with you."
Seeing this, Horikita Suzune also understood how precious time was at this moment.
After a brief moment of thought.
She decisively tossed the [Blank Card Box] to Katsuragi Kohei. "Take this."
"If you're going to use it as a bargaining chip, the power of the Mirror World will probably be far more useful than empty words."
Katsuragi Kohei caught the card box, gave Horikita a deep look, and raised his hand in acknowledgment. "Thank you. I'll use it properly."
Having seen off Kouenji and Katsuragi.
Hirata Yousuke stepped forward on his own initiative, taking on the responsibility of coordination:
"As for the rest of us, let's split into a few teams. First, let's gather up the Intruders scattered across this area."
"In any case, until Kouenji and the others sort things out with the authorities, there's nothing more we can really do."
Hirata glanced at Amanatsu Kazuha and the others:
"In that case, why don't we first save Chris-kun and Ichinose-san some trouble. After all, even though there's only one monster target this time, the intruding classmates are far too scattered."
"If we can move them to a safe zone ahead of time, it'll help them earn more points at settlement."
Horikita Suzune nodded and was about to assign search-and-rescue areas.
Only to find Amanatsu Kazuha extending a fair, pale palm toward her.
"Senpai, hand the Controller to me."
Amanatsu Kazuha pointed to the [Myriad Soaring Wings] on her back. "I've got strong aerial mobility. If I hold it and survey the whole picture, I can call out coordinates and coordinate for you all in real time."
Horikita Suzune deliberated for just a second. "That works."
Scene shift.
Inside the underground subway tunnel.
After casually tossing another few White House staff—ones he'd taken note of—into the underground shelter.
Ayanokouji raised his hand and glanced at the Y-GUN radar screen he'd redeemed from the Black Sphere shop.
He keenly caught several moving green dots.
Combining the timing of these dots' appearance with their clustering, there was a high probability they were the testers chosen for this round's "advance test."
However, in this dim and crowded shelter passage, he soon noticed that a few odd gazes seemed to be secretly watching him.
Several men in black suits, oddly out of place, were lurking at the edge of the crowd.
Their eyes swept back and forth from time to time between him and those few White House staff.
Considering that he'd earlier used his Parasyte ability without any concealment to save time, drawing attention wasn't surprising.
But he remained on guard nonetheless.
If these people dared make the slightest move to interfere with his actions, he wouldn't mind starting a massacre right here.
After all, in a city destined to be destroyed by the monster, a few deaths wouldn't even make a ripple.
Just as Ayanokouji was on his guard, Kushida Kikyo, using the Y-GUN's radar, also spotted Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's figure.
"Ayanokouji-kun!"
Kushida Kikyo went up to him, a little surprised, but quickly adjusted her mindset and put on her little-angel smile:
"I didn't expect you to be here too. Are things going smoothly on your end?"
Before she could continue with the small talk and ingratiating chatter, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka cut her off expressionlessly:
"What are the victory conditions for this test?"
Kushida Kikyo choked on the question, her smile stiffening slightly, and could only shake her head helplessly as she explained:
"That... I'm actually not too sure myself."
"I got dragged in by accident as an Intruder too, so I didn't receive the Black Sphere's complete test rules. But—"
"The mechanical lady who was just with me is this round's mysterious merchant. Once she gets the other classmates settled and comes back, Ayanokouji, if there's any item you want to buy, you can go find her."
At this, Ayanokouji raised an eyebrow slightly.
Though he hadn't gotten the victory conditions from Kushida, learning the whereabouts of the mysterious merchant in advance could barely count as a decent consolation.
After all, he still held quite a few points accumulated earlier. If he could seize this chance to refresh his combat power for the coming battle with Godzilla, his survival rate would undoubtedly rise considerably.
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Ayanokouji halted his advance.
Since the mysterious merchant would be returning here, he naturally had no reason to leave and go risk himself outside.
But, just as he was silently calculating what trump cards his points could buy...
one of those suited men who'd been watching him from the shadows—the leader—suddenly broke away from his companions and strode quickly closer.
Stopping about five meters from Ayanokouji, the man sensed the cold glint in Ayanokouji's eyes, hurriedly halted his steps, raised both hands to show he was unarmed, and explained urgently:
"I'm a section officer from the Shimokitazawa Police Station, currently in charge of security for this air-defense facility."
"I just received orders from above, telling me to specifically come warn you otherworldly visitors... you'd best not go running around outside anymore."
The suited man swallowed:
"Because conventional firepower has failed."
"Support from the Beautiful Country... is about to arrive."
"For your safety, to avoid any accidents out there... please, by all means, stay underground!"
"Support?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow and looked up, deep in thought.
____
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