After all, hadn't Zordsyss developed the "Spear of Longinus" — a new-element warhead that could perfectly replace nuclear warheads?
No radiation, and even greater destructive power than nuclear weapons.
The epicenter of the blast could generate an ultra-high temperature of five billion degrees Celsius, with an absolute annihilation zone lasting for ten full minutes.
Zordsyss studied the monster that had emerged. It reminded him strongly of a certain movie he'd seen.
He'd watched the Pacific Rim series, or at least part of it. The first film had been a genuine labor of love; the sequel was pure commercial fluff.
Aside from the nostalgia kick tokusatsu fans got from seeing a monster make landfall in Japan, the sequel's plot, to be honest, brought nothing new to the table. So much so that neither film had left much of an impression on Zod. Well — except for that bizarre monster name: Kaiju.
The universe is vast, and strange alien civilizations are undoubtedly numerous. Among them, there are plenty that lean heavily into specialized fields.
The Chitauri from before could be considered a civilization with considerable achievements in the physical sciences. The monsters from Pacific Rim, on the other hand, leaned into biotechnology. Alien invasions always come with all sorts of reasons — whether it's resource scarcity or simple overblown ambition, such incidents crop up endlessly.
And the premise of Pacific Rim was more or less the story of aliens who excelled at using biotechnology to breed colossal monsters invading Earth, deploying these giant creatures as combat units.
To be honest, they were far stronger than the semi-mechanical warriors the Chitauri had engineered through physical technology. Their destructive power and the threat they posed were also greater. If they were invading a less advanced civilization, even cannon-fodder combat units could produce unexpected results — and the cost of manufacturing these monsters was relatively low.
To end a monster invasion, there were two methods: destroy the space wormhole the monsters pass through, or kill the beings directing the monsters' operations from the rear — the so-called Precursors. Otherwise, even if you blasted the monster that made landfall, an even stronger one would arrive later.
Out on the ocean, however, an already grim situation was unfolding. The submarines deployed by the Navy were destroyed the instant the monster appeared, and two cruisers that followed met the same fate.
It might be a little embarrassing to admit, but neither the ships' torpedoes nor the missiles fired by Quinjets could penetrate the monster's hide. Shells that would be nothing short of apocalyptic to Earth's creatures merely left scorch marks on the monster's surface.
"How far along is the energy weapons research?"
"We do have a semi-finished prototype, but it hasn't been debugged yet. Its actual lethality is unknown. But does the monster really have to make landfall? Judging by the projected path of that scythe-headed monster, it doesn't seem to intend to land on the Hawaiian Islands. Or rather, according to its trajectory, the coastal city it will make landfall at is near our country's border."
"Those are the Director's orders. Scans have detected that the monster's blood contains toxins. If we kill it at sea, it could cause oceanic contamination."
Fury frowned when he heard this. Oceanic contamination?
"Where are those Atlanteans? And the people of Wakanda — have them provide weapons to eliminate this monster!"
"The Atlantean civilization has already dispatched their military, though they've admitted they possess no large-scale weapons."
"Wakanda also lacks energy weapons capable of inflicting sufficient damage."
A SWORD researcher sat beside Fury, fingers flying across the keyboard.
"The only way to minimize losses is to kill the monster the moment it makes landfall. Otherwise, the damage will be incalculable!"
"Even large-caliber shells can't harm the monster. Expecting a half-finished energy weapon to blast it to pieces the instant it sets foot on shore is no easy task."
Wearing an irritated expression, Dr. Banner — who had once again brought nothing with him but a toothbrush — gripped a steel railing and crushed it flat with ease.
"But why call me in for this kind of monster? You want me to give it a pedicure?"
"Let's be clear: I'm a researcher, not a mindless brute." Dr. Banner cracked his knuckles.
"Wouldn't Mr. Stark's suits be a better fit than me?"
Even though the Green Hulk was now quite obedient — he wouldn't emerge recklessly even if Banner's heart rate spiked — Dr. Banner had always considered himself a scientist. Unless it was a critical moment, he had no desire to get involved in any fighting.
With an extremely grim expression, Director Fury watched the monster that was about to bring disaster through the satellite feed and pointed at several cities on the map before him.
"Stark is currently in the coastal cities, calling for civilian evacuation and clearing out a battleground large enough to engage the monster."
"Dr. Banner, the safety of Earth has been placed in our hands."
"Regrettably, as the commanding officer, you've overlooked something."
The display on the screen shifted.
"The monsters that appeared — there are two of them. The scythe-headed one is heading for a coastal city in the United States. The one that looks like an axe... its preliminary destination has been determined to be Japan."
"Two of them?"
Fury was instantly stunned. One had already seemed absurd, leaving them completely helpless — and now there were actually two?
Were they really going to have to use the Spear of Longinus?
The new Helicarriers had no weapons suited for engaging a giant target like this either.
One could say the monsters' appearance was a direct challenge to the entirety of human weaponry. Aside from nuclear warheads and the new-element warhead, humanity found itself utterly powerless against these colossal creatures.
"Hill, contact Stark. It's time for his performance to begin!"
Fury could only hope that Stark, one of the known super-geniuses of mankind, would have a solution — say... uh, an anti-monster armor?
Tony Stark very much wished he could rummage through his suit vault and find an anti-monster armor he might have been producing.
But obviously, he had never envisioned a scenario like this, which left him feeling somewhat at a loss for where to begin.
"That one-eyed bastard really knows how to dump problems on people."
Tony Stark grumbled. At least the civilian evacuation didn't require much of his attention — after the Dragon-level alert sounded, the citizens had run faster than anyone.
Before he could finish speaking, the calm sea surface suddenly erupted into towering waves. A massive black silhouette leaped into the air, its shadow under the sun blanketing the entire beach. An abnormally foul stench spread rapidly in all directions.
"God, you reek. You don't bathe, big guy?"
Stark quipped. Then the symbiote suit on his body rapidly accumulated liquid metal, finally transforming into a five-meter-tall Hulkbuster armor.
This was already his limit.
"Jarvis, remind me to prepare more liquid metal."
Stark said calmly.
Then, without hesitation, he planted himself directly in the monster's path.
/-\
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