"Hmph, since when do people like you get to meddle in matters of the Vidyadhara clan? Leave the Scalegorge Waterscape at once!"
If Jing Yuan weren't standing nearby, he would have been even more arrogant.
"Hmm? What are you laughing at?"
The Preceptor noticed the grey-haired girl nearby seemed to be laughing and immediately turned to question her.
The next second...
-----------------------------
"Bang!"
A gust of wind blew past, and everyone's vision went dark for a moment.
A large black thing flew by, zoomed off with a whoosh, and crashed through a wall with a bang, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Only then did they realize—it was Godzilla's tail.
"Rooaar~"
Slowly pulling back his tail, Godzilla opened his eyes and let out a low growl of annoyance.
Jing Yuan glanced at the moaning Preceptor to confirm he wasn't dead, then quickly stepped up to Godzilla and whispered,
"Thanks, brother. He's been bothering me for days. This shuts him up nicely. I'll send over that number later."
He held up two fingers—since they already owed Godzilla, might as well owe a bit more, as long as it was before the Artisanship Commission caught on.
Godzilla flicked his tail in satisfaction.
Seeing the response, Jing Yuan cleared his throat and resumed his commanding tone.
"Take the Preceptor to the Alchemy Commission for treatment. Everything that happened today was an accident—do not spread word of it."
"Yes, sir!"
Clearly, even if the Preceptor had died, the Cloud Knights considered the general's orders far more important.
They responded first, then slowly dragged the unconscious Preceptor away toward the Alchemy Commission.
"So cool!!" Bailu's eyes sparkled as she stared at Godzilla's tail.
The thick, long tail, maintained by Tingyun, gleamed with a bright sheen. Strong muscles rippled beneath the surface, and its casual swaying showcased its flexibility and power.
From any angle, that tail was absolutely stunning!
In Bailu's eyes, it was the coolest thing ever!
To think it sent the Preceptor flying with a single swing—that was something she'd dreamed of doing!
She was no longer afraid of Godzilla at all.
So what if he was big and intimidating?
That was what made him awesome!
"Godzilla—mm, that's what they're calling you, right? Can you teach me how to train my tail? I want a tail that strong too!"
The adorable healer girl looked up at Godzilla with sparkling eyes, full of hope for the future and a burning desire to send the Preceptor flying herself.
"I knew it! Anyone with a tail would totally worship Godzilla's tail. The way he smacked that guy just now was so cool. Sigh, if only I had a pretty tail too..."
March 7th giggled, then quickly got lost in her own words.
Looking at her empty back, her lips pouted slightly.
She wanted a majestic tail too.
First Awakening: Bailu (Godzilla) vs. the Preceptor.
Bailu wins.
...
"Well, this is truly unexpected. Jing Yuan, did you anticipate such an outcome?"
Fu Xuan sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration.
When she looked up, she saw Jing Yuan, unfazed, studying his chessboard.
"Outcome? Heh... Let's not even talk about whether that Preceptor dares bring trouble to the Vidyadhara by provoking an enemy at the Emanator level. It's uncertain if he even has the heart to try anymore."
Thinking about the Preceptor being forcibly restrained on a hospital bed, Jing Yuan couldn't help but show a pleased expression.
Upon seeing this, Fu Xuan also shook her head.
Well, she had never been fond of those annoying Preceptor's anyway.
But she was more concerned about another matter.
"Has that high elder gained Godzilla's recognition?"
Fu Xuan cared more about this matter—if Bailu really gained Godzilla's approval, then perhaps the situation in Luofu might once again change because of it.
"From the current situation, no—Godzilla was just disturbed by the Preceptor."
Jing Yuan didn't mind. Bailu, who had been under supervision since birth, didn't need to be worried about in certain respects.
Besides, most of Bailu's friends were Xianzhou and Foxians, and this generation's High Elder had maintained good relations with both clans as usual.
Seeing that Jing Yuan wasn't worried, Fu Xuan nodded slightly.
Though she disliked Jing Yuan's lazy attitude toward work, she had to admit he always handled major matters well.
Hmph, if he keeps talking like that, he'll end up needing medical attention again as a general.
"Oh right, General, have you seen Qingque?" Fu Xuan asked.
"I did—she ran into Mr. Welt and his group who were lacking a guide halfway through. She asked me to tell you."
Since he had tricked Qingque last time, Jing Yuan didn't mind doing her this small favor.
Give and take—that's the way things should be.
After all, the beautiful districts still need some decent framing.
...
The Luofu Xianzhou was peaceful.
At the same time, the Herta Space Station was flashing with blinding red light, causing unease.
Staff were frightened, anxious, and looked around the station in confusion, unsure of what had happened.
"Miss Asta, fall back, it's dangerous in this area!"
...
Alan was watching all directions warily.
"What on earth is going on? Why did the space station suddenly sound the crisis alarm? There's no sign of enemies."
Asta looked around in panic, with Peppy trembling at her feet.
Its biological instincts told it that something very big had emerged.
...
"Logic: a problem has occurred inside the space station."
Under the flashing red light, Screwllum spoke calmly.
"I know that without you saying it. The monitoring system hasn't detected anything, and there are no signs of external attack either. Inside the station—ah, something's underneath."
Finally discovering the source of the disturbance, Herta let out a sound of realization.
This location looked familiar.
"This place... looks a lot like where Ruan Mei conducted her experiments before?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. Herta seemed to remember something—she recalled that the permissions she gave Ruan Mei were exactly for this place.
"Let's go see what Ruan Mei is up to now."
...
Taking the elevator to the bottom of the space station.
Herta remembered that Ruan Mei had used simulated universe data here to replicate and create the former Emanator of Propagation, the Starcrusher Swarm King: Skaracabaz.
According to records, the clone of Skaracabaz only existed for 56 seconds.
And during those 56 seconds, this clone demonstrated the power of a flawed Emanator of Propagation, ultimately self-destructing when time was up.
Herta had no doubt that this new commotion was yet another dangerous experiment by Ruan Mei below.
"Meow! Meow!"
As they exited the elevator, a swarm of cake and pastry-based lifeforms leapt at them and darted into the elevator behind them.
Two little cuties even sneaked in with them.
"Hah, these little guys are pretty smart—knew to run this way."
Praising Ruan Mei- creation's intelligence, Herta and Screwllum proceeded into the tunnel.
Approaching a glass window, the two saw...
A Godzilla—giant and right in front of their eyes!
Massive body, thick and flexible tail, bulging muscles, and that signature tail fin—everything indicated that this was Godzilla!
"This is…"
The sudden shock made Herta's eyes widen, but…
"Hypothesis: this is not the Godzilla we've seen before."
Screwllum wasn't fooled by the Godzilla in front of them, and Herta also felt the one before her didn't quite match the one she knew.
"The tail isn't quite right, not tall enough—that big guy was several hundred meters tall when I left. The bottom of the space station can't even hold him. Also, the dorsal and tail fins are in the wrong positions."
As someone who had begged Godzilla for cells and body data, Herta remembered every detail of the Godzilla from before.
The Godzilla she knew absolutely didn't look like this!
"Indeed, this is just a failed experiment—a failed result."
A soft voice broke the tension.
Ruan Mei approached gracefully, calmly accepting the gazes of her two colleagues.
"This has many similarities with what I saw in the Simulated Universe, but in the end, it's not the same."
Her right hand resting against the glass, Ruan Mei gazed calmly at the Godzilla inside and spoke softly.
"You really pulled something big on me without a word, huh." Herta glared at her.
"It was just an attempt at life," Ruan Mei shook her head slightly at Herta's words.
"Yeah, yeah, this isn't the time to argue about that. How are we going to deal with that thing inside? Honestly, I've been wanting to smack the original for a while now."