Chapter 103: Resolve and Discord (Seeking First Subscription!)

On the outskirts of Tokyo, nestled in a small mountain near Narita Airport.

Abundant air, water, and electricity supplied a space encased entirely in concrete within the mountain.

The reserves of resources were prepared to the highest standards and replaced every two years.

The quantity was sufficient to support fifty people for twenty years in complete isolation from the outside world, and with the backup recycling system activated, that time could be extended by half again.

The mountain itself, reinforced by a ten-meter-thick concrete shell, could even withstand a direct strike from a medium-yield nuclear weapon.

No one would have imagined that the Nihon Bank’s Katagami family would purchase an entire mountain in such prime real estate and hollow it out as a shelter.

It wasn’t a question of the Katagami family’s wealth, but rather the purpose behind it... it seemed so retro, like something from the 1970s.

Yet now, it was already 2016.

At this moment, inside a spacious, bright conference room that hardly felt like it was underground, the conversation between Professor Serizawa and Kayoko within the Nihon government was fully displayed before the gaunt old man.

Kagami Shirato sat beside him.

“Old man, you’re considered one of the world’s top financial magnates—how was it that there was never even a whisper of these things before?”

Though he had spent two days adjusting his mindset in the shelter, the young man’s suppressed anger was still audible in his tone.

Whether it was the Katagami family, Hisayasu Takemoto, or even Saeko, who had been close to him, they all thought this was just the natural reaction of a young man used to smooth sailing suddenly facing setbacks.

After all, before Godzilla appeared, Kagami Shirato had the wealth and power to treat the world’s fiercest, most powerful creatures as mere pets.

He stood at the pinnacle of the Earth’s food chain.

But now, there was a being as divine as it was demonic—a dark cloud overshadowing the entire planet’s ecosystem!

Falling from the top of the food chain was naturally a bitter pill to swallow.

Yet only Shirato truly understood.

This anger and unwillingness stemmed from the moment he saw those three words: “Godzilla.” That’s when he grasped the nature of his doom.

Though he had long suspected that this world was somewhat abnormal, he never imagined it would be the famed Godzilla!

Even if he hadn’t been particularly interested in films in his previous life, he knew the name of the world’s most famous monster.

The avatar of destruction—Godzilla!

He hadn’t watched related shows in his past life, but he’d heard that unlike the special effects dramas, the Godzilla universe was essentially a brutal internal battle among monsters.

So the disaster that would drag the entire world into hell was not hard to foresee.

All that was left was to side with the monsters!

But... what good would that do?

Having lived among humans in this world for eight years, and in recent years gaining access to the upper echelons of society, Shirato knew very well:

Human strength, technology, military power...

Were utterly useless against a living nuclear power plant like Godzilla!

Not to mention the even stronger monsters that were certain to emerge later!

The present time was modern day, and even someone unfamiliar with “the plot” should understand.

Setting the timeline close to the present helps the audience’s immersion. It is the preferred approach for storytelling.

So the disaster might well be imminent—who knew if the next time Godzilla landed, it would evolve into an invincible form that would sweep all before it?

Even if Shirato possessed the Dragon Blood Secret Technique capable of reaching divine and demonic levels, without dedicating a decade or more, the Eastern power system would be impossible to fully develop!

Now that he knew the source of his doom, it was essentially useless!

These discouraging thoughts ran through his mind.

But his mind refused to give up...

Eight years of relentless, agonizing training had steeled Shirato’s resolve so deeply that “giving up” was not even an option for him.

Even in the most pessimistic scenario—when the entire planet was destroyed by monsters—rather than surrendering to despair, Shirato believed he would leave some mark on those creatures, even with just his flesh and blood!

—Wait.

Flesh. Blood. Body?

If it was the Dragon Blood Secret Technique... wasn’t there a way to accelerate the process?

The boy’s eyes first flickered with joy, then hardened with unyielding determination and persistence.

A single finger unconsciously traced the elongated, peculiar body of Godzilla in the data image.

...

The gaunt old man paid no heed to the boy’s tone.

“The political families of Nihon look down on me, a self-made man from the mud, so it’s normal they kept these top secrets from me. But as you see, ha ha—”

The old man smiled indifferently, shaking a thick stack of intelligence in his hand.

“The secret can’t be hidden any longer. They’re already eager to ask me for a good price.”

“So it seems the plan to freeze Godzilla using a targeted coolant won’t be carried out? The Cabinet probably won’t dare risk fighting two Godzillas, especially on home soil.”

Katagami Shirato looked at the boy with slight surprise.

The tone, now resolute and decided, was completely different from the anger and frustration before.

He had adjusted so quickly—this kind of temperament... should one say ‘youth is to be feared’?

After a moment’s inner stirring, the gaunt old man shook his head.

“No, the plan will go forward.”

“Professor Serizawa’s warnings are indeed terrifying, but he forgot one thing: the fact that the blueprints made it into Kayoko’s hands and were brought to Nihon itself reveals something.”

“Looks like the President agreed,” Shirato recalled the blonde-haired president who had left early at the death race.

His flamboyant, showy style suited a businessman, but could he truly make a good president?

That was doubtful.

“Not just the President. Did you know? Kayoko’s father, Patterson, besides being pro-Japan, is also the current President’s party whip?”

The old man raised an apparently unrelated point.

“The Elephant Party? Conservative and tough on foreign affairs, surely not...!”

“Yes, exactly the ‘no way’,” the old man laughed but his eyes chilled. “After I decrypted the monster world, our friends in the United States gave me some info. Patterson also carries the label ‘Anti-Monster Faction’!”

“...Seems there was no choice from the start. Nihon is to be the testing ground for humanity’s battle against monsters.”

“The weak never have a choice,” Katagami Shirato raised his eyebrows.

This news affected Shirato’s mood.

Though he already felt little sense of belonging in this country.

Until now, though it was on his list of targets, he had never actually stepped into the political arena.

He could never have imagined that mere words or actions by politicians could turn the home of tens, even hundreds of millions, into a battleground against monsters—an apocalyptic disaster zone.

No wonder those high-ranking officials showed no fear of monsters.

After all, if you measured by the number of human lives taken, they were far more terrifying than any monster.