Chapter 159: The Aftermath of the World
A black figure leapt down from high above, its sharp and indomitable presence resembling a blood-stained spear.
"Boom—"
The sonic boom and shockwave halted a little over ten meters away from Tokita Ohma.
Dressed in a black martial arts uniform, Gensai Kuroki, his hair thick and untamed, stepped out from the dust of the buildings kicked up by the shockwave.
He scanned his surroundings, his gaze lingering for a moment on Julius's corpse—which was overwhelmingly massive, far exceeding the average monster—before shifting to the slightly fatigued Tokita Ohma.
That sensation akin to a high fever in ordinary people, when scaled up proportionally for these powerhouses, was hardly a comfortable feeling.
With his customary expressionless face, Gensai walked over to the young man.
"Even just looking at the remnants of the battlefield, the aura here is unbearable. Ohma, are you injured?"
His words carried an unexpected warmth.
"No, not really injured. Just exhausted too much, need to rest."
Ohma first motioned toward the corpse with his chin, then grimaced as he moved his stiff joints.
Under the might of the behemoths, one either died or healed rapidly.
Unless energy reserves were depleted, there was no such thing as an "injury" left to speak of.
Gensai pulled Ohma up, supporting him as they left the devastated battlefield.
"Hey, I'm not so weak that I can't carry a mere few hundred kilograms of body weight."
Ignoring the youth's complaint, Kuroki stubbornly refused to let go.
After walking a short distance, he pressed his lips together and spoke.
"This old man was consumed by the anger of my friend's corpse being desecrated, and failed to offer any help during you all's fierce battle on the ground... I am deeply sorry."
Ohma was speechless.
This man had walked the path of martial arts alone for so long that even expressing his own emotions felt somewhat rigid.
"Don't worry too much about it, Kuroki. The pace of the battle was too fast; from the moment your 'friend' burst into the room until now, not even half an hour has passed."
Simple words were never enough to sway this rigid and stubborn man.
He merely nodded heavily, his expression remaining tight.
Helpless, Ohma was completely unaccustomed to this self-flagellating atmosphere.
Especially when the subject was an old friend he had known from the tournament arena.
He could only change the subject, speaking in a relaxed tone.
"Kuroki, by the way, I now know what the third stage of the Behemoth Power looks like..."
~~~~~~~~
The disaster-stricken land of Japan once again drew intense focus from the international community.
This sudden catastrophe claimed the lives of at least three hundred thousand people within the span of half an hour.
Collapsing buildings, sonic booms and shockwaves, exploding natural gas pipelines...
With no early warning, no possibility of evacuation, enemies that were small yet scattered, and movement speeds generally exceeding the speed of sound...
Combining all these factors, the casualties from this incident far surpassed the absurdity of the previous occasion when two Godzillas made landfall.
The efficiency of humans killing one another was far from being matched by mere monsters.
Aside from the numbing statistics of the casualty toll:
Land prices in Tokyo instantly plummeted past rock bottom, and the financial markets of the entire island nation suffered a hemorrhage-like impact.
The aftershocks rippled through the global financial system.
Worldwide, the subsequent number of people jumping from rooftops was on par with the toll of those who died at the monsters' hands in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, problems triggered by the financial shock—such as government collapses, currency devaluation, and famine—continued to roll in one after another.
Beyond all that, what concerned the public even more was the appearance of these monsters.
——They had clearly been turned from human beings!
Conspiracy theories ran rampant overnight.
This was blatantly a human experiment gone out of control!
It was the classic trope played out in Hollywood blockbusters for decades.
Following the fear of monsters, the people of the world once again felt a deep terror toward out-of-control authorities.
Protests erupted everywhere, demanding that their respective governments conduct thorough investigations and hold general elections.
Seeing a single cockroach meant there was a whole nest hidden in the house.
Who knew how many experimental subjects these politicians had actually created?
Who knew if there were several monsters slumbering right beneath the ground of the city they walked on?
No one in the cities could sleep peacefully under such circumstances.
Even Monarch, the organization that should have shouldered the blame, was helpless this time.
How long had it even been since they came into the public eye? Shifting the blame onto them wouldn't fool anyone.
However, the global economy could not remain depressed indefinitely.
Research on the interaction between Titan genomes and human bodies had to continue.
The big bosses were waiting to extend their lifespans!
Thus, the conventional method of diverting public attention was put on the agenda.
On the day of the Tokyo disaster, aside from those horrifying monsters, weren't there heroes on the human side as well?
The propaganda machine was running at full throttle.
There was no intention whatsoever of asking for the opinions of Doppo Orochi, Quan Zhixin, or the others.
Biographies, promotional photos, and other materials were instantly spread everywhere.
It was evident that they intended to gather the strength of the entire world to manufacture a few heroes first, stabilize public sentiment, and preserve production.
Due to the public's aversion to human experiments, the origin of the enhanced individuals' power was uniformly changed to "natural mutation caused by the radiation when Godzilla made landfall."
This trick proved effective time and time again.
The hero complex was a cultural symbol deeply buried within human genes.
Regardless of skin color or nationality, everyone had a few household-name heroes they could look up to.
Moreover, the formidable personal strength of the enhanced individuals was continuously broadcast across television media, hitting right at the core pain point of people in the modern world.
——A sense of security.
Consequently, following the overwhelming propaganda, some people even rushed to purchase and consume daily doses of soil samples from Tokyo that had been trampled on by Godzilla when it came ashore.
The global panic wave was successfully suppressed.
~~~~~~~~
"So, this is the opinion of His Excellency the Sea Emperor? The old man is quite fashionable."
Holding a piece of paper, Tokita Ohma spoke to Quan Zhixin beside him.
Most enhanced individuals originated from the martial arts world, and the undisputed pinnacle of achievement in that world was none of other than Kaku Kaioh.
To coordinate with the propaganda and satisfy the public's desire to understand the power of the enhanced individuals, Kaku Kaioh, far away in the Republic, had devised a layered classification system for Behemoth Power.
Current Behemoth Power manifested across three stages: "Partial Bestialization," "Transcendent Bestialization," and "Energy Organ Development."
The fourth stage, by extrapolation, should be "Complete Energy Organ Development," characterized by the ability to emit attacks identical to those of the behemoths.
Godzilla's atomic breath, or the [Fire Demon] inhabiting the volcano—Rodan's uranium ray.
Thus, these four stages were categorized into 0 to 400,000 horsepower. Every 100,000 horsepower corresponded to a stage.
"Horsepower" was mostly used for machinery, matching the sci-fi origins of the enhanced individuals, and also carried a strong sense of modern flair.
The use of "Ten Thousand" was meant to highlight might and add more momentum.
Originally, according to suggestions from Hanafusa Hideki and others, based on the degree of physical development approaching the Titans, it would have been better to display power in percentages.
However, capping the scale at a 100% value would make it seem as though the heroes possessed a hard limit.
It wasn't suitable for publicity and was ruthlessly rejected.
Presumably, before long, children playing on the streets would be shouting at each other: "Behemoth Power, 400,000 horsepower!"
Quan Zhixin smiled and stood up, prompting Ohma to nod and put down the paper in his hand.
The essence of power would not change or disappear because of a mere title.
This system sounded pleasant enough, so they might as well use it.
The two of them were currently located at the summit of the small hill where the original source shelter had been.
This place had now become Tokita Ohma's regular residence.
Several hundred meters away at the foot of the hill, a dense crowd of people was surging and shouting, yet they were firmly blocked by the personnel of the Metropolitan Police Department.
"Mr. Ohma! Look over here, look over here!"
"Mr. Quan! Ah!! Did he just stand up?! He's looking at me!"
Using the power of the entire world to create stars produced an effect that could make anyone in the entertainment industry clutch their wildly beating hearts and swallow blood pressure medication.
Not to mention that individuals like Tokita Ohma and Quan Zhixin already possessed rather exceptional physical appearances; their global fan base could truly be described as a roaring tsunami.
In the early stages of the propaganda, Ohma had indeed found this feeling of being adored somewhat interesting.
However, he quickly grew tired of the fanaticism of fandom culture.
Using his status as a "hero," he mobilized the Metropolitan Police Department to restrict his fans to an area where they could no longer disturb him.
After all, unlike entertainment industry figures whose livelihoods depended on fans, everything he possessed came from his own genuine and absolute strength.