Chapter 147: Supersonic Flight

Lu Chen had previously reviewed the relevant data on his communicator.

Months ago, a bizarre earthquake struck the coast of the United States of Merigan. Shortly after, a ferocious beast from another dimension suddenly emerged in the seismic zone and began advancing step by step toward the city of Osako. This creature stood over twenty meters tall, its hide possessing such immense defensive capabilities that it could practically ignore physical attacks. Estimates placed its strength at the late stage of Tier 4.

In an attempt to prevent the creature from entering Osako, the United States of Merigan launched missile strikes, but they proved largely ineffective. Left with no other choice, they evacuated the citizens of Osako and deployed humanity’s ultimate weapon—a nuclear bomb. The beast was finally destroyed, and based on its characteristics, it was named "Kaiju," a phonetic transliteration of the term.

However, the situation was not as simple as humanity had hoped. Latest reports indicated that this creature differed significantly from the native beasts of the Blue Star. Its blood was blue, highly toxic, and radioactive, causing severe environmental contamination. Once vaporized by high temperatures in the air, the toxins were easily inhaled by humans and animals, triggering coughing, pulmonary edema, and respiratory diseases. Due to the destruction caused by the Kaiju’s blood and the lingering nuclear radiation, the city of Osako was no longer habitable, and all survivors had been evacuated.

Scientists later discovered that the best way to deal with a Kaiju was through physical attacks that caused it to die from "internal bleeding," thereby preventing its toxic blood from polluting the surrounding atmosphere.

The current Kaiju incursion was occurring on the coast of the Dragon Port City in the Xia Kingdom, a densely populated and highly prosperous area. Moreover, the scale was larger, consisting of a small pack of these beasts. The leader, a Kaiju King, possessed strength exceeding Tier 5. Having learned from the lessons of the United States of Merigan, the crisis management team was unwilling to use humanity’s most powerful weapons unless absolutely necessary. That was why Dong Mingjun had urgently sought out Lu Chen, offering five thousand spirit stones as payment.

"Ten thousand," Lu Chen countered bluntly.

He did not believe that humanity lacked other ways to deal with these beasts from another dimension. They simply wanted to minimize losses, assess his true strength, and perhaps deepen their cooperative relationship.

"Deal," Dong Mingjun agreed, nodding without a moment's hesitation. It seemed the humans behind him had already reached a consensus.

Ten thousand Tier 1 spirit stones would provide over four million energy points. For Lu Chen, this was a significant gain, well worth his full effort. Initially, he had planned to return to the waterfall dimension soon to check on Boss Crocodile and the others. After all, the lizard-monster tribe was still there, and if they launched an attack, the crocodile tribe would struggle to cope. However, he didn't need to be overly worried; he had already considered this and specifically ordered Black Spot to closely monitor the area for several hundred kilometers. Should anything go wrong, he had instructed the crocodiles to evacuate to the Blue Star world.

The Madura primeval jungle was over two thousand kilometers away from Dragon Port City. With the situation urgent, Lu Chen did not delay. After reaching the agreement with Dong Mingjun, he summoned the swamp black mud stored in his inner space, forming a giant, teardrop-shaped skiff, and leaped into the sky.

As Lu Chen’s understanding of the "Swamp of the Earth" energy laws deepened, the black mud in his inner space was continuously tempered by his consciousness. Their connection had grown so tight that it moved as easily as his own limbs. It could be large or small, soft or hard, rigid or flexible—infinitely versatile and profoundly mysterious. In a sense, the swamp mud had become a rudimentary magical artifact, an extension of his own body.

Lu Chen had initially considered styling the mud like a bird, a tribute to the explosion artist Deidara, but he abandoned the idea after several failed attempts. While the design looked cool, it was slow and impractical for high-altitude assaults. After testing various shapes to determine their drag coefficients, he found that the teardrop shape minimized air resistance and maximized speed. It could reach an average speed of Mach 1, with short bursts exceeding Mach 2. This was why he had been confident enough to challenge the mercenaries of the United States of Merigan; his trump card was far stronger than they had imagined. Before he could even unleash his full power, they had been completely wiped out.

Injecting energy into the teardrop skiff, it turned into a streak of light and sped into the distance. It wasn't until it had vanished completely that the boom of a sonic boom reached the air behind it. Lu Chen felt no turbulence inside; the ride was incredibly smooth. His only concern was whether the skiff would disintegrate due to heat generated by air friction during a sustained flight at Mach 1. He had only tested it for short distances before, never for a long-range sprint. However, facts proved once again that the swamp mud, infused with energy laws, was far tougher than he imagined, completely unaffected by the gale and heat.

"The Dragon King has truly been hiding its strength—to think it can fly at the speed of sound... that black, mud-like object must be its artifact," a team member exclaimed while watching the drone footage. It was hard to imagine that a creature's physical body could withstand supersonic flight. If this thing wanted to escape, even humanity’s nuclear weapons might not be able to harm it.

Dong Mingjun looked pleased. "The stronger the Dragon King is, the better it is for us right now. I hope we can wipe out this pack of beasts today with minimal losses." As for whether the creature would turn against humanity in the future, that was a problem for later; for now, they just needed to get through this crisis.

Just then, a team member shouted, "Captain, the Kaiju pack is beginning to land!"

Two hours later, Lu Chen arrived at the coastal waters on the outskirts of Dragon Port City. Even from seven or eight miles away, he could feel a massive, tyrannical aura surging toward the sky.

"ROAR!" The terrifying bellows echoed incessantly.

He focused his gaze on the distance and saw a massive, ugly figure appearing on the beach. Despite having received detailed information from Dong Mingjun, Lu Chen was still shocked upon seeing the Kaiju King for the first time. The creature was over twenty meters tall and weighed at least fifty tons. Its body was covered in thick, dark, scaly armor marked with blue veins; it had four eyes, a stout horn on its head, and a long, trailing tail. The entire creature looked bizarre, hideous, and terrifying—as if it had been crudely stitched together.

Lu Chen was currently over eighteen meters long and weighed over twenty tons. He had thought himself massive, but compared to this creature, he felt like a child who had yet to grow up.