Volume One, Chapter 71: The Prophet

Torekia curled his lips, an enigmatic smile appearing on his face. He had been considering whether he could let Gatanjeh rampage unchecked to observe the movements of the girl within its body. The appearance of Zero was indeed unexpected. Now, it was up to that mysterious girl to see how she would respond.

A deafening roar erupted, and countless Zogas dove down like suicide squads, crashing fiercely into the defense barrier. Crack—relying on their overwhelming numbers, just the first wave already opened a fissure in the barrier. The second wave was imminent. Diga hurriedly stopped outputting light, channeling all his energy into maintaining the barrier.

At that moment, Zero had fully gathered the energy of the first star. The power unleashed by the Ultimate Bow radiated outward in waves; from afar, the immense arrow seemed to become the core of the entire world, bearing all of humanity’s hopes.

“We have to succeed!” That was Hui’s inner voice, shared by everyone present. Diga glanced sideways, catching a glimpse and redoubled his effort to sustain the barrier.

Just then, several tentacles suddenly shot out from the sea, wrapping around his legs without warning. Taken off guard, Diga was yanked down, causing the barrier to dissipate.

A furious roar rang out, and a deep purple beam shot from Gatanjeh’s mouth. “No!” Diga’s expression changed drastically; he hurriedly broke free from the tentacles and spread his arms wide, shielding Zero.

Yet the purple beam was not successfully blocked—it pierced through his body and struck Zero, who had not yet finished charging his energy, passing straight through him as well.

Before the purple light faded, Diga and Zero seemed to be strung together, frozen in place.

Diga tried to look back at Zero, but suddenly the light within his body lost control, dissipating wildly like a balloon punctured. What followed was a coldness and weakness he had never experienced.

Diga lifted his arm in shock, only to find his skin turning to stone, inch by inch.

It was not the same as his battle with Gakuma. This force was not only eroding his body, but his soul as well.

He could clearly feel his consciousness fading, as if an irresistible giant hand was dragging him into an abyss, into a mire... into the deepest, lightless hell.

His last awareness disappeared, and Diga was completely turned into a statue, standing lifelessly on the surface of the sea.

“What on earth is happening!” Zero’s eyes widened, his chest timer flashing madly. But he didn’t even glance at it; instead, his gaze was fixed incredulously on the rampaging Gatanjeh.

With the Shield of Paragi protecting him, his light could not be stolen, but the energy within him was still instantly wiped out by the influence of the purple beam.

Seeing their current predicament, Bareru wiped cold sweat from his forehead. He had always believed that the monster could only absorb energy when its tentacles bound others. But he never imagined the devouring force of that beam was far more terrifying than the tentacles.

Recalling how he had previously tried to resist the monster with his own energy, Bareru felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively glanced at Torekia, feeling a surge of gratitude.

Luckily, the master intervened in time; if that monster had begun absorbing energy, his fate would hardly be better than that of the two Ultra warriors.

Beep beep beep beep beep! The timer flashed faster and faster, until Zero finally collapsed under the strain, falling headlong into the sea.

His fall was accompanied by the sound of a crack in the hearts of Hui and the others.

It was over.

With Diga and the newcomer both defeated, who was left to stop the monster?

“Is there really nothing we can do?” Hui lowered her head, staring at the notebook screen covered in red warning frames, her fingers trembling as she lifted them.

A nuclear strike might be the only chance.

“Wait, Captain!” Lina suddenly called out, “We still have a way!”

“??” Hui looked up in surprise, “What way?”

Even the giants couldn’t defeat the monster—what else could possibly work?

“Captain, have you forgotten?” Lina said, “When Diga was defeated by the Kirielode two months ago…”

Something seemed to dawn on Hui, and a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes. “You mean…”

“Yes!” Lina nodded forcefully, her voice resolute. “The giant’s power is light. Perhaps we…”

She paused, suddenly realizing that the TPC base had long been destroyed by Torekia. Even if they found a device to gather light energy, transporting it to the deep sea would be nearly impossible.

Lina pressed her lips together, lowering her head in despair.

“I know a way to revive Diga.”

Just then, a man’s voice came from outside the tent.

Hui and Lina turned simultaneously.

The tent flap was lifted, and a somewhat frail-looking man walked in slowly.

“Who are you?”

“Who I am isn’t important,” the man adjusted his glasses and continued, “You only need to know that I have a way to save Diga.”

At any other time, Hui would never have believed such words. But now, with the situation so dire, she could only keep her composure and ask, “What way?”

If Diga could truly be saved, she was willing to try anything.

Lina grew tense as well, hope filling her eyes.

The man walked up to Hui, closed the notebook that controlled the nuclear detonation, and smiled gently. “Go find a man named Keigo Masaki. He’s researching the power of the giants and has made significant progress.”

“Keigo Masaki?” Lina thought for a moment, then exclaimed, “Isn’t he the physics and mathematics prodigy, the president of Cedek Group, Mr. Keigo Masaki?”

Hui seemed to have heard the name as well, furrowing her brow.

Researching the giant’s power—TPC had been doing that, too. But that power was so immense, it was not something humans could control. With Diga around, she had never paid much attention to the progress.

Yet this man revealed that others were also researching the giants, and she was somewhat astonished.

“Where is he?”

At this moment, Hui could no longer afford to hesitate.

“He should be at Cedek Group’s headquarters,” Lina replied uncertainly.

“That’s right, he’s there,” the man confirmed. “Before Japan is completely overrun, hurry and go.”

“I understand.” Hui nodded solemnly, fixing her gaze on the man. “Can you tell me—who are you, really?”

“I… am a prophet, you might say.”