The meeting began.
Professor Andrei stood in the center of the conference room, and a whiteboard was projected behind him. He looked solemnly at the camera facing him.
In his slightly hoarse voice, the professor finally spoke:
“Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to share some bad news with you.”
“Over the past three days, our teams from around the world have been conducting examinations on Godzilla. And this morning, at our designated time, the Qinghan team from East Asia contacted us.”
“They informed me that yesterday morning, they discovered something unusual on Godzilla’s body.”
“They handed me a report detailing the peculiar displacement phenomena they observed on Godzilla during these five days.”
“They found that the damaged areas of Godzilla underwent varying degrees of displacement during these days. After conducting detailed comparisons near the displacement points, this team concluded that the wounds on Godzilla did not shift but…”
“Godzilla is repairing itself.”
As soon as this statement was made, a bit of commotion arose among the attendees.
However, Professor Andrei on the projected screen did not stop. He continued speaking:
“Upon hearing this news, my initial reaction was disbelief.”
“Because Godzilla’s outer armor should be a tightly integrated structure, and localized self-healing should not be possible. It should only undergo a shedding process similar to snakes, where the entire armor is shed and replaced.”
“But as I finished reading the entire report, I discovered…”
“They are right.”
“Godzilla is indeed self-healing, and it goes beyond mere self-healing. Please take a look at this.”
Professor Andrei projected another image within the projection. It showed a thermal and status map of Godzilla in its current state.
Pointing to it, Professor Andrei said, “This is a full-body material scan we conducted on Godzilla five days ago, risking waking it up. In this image, we can see that one of the fusion reactors in Godzilla’s abdomen is in a liquid state.”
“And this is the full-body scan image we captured today.”
As he spoke, the projected image changed to another one.
Again, it was a status map of Godzilla, but this time it displayed a completely different appearance.
The first fusion reactor, which had initially been shown as a high-temperature liquid, was now repaired by nearly two-thirds.
What was even more astonishing was that it not only repaired two-thirds of the reactor but also underwent structural changes.
Clearly visible were several layers of different materials enveloping the repairing reactor.
They appeared as membranes, layer upon layer, encasing the damaged first reactor.
Not only the damaged reactor, but even the undamaged second reactor had gained additional layers of membranes.
“This is what we observed in today’s reactor.”
“You can see that the portion of Godzilla’s first reactor that was in a molten state, as compared to five days ago, has significantly decreased, and the overall temperature has mostly cooled down.”
“However, what is noteworthy is not just its self-healing ability but… please look here.”
Professor Andrei zoomed in on a specific part of the image in the projection, revealing the membrane surrounding Godzilla’s reactor.
“This is a structure that has newly formed within Godzilla’s body in the past five days. According to our calculations, this structure appears to provide better protection for Godzilla’s fusion reactor.”
“However, five days ago, there was no such thing inside Godzilla’s body, no such material.”
“It seems to have evolved suddenly in these five days, as a better defense against internal heat. It appeared out of nowhere, without any trace before.”
“At this point, our team started feeling that something was amiss. We dug out the footage of Godzilla’s initial landing and, upon comparison… our team discovered…”
“In the footage, the composition of Godzilla, based solely on its external appearance, is completely different from the measured composition of Godzilla.”
“This is something that everyone already knows. But until today, all the teams believed that Godzilla molted during the two days of its disappearance.”
“However, in the Mariana Trench, we did not find any remnants of Godzilla’s molt.”
“It is possible that it previously did not inhabit the Mariana Trench, or it destroyed its own remnants. At least, that’s what we thought before learning this.”
“But today, through traces detected in the bottom of the trench, we can confirm that Godzilla returned here after its last landing and spent the following two days.”
“And there… there are no remnants.”
“Combined with our recent discovery, we can almost conclude that Godzilla possesses a way to autonomously enhance its body and undergo massive structural transformations.”
“In biological terms, this is strictly referred to as autonomous metamorphosis. And generally speaking… gentlemen, you can consider Godzilla…”
At this point, he took a deep breath and spoke with a trembling voice:
“as a beast capable of infinite evolution. Until this very moment, it is still evolving.”
“Unfortunately, every strike, every attack we make will only further propel its evolution.”
“If we cannot destroy it in a short period of time, we will undoubtedly be destroyed by it.”
Professor Andrei’s words made everyone in the conference call tense. Each person’s heart raced with heightened alertness.
Especially at the end, when he and his team revealed the countdown to Godzilla’s recovery, everyone’s hearts felt as if they were being squeezed.
“Based on the assessment of Godzilla’s reactor’s self-recovery rate, we estimate that Godzilla will be fully healed in a minimum of four days.”
“At that time, whether Godzilla will awaken or not remains unknown to us. It is also uncertain whether it will continue to grow stronger if it does not awaken.”
“Gentlemen, may God help us. That is all I have to say. Goodbye.”
Professor Andrei’s projection disappeared, but the meeting was not over.
Following that, the image of the United Government Assembly Room was projected in various conference rooms, with over a hundred united parliamentarians sitting there.
Although they were not physically present in the Assembly Room, through the projection, they appeared together in the United Government Assembly Room.
At this moment, the parliamentarians wore serious expressions and collectively recited the Permanent Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Agreement declared by the World Government a hundred years ago, each in their respective languages.
In just a few hundred words, the parliamentarians quickly finished reciting the agreement.
But in the very end, they together added a different ending to this agreement.
“At this moment, through the joint decision of the United Government Parliamentarians, the Permanent Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Agreement…”
“Is hereby nullified and no longer holds legal effect.”
March 26, 2208, 10:23 AM.
Four days until Godzilla’s awakening.