“G-General, what do we do now?”
After personally witnessing Rayquaza kill Abomination in a single attack—and scare Hulk so badly that he reverted to his original form—the subordinate beside General Ross had absolutely no idea what they were supposed to do next.
“What do we do?
How the hell should I know?”
General Ross stared gravely at Rayquaza in the sky.
There was no question about it.
The current situation had already gone far beyond anything Ross could have imagined.
“But General, the Security Council wants us to capture it…
They say the first dragon ever discovered by humanity would have immense research value…”
“To hell with their research value!
Why don’t they cut open their own skulls and study what the hell is inside?”
Ross immediately exploded into curses.
Capture it?
What kind of lunatic suggestion was that?
Did they somehow not see what that dragon had just done?
Not only had it created a tornado—a literal natural disaster—out of thin air, but it had also obliterated Abomination with a single energy blast that Ross couldn’t even begin to describe!
Ross even suspected that if the blast had struck the ground directly, it might have flattened the entire surrounding district on the spot.
“The question now is what it intends to do, not what we want to do!”
Ross watched Rayquaza warily, terrified that after killing Abomination, the dragon might get excited and decide to breathe fire a few times for good measure.
But the next moment…
“ROOOAAAR!”
Ross saw Rayquaza raise its head and roar toward the heavens before its enormous body shot straight into the sky!
“Keep your eyes on the radar!
We need to know exactly where it’s going!”
Ross immediately issued the order to his subordinates.
And every other organization monitoring the incident gave similar orders at almost exactly the same time.
But before long, every one of them received the same report.
After the mysterious dragon flew a certain distance into the sky…
It vanished from both radar detection and satellite surveillance.
“Vanished?”
Naturally, the leaders of the various organizations flew into a rage and immediately issued strict orders demanding that the dragon’s whereabouts be found at all costs.
But their efforts were destined to produce nothing.
No matter how hard ordinary humans searched, they could never find Rayquaza while it was inside an alternate dimension!
[Congratulations, host.
You have defeated the enemy ‘Abomination’ and obtained 500 Points.
The host’s Pokémon ‘Rayquaza’ has gained 50 Experience Points and reached Level 3.]
[Congratulations, host.
You have defeated the enemy ‘Hulk’ and obtained 500 Points.
“Well done, Rayquaza.”
Back on his rooftop, Adrian Cross grinned from ear to ear as he stroked Rayquaza’s head in praise.
Damn.
Fighting really was an incredibly fast way to earn Points!
He had only recently spent his entire stockpile of 1,000 Points, yet a single fight had already earned all of them back.
On top of that, Rayquaza had shot straight up to Level 4.
By now, Adrian Cross had also realized just how useful Pokémon levels were to him.
Every time one of his Pokémon leveled up, both its moves and base attributes grew stronger.
And because Adrian Cross benefited from the attributes they granted him, those enhancements grew stronger as well.
Celebi’s Mental Power enhancement had been difficult to compare directly.
But Rayquaza’s Physical Enhancement was much more obvious.
After Rayquaza gained just three levels, Adrian Cross could already feel that his body had become noticeably stronger!
“Once Rayquaza reaches Level 100, if I summon another Pokémon that can enhance my body, maybe I’ll be able to beat that purple sweet potato to death with my bare hands.”
Adrian Cross couldn’t help muttering to himself at the thought.
But what Adrian Cross was thinking wasn’t important.
What mattered was the aftermath of the incident.
Anyone fortunate enough to have witnessed the battle on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan through television or various live broadcasts was now completely unable to sit still.
Everyone was talking about what had just happened.
The battle between two monsters.
And the enormous dragon that had appeared from nowhere before disappearing just as mysteriously.
Is this really Earth?
Did I somehow get transported to another world?
Countless citizens were left utterly bewildered.
Even more people began calling various government agencies directly.
They desperately wanted to know exactly what had happened.
More importantly, they wanted to know whether something like this could happen again.
“Without the Dragon, Fifth Avenue in Manhattan Would Have Been Reduced to Ruins”
“How Can Humanity Survive Against Monsters?”
“Battle of the Monsters—A Prelude to Human Extinction?”
In less than three days, attention-grabbing headlines appeared one after another.
General Ross and the military, as the ones responsible for setting the entire incident in motion, were overwhelmed by the fallout.
Nick Fury, on the other hand, had mixed feelings about the situation.
“This might not necessarily be a bad thing.”
Looking at the orange cat sleeping on the balcony, Nick Fury’s dark face took on a thoughtful expression.
In his view, the battle between the three monsters—and especially the power demonstrated by the dragon—had undoubtedly increased the pressure on the U.S.
government. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
That meant the Avengers Initiative he had long been trying to push forward now had a much greater chance of being approved.
That was the good news.
Unfortunately, the bad news was directly related to the same issue.
Judging by how powerful that dragon was, even if Fury successfully assembled the Avengers he currently envisioned…
If they actually fought it, there was a very real possibility that the entire team would be wiped out together.
“Director Fury, we have the results of the investigation you requested.”
Just as Fury’s thoughts were tying themselves into knots, Coulson’s arrival finally gave him something else to focus on.
“Go ahead, Coulson.”
“We questioned nearly every reporter who was present at the scene.
None of them could say for certain how that dragon appeared.”
“Mm.”
Fury had seen that clearly enough on the live broadcast.
When the dragon appeared, there had been absolutely no warning or visible trace.
It was as though it had simply materialized out of thin air.
“So, as you requested, Melinda and I conducted a more thorough investigation of the affected area.”
“And…
we discovered something rather interesting.”
Coulson’s expression became slightly strange as he spoke.
“What?”
“Do you remember the pet shop I mentioned before?”
“…The one Tony Stark visits regularly?”
“Yes.”
Coulson looked at Fury with a serious expression.
“That pet shop happens to be located inside the section of Fifth Avenue that suffered no damage whatsoever.”
“Hmm…”
Fury’s expression instantly became serious.
Originally, he had intended to wait a while longer before investigating that pet shop.
But now…
That clearly wasn’t going to be an option.
He immediately stood up.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
Coulson looked completely confused.
“To see our consultant.”
Fury paused briefly.
“And while we’re there…
we’ll ask him to introduce us to that mysterious friend of his.”