Steel and Iron

Meanwhile, inside the steel mill, Nagasawa was unaware of the commotion outside.

At this very moment, he was gathering materials from the steel mill, intending to conduct tests solely through brute force.

Squatting next to a pile of exposed steel beams, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong forearm muscles, grabbed a steel beam as thick as a bowl with both hands, took a deep breath, exerted his waist and abdomen strength, and with a "hey," tried to bend the steel beams.

Nagasawa had already prepared himself for the possibility that he wouldn't be able to pry it off even if he tried his best, and he was even planning to find an angle to use his knee to pry it off if he couldn't pry it off.

But unexpectedly, perhaps because of the passage of time, the steel was bent by the brute force of the Nagasawa team members.

"Click—"

The steel beam emitted a dull metallic groan as it slowly bent in Nagasawa's hands, eventually forming a U-shape.

Nagasawa paused for a moment, then picked up another, thicker steel beam and tried it, bending it just as easily.

He punched and kicked it again. Although the steel was harder than ordinary steel, it was definitely not as ridiculous as the monster armor. Even the Flame Dragon Core Cannon couldn't break it, so it couldn't be bent so easily by hand.

"Captain, this is just an ordinary steel factory, and the steel isn't as strong as what's supposed to be a monster," Nagasawa reported into his headset, his tone tinged with confusion.

He lifted the bent steel beam and examined the cross-section against the light. It was indeed ordinary alloy steel; although the quality was good, it was far from surreal.

Upon hearing Nagasawa's words over the earpiece, Captain Sato remained silent for a moment.

For a moment, he even wondered if it was because Nagasawa was actually Ultraman that he was able to bend the steel.

Fortunately, the captain quickly realized what was happening and said into his headset:

"It's probably because of the previous volcanic eruption; the high temperature changed the structure of the steel. Anyway, let's do a general survey first, and then bring back steel samples for Sakata to do further testing."

"receive."

Upon receiving the order, Nagasawa began a preliminary investigation of the steel plant after hearing Captain Sato's words.

He walked along the ruins of the factory area, stopping from time to time to tap the steel rocks, turn over the rubble, and record the terrain and building structure.

The site was larger than he had imagined. Steel-rock highlands formed from cooled magma covered the entire factory area. Many pieces of equipment and buildings were buried under the rocks, with only a small portion exposed. For some reason, there were also numerous traces of explosions.

"Harder than iron, stronger than steel?"

After exploring for a while, the team member from Nagasawa made some discoveries.

He found a scrap of paper in a broken box filled with dirt and rubble.

The edges were curled up, but the writing on them was still faintly legible.

He carefully brushed away the dust, read aloud the sentence written on the paper, and drew a smiley face at the end. The handwriting was messy, but it carried a sense of high spirits.

Changze frowned. It looked like a song from mainland China, but he couldn't recall its origin for a moment.

Although he didn't know what it meant, Nagasawa decided to take it back first and see if Sakata could figure it out.

He took a resealable bag out of his backpack, carefully put the shredded paper inside, sealed it, and put it back in his backpack.

Just as he finished putting the paper away, a huge tremor came from outside.

"boom--!"

The ground shook violently, like an earthquake. Nagasawa stumbled and almost fell. Gravel fell from above, hitting the steel rock with a clanging sound.

Before he could react, Captain Sato's somewhat anxious voice came through the earpiece again:

"Nagazawa, evacuate immediately! A monster has appeared! It's located northeast of the steel mill ruins and is moving towards the town!"

Almost instinctively, Nagasawa rushed out of the steel plant.

He strode across the rugged steel rocks, sending pebbles flying beneath his feet, while Xiong Er continuously broadcasted the monster's location data through his earpiece.

As he rushed out of the steel mill, he was thankful that he hadn't brought the boy with him; otherwise, in such a dangerous situation, it would have been troublesome if an ordinary person had gotten involved.

But just as he rushed out of the steel mill, he saw the boy standing on a high ground not far away, looking at the monster in the distance, doing something he didn't know.

Nagasawa: "..."

His lips twitched, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Wait, what's this kid doing here?!

Wasn't he volunteering in the small town? How did he end up at the steel mill ruins?

Moreover, judging from his appearance, he had obviously been here for a while and hadn't just arrived.

I never expected this seemingly honest young man to be so troublesome.

I told them not to follow, but they still secretly came, and even followed me to such a dangerous place.

But Nagasawa still called out to the boy, urging him to run away quickly.

The monster is moving this way. It's too dangerous to stay here. We need to get him back to town quickly so he can be evacuated with the residents.

But before Changze could speak, the young man spoke anxiously, his tone urgent and carrying an undeniable decisiveness:

"I'll go warn the townspeople. You hurry and pilot the Dragon Might mech to stop him!"

After saying that, Yun Yu ran straight towards the town, her steps quick, her orange volunteer vest fluttering in the wind, and in the blink of an eye she had run more than ten meters away.

These words stunned Nagasawa, who was stunned for a long time before he reacted.

He opened his mouth, but the words he wanted to say, "You should run away, it's dangerous here," got stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them.

He watched Yun Yu's departing figure, then glanced at the approaching monster in the distance, his mind a jumbled mess.

Why is this kid calmer than me?

And what he said seemed to make a lot of sense? One went to notify the public to evacuate, and the other went to pilot the mecha to stop the monster. The division of labor was clear, the logic was sound, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

The problem is, you're just an ordinary volunteer. The CEA is responsible for notifying the public, so why are you running around?

But now is not the time to dwell on these things.

Nagasawa slapped his thigh, cursed "that kid," and hurriedly ran towards the temporary command post.

The boy was right. His priority now was to pilot the Dragon Might mech to stop the monster and prevent it from getting close to the town.

As for that boy... we'll settle the score with him after this battle!

Nagasawa ran incredibly fast, reporting into his headset as he ran: "Captain, I'm heading back to the mech parking point, estimated arrival in five minutes! What's the monster's current location and speed?"

Before Changze could run a few more steps, a ball of light crashed directly into the monster.

I'm so sorry, I've been really busy lately, and I managed to finish the update before 11 pm.

Then everyone thought about the new cover, whether it looked good or not.

Many readers have also commented that this episode doesn't fit the author's style, so the opening of this chapter has been revised. You can check it out!

Finally, thank you everyone for your support and patience. Love you all, meow Ciallo～(∠・ω＜)⌒☆】