In the end, South Korea refused.
The reason given was simple: they did not possess a rocket capable of reaching the Moon.
After all, boasting was one thing—but actually putting it into action was another matter entirely.
…
In the blink of an eye, another thirty days passed.
Under Camearra's lingering gaze—her complexion rosy after an intimate night—Yuzhou stepped into the spatial vortex.
A brief wave of disorientation washed over him.
When he emerged, what greeted his eyes was a land of ruins.
The sky was shrouded in a dim, ashen haze.
At his feet lay red lanterns, crushed and buried beneath layers of dust and debris. That detail alone confirmed one thing—this place was on Earth.
"China…?"
Yuzhou frowned slightly and began to walk, carefully surveying his surroundings.
Collapsed buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. Flames still burned among the wreckage, proof that the catastrophe had occurred only moments ago.
The architecture immediately around him was distinctly Chinese in style, yet beyond that area stood the shattered remains of modern skyscrapers.
Yuzhou had been to places like this before.
He quickly realized the truth.
This was not China.
It was a Chinatown—overseas.
More precisely, a Chinese district within a foreign city.
Cries for help echoed faintly from the rubble.
Given the size of this Chinatown, the population should have been considerable. Yet now, judging from the voices alone, only a handful had survived this disaster.
With little effort, Yuzhou lifted massive slabs of stone and concrete, rescuing the trapped survivors one by one.
Before long, more than twenty people had been pulled free.
Among them were both Eastern and Western faces.
From their fragmented accounts, Yuzhou pieced together the situation—and gained a basic understanding of this world.
This was San Francisco, in the United States.
The disaster had been caused by two prehistoric giant beasts rampaging through the city.
According to eyewitness descriptions, the monsters had triangular heads and jaws, red, radiating eyes, and two pairs of massive forelimbs.
They resembled enormous insects.
One of them even had wings—and could fly.
"They charged straight into Chinatown," a relatively young man said, his mental state still holding together. "I froze. I've never seen anything like that in my life. I ran—but I didn't make it far."
"I swear," he added shakily, "I've never seen monsters that big before."
Compared to him, the others were far worse off.
"My child…"
"Dad! Mom! Where are you?!"
"Sob… sob…"
Some simply broke down and cried on the spot.
"Where are those two monsters now?" Yuzhou asked calmly.
The young man shook his head. "No idea. I was buried underground—I didn't see anything after that."
He paused, then looked around in disbelief.
"By the way, brother… how did you even get me out? That rock pinning me down was huge."
He stared at the massive boulder nearby—the very one that had trapped him. There were no jacks, no machinery, nothing.
At that moment—
Boom!
A thunderous crash echoed through the ruins.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
A still-standing building was struck head-on by a colossal creature and collapsed instantly, reduced to rubble.
The monster's appearance matched the description perfectly.
Radiating red eyes.
Insect-like features.
Two pairs of massive forelimbs.
Before anyone could react, the second monster advanced toward Chinatown, smashing buildings as it went—methodically clearing the area, as if erasing it from existence.
"It's over… they're back!" the young man cried out in panic.
The others trembled, legs shaking uncontrollably.
"Run! Get somewhere safe!" someone shouted.
But there was no safe place.
All around them lay nothing but ruins.
Before prehistoric giants like these, humanity was nothing more than fragile insects—utterly incapable of protecting their own lives.
"These two monsters…" Yuzhou murmured, studying them closely. "They look familiar."
His expression remained calm as memories surfaced.
Judging from their size and appearance, these creatures were even larger than the monsters he usually fought—and far more ferocious.
"MUTO," Yuzhou said softly. "So it's them."
The realization came quickly.
MUTO.
However, in this world, the true protagonist was not the MUTO.
It was a far more famous name—
Godzilla.
Yuzhou had arrived in the 2014 Godzilla universe.
There were many versions of Godzilla, each with different stories. But in this world, Godzilla was not a mindless destroyer.
On the contrary—
He was humanity's protector.
It was Godzilla who would ultimately eliminate the invading MUTOs, showing no hostility toward humans, returning to the ocean once his task was complete.
A true laborer of the natural order.
A working monster.
The MUTOs invaded human cities to seek out radioactive nuclear warheads—feeding on radiation and using them to reproduce.
And now, these two were clearly clearing territory to build a nest.
Unfortunately, Chinatown lay directly within their chosen zone.
"It's over," the young man said bitterly, forcing a hollow smile. "We're not getting out of this, brother."
Perhaps he simply wanted someone to talk to before death.
The others grew even more fearful, despair settling heavily in their hearts. Life was cruelly short—and it seemed it would end here.
Yuzhou shook his head with a faint, amused smile.
If things followed the original plot, these people would have already died beneath the rubble.
But now—
He was here.
And that meant the outcome would be different.
"Damn monsters!" one man suddenly screamed, having completely lost his composure. He grabbed a stone from the ground and hurled it at one of the MUTOs. "Come on! Eat me!"
"Are you insane?!" someone shouted, trying to stop him.
Too late.
The monsters of this world were not like those from Ultraman's universe—often clumsy, almost foolish.
These creatures were intelligent.
To the MUTOs, humans were insignificant. Like ants beneath a man's feet—whether they lived or died hardly mattered.
But when an ant dared to provoke a giant—
That was seeking death.
The MUTO lowered its triangular head and exhaled sharply in front of the crowd.
A wave of foul air surged forward, reeking like gasoline.
Its red, radiating eyes locked onto the provoker—brimming with killing intent.
ROOOAAARRR—!
The beast's roar exploded outward, a violent gust scattering the crowd.
Yuzhou frowned and covered his nose.
"…That breath," he muttered. "Absolutely disgusting."