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"Prophecy of disaster?"
"The Iwi can do that?" Jared paused mid-reach, hand still hovering over his steak, and looked over at Dr. Ishiro Serizawa.
He knew about the Iwi. Monarch's internal files documented how the 1973 expedition had received help from them on the island. But based on the personnel descriptions from that time, they hadn't shown any particularly remarkable abilities. Nothing that set them apart from ordinary people.
"To be precise, she foresaw the deaths of her own people," Dr. Ishiro Serizawa said, his tone careful and even.
"What?"
"Isn't she the last Iwi on Skull Island?" Jared frowned.
Jia's people on Skull Island had all died in the disaster. Grim as that sounded, the girl genuinely had no one left.
"I was just as puzzled, at first."
"But Dr. Ilene told me Jia wasn't lying. Her best guess is that there are other Iwi communities somewhere else on Earth," Dr. Ishiro Serizawa said.
Dr. Ilene Andrews had been stationed at the Skull Island outpost for years, one of Monarch's core field members, overseeing the organization's primary operations there. She had also taken it upon herself to look after Jia, raising the girl as her own daughter.
"You mean... the Hollow Earth?" Old De straightened up slightly, something clicking behind his eyes.
"Most likely." Dr. Ishiro Serizawa nodded.
Decades of research on Skull Island, layered over years of broader Titan study, had led Monarch to a working theory: Skull Island wasn't native to the surface. It was an island that had drifted up from the Hollow Earth, carried to the surface through some ancient geological event. And the Iwi, as the island's original inhabitants, had almost certainly once lived down there.
"So... we might actually be going into the Hollow Earth?" Old De asked, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.
The Hollow Earth theory was still theoretical. But anyone who had heard even a fragment of what might be down there couldn't help being curious.
"Hard to say."
"We don't have a vehicle capable of making that trip on its own terms." Dr. Ishiro Serizawa pressed his lips together, brow creasing. "Not one that works reliably."
People within Monarch had made it to the Hollow Earth before, but never by design. It had been accidents, coincidences stacking on top of each other in ways that shouldn't have worked. In 2009, a team of Monarch scientists made a deliberate attempt to enter through one of the passages. They hit gravitational inversion on the way through. The vehicle lost control instantly. No survivors.
Their technology still hadn't cracked the problem. Even if they wanted to go, they couldn't.
"Then what's the point of going to Skull Island?"
"Babysitting Kong?" Jared asked.
If the Hollow Earth was off the table, there wasn't much reason to go at all. It wasn't like they could pick a fight with Kong.
Then, mid-thought, he glanced over at Natsuki.
"Actually, he's got that whole calming-people-down trick."
"Is that the plan? Bring him along to soothe Kong?" Jared pressed.
The first time he'd met Natsuki, the man had used that ability on him without warning — and it had worked. The battle in Mexico had since confirmed it worked on Titans too, as long as the target wasn't actively fighting it with their own will.
"That's not quite it." Dr. Ishiro Serizawa chose his words carefully. He knew better than to lean on Natsuki for everything. That was a fast way to wear out a welcome. "Our technology can't produce a Hollow Earth vehicle right now, that's true."
"But a company reached out to me recently. They brought up exactly that — a vehicle designed for the Hollow Earth."
Jared's expression shifted. "APEX?"
"You think they're going to hand us a vehicle out of the goodness of their hearts?"
He remembered the logo on the guards' uniforms. The night of the MUTO attack. Clear as anything.
"The MUTO in San Francisco — they bred it. They want to control the Titans. If you think they're trustworthy, I'd say you've lost your mind."
Those people weren't acting out of goodwill. Whatever they were offering, they had an angle.
"I'm weighing it," Dr. Ishiro Serizawa said. He didn't trust APEX either. The military had buried the MUTO story, but he knew exactly what their ambitions looked like. And that was the other problem , even if Monarch went to APEX hat in hand and offered to buy the technology outright, APEX probably wouldn't sell. The value was too immense. The Hollow Earth was an entire world that humanity had never touched.
"No need to go through all that."
"I'll just take you in myself."
Natsuki had been working steadily through his food the entire time. Now he looked up, calm as anything.
With his telekinesis, keeping a handful of people safe wasn't a problem.
"Seriously?"
"You're going to save the Iwi in the Hollow Earth too?" Jared studied him.
The Hollow Earth wasn't the surface world. Up here, most Titans were dormant. Down there, nobody knew how many were still active. Natsuki was strong, but walking into the Hollow Earth without preparation was a genuine gamble.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Natsuki raised an eyebrow.
Ultramen weren't gods. There were countless people in this world he couldn't save , he knew that. But the ones he knew about, the ones he had a real chance to reach? Of course he was going to move.
If he hadn't known, that would be one thing. But he knew. That settled it.
"That's so like you." Jared grinned and raised his glass.
Natsuki reached over and clinked it.
Coming from anyone else, Jared would've found it bizarre. From this particular old man, it felt completely natural. The guy looked like he couldn't be trusted to tie his own shoes half the time , and then, when it actually counted, he was the most dependable person in the room.
"Thank you." Dr. Ishiro Serizawa rose from his seat and gave Natsuki a short, sincere bow.
If this decision had gone through proper Monarch channels, the opposition would have been overwhelming. A group of Iwi at an unknown location, in an environment no one could safely reach , the cost-benefit calculus wasn't hard to do. They weren't worth the effort. That's what the committee would say.
But here, at a dinner table with four old men and no red tape, it had taken about thirty seconds.
No procedures. No paperwork. Just people showing up as themselves. The other three were about as easygoing as people came.
Honestly, Dr. Ishiro Serizawa preferred working this way.
"After everyone's had a chance to rest, I'll arrange a flight to Skull Island. We'll put together a concrete plan once we've seen Kong's situation for ourselves." He looked around the table.
The other three nodded.
Natsuki was genuinely curious about this Kong. From what they'd described, he sounded like the type you could actually have a conversation with , more like Mothra than the alternative.
As for whatever bad blood existed between Godzilla and Kong, Natsuki figured the simplest solution was just to get the two of them in the same place and see what the deal actually was.
➤ Next: Kong
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