Bella introduced Kong to his new caretaker: Comrade 006.
Seeing as the arrangement came with free food and lodging, Kong was at least courteous enough to play along. He grunted a few times but ultimately refrained from beating 006 to death.
"This is unbelievable! A creature this massive actually exists in the world? Has it always been here?"
Kong had been impressive enough at thirty meters—like a small hill. Now at seventy meters, there was no comparison. 006 stared up in wonder, but no matter how far he craned his neck, all he could see were Kong's nostrils. The face was completely out of view.
The world's secrets were gradually surfacing, and he was starting to feel like he'd been a fake spy all along.
Bella briefed him on the underground world, and the even deeper world beneath it. Others didn't need to know, but their own people had to be kept in the loop. 006 listened with glazed eyes, unable to make heads or tails of any of it.
"Collect some hair, blood samples. After that... you know what to do." Bella looked at Kong, her meaning clear.
Monarch had been attempting to clone Kong as well, but their cloning technology wasn't up to the task, and Kong refused to let them anywhere near him. Thirty years of effort had produced virtually nothing.
Bella's side had it much easier. During feeding time, quietly collecting DNA-bearing hair and blood was simple enough. Whether cloning would actually succeed was another question—even Bella wasn't sure.
Under her calming influence, Kong finally permitted human activity in Skull Island's southern and western sectors. With dragon meat on the menu, Kong no longer bothered with the island's smaller prey. Every Tier 1 monster on the island was swept up by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Monarch—captured or killed.
Skull Island was officially tamed. With the follow-up operations handed off to Weyland-Yutani, Bella resumed traveling the world alongside Monarch's research team.
She saw Mothra's egg in the Yunnan rainforest.
The creature's psychic ability was nothing to scoff at—still unhatched, and already equivalent to 0.6 of a Professor Charles Xavier. Bella couldn't use mind control in full view of everyone, so she did what she'd done with Kong: left behind a gentle impression of goodwill.
The poor trilobite, in the end, didn't survive. One day, when Bella returned from the library after looking up references and sat down to write her thesis, she found Shaw—who'd come over to hang out—prying open the trilobite's shell with a tactical fixed-blade knife while the Divine Dragon and Bumblebee, those two idiots, stood cheering her on with raised fists.
What was there to cheer about?!
"Send me home?" Shaw asked Bella, confused, then jabbed a finger at Bumblebee beside her, as if to say: He put me up to it.
Bella was speechless. Watching the trilobite—which had already endured being kicked, exposed to drastic environmental changes, photographed, passed around, and assaulted with a tactical knife—finally show zero signs of life, she could only accept the situation.
"Fine, you win. I'll go grab a few more later... Bumblebee's right, actually. This is food. Let's deep-fry it and see how it tastes. I'll find some dipping sauce..."
The trilobite tasted somewhat like river clams. The initial bite was slightly astringent, but after a couple of chews, the umami flavor bloomed. All in all... it was quite good. The only drawback was the quantity—far too little.
They kept the remaining hard shell for photographs and her thesis. Bella jotted a note in her notebook: she'd been busy lately, but when she had time, she'd go back to the underground world and pick up a few more kilograms of trilobites. There should still be plenty in the subterranean rivers.
Shaw had developed a keen interest in the "wild game" flavor of the trilobite. Bella also figured that having an insider on the team to help cover for her would make things considerably easier. With minimal effort, she arranged for Shaw to join Monarch's security detail.
…
Although Professor Serizawa's team hadn't penetrated deep into the underground world, the hypothesis that a unique ecosystem existed beneath the Earth's crust had been laterally confirmed.
Skull Island's underground passage was now sealed by Kong. The world was vast, and with deliberate searching, clues could still be found.
Monarch had recently dispatched teams across the globe. Expedition after expedition was sent out, all seeking paths to the underground world.
Japan. Yokohama.
Professor Serizawa naturally didn't have Bella as his only graduate student.
Between doctoral candidates and master's students, there were over twenty, most of whom had already joined Monarch.
Many of these students had parents or relatives who were Monarch personnel. Their loyalty was assured, and they understood what they were researching. This was a modern version of following in the family business. People like Bella, who'd been recruited on the strength of their abilities alone, were actually the minority.
Since the discovery of the beetle monster, Monarch's situation had improved considerably. The revelation of the underground world had drawn significant high-level attention and a surge of funding.
"The Hollow Earth theory isn't entirely correct, but we have evidence suggesting that voids definitely exist beneath our feet. They're uninhabitable for humans, but they serve as the homeland of Titans."
Professor Serizawa maintained his theory: the colossal Godzilla had to be hibernating in some cavern deep within the Earth's core, awakening only when catastrophic events disturbed the surface.
After the familiar preamble, Serizawa's tone suddenly shifted to excitement. He opened his backpack, produced a book, and asked his students: "Who has read Jules Verne's novel, The Mysterious Island?"
The students stared blankly, having no idea what he was getting at.
Serizawa didn't leave them guessing. "An old friend of mine recently sent me a letter. He discovered a secret hidden within Verne's book—a secret about the Mysterious Island. The island actually exists..."
He pulled out three books in succession: Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
"All three books mention a mysterious island. Despite different names, my friend believes they may all be referring to the same place."
Before Serizawa could continue, a doctoral student raised an objection. "Professor, which university is this friend of yours affiliated with? Is he a specialist in ancient geography?"
Serizawa laughed sheepishly. "No, no. He's not a professor. Just a steelworker. Retired now, of course. He got into this through personal interest."
The students' enthusiasm evaporated by half. Every country had its cranks—and plenty of them. These students had endured elite education, grinding through to their master's and doctoral degrees while their peers were out partying, goofing off, and chasing girls. If there was one thing they looked down on, it was self-taught hobbyists with no scientific training.
Nothing but outlandish ideas and bizarre experiments. What was so special about that? Not a shred of scientific logic.
Even after Serizawa pieced together coordinates from clues across all three books, the majority of his students politely declined what they considered an absurd expedition.
In the end, only one doctoral candidate and two master's students agreed to join.
Bella was one of them.