In a critical moment, a massive, slender figure descended vertically, its precise timing allowing it to catch Salamander mid-air.

The azure sea serpent blended seamlessly with the sky, invisible until it suddenly appeared, almost divine in its presence. The giant lizard, small in comparison, resembled a gecko within the serpent's grasp. Below, the fleeing crowd of civilians watched in awe, as though witnessing the arrival of a god.

A Chinese girl tearfully said goodbye to her mother as she was about to be carried onto a military truck. She pointed up in surprise, her eyes catching the miraculous sight of a serpent floating against gravity. "Mom! It's a dragon!" she exclaimed.

"No, sweetheart, that's our hero," a National Guard member gently placed the girl into a vehicle full of children, while an older Hispanic girl held her hand, offering comfort.

"Quick! Move out! Keep order! Don’t interfere with Leviathan’s fight! He needs space!" another National Guard officer shouted into a loudspeaker.

The crowd, snapping out of their trance, picked up the pace, eager to avoid the tragic fate of the East Coast Kaiju incident—none wanted to become another batch of "Green." After all, the live broadcast had shown how the sea giant's blood infection symptoms were even more severe, leading to a zombified state.

"Michael's here too!"

A silver-armored hero with glowing wings and a golden sword soared through the air, striking the sea giant's left knee. An invisible shockwave instantly crushed the joint, causing the sea giant to lose its balance and topple, its massive body collapsing onto a row of houses. Its head tilted, exposing the small wound that Salamander had inflicted earlier.

Leviathan, soaring high, released Salamander from its mouth, allowing it to drop back onto the sea giant’s neck, signaling Salamander to continue its attack.

This time, the lizard attacked the same spot, but the sea giant raised its hand in retaliation, only for Leviathan to wrap its tail around the giant's arm and quickly coil around its upper body. With a mighty lunge, the serpent sank its fangs into the sea giant's head, piercing its eye and preventing the giant from retaliating.

The sea giant thrashed wildly, its enormous strength and destructive power on full display. Despite Leviathan's might, its red-scaled injuries indicated that it didn’t possess the sea giant’s rapid regenerative abilities. Meanwhile, Michael hovered above them, motionless after his first strike.

Why wasn’t Michael taking the opportunity to attack while Leviathan risked engaging the sea giant?

Nemo nearly immediately deduced the answer.

The blood infection from the sea giant was too dangerous to attack recklessly. They couldn’t risk unleashing a biological disaster like the first East Coast Kaiju incident. Leviathan and Michael had to stall for time—waiting for the civilians to evacuate further, waiting for reinforcements, waiting for Salamander’s attack to have an effect, or even for someone to come up with a solution to the sea giant’s rapid regeneration.

Just as Nemo anxiously watched the unfolding battle, a sacred, ethereal voice whispered in his ear, "Go to the lake, someone needs your help."

Nemo turned his gaze upward, meeting Michael’s eyes in the distance. Though far apart, their connection was undeniable—Nemo could sense that Michael was aware of him, speaking directly to him.

Though Michael didn’t specify which lake, Nemo understood. This was going to be a brutal battle, and the most dangerous moment for a superhero was always when they had to withdraw and tend to the aftermath. Afterward, some would need to retreat to Matthew's Lakeview Villa for safe treatment, and someone trustworthy was needed to help facilitate the process.

That was exactly what Nemo needed to do now, the special mission Matthew had entrusted to him.

Nemo took out his secure phone and dialed the billionaire’s number. The voice on the other end was unfamiliar: "Mr. Grimm is unavailable, but it’s my pleasure to assist you, Mr. Captain."

"Can you take me to Matthew’s villa on the lake? Right now."

"Of course, I’ll arrange a helicopter immediately."

"Perfect. Also, can you recommend a discreet meeting point within a kilometer of the port area, away from military operations? A rooftop would be ideal." Nemo trusted that flight permissions in the combat zone wouldn't be an issue for the Grimm Group, and if he could leave this way, Angie could too.

The assistant had already prepared, quickly marking the location on the map.

Matthew’s assistant was impressively efficient.

"Angie..." Nemo whispered her name, knowing she couldn’t hear him.

He had to trust Matthew. The billionaire couldn’t have left Salamander without an emergency backup plan. Staying here was just wasting time. Nemo decided to leave.

The sea giant suddenly let out a high-pitched screech, intensifying its resistance.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The sea giant suddenly let out a sharp shriek and intensified its resistance. Leviathan's claw marks had overlapped into a deep, festering wound, while the enormous sea serpent continued to tear apart the giant’s eyeball with its venomous fangs. Salamander, sensing victory, vibrated its long vertical feathers and emitted a buzzing sound of joyful triumph.

Leviathan's serpent body slid, doing its best to prevent the sea giant from repeatedly tearing at the same wound, or else the sea serpent's spine would soon be ripped out. Both sides were desperately attacking each other's weaknesses.

Amid this deadly clash, a gap appeared in the sea giant's exposed neck as Leviathan’s powerful muscles constricted. At that moment, Michael made his move. Nemo, almost instinctively, understood that the archangel was preparing to sever the sea giant's artery to weaken it and reduce the strain on Leviathan.

"Stop, Michael! I know you can hear me!" Nemo shouted, voice low but urgent. "Don't let the sea giant fall on land and pollute the city. Salamander's already bitten into its artery—bleeding it out would interfere with the toxin’s circulation. Let the venom take effect first, then force the kaiju back into the sea or to the shore, somewhere near the harbor! We can deal with it there, where the sea water can dilute its blood. We need to minimize land contamination and have easy access to seawater for cleanup!"

The oceanographers who had studied the scattered corpses and blood of East Coast Kaiju in Upper Bay had found that after removing pollutants, the waters quickly returned to normal.

Marine life showed no signs of mutation, but humans exposed to the infected seawater had been transformed into "Green." The danger came from the abnormal energy in the kaiju’s blood, and Earth's natural forces seemed to counteract it. Was there a more massive force than the ocean itself?

The sea giant’s intent to spread the infection wasn’t to transform land animals, but rather something more sinister—a hidden purpose behind its monstrous form. It was too close a connection between the monsters and humanity, suggesting that if given time, the sea giant might even speak.

Unfortunately, this was Lone Star City, and Nemo didn’t want to see the city destroyed further. With two of the top heroes now working together, and Angie buying time for reinforcements, he just hoped that the female giant would perish as soon as possible.

Nemo quickly added a final note, his voice tinged with worry: "If Salamander runs out of venom, get him out of the battlefield immediately. He must have swallowed some of the kaiju's blood when he bit it. I suspect he's already poisoned—take him back to the Grimm Group headquarters! Please, for his safety!"

Though Michael didn’t respond directly, Nemo could tell from the angel’s actions that his words had been heard. At this point, there was nothing more Nemo could contribute to the battle between Leviathan and the giant—truthfully, he only cared about keeping Angie safe.

Superhumans weren’t immune to the kaiju’s blood, and while it might not always cause infection, they could be killed by an allergic reaction or the venom itself. And if Angie wasn’t careful, she might end up being crushed by the sea giant before the fight was over.

By now, some people had climbed walls or rooftops to get away from the chaotic streets. Those with better athletic abilities showed off their skills, while others stumbled and scrambled to higher ground. Nemo, blending in with the crowd, steadily moved away from the deadly proximity of the battle.

Soon, no one was following his movements. He chose paths along dead-ends and shadows of buildings, finally reaching a cheap residential building, long slated for demolition, and climbed onto its rooftop. Just as he arrived, the helicopter touched down.

Nemo couldn’t help but think how serious Matthew had been when granting him the highest level of security clearance. The Grimm Group must have been on standby, ready for emergency evacuation at a certain threat level, even if Matthew didn’t use it. Everything had been arranged to ensure the backup plans would work flawlessly.

The familiar helicopter and pilot were a clear sign—this was Matthew’s designated pilot.

The pilot engaged auto-hover and opened the cargo door, dropping a rope ladder to receive Nemo. Climbing quickly, Nemo grabbed the pilot’s hand, pulling himself into the cabin, and helped secure the ladder before the door was shut. The pilot returned to his seat and resumed control of the flight.

"Hey, good to see you again," Nemo greeted casually.

"Glad to see you’re safe, Mr. Captain," the pilot responded in his usual composed manner.

"Call me Nemo. I may need your services more often, so can you tell me your name?"

The pilot, always the same, had clearly been specially chosen by Matthew.

"I’m Holly."

"Nice to meet you, Holly. I take it you can fly anywhere in the world to pick up Matthew and then return to his home on the island in the lake?"

"Correct."

"Even from an iceberg?"

"Yes, but I'd prefer if you didn’t choose a volcanic eruption as a destination—everything has its limits."

"I’ll make sure to pass along your professional advice to Matthew," Nemo said, fastening his seatbelt.

"Thanks. And sorry for making a bet on you. Mr. Grimm said you weren't interested in strangers and wouldn't ask for my name," the pilot said, scratching his cheek with a shy smile.

"You’ve flown me four times already. Even though you’re just offering a simple greeting when I’m in danger, you’ve always shown concern for my well-being. If Matthew loses, he deserves it. Now, let’s do what we need to do!" Nemo said, looking ahead and not bothering to look back at the ongoing battle.

The helicopter flew toward the mountainous area. There were some images Nemo didn’t want to imagine at this moment.

He didn’t want to speculate whether the sea giant would continue its advance. This monster had already encroached on the cheap housing district outside the harbor area. Would the southern district really become a battlefield? Would the other areas of Lone Star City manage to escape unscathed?

Westlake Restaurant and the owner's phone were both unreachable, which was a good sign. It meant that boss Liu and Sunny Jie had likely followed their pre-arranged evacuation plan, closing the shop and heading for the mountains at the first sign of danger.

The disaster alert message had been sent to all of Lone Star City, and neighboring states would also have received the warning and were on high alert.

It was certain that the three unfortunate helicopter news crew members, who lost their lives, had already broadcasted the live footage of the sea giant’s battle to viewers across the United States and other countries.

The fact was clear—Salamander was probably out of the picture by now. If no breakthroughs happened and it was just Leviathan and Michael trying to buy time and barely keep fighting, they might be able to kill the sea giant, but it’d be a battle where both sides lose, or at least one would have to sacrifice themselves. They'd definitely need more heroes to help, along with some solid strategies to hold the sea giant back and keep the disaster from spreading too far.

All the strategies could be boiled down to one critical question: how could the sea giant be forced back into the sea to reduce the threat of kaiju blood to the human population?

If this anthropomorphic kaiju lacked the instinct to flee or fear death, it would continue advancing toward the human city!