A sharp explosion.

It sounded from behind Luke.

He didn't know how a monster like that could make such a sound? Luke only knew.

The intense fear made him tremble all over.

No matter how curious he was before, he couldn't help but regret it now.

The open space in front of him was already shrouded by a huge shadow.

The huge death worm was already behind him, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth.

In a trance.

Luke felt as if he could smell the strong smell of blood and gunpowder smoke permeating his nose.

He wants to do something.

But the body that was running forward stiffly did not respond at all to the constantly diverging thoughts.

The next moment.

Just when Luke thought he was about to die.

Several sharp sounds of breaking through the air suddenly rang out.

Then a violent explosion came from behind.

The high-temperature shock wave that followed caused Luke to be blown away.

It fell on a haystack not far away.

Luke struggled to get up, but the burning pain in his back made every movement he made extremely difficult.

Fortunately, my head feels a little lighter after the fall.

When I finally raised my head.

He found that the huge death worm was slowly crawling up from the ground.

Below the death worm's huge mouthparts.

There were a few black stains that weren't there before, and it looked like it had been hit by some kind of explosion.

Look up to the sky.

A dozen fighter jets, whose specific models Luke could not identify, roared past.

Obviously.

They just launched missiles.

Looking at the monster now standing still, those missiles did have some effect.

But seeing that the monster was unharmed, Luke felt that it was likely not to be of much use.

Ponder for a moment.

Luke wanted to get up and leave this dangerous place where he could die at any time as soon as possible.

But apart from the burning pain in his back, his entire body felt as if the bones were about to fall apart, making it difficult for him to move in large movements.

To this.

Luke could only helplessly hold his forehead to comfort himself, at least he could still feel the pain.

It's just that the action of holding the forehead has just been done.

He then realized why his head felt light.

Blue afro.

Most of it was destroyed in the explosion.

Luke didn't have time to be sad about this. While the Death Worm's attention was focused on the fighter planes whizzing in the sky, he quickly and with difficulty got down from the haystack bit by bit.

I have to say, he is lucky.

The missile exploded not far away, but did not cause him serious injuries immediately.

Apart from the bloody surface of his back caused by the high-temperature shock wave, the most serious injury was the collision injury when he was blown away by the shock wave.

Probably broke two ribs and had bruises all over the body.

Look around.

Luke fought back the pain that grew worse every time he breathed, and found the scroll of paintings stored around his waist, on the ground not far from him.

He took a few steps closer.

Pick up the reel.

After a rough inspection, it was found that there were several obvious cracks on the reel, which were obviously caused when it was thrown out just now.

Luke turned his head and looked at the death worm not far away, which was still standing there motionless for some reason.

Then he swallowed.

I slowly opened the scroll and took a quick glance: [A sunny man standing in the background of a busy street scene in Taos]

Apparently there was no damage and the content of the painting was still clearly visible.

Luke immediately grabbed the painting.

He limped towards the direction closer to the town and away from the death worm.

Although I don't know why the death worm, which looks uninjured, is standing there motionless.

But Luke knew one thing:

If we don't run now, when will we run? There is a blockade force formed by the world's strongest four countries around us, and there is also the first joint aircraft carrier formation patrolling in the waters not far away.

The worm will be killed or delayed here by the firepower that will be released soon.

When the covering fire arrives, if he still stays nearby, he cannot be sure that he will be as lucky as before.

The more I think about it.

Luke couldn't help but quicken his pace.

Even if my whole body aches, even if I feel exhausted.

Not long.

The town where he settled appeared before his eyes.

but.

Countless people were seen gathering at the edge of the town, looking at Luke who was stumbling over.

Not...to be exact.

It was through Luke that he was looking at the huge death worm far behind him.

Obviously.

The huge noise at the blockade just now has alarmed most people in the town.

They took their weapons and prepared to come out to see who was making such a big fuss in a place like this.

But at this moment.

They were all stunned.

I can't believe what I'm seeing now.

This small town that became famous because of the search for Godzilla, monsters other than Godzilla appeared.

And the army's attacks seem to be ineffective against it!

That huge monster, like a death worm, is just like the evil demon in myths and legends. It is chilling just by looking at it.

In silence.

No one chose to contact the outside world.

As this area is close to the blockade line, the four countries have jointly blocked a large area of ​​signals. Anyone who comes here will be isolated from the world.

This is an inevitable protective measure.

Anyone leaving the town would be carefully checked by the outer checkpoints to see if they were carrying any video or audio recording devices.

This is the contradiction between the tourism economy that urgently needs to develop and the necessity of lockdown.

At least the four countries that were involved in Japan's political and economic collapse have acquiesced in this behavior that is conducive to economic redevelopment.

A tourist town themed on attempts to cross the blockade is allowed to exist near the blockade area.

It's just that I can't contact the outside world.

Now they have to find a way to survive while the blockade troops are helpless against the monsters.

It would take too long to leave here, and there was a high chance that he would not be able to outrun the giant death worm.

So now.

It would be best if the army had a way to deal with the monsters.

While everyone was thinking this, fighter planes in the distance launched a second round of attacks.

This time it's not a test.

Instead, all the firepower they carried was released.

The few fighter jets from the temporary airport on the blockade line did not carry much ammunition.

If this attack is useless.

We have to wait ten minutes for support from the aircraft carrier formation in the nearby sea.

Expensive and dangerous fireworks.

Blooming in the sky at this moment.

A huge amount of fire engulfed the monster.

Everyone was hoping that this attack would be effective.

Luke also stopped, turned his head and watched, waiting for the result of the attack.

Because everyone understood that if this attack had no effect.

This monster was enough to destroy the town before the carrier-based fighter jets arrived in ten minutes.

In silence.

Everyone held their breath.

It seemed as if he was afraid that taking a little more breath would affect the power of those airborne missiles.

But even if they didn't breathe.

The power of these missiles does not seem to be enough.

A thick purple beam of light suddenly penetrated the endless flames and smoke.

The beam of light flashed with purple electric light, like an indestructible lightsaber.

Without waiting for everyone to react.

It suddenly rose up at an angle.

A fighter jet failed to dodge in time and was swept across the back by the beam of light.

It's like a hot knife through butter.

The back half of the fighter plane disappeared after being swept by the beam of light, without any obstruction at all.

Only the cross-section filled with molten metal showed that the fighter had a back half.

The rest of the fighter jet fell freely, and the pilot failed to parachute successfully at the last moment.

The rest of the fighters immediately made various emergency maneuvers, trying to find a way to avoid the sweeping beam of light.

But most people simply can't react.

They were all swept away in an instant and turned into fireworks in the sky.

However, seeing the empty ammunition reserves, they immediately chose to return.

The next moment.

The purple beam of light disappeared.

The flames and smoke in the sky dissipated.

The unharmed death worm stood quietly in place, with purple arcs of electricity flashing from its open bloody mouth from time to time.

Apparently, smoke does no harm.

Fire coverage still cannot have any substantial effect on the death worms.

It even used the rising smoke to cover itself up, and a column of arc light unexpectedly eliminated most of the attacking fighter jets.

now.

Its eyeless mouthparts were pointed toward the town.

It chilled the hearts of all those who had expected the military attack to achieve something.

Although I can't see the eyes.

But everyone vaguely understood that the monster was watching them.

The next moment.

The monster's huge body began to move again.

Without the fighter jets to delay time, the monster's body moved faster than ever before.

Luke saw with his own eyes that any trees or stones blocking the road would be crushed into powder.

It is approaching at an incredible speed.

Conservatively speaking, it is far from possible to escape by driving away now.

In silence.

Luke did not choose to run away like the other townspeople who were watching.

Running away is nothing more than striving for the last death.

You can't escape no matter how hard you run.

Luke decided not to run away!

To be honest, he was already tired from running.

Dragging his injured body and sitting on the rocks by the roadside, Luke watched the monster approach quietly.

Although I was very scared just now.

But at this time it was unusually calm.

He really didn't want to die.

But when you know that you are really going to die.

He wanted to face it calmly.

Luke looked at the approaching monster and wanted to reach out and take out the paintbrush from his afro.

Draw two strokes on the ground before dying.

However, the afro that had been half destroyed by the high temperature and flames obviously no longer had its original storage function.

The paintbrush had apparently been lost somewhere when it was blown away earlier.

Apart from the painting he brought with him, he was completely alone at the moment.

In silence.

Luke opened the portrait with the words Eternal Sun written on it.

Looking at the sunny man with great temperament above.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly: "It seems that the secret about you can only disappear with me."

Luke shook his head.

I wanted to rely on this painting to find the extraordinary.

However, before they officially began their search, an extraordinary disaster struck.

It seems...

Until her death, she will never see again the man who once smiled and allowed her to paint his portrait.

In silence, he looked at the monster that had already looked down.

Its mouth was wide open and filled with sharp teeth.

Luke slowly closed his eyes.

What was there to look for? Even the Abnormal Countermeasures Bureau, which Lighthouse had established with all its national strength, had made no achievements in this regard.

What's the point of him getting involved?

really.

It would be better to end it all.

"Eternal Sun..."

Luke murmured, closing his eyes.

Waiting for the death worm that has reached the top of the head to bite itself to pieces with its densely packed teeth.

He believed that the pain would not last long.

Those circles of sharp teeth that made people feel terrified at the sight of them would not give him too much time to feel the pain.

Death is only a moment.

but……

The expected pain seemed to be delayed.

Luke opened his eyes.

What he saw was a bloody mouth that was big enough to swallow dozens of him, right in front of him.

But there was no progress.

If you look carefully.

Luke found that there was a hemispherical golden transparent energy shield around him.

The death worm's big mouth was stuck outside the shield and couldn't break through at all.

The muscles around its sharp teeth were clearly trembling, and it was clearly exerting enough force.

But there was still nothing he could do about Luke.

Even the death worm itself was like a normal person holding a light bulb in its mouth, its big mouth seemed to be stuck here and couldn't be pulled back.

The situation was deadlocked for a while.

Luke was naturally a little confused.

He didn't know why he was still alive, nor did he know what the energy shield around him was. But when he looked at the painting in his hand, he immediately understood.

Man in portrait.

I don't know when it disappeared.

It wasn't that it was erased, but it was as if the painting had never depicted the man.

As Luke looked around subconsciously.

Sure enough, I found a familiar yet unfamiliar figure beside me.

It feels strange because a man’s face is always forgotten the next second after I see it and I can’t remember it clearly.

Familiarity is because.

The man's sunny temperament made Luke unforgettable for a long time.

It still makes people feel warm and at ease, just like when we first met.

The man looked up at the death worm.

The fact that he was wearing the same clothes as before indicated one thing: the man looked clearly the same as he had appeared in the painting.

Think about this in conjunction with the man who disappeared in the painting.

It was as if to say that this man just walked out of a painting.

Such speculation made Luke swallow his saliva.

He didn't know what to say at this moment.

But he was sure that he was feeling both excitement and fear in his heart.

Luke knew that he kept the painting in the hope of finding this man.

But when this man really walked out of the painting, he couldn't help but feel a little bit like Ye Gong who was only interested in dragons.

He believed that no one could be in this situation.

Still remain calm enough.

If the monster's big mouth wasn't about to fall on his head at this moment, it would be really difficult for him to think in such an outrageous direction.

Pondering.

Luke chose to remain silent.

Choose to quietly look at the man in the painting who most likely saved your life.

And the man didn't pay attention to the complicated look in Luke's eyes.

He simply looked up at the worm with a slightly inquiring look and murmured, "Interesting creature... but this doesn't seem to be the real body?"

The man's voice was just like his appearance, you couldn't remember his features the second after you heard it.

I can only vaguely remember hearing a conversation that was spoken by someone I didn't know whether it was a man or a woman, old or young.

The next moment.

The man waved his hand at Luke's shocked look.

Huge golden pillars of light rose from all around and reached the sky.

The worms that were previously unscathed did not even have time to scream or escape under this fierce attack and were instantly turned into nothing.

Everything became quiet.

Such a familiar scene.

Luke, who had seen a similar beam of light outside the San Cristo Mountains, couldn't help but shrink his pupils.

That's it!

A golden beam of light like a god descending from heaven, carrying boundless power to destroy everything! He found it!

Luke was instantly excited.

But before Luke could ask anything.

Everything around me disappeared.

The worm, the protective shield, and the familiar yet strange man all disappeared.

Except for Luke, whose injury recovered at some point.

There was only one painting left around.

A painting that should have something in it, but now has nothing but the street scene of Taos.

(End of this chapter)