22: Chapter 21 Growing Godzilla, an 86-meter-tall behemoth

Buzz!!

The blinding blue light lasted for a full three minutes.

Even Luo Yu, who was at close range, had his eyes half-squinted from the intense light; he could only feel a terrifying energy erupting from within Godzilla.

[Ding! evolution progress has reached 100%!]

[Pet beast beginning evolution!]

[Awakening Stage → growth stage!]

Rumble!

Accompanied by a massive roar, Godzilla's body began to swell.

Fourteen meters... twenty meters... thirty meters...

Scales began to shed again as new ones grew from beneath the skin.

Those new scales were thicker and harder than before, shimmering with a metallic luster.

The dorsal fins were also changing; the originally blade-shaped fins began to fuse, becoming sharper and more massive. Each dorsal fin looked like a super greatsword stabbed into Godzilla's back. The three spikes at the tip of the tail were also growing, increasing from half a meter to two meters long, glinting with a cold light.

Most astonishing was Godzilla's head. The originally hideous head became even more domineering, and those vertical pupils flickered with endless destruction and tyranny.

Forty meters... fifty meters... fifty-six meters...

Finally,

Godzilla's size settled at eighty-six meters.

Looking out, Godzilla stood in the small nuclear ruins like a small mountain. The surrounding architectural remains looked like toys before it.

[Ding! Evolution complete!]

[Godzilla (growth stage · Atomic Dragon King Form)]

[Current Size: 86 meters (Can be shrunk at will)]

[evolution progress: 0%]

[New Abilities Unlocked:]

[1. Enhanced Nuclear Reactor (Passive): The internal nuclear reactor's power is increased thirty-fold, providing a more powerful energy output.]

[2. Spiral Heat Ray (Active): An enhanced version of Atomic Breath, power increased fifteen-fold, capable of continuous output.]

[3. Radiation Shield (Active): Forms a radiation energy shield on the body surface, capable of blocking physical and energy attacks.]

[4. High-Speed Regeneration (Passive): Regeneration factor enhanced, allowing recovery from injuries in an extremely short time.]

[5. Nuclear Pulse Burst (Active): Releases an area-of-effect nuclear energy shockwave, power increased ten-fold, instantly clearing surrounding enemies.]

Luo Yu stared at the System prompts, his mouth hanging wide open.

Eighty-six meters?

This was already the size of a Third-Tier Abyss Behemoth.

Yes,

an Abyssal Giant Beast.

Of course, Abyssal Giant Beasts and nuclear radiation Mutated Beasts were different. Mutated Beasts were categorized by Ranks like S, A, B, and C just like Awakeners, while Abyssal Giant Beasts were invasive monsters categorized from Tier One to Tier Nine.

For example: Tier One (10-30 meters) was City-level; Tier Two (30-50 meters) was Province-level; Tier Three (50-80 meters) was National-level; Tier Four (80-120 meters) was Intercontinental-level; Tier Five (120-200 meters) was Global-level; Tier Six...

Godzilla's current size

could already rival a Tier Four Abyssal Giant Beast.

This evolution was simply terrifying.

Moreover... each of the five new abilities Godzilla gained upon evolving to the growth stage was ridiculously strong.

Especially the Spiral Heat Ray.

An enhanced version of Atomic Breath with a fifteen-fold increase in power?

How terrifying would that be?

"Godzilla?"

Luo Yu called out tentatively.

Roar—

Godzilla lowered its head and looked at Luo Yu.

A hint of gentleness flashed within those vertical pupils burning with blue flames.

It recognized Luo Yu.

"Shrink down a bit, you're too big like this."

Roar—

Godzilla's body began to shrink.

Eighty-six meters... thirty meters... ten meters... three meters...

Finally, it turned back into a thirty-centimeter Little Lizard, wobbling as it crawled to Luo Yu's feet.

"Hiss hiss."

The Little Lizard let out a satisfied cry.

Luo Yu squatted down and rubbed its head.

"Good work."

He could feel

that the energy contained within Godzilla was hundreds of times stronger than before.

As long as it wished,

it could return to its eighty-six-meter super combat form at any time.

And...

Luo Yu looked at his own hands.

The energy feedback from Godzilla was still ongoing.

[Host receives evolution feedback]

[Spirit Power +5000... +8000... +10000...]

[Congratulations Host, Rank increased!]

[B-Rank → A-Rank!]

Boom!

Luo Yu felt an unprecedented power surge within his body.

His muscles became firmer, his bones tougher, and his senses sharper.

This was the power of an A-Rank Awakener.

In the Dragon Kingdom,

an A-Rank Awakener was already considered top-tier combat power.

They could serve as high-level military officials or guard certain regions alone.

"Comfortable."

"Getting stronger without even needing to Cultivate."

Luo Yu stood up and stretched his body.

He felt like he could blow his former self away with a single punch.

"Let's go, keep eating."

After a brief moment of adaptation,

Luo Yu led Godzilla toward other areas of the Nuclear Power Plant.

Although most of the nuclear waste in the Core Area had been eaten, there was still plenty left on the entire Ghost Island.

The middle-tier areas, the peripheral areas, and those nuclear waste barrels scattered all over.

Added together,

there were at least thirty thousand tons remaining.

"Eat it all."

Over the next twelve hours,

Godzilla was like a fighter jet among bulldozers, sweeping across the entire Ghost Island in a starved-ghost mode.

Every bit of nuclear waste was swallowed into its mouth.

Anyway,

in Godzilla's words,

it had grown stronger, and its appetite had become larger and better.

[evolution progress +0.5%... +1%... +1.5%...]

Luo Yu followed behind it, watching the System prompts.

He discovered

that after Godzilla evolved to the growth stage, the nuclear radiation energy required had exploded, far more than he had imagined.

Previously, a thousand tons of nuclear waste could increase evolution progress by 5%.

Now, a thousand tons of nuclear waste could only increase it by 0.5%.

A full ten-fold difference.

"It seems the amount of nuclear waste needed to evolve to the next stage is quite large..."

Well then!

Luo Yu did some mental calculations.

If calculated according to this ratio,

for Godzilla to evolve from the growth stage to the Mature Stage, it would need 2 million tons of nuclear waste.

Two million tons!

This number was too terrifying.

The remaining seven Nuclear Radiation Forbidden Zones in the Dragon Kingdom only added up to about three hundred thousand tons of nuclear waste.

This is a drop in the bucket!

Originally,

in Luo Yu's plan,

the remaining radiation would at least allow Godzilla to evolve a significant amount further, but he hadn't expected it to be so insufficient.

Godzilla's potential was too terrifying, and its demand for evolution was too intense. Luo Yu couldn't believe how formidable and scary Godzilla would become after absorbing so much nuclear waste and evolving again.

"Whatever!"

"I'll let the country worry about that!"

At this thought,

Luo Yu didn't bother thinking much more about it.

The world produces 150,000 tons of nuclear waste annually.

If he could get half... it would still take over a decade to save up two million tons, unless he could get the accumulated, unprocessable nuclear waste that countries had stored over all these years.

...