3: Chapter 3 Childhood Sweethearts' Care and the Radiation-Absorbing Rat

Suddenly,

at that moment,

the phone rang suddenly, interrupting Luo Yu's thoughts.

Caller ID: Su Zhiruo.

Luo Yu froze for a moment, not expecting her to call, and answered.

"Hello?"

"Luo Yu! Are you okay?" A girl's crisp yet anxious voice came from the other end: "I heard you awakened an F-rank Talent. Did people make fun of you? Are you skipping class right now?"

"I'm fine."

Luo Yu leaned back in his chair and said with a smile, "It's just an F-rank Talent, no big deal."

"But..."

Su Zhiruo's voice choked up slightly as she said, "You must be very sad, right? You worked so hard, and your grades were so good. Why would..."

"I'm really fine." Luo Yu interrupted her with a smile. "F-rank is still a talent; it's better than nothing."

"Don't... don't lie to me." Su Zhiruo's voice dropped even lower, whispering, "If you're in a bad mood, you can come find me. I... I'll be there for you."

Luo Yu's heart warmed.

In this world, Su Zhiruo was probably the only person who truly cared about him.

"I know." Luo Yu's tone became softer. He took the initiative to change the subject, pretending not to know, and asked, "By the way, what talent did you awaken?"

"I..."

Su Zhiruo hesitated for a moment before saying, barely daring to breathe, "SS-rank... Space-type... The teacher said I should go to the academy in the Capital."

"..."

Luo Yu was silent for a second.

SS-rank.

That was a top-tier talent, one in a million.

"Congratulations." Luo Yu took a deep breath and said, "You'll be a big shot in the future. Don't forget your old friend."

"What are you talking about!" Su Zhiruo's voice suddenly rose. "I won't forget you. You're my... you're my most important friend!"

"Alright, alright, I know." Luo Yu could hear the panic in her voice and took the initiative to say, "I have some things to handle here, I'll hang up first."

After hanging up,

Luo Yu let out a long sigh.

Was it hard?

SS-rank and F-rank.

From today on, he and Su Zhiruo were from two different worlds.

However...

Luo Yu looked at the Little Lizard on his shoulder, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

Heh,

his Godzilla,

wouldn't be weak once it grew up.

Thinking of this,

Luo Yu opened his computer,

and began searching for information on the Baijiang City nuclear power plant.

Baijiang City First Nuclear Power Plant, located in the eastern suburbs of the city, was one of the earliest nuclear power plants built in the Dragon Kingdom.

After the Abyss Era began fifteen years ago, this nuclear power plant was once attacked by an Abyssal Giant Beast. Although it was eventually repelled, the plant's reactor unit one was damaged, leading to a small-scale nuclear leak.

Since then,

the reactor unit one had been sealed, and the surrounding ten kilometers were designated as a forbidden zone.

And there,

a large amount of unprocessable nuclear waste had accumulated.

The more Luo Yu read, the more excited he became.

This was simply a tailor-made buffet for Godzilla!

Of course,

the nuclear power plant was definitely heavily guarded, but he wasn't afraid at all.

He was about to turn himself over to the state anyway,

so what was there to fear?

After all,

he possessed an ability that the country needed.

Processing nuclear waste.

This was a headache for the entire world.

Countries spent hundreds of billions of dollars every year to store and process nuclear waste, while also bearing the risk of leakage.

If he could prove that Godzilla could safely "eat" nuclear waste,

its value would be absurdly high.

"Let's go, we're heading to the nuclear power plant."

The Little Lizard tilted its head, a hint of excitement flashing in its eyes.

...

11:00 PM.

The outer perimeter of the Baijiang City First Nuclear Power Plant, three-kilometer cordon.

The area was brightly lit, with a sentry post every fifty meters and fully armed soldiers patrolling back and forth.

Drones circled in the sky, monitoring all movement in the surrounding area.

Luo Yu stood outside the cordon, looking at the brightly lit nuclear power plant in the distance, and took a deep breath.

"It's fine, you have the confidence."

He said to himself, then walked toward the cordon with a swagger.

"Halt!"

A sentry immediately raised his gun, the dark muzzle pointed at Luo Yu.

"This is a restricted military zone! No approaching!"

Luo Yu raised his hands with a harmless smile on his face and said, "Don't shoot, I'm here to help you deal with the nuclear leak!"

The sentry was stunned for a moment,

then looked at Luo Yu as if he were an idiot.

"What did you say?"

"I said, I'm here to deal with the nuclear leak," Luo Yu repeated seriously.

"Young man, did something set you off?" The sentry's expression turned from shock to suspicion, and finally to sympathy. He lowered his gun, his tone softening slightly. "The radiation level here is ten thousand times over the limit. Let alone an ordinary person like you, even a B-rank Awakener wouldn't last ten minutes inside. Go home quickly and don't cause trouble here."

"I'm not an ordinary person." Luo Yu pointed to his shoulder and said solemnly, "I'm an Awakener, and my talent is specifically for dealing with radiation."

"Your talent... is this Lizard?" The sentry glanced at the Little Lizard on Luo Yu's shoulder, his mouth twitching.

"Yes." Luo Yu nodded. "Don't look at how small it is; it can eat all radiation."

The sentry was silent for three seconds, then picked up his walkie-talkie.

"Captain, there's a lunatic here. Should we call the hospital?"

Luo Yu: ...

Just then, an alarm suddenly blared.

The piercing siren cut through the night sky, and red warning lights began to flash.

"Warning! High-energy radiation organism detected approaching! Repeat, high-energy radiation organism detected approaching!"

The sentry's face changed instantly.

"Damn! Another Radiation Rat!"

As soon as he finished speaking,

a sharp hiss suddenly came from the darkness in the distance.

A giant rat the size of a bull charged out from the darkness.

Its fur had all fallen off, revealing rotting flesh and white bones. Its eyes glowed green, and glowing saliva dripped from its mouth.

This was an E-rank Mutated Beast: Radiation Rat.

Long-term exposure to nuclear radiation had mutated ordinary rats into monsters.

"Fire!"

The sentry immediately pulled the trigger.

Da da da da da!

Bullets poured out,

hitting the Radiation Rat and splashing blood everywhere.

But the Radiation Rat didn't care at all. It charged toward the sentry with terrifying speed.

"Damn! We can't pierce it!"

The sentry's face turned pale as he retreated while firing.

Other sentries also opened fire, but unfortunately, the bullets had little effect on the Radiation Rat.

Seeing the Radiation Rat about to pounce on the sentry, Luo Yu suddenly shouted:

"Get out of the way!"

The sentry instinctively dodged.

The next second,

the Little Lizard on Luo Yu's shoulder suddenly jumped down.

It grew in the wind mid-air, its body expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Thirty centimeters... fifty centimeters... one meter!

In the blink of an eye, the Little Lizard turned into a meter-long black monitor Lizard, the bony spikes on its back glowing with a faint blue light.

The moment it landed, it pounced on the Radiation Rat.

Bang!

The two monsters collided with a dull thud.

The Radiation Rat opened its bloody mouth, trying to bite through the giant Lizard's neck.

But the giant Lizard was faster.

It bit the Radiation Rat's throat, a blinding red light erupting from its vertical pupils.

In an instant,

a bizarre scene occurred.

The green light on the Radiation Rat's body began to fade rapidly, like a toy whose batteries had been drained.

It struggled desperately,

but the more it struggled, the weaker its body became.

In just ten seconds, the Radiation Rat's body shriveled up, finally turning into a mummified corpse.

The giant Lizard let go and let out a burp.

Then its body rapidly shrank, turning back into the thirty-centimeter Little Lizard, and wobbled back onto Luo Yu's shoulder.

Total silence.

All the sentries stared at this scene in disbelief.

A sentry tremblingly picked up a radiation detector and pointed it at the Radiation Rat's corpse.

Beep beep beep...

The numbers on the detector plummeted.

10,000... 5,000... 1,000... 100... 10... 0.

It hit zero.

"This... this is impossible..."

The sentry muttered to himself, "The radiation... it's completely gone?"

Luo Yu walked over, bent down to pick up the Little Lizard, and patted its head.

"See?" He turned to the stunned sentries and smiled. "It's not full yet."

"So..."

Luo Yu pointed to the brightly lit nuclear power plant in the distance. "Take me to see your leader."

"I think he'll be very interested in my talent."