41: Chapter 40: If you want to control Godzilla, then pause and wait for you to kneel down.

East Sea Defense Line, Command Center.

After Luo Yu hung up the phone, he couldn't help but stretch.

Godzilla (Little Lizard) on his shoulder opened its eyes and let out a "hissing" sound, as if asking: Whose call was that?

"It was Zhiruo's."

Luo Yu smiled and stroked its head, "She said she's going to bring you snacks."

Hiss! Hiss!

The Little Lizard was instantly happy, its tail wagging back and forth with excitement.

"Alright, alright, don't get so excited."

Luo Yu stood up and smiled, "Let's go eat first. General Zhankuang said he's preparing a victory banquet for us."

Walking out of the lounge, Luo Yu discovered the corridor was packed with soldiers.

Seeing him come out, everyone saluted in unison.

"Greetings, Major Luo Yu!"

"Uh..."

Luo Yu felt a bit awkward, "Hello, everyone."

"Major, could you give us an autograph?" a young soldier asked, gathering his courage.

"An autograph?" Luo Yu was taken aback.

"Yes, you're the hero of our Dragon Kingdom now!" another soldier said excitedly, "We all want your autograph!"

"This..."

Before Luo Yu could react, he was surrounded by a group of soldiers.

"Major, sign my uniform!"

"Major, I have a notebook here!"

"Major, can I take a picture with you?"

"Major, can I pet Godzilla?"

Luo Yu was left between laughter and tears by this scene.

Godzilla on his shoulder was even more bewildered, its vertical pupils clearly asking: What's wrong with these humans?

"Move aside! Everyone move!"

General Zhan Kuang's voice came from the end of the corridor.

The soldiers immediately cleared a path.

General Zhan Kuang strode over, and seeing Luo Yu surrounded, he couldn't help but laugh.

"You kid are a big star now; you get mobbed wherever you go."

"General, please don't make fun of me."

"Let's go, the victory banquet is ready." General Zhan Kuang patted Luo Yu's shoulder and said, "By the way, orders have come down from above."

"What orders?"

"Starting today, you are officially promoted to lieutenant Colonel." General Zhan Kuang couldn't help but exclaim, "An eighteen-year-old lieutenant Colonel, the first in the history of the Dragon Kingdom."

"Promoted again?"

Luo Yu blinked. It had taken less than a month to go from lieutenant to Major, and from Major to lieutenant Colonel... it had only taken two days?

"Yes, lieutenant Colonel."

General Zhan Kuang took a deep breath and added, "They actually wanted to promote you directly to Colonel, but considering you're too young and they were worried you wouldn't be able to command enough authority, they gave you lieutenant Colonel first. Once you rack up a few more meritorious deeds, Colonel will be set."

"..."

Luo Yu's mouth twitched slightly.

Wouldn't be able to command authority?

He was an S-rank Awakener now, and with Godzilla as his ultimate weapon, who would dare to defy him?

But then again, an eighteen-year-old lieutenant Colonel was indeed a first in the history of the Dragon Kingdom's military.

"Let's go, the victory banquet is ready."

General Zhan Kuang turned and walked toward the cafeteria, with Luo Yu following behind.

Godzilla (Little Lizard) on his shoulder yawned, its tail lazily wagging back and forth.

As the two reached the cafeteria entrance, they saw it was already packed with people. Almost all the high-ranking officers of the East Sea Defense Line were there, along with several generals Luo Yu didn't recognize.

"Lieutenant Colonel Luo Yu!"

Seeing Luo Yu enter, everyone stood up and saluted in unison.

"Hello, everyone."

Luo Yu returned the salute, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

This scene made him, still "wet behind the ears," feel a bit overwhelmed.

"Sit, sit, everyone sit down."

General Zhan Kuang gestured for everyone to sit, then pulled Luo Yu to sit in the seat of honor.

"Today's meal is to celebrate Lieutenant Colonel Luo Yu's victory." General Zhan Kuang raised his glass, looking around, his voice booming: "In five seconds, he killed the Third-Tier Abyss Behemoth 'Tidal Fang,' bringing glory to our Dragon Kingdom and rendering meritorious service to the East Sea Defense Line!"

"Come, everyone, let's all toast Lieutenant Colonel Luo Yu!"

"To Lieutenant Colonel Luo Yu!"

Everyone raised their glasses.

Luo Yu hurriedly stood up and picked up the juice in front of him.

"Generals, officers, I only did what I was supposed to do; I don't deserve everyone's toast."

"Hahaha!"

General Zhan Kuang laughed heartily: "You kid are quite humble, but a toast is a toast. Come on, bottoms up!"

"Cheers!"

Everyone drank in one gulp.

The atmosphere instantly became lively.

After Luo Yu sat down, General Zhan Kuang served him a large piece of braised pork.

"Eat more. You're the treasure of our Dragon Kingdom now; we can't have you going hungry."

"Thank you, General."

Luo Yu smiled and accepted it.

Godzilla on his shoulder saw the braised pork, and its eyes lit up. Its little claws tugged at Luo Yu's collar, making a "hissing" sound.

"Alright, alright, I'll give you some."

Luo Yu picked up a small piece of meat and held it to Godzilla's mouth.

The Little Lizard snatched it up and chewed contentedly.

This scene was seen by everyone present.

A young Major couldn't help but whisper to his colleague: "Is that Little Lizard... really the same monster that was over ninety meters tall just now?"

"Yes, I saw it grow bigger with my own eyes."

"It's too unbelievable..."

"Yeah, who could imagine that such a cute little thing could instantly kill a Third-Tier Giant Beast."

Everyone whispered among themselves.

Luo Yu ate a few bites of food and suddenly noticed that General Zhan Kuang's expression was a bit off.

"General, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

General Zhan Kuang waved his hand and took a sip from his glass.

Luo Yu saw that he was troubled and didn't ask further.

The victory banquet lasted for over an hour.

During this time, many officers came to toast him, and Luo Yu responded to each one.

When the banquet ended, General Zhan Kuang called Luo Yu to the Command Center's conference room.

"Sit."

General Zhan Kuang pointed to a chair.

Luo Yu sat down, and Godzilla dozed on his shoulder.

"Luo Yu, there's something I need to tell you."

General Zhan Kuang's expression became serious.

"What is it?"

"Regarding the issue of processing nuclear waste from other countries..."

General Zhan Kuang paused, lowering his voice: "It's become a bit troublesome."

Luo Yu raised an eyebrow, curious: "How so?"

"It's like this."

General Zhan Kuang sighed and began to explain: "After you killed Tidal Fang, the Dragon Kingdom officially announced your identity and also issued a statement—we could help other countries process nuclear waste."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Luo Yu was puzzled.

"It is a good thing, but the problem lies in the conditions."

General Zhan Kuang rubbed his temples and said: "The condition we proposed was that countries need to queue up in order, and... we charge one hundred thousand dragon coins per ton of nuclear waste."

"One hundred thousand dragon coins per ton?"

Luo Yu did the math; this price really wasn't expensive.

You have to realize, the cost of processing nuclear waste is inherently very high, and one has to consider problems like environmental pollution and personnel safety.

One hundred thousand dragon coins per ton was already a conscience price.

"Yes, one hundred thousand dragon coins per ton."

General Zhan Kuang's face showed anger: "But the problem is those countries aren't having it."

"They aren't having it?"

Luo Yu was dumbfounded. Processing nuclear waste—and countries refuse?

"Yes."

Bang!!

General Zhan Kuang slammed the table, saying very unhappily: "They said, since Godzilla needs to eat nuclear waste, they can sell it to the Dragon Kingdom for cheap, or even provide it for free, but they absolutely won't pay you to process it."

"They even said that while nuclear waste used to be trash, now... it's a scarce resource, and the Dragon Kingdom should be grateful they're willing to provide it."

"..."

After listening, Luo Yu was completely stunned.

What kind of logic is this?

nuclear waste is a scarce resource?

That stuff is clearly a pollutant, a headache of trash for every country, a super problem that even Awakeners can't handle, and now it's become a scarce resource?

"General, are you saying..."

Luo Yu's eyes flickered, and he spoke slowly: "They want to use nuclear waste to control us?"

"Exactly."

"They think Godzilla needs nuclear waste to grow, so they want to seize this opportunity to either make us process it for them for free or make us pay to buy their nuclear waste."

"That's damn shameless!"

General Zhan Kuang grew angrier as he spoke: "One hundred thousand dragon coins per ton of nuclear waste is already the cost price. Our Dragon Kingdom making a small profit is purely to let Godzilla evolve, while helping them solve the nuclear pollution problem."

"And yet, they turn around and try to control us instead."

Luo Yu listened and was silent for a few seconds.

Then...

He smiled.

"General, which countries are you talking about, mainly?"

"Hmph, basically every country with nuclear waste has this mindset. They are jealous that our Dragon Kingdom has Godzilla to fight the Abyssal Giant Beast, so now they've tacitly united to try to force us to submit."

"Force us to submit?"

A smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of Luo Yu's mouth, and he said in a relaxed tone: "Then let's just pause it."

"Pause?"

General Zhan Kuang was clearly a bit hesitant. After all, the country had promised to raise Godzilla, and nuclear waste was one of its most important foods, right?

"Yes, pause."

Luo Yu said calmly: "Anyway, the Dragon Kingdom has no nuclear radiation exclusion zones anymore, so we're not in a hurry."

"As for the other countries..."

"If they want to let nuclear radiation exclusion zones exist, then let them exist. It's not our land being polluted anyway. As for Godzilla's food, it can just eat the dead and frozen Abyssal Giant Beasts for now!"

Hearing this, General Zhan Kuang couldn't help but slap his thigh: "Good! Since you have no objections, then we really aren't in a hurry. They are the ones in a hurry. With nuclear waste piling up like mountains, the pollution getting worse, and Mutated Beasts getting stronger, they are the ones who will suffer."

"We'll just leave them hanging and see how long they can hold out."

Luo Yu grinned, as if thinking of something, and added a startling remark: "General, I think it won't be long before other countries are begging the Dragon Kingdom to let Godzilla eat their nuclear waste."

"And by then, it won't be a 'conscience price' of one hundred thousand dragon coins per ton anymore."