Upon entering the conference room and seeing Camilla dressed in a GUTS uniform, Yin Xi's eyes instantly lit up.
He knew what kind of Kaiju this was, so he wasn't nearly as nervous as the others. Garkuma was just an ordinary Kaiju living inside the rocks, and the armed forces of GUTS alone were entirely sufficient to eliminate it.
However, upon closer reflection, Yin Xi realized that the current GUTS did not yet have lethal weapons equipped. Sure enough, several members were currently discussing how to modify the fighter jets. Yet Yin Xi had no intention of participating in the discussion. Instead, he hurried over to Mizuno, finding him analyzing the data from Tiga's previous battle.
Involuntarily, Yin Xi watched the video again. In the footage, Tiga fought with fluid, effortless grace, without a single redundant movement—a stark contrast to his portrayal in the original work. Yin Xi concluded that this change was caused by the lingering consciousness of Tiga's true form sensing Camilla.
This, however, put Mizuno in a difficult position, because the values displayed on his instruments were all question marks. With TPC's current technology, it was simply impossible to analyze the data of the substitute fighting as Tiga.
When he snapped back to reality, Yin Xi noticed there weren't many people left in the conference room. Horie and Rena had gone to discuss the fighter jet modifications, while Shinjo and Munakata's whereabouts were unknown. Just as Yin Xi was wondering where Camilla and the captain had gone, Camilla's voice echoed in his mind: "Yuzare's descendant has some things to discuss with me. You stay here with Daigo and the others for a bit."
So now, only Mizuno, Daigo, and Yin Xi remained in the conference room.
Suddenly, Daigo spoke up: "Mizuno, do you still have the recording of the giant's battle? Can I take a look at it?"
Without hesitation, Mizuno projected the video onto the main screen. "This giant's strength is absurdly high, but there are still some things I can't figure out."
Hearing this, Yin Xi grew interested, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to Daigo.
"Pay attention, everyone. At the very beginning of the fight, the giant didn't show overwhelming dominance; he was even being attacked by the two Kaiju from time to time."
"Look closely. At this exact moment, based on the original data, the giant shouldn't have been able to dodge Melba's sneak attack."
The screen showed the exact moment Tiga dodged Melba's ambush and smoothly kicked Golza away.
"It's starting from right here that the giant's combat style changes. First, he freezes in place for a few moments, and only resumes moving when the Kaiju are about to strike him."
"Furthermore, after this point, I couldn't analyze the giant's data at all."
"Still, just looking at it with the naked eye, you can tell something is going on."
"Look at the giant's two forms. With the red form, you can clearly sense that every attack is terrifying; just a few punches were enough to make it hard for Golza to hold on."
You had to hand it to Mizuno—his analysis was extremely meticulous and on point. Yin Xi was hoping to hear what else he had to say, but Daigo piped up, completely unamused: "Wouldn't it have been better to just use the red form from the start?"
Yin Xi: "..."
"Uh, Team Member Yin Xi, why are you looking at me like that?" (For reference, please picture the dead-pig meme.)
Though feeling slightly suffocated, Yin Xi still wanted to let Mizuno finish.
"Not quite. You can look at the later part: when the giant transforms into the purple form, his speed becomes incredible."
"Right here, when the giant is pursuing Melba flying in the air and later the fleeing Golza, his speed is so fast it even leaves afterimages."
"So the giant must be adapting himself to the different situations on the battlefield."
With that, Mizuno wore a look of pride, convinced his analysis was spot on. And indeed it was.
After listening to Mizuno's explanation, Daigo nodded enthusiastically. "I get it~~~ I get it~~~"
Suddenly, Daigo felt someone press down on his shoulders. As soon as he looked up, he locked eyes with Yin Xi's dead-serious gaze.
"No, you don't!"
"Tiga in the video is strong, sure, but that's a special circumstance! A special circumstance!"
As he spoke, Yin Xi vigorously shook Daigo back and forth.
"Besides, close-quarters combat is just one of Tiga's negligible advantages! Look closely at the video—in such a short fight, how many special techniques did Tiga use?"
"Tiga has way too many abilities to even count! You know it's not just about turning red and rushing in blindly."
Before Daigo could react, Mizuno couldn't sit still any longer.
"The giant's name is Tiga? What a cool name! But Team Member Yin Xi, why are you telling Team Member Daigo all this?"
Hearing Mizuno's follow-up question, Yin Xi froze for a second before his brain went into overdrive.
"Uh, well, I know Tiga, right? I just didn't want Tiga to be misunderstood as a brute."
Considering that Yin Xi was indeed someone who had walked out of ancient ruins, Mizuno nodded without any suspicion.
Daigo, however, was a different story.
*[Could Team Member Yin Xi know that I can transform into Tiga? But how could he?]*
"Alright, Daigo, stop thinking about it. Just remember what I said."
Seeing Yin Xi's stern expression, Daigo had no choice but to nod.
At that moment, Camilla and Iruma Megumi returned. Seeing Iruma's somewhat grim expression, Yin Xi felt a twinge of guilt. He stealthily scurried over to Camilla and whispered, "Sis, you didn't take your anger out on the captain over Yuzare, did you?"
Camilla looked at him speechlessly. "Am I really that petty in your eyes? I just told Iruma Megumi that she has Yuzare's power lingering inside her."
"Then why does the captain look so awful?"
"Because she wanted me to help her draw out that power, which resulted in Yuzare temporarily taking over her body and fighting me."
"Ah, well, Yuzare went too far."
Just as Yin Xi wanted to say more, the alarm blared once again, instantly cutting him off.
Munakata's large face popped up on the main screen. "Headquarters, headquarters! Garkuma has appeared! Requesting backup, requesting backup!"
At the same time, Horie's voice came over the comms. "Weapon modifications are complete. We're launching immediately."
Hearing the latter message, the slightly fatigued Iruma Megumi relaxed a bit. "Team Member Daigo, could you please take the Gark squad car and drive Team Members Yin Xi and Camilla to the scene?"
"Understood."
Inside the mine, the single-horned Garkuma had already destroyed the temporary camp set up by TPC. Director Sawai was advancing toward a safe area under the cover of the exploration team.
A whistling sound echoed from afar. A yellow and black fighter jet slowly rose above the distant horizon.
Green energy continuously gathered within its massive gun barrel. With a resolute gaze, Shinjo gave the order, and a green beam instantly surged forth, slamming directly into Garkuma's body.
With a thunderous roar, it exploded.
"We did it! Ha!" Shinjo turned around excitedly to high-five Horie and Rena.
After landing the jet, Shinjo and Horie approached Munakata, while Rena remained behind to adjust the aircraft. Nearby, Sawai looked the two men over with satisfaction, nodding repeatedly.
"I wouldn't have thought you'd come up with a way to deal with Kaiju in such a short time. Excellent."
Everyone was immersed in the joy of killing the Kaiju with a single strike, subconsciously letting down their guard.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently once more, as if something was about to burst forth from the depths of the earth.