Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

The stench kept seeping into the gas mask, and Cui Ming's knuckles, clenched so tightly, showed hard, bluish-white marks. In the past, with his fiery temper, he would have already grabbed a weapon and settled scores with those idiots over such a mess of high-level mismanagement—regardless of their rank or position, anyone who dared to sabotage him at a crucial moment would be shot first. It was only thanks to Ze Jing's years of persuasion, which smoothed out many of his rough edges and gave his old partner ample face, that he managed to suppress his burning rage.

"Om-"

The roar of the engine pierced the stillness of the coastline. The shadow of the Flying Swallow 2 swept across the beach and hovered steadily above the monster's corpse. Lina piloted the fighter jet, her clear voice coming through the communicator with a hint of caution: "Instructor, Flying Swallow 2 has arrived at the designated position and is ready to begin the towing operation at any time."

Cui Ming looked up at the fighter jets in the sky, his voice still tense through the communicator: "Okay, let's begin. Be careful to control the force and don't break the skin of the corpse." As he gave instructions, a strange unease rose in his heart—this monster had been lying on the shallows for more than seventy years. Logically speaking, with the rotten flesh stuck together and the weight of the bones, it couldn't possibly be that light. But when the higher-ups urged him to move it, he hadn't thought about this in detail.

"Roger that!"

Lina activated the fighter jet's traction system, and two high-strength alloy cables with hooks swooped down, precisely embedding themselves into the pre-set fulcrum on the monster's back. She gently pushed the control stick, and the fighter jet climbed slightly, attempting to slowly pull the monster's body up—but the next second, Lina's brow furrowed sharply, and her voice through the communicator was clearly confused: "Huh? Something's not right, Instructor... Why is this monster so incredibly light? It's like it's hanging on a pile of rags, there's no pulling force at all!"

Cui Ming's unease exploded instantly. Years of combat intuition left him no time to think. He shouted into the communicator, "Abandon the operation immediately! Disconnect! Ascend immediately! Quickly!"

Without the slightest hesitation—this was an instinct Lina developed after years of training with Cui Ming. Her fingers flew, instantly severing the connection of the traction device, and she yanked the control stick high, sending the Flying Swallow 2 soaring into the sky like an arrow.

Just as the cable detached from the monster's corpse, a piercing tearing sound exploded!
"Bang——!!!"

The seemingly intact monster corpse, like a punctured, rotting balloon, suddenly swelled outwards from its abdomen and then exploded with a bang! Seventy years of accumulated rotten flesh, dark brown slime, half-digested remains, and countless unknown viscous substances flew in all directions like a volcanic eruption—this was no simple "flesh explosion," but clearly an unprecedented "monster whale explosion"!
Rotten flesh mixed with putrid fluids rained down like mud, splashing onto the beach, rocks, and even onto the EDF team members' protective suits, reaching highway guardrails thousands of meters away. Even more terrifying, the immense force of the monster's bursting belly propelled most of the putrid mixture straight towards the city—a dark brown "torrent" crossed the coastline, swept with the wind towards residential areas, coating trees and streetlights in a sticky, rotting substance that emitted a suffocating stench.

Cui Ming was thrown back two steps by the blast wave, his gas mask's visor instantly covered in a foul-smelling slime. He stared at the "stench-filled shockwave" spreading towards the city, his face ashen—damn it! His worst fears had come true! This high-ranking official's vanity project had not only failed, but had created a colossal mess!
"Ahem—!"

The onlookers who hadn't had time to evacuate were terrified by the sudden whale explosion. Having just recovered from the previous stench, they were then drenched in a thick layer of rotting flesh and slime. The stench, a hundred times stronger than before, mixed with the fishy smell of rotting protein and the sour odor of decaying slime, instantly seeped into every pore. Many fainted on the spot, while the rest vomited violently and ran frantically in the opposite direction, their cries and screams drowned out by the roar of the waves.

Lina, aboard the Flying Swallow No. 2, felt a chill run down her spine as she gazed at the hellish scene below. She maneuvered her fighter jet high in the sky, watching the terrifying stench, like a thick gray fog, rapidly drift towards the city. Her voice trembled with fear: "Instructor... what... what do we do? The city..." Cui Ming wiped the slime from his visor and took a deep breath—although the gas mask filtered out most of the stench, the putrid, nauseating smell still shot through his head. He spoke into the communicator in a deep voice: "Ze Jing, immediately contact the city's emergency services and activate the highest-level evacuation plan! Notify all team members to bring purification agents and protective gear, and come with me to intercept the spread of the putrid liquid!"

He paused, his tone filled with suppressed anger and a hint of regret for his oversight: "Also, tell those high-ranking Japanese officials—the 'face' they wanted has been blown to bits! They'll have to clean up the mess themselves!"

The sea breeze was still blowing, carrying the terrifying stench of the whale explosion, rushing towards the city. On the beach, only scattered bones and rotting flesh remained of the monster's remains. The EDF team members had already assembled and, following Cui Ming's figure, rushed towards the direction from which the stench was spreading—an even more troublesome crisis than before had just begun.

Before the stench of the whale explosion had even dissipated in the air, Cui Minggang had just turned around to deploy the purification team when he suddenly caught a glimpse of something unusual on the beach out of the corner of his eye—the scattered monster bones were trembling slightly, and the rotten flesh fragments that had splashed onto the sand were wriggling toward the bones as if they were alive!
"Something's wrong!" Cui Ming abruptly raised his hand, signaling everyone to be on alert, his voice instantly turning cold. No sooner had he spoken than an even more horrifying scene unfolded: scattered bones clicked and clattered back together, writhing, rotting flesh coiled around the skeleton like vines, and new mucus began to secrete from the previously ruptured abdominal opening, binding the shattered body back together!

"It's resurrection! The monster has resurrected!" a team member shouted, instantly pointing his weapon at the reconstructing body.

Cui Ming covered his face in exasperation—he knew it! This bunch of high-ranking officials' nonsensical commands were bound to cause a huge mess sooner or later! If they had just burned it on the spot back then, there wouldn't be this trouble now! "Everyone, listen to my command! Heavy firepower, aim at the monster's joints! Snipers, suppress the head! We absolutely cannot let it get close to the city!"

The moment the order was given, the EDF team members immediately went into combat mode. The roar of heavy machine guns ripped through the coast, and bullets rained down on the reassembling monster; in the distance, a sniper pulled the trigger, and a specially designed armor-piercing round accurately struck the monster's not-yet-fully-fused skull, splattering a cloud of dark brown slime.

But the monster seemed oblivious to the pain, its regeneration speed undiminished. In just over ten seconds, a complete zombie monster stood on the beach again—its dark brown body was covered in wrinkles, the gap in its abdomen was still oozing putrid fluid, and its empty eye sockets gleamed with an eerie green light, making it look both ferocious and bizarre.

Seeing this, Cui Ming gritted his teeth and cursed, "Damn it!" He grabbed the flamethrower next to him, aimed it at the monster's leg, and pulled the trigger: "Burn its joints! Don't let it move!" The scorching flames instantly enveloped the monster's lower leg, and the rotting flesh sizzled as it met the fire, filling the air with a stench even worse than that of a whale explosion.

But just then, the zombie monster suddenly stopped struggling. It slowly lowered its head, touching its still-oozing belly with its slimy claws, its movements stiff but clearly showing "confusion"—the next second, a low growl came from its hollow throat, and its eerie green eyes turned towards the city, clearly... it was hungry. (End of Chapter)