Ultraman: Because I am Gatanothor

"An undersea earthquake has been detected 17 kilometers away..."

Those inside the command center also heard this. Nori quickly turned on the communication channel, and Director Sawai shouted at the screen, "Ascend immediately!"

"understand!"

Nanase Reina, inside the rescue boat, opened her mouth, but ultimately chose to keep it closed. She wasn't the only one on the rescue boat; if it were her, she would definitely have driven the rescue boat down.

As the rescue boat discharged a large amount of seawater, its buoyancy increased.

The rate of increase has also increased by more than half.

In the blink of an eye, it was back on the sea.

Inside the command center, Dr. Makino frowned, his eyes fixed on the huge monitor.

The confusion on his face was even greater.

"What's wrong?" Director Sawai asked, noticing his expression.

Dr. Makino lay on a computer, pulling up a rough map of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

After taking one look, he said directly, "This is not an ordinary undersea earthquake; it looks more like a man-made one!"

Actually, when he was on floor B87, he saw the earthquake source report and had this guess, but he didn't say it because some data was missing.

The same earthquake has occurred again.

Comparing the two cases, he finally confirmed his suspicions.

Ye Rui, standing nearby, exclaimed in surprise, "A person did it? How is that possible!"

What kind of person could create something comparable to an 8-magnitude earthquake?

Megumi Kijima also looked incredulous. "Dr. Makino, are you sure?"

Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she asked, "Could it be an underwater nuclear test?!"

If it were a high-powered weapon like a nuclear bomb, that would be a possibility, but wasn't that kind of thing banned more than a decade ago?

Dr. Makino thought for a moment and gave an ambiguous answer.

"It's possible!"

Ye Rui, who had been monitoring the screen, suddenly shouted, "Look!"

"what happened?"

As Ye Rui spoke, he operated the computer, saying, "Horui just sent me the seabed map that Fengdu surveyed, and I noticed that something seems to have risen up here!"

He was referring to a tiny part of the R'lyeh ruins that Nanase Fudo saw after he encountered the epicenter and once again controlled Dolphin 202.

However, due to the damage to most of the communication equipment, it was completely rendered unusable after only transmitting a small amount of data.

Therefore, there was only enough time to transmit the seabed topography data back.

To allow the three to make a clear comparison, Ye Rui released the underwater topographic map that was originally stored in the large database.

Upon comparison, Director Sawai indeed noticed the difference on the giant monitor.

Then Ye Rui continued, "And just now, I remodeled the area using the detection data from the rescue boat and discovered that this spot has actually sunk."

On the monitor, there are three terrain maps, each marked with a time point below it.

The first and third pictures are basically similar, except that the second picture has a high, raised landform in the middle.

Everyone present was intelligent; they glanced at each other and then looked at the three points in the diagram.

Dr. Makino asked in a trembling voice, "You mean..."

He swallowed hard and managed to ask the question that was on his mind.

"You mean... Dr. Nanase and the others... are buried at the bottom of the sea!"

Ye Rui remained silent.

Suddenly, Lina's incredulous words came through the call channel.

"Ye Rui, what you said... is it true?"

Even though the sound would change due to the circuitry, everyone could still hear the disbelief in Lina's voice.

Megumi sat up straight and said calmly, "Team Member Lina, the oxygen supply in the self-rescue device is for 24 hours. We still have time!"

Upon hearing this, Nanase Rena grasped at a straw and hurriedly said, "Yes, Dolphin 202 has a self-rescue device! They must still be alive!"

"Commander, think of something! They're still waiting for us to rescue them!"

Zong Fang remained silent, gazing intently at the sea.

Seeing this, everyone fell silent, even Lina, who shut her mouth and stared intently at Vice Captain Zongfang.

The Victory Team has been established for some years, so they naturally know Vice Captain Munakata very well.

Whenever the other person falls silent, it's either because they're spacing out or thinking about something.

…………

Under the sea, inside the ruins of R'lyeh.

When Nanase Kazetsu woke up, he found that his whole body was in pain, especially his lower back, which felt like his intervertebral disc was protruding.

It made him gasp.

"hiss!!"

He looked around and found the flashlight that was still on. He picked it up, glanced at the battery level, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Only two bars of battery left?"

When the Dolphin 202 set off, all the supplies on board the submarine were fully prepared, so the flashlights were also fully charged.

Under normal circumstances, a flashlight can provide illumination for up to 24 hours.

The battery level has a total of four bars.

On average, one bar of battery power can last for six hours.

Twelve hours had already passed between the two sections.

He was unconscious in the cave for twelve hours, which is simply illogical.

"Oh right, where's Director Ji Gang?" he exclaimed, then realized that his back seemed to be against a soft object, and he subconsciously looked over.

They found Director Ji Gang still lying on the ground, his fate unknown.

Seeing this, he seemed to understand something.

"So, Director Ji Gang shielded me from serious injury, that's why I wasn't badly hurt!?"

As he spoke, he raised his flashlight and looked up.

Three meters above your head, there is a hole. The hole is very narrow, just big enough for two people to pass through.

They escaped Zoga's attack thanks to this cave entrance.

It's hard to imagine that a height of three meters could cause them to be unconscious for so long.

He looked down, lifted Yoshitsugu's arm, and glanced at the time.

1999年，12月31日，04点43分……

"So twelve hours have indeed passed..."

Thinking of this, he felt a little anxious.

In TPC, the optimal rescue time is 24 hours. After 24 hours, the hope of rescue gradually diminishes.

Because you can do a lot of things in 24 hours.

For example, digging a pit nearly a kilometer deep, or flying all over the world.

They are now trapped in the ruins of R'lyeh, and if they miss the 24-hour window, he is not sure if the TPC can still rescue them.

However, considering that Yoshitsugu Yoshitsuji was by his side, TPC would not abandon them.

"So that means we only have three days left..."

Three days was the optimal rescue time he set for himself.

Thinking of this, he felt he had gotten used to the pain in his lower back, and then opened his mouth and put the flashlight in his mouth.

Despite the pain in my lower back, I gave Yoshitsugu Tetsuji a preliminary examination.

There were no external injuries, only a blow to the waist, which is now covered in bruises.

There was no problem with my head, because I was wearing a helmet, which provided good protection for my vulnerable head.

His neck was slightly swollen, which likely indicated a sprain or fracture.

After the examination, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew... thankfully... the injury isn't serious!"

With TPC's medical expertise, he can recover in a month or two of rest at home, meaning that Yoshitsugu Yoshitsugu is currently out of danger.

Suddenly, just as Feng Du lowered his guard, a huge object floated past him.

The moment Feng Du saw the long, enormous object, an uncontrollable surge of violent emotions welled up within him, and he couldn't help but want to destroy everything.

His murderous intent intensified, especially when he saw the old man lying motionless on the ground.