At this moment, the top existences of two universes are engaged in the same endeavor: frantically scouring the universe for power to augment themselves.
Yuuji and King Ghidorah know that a battle between them is inevitable, and the victor will gain control over two universes.
The enhancements by controlling two different transcendental systems are unimaginably vast, expanding their potential pathways exponentially.
Finally, Yuuji opened his eyes again.
"It's about time. Nothing left to take in this universe, and the sparse natural energy isn't worth the effort anymore..."
It was time to act.
Beside him, Planet Godzilla sensed the moment, its massive form that had undergone some changes, stirring slightly.
"Apart from the Ten Tails, only that creature piques your interest."
Yuugi glanced at the giant creature.
Over the years, Planet Godzilla has also been increasing, striving to enhance its strength and barely transcending the limits of planetary life.
Most importantly, this creature had mastered spatial abilities, and in a confrontation with King Ghidorah, it would not be without the means to fight back.
"Since we're prepared, let's set off," Yuuji commanded.
Kabuto was visibly excited: "To witness another universe with my own eyes is truly an honor."
"Wait until we slaughter King Ghidorah; you'll feel even more honored. Let's go."
Yuuji issued the command.
A massive war machine started to move.
Countless mighty warriors scrambled across the planet, making final preparations.
...
Monsterverse.
In recent years, this universe, too, has become increasingly unstable.
King Ghidorah, revered as a god by many, had been invading various planets more crazily and frequently.
Logically, this wasn't necessarily a good thing. Each planet becoming a battlefield meant that the monsters' battles could directly reduce the lifespan of those planets.
But for many civilizations with nowhere else to turn, King Ghidorah was incredibly merciful and sacred.
The reason was simple: they were remnants of civilizations defeated by their planet's monsters, and only by aligning with King Ghidorah did they stand a chance to defeat the monsters on their homeworlds.
The only drawback was that King Ghidorah gathered all these remnants, insisting they desperately develop various technological weapons and use all resources and intelligence to fuel the war technology tree.
This was peculiar.
The wisest from various civilizations were initially confused.
Why would such an invincible and grand god persistently seek and eliminate the existence of monsters and so urgently push them to advance military technology?
"Lord Metphies, has the latest prophecy been released?"
"Yes, it still encourages everyone to enhance military strength greatly."
Metphies, originating from the Exif civilization, maintained a mysteriously serene smile, naturally endearing himself to others.
"I see. Although I don't quite understand, we owe our survival to Him, so let's hurry up and build more spacecraft."
Metphies quietly watched the people scattering and returning to their respective places. He paused for a while, then regained his composure and walked leisurely.
Along the way, every individual—strictly speaking, every humanoid being—looked at him with respect and reverence.
For them, the Exif civilization was the closest to King Ghidorah. It was said that they had followed King Ghidorah a hundred million years ago.
Metphies, as the leader of the Exif civilization, could always contact the remnants of various civilizations first, providing multiple forms of assistance. As a "prophet," he led the heroes of these civilizations to call upon the name of King Ghidorah in times of despair.
"It's still too slow, far too slow. On average, finding a suitable civilization takes decades, and fostering a monster to destroy that civilization takes at least a dozen years..."
The only consolation was that more and more civilizations were being gathered, which might speed up the search.
Unbeknownst to others, including some members of his own Exif race, Metphies was exceedingly anxious.
The conditions required for a planet to give birth to monsters were incredibly stringent.
First, there had to be life on it; second, intelligent humanoid life; and lastly, this intelligent life must have developed a sufficiently advanced technological civilization.
Only under these conditions could a life-bearing planet, through continuous self-destruction brought about by its technological civilization, give birth to monsters of various forms and strengths.
Planets meeting these criteria were already rare and highly valued, making it even more challenging to stimulate these technological civilizations to meet their demise early so King Ghidorah could appear as a savior.
After King Ghidorah consumed the monsters, he would return to higher dimensions, and the Exif and other affiliated civilizations would gather the surviving population of those civilizations.
Those unaware of the inner workings, including some members of the Exif civilization, were puzzled by King Ghidorah's obsessive actions. What was the point of gathering a multitude of technological civilizations to develop military technology desperately?
Even the most potent planet-destroying cannon or the giant spacecraft was no match for a projection of King Ghidorah.
Because they all faced monsters from their mother planets, these civilizations lacked the time and heritage to spend thousands or hundreds of thousands of years researching powerful space technology.
"King Ghidorah seems a bit impatient..."
Metphies frowned slightly as he returned to his residence.
"Back already? Enjoying the praises of those clueless folks must make you very happy," a senior man sneered at him.
"There's no need to mock me the moment you see me. I, too, am working hard for the continuation of our species."
Metphies stopped, staring at the old man: "We haven't seen each other for over thirty years, yet you've aged even more... Earth's civilization seems to have reached the end of its biotechnological capabilities. I remember a recently accepted civilization has advanced quite far in biotechnology; I'll have them tailor a genetic potion to extend your life."
"Are you boasting about your species' natural longevity? Metphies, hide your ugly face; it just makes one sick! Those newcomers don't know your true face, but I do!"
The middle-aged man rushed forward, grabbing Metphies by the collar while yelling angrily: "You bastard, many of the monsters on those planets shouldn't have emerged so early; it was your doing, wasn't it? You accelerated their technological levels, stimulating the birth of monsters! Even Earth was your doing..."
"Haruo, it's been almost three hundred years; why are you still dwelling on this..."
Metphies looked indifferent, with a natural disdain for everything external, his true cold-blooded nature.
Metphies calmly said: "Are you really ignorant or just pretending to be? The birth of monsters is related to the strength of a technological civilization, its level of development, and the degree of environmental damage it causes. Even without us, Exif, once you secretly reached the levels we manipulated, you would still have encountered Godzilla and been destroyed by him."
Haruo slowly released Metphies's collar.
He couldn't kill Metphies here; the moment he tried, high-tech weapons hidden in the walls around them would have killed him before he could act.
"Calmed down? If so, continue urging your humans to build more spacecraft and ground-based cannons."
Metphies walked past Haruo.
"Wait! I have one more question!" Haruo dragged his aged body, speaking deliberately, "Is it that creature coming back?"
"Who?"
"Godzilla!"
"...Why do you say that?"
"As far as I know, Godzilla is also one of the most powerful monsters among the MUTOs; I even suspect that it's second only to King Ghidorah, the monster that destroyed your Exif civilization!" Haruo said.
That's right. King Ghidorah's number one henchman, the Exif civilization, has been running around for King Ghidorah for 100 million years and harming technological civilization. It is actually the technological civilization that was destroyed after King Ghidorah was born.
The difference was that King Ghidorah is cunning and smart enough, and does not fall into mechanical thinking logic like Planet Godzilla.
King Ghidorah overcame his instincts and recruited the remnant population of the Exif civilization as henchmen.
Just for this skill alone, King Ghidorah is the only one in the universe, which is amazing. With such wisdom and self-control, it is no wonder that he can become the overlord of the universe.
But the orders issued by this cosmic overlord in the past few hundred years are extremely strange.
Why does the monster civilization accept so many civilizations to make weapons for it?
"Godzilla, who disappeared mysteriously back then, is back, right? The demon is back." Haruo trembled. "King Ghidorah noticed this and felt a strong threat, which is why it's acting so crazy!"
"...Maybe, but I'm unsure if it's because of that. Theoretically, it's unlikely that a monster over 20,000 years old could threaten King Ghidorah, who has developed for over a hundred million years."
Metphies paused, his expression slightly more severe, "It's more likely not because of Godzilla but some other powerful enemy."
"A new monster?" Haruo's gaze sharpened.
Neither could understand.
They wouldn't imagine that beings from another universe were preparing to launch a fierce attack on their universe.
Think about how outrageous the cosmic rules in this universe are: Before a technological civilization develops, it will be destroyed by its own planet monsters. So, by definition, it's not a technological civilization.
It had to be another monster.
But what kind of monster could make King Ghidorah, the overlord of the universe, so nervous? Even if it is really a monster, what is the point of urging them, the remnants of technological civilization, to make weapons?
"That's strange, a powerful enemy capable of threatening Ghidora, yet they resort to technological weapons that can't threaten Ghidora? The opponent isn't a technological civilization?"
"Perhaps the enemy is a collective civilization similar to technological civilization...a collective civilization composed of many monsters."
Metphies and Haruo, intelligent and courageous elites of their respective civilizations, and friends and foes, understood each other's thoughts and analyzed a possible outcome in just a few words.
But this conclusion left these two widely knowledgeable humanoid beings somewhat bewildered.
Is it possible?
Among monsters, competitive food chain relationships exist, consuming each other to elevate their life forms significantly.
Although these monsters protect their planets and theoretically shouldn't encounter each other, clever monsters like King Ghidorah who have overcome their instincts exist.
Not to mention, on Earth, Mothra turned into an egg and went into a deep slumber, and Godzilla did not bother Mothra—perhaps it didn't discover it?
But if a collective civilization composed of a group of monsters emerged, that would be a seemingly absurd yet logically coherent conjecture. Only such a civilization with multiple members would need them, these remnants of technological civilizations, to desperately manufacture technological weapons to fight against it.
At worst, they could engage some of the enemy.
The two looked at each other silently, then turned and walked away; the conjecture was too bizarre, shattering their understanding of monsters.
Metphies hurried away, considering whether to plan to prepare for the war to avoid panic among his people.
And Haruo was filled with discontent.
Why?
Even if the enemy indeed was a group of monsters, they were still monsters, weren't they? All monsters were the mortal enemies of technological civilizations.
Haruo was unwilling to become a subordinate to monsters like Metphies.
"Isn't there a possibility? Can't technological civilizations ever overcome the monster barrier? What cosmic rule... With so many technological civilizations having grown over billions of years, isn't a single one that managed to kill its planet's monster?"
Could there be no miracles? Even if it was a cosmic rule, wasn't there a sliver of possibility to break it?
"Monsters... Even if those creatures are the great filters standing before all technological civilizations, I believe someone can lead their people through!"