Chapter 118: Arc 4: Chapter 6: Monarch’s Invitation

At the bottom of the volcano in Isla de Mona, boiling orange-red lava flowed on the side like a pool of orange-red liquid.

The temperature here had exceeded 1000 degrees, far higher than the heat a normal human can withstand; there exists no living creature here, and following the popping of the lava bubbles, poisonous gas filled the air of this no-man zone.

"Dang"

Professor Serizawa takes out a small hammer and knocks on the fossil-like entity, making a metallic rock sound. Next to him, Merlin reaches out and touches the skin of the fire titan named Rodan.

It was like touching a heated rock.

The fire-proof agent formed a layer of frost on Merlin's skin which helped him insolate the high heat that could easily scorch people; it also allowed him and Professor Serizawa to survive in this space filled with extreme heat and poisonous gas.

"Surface temperature is around 1200 degrees."

Professor Serizawa takes out a detector and carefully places it on Rodan's skin, he looks at the readings on it and shouts to Merlin:

"This is just the temperature exposed to the air, the temperature of Rodan's submerged in the lava body must be even higher, astonishing."

"See this rock?"

Merlin replies:

"This is a volcanic stone formed on its wings, this creature is smart, it used this hard stone to cover his body, forming a layer of geothermal armor...I dare say that its skin under the store must've vulcanized for it to withstand such heat."

"It's nature's evolution."

Professor Serizawa raises his head, he looks at the ancient creature engraved into the stone wall and says:

"Rodan must've been active in Godzilla's time, they're all miracles that survived an ancient disaster. Take a rock, Professor Merlin, we'll take it for a carbon-14 detection to confirm its active date."

"Alright."

Merlin looks down at the heated watch on his wrist, he turns back and shouts to Professor Serizawa:

"Time's almost up! We'll stay for at most 5 more minutes! Prepare to head back!"

As he finishes, he waves the pickaxe in his hand and heavily knocks on the surface of the rock-covered beast, he retrieves a small piece of heated rock then places it into Professor Serizawa's suitcase.

Then, just as they came, the two returned to the observation lab's pathway.

A few minutes later, as the closed door of the observation chamber opens, Vivienne, who was waiting at the door, immediately hugs the smiling Professor Serizawa before he could even speak.

The young biologist was terrified by her mentor's reckless behavior.

Merlin and Hill stood aside contemplating Vivienne and Professor Serizawa's current posture...though they hid it well, the faint feeling between the two that went beyond the teacher and student relationship could not be hidden from those around them.

Mmm...teacher-student relationship.

Quite impressive, Professor Serizawa.

"It's alright, Vivienne, it's alright now."

Professor Serizawa did not care about the expression in Merlin's eyes, he patted on Vivienne's back, calming his apprentice down.

Right now, there was an unnatural paleness on Professor Serizawa's face, he felt cool after coming out of a 1000 degree hell, but the problem was that his current temperature was a bit too low.

Vivienne felt like she was holding an ice cube as she held her mentor in her arms.

"What's going on?"

Vivienne grabs a blanket and covers it on the shivering Professor Serizawa. She pours hot tea for her mentor while looking at the also frosty Merlin, asking:

"Professor Merlin, is this situation normal?"

"Mmm."

Merlin takes the towel Hill hands over and wipes the droplets on his neck, he then says to the worried Vivienne:

"This is normal, all Professor Serizawa needs to do is take a hot bath and he'll be fine."

"Professor Merlin."

Ishiro Serizawa looks at Merlin while covered in the blanket:

"I've been meaning to ask, what exactly is that liquid you had just now? How could it allow normal people to withstand nearly 1000 degrees of lethal heat?"

"The fire-proof agent quickly lowers the temperature of the skin, which temporarily paralyzes the nervous system which detects heat, in turn protecting one from the heat."

Merlin pulls out a chair and sits opposite to Professor Serizawa, he explains:

"You can say that after someone injects him/herself with this agent, he/she would not feel the change in temperature in the next 15 minutes; at the same time, the body's temperature would lower to counteract the heat in the surroundings, protecting the user from being burned..."

"This agent is born out of some ancient yet mysterious formulas, it won't cause much harm to us; that is, we can't inject it too often, otherwise, the skin would get frostbite."

"How magical!"

Vivienne says in surprise:

"Just some agent and it allows the human body temperature to continuously go down, this completely disregards the law of thermodynamics!"

"Good question."

Merlin chuckles, he looks at Professor Serizawa and says:

"You would not be asking this question if you had truly accepted the realism of my research. Let me ask you this, in the law of thermodynamics, is there a creature that can release a steady stream of cold energy that can freeze anything just by depending on its own circulation system?"

"No."

Professor Serizawa shakes his head and says:

"According to Monarch's research, even if it's Godzilla's Atomic Breathe Ability, it happens because nuclear fission keeps happening inside that creature's body. I've never heard of a creature that can freeze anything as you've said."

"It indeed exists."

Merlin flicks the ice chips from his finger and looks towards Hill, saying:

"Dorris, explain to them."

Agent Hill who had not slept and had done her homework lightly coughs, she then explains casually:

"In the few years of me and Professor Merlin's research, we've discovered multiple creatures that can ignore thermal conduction to quickly lower their temperatures. Including but not limited to Tibetan Yetis, Siberian Big-Foots, North Arctic Sea Dragons, and the widely existing Ice Leprechauns in Northern Europe. Some substances extracted from these irregular creatures also include the same cooldown effect."

"The cooldown agent was made using the scales of the sea dragon."

Merlin nods at Hill with satisfaction, he continues:

"I used this agent to successfully find that young lava worm back in Italy, unfortunately, this agent can only help you withstand the high heat and not the burns of fire; otherwise, we could've been able to go deeper into the lava and explore more on Rodan."

"No worries, this much is enough."

Professor Serizawa shakes his head and says to Merlin seriously:

"Professor Merlin, I know that you're currently hired by the WSC, but I still wish to invite you to join Monarch. The knowledge on irregulars you possess is very important to carry our research forward."

"This..."

Merlin was relieved as he heard Professor Serizawa's offer.

This means that he has once again earned Monarch's trust, he had confidence in finding out Monarch's true inside story.

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Merlin and Hill look at each other, he contemplates for a few seconds then says to Professor Serizawa:

"Personally, I'm willing to join Monarch. After seeing Rodan, I knew that your research can also carry my research forward; theoretically, ancient titans like Rodan was also categorized as an irregular creature, and it's a high-tier predator in the irregular food chain."

Merlin lets out a bitter expression and says:

"But even if I wanted to, SHIELD won't let me go so easily, so...what I mean is, I can join your research as a non-staff member or a non-executive consultant, this is best for both of us."

Merlin lowers his voice and says:

"The WSC desperately wants to see the evaluation report on Monarch, if I really join you, they'll force me to become an 'eye' left in Monarch for them, which is what I do not wish to see."

He tidies his collar and says firmly:

"I'm a pure researcher, I'm only interested in science, and I wish not for my research to be interrupted by political means. Please understand my concerns, Professor Serizawa."

"This..."

Professor Serizawa and Vivienne look at each other, they had thought that Professor Merlin would not reject this invitation, but they didn't know he would reject it so resolutely.

As both sides remained silent for a few minutes, Professor Serizawa lets out a smile and says to Merlin:

"I won't impose you then, but if Professor Merlin wants to make a detailed evaluation report, then you should come with us to Monarch's other observation lab aside from Rodan's."

"Oh?'

Merlin says in surprise:

"You've tracked another titan aside from Rodan?"

"Mmm, yes."

Professor Serizawa says softly:

"It's called Kong, it's on a hidden island in the South Pacific. But Kong's situation is much more complex than Rodan's, it's not in a continuous sleep like Rodan, instead, Kong has been very active ever since we've discovered it...in fact, we've also been met with some troubles with Kong's research."

"Kong is an ape-like juvenile titan, its smell, vision, and hearing are all very developed; it also has a strong sense of territorial awareness, this led to us building our lab on the edge of Skull Island, and we can't station too many researchers, in case we infuriate Kong."

Ishiro Serizawa looks at Merlin straightforwardly and says:

"Kong is the most valuable specimen we can find, so I wish to invite you to come with me to the observation site in Skull Island tomorrow..."

"Of course."

Merlin did not hesitate for long and nodded:

"I'll go pack up my things now."

As he finishes, he bids goodbye with Hill to Professor Serizawa and leaves the lab.

As they saw them off, Professor Serizawa's assistant/student/companion, Vivienne Graham says in a low tone:

"Professor, are you really bringing Mr. Merlin and Ms. Dorris to Skull Island? Their true identities have yet to be confirmed."

"No, Vivienne."

Professor Serizawa shakes his head, he looks at the black volcano rock collected from Rodan's body and says:

"Their identities are unimportant compared to the help Professor Merlin can give us."

"Monarch's research has remained stagnant for far too long, perhaps Professor Merlin's arrival is a chance, a chance for us to better understand these ancient titans, only then..."

"Will we find the way for humans and monsters to co-exist."

"The King of Monsters Godzilla has appeared once again, the titans' sleep won't last any longer..."

---

It was midnight once again, Merlin walks through the lab, his shadow cloak hides him from the detection of the security cameras that worked 24/7.

His dark senses were telling him that Professor Serizawa, Vivienne, and Hill were all sound asleep, with the few lab staff on watch were dozing off outside the lab.

This was the best time to explore.

Merlin stands before the door leading to the observation chamber, he looks around and transforms into black fog, and through the tight gap of the closed door, Merlin enters the hot volcano with slight difficulty.

There was poisonous black smoke clouding the volcanic crater, suitable for Merlin to hide his black fog.

He reaches out and taps on Carol's necklace, the blue facemask which could provide Merlin with oxygen under a multitude of environments covers the lower half of his face. Merlin stands on the edge of the cliff and leaps, his body transforming into threshing black fog in the air and hiding perfectly in the hot atmosphere in the volcano.

After accepting Morris' shard of power, Merlin's black fog had also gained heat, though the temperature was not as exaggerated as the black smoke above the volcanic lava, it keeps him from being harmed by the extreme heat.

He drifts in the air and quickly approaches Rodan's upper torso above the lava.

He seeps into Rodan's enclosed body following the sleeping titan's curled-up wings; since the large wings covered on the surface of its body layer by layer like a cocoon, there wasn't much lava filled in Rodan's lower torso.

This allows Merlin to accurately measure the size of the bird-shaped titan. He records the data in his mind:

"Codename: Rodan."

"Approximate height is around 150 feet, which is around 46 meters."

A few minutes later, Merlin acquires a new measurement.

"Wingspawn 871 feet...265.5 meters, bloody hell, this guy can match 2 B-52s with one wing."

He levitates in the air, extends his finger, and taps on Rodan's petrified skin; his dark senses seep into the heated rock along his finger like a radar.

Rodan's true form begins to show in Merlin's head bit by bit.

"Surely, vulcanization throughout the entire body including the scales, just like a Cerberus; periosteal wings like a bat or Thestral, and mostly hollow bones, just like a Thunderbird."

"Looks like an enlarged pterosaur when it spreads its body fully, has a sharp break, horny crown, no feathers, two strong hind claws...mmm, triangular tail."

Merlin's dark senses scanned on the surface of the sleeping Rodan as he moved his finger, he did not sense any magic from the creature.

This means that Rodan is incapable of using magic...

It was a true beast, and not a Fantastic Beast as wizards had thought it to be.

"A pity."

Merlin shakes his head and retracts his fingers, he had collected enough data for now.

At least, in his senses, this titan forged in fire is sound asleep and won't be waking up anytime soon.

But this is good.

Merlin levitates midair and looks at Rodan who had assimilated with the rocks; he knows that with Rodan's terrifying size and wingspan, it needn't have magic. All it had to do was fly, and it would cause a sonic wave capable of leveling entire cities, which was much more destructive than all the magic Merlin knew.

"Keep sleeping, good baby Rodan."

Merlin pats on Rodan's large head and says:

"Best never awaken..."

 

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