Yu Zhou took out a flight device, stepped onto it, and left his spacecraft behind before putting the ship away.
A spaceship of that size would be far too conspicuous if it approached the island — better to move in on something smaller and quieter.
But just as he was nearing the island, the calm sea suddenly erupted.
A colossal beast burst out of the water, sending massive waves crashing against the island's shores.
"A monster?!"
Instinctively, Yu Zhou's hand went to the Dark Sparklence, ready to transform.
But after a brief pause, he hesitated — something didn't feel right.
He was here to observe the island's advanced technology.
If he stepped in now and destroyed the monster himself, wouldn't that ruin his chance to see how their weapons worked?
This creature… might just be the perfect test for their science.
The monster resembled an enormous crab — its entire body encased in a blood-red shell.
Its pincers served as arms, and its beady eyes protruded from its head, standing upright like a humanoid.
Its bizarre form instantly reminded Yu Zhou of Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob.
"Wait a second… this thing's basically a giant version of Mr. Krabs?!"
Boom!
One of the creature's claws launched a ball of ice, which slammed into something invisible midair and shattered.
A sharp clang echoed — the projectile had hit a barrier and fallen harmlessly into the sea.
"That was… a shield?"
It wasn't visible to the naked eye, but Yu Zhou could sense it —
The entire island was encased in a massive protective barrier.
Could it be designed to defend against ocean storms or tsunamis?
Boom!
The monster's claw struck again, hammering the shield — yet not a single crack appeared.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
It attacked again and again, to no effect.
Finally, the monster roared in frustration.
It stepped back, raised both claws high, and the ocean behind it surged upward like a living wall.
The sunlight dimmed as the towering wave rose, swallowing the horizon.
In an instant, darkness fell — and the entire island disappeared beneath the crashing sea.
"Damn, that crab's insane!"
It was the first time Yu Zhou had seen a monster with such raw destructive power.
So this was what they called an Ultra-Ancient Original Stone Monster?
He loved it already.
"If Charija were here, he'd be dying to capture that thing," Yu Zhou muttered, shaking his head.
Just when he thought the island had been completely annihilated, something astonishing happened —
The ocean receded… and the island reappeared, completely unscathed.
The protective barrier shimmered faintly, smooth and unbroken, and the island itself was untouched by the flood.
"Incredible… this level of technology is unreal."
Yu Zhou couldn't hide his amazement.
He had thought "Ultra-Ancient technology" might just be a little more advanced than modern science — but he was dead wrong.
Their intelligence and engineering far surpassed anything imaginable.
To create a shield that could protect an entire island from a tidal wave — this was true mastery.
The crab monster, seeing its attack fail, grew even angrier. Its body, already red, turned a deeper, glossier crimson.
"Wait… aren't cooked crabs red?" Yu Zhou licked his lips while hovering above the sea. "Guess breakfast is still on my mind."
He recalled the crab porridge he'd made that morning — and how delicious it had been.
Then, from inside the barrier, a voice roared:
"Earth Defense Force — attack!"
As Yu Zhou watched from above, the Earth Defence Force inside the shield mobilized.
Armoured vehicles rolled into position along the beach, each one carrying massive electronic energy cannons aimed directly at the monster.
"Fire!"
"Launch all batteries!"
At the command, the barrier flickered and vanished for just a moment — and the cannons unleashed their blasts.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions thundered across the coast as beams of light struck the monster again and again, engulfing it in a dense cloud of smoke.
When the barrage ceased, the shield automatically reactivated, wrapping the island once more in a shimmering dome.
"That's… a brilliant tactic," Yu Zhou said in admiration.
"No wonder they're from the Ultra-Ancient era — their combat coordination is unbelievable."
As the smoke cleared, everyone turned their eyes toward the shore, waiting to see the result.
And to Yu Zhou's surprise — there was no monster left at all.
Not even ashes.
Just blackened sand where the giant had stood moments ago.
"No way… no smoke-without-injury moment? They actually vaporized it?!"
The monster — the "Giant Mr. Krabs" — had been completely obliterated.
The soldiers of the Earth Defence Force erupted in cheers.
This had been their first successful monster battle since the team's founding — and they'd won flawlessly.
Most of them were originally elite soldiers from the royal city, now united as one under the banner of the Earth Defence Force — proud and exhilarated.
"Your new weapon is quite impressive,"
a graceful female voice spoke as a figure approached them from behind.
The middle-aged man in a white lab coat — who had been recording the cannon's data — turned at once and bowed slightly.
"Princess Yuzare, you flatter us."
The woman smiled faintly and corrected him:
"Please, call me Commander now."
It was Yuzare, the very same woman who had been overseeing the Earth Defence Force's recruitment tests the day before — now clad in armour that only accentuated her commanding beauty.
From high above, Yu Zhou blinked in surprise.
"Wait, she's here too? Wasn't this supposed to be the advance unit?"
Even wearing full armour with her long black hair flowing behind her, Yuzare's elegance was undeniable.
"Commander, seeing you in battle gear is truly a rare sight,"
the scientist chuckled warmly, clearly an old acquaintance.
Yuzare ignored the teasing and focused instead on the weapon beside him.
"This energy cannon — is it the light-powered weapon I requested you to develop?"
"Yes, Commander," he nodded.
"It's based on your specifications for a Photon Energy Cannon. Unfortunately, it still relies on electronic charge rather than pure light energy… but as you've just seen, its power is considerable."
He gestured toward the scorched remains on the beach.
"Not bad for a prototype, I'd say."
A soft, almost teasing voice spoke up beside Yuzare.
"The Lord of this island truly lives up to his reputation — a man devoted to science."
"Just a small trick, nothing more," the scientist replied with a smile, shaking his head. "But to see Prince Cain himself here on R'lyeh Island — that's a surprise."
His tone was half-respectful, half-amused.
It seemed both Yuzare and Cain were accustomed to his bluntness, paying little attention as they examined the cannon up close.
Their mission here was clear —
to equip their weapons and aircraft with the new energy cannons developed on R'lyeh Island,
the secret research base of the Ultra-Ancient civilization.