Chapter 5: Chapter Five: Stealing the Egg

At midnight, Madison Square Garden lay utterly silent, the night like a sleeping beast opening its terrifying maw to welcome all insects that flew into its trap.

Ye Nan slipped through the side entrance of Madison Square Garden, carrying a travel bag and daring not to approach the main gate.

He had expected a fierce battle, but to his surprise, the fighter jets merely circled the perimeter of Madison Square Garden without any sign of attacking.

“Could it be that the military actually cares about civilian safety and plans to strike only after everyone evacuates? Damn, I should’ve taken Jessica with me.”

Ye Nan cursed himself inwardly for misjudging the situation, but now, no matter how much he regretted it, he couldn’t turn back—he knew Dr. Ma Xiu’s obsessive nature meant he’d never allow him to take Jessica away.

Slipping quietly through the side entrance, the entire Madison Square Garden was eerily quiet; the air carried a foul stench—the reek of dead fish from the sea.

Ye Nan tiptoed forward, intending to approach the giant beast, when suddenly a hand reached out from behind and yanked him backward.

Thud! Ye Nan spun and punched the person behind him in the stomach.

“Fuck, you damn yellow monkey.”

“Watch your tongue.”

Ye Nan’s eyes flashed coldly as he delivered another punch, again striking the man’s stomach. Since arriving in America, under Andy Lin’s training, Ye Nan had trained daily—his body was exceptionally strong. He might struggle against soldiers, but taking down a sneaky thief like this? No problem.

“Fuck, you damn yellow—” The man behind him fell silent, as if remembering something.

Ye Nan turned to look at him: a faded yellow T-shirt, washed-out jeans—but unfortunately, the man was Black.

In America, Black people were universally discriminated against—not just by white Americans, but even by Asians, because many Black people were gang thugs and social destabilizers; Andy Lin’s restaurant had suffered countless extortion attempts from them.

“Who are you?” Ye Nan asked coldly.

“You crazy fool, that big thing is right below us!” the Black man groaned, clutching his stomach—clearly, Ye Nan’s two punches had left him in agony.

Ye Nan looked at him, his expression softening slightly. “What’s that big thing down there doing?”

“What do you think? Laying eggs, of course. Damn it—if those things hatch, all of New York, no, all of America, is finished. That’s why me and my crew are trying to figure out what to do.” The man spoke irritably.

“And what are you planning to do?” Ye Nan asked.

“What else? Ask the military to bomb all the eggs.”

“I see.” Ye Nan’s face darkened instantly—the military planned to bomb all the eggs. He had to take them before that happened; he was running out of time.

“Hey, buddy, where are you going? Don’t go down there!” The Black man tried to chase after him, but seeing Ye Nan’s agility, he gave up. “Damn yellow monkey, if you wanna die, go ahead—I’m getting out of here.”

Stepping into the hall, the stench of dead fish grew thicker until Ye Nan could barely breathe. Inside, thousands of eggs were packed tightly together.

“Where’s Godzilla?” Ye Nan thought, but his hands moved swiftly—he descended the stairs, grabbed one egg, and sprinted back up.

Godzilla’s egg was large and heavy; Ye Nan estimated it weighed at least ten pounds. He quickly shoved it into his travel bag, preparing to leave.

But fate turned against him—suddenly, a sharp crack echoed, and one by one, the eggs beneath shattered. From each emerged a lizard the size of a puppy, all without exception bearing tiny wings on their backs.

“Did Godzilla mutate into a dragon? But those wings are so small—can they even fly?” Ye Nan muttered under his breath, swiftly exiting the hall.

A scream pierced the air—terrifying, soul-shattering—a white girl pointed at the hatched lizards in the hall, her finger trembling violently with fear.

“Shit, today’s girls have no nerve,” Ye Nan cursed inwardly, fleeing even faster. He knew the girl’s scream wouldn’t alarm the newborn lizards—but Godzilla, being cruel, would surely turn her into food.

Though he knew the outcome, he made no move to return and save her. To risk both their lives for a stranger? He couldn’t do that.

But avoiding danger didn’t mean it wouldn’t find him—sometime unseen, Godzilla appeared behind him, its leg as thick as a small house, crushing anything that dared block its path.

The colossal Godzilla chased Ye Nan relentlessly, roaring in fury as if determined to kill this egg-thief.

The two fighter jets nearby had noticed the commotion and flew over, circling Godzilla—but showed no intention of helping.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I stole one egg—is that worth chasing me like this? You’ve got dozens of kids back there—if you don’t watch them, the military will blow them all to hell!”

He knew lizards could track egg thieves by scent, and mothers always punished them brutally—but now that it was happening to him, he lost his composure.

“Ye Nan, over here!” Dr. Ma Xiu emerged from nowhere, beckoning him in.

Ye Nan instantly turned and followed Dr. Ma Xiu into his underground lab, leaving Godzilla alone above, roaring in rage.

The underground lab lay ten meters beneath the surface, dimly lit, filled with animals preserved in glass jars, all submerged in blue liquid.

“Welcome to Dr. Ma Xiu’s lab—here, you’ll witness the most beautiful experiments; here, you’ll see humanity’s great transformation,” Ma Xiu declared with grandeur, arms wide.

Ye Nan cut him off without hesitation. “I only want to know where my sister is.”

“Your sister is resting in bed. Honestly, kid, you hit her pretty hard,” Dr. Ma Xiu said with a smile.

Ye Nan’s face flushed slightly—he’d never knocked someone unconscious before; his strike had been a bit too forceful.

“Come on, let me see my little Godzilla.”

Ye Nan swiftly unzipped the travel bag—but to his shock, the egg was gone. Inside lay only a puppy-sized Godzilla, gazing at him bewilderedly.

“My egg!” Dr. Ma Xiu shrieked, grabbing Ye Nan’s shirt and shaking him violently, as if his parents had died. “Give me back my egg! My egg!”

“Uh… maybe you could just use a live creature for your experiment?” Ye Nan laughed awkwardly, embarrassed—the egg had hatched, something no one could’ve predicted, and he’d promised to bring back an egg…

“No! I need the egg! Or… go back and get another one?” Dr. Ma Xiu clung to the idea like a lifeline, pleading desperately.

Ye Nan’s face darkened. He shoved Ma Xiu away. “No way. I just escaped danger—I’m not going back to be hunted by that damn Godzilla.”

Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine—it was Godzilla. One misstep, and he’d be nothing but pulp.

“Please! Godzilla has no research value—I need the egg, the egg! With the egg, I can create thousands of Godzillas!” Ma Xiu nearly went mad, begging earnestly for Ye Nan to become a thief again.

“No.” Ye Nan refused firmly—he would never put himself in danger again.

A deafening, mournful howl echoed, followed by faint tremors—then silence.

Ye Nan and Dr. Ma Xiu exchanged glances. Ye Nan asked, “Whose voice was that? How could it penetrate dozens of meters underground?”

“Probably Godzilla’s. Given its size, its sonic waves could reach here—but why would it be mourning?” Dr. Ma Xiu murmured, stunned.

“Could the military have started their operation?” Ye Nan thought of the answer and relayed the information he’d gotten from the Black man.

“My egg!” Dr. Ma Xiu roared like a cat with its tail stepped on, venting his rage. “Damn military! Damn government idiots! You bastards—you have no idea how precious Godzilla’s eggs are! You just blew them all up!”

“Not necessarily. If you can think of researching them, don’t you think the government can too? You’re a doctor—you know better than I do how corrupt those officials are.”

“Exactly! Those politicians are the most hypocritical—they must’ve already collected them, then pretended to destroy all the eggs to cover it up! Those bastards think they can fool great Dr. Ma Xiu? Impossible! Hah!” Ma Xiu danced with excitement, as if his parents had died, then miraculously come back to life.

“You’re a lunatic with a scrambled brain,” Ye Nan cursed inwardly. The situation was clear—the government wanted to hoard the eggs. Even if he knew, what could he do? Could he just take them back?

“Dear Dr. Ma Xiu, it seems my sister and I will be staying with you for a while. Please make sure to treat us well—with good food and drink.” Ye Nan smiled sweetly at Dr. Ma Xiu.

“Of course,” Dr. Ma Xiu said generously, then picked up the little Godzilla and returned to his experiments.