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CHAPTER 156 ( PLAT )
🕑 Added 2025-09-20 14:27:08 +0000 UTCNidavellir. Aidan's Workshop.
The foundry that had been under construction for nearly half a year was sealed off today. Dwarf King Eitri had issued strict orders to his people that nobody was allowed to enter the room under any circumstances without permission. This directive served two purposes: preventing his clansmen from disturbing Aidan without understanding the situation, and protecting them from potential dangers if they trespassed into the experimental area.
Eitri had seen the workshop Aidan had built - it was completely different from their traditional forge style. The various instruments inside looked much more refined and technologically advanced than anything the dwarves typically used. This wasn't to say that dwarven forging skills weren't sophisticated enough - they possessed extremely high natural talent and didn't need overly complex instruments. Most of their work relied on inherited ability and centuries of experience, often achieving results more accurate than any mechanical device.
At this time, Aidan closed his eyes and lay in a sleeping pod within his workshop, surrounded by complete darkness and the gentle hum of monitoring equipment.
"Requesting dream entry," Aidan said silently to the system.
"Now entering Pacific Rim universe. According to previous performance metrics, the time ratio for this instance is 1300:1. You cannot re-enter after death or premature exit. Do you wish to proceed?" The familiar mechanical voice responded after months of silence.
"Yes."
With the expected dizziness, Aidan's consciousness faded to black for a moment before reawakening in an entirely different reality.
Pacific Rim Universe - Background
During the Triassic period on an unknown planet, the Precursor civilization of the Anteverse noticed Earth for the first time. They were impressed with this planet's ability to support complex life. However, Earth's atmospheric composition at that time wasn't suitable for Precursor biology, so their plans for large-scale colonization were postponed indefinitely.
The Precursors were an alien colonizing race, extremely advanced in biotechnology and energy manipulation, but their bodies were as fragile as humans with poor environmental adaptation capabilities. Standing about three meters tall, they could walk upright on two legs like humans. With elongated limbs and attached wing membranes, they appeared to have evolved from some kind of flying creature. Their social hierarchy was strictly organized, with the highest decision-making body being a council similar to a republican senate. Generally, the higher the status of individual Precursors, the larger and whiter the crown-like formations of their exoskeletons.
But in the 20th century, as human industrial activity gradually destroyed Earth's environment, the planet slowly became more similar to the Anteverse atmosphere. The Precursors began reactivating their colonization plans, but humanity's rapid technological development forced them to accelerate their invasion timeline. Since the Precursors still couldn't fully adapt to Earth's environment and direct invasion carried unpredictable risks, they decided to send custom-developed giant biological weapons to Earth to destroy major cities and halt human civilization's progress. These biological weapons would later be called "Kaiju" by humanity.
In June 2013, the Precursors created a "Breach" - an interdimensional portal linking the two worlds - in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. On August 10 of the same year, they created and sent the first Kaiju to Earth. It made landfall in San Francisco on America's west coast. The U.S. military deployed aircraft, tanks, and artillery, eventually hitting it with tactical nuclear weapons on the sixth day of combat. By then, the creature had advanced thirty-five miles inland, destroyed three cities, and killed tens of thousands of people. It was humanity's first contact with these behemoths, and they named the Kaiju "Trespasser." August 10, 2013, was designated "First Contact Day." The nuclear weapons' radiation spread throughout Earth's atmosphere, and the explosions induced the release of toxins from the Kaiju's body - toxins that made the creature's blood poisonous to breathe and highly acidic.
This incident hadn't yet attracted global attention. Then on February 5, 2014, the second Kaiju landed in Batangas Province, Philippines, attacked Manila, and was eliminated by U.S. tactical nuclear weapons. Before its destruction, it had devastated most of Manila's center, killing tens of thousands and contaminating large areas with its toxic remains. This Kaiju was named "Hundun." On June 1, 2014, the third Kaiju, "Kaicep," made landfall in Mexico and was destroyed by nuclear weapons, causing extensive environmental pollution. On September 2, 2014, the fourth Kaiju, "Scissure," landed near Sydney, Australia and was destroyed by tactical nuclear missiles.
On September 15th, Professor Jasper Schoenfeld proposed the "Jaeger Program" for the first time. Countries around the world began uniting their resources and expertise. On April 23, 2015, "Karov" made landfall in Vancouver, and the first human mecha, "Brawler Yukon," successfully killed the creature, completing humanity's first victory using giant robots instead of nuclear weapons. From that point forward, mankind was no longer relying solely on nuclear strikes against Kaiju emerging from the Pacific Ocean.
In March 2016, after various nations had developed their own mecha models, the Kaiju appearing in the Pacific Rim were generally being suppressed. But Dr. Serizawa from Japan warned that future Kaiju would become progressively stronger, and the mechs would need corresponding upgrades to match the threat. So a classification standard for Kaiju was created - the "Serizawa Scale" - which divided creature strength into categories one through five.
On December 6, 2015, the "Shatterdome," a Jaeger maintenance base in Hong Kong, was completed. It was the largest facility around the Pacific Rim and could accommodate six mechs along with their maintenance teams.
Hong Kong, Shatterdome Base.
The Shatterdome was built on the harbor, forming a defensive arc with several other bases to create a coastal wall guarding the inland territories. The weather was grim today - dark clouds overhead poured heavy rain while waves crashed against the base's foundation structures. The entire facility stood motionless like a steel behemoth crouching amid the ocean and storm. The interior was built to accommodate giant mechas, making everything incredibly spacious. The people working inside looked like ants compared to the massive scale of the machinery.
In the logistics quarters, a pale young man with square glasses and dry lips was lying on a narrow bed, his eyes closed and brow furrowed as if experiencing pain. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He sat up slowly, right hand covering the back of his head, his expression still twisted with discomfort.
"Ugh... what's the situation this time? I'm sick?" Aidan rubbed his temples, trying to ease a pounding headache. "And my eyes are nearsighted too..." After removing the glasses, he was frustrated to see everything around him was completely blurry. He put them back on, then supported his weak body while reaching for a military-issue cup on the bedside table, drinking the lukewarm water greedily to soothe his parched throat.
After his body recovered slightly, he settled back onto the bed to rest while processing the memories from his new identity.
Ryan - a Portland, Oregon native who'd graduated from a prestigious engineering college. After the Kaiju invasion began, he'd joined the Portland Jaeger Factory, then been recruited by the international coalition to join the Shatterdome project, where he was responsible for maintaining fourth-generation mechs. He didn't have any tragic backstory - just a mecha enthusiast who'd wanted to be part of humanity's defense against the monsters.
