"Yu Zhou, open up."
A series of knocks echoed against the door.
Yu Zhou rubbed his eyes, jumped out of bed, and stumbled toward the sound.
Ever since he sent Bao-on to Mars, Yu Zhou hadn't transformed or fought any monsters for quite some time.
With Daigo and Asuka around in the Super Victory Team, there was hardly anything for him to worry about.
After all, Daigo—the senior—was quite reliable.
But today's uninvited guest was really ruining a good morning.
He had just been sleeping soundly, and now someone had to show up at dawn to disturb him.
Click.
Yu Zhou opened the door and froze for a second.
"Charija? What brings you here so early?"
Yu Zhou knew full well that Charija never came to visit for no reason.
If he showed up at the Crystal Palace in R'lyeh, it definitely meant something was going on.
"I'm here to talk to you about Golza," Charija said matter-of-factly.
Without waiting for an invitation, he walked straight into Yu Zhou's room, sat down, and casually began snacking on the small treats Yu Zhou had left on the table.
"Golza? What about it?" Yu Zhou asked, puzzled.
"I'm not talking about the Golza I got on the Earth-like planet last time," Charija explained.
Back then, he had traded with the planet's higher-ups—exchanging a chance to use time travel for a monster.
But after returning, Golza had been bewitched by Gijera's pollen and escaped his control, running away.
Later, the high-ranking official Eri gave Charija another cloned Golza to make up for it—but Charija had barely used that one.
"I've already placed that cloned Golza on my private planet to raise," Charija said. "But I suddenly remembered—you once said that even in this timeline, it's possible to find the original Golza that escaped back then."
Hearing that, Yu Zhou recalled it too. When they travelled back in time to the moment Golza escaped, he had mentioned something like that.
But since Eri had later provided a replacement, Yu Zhou hadn't given it much thought afterward.
"If you still want to find that Golza, I can take you there," Yu Zhou said simply.
He'd already promised Charija before, so there was no reason to refuse now.
Still, there was no rush to start monster hunting. First things first—breakfast.
Golza had gone berserk back then because of Gijera's pollen and ran off.
Based on Yu Zhou's deductions, the monster was most likely hiding inside a volcano.
In the original stories, whether it was the Golza from Tiga or the one from Dyna, both had close ties to volcanoes.
Apparently, that creature could absorb magma energy.
Judging from current evidence, the Golza in Dyna's world was probably the same one that had escaped from Charija's control years ago.
So, Yu Zhou dug through some records and found the location where Golza was last seen in Dyna's world.
The two of them then flew there together on Yu Zhou's aircraft—heading straight for the volcano.
It was an active one.
Standing near the summit, they could feel the intense heat rising from below.
Landing on the rocky slope, Yu Zhou and Charija began searching the area.
"Look around for any caves nearby," Yu Zhou instructed. "If there's one, it might lead to the volcano's interior."
The volcano was massive. Though active, its crater wasn't visible from here.
To find Golza, they'd need to locate where the magma flowed.
"Are you sure Golza's really here?" Charija asked sceptically. "It's been over ten years since it ran away. You're that confident it's still in this spot?"
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Yu Zhou noticed steam rising from a cluster of rocks nearby. He hurried over immediately.
Charija followed close behind.
"It's… a hot spring," Yu Zhou realized once he got closer.
Under the rock, clear water was bubbling up, sending clouds of steam into the air.
He reached out and touched it—it was just the right temperature, neither too hot nor too cold.
"Come with me," Yu Zhou said after a moment's thought.
Following the stream of warm water downhill, the two soon reached a small pool.
Steam constantly rose from its surface—it was definitely a natural hot spring.
"Looks like today's our lucky day," Yu Zhou grinned, rubbing his hands together. "Perfect time for a nice soak."
Before Charija could react, Yu Zhou was already laughing, stripping off his clothes.
"Wait—what?"
Charija froze. Weren't they here to look for a monster?
How did this suddenly turn into a hot spring vacation?
"Charija, that pool's yours!"
Before Charija could protest, Yu Zhou gave him a shove—sending him straight into the neighbouring pool with a loud splash!
"What the heck, Yu Zhou?!" Charija spluttered, trying to regain his balance—but then paused.
"…Actually… this feels really good!"
Within moments, Charija was relaxing completely, peeling off his own clothes and sinking deeper into the water.
"Ahhh~"
He exhaled deeply; his face filled with bliss.
"Kimoii~" Yu Zhou murmured softly with his eyes closed, enjoying the gentle warmth of the spring.
"Hold on," Charija said after a while. "Aren't we supposed to be searching for Golza?"
"Relax," Yu Zhou replied lazily. "Golza isn't going anywhere. We'll find it eventually. But a good soak in the hot spring—this chance won't come twice."
"Well, when you put it that way…" Charija nodded. "By the way, did you bring any food?"
"Oh, right. Wait a sec."
Yu Zhou stood up from the water and rummaged through his space bracelet. He pulled out two camping tents and set them up beside the hot springs.
Then he took out a couple of blankets, tossing one into each tent.
Finally, he produced a small grill and placed it across a flat rock between their pools.
"Just missing one thing—meat," he muttered, searching through his bracelet again but finding none. He sighed. "How about we roast your King Guesra instead?"
Charija: "…"
"What are you even thinking?"
"Fine, fine." Yu Zhou shrugged, getting dressed. "I'll go look around for something edible. Be right back."
Leaving the hot spring behind, Yu Zhou climbed further up the volcano.
Though technically active, it hadn't erupted in a long time, and the high altitude meant patches of snow blanketed the slopes.
He trudged through the snow, scanning the surroundings for prey.
Suddenly, a rabbit darted past his feet.
"Gotcha!"
With a slightly dramatic shout, Yu Zhou gathered light energy in his palm and fired a small glowing sphere.
It struck the rabbit cleanly, and the creature collapsed instantly.
That light-sphere technique was something he'd learned long ago while fighting demon gods alongside ancient psychic warriors—people who could control energy of light.
"Hah, works great for hunting too!"
Grinning proudly, Yu Zhou lifted the rabbit by its ears.