Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

The upper part seemed to be able to be opened. Huali gently pried it open and found that the circle in the center was actually a button.

She looked up at the monk.

The monk nodded to her, reassuring her to continue.

"pat".

The "pebbles" were opened, and the outer stone skin was peeled back, resembling two small wings. Inside was a semi-circular object with a piece missing in the middle. Huali looked at it from left to right but still couldn't figure it out.

"What is this? A stone toy?" Huali curiously turned the "pebble" over and over, as if the cultivator had given her just an ordinary stone carving with exquisite workmanship.

When he looked up again, the monk's azure eyes were now filled with a bright red color.

"Master...?"

The dazed little girl fell into a deep sleep again.

The "stone toy" lay beside the pillow, alongside the "obsidian" that shimmered with silver light.

The cultivator stopped looking at the rosewood and focused only on the obsidian, whispering:

"I'm here to return it to its rightful owner."

This is not 'he'.

"Maybe? I just want to confirm something. Once I get the answer, I'll do what I need to do."

You've always been concerned about this stone.

“No, what I’m nervous about is the ‘past.’” The monk turned around without looking back. Outside the window, the River of Stars stretched across the sky.

No matter how many planets it has landed on, the brilliance of the starry sky in the vast universe seems eternally unchanging.

Under that starry sky, the young man made a vow to the One of Light to become a hero who would protect Vitamori. Even if he died in battle, he would be a star in the dark sky, like countless other warriors who had already sacrificed their lives, to light the way for the living!

But the young man seemed to have lived too long, long enough to recite eulogies for countless members of his tribe, long enough for the place he swore to protect to become dust that no one remembers.

The man of light who nodded repeatedly and smiled as he punched him became a star that the Vitamori people looked up to, and in the end, everything related to him turned into unresponsive stone.

“Now I’ve made up my mind.” The monk put his hood back on, took a step out, and the gauze curtains inside the French windows danced, while the long wind whispered outside: “We must keep moving forward, otherwise everything in the past will be meaningless.”

The black cloak blended into the night.

"These are the words Lord Samuel taught me."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Suspicion

"What's wrong, Samuel?"

Sakuma Atsumasa was watching the manufacturing process of the Chromium Chester with great interest when he suddenly noticed that Samuel had shifted his gaze to a dark, distant horizon.

Immediately following, the starry sky and clouds suddenly rushed in front of him. Jun Sakuma found that he had regained control. Samuel had returned to the state he had temporarily broken away from that day, and was now flying through the air as a beam of light.

"There's something going on with Huali."

Samuel sensed danger through the stone he gave to Rosewood for calming his mind and immediately stopped the investigation.

However, when they returned to the hotel, the light returned to his body, and Jun Sakuma only saw Karin lying on the bed, not quite asleep.

"A mistake?" Jun Sakuma held his breath and tiptoed over. His daughter's hair was a mess from sleeping. He gently tucked Karin's exposed hand back under the covers: "Poor child, drooling so much..."

“No mistake,” Samuel said, noticing something beside Rosewood’s pillow. “What’s that?”

……

While Jun Sakuma was enjoying a short vacation, Saya Shuto discovered some suspicious points about him.

Saya Shudo is a cautious person. As the head of the memory police in the Third Base area, she must be meticulous and able to see problems that others cannot.

If the memory control blockade is breached even slightly, it's like breaking a nail and losing a battle, leading to a complete collapse.

No one can bear such an outcome.

Therefore... she noticed Sakuma Jun's biggest "problem".

Given his subordinate's hatred for the alien beasts, it was impossible for him to take leave and go on a trip with his daughter during a time when dark giants were appearing and alien beasts were frequently devouring people.

If Karin had remained as taciturn as she was when Sakura Sakuma first died, Jun Sakuma's action would have been somewhat understandable. But now Karin has returned to normal, hasn't she?

She often saw Jun Sakuma's relaxed smile when he talked about his daughter.

Coupled with the warning from the Riko Saida incident and Jun Sakuma's experience of being attacked by a monster, she had sufficient reason to launch an investigation into this subordinate to determine whether he was a "doll" like Riko Saida.

Therefore, she retrieved all of Jun Sakuma's recent activity records. Following her habit of remembering police officers, just like investigating every target, she extracted Jun Sakuma's travel information from the traffic management department and the public security network.

Two days ago, I arrived in Sapporo and checked into the hotel. I spent some time in the park with Karin, and later we went to the food street.

Moving back in time, we organize files and perform memory erasure tasks.

While carrying out a mission to erase memories from Riko Saito's apartment, they encountered an "abnormal lightning strike" and lost contact for thirteen minutes.

Going further back is still considered normal.

Until she discovered a late-night dashcam video: on the day the alien beast appeared during the day, Jun Sakuma drove into the mountainous area where the alien beast was found.

She repeatedly checked a surveillance camera on the highway leading out of the city, which clearly showed Jun Sakuma's license plate.

The date was moved forward again, and she paused at a report.

Night Raid Team A Operation Report.

Between the suburban cemetery and the road leading into the city, a vibration wave from a supernatural beast was detected. When the night raid team arrived at the location, they did not encounter the supernatural beast, and the target escaped. At the scene, they met Sakuma Jun with Karin. Karin's memory was erased, while Sakuma Jun's medical examination data was normal.

At the time, Shintaro Hirata marveled at his senior's good fortune in "surviving the monster's jaws once again".

She naturally pulled up her medical examination report.

Indeed, all his physical data were within the normal range, but after comparing them with his previous medical examination report, one number caught Shudo Saya's attention.

"The R7 factor... has increased?" Shudo Saya picked up her teacup, the warm steam rising under the cold light of the screen.

"Although it hasn't reached a level that warrants attention yet, this data can be improved?"

Was it because he encountered an alien beast, or...?

After repeatedly confirming the data, the police chief in charge of memory called the medical team.

……

"How is it? Jun Sakuma's medical report." Early the next morning, Saya Shuto stood in the comprehensive analysis room on the 3rd floor and asked the head of the medical examination center, who was comparing two reports.

"Well... everyone's values ​​are basically fixed, but there will be some fluctuations, mostly within a very small range. If you are worried about the increased R7 factor during Sakuma's last physical examination, the fluctuation was indeed very small, so the assessment at that time was 'normal'."

The person in charge lowered his voice: "If you are really worried that his condition will be the same as Riko Saita's, I suggest that after the next mission, we find an excuse to have him come for a medical check-up."

“A pretext?” Shuto Saya pondered for a moment.

“If you’re not in a hurry, you can actually wait until next month’s routine check-up. Because of the nature of your work, you need to check frequently to see if you’ve been infected.” The person in charge waved the medical reports that Shudo Saya had retrieved and copied for this matter, and stuffed them into the shredder.

"You need to keep this confidential, right? You haven't been here today." The person in charge was extremely accommodating. The paper filled with data and charts was slowly swallowed by the shredder and turned into a pile of meaningless waste.

“Waiting until next month might be too late, if he really gets infected by the alien beast,” Shudo Saya thought for a moment before speaking.

I don't want to alert them, but I also don't want to risk missing an opportunity... I remember that testing for factor R7 doesn't necessarily require a direct blood draw?

The person in charge stroked his chin and rubbed his short stubble: "Well...theoretically speaking, we can also choose other materials as testing materials, such as extracting a small amount of saliva."

"But it has to be fast. If the sample is exposed for too long and gets contaminated, it's meaningless," the person in charge said. "And the data obtained this way will have a larger error."

Will the value that was originally 90 be detected as 70?

"Blood tests can be accurate to two decimal places, while saliva tests have an error range of two integers."

"That's good."

The head of the memory police in the third base area walked out of the medical examination center, her usually serious face still stern, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"Ah, Commander Shudo! You're here too?" Shintaro Hirata bowed warmly from afar and greeted her enthusiastically. Before Shudo Saya could ask, he explained, "I tripped and fell at the scene last night when I was carrying out the memory erasure. The fragments of the alien beast's tissue were a bit too close..."

Saya Suto stared at him.

The latter lowered his head shyly and bowed again: "The medical team checked me at the time and said there was nothing wrong, but... I came for a physical examination today on my own initiative, and I just feel uneasy if I don't confirm it."

“Hmm,” Shudo Saya paused, then suddenly said, “Are you in charge of the hot water every day?”

"Huh? Ah, that's what I should do as a newcomer!" Shintaro Hirata straightened up, straightening his suit jacket. "I take the tasks assigned by my seniors seriously every day!"

"Then this matter will now be handed over to Ruisheng."

"Yes! Now hand it over to Ruisheng!" Hirata Shintaro responded to his superior's words, then his smile immediately vanished: "Ah... Commander Shudo, did I do something wrong? Did you complain to me, senpai?"

“You’ve been with the company for six months now, you’re not exactly a newbie,” the ruthless superior walked straight past him without even glancing back at his heartbroken subordinate. “You should take a good look at yourself sometimes.”

Shintaro Hirata suddenly looked up. Was this... his superior encouraging him?

He hurried to catch up with small, quick steps, his smile returning as he said, "Yes, yes, yes! I'll do my best!"

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Merit of the Light Chaser (Bonus Chapter 11 for the Bounty)

During the rest of the holiday, Jun Sakuma really took Karin out for a good time. The child had so much fun that her homework got worse and worse, and the father wanted to cut his vacation short and go home right away, but he eventually gave in to his daughter's aggrieved look.

Samuel couldn't resist the pudding stall, while Kaori looked at her "father" with suspicion as he happily scooped up a large spoonful of milk pudding.

Jun Sakuma was kicked back into his own consciousness space, where he was now in a state of impotent rage.

"Do you know how worried I was when I saw you fall asleep again?!" The body's owner jumped up and down in the consciousness space.

"Hmm?" The milk pudding wasn't as sweet as the maple syrup pudding, but it smelled quite nice.