Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

My daughter should be sleeping soundly right now. I wonder if she's sleeping on her stomach again, because she's drooling all over her pillow.

“Gradually loosening the information blockade and making memory police unemployed, isn’t that great?” Jun Sakuma couldn’t help but laugh as he said this, but then his smile quickly faded, and his words carried a hint of sighing:

“Samuel, we’ve always had a legend here: souls that aren’t guided won’t find their way home, and those souls will become evil spirits, never finding peace. Sakura’s family always thought she died in a car accident. The families of the victims who were eaten by Pedron are still mourning on that highway. Occasionally when we’re on fieldwork, we see a few people throwing bouquets down the cliff…”

Samuel listened to his story in silence. Jun Sakuma continued, "You remember 'Riko Saida,' who was completely erased from the residents' memories, right? If this continues, how many more real, living people will be completely forgotten by this world? It's so tragic."

"Humans are creatures whose lifespans are neither short nor long. For many, all they seek in life is to leave behind a trace of their existence." (Monthly fee (group 69493) 6135)

"Kari loves buying local specialties when she travels. She still hasn't finished eating the konpeito. Actually, that girl is reluctant to eat it. This is what is called 'wanting to keep a souvenir' to prove that she has had an unforgettable experience." Jun Sakuma sat up from the tatami. From his perspective, he could see the slivers of moonlight shining in through the swaying curtains.

When Jun Sakuma thought back to when he chose to become a policeman and then accepted the call to the Memory Police without complaint, his thoughts at the time were very simple: to protect the people of this city.

As a police officer, my duty is to protect them from harm; as a police officer focused on memory, my duty is to protect them from the fear of the unknown.

He was so convinced of the significance of his work, but now he has a deeper understanding of it.

“Although it was for the purpose of ‘protecting more people,’ my work has undoubtedly deprived some people of proof of their existence, and it’s much more than that… By taking these photos of Baolucao, I made him forget this memory, but in fact, I deprived him of his ideals.”

Jun Sakuma spoke slowly, his voice trembling slightly at the end: "Do you know how difficult it is for many people to reach their ideals?"

"The pressure from family, society, and all sides wears people down to stone. I once thought that I would become a well-known elite in the police force, handle some major cases, and no criminal could hide a trace in my eyes. Later, I realized the reality: I am just an ordinary person, and there are thousands of police officers like me."

"But if I am fortunate enough to reach my ideal, and someone tells me to forget this experience... wouldn't I be living like a walking corpse?"

The night breeze blew through the cracks, making the room even cooler.

“That’s what I’m doing right now,” the Memory Policeman said. “I’m turning someone who had the chance to pursue their dreams back into a walking corpse.”

"I made a girl who once lived a vibrant life completely forgotten."

“I made it so that Sakura’s soul could not hear the voices of her loved ones. I don’t know what kind of face I should use to face her.”

“Samuel, I’ve discovered something absurd. TLT is trying to keep people away from the fear of alien beasts, but in fact, the one who fears alien beasts the most is TLT itself, which claims to protect the people.”

A wisp of silver thread appeared before my eyes, as black as ink, with only the faint moonlight seeping into the room through the curtains, suddenly illuminating it with a subtle light.

Jun Sakuma saw the ray of light weave and entwine, finally coalescing into a small, illusory image.

The phantom radiated a soft silver glow, which was reflected in the eyes of the person staring at him in a daze.

Jun Sakuma instinctively reached out and carefully touched it.

The phantom dodged his fingers and jumped onto his head.

If there was nothing wrong with Jun Sakuma's sense of touch, the phantom seemed to have kicked him in the forehead.

"Samuel?!"

The phantom figure undoubtedly resembled Samuel in his form as the Giant of Light, but why was it so much smaller? And didn't he say that if he were separated from his body, Sakuma Jun would become a corpse in a few hours...?

"Ah, I woke up to find that I can change my form now, but I still can't be too far away from you." Samuel was very satisfied that he no longer had to squat on the hard floor of the consciousness space. Being a little smaller was not unacceptable, since he could still grow to a gigantic size.

This form consumes very little energy, almost like resting in the consciousness space, but with a higher degree of freedom.

Samuel glanced disdainfully at Jun Sakuma's messy hair, then jumped down and landed on the soft bedding.

...The long-lost tactile sensation! The resting environment has finally been greatly improved!

Samuel's voice became much brighter: "In short, now that you've come to your senses, just go for it. As for your worries, like Kaori forgetting about her father, forget all of that!"

Even if you accidentally reveal your identity, no one will be able to catch you!

Jun Sakuma stared blankly at the little figure with his arms wrapped around the bed.

"No need to worry, no need to fret, the alien beasts will definitely be wiped out. At the very least, I must strengthen my belief in victory, my human form!"

Jun Sakuma was somewhat moved.

"If you keep saying discouraging things, I think it would be better to change your human form..."

? ? !

"Someone like Himeya, who is serious, good at fighting, and has high awareness, will definitely be able to unleash great power."

The touching moment has ended.

Jun Sakuma was itching to take that little silver thing and flick it into the closet like a marble, so that it could become a loving family with the mothball.

next door.

Himeya Jun rolled over, waking up from the flashing lights in front of his eyes.

Evolution Truster?

Is it... leaking electricity again?

Chapter 40 The Roots Are Deeply Hidden (Bonus Chapter 15 for Bounty)

"Hello?" The photographer in the floral shirt put down his wine glass and wiped non-existent wine from his chin.

Genlai was taken aback. He leaned over the low table with both hands, his thick glasses reflecting the face of the man in the floral shirt, a face that was no longer as enthusiastic as it had been.

The man in the floral shirt tucked the beer bottle he had almost knocked over toward himself and said, "What? Don't bother me while I'm drinking."

“I, you…” Genrai Shinzo stammered, while Qixia, who was sitting to the side fanning herself, quickly took away the cold dish that was almost stained by the corner of her clothes.

"You don't remember me?"

"Who are you?" The man in the floral shirt, who was quite drunk, looked impatient.

"Me? I'm really hiding my true identity!" Even after interviewing countless difficult people, this seasoned reporter had never encountered such a situation. He pulled a business card from his jacket pocket: "You gave it to me the day before yesterday. We agreed to exchange photos."

Baolucao had already gotten himself slightly tipsy. With his eyes half-closed, he managed to make out the words on the business card: "...I gave this to you? Ah, to deliver the photos? I remember giving the brochure to Mitsui, so you gave it to him instead?"

"What brochure!" Genzo looked around and lowered his voice: "Monsters—those photos of giants and monsters fighting!"

"Burp!" Bao Lucao let out a burp, glanced at Qi Xia, and then at Runping who was still engrossed in eating barbecue.

Finally, he reached out and gently pinched the business card in Shinzo Nemoto's hand.

The latter suddenly felt hopeful and nodded to him.

“I don’t give my business card to scammers,” Bao Lücao said, pulling the card back and putting it in his pocket. He patted it carefully. “There’s no hospital on Wenquan Street. You’ll have to go a little further in to the satellite city.”

Genzo walked out of the hot spring town in a daze. It wasn't that he didn't want to continue the investigation, but that he saw a "spy" in black in the crowd. It was the woman he had seen that day when the "cliff fell" and who showed some kind of identification to the police.

He felt that these unusual events were necessarily related to the "spies" in black suits, so he was on high alert and quietly slipped away before Shuto Saya saw him.

Returning to the newspaper office with heavy thoughts, the exhausted editor-in-chief briefly greeted his subordinates before settling down at his desk and picking up today's clippings.

This was something he asked Sakuta Megumi to do in his spare time. He had been chasing after Himeya Jun recently, so he hadn't had time to organize reports about the "abnormal incident."

"Fireworks transport vehicle spontaneously combusts, huh." He saw the latest headline, and when he picked up the newspaper, an envelope was visible.

……

Jun Sakuma, sporting dark circles under his eyes, hid in a car not far from Shinzo Negoro's newspaper office.

With the "major operation" in the hot spring town over, the memory police naturally resumed their previous work one after another.

Hiroyuki Misawa bravely took on the task of organizing the files, while Jun Sakuma was assigned the job of tracking the reporter who "had some contact with Jun Himeya".

Also on the surveillance was Nonomiya Mizuki, whose target was Sakuta Megumi. Since both targets were currently in the same building, Sakuma Jun told Mizuki to go carry out other tasks first and call her back when Sakuta Megumi made any moves.

"Thank you, senior." The young woman bowed in thanks and strode quickly to handle the next task objective.

Once Ruisheng had gone further away, Samuel suddenly jumped out of Sakuma Jun's pocket.

The tiny humanoid figure landed on the passenger seat, naturally crossed its legs, and held a rock almost half its own height in its arms.

"Hey, watch your step!" Jun Sakuma looked out the window, his heart pounding with fear.

“They can’t see me, and my energy is contained. TLT can’t detect my vibrational waves.” Samuel continued to carve on the stone with his arm raised.

"They can't see you, but they can always see the stones!"

This stone is very similar to the one given to Karin, but it was actually picked up by Sakuma Jun at his own wall that morning. It was also suddenly baptized by high-temperature energy, and thus took on the color of obsidian.

"You've been carving all morning... have you fallen in love with the art of seal carving on Earth?" (Silver silk)

The thread seeped into the dark stone, its light flashing briefly before disappearing. Sakuma Jun watched for a while before suddenly remembering his mission and quickly turning his gaze to the newspaper office window.

Genrai Shinzo remained standing in front of his desk with his head down, holding several photographs in his hand. Through the binoculars, one could see his tightly furrowed brows.

To be honest, Jun Sakuma felt that he looked like a pervert.

If he were staring at a young woman instead of a middle-aged man with a beer belly... he might have a friendly meeting with his former colleagues from the police station.

“It’s not ‘art,’ it’s ‘warning,’” Samuel jumped to the top of the stone so he could carve on the other side: “For the River of Oblivion.”

Sakuma Jun had been so preoccupied with planning his propaganda war these past few days that he almost forgot about this: "Ah, it's at the Third Base, right?"

"Almost certainly." The silver figure slapped the stone, and a relatively large ball of light was pressed into it.

Through the telescope, Genzo Negi had already begun backing up the photos, while Jun Sakuma muttered, "Didn't you say you wanted to prevent the River of Oblivion from being attacked...? Why don't you just get something bigger, like the Night Raid Team borrowed the power tower, and make a device that 'electrocutes any alien beast that passes by.'"

"Leaving aside the possibility of being discovered by the Night Raid Team," Samuel turned his back to the stone, not wanting to look at him, "Do you want to tell the enemy 'there's something very important here'?"

"..." Right! This is just like trying to hide something obvious. I've been working too much overtime lately, and Sakuma Jun feels like he's become lethargic and his brain is slowing down.

Samuel slammed another small ball of light into the intersection of the two buried lines, and upon hearing Jun Sakuma's exclamation of sudden realization, he couldn't help but hum.

My human form has been acting silly lately, so I want to switch.

……

A mountain forest where desolation and vitality coexist.