Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

He laughed and then coughed repeatedly, causing the golden threads connecting him to the sky to tremble.

The sky was still pale, but not dull; it, like the sun, had a lustrous color.

Gold threads interweave them like an endless rain, and if you look closely, you can see the shimmering light flowing across them. If a skilled hand could weave them into a bolt, it would surely be a fine, smooth, lustrous satin.

They trembled slightly in the wind as their owner moved, and some of the golden threads faintly extended black energy from their roots. The laughter stopped abruptly, and Xiang Yeyou's expression changed. He waved his hand and cut the thread.

Now, Aiba Yu's expression is just like Sakuma Jun's, who is outside having a headache over "firecrackers".

"It ruins my mood," he said.

Chapter 147 Gray Reincarnation

Mitsuhiko Ishibori, a member of the Night Raid Team A at TLT-J Third Base, is a combatant who also performs information analysis tasks. He is a good assistant to Eiji Kazukura and is highly regarded by CIC analysts for his superb computer skills.

"Phew, that completes the new Alien Beast Attack Range Danger Assessment Module!"

He stretched, his bones cracking as if urging him to stop sitting, or mushrooms would grow on them.

"Drip-"

The computer beeped again, this time from CIC.

His expression immediately darkened. CIC communications weren't just for that Prometheus's son who always wandered around with his projector; when others called, it was always because they had coordination work to do.

For example, right now, the person opposite seems to have dark circles tattooed on their face.

With bloodshot eyes, the man said, "Ishibori, I need to trouble you with one more thing. I'll give you the parameters and the program, just run it and send me the data later. We've sent some manpower and equipment to the First and Fourth Bases, and we're using everything we can now. If you have time, could you please help me out?"

The other party looked really pitiful, and besides, it only took up a little of my computer's processing power, so it wasn't a big deal.

Mitsuhiko Ishibori did as he was told, and the numbers that started to float on the screen caught his attention: "Hmm... the spectrum of the alien beast's vibration wave."

He wanted to analyze the program, but then he glanced at the disc containing the evaluation module that he was about to hand over to the research institute, and unusually, he showed a conflicted expression.

Saijo Nagi noticed his expression.

"For the research institute?" After cleaning her gun and packing up her equipment, everyone knew what Mitsuhiko Ishibori had been busy with lately. Shiori Hiraki often teased him, saying, "You should get two salaries."

“Yes,” Mitsuhiko Ishibori said, “I need it urgently.”

"Then give it to me."

Her conflicted expression visibly turned into surprise: "Huh? You...you're going to deliver it?"

Saijo Nagi had already picked up the contents of the brown paper bag: "You say I'm heartless."

"No, no!" The team member, whose gossip had been exposed, quickly replied, "Thank you, Vice Captain! Please pass this on to Dr. Takada. If he's not in his office, he must have gone to the second laboratory."

Saijo Nagi nodded, turned and went out.

As Mitsuhiko Ishibori said, the busy Dr. Takada was indeed not in his office, and Nagi Saijo found him outside the second laboratory.

As the heavy door opened, Saijo Nagi handed over the brown paper bag and overheard the researchers' conversation inside.

"The Dark Giant's host is indeed completely different from ordinary alien beasts; it has a high tolerance for vibration waves, but light still cannot..."

"The host of the Dark Giants?" Even though she already regarded that person as something equivalent to the alien beasts, she still couldn't help but ask when she heard the researchers discussing it.

Dr. Takada said very warmly, "This is a newly acquired experimental subject, and the white-coated cleaners deserve a lot of credit."

These words struck Saijo Nagi like a thunderbolt: "Experimental subject? You mean... the White-Clad Cleaners caught Mizoro, caught 'him'?"

"Well, it's said to have been found in a mountainous area under close surveillance. Congratulations, you've got one less task to assist with in the future," Dr. Takada said, grabbing the paper bag and heading back. The heavy door closed behind him. "Hey! Don't get involved here. Take this new alien beast attack range danger assessment and check it against the detection tools we've placed outside. Notify the execution department as soon as possible if any need to be moved."

When Saijo Nagi returned, she seemed somewhat dazed.

Is this the experimental subject, Mizoroki Makoto?

Two seemingly unrelated words have now come together to form the truth she heard from the internal research institute.

The corridors of the Third Base always had a chilling gray ambiance. After some personnel went to support other bases, even fewer people walked around here on weekdays, with most staff choosing to stay in their departments, buried in their work. Only when the steel doors opened one by one at mealtimes did the entire base come alive.

The name Freedom Keep, given to the third base hidden underwater, seems somewhat undeserving.

The corridor was deserted, save for the echoing footsteps of Saijo Nagi. The sound, originating from her, refracted several times, drifting low along the long corridor, some of it returning to her ears, as if someone were accompanying her.

There was indeed someone who accompanied me on my journey.

His name was Goroki Shinya, the deputy captain of the night raid team at the time, and he was her mentor when she first joined the team.

Just when she thought she would be carrying out missions with this powerful and excellent vice-captain until the alien beasts were destroyed or she was hunted down by them, Goroki also disappeared.

When he reappeared before her, he had become even more powerful and gloomy, his dark eyes resembling those of the Dark Mephistopheles. She was certain that the Dark Giant was a reflection of Shinya Mizoroki's inner world.

It's okay, she told herself: there will always be sacrifices when walking in dangerous areas. Deputy Captain Gou Lümu has already sacrificed himself. The one who is alive now is a strange beast disguised as an acquaintance.

The next steps should be extremely simple: just like dealing with the alien beasts, either eliminate him or die at his hands.

She never imagined that Goroki Makoto would also appear in the research institute's laboratory.

It sounds like... it's become a sample for verifying the vibration waves of the alien beasts and cracking the giant's beam?

She decided to quicken her pace and use all the authority she had to confirm the white-clad cleaners' achievements.

The figure in the blue-black uniform continued walking down the corridor.

A woman with medium-length hair walks against a gray background.

A child with short hair...walks through the dim woods.

The closer she got to the lounge, the more anxiously Saijo Nagi's heart pounded.

The door opened automatically, and white light shone from inside, but Saijo Nagi saw only a gray fog in her eyes.

That was forest mist, the shadows of the trees deep and dark, twisted and gnarled like the claws of a ghost.

She felt as if she wasn't the vice-captain of the night raid team anymore; she had returned to a time many years ago when she went out alone at night to look for her mother. The young child darted into the forest path, looking around anxiously, her cries mingling with the shadows of the branches and leaves, attracting snakes that flicked their tongues.

A person stood at the end of the line of sight, and a sticky sound came from the friction of flesh and blood. Black bone horns protruded from his back.

"Clap!"

She suddenly took a step back and retreated outside the door line.

"vice captain?"

She composed herself and saw Mitsuhiko Ishibori sitting directly opposite the door, buried behind his computer screen, probably still studying a program that interested him.

Komon Kazuki clutched his towel. He had just finished training and was still wearing a tight-fitting vest, sweating and steaming. He looked at her with a mixture of confusion and worry. It was he who had just spoken; he was clearly startled by his own sudden reaction.

Saijo Nagi's behavior just now was completely contrary to her usual image.

She called out for her mother as she entered the woods, and when she came out, she was embraced by the anxious adults who had been searching for her. She never heard from her mother again.

“It’s nothing,” she said, trying to remain calm despite the lingering images in her mind, responding to the young team member with a composed look. “I was just thinking about something.”

Chapter 148 The Storm of Censorship

"What are you trying to say? While we were working ourselves to the bone, you were sitting in your offices, quantifying our work with metrics, and now you're asking me if I've sided with the alien beasts or the dark giants?"

The TLT Third Base includes the Memory Police Office.

Hiroichi Misawa tapped the table rapidly with his pen, the sound reflecting his current state of mind: "Me? 'The average number of tasks completed on the fourth week of last month decreased, especially on Wednesday...', tsk!"

He slammed the data down, making the whole table shake: "If you had actually checked the location of those two targets on Wednesday, you would know—I fucking crossed the entire city that day, and even came back to file all the data!"

Mizuki Nonomiya, a disciplined employee, should have tried to explain whatever questions the review department raised, but she let Hiroyuki Misawa vent his anger. Only when the desk trembled and the pencil was about to roll off did she reach out and stop it, putting it back in its place.

Since the heavy casualties suffered by personnel at the Fourth Base, the atmosphere inside TLT has become increasingly tense. The range of activity of the alien beasts is closing in day by day. The entire organization is like a clock that has been wound up tightly. It looks as unhurried as usual, but inside it has been putting pressure on its various components step by step.

This sense of unease reached its peak when the First Base was attacked on the eve of its relocation.

If it was just speculation before, then this incident has turned speculation into reality—the enemy has definitely infiltrated TLT's internal affairs.

To date, the organization's understanding of alien beasts has undergone three transformations.

The initial understanding came from data from the North American headquarters, which the visitors described as "unleashed monsters." As for who unleashed them? The visitors were vague and did not have a deep and reliable understanding of the matter, only saying that "Zaki destroyed the planet, but what was even more terrifying were the monsters that Noah was tracking."

The first change came from the Dark Giant. Previously, the Alien Beasts were only shown in monstrous forms reminiscent of Alien movies, with glimpses of their original forms, such as snails, cockroaches, spiders, and flies. When the Dark Giant first appeared, TLT-J even consulted headquarters to confirm if it was the "Zaki" mentioned by the visitors, thankfully it wasn't. But it also meant another piece of bad news: on the opposing side, there was a highly intelligent species. This cannot be equated with the Alien Beasts' "ability to learn and evolve their bodies."

The second group consisted of small alien beasts directly transformed from humans. These people weren't infected after an attack and ultimately couldn't recover; rather, they believed the Banib monster could bring them change. This almost nihilistic "belief" or "worship" could transform people into monsters. While this isn't surprising from the perspective of alien beasts feeding on "fear," it truly surprised TLT—they originally thought that keeping the monsters out of the city would be enough, but they didn't expect the alien beasts to have other infiltration methods.

The third attack came from the First Base. They initially suspected that Mizoroki Makoto had interfered again, but the White-Clad Cleaners' finds dispelled that theory. The suspect was now in the research institute, as docile as any harmless large mammal you could imagine, guarded by restraints and the thickest, most secure gate in the entire base. TLT turned its attention to the case of Saita Riko, who had been made into a puppet, attempting to investigate whether anyone within the base had been secretly murdered and then similarly made into a puppet.

These three realizations, coupled with the ever-encroaching territory of the alien beasts and the growing unease among the staff, created a tense atmosphere that made the department responsible for the investigation increasingly anxious.

All field personnel who might be attacked were included in the investigation, and naturally, the memory police who were often on the go became the focus of the work.

A decrease in the number of missions completed on a certain day, or taking leave on another day, are all considered suspicious, not to mention that there is a "defector" among the memory police, Jun Sakuma.

The people in charge of the review looked at them with increasing seriousness, and the content of the inspection became more detailed, so detailed that Hiroyuki Misawa finally couldn't hold back and slammed the table on the spot.

The last time he lost his temper like this was when the white-clad cleaner referred to Sakuma Jun as an "experimental subject." The way that thing looked at his colleague didn't treat him like a human being at all, and Misawa Hiroyuki couldn't help but give him a good beating to make sure that the thing under that white shell knew whether it hurt.

Now he wants to ask the same questions to these guys from the censorship department.

Two people were looking through the files in this office, and another person went to talk to Saya Shuto.

Hiroyuki Misawa packed a thick stack of papers with the quotas on them.

They threw everything onto the table, and several white scraps of paper flew out, swirling and slicing horizontally.

The two remained noncommittal in their response to Hiroyuki Misawa's rebuttal.

The latter was even more furious, venting all his frustration about the recent investigation on the two men: "If I had sided with the Dark Giants, would you be standing here talking to me like this?!"

“Routine review, please explain the suspicious points accurately,” one of the people said, while the other scribbled on a piece of paper: “Suspicious point four: the mission situation on the 12th was abnormal. Note: the two mission targets were far apart, which affected efficiency. Send the information to the back office to verify the mission location and the travel route of the field staff on that day.”