Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Renlong sighed and said in a low voice, "Alas, the day when I can finally relax and travel is still a long way off."

Takayama Gamu's eyes widened. He remembered that after defeating Zolim, Renlong had said, "I see you have good potential and can become a qualified Leyline Guardian. Would you like to train with me?" He thought he had met a kind teacher—but it turned out that Renlong just wanted to get rid of his job so he could go on a trip?!

"This wine isn't very good." Renlong looked around, as if he hadn't said anything at all.

Regardless of whether Takayama Gamu was doubting whether he had fallen into a fire pit, Kinoshita Kei on the other side was in a much better mood.

Alchemy Star is amazing, huh? High IQ, he's light-years ahead of you guys when it comes to research! Kinoshita Kei, except for your love for your wives, has finally surpassed you in one area!

The next step is to train hard and make Uranus and himself work together seamlessly. The omnipotent light might just allow him to live a few more years. Once he has outlived all the geniuses of his generation to the point of dementia, he, Kinoshita Kei, will be a living industry giant!

The saying goes, "If I kill the panda, I'll become a national treasure!"

Kinoshita Kei's fighting spirit was burning bright, and the light bulb in his hand shone even brighter!

Aiba Yu had to squint at him and said, "Simply raising the temperature has limited effect. Haven't you noticed it's expanding more and more?"

Upon hearing this, Kinoshita Kei lowered his head and finally realized that this light bulb was originally held in his hands, small and exquisite, but now it was being held in his arms. If this continued, perhaps the ball of light would be holding him in his arms.

“Uh… this is called the Great Rasengan,” Kinoshita Kei said, “but it can’t spin yet.”

……

The two masters here encountered some difficulties.

Meanwhile, the parents were extremely worried about their son's mental health issues.

"You've been fooled by that wretched black thing!" Hamster "Lily" circled around Fujimiya Hiroya, following him around the room. "Mother Earth didn't tell you she was going to exterminate humanity! Waaah, it's all my fault for not finding out sooner that you'd been tricked. I thought you just hadn't figured it out yet, and I actually thought that Gaia could solve the problem by talking to you more."

Fujimiya Hiroya caught a glimpse of a shadow out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked away, he could see nothing at all.

Pito was unaware that the "Lily" in his eyes appeared and disappeared like a ghost. He saw that Fujimiya Hiroya also reacted to his hamster "Lily", and thought that he could finally see him, which meant that his light was more in sync with Agul's.

His tearful tale sounded like a rat's howl to Hiroya Fujimiya—he understood how Kinoshita Kei felt when he first heard a salted fish speak.

Kinoshita Kei heard what sounded like a symphony orchestra playing in the underworld, with the orchestral and timpani switching instruments and then going completely off the rails. Fujimiya Hiroya heard what sounded like ten thousand hamsters running wildly out of the fence, stepping on his head and pulling his neck, their big teeth constantly knocking at his skull.

Dual-channel stereo sound, surround sound effect, lossless audio quality, world premiere.

He chased the ghostly figure, which looked exactly like the hamster "Lily," around the house. When Yoshii Reiko returned home from get off work and opened the door, she found the guest in the kitchen. She was stunned at first, then blamed herself:

"I completely forgot to leave you my phone number! Be sure to let me know if you get hungry! It's too dangerous for a patient to cook!"

Chapter 126 Rules

Unlike Takayama Gamu, who took leave, Kinoshita Kei had to sneak back to the base before dawn to work with his colleagues in the astronomical research group, dutifully staying in the dormitory and cooperating with the base's investigation into the "intruders."

"Our important research subject is missing! We still haven't figured out the intruder's identity!" The Lizard members' minds were still echoing with their commander's furious roar: "Where's your analysis? From the figure to the footprints, where's the report? I still don't even know if the intruder was male or female!"

The officer slammed his fist on the table: "Thermal imaging, far-infrared, microwave scanning, spectral capture... are all our equipment obsolete or just useless firewood?!"

The subordinate handed over the notebook he had been carrying, respectfully placing it in front of him and showing him the footage of the "intruder" he had captured that day: "Our equipment is certainly not useless; it is meticulously maintained by specialists and has passed weekly routine checks, but..."

The scene shifts, and the storm seen through the surveillance camera transforms into a mottled, fiery red under the infrared lens, blooming across the entire screen like thriving wildflowers in the mountains.

"It was already difficult to capture them because the winds caused by the 'intruder' were already quite hot. In order to cut through the wall," the subordinate said, "the guards fired at them, and the liquefied bullets remained on the outer layer... The molten metal droplets also affected the accuracy, such as these large spots."

Lai Numa waited for him to continue, and after a moment's hesitation, the subordinate voiced his bold conjecture: "Sir, don't you think these winds, especially the shapes of the tornadoes..."

Does it look familiar? Like... the blue giant.

……

Kinoshita Kei returned to the Geo base, leaving only four people at Renlong's residence.

This was the first time Takayama Gamu had been so close to the silver giant. Seeing that Aiba Yu wasn't sleepy, he finally asked the question that had been nagging at him for a long time: "Why save the monster?"

It was late at night, and Kinoshita Kei's departure meant the human air conditioner had left. The night was as cool as water, and Aiba Yu was thinking about whether he should bring out his blanket to come and watch the training tomorrow when he suddenly heard Takayama Gamu's question.

“Rinryu should have told you,” Aiba Yu said, “the enemy is stirring up conflict between humans and monsters.”

“Your name is Samuel, right? I think I heard you right,” Takayama Gamu saw him nod and continued, “Samuel, I mean... human activities and development on Earth will inevitably encroach on the territory of monsters. If a conflict arises with them, what would you do in that situation?”

"Should we also protect the monster and stop development?" Takayama Gamu asked. "Our city has many underground facilities that are closely related to our lives, such as pipes, subways, and drainage systems. Some development can be chosen, while some development is almost inevitable, at least for the time being."

"Of course we fight! Fight, fight, fight!" The pitch-black slime roared from inside the body, "Earthlings know this all too well! Let's fight! If you want a piece of land, go and fight! Monsters or not, whoever occupies it, we'll kill them! It'd be best if they were all wiped out, all of them wiped out!"

"All..." Aiba Yu opened his mouth, then suddenly closed it and said to the ball of slime, "Don't make a sound."

The slime stretched out its two arms from the top, curling them up into two gongs that made a "clack-clack" sound: "You think I'll shut up just because you tell me to? You heartless vessel! Just wait until you suffer a nervous breakdown!"

"哐——!"

Takayama saw Aiba Yu's hand, which was gripping his coat, tremble.

Renlong walked over carrying his wine jug, one hand tucked into his sleeve, leaning against a dark brown pillar, and said to Gaoshan Womeng, "Development, you've been drilling holes in my roof for a long time."

I dream of the high mountain, gazing at the sky above my head.

“The underground place, the home where the main body resides,” Renlong chuckled. He found Gaia’s human form to be sometimes clever and sometimes endearingly naive. “As you said, when humans build cities, they naturally need to develop underground facilities. I can understand that.”

He shook the pot, and I could hear the wine gurgling softly inside: "I often miss the old days, when it was quiet and carefree, and people would at most dig a well and ask the underground stream for some water to drink."

“But…” Takayama Gomu was about to speak when Renlong raised his hand and tapped him lightly with the handle of his fan. Takayama Gomu covered his head and shut up. Renlong closed his fan and lazily put his hand back together.

“Impulsive kid, let me finish,” Renlong said. “I’m not some old-fashioned fool. Of course I can appreciate the city’s night view.”

In the past, the Ren Dragon could only see the sky ablaze with lights during festivals. The annual festival was considered a major undertaking, with people meticulously crafting lanterns and stringing them together along entire streets. As dusk fell and the candlelight grew brighter, the guardians of the earth's veins could witness the celestial river descending into the mortal realm.

Now we can see it every day. Renlong points to the courtyard, where the air suddenly distorts, revealing the appearance of the outside city.

“Look, those lights, the traffic, and the heartbeats of the people living in this city,” Renlong said softly. “Doesn’t it look like another form of ‘levitational veins’? Monsters aren’t as irrational as you think. From a human perspective, I’m a ‘monster’ too.”

Takayama Gamu shook his head: "Renryu, you are one of the few. Most monsters cannot communicate with words at all. For example, Grimenos, when provoked, will charge directly into the city... There is no better emergency method than to stop them, and that will only make them angrier."

“Monsters can sense kindness,” Aiba Yu said. He thought of Gob and Bats; those two not-so-intelligent monsters knew very well who was good to them and who was bad to them.

For example, during the time of M91, the little Gobu in the Gobu Hatchery could not be scared away by Aiba Yu. They knew that Aiba Yu would not hurt them, so there were always some bold ones who dared to climb up his trouser legs, use his shoulders or heads as nests, and make whimpering sounds with their ferocious faces.

“Goodwill… if we could be gentler in our methods of stopping them,” Takayama Gamu said thoughtfully, “but such a thing hasn’t been developed yet. Without using weapons, we would need something made of very sturdy materials to restrain an aggressive monster.”

"Snapped!"

Renlong's folding fan appeared briefly before disappearing again. Gaoshan Gamu shrank his neck and rubbed his head again.

“I told you you’re not always the ‘Alchemist Star’,” Renlong shifted his leaning position. The pillars were a bit hard; the cylindrical ones weren’t as comfortable as the square ones. “Since the current equipment hasn’t been developed yet, it’s time for the giants to make their appearance—humans can’t stop monsters without harming them, but Gaia can.”

"Besides fighting, your power can actually be used in many more areas. This is what is called the 'rules for using power beyond the norm'."

Takayama Gamu was taken aback: "Rules? Do you have such specific regulations?"

Chapter 127 A Deeper Expectation

"There's no such rule; I made it up myself," Renlong answered frankly. "If power is abused..."

"I'd fall into demonic possession; I haven't yet fulfilled my dream of traveling the world."

"Would you like to hear a story about this?"

When Hitomi Onodera saw Kei Kinoshita off and returned to the courtyard, she saw the three of them huddled together telling a story.

Renlong got tired of standing, so he sat down on the porch like Aiba Yu, crossing his legs without any regard for his image. The two listeners seemed very focused, and Onodera Hitomi slowed his pace.

……

Many years ago, a legend circulated in this region about a "very efficacious local deity," who was none other than Renlong, who had just transformed into human form and was extremely curious about human society.

Constrained by his duty to guard the ley lines, he cannot leave this area. Therefore, when he encounters someone who can see him and talk to him, he inevitably asks them to tell him about their experiences outside—it would be even better if they had a picture book.

Such people are hard to find, but Renlong lives long enough to encounter one or two, except for the old swindler he met the first time.

But those one or two close friends said goodbye one day and never returned. Renlong was puzzled. They were still young. Could it be that they had suddenly fallen ill and were unable to go out?

He found the two men's house and overheard their conversation to learn that they had been summoned to fight.

But Renlong could not go out and could only wait here until the flames of war reached the territory he was guarding.

"Could you please help?" the friend pleaded. "We've lost so many good young men. Can you hear their families crying?"

Renlong certainly heard it. Since the war began, there had been cries every day on this land. Women washed clothes by the river, and their cries flowed into the river.

However, both sides have their own sense of justice, and this was not entirely caused by one side. After careful consideration, Renlong decided to punish both sides equally, leaving the appropriate ones alone and punishing the excessive ones.

The seemingly fair verdict, however, opened another box—Renlong's behavior appeared somewhat "unpredictable" to humans.

Why was the "god" still angry even though I offered sacrifices? Was it because what I gave was not enough, or was it that my offerings were at least more grand than the other party's?

Despite the efforts of the two friends to spread the word, people's misunderstandings about the unseen and intangible "gods" only deepened.

Sacrifices ranged from offerings and livestock to even human sacrifices. Upon seeing the so-called "virgin boys and girls," Renlong knew he couldn't continue like this.

“So I set a rule for myself: I only use my power beyond what is expected of me against enemies of equal strength. As a result, the ‘gods’ stopped responding and the legend gradually disappeared,” Renlong said. “Of course… there are occasional exceptions, such as the construction team that drilled a hole in the roof of my house.”

Gao Shan listened intently to what he would say next.

“If we keep drilling, we’ll hit an underground river. Are their geological consultants just dawdling?” Renlong looked at Gaoshanwomeng: “If I hadn’t found you, I might have gone to the surface to ‘intimidate’ you. Otherwise, once the drill bit breaks through the last layer of rock, water seepage, collapses, and earthquakes will follow one after another, and it will be too late to call for help.”

Gao Shan quickly noted this down, and later contacted the geological research team at the Geo base to investigate. He then submitted it as a formal report to XIG, urging them to reroute the project or terminate it.

Renlong said, "You are different. You are Gaia, the guardian of the earth, and also Gaoshanwomeng, a human being."

It is neither an invisible and intangible "god" that makes people fearfully speculate about its thoughts, nor a "monster" whose language is incomprehensible that makes people afraid just by looking at it.

"You mean, this power... you let me hear the 'voice of the ley lines' because of this!" Takayama Gamu's mind suddenly clicked: "I can become a bridge connecting Earth's monsters and humans! Preventing unnecessary infighting!"

“Right, we should always be cautious, use our abilities where they are needed, and pay attention to the impact of our actions on humanity,” Renlong said in high spirits, flicking his folding fan to fan himself, his hair fluttering lightly. “And you? Samuel, no, perhaps you should be called Aiba Yu now?”

Renlong looked down at the person who had been silent since earlier and said, "It's time for you to pass on your experience, senior! Since you come from another universe, you must have more knowledge... By the way, if you have time, could you tell me about your experiences in other universes?"