Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Just then, the door opened, and two figures, one large and one small, peeked in.

It's Hiroya Fujimiya and Pito, who's always around him trying to offer psychological counseling but is actually incredibly annoying.

Renlong went out to contact the underground monster, leaving only Onodera Hitomi and the two of them in the base. Apart from Pito squeaking and acting like a real hamster, the other two were not the type to cause trouble, so as long as Pito was blocked out, the night was very quiet.

"What happened?" Fujimiya Hiroya saw Onodera Hitomi unpacking her precious "souvenir".

She had forcibly pierced a corner of the indicator light with scissors, and she was trying to stick the scissors into the hole to completely pry open the translucent circular casing and turn the internal circuitry and chips into a mess.

“I don’t know who started it. I removed the key core, but then someone installed it again,” said Hitomi Onodera. “I discovered that it had been transmitting signals for an unknown amount of time while it was running. Now we need to stop this thing!”

Her operation was so rough that the tips of the scissors were worn down to a blunt point. Fujimiya Hiroshi also examined the equipment and indeed did not see any openings elsewhere. He asked Onodera Hitomi to give him the scissors.

Hitomi Onodera paused for a moment, then said, "Oh, you're strong."

She huffed and puffed at the indicator light cover for ages, but it didn't last ten seconds under Fujimiya Hiroya's hands. Pito stretched out its short paws and cheered, saying that Earth Daddy was giving it a buff. Fujimiya Hiroya always felt that it was giving him an "irritability" buff—he didn't know what kind of temperament it was, always turning into the hamster "Lily" to communicate with him. Although Fujimiya Hiroya liked "Lily" very much, that didn't mean he could tolerate a mouse being inseparable from him all day long and talking like a human.

Hiroya Machimiya pried into the equipment and ruthlessly smashed the internal components. The frantically flashing indicator light finally went out completely, and Hitomi Onodera breathed a sigh of relief.

"Transmitting signals," Fujimiya Hiroya looked up and asked her, "What exactly does that mean?"

“Location, and forward guidance,” there was so much to cover in this area that Onodera Hitomi organized her thoughts before her wildly pounding heart gradually calmed down: “The vanguard… are actually genetically modified individuals who, in order to infiltrate this Earth in this timeline, restored Earth.”

The purpose of human appearance in this era is to become pioneers in 'shaping the future'.

“My mission is to survey the best locations for the environmental modification machines, like those in the ‘Celestial Realm,’ and to report on man-made structures that require special protection. But as you know, I’ve lost my authority, and the modification machines are out of control. Protecting man-made structures will probably become ‘priority destruction’ for them. Perhaps the ‘Transform the Future’ plan has been scrapped.”

Hitomi Onodera lowered her head and looked at the moon casting a long shadow on the door frame: "Later I thought, maybe there was no such plan at all, and they were just here for the 'cleansing'."

Fujimiya Hiroya frowned as he listened, while Pito lowered his raised paw and scratched the fur on his cheek.

The girl touched her glasses, put them back on, and the moon seemed to coat the frames with a silvery rim, as cold and detached as her words: "They want to... 'cleanse' the native inhabitants of this planet and turn it into their colony!"

……

Gio base.

Kinoshita Kei woke up with a start from his dream.

He had forgotten the specifics of the dream, but he felt a deep weariness, as if he had been chased halfway around the world by ghosts or monsters in his dream.

"Why did you forget to turn off the light when you went to sleep?" He rubbed his stinging eyes and looked down to find his slippers.

He couldn't find his slippers, only a pair of dirty sneakers. He was stunned for a while before he came to his senses: "Damn it, don't let them find out I ran out to train! These shoes are covered in mud!" In the Geo base, apart from the artificial ecosystem of the biological research department, there was nowhere else that could be covered in mud.

He threw off the covers, shivered from the wind, looked down at his vest and underwear, and then rummaged through drawers and closets looking for his coat.

Dormitories are either a complete mess or so tidy they're practically obsessive-compulsive. Kinoshita Kei doesn't have OCD, so his dorm is messy enough to make the group leader frown and criticize him for ages without repeating himself.

When she found the clothes, she realized that she had unknowingly thrown them into a plastic basin like a bunch of pickled vegetables. The checkered cuffs were hanging out like dried seaweed. Kinoshita Kei folded them back in, put them in water with some soap and let them soak, planning to wash them the next day.

After he finished everything, he remembered the most important thing.

"Damn it! Did I clock in?!" With the alarm escalating and the management of the Geo base becoming increasingly tight, just when he thought he was about to get yelled at, sure enough, his wish came true and the team leader's communication device rang like a death knell.

“Absent in the evening, a reprimand,” Team Leader Fukui said with a dark face. “Pay attention to base discipline. Also, come to the Sky Patrol Monitoring Room immediately and check for signs of a wormhole.”

"Yes!" Kinoshita Kei answered in a booming voice.

After the call ended, the young man, who looked like a poplar tree, immediately wilted: "Next time, I can't just fall asleep right away; even an alarm clock won't help."

Chapter 170 The Earthlings Who Remain

For cargo ships, the Milky Way, which they could never reach in a lifetime, is within reach after a brief spatial jump.

The hopeless journey, expected to last 762 million years, is about to begin.

Because the solar system's position in the universe is not fixed, Samuel only located it at the edge of the Milky Way. He then needed to determine his direction and follow a general path to find it. The starlight he encountered along the way would replenish his energy, serving as a form of rest.

Meanwhile, three "deserters" from the expeditionary force stumbled and clung to the porthole, their eyes wide and their throats bobbing, yet each remained silent.

"It's the Milky Way, it's the Milky Way!" The experienced helmsman recognized the familiar starry sky immediately. How could he be wrong?

That's the Heart Nebula, that's the Soul Nebula, and the Orion Nebula. Even when viewed from the edge near the outer reaches of the galaxy, their shapes are completely different from what we see from Earth, but the star map coordinates are accurate, and the mesmerizing iridescent glow is accurate!

"We're back?" The seemingly insurmountable distance vanished in the blink of an eye. The trio's "brain" had never been so excited, not even when they discovered the truth about the wishing ball.

A thin mist appeared on the porthole in front of him. He didn't know if it was his own breath or something else. It obscured the enchanting and familiar starry sky, but he felt no fear at all. He only felt that his legs were about to give way, and his body wanted to sit down on the spot, find some energy drinks or something, and check what he hadn't written in his will.

The speedometer remained at the same value as the speed of light. As the saying goes, you get numb after being scared for a while. The "driver" pretended not to see it and just waited to see where this "alien pretending to be an Earthling" would take them. Surely he wouldn't be so foolish as to rush into the Earthlings' defenses, where their solar system base was. What if some robbers drove the car into the police station to extort money?

Before they could even finish a bottle of energy drink, the "aliens" seemed to have found their bearings and began another leap. With the star map shifting, positioning was no longer necessary.

Everyone knows that even Earthlings who have never set foot in their true homeland can recognize that this is the solar system.

There was no sign of the expected raging war, nor did Samuel see the countless shipwrecks that he had once seen flying through the air in his visions.

Everything was eerily quiet.

Passing by the now-ruined defensive line, the giant flew with its cargo ship toward Titan's base.

Although he had never been here before, Samuel remembered this place. The slime provided an experience He had observed: there was an old repairman and a newcomer lying on the outside of the base, repairing the walls and talking about the long-standing war.

Titan and the slimes see something completely different now. It once had garrisoned troops, and intelligent robots everywhere performing basic tasks, as well as slimes that were pulled away shortly after training.

New recruits often face crises, and the commander mobilizes the garrison troops, with alarms constantly blaring in the base.

Now, it's deserted.

Did the Earthlings abandon this intact base? Samuel was puzzled. He looked closely and found several people still in the command room where the garrison was operating the defensive weapons.

……

"Newcomer"—no, he's already a seasoned veteran.

He was an "Earthling" born on planet NX91075 in the Centaurus Arm of the Milky Way. He was attracted by the high subsidies at the Mars base and planned to earn enough money to travel. His first stop was Earth. However, he was temporarily conscripted and became a member of the Titan base—and he never returned.

Whether it was his hometown in the real sense of Centaur Arms or his hometown in the sense of an "Earthling," he didn't even have time to take a look at Earth, which now seems so close. His travel plans were delayed year after year, simply because the war never stopped. Both sides were locked in a fierce struggle, waiting for the other to bleed to the last drop.

This balance was broken by a single decree.

They received a notification from headquarters that the "vanguard" had completed the construction of stable coordinates, and the space jump portal on the moon was about to open, allowing Earthlings to travel to their new home—a habitable planet.

Sounds really good?

But the "newcomer" always remembered his master's teachings. He felt that doing this was like a warrior choosing to run away. Yes, Earth's resources are now depleted, and Uranus, who protected humanity in the Earth era, has disappeared. It has no value to him.

But that's Earth!

He declined the relocation quota, as did sixteen other members of the Titan base. They divided the work simply, each performing their duties, and with the help of the intelligent robots they hadn't taken with them, they kept the base barely functioning.

They knew this was futile; once the aliens discovered the truth, they could easily tear apart their paper-thin defenses with a larger ship.

They simply felt that there were always things in life more important than simply living.

Now, the seventeen-man "garrison" has received its first warning.

A bright spot appeared in the remote sensing image, appearing vividly hot in the far-infrared.

Is it an enemy attack?

Everyone was on edge, and even though they were mentally prepared, they still hoped that this day would come later.

"The moon's jump portal hasn't closed yet. If we don't stop the aliens here and let them in, everything will be over!" The temporary commander gave the order. He had a good overall view, but he couldn't professionally and quickly report the coordinates to ensure that each turret attacked in an orderly manner. He could only wave his hand and say, "All units, prepare!"

The bright spot got closer and closer until its outline became clear.

When they finally recognized what it was, their hands, which were nervously pressing the launch button, froze.

"A silver... giant?" Someone rubbed their eyes, wondering if they were hallucinating because they were so eager for Uranus to reappear and save the world.

"What is that in his hand?" Someone saw the ball of light in the giant's palm.

The commander zoomed in on the image and clearly saw what was enveloped by the sphere of light: "It looks like our spaceship, a transport ship?"

This is a day that the "newcomers" will never forget: since the day when Earthlings stepped into the universe and chose to leave Uranus, humanity has once again met the giants of light, beyond textbooks and documentary images.

He didn't believe what he was seeing was an illusion. The light was soft and not dazzling. Just being near it gave him a sense of security, as if it were a towering tree and he was a bird preening its feathers among the branches.

The giant arrived at the base and easily released his grip. The cargo ship, its hull appearing incredibly weathered, slowly approached the base. The instruments detected life signs inside; without a doubt, it contained their brethren.

The intelligent robots reacted before they could react. The base identified the cargo ship's number, the defense gates opened one by one, the command granted landing permission, and two green guiding lasers connected the airport and the cargo ship.

Welcome home, soldiers of the Expeditionary Force.

It is the default voice for the Titan base.

"An expeditionary force ship?!" The members of the hastily assembled "garrison" looked at each other in bewilderment.

Three men carrying suicide notes disembarked from the cargo ship.

They looked at the spacious and clean covered bridge in front of them in a daze, then turned back to look at the warm sunshine outside through the transparent glass, unable to believe what they had just experienced.

Chapter 171 That's Not Home

[Identity verified. Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Pastor Miratti.]

The mechanical voice sounded again after the three officially stepped into the base.

Not everyone can receive a welcome from AI. Pastor, the "brain" of the trio, knows that the AI ​​welcomes not him personally, but the Miratti family's contributions over the years.

The way the people stationed there looked at him changed.

They welcomed the expeditionary force's arrival, of course, but the arrival of a member of a prominent family at the very moment of their "escape" from their base camp inevitably led to speculation that "he might have been withdrawn from the front lines and escaped with them."

But what about that giant?

"Can you tell me what happened?" Pastor's words immediately shattered their skeptical assumptions: "The Titan base shouldn't only have these people."