Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Samuel did not immediately deactivate his gigantic form. He remained outside the base, extending his senses as far as possible, and discovered only a few hidden, dilapidated bases containing the wreckage of alien spaceships.

.

"We've been fighting for too many years, and in the end, we couldn't hold on any longer," the slime explained reluctantly. "There are no wish-fulfilling balls here that can provide unlimited logistical support, so large-scale operations have turned into sporadic small skirmishes. Instead of setting up forward bases, we should consolidate our defenses and rely on elite squad raids as the main force."

Meanwhile, the garrison at Titan informed them that the main base had initiated a space jump, preparing to establish themselves on habitable planets in other universes.

These people were kept in the dark. How could Pastor, who knew the truth about the wishing ball and was extremely familiar with the intricacies of the upper echelons, not know what was going on?

"'Habitable planet'? Running away like that, it's not like you're taking the whole family on a vacation! If things get bad, you just abandon Earth and run away. Didn't the old man shoot the person who proposed it on the spot?" Pastor said, "Excuse me, where is the archive? I need to look through the filing documents."

The person in temporary command pondered for a moment, then took out a card: "My rank is the same as yours. If you need to use my authority..."

“Thanks, I snatched an S card.” Pastor’s words surprised him.

"I...I didn't hear wrong? 'Rob'?" The temporary commander didn't know whether to immediately draw his gun or close the base gates and issue an expulsion order, letting the defense robots overwhelm the three expeditionary force members.

Pastor suddenly bowed to them, and when he looked up, he said seriously, "The main camp has been evacuated, but you are stationed here. Please allow me to express my respect. Regarding the issue of seizing authority... please give me a few minutes, and I will start with the matter of the 'Red Jade'."

A dozen or so Earthlings were chattering away in the base's spaceport. When Samuel withdrew his senses and looked down, he only felt a flock of sparrows below him.

"What are they saying?" He asked the translator again.

If a slime were to do simultaneous interpretation, it would definitely be a terrible interpreter, translating in a way that's like talking to a brick wall, forcibly trying to reach a consensus with its own secondary understanding.

"They said their boss jumped away, and they're going to become a successful race that colonizes across the universe, uh... rob the vault? The old man will just shoot a whole row of them?" Slime paused for a long time in Samuel's silence, and finally concluded: "They're talking about whether they should run away too."

Some things can't be omitted, Samuel sighed. The giant's body shrunk to the size of a normal person. Aiba Yu, holding his buzzing head, decided to use telekinesis to communicate. If all else failed... the base's AI translator was much more reliable than a mediocre slime.

Aiba Yu's movements drew everyone's attention. They hadn't forgotten about the giant, but seeing him standing on the outside without making a move, they all chose to wait. This unspoken understanding of holding their breath was just like most of them. When they were young, they took their first history class about the "Earth Age" and the teachers told the legend of Uranus.

Like Hitomi Onodera, they were required to write letters to Uranus. However, these letters were merely a teaching assignment, and once completed, they were stored away in a warehouse. But Hitomi and the others encountered a wonderful teacher; her letter was painstakingly carried to the mountain where Uranus resided, and read aloud to them bit by bit.

Regardless of the outcome of the letters, the children wrote their words with curiosity or reverence.

The world is always full of strange and absurd things. The end of the "Earth Age" was marked by humanity leaving Earth and Uranus, seemingly without any regrets.

But they insist on cherishing the legends of the "Earth Age" in their textbooks, portraying Uranus as a guardian deity who lives on in the children's memories, and tacitly concealing the fact that Uranus no longer responds to humans, waiting for the children to grow up and gradually understand.

Hitomi Onodera believes this is like a children's story such as Snow White or Santa Claus, except that the protagonist is the real-life Uranus.

Perhaps it was their childhood education, or perhaps it was the glimmer of hope they finally saw after years of being immersed in war, that led them to transfer their reverence for Uranus to the person before them.

He had the face of a human from the "Earth era," and his clothes were also old-fashioned, not the kind that would be convenient for movement in space. He spoke, no longer in broken, halting language: "The humans of this universe are invading Earth in another universe. I need to know how many spaceships and weapons they have taken away."

No one understood his pronunciation, but the AI ​​responded first. The "future" artificial intelligence was more flexible and autonomous than the prototypes in the Geo base.

[Language origin detection, "Earth Age," Sino-Tibetan language family, interpretation initiated.]

Hearing his mother tongue in another universe, even if it was a mechanical voice, felt incredibly comforting, and Aiba Yu couldn't help but smile.

The subsequent communication was much simpler, but as the exchange of intelligence deepened, the atmosphere became increasingly subdued.

"You mean... a 'habitable planet,' another Earth in another universe?" The temporary commander's voice trembled, but no one paid attention to his lapse, because their own performance couldn't be any better: "'Wishing Sphere'? Good heavens, the long-standing claim is that it's a key technology that has broken through energy efficiency."

What should we do? The temporary commander glanced at his companions one by one, and when his gaze met the others, he saw confusion in their eyes.

Their main base should already be in the space tunnel. They are carrying starships and weapons that are generationally superior, as well as monster weapons that they can still control. Except for those in the know, everyone else thinks it is just a "migration". They will recuperate in another universe and return to avenge their previous defeat when the time is right.

"Is that even a question? Of course, we must stop them!" Pa said.

Stoll clenched his fist and waved it in the air: "The Wishing Ball is a monster! It's a sin that humanity created itself. Instead of trying to make amends, it turns around and tries to harm humanity in another universe! How did this resolution pass? I want to find the old man in person and ask him clearly. I suspect this is not an 'organized evacuation' at all—it's a deception and rebellion that betrays humanity!"

The temporary commander didn't speak, but the "newcomer" who had become an old man whispered, "My master once said, 'Without Earth, are we still Earthlings?' We are stationed at this base because it is the most forward fortress. As long as it exists, Earth exists."

He shifted his gaze to Aiba Yu, his eyes pleading: "I don't know if I should ask you to stop them. It's understandable to want to live, but... colonizing another universe, I should say 'ancestors'? That's absurd."

"I just feel that although Earth in another universe is nice, it's not our home."

Chapter 172 Earth's Concerns

A space jump base located on the moon.

While described as "located on the moon," it was actually created by extracting the entire moon as material through the power of a wishing orb. The subsequent environmental degradation of this universe's Earth is also related to the moon collapsing and becoming a device for activating the interstellar portal.

When Aiba Yu arrived on the moon aboard the spaceship that Pastor and the others had replaced, which was equipped with more powerful defensive firepower, he could no longer see the companion star that had left behind countless legends and inspired countless works of art.

There is a funnel-shaped object suspended in the universe, and that is the "moon".

They need to advance before the passage is completely closed to find the human "migration" team. Pastor hopes to communicate with the headquarters as an expeditionary force member to find out whether they have changed drastically on their own or have been misled by "Lucifer" mentioned by Aiba Yu.

To this end, they switched from the cargo ship to a more maneuverable vehicle left behind at Titan's base, and the helmsman in the trio copied down the data on the ships and monsters that humanity currently had.

First, they need to know themselves and their enemy. If a fight breaks out, having a clear understanding of the monster's characteristics and particle cannon range will give them much more room to maneuver. Second, Aiba Yu needs this data. He hasn't forgotten his mission to "gather intelligence," and if this data is given to Alchemy Star, it might be the key to overcoming their disadvantage.

Therefore, devices capable of reading data are indispensable. It's not like Aiba Yu wouldn't have common sense to think that the computers on the Alchemy Star could read the memory of Earthlings in this interstellar age.

The equipment was this spaceship. Unlike Pastor and the others who were hopeful, Aiba Yu didn't think he could persuade the "migrating" team to abandon the easier path and return to this universe to fight to the death with just a few words. Conflict was inevitable, so he took advantage of the time to rest and hitched a ride on a jump portal to the interstellar space.

He leaned against the porthole, and Pastor and the others tactfully did not disturb him, leaving Aiba Yu with only the slime's muttering in his ears.

"Well, how do you say it this time? 'The flood washed away the dragon... ptooey, the Dragon King's temple.'" In the past, the slime would have been gloating, but now it only felt fear. Fortunately, it wasn't aliens who were being harmed by Lucifer, otherwise they might not have been able to withstand it either.

Sunlight streamed into the cabin; the base's personnel had maintained the spaceship very well, and there wasn't a speck of dust in the air.

Aiba Yu remained silent, his exceptional eyesight allowing him to see the "moon," now a man-made structure, and the Earth shrouded in dark clouds.

Yellow clouds and black water—that was his first impression. No wonder the teacher Kinoshita Kei mentioned who went to read the letter to Uranus needed to wear a spacesuit and carry an oxygen tank; although that place was the home that nurtured humanity, it was no longer habitable.

The land map has also changed drastically. Indeed, after so many years in space, even on a normal Earth, the landmasses would not be the same as before.

Aiba Yu felt a deeper connection to the words of the maintenance worker stationed on Titan: "But that's not our home"—this Earth felt very unfamiliar to him.

"Uranus, Uranus?"

He thought he heard a voice, soft and faint, so faint that it was hidden beneath the slime's mutterings that he realized it had been calling for a long time.

He asked the slime to be quiet, and the slime stopped talking about "Renlong Temple and Dragon King Temple," reluctantly shutting up and shrinking into a tighter ball.

“Uranus… Ah, you are not my Uranus.” The voice sounded like that of a drowsy old man.

Aiba Yu sat bolt upright. Was that voice from Earth in this universe?

“Yes,” the aged voice said with delight, “you have the aura of Uranus on you, so I mistook you for someone else. Which planet’s light are you? Has that child finally decided to travel around and find companions?”

"I am not the light of any planet," Aiba Yu thought. "How many misunderstandings have there been now?"

“I see. But I sensed the blessing from the unfamiliar planet,” He said. “They must like you very much, right? Communicating with planetary consciousness is not a simple matter. Such smooth communication cannot be achieved without ‘recognition’.”

Aiba Yu recalled the difficult process by which Kinoshita Kei, Fujimiya Hiroya, and others "heard" and "saw" Pito. Even the light he was born needed a period of time to communicate with Pito, while he could hear His request from the very beginning—was that the reason?

But what exactly was it?

Wait...

“I don’t know, you’ll have to find the answer yourself,” Earth’s consciousness said. “I came to you to ask Uranus, did you see him? Is he doing well?”

“He found a… energetic human host, which should be pretty good.” Aiba Yu restrained himself from thinking too much about the battle on another Earth, lest this Earth read his mind—he was just like Pasifica, who could read minds.

Why can't Pito read his thoughts? Is it because He is too weak because He is in a hurry to bring forth the genius of the Alchemy Star, as well as Gaia and Agul?

"Who is Pito?" The old voice paused.

“A planet on M91, which I encountered during my travels,” Aiba Yu replied fluently.

“Hmm…” His hesitant voice reminded Aiba Yu of a dozing old man: “Uranus, I have long advised him to interact more with other children. Since the death of the previous human host, he has become more and more like a god who observes coldly. I am very worried about him.”

Kinoshita Kei is very down-to-earth. Rather than worrying about his alienation from humanity, it's more concerning whether his image will be damaged enough to sink into the earth's core. Aiba Yu replied, "No, it won't."

"If you can still see him, please persuade him for me. Don't be too harsh on humans. They came to me after they finished building the machines that mutated the environment, but Uranus thought they were dangerous and drove them away..."

"Danger?" Aiba Yu thought that Uranus was worried about the Earthlings' starships or particle cannons.

“No, it was the red wishing ball. Its aura made me very uncomfortable. Uranus did shatter it earlier, but the person holding it turned into a wisp of smoke and fled with the fragments,” Earth spoke slowly, as if it needed a long time to organize its words: “Later, I sensed it again on the moon, which had become an artificial object, right after that child Uranus entered the passage. I was afraid something might happen to him.”

The slime felt its nearly finished welded shell tremble. Startled, it immediately checked it over and roared, "Hey, control your energy! Even cosmic-level welders need rest!"

Aiba Yu took a deep breath to calm himself: "You mean, after Uranus entered the time tunnel, the person holding the red sphere... fragment also followed him in? Can your senses confirm his appearance?"

"I don't know what he looks like, but he's traveling on a human spaceship, so his size should be the same as an ordinary human, right?"

Chapter 173 Vanguard

"Tong, have you seen my safety amulet?"

Under Hitomi Onodera's eerie gaze, Kinoshita Kei fiddled with every patch of grass in the yard, like a mouse digging a hole in the prairie, trying to find the thing his grandmother, Kinoshita Maho, had tied for him.

"You've ever carried that thing?" Hitomi Onodera had absolutely no recollection of it.

Kinoshita Kei poked his head out from behind the artificial hill: "I mentioned it before, on the day of your holiday when I saw you off at the elevator, you showed me your bracelet, and I said that I also had one given to me by my grandmother."

Upon hearing his mention, Hitomi Onodera remembered that there was such a thing, and she stood up to help look for it: "What color is it?"

“Red,” Kinoshita Kei shrank back to the ground mouse again: “It was wrapped with a very thin red string, shaped like a safety buckle. It really… fell off during training?”

"Not jade?" The style he described was somewhat different from the usual ones.

“Of course not. Grandma said it might be something given to me by my ‘family’, so she tied it with a rope and made me carry it with me,” Kinoshita Kei said helplessly. “The family of this body, I came from another world, and I started as a baby… If Grandma hadn’t found me back then, I might be gone.”

……

Because the transmitter was working again, Hitomi Onodera stopped going out to buy groceries for safety reasons. As a result, the task of purchasing daily necessities fell to another resident, Hiroya Fujimiya.

Pito tried to climb onto his head, like a truly pampered "Lily," and stroll happily with her owner, but Fujimiya Hiroya grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her down.

"If you can't put your head on my head, your shoulder will do; I don't mind if you hug me." Pito opened his short paws, determined to continue to build a closer relationship.

Fujimiya Hiroshi placed Him on the ground and walked away.