Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Chapter Thirty: Such is the Life

"So that guy... fled to avoid punishment, accidentally fell into the water, was rescued by the coast guard, went around in circles, and was sent back?" The next afternoon, the GUTS team received a reply from the information department.

Gakuma turned to stone, and their mission should have been over, but Lina was worried about the mother and child's life and asked more questions. The group first cursed the bastards who had disturbed the monster by illegally mining, causing the workers to die and then running away under the guise of a "negotiation meeting." Then they turned around and detained the foreman who had been in a panic and whose mind was in a mess from the beginning.

How could a mine owner completely hide the fact that he was illegally mining? How could the foreman not know about it? It was only because he rushed to the mine owner's rest room in a panic and got the accurate map that Horii was able to detect something was wrong immediately, otherwise, with the map that they usually used to fool the workers.

So the Victory Team temporarily took over as the police station. After the overseer was taken away by the real police officers who arrived, the group started whispering about when the mine owner would go to accompany the overseer—unexpectedly, news came the next day!

"Good! We must make him lose everything and spend the rest of his life in jail!" Lina, who had been depressed ever since seeing the mother and son, finally perked up: "If it weren't for these money-grubbing people messing around, how could Gakuma have nothing to eat and have to crawl out and eat people!"

“Hey, that’s not right,” Shinjo stretched. “As long as the workers are mining, as long as Gakuma lives there, they will clash again sooner or later—it’s inevitable, a survival battle for resources, and illegal mining just accelerates that process.”

Lina raised an eyebrow, but Daigo stopped her immediately. Horii also gestured to Shinjo to say less.

“You’re right. It’s so big, it can destroy a building with a single step. Even a peaceful monster can’t coexist with it.” Xincheng muttered to himself, burying himself in the “Regulations”.

The newly released "Regulations on the Management of Special Life Forms (Trial Implementation)" was produced with great care by the General Staff Department. Relevant implementing departments are required to study it carefully, understand its spirit, and memorize it thoroughly. In particular, the Victory Team has been specifically named and required to undergo assessment.

“Saying such a thing shows you haven’t even read the regulations carefully!” Lina found a point to retaliate. She flipped to Chapter Seven and pointed to a line that read: “Large targets with a shoulder height exceeding 3 meters or a weight exceeding 2.5 tons shall be centrally managed by the Special Life Form Administration Bureau under the Life Science Research Center.”

"Centralized management! That means we have a dedicated place to house them, just like a zoo or nature reserve!"

Lina was full of fighting spirit, and Shinjo also perked up. He straightened his back, completely ignoring Daigo's constant clasping of his hands in prayer for peace, and Horii's eyes practically popping out of their sockets: "Then tell me, where is this area? Antarctica, Greenland? Or are we going to clear some land on the moon?"

……

"Although the regulations have been issued, our supporting measures are far from adequate! Far from adequate!"

In the General Staff, a senior member was slamming his fist on the table, spitting as he spoke: "They've been designating administrative zones, pushing them from the European branch to the North American branch, then passing the buck from the North American branch to the South Pacific branch. Next time, are they going to just kick them all the way to the Far East headquarters? Are we going to find an island nearby, less than five kilometers in circumference, for these monsters that are dozens of meters tall to live on, and then let them fight each other because their territories overlap?"

"Anyone who didn't know better would think we were planning to raise a venomous insect!" The man slammed his hand heavily on the table again. It was unclear what was happening in his palm, but the table visibly shook.

It's a real pity.

"Yes," someone sighed, "I just came back from the Life Sciences Research Center. They said they could have developed new methods for treating pollutants by studying the light from the Gakuma petrification, but all the known living organisms are dead, and the stones they turned into are completely worthless, entirely inorganic matter. If only we had designated management areas earlier..."

“Don’t be so quick to criticize after the fact, especially since it killed someone,” the man who slammed the table looked at Masayuki Nanbara: “Where is Captain Aiba? He usually has the most ideas at this time. Didn’t he say last time that it could be managed locally? It doesn’t have to be completely concentrated in one place, but the demand for supporting professional personnel will increase several times over.”

Staff Officer Nan Yuan took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His eyes, which had been dry from working overtime for days, were slightly better. He then said, "I don't know when you became so reliant on a police officer who is only on secondment in the General Staff... We can't be lazy when we need to use our brains. We need to think of several solutions now. A perfect solution is basically impossible. What we need to do is exhaustively list all feasible solutions and submit them to the council for a decision."

The staff officers were all rubbing salt into their wounds, launching a new round of brain-draining practices.

The "Captain Aiba" they were talking about was walking on a path on Miyagi Island.

Like Kurarajima, it is part of the Southwest Islands, located in the Yokatsu Islands. It covers an area of ​​about 5 square kilometers and is a small place with a population of less than 1000.

Jian'er's wife lives here. The family used to make a living by traditional lacquerware, but for Jian'er, the income from making lacquerware was far less than that from working in other places. So he went to work in the mines, leaving his wife and son Hongshu to take care of the sparsely-sold lacquerware shop—nowadays, their main occupation is farming, and lacquerware has become a side business.

This was precisely what Lina was worried about: how would her mother and unborn child survive after losing their breadwinner? Would Hiroki still have the money to continue his studies? Aiba Yu had been listening to Lina bombarding the miners with questions for ages, and his ears were practically calloused from hearing it all.

He flew TPC1 back to base and then came here, citing a "meeting" as his reason for leave. He figured he could just use classified information if anyone asked, and Director Sawai wouldn't be going to exchange statements with the air force members for no reason. Therefore, Fujisawa Sousuke and others still believe that behind his countless excuses of "going to meetings" was actually him talking to a bunch of big shots about the development of human peace.

Because of the small population, even the slightest storm on the island is a big deal to the residents, not to mention the news of Jian'er's death in the monster's mouth, which spread like wildfire to every household almost as soon as his wife went to the mine.

When Aiba Yu arrived at his doorstep, the house was empty—the nearby residents, fearing that the mother and son would be saddened to return home, had made various excuses to keep them in their homes, as it was much better for them to be lively than to be silent and thinking of the deceased.

But no matter how much they tried to keep them together, the time had to come for the party to end, and the mother and son had to go home to face the reality of their sudden misfortune.

"Mom has to go out to work too. Our lacquerware isn't very competitive anyway, and it's not selling well. I think I can do some housekeeping work... Hiroki, you can focus on your studies." His mother wanted to continue carrying him, but Hiroki refused.

Unexpected events can make people grow. Hiroki became a big kid almost overnight. He said he wanted to be a man who would protect his mother. A real man can't be carried around or led around.

"Then I'll go find a summer job." Hiroki kicked pebbles as he walked, the small stones crunching and flying far away with a light kick. He couldn't help but wonder—was his father, under the monster's feet, just as fragile? He'd heard that the despicable mine owner had been arrested; he wondered how much compensation he'd get. He didn't want his mother to go out to work. Other pregnant women were well taken care of, while his mother would have to go out to do domestic work, perhaps even working for another pregnant woman.

His mother couldn't help but laugh when she heard his words, but there was a hint of sadness in her laughter: "Who would dare to hire such a young child as a summer worker? Hiroki, be a good boy, have lunch with your Grandma Sachiko at noon, and go to Uncle Sato or Sister Masami's house in the evening. I'll come back to see you whenever I have time."

“I don’t want you to come back to see me,” Hiroki said. “I want you to be here every day, so I can see you every day.”

"Don't talk nonsense." The mother opened the door, and the light illuminated the cold room, along with the envelopes placed in the entryway.

There was no postmark, no signature, but the words on the seal caught her eye. She read them aloud softly, her eyes growing brighter: "Special life form... Disaster relief committee, does such an organization exist?"

She opened the seal, and a bank card and a typed letter fell out. There were no long words of condolence or mourning, only one line: "The person is gone, and the living remain."

A figure disappeared under the tree outside the house.

Chapter Thirty-One: Hidden Abyss

Northwest Pacific Ocean.

Nighttime is the perfect time to trap squid. These creatures, which dislike strong light, will eagerly gather in the shadows of boats when exposed to intense light. Fishermen simply need to turn on their headlights to attract sun-loving fish as bait. The squid are attracted by the bait fish and gather together, eventually crashing into the fishing nets that have been laid in ambush.

The Chiwan, possessing the massive size expected of a deep-sea fishing vessel, belongs to Japan. Its heavy hull and reinforced bow allow it to break through ice even when the sea is frozen.

The pitch-black night dyed the seawater black as well, and the fishing lights illuminated a small, bustling patch of water. Silver fish scales peeked out from the splashes, and the sea was boiling. It was clear that tonight would be a good time for a good catch.

Is anyone there? This is Chiwan.

"Hey, we've got all the squid moms and dads in this area covered! The baby squid are being released back into the wild. And please, no kill-or-die nets, you scavengers..." The captain, with his legs crossed, watched the muscular sailors turn the winch, and in his smugness, he chattered on the radio, which rarely got a response.

The fishing net had already surfaced, and they could see silvery-skinned fish frolicking on the surface. Judging from the creaking of the winch, they had caught quite a lot in this haul.

The captain stepped out of the cabin and eagerly went to the deck. He wanted to see the entire trawl net being pulled up and the catch dumped, the fish piling up like mountains and sliding off – that was his moment of wealth. He liked to take short videos and send them home, listening to the people behind the screen shouting along.

"Keep it steady, keep it steady," the captain pulled out his phone and pointed it at the bulging net. "Shout it out! Congratulations on the first great catch of the Chiwan!"

"A great harvest!" the boatmen shouted in unison. This was a ritual with a touch of mysticism; no matter what they caught in the net, they would offer their congratulations first.

But this time the shouts were somewhat scattered, and the captain also showed a subtle expression, spitting out, "What the hell smells so bad? Did you catch a rotten whale?"

"Boss!" someone called to him. The captain saw the shipwright waving his arm by the ship's side, pointing out of the searchlight's range: "There's a ship over there!"

The captain stared intently and saw two "lights," their color like gold. It wasn't the effect of a lampshade; rather, it resembled an entire golden mountain shimmering in the distance—the mountain's edges were rounded, with a dark line running through its center. More like the eyes of some large creature than a searchlight.

"Boat my ass!" the captain cursed. "What kind of ship has such long lights?!"

The foul-smelling fishing nets began to topple, the distant searchlights disappeared, and the captain felt a chill run down his spine, but he could only remain calm and, like the other boatmen, concentrate all his attention on the harvest.

It was a small mountain of seafood, with small fish covering one layer. They quickly flipped themselves over and slid to the sides. A few squid moved slowly. The boatmen gathered around and dealt with them first—if they were too late, the squid might kill the other fish around them.

Further down was the source of the stench, which made up half of the net: a pile of things that came from who-knows-where, like rotting whale carcasses or a compressed, waterlogged garbage heap, sticky yet with some sharp edges sticking out.

"Take it back! Take it back!" the captain ordered, instructing the crew to throw the wretched thing back into the sea.

……

Meanwhile, about thirty nautical miles from the Chiwan, a cloud slowly descended, obscuring the bright moon and casting a blurry shadow on the sea.

An airplane was circling around it.

"Dr. Mizuno, I understand your expectations, but we really can't fly straight in! It violates safety regulations." The young man in the GUTS uniform tried his best to dissuade him, and winked at his companion.

"Yes, yes, you know how sensitive the inspection team has been lately, Daigo is right!" Horii almost rushed up to hug his mentor and burst into tears: "We have drones, don't we? Using drones, the effect isn't much different!"

Dr. Mizuno, upon seeing the cloud formation belonging to the Lightning Man, disregarded everything else and enthusiastically ordered, "Fly in!" This was immediately refuted by the students and the "lucky newcomers" who had come to help. Thus, the plan to pilot an aircraft into the cloud to directly collect samples was aborted, and a drone operated by Horii wobbled its way in.

“I plan to collect some live samples of the Lightning People,” Dr. Mizuno said somewhat discontentedly. “They are undergoing a catastrophic mutation. Without samples, we cannot analyze where their genetics went wrong, and we cannot talk about developing corresponding anti-mutation gene drugs.”

Horii was well aware of his mentor's plans; he just felt that the Lightning Man described in the air force's report was far too dangerous. The air force was only lucky to have a bunch of veteran pilots who had survived, but they were currently on a research aircraft. Leaving aside the pilots, the structural strength was far inferior to that of the TPC-α and TPC-β.

"Don't worry," he reassured her, "this drone is equipped with a collector, it will definitely bring back useful genetic samples... Ah!"

The drone's feed was suddenly replaced by static. The group looked up and saw a small fireball, trailing a tail, fall into the sea.

The lightning beneath the clouds had just disappeared, but the lingering thunderbolts seemed to be showing off their power.

"Let's fly in after all," Dr. Mizuno called to the pilot.

"We can't go! This just proves how dangerous the Lightning Man is!" Horii yelled at the pilot, grabbing his communicator. A helpless reply came from the other end: "I don't really want to go in either... No pilot would want to go into a thunderstorm cloud."

But instead of seeking out the thunderclouds, they found themselves drawn to them—the drones seemed to have disturbed the creatures within, and the Lightning Man's cloud rapidly expanded, engulfing the planes as reported by the air force.

The driver understood the principle of "as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn," and immediately, with Dr. Mizuno's suddenly excited gaze, he turned the car around and moved away from the cloud. The sharp turn forced everyone to hold onto anything that could support them.

"Good luck, newbie! Now it's your turn! Give it a shout like last time and scare this cloud..." The researcher's joke stopped halfway through, not because the cloud was spreading too fast, but because of the distant roar outside the cabin, which sounded like the long cry of a giant whale.

Daigo, who was about to find an excuse to go to the restroom, strode to the porthole in two quick steps.

He pressed his face against the round window. The Lightning Man's cloud was still chasing them. The clever pilot had timed his escape perfectly. So where did that thing—undoubtedly a monster's roar—come from?

Then, the roar appeared again, and this time Daigo was certain it came from the sea. Unfortunately, their plane didn't carry a large searchlight, so they couldn't confirm what was happening beneath the surface.

"Smoke?" Horii noticed the rising steam.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Strange Beasts

If Dr. Mizuno's plane had been equipped with a high-powered searchlight, or if it were daytime, they could have easily detected the anomaly on the sea.

The waves and spray followed the clouds, carrying extraordinary heat; bubbles rose from the water and burst on the surface. The smoke Horii saw came from it—the plane was flying over the boiling sea.

The giant, candle-like golden eyes rippled open from the boiling water, shimmering like molten steel, twisting into indistinct shapes. Water vapor rose into the air, surging towards the lightning man's cloud, and the howling wind and lightning suddenly intensified, occasionally illuminating the night completely.

The passengers heard the clanging of swords, while the roar of the clouds and the murmur of the sea harmonized, creating a grand symphony. For a moment, it felt as if they were not in modern society, but in some ancient, legendary era. Their plane had traversed time and space, crashing into a mysterious and wild corner of the world.

Flying in the sky and swimming in the sea, they were all unknown behemoths, their enormous heads plunging down from the clouds or rising from the sea. If it weren't for the lightning illuminating the water and allowing researchers to see its scales and claws, no one would have believed such creatures existed.

Monster? Maybe?

Its head, about two stories high, protruded from the sea, covered with thorn-like bone horns and a solid shell of jet-black scales. Everything else sank into the long night and the black water, shrouded in ethereal clouds and mist. Only a pair of molten gold eyes pierced through all barriers, staring at the creature in the clouds.

Everyone unconsciously held their breath. In the face of such a creature, no one dared to shout out their innermost thoughts. It seemed that the slightest disturbance would turn those eyes towards them; they must be hotter than boiling seawater, perhaps capable of burning their plane from a great distance.

The spread of the cloud cluster has stopped.

Horii heard a frustrated roar behind him, like a child's cry mixed with the deep rumble of a behemoth. The lightning-infested clouds of the Lightning Man dispersed with that roar, rising high to end yet another fruitless hunt.

Looking down again, the creature that seemed to be covered in molten steel had also disappeared, leaving only a few scattered bubbles on the surface of the sea, which burst in an instant with a "pop".