Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

"Maybe it's a good thing that I don't have to find a reason to transform and then deal with the questioning of 'Why did you desert your post?'" Daigo breathed a sigh of relief. He pressed the Spark Lens in his chest pocket, his heart pounding wildly.

……

When Horii and Daigo returned to the team, the GUTS headquarters was empty, with only Captain Megumi remaining. Upon their return, she instructed the two to immediately change their gear and head to Kitagawa City.

"The carcass of a huge creature was found there. The fishermen said it was pushed ashore by the waves in the middle of the night. The others have already gone there on the Flying Swallow II. The Flying Swallow I is left for you." Megumi sent the information to the two of them via PDI. Horii opened the screen and let out a surprised sigh.

"This corpse is rotten..." The latest feedback came from Feiyan-2, who took photos from various angles and sent them back. The huge creature was lying on its side, its skin soaked and mushy, a dirty pinkish-red color. Inside were things that looked like plastic pieces or flattened metal boxes. It was more like a pile of garbage twisted into the shape of a creature than a biological corpse.

The garbage heap had a claw—or rather, a claw—one of which was broken off, the gaping edge exposed. Horii couldn't find any bone fragments; all he could see was a jumbled mess of tangled tissue.

It was Ye Rui's first time on a field assignment, so he was very enthusiastic. He thoughtfully added a note to the photos:

"No signs of life were detected, but various marine pollutants were found with high penetrability, and the nearby coastline has been contaminated. The body needs to be transported elsewhere and disposed of in a sealed manner as soon as possible. Within the scope permitted by the Regulations, we will consider the needs of the life science research center to retain some samples for research purposes."

The onlookers were just as excited as he was.

The appearance of monsters evokes fear, but the appearance of dead monsters only arouses curiosity in some people. They stand outside the cordon, pointing and talking about the monster's corpse, and even the stench mixed in with the sea breeze cannot extinguish their enthusiasm.

As time went on, the stench grew stronger and stronger, and the crowd eventually couldn't bear it any longer and began to disperse. The soil under the corpses visibly turned black and continued to spread.

When Daigo and Horii arrived at the coast of Kitagawa City aboard the Flying Swallow No. 1, Munakata had already formulated an action plan with Rena, Nozue, and Shinjo.

“We need to hoist it to the nearby landfill, where there is the city’s largest incinerator. The local police will be responsible for dispersing the crowd on the outside so that the construction vehicles can drive in… Judging from the pollution level analyzed by Ye Rui, at least a meter of soil will have to be dug up from this entire beach.” Zong Fang sneezed, and even through his mask, he couldn’t stop the foul smell from flooding his nostrils from all directions.

Lina felt her hair smell terrible and knew she had to wash it thoroughly until the odor was completely gone. She frowned and said, "I'll handle the hoisting work in the Flying Swallow II, but… its…"

While the output power appears sufficient on paper, considering the swaying during hoisting, we need to 'dissolve' some of it first.

"The dissolution process is already underway, and that's also, ouch!" Ye Rui rubbed his nose: "That's also the source of the stench. Its body tissues can decompose under strong light and heat, so we'd better wait until it's almost nightfall and its weight has decreased to a certain level before starting the hoisting operation."

Horii nodded: "It sounds good, but this smell... did you check the air pollution index?"

Ye Rui pointed to the flashing instrument: "The gas produced during dissolution will not harm the human body, but... it will affect emotions. We have already received complaints to headquarters, demanding that we burn this big thing as soon as possible, immediately."

“But its body tissue is very… mushy,” Horii Takumi pondered for a moment before coming up with the most fitting description: “Did you find the support points for the hoisting?”

“That’s what we’re looking for right now,” Lina said, holding up two photos that looked like lumps of mud. “I think it’s definitely better to use the internet, right?”

……

Fujisawa Sousuke noticed that the captain seemed rather gloomy today.

Even his vivid description of the monster's corpse found in Kitagawa City and the various speculations circulating online couldn't make him seem any more cheerful—Fujisawa Sousuke almost wanted to wave a teru teru bozu doll in front of him a few times.

"Finished memorizing the regulations? Then let's train your physical fitness." Aiba Yu yawned.

Ralf and the others looked puzzled. Amidst the expectant gazes of everyone, Fujisawa Sousuke whispered, "Captain, what were you doing last night? Why is the General Staff holding a meeting with you guys again?"

Aiba Yu barely heard him, nodding vaguely before realizing what he had said. Meanwhile, Fujisawa Sosuke was already cursing: "You dog of a staff officer! If you're so capable of treating people like animals, then pay them double wages!"

"No, it's just a misunderstanding, it's not..."

"They won't pay you double wages, yet they expect you to work overtime like slaves! The dog-like General Staff is inhuman!"

"No meeting was held..."

"Not holding meetings means working for free? My God, are they completely out of staff?"

"It's not about fighting..."

"They must have gotten used to being bossed around! Captain! You must learn to say no!"

"Fujisawa Sousuke," only calling him by his full name could calm someone down from their excitement: "Warm up, go now, run three laps and come back."

"Eh?"

"Stop arguing about other departments' affairs; if you can't control your mouth, add three more rounds."

“Captain,” Fujisawa Sousuke’s excitement was completely extinguished, and when he spoke again, it was with an indescribable sadness:

"Are you leaning on the Victory Team with one elbow and the General Staff with the other?"

Chapter Thirty-Three: A Changing World

"Hey, it's on! It's on!" Fujisawa Sousuke patted Ralph's broad back excitedly, "As expected of the 'goddess among pilots'! Ace Lina!"

Given the impact of the monster's corpse, the entire lifting operation was broadcast live, partly to showcase the team's ability to handle the situation and partly to quell the constant stream of complaints coming in to the hotline.

Everything proceeded according to the plan devised by Munakata and the others. Part of the monster's corpse was dissolved, and its weight was reduced to a safe range. Lina then piloted the Flying Swallow II to begin hoisting it, preparing to transfer it to a specially vacated location for enclosed incineration.

Like everyone else watching the monster, the air force team watched the live stream while eating dinner—and secretly thanked the Victory Team for their hard work, hoping that if they succeeded, they could ask the logistics department to give them extra chicken legs when they got back.

The sea breeze in Beichuan City is very strong. Although there is a counterweight at the bottom, it is not easy to keep the giant net used for hoisting stable within a certain range. Each of the ropes that weave the net is as thick as an adult's arm. After all, it is a thing that carries a monster weighing tens of thousands of tons. If it swings, it will have the same effect as hitting a person or hitting a steel pipe on the head. If it is unstable, it can wipe out the ground crew responsible for securing the ropes.

"She really is the ace Lina!" Watanabe Yota exclaimed, then patted Fujisawa Sousuke, his classmate who was still a rookie who couldn't go solo: "Look at her, a girl, in terms of physique she can fly the Flying Swallow No. 1, in terms of skill level... I haven't seen the net shake more than five meters."

Fujisawa Sosuke glared at him angrily: "If I hadn't started learning from scratch, you wouldn't have had the chance to nag like this. I learned faster than you back then!"

Yota Watanabe said, "Hey, so good luck, Sousuke... I'm looking forward to teaming up with you again. I won't object to you putting on those teru teru bozu dolls."

"I could beg the captain a few times and he wouldn't object, and besides, I don't want to be in your group." Fujisawa Sousuke rolled his eyes, and when he looked at the screen again, he saw that the Flying Swallow II had begun to slowly ascend. He swallowed a grain of rice, his mind blank, and focused only on the increasingly taut net.

Lina's proposed grid-based hoisting solution was indeed suitable for something so rotten it was unrecognizable. Amidst great anticipation, the monster's corpse was lifted a few inches by the powerful output of the Flying Swallow II, and cheers instantly rose to Fujisawa Sosuke's throat.

Before he could shout, the mangled corpse suddenly fell, as if a rope hadn't been tied tightly enough, leaving a large hole. The entire aircraft swayed unbalanced by the force of the fall.

Fujisawa Sousuke's cheers turned into sighs. He picked at his food a few times, waiting for the GUTS team's next move, when the person sitting on the side suddenly stood up and walked out.

"Huh? Captain, where are you going?"

"After we finish eating, let's go carve stones," Aiba Yu replied, leaving the team members puzzled.

She left the cafeteria with a wonderful look in her eyes.

"He likes carving stones at noon and midnight..." Fujisawa Sosuke chewed on a fish ball, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's: "Has he finally realized that not sleeping is bad for his health in middle age?"

Ralph flicked him on the forehead: "If you don't talk, you'll choke to death."

……

Citizens watching on television waited until nightfall, but the Victory Team still failed. According to the reporter, there seemed to be a major problem with the net delivered by logistics. Lina had to risk a second lifting attempt—using a pincer-shaped grappling hook. Unsurprisingly, it failed again because the monster's corpse was too gruesome to handle. This time, it was only lifted a very small distance before the garbage-like pieces of the body fell down with a clatter. The stench was even more intense than before, spreading throughout the city on the sea breeze.

It's said that the girls at headquarters who handle the external hotline are discussing whether to blacklist the Victory Team. They haven't reached a decision yet because the complaint calls just won't stop.

The Victory Team's return journey fell through, and the group had no choice but to set up camp on the spot. They hastily ate dinner amidst the stench, but fortunately, they could hardly smell the odor after a whole day... which prevented them from vomiting up everything they ate.

The sea breeze howled, and the tent rattled.

The members of the Victory Team were filled with dejection. According to Nozue and Horii, if the hoisting failed again the next day, they would have to consider the most cumbersome method: stuffing the rotten thing into a transport truck and slowly hauling it to the incinerator, which could take several days. The incinerator was not near the river, and large boats could not enter, otherwise it could have shortened the time by one or two days.

Burning it on the spot is impossible; doing so would render the entire beach and surrounding waters completely unusable, truly an unprecedented "essence" of pollutants.

They can only decompose and transport the garbage for several days! To shower or not to shower? The complaint records could probably circle the entire base!

Daigo saw the Cygnus constellation rise high in the sky, dazzling even against the Milky Way—it would have been better if the sea breeze hadn't carried the smell of decay. "I need to find a tent upwind," he said to Horii, who had come with him to check on the monster's corpse. "I can't stand this stench for days. Where did this mountain of garbage come from?"

"Currently, we have detected household waste, various mixed industrial wastewater concentrates, certain man-made chemical agents, and low doses of radioactive materials." Unlike others, in Horii's eyes, this pile of monster corpses is not just a simple garbage dump.

“Perhaps it’s a warning from the ocean? Although science tells me that this kind of ‘nature’s revenge’ is just human imagination,” he said. “They, like this corpse, are just a mixture of unconscious inorganic and organic matter.”

Daigo recalled that such talk of "revenge" usually came from the mouths of extreme environmentalists and religious believers. It was rather amusing to hear Horii, who was involved in scientific research, say it. He laughed and said, "Are you also going to the point where 'the end of science is religion'?"

"No, I just feel... after the existence of the Lightning Man was verified, this world is a little different." Horii carefully examined the garbage mountain in front of him. Who would have thought that a pile of pollutants could twist himself into the shape of a monster? Just like before Yuzare's time machine appeared, he couldn't believe that there were pyramids in the mountains of Japan, with giant stone statues standing dozens of meters tall inside, and Golza and Melba revived along with the statues.

The extent to which scientific theories can explain these inexplicable creatures pales in comparison.

He thought Dr. Mizuno's hypothesis was bold enough, but the reality hit him harder than he had ever imagined, with a fiancée who looked like Shinjo and claimed to be Munakata's lost daughter.

“Look at this wound,” Horii said, turning on the light, the beam illuminating a patch of darkness. “It’s lost a claw. This wound is clearly different from the kind of damage we cause by melting with heat. What tore it open? Was it still alive then? We know all these things…”

"Who goes there!" Daigo noticed a fleeting shadow at the end of the light. Horii's flashlight illuminated his clothes, revealing that he wasn't wearing TPC attire and was carrying something in his hands, making him look more like a reporter who would risk everything for a story.

He was right there at the monster's head! There was a support tent watching over it, and nobody reported it?!

Violation of safety rules! Daigo rushed forward, ready to apprehend the person first and then have a proper talk with logistics about the regulations!

Chapter Thirty-Four: Chase in the Night Rain

Daigo was surprised that the "reporter" who seemed to have crossed the cordon had only run a short distance before stopping.

It was as if it was waiting for me.

The most suspicious thing was the logistics tent he noticed; there wasn't a sound coming from inside. He hoped Horii could bring good news that everyone was alright, just sleeping too soundly.

"Which newspaper reporter? Or what organization..." Daigo raised his newly issued Hyper rifle and pointed it at the object in his hand: "Not a camera?" Was he here to illegally collect samples from the Monster Organization?!

The figure just smiled sinisterly, waved the object in his hand, and his first words were a friendly greeting: "Hello, should I call you... Ultraman Tiga?"

"Hey, don't get excited. If I shoot now, will I yell 'Victory Team is killing people?' This body is a genuine Earthling," the other person pointed behind him, "Why don't you turn around and look at your comrades? The dead monster... has woken up."

Daigo still had the Hyper gun pointed at him, and a muffled thud came from behind him—along with Horii's scream.

God knows how that mountain of garbage, which was tested as having "no vital signs," could come back to life! It was clearly dropping chunks of rotten flesh all the time during the day when it was being hoisted!

The situation was critical. Daigo couldn't bother arresting the suspicious individuals; he could only transform into Ultraman Tiga to stop the monster's single claw from striking down. Horii was frantically searching for his PDI, which had been thrown to the ground in fright, when Ultraman Tiga suddenly appeared above him. He struggled to suppress his instincts as a researcher and thanked him repeatedly.

Leaving aside the TPC members who were in an uproar, Daigo heard that suspicious guy laughing sinisterly again. His voice kept fading away, so he must have escaped.

"Go back and have Nori find you! I saw what you look like!" Daigo suppressed his urge to arrest the monster and focused on dealing with the resurrected Garbage Mountain monster.

Rain clouds had appeared in the sky sometime earlier, making the garbage mountain monster even more terrifying—it was gushing out tissue fluid while raising its dripping claws, its legs covered in mud, and slamming them at Tiga. It seemed to have its sights set on a certain direction. Nori pulled up a map and shouted, "Its target is natural gas!"

Its unstable body shell actually gave it an advantage. Tiga's brute force, which had broken Melba's bones, only made it retreat half a step. All the force was dissolved by the rotting flesh that rippled out like waves. The powerful blow was like hitting cotton.

Horii did not find any bone at its torn wound, perhaps it had no bone at all.

The situation was completely unexpected. The Victory Team and TPC members worked together to wake up citizens within a radius of several kilometers and evacuate them. The torrential rain poured down with lightning, as dense as the rain in Norizuki's heart: pollutants would surely spread with the water flow, and he wondered how many places would be affected when the rain stopped.