Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

“I don’t even need to calculate to know that for something of that weight to fly, its wings would have to extend at least three times, and its sternum would have to bulge out at least ten meters like a bird’s! Its bones are too heavy and dense to be suitable for flight, but do you think it can fly?” Before Kubota Kosuke could answer, Tango Yuji gave his own answer: “It can. I knew after things like Melba appeared that this theory was useless on them; they were just piles of garbage!”

Kosuke Kubota stared at him for a while, and only after he finished speaking emotionally did he say, "You may need to go to the medical department for a psychological consultation... Don't be ashamed, we already have fifteen colleagues there 'enjoying life' and playing house with lovely and gentle nurses."

"I'm not crazy! I'm excited, thrilled, and I'm cheering for the 'new world'!" Yuji Tango rubbed his gloves until they creaked.

A creaking sound: "'Special life form,' Dr. Kubota, how do you say they can produce light streams and rays containing high concentrations of energy? How do you say... this monster continues to radiate astonishing energy even after it dies?"

“And the giant… no, what’s his codename now? Tiga, yes, Ultraman Tiga,” Yuji Tango seemed to have calmed down a bit, his voice soft and gentle, like coaxing a child who didn’t want to sleep: “A humanoid life form, with an astonishingly high concentration of light particles, remember the beam that destroyed Melba? He was practically a mobile nuclear fusion reactor.”

"Compared to that, look at our fragile bodies and lifespans of less than a hundred years. Perhaps the only thing we can boast about is the knowledge passed down from generation to generation and our brains that are good at learning. Even then, we still need to learn in the first few decades of our lives to pass on experience and wisdom," said Yuji Tango.

Kosuke Kubota understood his implication, but it was too crazy and dangerous. Just like the proposal to implant Ebloon cells into volunteers, such a proposal would never be approved.

He decided to dissuade Yuji Tango, saying that achieving results doesn't always require doing research that only crazy scientists would do: "There are still many secrets about the human body that we don't understand, and there are people working on projects about maintaining cell vitality, especially prolonging brain cells. You're a bit too hasty in thinking about these things now."

Yuji Tango took a deep breath and looked at the monster's head again. Its eyes were closed, as if they would never open again.

“I understand, I understand,” he said. “I’m just not reconciled… Why can’t we be this kind of life? Everyone says that the Creator is fair, but I feel that He is very biased.”

Chapter Fifty-Two Obsession

Leaving aside how the Life Science Research Center and the New Energy and Equipment Development Center will form a joint research working group, in the aviation team, a certain rookie who couldn't control his mouth once again threw himself onto the barbecue grill.

"Captain!" Upon hearing that tomorrow's training would be assigned to Ralf, Fujisawa Sousuke yelled at the top of his lungs, "Is it the General Staff again?! If you can't bring yourself to do it, I can go and turn the tables on you! You want people to work for free without paying double wages? Dream on!"

He patted his chest and said, "Tell me, are you going to that Nan Yuan office for a meeting or to his staff headquarters for work? I'll take care of everything for you! Everyone go home, everyone go back to their mothers, close down the business, and everyone get a holiday!"

Aiba Yu threw the towel he was using to wipe his sweat directly onto his face: "Too much sweat gets into your brain. What I just said was the 'Special Life Form Disaster Relief Committee.' The relief for the families of the victims of the Gakuma incident is something I'm in charge of, and I'm going to make a follow-up visit tomorrow."

"Disaster organization?" Fujisawa Sosuke stammered, "Does such an organization even exist?"

Yota Watanabe tugged at the back of his shirt and whispered, "Yes, the 'Special Life Form Disaster Relief Committee' is mentioned in the Regulations. It's actually just a humanitarian relief foundation with a new nameplate. It's been operating under that name for a long time, and it was only officially announced to the public after the Regulations were issued."

Ralph gloated: "You're going to get caught for not reading the ordinance carefully."

Seeing the rookie opposite him go from patting his chest to looking miserable, Aiba Yu added a satisfying twist—he pulled a teru teru bozu doll from his pocket: "The stuff you randomly stuck on, stuffed in the cockpit of TPC-β, the ground crew came to me to complain for the twelfth time..."

Fujisawa Sousuke wanted to accept but didn't dare, while Aiba Yu had already pressed the doll firmly onto his forehead: "I'll give you a day to find it. How many of these things are still missing from our equipment? Every time the ground crew complains, we have to clean the windshield every time. I've told you so many times, it can't protect anyone."

“Sometimes you have to believe in the superstition… Ah, no, no, no, Captain is right!” Fujisawa Sousuke quickly stuffed the doll into his pocket and pretended nothing had happened: “Well, I was just using it… Never mind, Captain, I have a question to ask.”

"explain."

"That relief committee, was it operating covertly all along?"

Aiba Yu felt he should really find someone from the External Life Negotiation Team to teach him the correct terminology: "It's a secret operation. It has indeed been working for many years, because extraterrestrial visits and anomalies did not only occur after Golza appeared... TPC had dealt with them a long time ago."

Fujisawa Sousuke glanced at Watanabe Yota, as if he had secretly mustered considerable courage, and Aiba Yu could hear him inhale.

He asked urgently, "So, were the victims of the previous 'accidents' already on the aid list? You've been paying attention to their families, and there's even a follow-up system?"

Aiba Yu nodded.

"Are they there? You should know who I'm talking about."

“Of course there are,” Aiba Yu said. “That wasn’t an accident; it was an extraterrestrial attack, just like the Asian air force base incident back then.”

Fujisawa Sousuke was silent for a moment, then his face lit up with joy: “That’s great, Yota. We don’t have to save so much money anymore. I was worried that my salary wouldn’t be enough for their kids to go to tutoring classes.”

Aiba Yu said helplessly, "You should worry about yourself first. If you can't adjust your mindset, you won't be able to fly alone."

“The lady in the psychological counseling room is very pretty, and I want to chat with her more,” Fujisawa Sousuke chuckled. “It’s also quite fun to play with sandcastles with the researchers squatting inside. I never played with building double helix structures with sand when I was a child. Do people who come out of the lab all have skillful hands? Last time I went there, I saw a few of them building a mammoth and carving mammoth hair with toothpicks.”

"

"How about I let you go out and have fun for a day?"

"Really? Ah... no, no," at the crucial moment, Watanabe Yota secretly pulled him back again, and Fujisawa Sousuke finally stopped himself: "I will conscientiously study the 'Regulations' for a whole day tomorrow, and I promise not to make the mistake of not even knowing about the 'Special Life Form Rescue Disaster Foundation' again!"

It is the 'Special Life Form Disaster Relief Committee'.

"Oh, committee, I'm so sorry, so sorry."

……

The following day, Aiba Yu set foot on the land of Miyagi Island.

There is a primary school here, where the children of the workers who were turned to stone by Gakuma study. It is lunchtime now, and Aiba Yu stands at the school gate, silently observing his situation.

A person's behavior in interacting with classmates can reveal a lot about their life; their clothing, appearance, and body language can also indicate whether they are doing well or not.

Although the entrance wasn't crowded, there were a few parents waiting. Hiroki and his classmates came out, playing around. When they saw the parents, their smiles faded a bit, but they quickly gathered around their classmates and started talking excitedly again.

"Didn't you check it when you got back yesterday?" Ignoring all the noise, Aiba Yu caught Hiroki's voice as he whispered to his friend, "I saw the wings you drew in art class. There was a mistake. The feather tips aren't pointed; they're rounded. If you draw them wrong, they won't work."

“I don’t have time to read it. As soon as I get home, I have to do my homework. I haven’t finished reading my comic books, and I have to follow the latest installments every week. I just drew a few strokes from memory… If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work,” his classmate said, not really caring. “Want to do your homework together later? If we divide the work, it will be much faster, and then we can read the comics together.”

“I’m all grown up now, I don’t read comics anymore,” Hiroki said.

His classmate nudged him with his elbow: "Come on, you like my collection so much... help me out, you're better at math than me, and you finish your Chinese homework faster. If we team up, we can play for a long time. We only need to change a few answers, and the teacher won't notice."

"I want to do my homework myself. I want to become a great scholar, clone animals, clone living people, and then bring the dead back to life." These are childish words, but Hiroki said them very seriously. He must have said them to himself many times, because very few children at this age can speak such words clearly.

“You might as well say you want to be a necromancer,” his classmate patted him on the shoulder. “Playing video games isn’t a bad thing either, but let’s keep it down so my mom doesn’t hear us.”

"I'm not joking!" Hiroki was getting a little angry. You're seriously talking to your friend about your ideals, but your friend just thinks you're joking. Anyone would get angry.

“I can’t find my father by reading comics, and I can’t find him if I don’t succeed in my studies in the future… then I’ll leave it to the great God,” he said. “As long as I pray to Him earnestly every day, study the doctrines diligently, and become the most faithful believer, He will grant me a chance to fulfill my wish.”

“You might as well believe that Bandai offers discounts on toys,” the classmate said. “I never have enough pocket money.”

The two children walked with their heads huddled together, when suddenly they noticed a shadow in front of them, as if they were about to bump into a tree.

They stopped and realized that what they saw was not a tree, but a strange adult.

"Who are you looking for?" Hiroki asked warily, pulling his classmate close. There were few people on the island, and he recognized most of them. This person wasn't from the island; he might be a conman or a human trafficker.

"The god who grants your wishes," the man said, bowing his head and looking very serious, "where did you hear that from?"

Chapter Fifty-Three: The True God

There are no gods in the world.

Or rather, there is no "god" as some people claim.

Yu Aiba firmly believes this.

He firmly believed this from the time it was still called "Xun". Although many people at the time thought that "this power is a gift from the gods", in his view, if there really were gods, they must be extremely evil, glorious and prosperous on the positive side, and cursed and oppressive on the negative side.

The reason is simple—if God truly loves humanity, why are the outstanding and life-loving people around Him dying one by one? If God is truly omnipotent, then He can surely end wars and famines, so why are those who fight for them the weak and powerless?

"Xun" has seen relief organizations distributing food to impoverished families, people giving a few coins to the homeless, warriors willing to hold off the enemy at every turn despite knowing they are in grave danger, and old foxes willing to bleed the original nest dry at all costs...

If there truly is a god, then He must be among these people.

If there truly is a deity, then He is certainly not radiant and dazzling. He would care for the unfortunate in the most impoverished and cruel places, for those who dwell on suffering rarely spend time and effort on their appearance, and He could not possibly be radiant and dazzling.

There is never a free "gift"; if there is, it is always at a price that exceeds our current understanding.

Yu Aiba despises conspirators who make grand pronouncements about "giving" but never explain the price to be paid, and he despises even more those who prey on children.

Miyagi Island has a small population, and the residents know each other very well. They can quickly find out what each family is doing and fly to every corner of the island.

This naturally includes families who have changed their faith.

"A shrine?" Aiba Yu found the place where Hiroki "listened to lectures," the shrine where children often played hide-and-seek.

There are no strict or quiet rules at rural shrines; anyone can come and visit. As long as you don't touch the incense burner, candles, offering table, or shrine, no one will bother you.

Aiba Yu walked by

Amidst the weathered torii gate, I came across a relatively tidy house. Judging from the wear and tear on the edges of the sliding door, people frequently came and went here.

A drowsy fat man curled up in a rocking chair in front of the door.

“If the incense burner falls over, it’s hard to sweep; if the candle falls over, it’s easy to catch fire. Handle it gently and worship in a civilized manner.” He heard footsteps, his eyes still closed, and he said as if chanting a sutra, “The mountain god and the earth god are outside; the gods of the west will not receive you.”

Aiba Yu stepped forward: "Where is Kirieloid?"

The fat man suddenly opened his eyes, staring wide-eyed: "I'm on duty today! No! Service!"

"So, another person believes in him? Where is he?"

The fat man glared at him for a while, and when he saw the TPC logo on its chest, he slumped down like a deflated balloon, as if he could overflow from the rocking chair at any moment: "I told you not to believe in dubious cults, but you still believed them, believed everything. The Aum Shinrikyo cult didn't even manage to fool you into burning yourself with firewood, and now this Kirieloid comes along..."

The fat man muttered to himself as he stood up, patted his stomach, and said, "TPC, are you here to arrest him?"

"Who is he?"

The fat man said dejectedly, "My good-for-nothing nephew... he's my nephew in terms of seniority, but he's about the same age as me. He was working outside and suddenly came back. I thought he had settled down and was planning to inherit the family business, so I had him take turns with me to guard this shrine. Who knew that when he came back he would start chanting his crooked scriptures every day, and even chant them for others. I saw that things were not going well, so I locked him up at home."

"Have you dug up the headquarters of that quack doctor and followed the clues to find him?" the fat man asked. "Can he be released after he's been educated? I'm keeping him locked up; he hasn't committed any crimes."

……

The woods after the rain have a fragrant, earthy scent that wafts damply to your nose, refreshing and invigorating. The breeze is so refreshing that it makes you want to sneeze.

"Hmph!" Fujisawa Sosuke rubbed his nose: "Did the captain catch you slacking off?"

He made a phone call back, and Ralph told him he was safe and the captain was nowhere to be found, perhaps lingering on the beach at Miyagi Island.

Relieved, Fujisawa Sousuke continued walking with a few yellow and white flower branches in his hand.

There were many flower petals scattered on the road, and Fujisawa Sousuke walked on the ground without any petals—flowers used for mourning always made him feel uncomfortable stepping on them.

He received good news from the captain, which his teammates may have already known, but he felt he should still share it with them.

As for the original plan to carefully read the "Regulations" today and double the effort this afternoon to double the efficiency, it doesn't seem like a problem. At worst, we can just tell the truth. The team leader is very easy to talk to in these kinds of matters.