Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Dr. Yuecheng hung up the phone, looking dejected, his mind filled with the image of a bald goldfish floating in the sky.

"Doctor," the assistant said, carrying a transparent box containing an ice core drilled from Antarctica, "should we continue the thawing process, or conduct another set of tests?"

Inside the ice core, they could only see blurry shapes, like a tangled mess of branches, anemones, or coral-like structures. They found signs of life inside, suspecting it to be an ancient creature buried by the glacier.

The research must be conducted with utmost care, not out of fear of releasing some mutated monster or super-powerful bacteria, but out of fear that modern, technologically advanced bacteria might overwhelm this fragile "ancient creature."

Therefore, Dr. Yuecheng's answer was entirely predictable: "Test it again, test it once more, and after testing, send it to a sterile room to drill a hole for sampling. Don't thaw it blindly, what if it all turns into water!"

The assistant nodded repeatedly, while another researcher, who was staring at the data, exclaimed, "Doctor! There's a change!"

Dr. Tsukishiro leaned forward.

Inside the box, the air quality data was slowly but steadily changing – oxygen levels were rising and carbon dioxide levels were decreasing.

He turned around abruptly and looked at the ice core sample, whose outermost layer had melted away.

"Excellent, excellent!" Dr. Yuecheng's gloom vanished. "Keep this up and continue collecting data! If it's something that can increase oxygen levels... we'll have a highly practical project! This is much more promising than throwing money down the drain on Ebloon Cells!"

“The Ebron cell samples have been stolen, Doctor,” the assistant said, setting the box down. “We have no other options to use them.”

"Don't mention this to me!" Dr. Tsukishiro exhaled a burning breath of anger. "They still haven't found out that a thief broke into TPC! No way, I need to give those guys at the police department a good talking-to!"

The assistant stammered, "You brought it up first."

Dr. Tsukishiro glared at him, then dialed a number on her cell phone while she still remembered.

Aiba Yu didn't expect that the person who had just shouted "seclusion" would call back a few minutes later.

He had just picked up a scale and put it in a box when he bent down and bumped the spot where the scale had fallen off. The pain made goosebumps erupt all over his body: "What's wrong? Have you found a way other than flushing it down the drain or soaking it in formaldehyde?"

"It's not a bald goldfish!" Dr. Yuecheng's voice pierced through the phone: "You, your police department's efficiency, I'm going to file a complaint!"

Aiba Yu hummed in agreement, waiting for him to continue.

"It's been two months since the last theft of Ebron cells. My promising project was completely ruined by that thief who left no trace of it. We investigated the entry and exit records of the Life Science Research Center ourselves, and then we collaborated with the Space Development Center to investigate their side. You know this is a collaborative project between our two departments."

Dr. Yuecheng rambled on, "We immediately called the police to investigate, but they still haven't given us an explanation. They just say there are no suspicious individuals. If there are no suspicious individuals, where are my Ebloon cell samples? Where are the samples that I carefully nurtured?"

Aiba Yu nodded solemnly over the phone: "The samples were stolen."

“I know it’s been stolen! You meet with Commander Yoshioka frequently over there. If it’s inconvenient to contact him, urge your investigation department to check if the ground security team is handling this. Please ask them to catch the real troublesome thieves… Don’t just patrol like a beat cop all day long. It’s useless except for wearing down the floor and your boots.”

"But the ground guard and the air force..."

"Oh, then I'll just write a report and submit it directly to Yoshioka!"

The phone went dead.

Aiba Yu swallowed the rest of his sentence, "The ground guards would only yell 'Air Force idiots' when they saw the air force."

……

New development area.

The escalating public opinion finally gave the Victory Team a reason to conduct another investigation.

Television stations spare no effort in creating ratings, so they naturally wanted to exaggerate the "monster's shadow" into a harbinger of the end of the world. They could even make a broken brick on set sound real, claiming it was trampled by the monster and that it was definitely not a phantom shadow, but a real entity.

The Information Department issued a warning to the Victory team: it is necessary to produce a truly rigorous and detailed scientific report to quell the rumors.

Daigo breathed a sigh of relief. He could go back to that "haunted abandoned factory" and maybe find something else.

Horii packed up the equipment, filling the boxes with clanging noise, and called Shinjo to help carry them, preparing to stuff them into Sherlock's car to take away. He muttered to himself, "We're here to investigate unusual events, not to deal with rumors. How can the Information Department push things onto us? Didn't we write a report last time?"

“It’s not 'rigorous, detailed, and scientific' enough,” Lina pushed him. “Come on, let’s go, let’s get going.”

"I have always upheld a rigorous scientific spirit! This is slander!"

"Okay, okay, it's the information department that can't understand your report."

"Using honorifics is strange! Are you trying to coax a child?"

Lina said softly, "I'm trying to appease our great scientist. Make sure to pack it tightly when you're packing it. I don't want the Sherlock car to rattle around every corner."

Two hours later, Daigo and the others arrived at the newly developed area and were standing on the beach where citizens claimed to have seen a monster.

On the left is a rocky beach where locals fish. To be honest, they don't think you can catch anything there; they'd be more likely to find something by digging in the sand with their bare hands.

To the right is a "peninsula" extending into the sea, where an observatory of the Space Development Center is located. The location was carefully chosen because the microclimate here is said to be excellent, with clear skies for most of the year.

When Daigo got off the bus, he only saw a bunch of men and women in swimsuits and couldn't tell whether he was there to investigate or to go on vacation.

Horii, on the other hand, seemed quite familiar with the place. He strode forward carrying his suitcase, his serious demeanor drawing the attention of the men and women who were sunbathing on beach chairs with juice cups in their hands.

“The observatories at the Space Development Center are basically all the same structure. The dome in front is the telescope, and the door underneath is sealed all year round. It is only opened when it is being maintained. The building at the back is where people are actually on duty,” Horii said. “They have people on duty 24 hours a day. If you want to do an investigation, go there and ask first. It’s more useful than asking any random tourists or residents.”

As they spoke, the group walked around the rows of beach chairs and headed toward the off-white building.

A figure from behind caught Horii's attention.

Daigo spotted him from afar—it was really strange to see him wearing long sleeves and pants amidst a sea of ​​swimsuits.

Really? The weather isn't cool right now. If it weren't for the fact that their Victory team has a dress code that requires them to wear uniforms, he would definitely change into a short-sleeved shirt and use a fan.

The man in black pants and a military green shirt walked away with his head down. Horii jogged a few steps and called out to him, "Ryosuke!"

Chapter Sixty-Six: The Theft of the Ebron Cells

"I heard you're the R&D director at the Space Development Center?" Horii found a seat and sat down with Sanada Ryosuke. Daigo and the others exchanged glances. Shinjo stayed behind, while Daigo and Rena continued on to the observatory.

Ryosuke Sanada, Horii Masami's old classmate, nodded reluctantly: "I guess so, but not anymore."

"No, not anymore?" Horii took off his helmet, the sea breeze wiping away the thin layer of sweat, finally making him feel a little cooler. But his old classmate was clearly "cooler," both in his location at the space development center and in his current state of mind.

"Your hand is injured," Shinjo suddenly interjected. He noticed that Sanada Ryosuke kept touching his left arm, which might be why he was wearing long sleeves even in the sweltering heat.

Ryosuke Sanada sighed: "It all started with this arm... I joined Dr. Tsukishiro's joint research team. You should know that when we were developing Ebron cells, I accidentally fell down the stairs and fractured my left hand, so I had to take leave. Less than a month later, the Ebron cells were stolen, and the research was terminated."

……

At the TPC Far East headquarters, Aiba Yu listened to Dr. Tsukishiro's complaints and wondered about the efficiency of the ground guard team. With the idea of ​​"taking a look while I'm at it," he pulled up the preliminary investigation report made by his colleagues.

Given Commander Yoshioka's style, his subordinates would have preferred to receive orders and get everything done quickly and efficiently on the same day, rather than dragging things out and leaving an "unresolved" answer. And yet, Commander Yoshioka actually approved it?

"Preliminary Investigation into the Theft of Abelon Cells," Aiba Yu found his target: "File 200718131..."

He recognized the signatory of the case file; it was the head of the ground guard, a cunning man who could extract a wealth of information simply by chatting with suspects in the interrogation room. He loved to boss his clerk around, making her feel like her hand holding the pen could fly.

"The Aiblom Cell Research Project, officially named 'Cosmic Cell - Aiblom Sequencing and Gene Application Research,' is a joint research project between the Life Science Research Center and the Space Development Center," the first part of the file reads. "Research and Development Director: Yuuki Tsukishiro; Project Team Members..."

“I’m a project leader in the application development group,” Ryosuke Sanada told Horii. “The progress isn’t particularly good or bad; we’re just proceeding step by step based on the data provided by the sequencing group.”

Horii secretly noted it down. He had a gut feeling that Sanada Ryosuke wasn't doing too well. Based on the impression he gave people when he was in school, someone who participated in such a big project would definitely be talking non-stop with others. How could he just say "not good, not bad" and brush it off? He had to find some time to invite his old classmate out for a meal and have a more chat. He couldn't let him ruin his health by taking this vacation.

As the case file continued, Aiba Yu jumped directly to the section on the crime scene investigation of the theft, where several photos came into view.

“I couldn’t believe the news of the theft when it came out. Dr. Tsukishiro was furious and called us one by one to come back and assist with the investigation,” Sanada Ryosuke said, rubbing his cup. “The police asked me a few questions and then released me. After all, I had been injured and on leave for a long time… The information I had was of little help to the investigation.”

The focus of the photos taken at the scene was a box.

The box, its center removed, now has a spherical missing section, as if something had scooped a large chunk out from the inside, bypassing the outer shell. The outer shell is intact, but the inside is now a vacuum.

The file describes it as follows: "The incubation box was completely sealed, and the only person authorized to open it was Yuki Tsukishiro. There were no signs of external damage to the box. The missing part was the location of the Ebloon cell culture medium, which disappeared into thin air."

“I remember the investigation concluded that it was ‘disappeared into thin air,’ which is strange, not at all like the police department,” Sanada Ryosuke said with concern. “But after seeing the photos of the scene, I realized that I didn’t know how to describe the situation except for the word ‘disappeared into thin air.’”

Horii hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously, "So, what about now?"

“There’s nothing to do right now,” Sanada Ryosuke replied with a smile, but Horii couldn’t see any genuine smile. His old classmate said, “The Space Development Center only has so many projects. I thought I could work for many years after joining the joint research group, but now that the research group has been disbanded, I have to wait for the next list to come out before I can get a budget to develop new projects.”

“Do we really have to wait for a new project? We have many classmates at the Space Development Center; you could join them…” Horii said. There’s no reason to leave such an excellent researcher idle. With his intelligence, he could inject considerable energy into any project he joined.

Ryosuke Sanada's temper had changed a lot. He was still smiling, and simply said, "I am number one. How can the number one 'join' a project led by someone else? Only what I choose and control myself can match my habits."

Horii was stunned. Sanada Ryosuke said, "I just didn't expect that I, the number one, would have nothing to do now, while you joined the GUTS team and are doing so well... You participated in Dr. Mizuno's Lightning Man project, right? The groundbreaking progress of 'the first to communicate with other intelligent life groups on Earth' will definitely have your name in the history of scientific research."

Horii felt the conversation was stalled; continuing to probe like this would only worsen Sanada Ryosuke's mood. Shinjo also noticed the increasingly silent atmosphere between them; Sanada Ryosuke sat up relaxed.

He was sitting in the chair, but his whole body seemed to be hissing with cold air.

"Um... do you know about the 'monster's shadow' that's been circulating lately?" Horii decided to change the subject: "It was discovered by locals who were fishing around here. They saw the monster suddenly appear and then disappear, right near the observatory."

Ryosuke Sanada nodded: "Of course I've heard of it, it's gone viral, hasn't it? At least three groups of TV crews have come to film and interview, and thanks to this rumor, the businesses in the area have improved a lot—that swimming pool never used to be this crowded."

Horii looked in the direction he pointed and saw a group of men and women in swimsuits crowded in the pool not far away. The noise of children and splashing water was deafening, and the guests who wanted to find peace and quiet were driven away to the beach with their beach chairs.

The safety officer sat on the high lifeguard observation platform with a furrowed brow, clearly disapproving of some children carrying swimming rings into the deep water. However, there were too many people, and even blowing his whistle loudly repeatedly could not stop a bunch of kids and adults who didn't understand the situation from rushing in one after another.

“The monster is just a rumor and has not caused any casualties,” said Ryosuke Sanada. “But there have been at least 14 drowning incidents involving tourists in the vicinity during this period.”

Horii could only let out a silent sigh.

Ryosuke Sanada pointed in a different direction: "If you want to investigate, you can go to the town. The two witnesses who were fishing live on Sanchuan Street in the east of the town. Their houses are easy to find. They're the ones surrounded by reporters with their cameras and microphones."

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Novice Assessment

Leaving aside how the Victory team broke through the reporters' encirclement, near their headquarters on Miyamoto Road, Fujisawa Sōsuke found a dry cleaner recommended by a supermarket sales assistant.

"Number 399, this is it!" He stepped inside and was blinded by a white coat piled high with clothes in front of him.

White lab coats are a favorite style of clothing for researchers at the base. They are mass-produced, so it doesn't matter if they get dirty or torn. During mealtimes, looking around the canteen, all you see are researchers in white uniforms, scattered here and there, like clumps of cotton.

The shop assistants were taking inventory of the mountain of clothes, sorting them one by one into numbered transparent bags and hanging them in the back room.

Fujisawa Sousuke then noticed that the mountain of clothes was entirely made of suits, with perfect tailoring and exquisite materials. The price of each suit was visibly high, and the shop assistant could be seen with the naked eye.

The doctor in the white coat watched as the shop assistant slowly finished counting the items, filled out a contact form, handed it over, and left after saying only a few words, seemingly unconcerned about the pile of clothes that was practically a "gold mine."