Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

"Not just crow people?" Aiba Yu gripped his chopsticks tightly, a faint cracking sound reaching his ears, and he quickly relaxed his grip.

Captain Sato glanced at it: "Hmm, there are other ways to reduce the amount on your meal card, usually it's compensation at cost... Is this the strength you used to turn the steering wheel?"

"You don't need to use brute force to turn the steering wheel."

Captain Sato clicked his tongue and returned to the topic: "Of course, it's not just the Crow People. There are also eyewitness reports of other aliens involved in the disappearances. Let's not talk about the Muzhen aliens. Their footprints range from Western Europe to the Pacific Ocean. The preliminary investigation of other aliens that we haven't contacted and have no information about can be divided into at least three categories... The Information Department has specialists who have compiled and summarized the details. We will be able to see a detailed report in a couple of days."

"You mean... aliens are secretly capturing Earthlings on a large scale?" Aiba asked. "And not just one type?"

"You could say that. I really don't know what it is about Earthlings that attracts them and makes them easier to capture?" Captain Sato smacked his lips. "This soup is so salty. Is the chef sleepwalking?"

"

He looked up at Xiang Yeyou and found that he had finished the soup at some point, leaving the bowl clean.

"Are you alright?" Captain Sato couldn't help but ask.

Aiba Yu replied, "We can't waste food."

“I now suspect that the chef topped up your meal card,” Captain Sato said. “It’s a perfect bucket.”

"Watch your word choice."

"No matter how good the technology is, you'll still compete with me for funding, so I might as well use something worse."

……

Several more days passed, and the Victory Team, together with the Security Team's investigation team, returned from their visits, having basically figured out the distribution network of missing persons cases around the newly developed area and the movements of the missing persons before the incidents occurred.

During this time, they did not see the monster that had been spreading so wildly among the citizens, and Horii met with his old classmate, Ryosuke Sanada, again.

Sanada Ryosuke still had a gloomy face, only smiling when Horii talked about the past. Shinjo said that it was a forced smile. Horii sighed and said that he would ask Dr. Mizuno if there was any way to help.

Sanada Ryosuke remained noncommittal. He respected Dr. Mizuno, who had also mentored him, but he was unwilling to ask others for help with his own affairs—that would be admitting defeat.

"I don't understand who you're competing with, yourself?" The new development zone observation post was extremely quiet at night, with only the sound of waves and the buzzing of mosquitoes.

"Bowling" appeared on time, dragging a large pile of equipment and materials in a small cart as he clattered through the deserted corridor. The path was narrow and dark, with only the front and rear exits illuminated by a faint starlight.

Ryosuke Sanada did not immediately answer "bowling ball's" question. He focused on observing the state of the cells under the microscope—these were his own cells, which had been sampled from his left arm, right leg, and even subcutaneously, to understand the changes in different parts of his body.

"Bowling" wasn't very patient. He paced back and forth, sometimes moving some glass equipment out and arranging it, sometimes checking on Sanada Ryosuke's movements. In the end, not knowing what to do, he squatted down and counted the rigging in his clothes.

Forty minutes later, when Sanada Ryosuke was finally satisfied and ready to rest for a while, "Bowling" complained: "I hate workaholics the most, especially crazy workaholics who don't care about themselves at all and can't sleep even if they die."

Ryosuke Sanada knew that "Bowling" was annoyed that he was using him for experiments. He had always been puzzled by "Bowling's" self-perception, as "Bowling" claimed that "I'm already dead and not human anymore," while simultaneously being annoyed by Ryosuke's human experimentation. He verbally mocked Ryosuke's self-perception, but in reality, he was the one who was confused.

Ryosuke Sanada disliked the evaluation "Bowling" gave him, so he said, "You've come to this because you're afraid of death. The Kirieloids gave you a second life, but you have to work for them for the rest of your life."

“I’m afraid of death, but you’re ruthless enough to do that to yourself,” the bowling ball said, “whoosh, you stand up and bounce up: “But you’re working for them too, and you’re really motivated to do it, slicing yourself up is so exciting!”

“I have this mind,” Sanada Ryosuke said, not annoyed at all. He pointed to the fluorescent “flesh” in the glass chamber: “Do you see the active cells in this culture medium? That’s the source of my confidence in getting rid of them.”

"Come on, you're already on a pirate ship and you still want to get off?" "Bowling" really wanted to smoke a cigarette, but his dopamine had stopped, and he couldn't feel any pleasure. It was already difficult for a dead person to move, let alone be restored to his former life. Only the Creator could help.

“Of course I can go down,” said Ryosuke Sanada. “I have found a way to use Ebloon cells without causing rejection. If I take it out, I might replace Dr. Tsukishiro as the new research leader—but they are now studying an ice core dug from Antarctica.”

"Bowling" snorted, "You took all the materials and had so much more research time than others. How dare you say that?"

"Research requires painstaking effort, but it also requires a flash of genius. Diligence can make up for lack of talent, but this does not apply to this field. Diligence can make researchers excellent mentors and professors, but only a flash of genius can make them go down in history."

When Sanada Ryosuke talks about this, it's like he's singing an aria. "Bowling" has been tired of it for a long time: "Okay, okay, you're a genius, number one, but even number one is still working for the Kirieloids."

"I told you, I can get rid of them!"

"Bowling" smiled dismissively: "Okay, whether I can lie in a golden nanmu coffin or be buried in cement and sunk into the sea, it all depends on you. You may not have a brain, but you can certainly have money."

Chapter 72 If You Don't Want Anyone to Know (4K)

Horii and the others were unaware of the changes that had occurred to Sanada Ryosuke.

Based on the very limited contact we had, Sanada Ryosuke seemed like a "former" genius who had been traumatized and was unwilling to accept reality. We took his occasional extreme remarks as mere complaints.

Soon, their attention was drawn to the investigation into the aliens, and Ryosuke Sanada and "Bowling" breathed a sigh of relief, finally returning to their previous regular and peaceful days.

Aiba Yu, who was carefully studying the missing persons case report, was also diverted by an unexpected event, though it wasn't exactly an "unexpected event," as he had anticipated it.

“If you use the old methods to deal with aliens, interrogating them and then sending them directly to the Life Science Research Center, it’s normal that the Surveillance Office will catch you,” Aiba Yu said to Captain Sato.

No, he's now Chief Sato. He was dismissed from his captaincy and demoted to head of the interrogation room under the Ground Guard for improper handling of prisoners in violation of regulations; he was also stripped of his position.

Also included are people from the life science research center—of course, researchers are less affected, as administrative positions cannot replace their intellect.

Chief Sato squatted in his own little corner, locked behind iron doors and concrete walls, and sighed at the metal bunk bed: "I just didn't get it right. Criminals like the Mujin aliens, if you take away their alien identity, should be given a public trial..."

Sato's decision that day was not hard to understand, because that's what TPC did in its early years. The best attitude for UFOs is to ignore Earthlings. In most cases, they either suddenly abduct people or launch an attack. The worst incident was the Asian air force base incident before TPC was established, and the most dangerous incident was when Director Sawai was almost taken away by aliens in the early years.

If Daigo, who was still in the transport team at the time, hadn't reacted quickly, the current director would have been replaced. This is one of the reasons why Aiba Yu decided to return from the lunar Carlo base to keep a close eye on the important members of TPC. The main researchers were also registered under his name to prevent them from being targeted by aliens with ulterior motives.

These "unpleasant" experiences of communicating with extraterrestrial life have shaped most people's basic attitudes toward aliens. It's actually quite reasonable that Sato, after extracting information about the dangerous aliens, would immediately send it to the Life Science Research Center.

So when Aiba Yu heard about Sato's handling of the matter during their meeting that day, he felt that he was going to get into trouble, but he didn't explain immediately. If he had told Sato about it, given his personality, he would probably have confessed and been treated leniently. If he hadn't told Sato about it, the inspection office might not have realized that something was wrong. But obviously... those guys who were very perceptive when it came to scrutinizing the "Regulations" were very sharp.

When Aiba Yu heard that Sato had locked himself in the interrogation room and wouldn't come out, he immediately came to find him. He even argued with him, thinking it was better than keeping it bottled up. But now, it seemed that he wasn't as resentful as the rumors suggested.

Aiba Yu was slightly relieved: "The captain's position is still vacant, and the vice captain is temporarily in charge of the work. I think they are waiting for you to redeem yourself through meritorious service."

“I understand this,” Sato glanced at him, then stared at the iron bunk bed, or rather the concrete wall behind it, and sighed. “I’m the chicken that’s made an example of. What’s bothering me now is that I’ve been stripped of my authority to investigate the missing persons case. I have to go through the deputy captain to do everything.”

“You’ve met my deputy captain before. He doesn’t cause trouble, but he’s not very flexible either. When I was the captain, I could do whatever he told me to do. Now that I’m his subordinate, it’s not appropriate for me to keep bossing him around… I can only offer subtle reminders, but I’m afraid of stepping on the wrong foot and offending the inspection office.” After thinking it over, Sato decided that the simplest solution was to lock himself in the interrogation room, put on a resentful look, and casually mention the direction of the case investigation to the deputy captain, so that he would have no choice but to take it seriously.

"But this has led to a lot of misunderstandings about you from the outside world." Aiba Yu didn't want these things to delay the efficiency of the ground guard. Their deputy captain was indeed qualified, but only qualified. He needed greater courage to deal with cases caused by aliens.

Sato slumped back into his chair with a thud, his thin, iron legs scraping against the floor with a hissing sound. He snorted, "Misunderstanding? No misunderstanding, of course I'm resentful! Who wouldn't be resentful if they were stripped of their position? I'm not going out just because I don't want to hear them nagging in my ear!"

After a moment of silence, Sato picked up a piece of paper covered in scribbles and doodles and suddenly said, "The GUTS team must have given you a message, right?"

Just as Aiba Yu was about to speak, Sato raised his hand to stop him: "Alright, who am I? I'm the head of the interrogation room. You told me you 'received information,' and I guessed who else but the GUTS team would give you that kind of information? An informant in the air force? Is it that GUTS team member who's been getting close to you lately?"

“Don’t worry, I’m keeping it a secret. It would be unreasonable to report such a small matter to the Inspection Office. In the end, the intelligence will be passed on to you anyway, and the confidential information is just a formality,” Sato said. “Let’s get down to business—we have come up with a more specific target regarding the aliens who are capturing Earthlings.”

He handed several sheets of draft paper covered in scribbles to Aiba Yu. He marked several key terms with large circles: Crow Man, Wood-Zhen Star Man, Suspected Kirieloid Man (information matches, not yet confirmed), and "Blue-winged Alien" (only its characteristics were written down, clearly outside the data), and "Lizard Claw Alien".

Aiba Yu found two numbers in the upper right corner of the first image: 39 and 107.

"39, the number of Earthlings 'hunted' by the madwoman of Muzhen Star. Among them were three families of three who were out for a spring outing in the suburbs. She made the family of three escape from Qinggong Mountain to Yuandang Mountain, which is five kilometers away. We found human severed fingers in Qinggong Mountain and bodies in Yuandang Mountain. They were in the deep mountains and forests, and no one answered their cries for help. They were all highly decomposed when they were found."

“The child was crushed under a rock, and the flesh and bones were collected with a shovel. The female body was found at the bottom of the cliff, perhaps a suicide, perhaps a ‘forced suicide’. As for the male body, splattered blood was found three meters away, and the forensic conclusion was that he was dismembered before his death… This is just what has been found.”

Sato said, "107. The total number of cases reported by each branch was actually 349. After investigation, 107 cases were initially identified as involving aliens. This number will only increase in the future."

“But there are exceptions,” Sato thought for a moment and then pulled out three more sheets of paper: “These are suspected alien cases that have helped witnesses; the number is 124.”

Aiba Yu took the second stack of drafts. This time the handwriting was much neater, and the keywords were clearly legible—the style Sato had instructed the clerk to use when recording. However, compared to the previous murder case, the matter seemed much "smaller," even possessing a "bouncy" quality.

Things like "people from Changgao helping to catch balloons".

“Aliens are scattered all over the world. Apart from mad hunters like the Muzhen aliens, who knows how many other aliens are doing this kind of work in corners we haven’t discovered?” Sato then listed a few more names: “Benin, Senegal, Mozambique, Kiribati, Liberia.”

Yu Aiba knew that the places he casually mentioned were places that TPC's power could hardly reach—because of extreme poverty and past wars, TPC's dispatched personnel there were basically just "observation posts." They couldn't be expected to develop any organizational network, let alone expect local support. They were too busy restoring people's livelihoods to have any money to assist TPC in doing any "stargazing" work about aliens.

TPC's budget doesn't fall from the sky, and it's impossible to burn money on near-barren land year after year.

"So when I investigated the case committed by the Mujin alien, I sent her directly to the Life Science Research Center. I admit I was emotional." Sato exhaled a breath of stale air and glanced at the second stack of drafts held in Aiba Yu's hand.

Aiba Yu handed back the neatly copied paper: "You've figured it out now."

"Of course, of course! I thought it through very clearly when the Regulations came down, but I was overwhelmed by emotions when it came to the moment. I have dealt with many heinous cases, but the perpetrators are all Earthlings. They have constraints and know how to hide. If they don't hide, they will be caught. Aliens are different. In the early years, because of the 'peace agreement,' we even removed some of our weapons and only retained self-defense measures. Those aliens who are not afraid of bullets are even more unscrupulous."

Sato became increasingly agitated as he spoke. He had spent two days in the interrogation room thinking about the people who died mysteriously on the first draft, and the trivial "anecdotes" on the second draft. He felt like he was about to have a mental breakdown, yet his thoughts were like a snake that had caught a signal, winding its way out of the forest, its trajectory becoming clearer and clearer.

“Finally, I thought of the intention behind the Regulations.” Sato looked at the initiator of the Regulations. Although most of the work involved the General Staff, the Information Department and other personnel working on it for several years, those who knew the inside story remembered that the earliest proposer of the Regulations was actually someone from an executive department that had nothing to do with administration.

He said to Aiba Yu, “You see aliens as… as foreigners accepted after opening your country’s doors, so you have to register, manage, and formulate a series of procedures. After thinking about this, I realized my job. What kind of cases do you think aliens commit that warrant arrest? How big of a mess can be handed over to the Life Science Research Center to deal with? What are the bottom lines for experiments? Are they ‘another species,’ more intelligent ‘animals’? Or ‘foreigners’?”

"The Muzhen aliens are a dangerous group, and there are many other malicious races in the universe," Aiba Yu said, making a seemingly unrelated remark: "Do you think there are any... cowardly aliens who are afraid of death and would be sad for half a day if a plant died?"

Sato paused for a moment, then slowly replied, "Yes, even if we haven't discovered them, they must exist. Unless they are a unique species where all individuals can have completely unified thoughts, no one can deny the differences between them. 'Aliens' is just a general term; they could come from the Milky Way or from a place millions of light-years away."

“Since the regulations came into effect, not a single alien has voluntarily registered,” Aiba Yu stated matter-of-factly, his tone sounding quite matter-of-fact: “They are watching and waiting, even afraid… afraid that we might find one and arrest them and put them in the lab.”

Sato slumped into his chair. He rarely showed such a relaxed demeanor in front of the guards, but when facing this "bastard who always steals his funding," he just wanted to be even more relaxed.

He felt a bit hungry. He had been cooped up in his room for the past two days, neglecting to eat or sleep. He wanted to go out for a walk, so he slammed his hand on the table and said, "Aiba! Did you bring any food? You came to see me empty-handed?"

"I asked the cafeteria for takeout before I came, and told them to use less salt."

“But right now I just want to eat junk food, high in calories, high in salt, high in sugar, and high in fat,” Sato continued, slamming his fist on the table. “I’m watching you, you order it right here! No wasabi allowed!”

Aiba Yu coughed: "That was... an accident."

"Come on, others might not be able to tell, but I, the head of the interrogation room, can't? You're a cunning bastard! The General Staff is saying it's because you didn't get double pay and you deliberately tricked them!"

"No, it's just a waste of food..."

"Well done!" Sato laughed heartily, the first time he had laughed since he was dismissed from his post. "Next time, I'll trick the Inspection Office, so I can argue with you about funding one less time at the meeting."

"The funding isn't enough." Aiba Yu has always been uncompromising on key issues, regardless of their relationship. Sato was used to his style and just said it casually, hoping to get a promise when the other wasn't looking. But Aiba Yu rarely makes mistakes, and Sato hasn't found an opening yet.

So he changed his tune, suggesting that if he needed to open a window, he should lift the whole roof. Sato backed down and revealed his true purpose: "Then you should help my vice-captain at the meeting, and don't let the guys who are in charge of the ship take advantage of the situation. They are hoping that the Ocean Survey Team's Dolphin will be expanded, and they will bring it up out of the blue."

“Most of TPC’s funding goes to the New Energy Development Center, the Space Development Center, and the Life Science Research Center. The police department doesn’t have a large budget and won’t easily start new projects,” said Yu Aiba.

"That's why I'm afraid they'll eat our share!" Sato pulled up

He added to the alliance: "Also, there's the alien investigation. It's inconvenient for me to go out and carry out missions from the interrogation room, so it's difficult for me to go to the front lines... You're well-informed, so if the GUTS team makes any moves, especially regarding dangerous aliens, please be sure to remind my vice-captain."

These words were extremely sincere, even somewhat humble: "That guy is a simpleton, all he knows is to 'shoot wherever he's told,' and he might just walk right into the aliens' trap. The GUTS team will obviously be the first to face danger, but the guards have investigated cases involving aliens... I'm afraid they might encounter some misfortune."