Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Furthermore, TPC will protect him even better, and with the propaganda machine running at full speed, all negative speculations about Tiga will be suppressed. At the same time, Daigo will change his identity from a "GUTS member" to someone "saving humanity."

"Hope" is like Superman in a metropolis. He will be revered as a god, loved by some and doubted by others. When people see him, they will call out the name "Tiga" but will never remember that he is Daigo.

Kirino Makio wasn't sure if that outcome would be good or bad. It would be tragic for Daigo, but it would be more efficient for driving away the aliens invading Earth and dealing with the monsters than it is now.

Once it's clear that Tiga is "one of us," all the currently seemingly useless weapon development and scientific research can be focused on helping Tiga unleash greater power. This would create enough deterrence against aliens in a short time, and even the ruler of the South Pacific wouldn't be out of the question.

From a purely combat perspective, isn't this better than having Daigo transform in hiding, and TPC spending its funds and manpower on developing weapons that are no match for Tiga's casual beam of light?

Kirino Makio knew that if he were to proactively reveal his abilities to TPC, he might face a similar fate: his precognition, mind-reading, and ability to see through the true nature of things would become excellent tools, and Kirino Makio would become the vessel for these tools, bidding farewell to life as an ordinary person, or even as a human being.

He knew the calamities the aliens would bring and felt he should do his part, even if only for the sake of his kind neighbor; yet he also feared the future after his childhood foresight was exposed—the newspaper only reported on the abolition of an organization, but the elderly reporter was in tears, laughing and crying, saying, "You are finally free."

This sent chills down Kirino Makio's spine.

“I ‘identified’ many aliens hiding on Earth, and even knew the places where they often gathered. Thanks to my weak, ordinary human body, those aliens did not notice anything unusual about me,” he said.

"What exactly do you want?" Daigo knew that the other party had muttered a long string of words, so it couldn't possibly be that he came to surrender to the GUTS team and say, "I've discovered aliens, and I'll take you to raid their lair."

“Knowing that I am about to do something dangerous, I have many concerns,” Kirino Makio said, still staring at the newspaper as if something on it was drawing him in. “I want to know your choice.”

"my choice?"

Kirino Makio pointed to the flow of people behind him: "Thirty-seven people have come in and twenty-nine have come out since we started talking. The third shop in the row is playing news about TPC. Everyone who passes by is unconsciously thinking about Ultraman Tiga, monsters, TPC and the GUTS team."

“As I just said, Tiga, as long as you appear, more people will question the existence of the GUTS team and even TPC,” Kirino Makio said. “Most people are criticizing TPC for being incompetent and spending money to bathe monsters and for constantly losing planes. They think they should just give all the money to Tiga as a thank you gift so that Tiga can stay on Earth and protect them. In short, they are ‘paying protection money’.”

“But…” Daigo hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

"But you don't want TPC to suffer such smears, right? In my 'prediction,' the way to stop or even reverse this public opinion is for Tiga to become one with the GUTS team... In that case, no one will question you. To be precise, as long as 'Tiga' stays with the GUTS team, no one will dare to question you."

"No one dares?" This kind of wording made Daigo extremely uncomfortable. The method that Kirino Makio mentioned was just to take advantage of the current situation where TPC's military strength was insufficient and it still needed Tiga's help, so that Tiga would bind to TPC on the grounds of "his own will", thereby forcibly suppressing the voices of doubt.

In that case, TPC's prestige would decline further, and it might even become a mere appendage of Tiga in people's minds, which is something Daigo is unwilling to see.

“Or Tiga doesn’t have to appear. You can defeat the monsters as an Earthling and show them!” Kirino Makio said, “The next time the monsters appear, it will still be in the newly developed area. A girl in black robes will open Pandora’s Box, and monsters that are neither human nor non-human will crawl out of it. I ‘heard’ a mournful cry.”

Daigo thought he was going to say something provocative, but he didn't expect him to come and deliver information: "Why are you telling me this?"

Kirino Makio shook the newspaper and stood up, his gaze passing through his glasses as he looked at the giant figure overlapping with Daigo's: "Because I don't want anyone to die because of monsters either. Also, from a personal perspective, I expect the GUTS team to truly bring victory, not the victory brought by Tiga."

He then sneered and said, "Perhaps seeing Tiga reappear will put me in a bad mood, and I'll decide to reveal your identity to the public... Tiga, it's up to you."

Chapter 113 TPC's Response

How Daigo communicated with Megumi Kijima, and how he insisted on maintaining vigilance in the newly developed area despite his teammates' disapproval, will not be discussed for now.

At the TPC headquarters, in the office of Director Sawai, a small meeting is being held.

The number of participants was small, including Tetsuji Yoshioka, Masayuki Nanbara, and the heads of the Inspection Office, the Space Development Center, and the Life Science Research Center. Even the Carlo Base was connected via remote video, with Shin Hayate waving to them through the screen, as was Makoto Nanase, the station chief of Delta Space Station. Megumi Kiyama had delegated the task of calming the team members to Munakata and rushed over. Also attending were Takuma Sato, the captain of the Ground Guard Unit under the Police Department, and Yu Aiba, the captain of the Air Force.

Strangely, Director Sawai did not invite the Information Department staff who usually attended the meeting.

"The investigation has two directions. Internally, the Inspection Office will be the main force, working with the Police Department to thoroughly investigate the resumes of TPC members."

"Our operation will trace our movements and remove the aliens' spies planted within us," Director Sawai said. "Externally, the GUTS team will be the main force, utilizing the investigation system developed by GUTS member Nozue Yasumi to investigate individuals who are 'already dead' but still active. The police department will provide assistance, and any requests or questions regarding the execution can be raised."

“The investigation system requires a lot of computing power, data reserves, and electricity,” after a moment of silence, Megumi Kijima spoke first. “The equipment used by the Victory Team is top-notch, but if we want to conduct a large-scale investigation… we need more equipment support.”

“The computing power and storage space can activate the backup of the ‘Hastur’ core hangar,” Director Sawai’s words stunned everyone. He picked up his cup and blew a puff of hot steam. “What? The things in the ‘Hastur’ warehouse can’t just sit there forever. The backup is for this kind of situation.”

"As for electricity... directly using 'Haster's' generator could attract attention. Nan Yuan, what are your thoughts?"

Staff Officer Nan Yuan had already prepared his answer and immediately said, "The backup power grid of 'Hasta' covers the entire underground of the base. During the base's renovation, we can use the pretext of power system maintenance to interrupt the power supply to a certain area in turn and concentrate the power supply to 'Hasta'. According to the renovation plan, the engineering work involving water and electricity pipelines is scheduled for five days. During this period, we can free up the power supply surplus to supply an entire area."

"Since the power is out, why not just seal off the area and do a 'thorough inspection'? The police will cooperate in patrolling to see if there are any hidden pizomo larvae," Chief Yoshioka added. "Would you mind if we 'accidentally' cut off some surveillance and defense equipment and see how many fish we can lure onto the hook?"

“If ‘Fish’ causes too much of a commotion, you’d better prepare some gifts,” Director Sawai joked, “that way the logistics center’s anger will be lessened.”

While the upper management engaged in a back-and-forth discussion, a certain "extra" figure in the office felt extremely uneasy.

Takuma Sato, formerly the captain of the Ground Guard under the Police Department, is now the head of the interrogation room under the Ground Guard. When he first entered the office and saw a group of big shots, he almost thought he had entered the wrong room.

Even if Director Sawai wanted to hold an expanded meeting, according to convention, it would only expand to the level of the vice-captain of the GUTS team at most. The head of the interrogation room still had to work two levels to reach that level. Sato had only recently been dismissed from his post. Could it be that the big shots were planning to reinstate him?

He looked around and found that Aiba Yu was also there, which reassured him a little. It seemed that his unfounded "guesses" hadn't been discovered and the big shots weren't planning to silence him.

Then, he keenly noticed that no one from the Information Department was present! The Information Department was the core department of TPC. Without their support, the ground guards would have to rely on paper maps to locate targets when they went out on patrol.

After listening to Director Sawai's arrangements, Sato finally understood what was going on—the bigwigs probably suspected that there was a mole in the information department, and that the mole was of a high rank. Therefore, they had arranged an investigation that had to be carried out under various pretexts and with the information department as the main target.

"What about the other branches?" Sato heard Hayate from the Carlo base say, "The investigation at headquarters is good, and our base will also conduct a secret operation. However, the aliens' infiltration is definitely not limited to headquarters. The branches may be subjected to more serious 'attacks,' especially the South American and African branches, whose organizational structures are not yet fully developed."

“We plan to build elite teams similar to the Victory Team in each branch,” Staff Officer Nan Yuan explained. “First, we will investigate the headquarters, then the local branches will select and train a group of elites to serve as the backbone of the Victory Team in each branch. These elites must first pass our screening to ensure that their backgrounds are clean and their resumes are normal.”

At this point, Sato understood his plan. The next step should be to launch local investigations centered around the Victory Teams of each branch—operations by local teams would attract less attention than parachuting in from headquarters, making them more unexpected. In addition, this opportunity could be used to train the newly formed elite teams in each branch and help them adapt to the pace as quickly as possible.

None of the above arrangements were surprising, Sato thought. The strangest and most inappropriate person in the entire place was himself—the big shots were sharpening their knives, preparing to plant a mole, what did that have to do with him, a mere interrogation room chief? Were they urging him to quickly extract information from the aliens?

Sawai and Nanbara discussed the details of the execution. After everyone left, Sawai kept Yoshioka, Sato, and Aiba Yu behind.

“You’ve all heard the plan. I called you here because there are other arrangements for you, Yoshioka.”

Tetsuji Yoshioka nodded and continued, "Takuma Sato, effective immediately, you will resume your position as captain of the Ground Guard. The official appointment will be issued after the operation concludes. You will still be referred to as the head of the interrogation room. The deputy captain will handle the team's internal affairs. Your current task is to select reliable members to form a special investigation team. Tomorrow, the General Staff will issue the action plan for 'thoroughly investigating Bizomo'."

Sato was very perceptive: "So, under the guise of 'thoroughly investigating Bizomo,' we'll form a special investigation team to actually carry out the mission of investigating aliens?"

"To be precise, it's about investigating alien bases. TPC needs your investigative mind," said Tetsuji Yoshioka. "The Inspection Office will cooperate with you to provide clues, the Special Investigation Team will be responsible for defining the suspicious areas, and the Victory Team will complete the confirmation. We need to compress time and increase efficiency—but even so, it's dangerous. You need to carefully select your team members."

"Understood," Sato replied, surprisingly not feeling particularly excited despite hearing the order to be reinstated, even though it meant losing his salary.

"It can rise again?" He pondered for a moment, then suddenly pointed to the person beside him: "He's cooperating with me too?"

He was pointing at Aiba Yu.

Director Sawai said, "That's right, Aiba will act alone and be assigned to the special investigation team."

“Well, that puts my mind at ease,” Sato said, stating his thoughts directly to the top leader of TPC for the first time. He was quite at ease: “Since the squadron leader has been assigned to my squad, it shouldn’t be a problem for me to recruit some people from their squadron, right?”

Sawai paused in surprise, then looked at Yoshioka. The latter said, "It certainly doesn't violate the rules."

“Alright! Then besides you and me, the third member is Ralf!” Sato patted Aiba Yu on the shoulder: “He’s big, strong, and quick-witted, and he’s from the special forces. I’ve been craving him for a long time.”

Aiba Yu gave him a cold look: "It's just borrowing it."

Chapter 114 A Changing Life

Preparations for TPC were in full swing, and everyone was eager to muster all their energy and become superhuman. For Fujisawa Sosuke, however, the days at the Lion's Nose Forest Base were a mixture of anxiety and chaos.

It seems like he hasn't been able to think clearly and seriously about something for a long time.

When he was lucid, his mind was filled with worry for his teammates in the air force, as well as Aya and her colleagues. He was constantly thinking about the Naga and their conspiracy. So much so that the moment he opened his eyes, someone who knew him intimately preemptively answered his questions:

“We are still investigating the Naga’s hideout. Aya has indeed shown signs of contact with the Naga. We will let you know as soon as we get the first information. TPC has not made any major moves recently. There are no monster alerts outside. Everything is calm. Also, the longer you sleep, the more your body is actively fighting against the 'invaders' from outside. Everything is getting better.”

Before Fujisawa Sousuke could ask any questions, the girl who called herself "Paradia" had already launched into a long, rapid-fire speech. When Sousuke's brain went blank from receiving too much information, "Paradia" waved her hand in front of him: "That's all I know. Get up when you've had enough sleep. 'Amui' is looking for you."

"I don't want to play house..." Sosuke yawned, only then realizing he was lying on a patch of grass! If he waited any longer until the river outside the treehouse rose in its regular flow, he'd probably be rafting in his dreams...

“You played house, and ‘Amui’ is going to get angry again! That’s called ‘a grand rehearsal for building defensive fortifications against monsters,’” The girl reached into his hair and pulled out a brownish thing under his eyelids: “Look, the downside of sleeping too long—a hairy spider.”

With its short, fine down and abundant hair, and eight legs that nimbly kick around in the air, it is a lively and good spider.

A tremor emanated from her very soul, from her toes to the tips of every hair. A soprano voice suddenly burst forth from the riverbank, so sharp that the girl had to lower her head and cover her ears. She casually tossed the hairy spider into the river, and her kicking in mid-air turned into convulsions in the water.

"Only a spider the size of a palm can scream like that. You didn't even scream yourself to death, but the spider was scared to death by you!" the girl said disdainfully. "The spider monsters I saw in the mountains 'back in the day' were dozens or even hundreds of times bigger than this! Even little children in our area don't make that kind of noise."

Sosuke thought the girl was just bragging again, talking about "back in the day." She didn't look that old. Maybe she had bad eyesight when she was little and mistook tree roots for arthropod legs.

He pressed one hand against his pounding chest and said, "Dozens or hundreds of times bigger would require a person this big. You saw it in your dream? It couldn't have been a spider monster. You ran out alive from under its feet?"

The girl crossed her arms and hummed, "It was a spider monster! 'I' worked with the giant to turn the man-eating monster into canned food. If I had been like you, I don't know which earthworm would have eaten my ashes."

“I even said that it was because the captain was ‘working together’ that I hitched a ride on the β. He was able to fly the plane out of the thunderstorm clouds without any problems, just like…” Sosuke thought she was bragging, but when he talked about the captain, his voice became weaker and weaker, and he was no longer so confident.

"With what?" Paradia asked.

"...like a monster."

After a while, Sosuke seemed to remember something important. He moved forward, put his face on the water, and looked down at his reflection.

Presumably to consider the feelings of those who had experienced similar situations, there wasn't a single mirror to be found at the Lion's Nose Tree Sea base. Sosuke could only use the most primitive method—looking at his reflection in the water—to assess his own situation.

Paradia didn't stop him, but whispered a reminder: "You're getting better. You look much scarier, but that also means the rejection is very strong."

Sosuke looked around at the bump on his head. The short, dark horn had already sprouted, but it didn't look too strange. At least if he saw Aya Kamimura again, the girl who liked mechanical design and ghost stories wouldn't distance herself from him because of it.

He thought for a moment: "I'm just curious how the Naga managed to do that... Although I didn't study biology, it looks like they've changed species. Even if you told me, I wouldn't be surprised if I actually turned into a goat."

“You won’t turn into a goat,” the girl said earnestly. “The effects of those drugs are actually ‘purification and catalytic fusion,’ but because the changes are too drastic, or the results are too poor, some people’s bodies can’t handle it and they die on the spot, while others turn into grotesque things… four eyes, eight legs, or even bones piercing through the skin and wrapping around the head.”

You'll either suffocate, or grow into a sea urchin and be crushed to death by its swollen entrails—in any case, you won't become a goat.

"Purification and catalytic fusion?" Sosuke couldn't fathom what the horn on his head was, so it was probably a fusion. Hearing that he was recovering, he wasn't too worried. For a moment, curiosity took over, and he moved closer to the water's surface: "What kind of animal is that?"

“It’s not an animal, but a product of the balance between the genes of ancient humans and ‘a certain monster,’ the research direction that the Naga have been dedicated to for many years,” the girl replied. “The power of the ‘monster’ is to the human body what sulfuric acid is to wood, while the ancient genes, the product of the giant’s power, can help resist erosion. If such a balance is achieved, the receptor will break through its own limitations and achieve a kind of ‘evolution.’”

"Uh...you mean, monsters?" Sosuke suddenly lost his relaxed expression and looked up sharply. "Aya was taken away by the Naga, right? Have you found any trace of her? If she...she's like those weird people you described..."

The girl looked at him with pity again, an expression that Sōsuke increasingly disliked, as it was always associated with bad news.

“Those people were unlucky, but also lucky. In fact, the Naga experiments have never succeeded. They either die or are completely corrupted into monsters, not even knowing what they are,” the girl replied cautiously, staring intently at Sosuke’s expression. “So… dying at the very beginning is actually the luckiest thing.”

Sosuke slumped down, the temperature of the Lion's Nose Tree Sea was kept constant at the most comfortable range, but he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave: "The Naga, the Naga took her away... she must be useless, right? A disabled person with difficulty walking, even if she survives, she is definitely not as useful as a healthy person like me, right? So there is no way it will be her turn."

He muttered to himself, trying to comfort himself. Paradia's gaze was inscrutable; her eyes were fixed on Sosuke, but her gaze was vacant, as if she were thinking about something else.

"Stop deceiving yourself!" Finally, before Sosuke could chase away all the ants around him with her chatter, she interrupted him: "Ancient genes don't care whether the owner is healthy or not; they only concern heredity!"