Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

The dinosaurs modified by the Naga had very unoriginal names; they were all called "Maru-po Naiza." They were numbered from the initial test number zero down, and the number was determined by how many neutron bombs they could make.

While the Kyrielords, driven by a desire for "faith," might be concerned with the use of weapons of mass destruction, the Naga are utterly indifferent to the lives of surface creatures—they are far more interested in the movements of the slumbering ruler in the South Pacific.

Even if the entire planet were blasted into an asteroid belt, it wouldn't even blink an eye.

In addition, there's the well-known saying: one mountain cannot hold two gods. The followers of the Kyrielord god, hearing the Naga claim to be "gods of the universe," were naturally displeased with everything they heard.

Therefore, in dealing with the Naga, the Kirieloids could even be considered to be on the same side as the TPC.

Number Sixteen's actions disturbed the Special Investigation Team and the Victory Team, and of course, also woke up Captain Aiba, who was fast asleep and had no idea what day it was.

"Our interior is really leaky like a sieve..." Sato Takuma exclaimed as he watched the enormous mechanical dinosaur crawl out of the ground and crush the K17 area's life science research center workstation to pieces. "How come such a huge thing was sitting on our turf without being discovered!"

No wonder Director Sawai excluded the Information Department when deploying the investigation. If you were to tell Sato now, "Congratulations, TPC's Information Department has produced a 'traitor' loyal to Earthlings," Sato wouldn't be surprised.

The guys with keen noses in the inspection room must have already caught wind of it. Sato couldn't help but look forward to the scene of the parasites in the information department being shaken out and exposed to the sun.

The "little monster," which had shrunk to the size of a palm, raised its head from the warm computer case: "Something happened?"

Sato replayed the surveillance video: "The aliens finally couldn't hold back anymore. The GUTS team has already set off, and there are two members of the investigation team there. Look..."

Before he could finish speaking, the overburdened computer case let out a joyful sound of liberation, and a black thing flapped its wings and emerged from the breeze.

Sato was stunned for a moment, and only some dark things on the computer case gleamed.

He picked it up and rubbed it apart, only to find that it was made of tiny scales. Recalling the mottled patches that occasionally peeked out from under the other's folded wings, he couldn't help but mutter, "It's growing and falling off at the same time. Is it shedding its skin or changing its fur... Will working overtime during molting affect its health?"

A few minutes later, Yuuki Tsukishiro, who had finally stopped being idle and found a job analyzing DNA, received a phone call.

He listened for a couple of sentences, and when he answered, his raised voice startled Kubota Kosuke, who had been dragged there to play bridge and analyze DNA along with him.

"Have you picked up some kind of illness from spending too much time with Aiba? Do reptiles molt or shed their skin?" Yuuki Tsukishiro scolded. "He keeps goldfish, do you keep geckos? Do geckos have fur? Are you keeping an alien gecko?"

After a conditioned reflex of cursing, Yuuki Tsukishiro suddenly realized what she had done and her attitude changed completely: "Ah, ah... you mean this? I understand. You can have him try applying some Vitamin E, although I'm not sure if it will work."

“And from what I understand,” Yuuki Tsukishiro lowered her voice, but Kosuke Kubota could still hear her clearly, “if there is an external force affecting the molting and shelling process, there is a high chance of having aftereffects… You should have stopped him when he ran away.”

Leaving aside how Sato explained Aiba's sudden disappearance, in area K17, the members of the investigation team who escaped with their lives were listening to the station chief wailing and beating the ground.

“My sample… experimental sample…” The stationmaster saw his “paper” that was about to be published being trampled into dust by Maru-sakatsu.

His students looked ashen-faced; everything they had meticulously tended, every single thing, was crucial to their graduation. Only one student in a white lab coat had a gleam in his eyes, pointing at Maru-sako Naiza and declaring, "I've decided! This is my graduation project!"

The other lab coats glared at them angrily: "Your 'topic selection' ruined my 'graduation certificate'! What a load of rubbish!"

They were able to converse so without any sense of danger because Maru-sako was not heading towards the crowd, but rather towards the dense forest in the opposite direction.

According to the TPC members, the man in black robes was probably trying to find a less crowded route to escape, but he ended up luring away the mechanical dinosaurs as well, which saved them instead – it was just the right moment.

Only Number Sixteen himself knew that he did it on purpose—"Paladia" told him not to worry about so much, to trick the Naga into revealing their methods and then make a quick getaway, leaving the rest to TPC. He shouldn't be concerned with casualties, but rather with how to clear himself of any blame so that the Victory Team could catch up and expose him.

But would Number Sixteen grant her wish?

"I'm going to beat up the Naga, and I'm going to save everyone else!" Number Sixteen gritted his teeth.

Previously, aboard the TPC-β, limited by the aircraft's performance, they only dared to unleash munitions beyond visual range to assist the Victory Team in driving away the monsters. Back then, he accepted it; after all, he was weak, chased relentlessly by the women of Planet Muzhen, and nearly lost his life at the hands of the Raven People.

But now he can catch up with the train just by running on his two legs!

The Victory Team members are well-equipped, their physiques are surely inferior to his, right? Number Sixteen felt quite smug. He led Maru-sako Naiza deep into the mountains, silently thinking:

"Whether you're Muzhen or Naga, no matter which nebula you're from, your good days are over!"

The moment he reached the bottom of the well, he saw it—the mechanical dinosaur was being controlled by someone.

As he landed, a silver-gray humanoid shadow leaped into Maru-sako's chest and hid beneath the neutron bomb's magazine!

Are those Nagas?

Number Sixteen transmitted the image back, and a few minutes later, Number Twelve told him: "This is not the Maru-sakatsu we recorded. Judging from its unclosed breastplate structure, it may not be completed yet, so it needs additional people to operate it."

"You mean there are other mechanical dinosaurs?" Number Sixteen felt a fire burning in his chest: "And they're all loaded with neutron bombs?!"

"Of course, no one would only prepare one trump card, right? The Naga are capable of destroying their own home planet if they can eliminate a threat. In their words, everything the 'God of the Universe' does is for eternal peace, and any sacrifice is allowed. Those who sacrifice themselves will attain bliss."

"Peaceful my foot! It's easy for them to talk when they're not the ones suffering. They don't know the pie in the sky is inedible until they've been hit in the face with a brick! Why don't they sacrifice themselves first?!"

"They love sacrificing themselves the most!" Number Twelve nodded repeatedly on the other end of the communication line. "That's why the Naga have always been known for their small population. If it weren't for the prohibition against 'continuing civilization,' they would probably have all disappeared 30 million years ago!"

Number Sixteen choked for a moment, and as Maru-sakatsu gradually approached from behind, he remembered something more important: "Since you know so much about them, what about the solution for neutron bombs? I don't understand nuclear physics, but it sounds like something even more terrifying than a nuclear bomb."

Several crisp notification sounds came through the earpiece, presumably Number Twelve was retrieving data. After Number Sixteen had crossed a hill and the Victory Team's Flying Swallow appeared on the horizon, Number Twelve replied:

"According to calculations, if the neutron bomb behind you explodes, it could tear up the entire continental shelf of the Northwest Pacific—it's only two meters in diameter, but the density of its neutron structure is beyond imagination. Without an anti-gravity device to support it, this neutron bomb could crush Marubo Neza's body and keep falling downwards. Given enough time, it should be able to fall into the Earth's core."

"In other words, you have to be careful... and it's best to make sure the Victory Team is careful too, so they don't damage the anti-gravity device. If it explodes... not to mention the destruction of the world, it could wipe out the Northeast Asian ecosystem and then affect the whole world."

Chapter 122 The Naga (4K)

Samuel departed late, but arrived at the work station before the Swallow.

As far as the eye could see, there was only ruins. The work station had been trampled into a wasteland by Maru-sako Naza, and countless people had not escaped. The station chief, the white coats, and the other staff members stood in an open area a little further away. They saw the Flying Swallow and were excitedly waving to the Victory Team.

Regardless of how much outsiders question the abilities of the Victory Team, at least for ordinary people, the arrival of the Victory Team means that someone is protecting them—which brings a precious sense of security.

Samuel did not obtain more information when he set off, so he missed Horii's analysis of the neutron bomb on Maru-sako's chest. He only knew that the mechanical dinosaur was dangerous and that there was a person sitting in the open chest armor.

The person clearly controlling it is a metallic silver-gray, with various electrodes and wires connected to the mechanical dinosaur. This design concept is obviously beyond the research direction of TPC, and there is no doubt that he is an alien.

The mechanical dinosaur's technology and style are very similar to those of the Naga, so is it a Naga? Samuel is curious about a race that has never shown its true form since 30 million years ago.

The race that calls itself the "gods of the universe" demands that other races follow its values ​​as the dominant ones. However, they are not the so-called "scum who are harsh on others but lenient on themselves." They also steadfastly implement their own beliefs, like fanatical converts.

Samuel first encountered them shortly after he and Soruka and Paradia left the village, when the Naga's spaceship was stationed on a lake.

That's right. Thirty million years ago, they already had the ability to travel between star systems, and to this day, they haven't made much technological progress... Samuel guessed that it might be related to their historically small population. In fact, it's incredibly lucky that they haven't gone extinct all these years.

Samuel couldn't help but stop when he saw the Naga's spaceship, his heart filled with shock. Before falling asleep, as "Xun," he had only seen long spears and iron cannons, and had never seen satellite weapons. After waking up, he had been staying in the village with Soruka and the others, so much so that he understood this world to be at the level of "ancient times from long ago."

In this situation, anyone who suddenly sees a spaceship hundreds of meters in diameter, making the entire lake appear tiny, hovering quietly in the air, would gape in astonishment.

Soruka and Paradia were unfazed. Soruka transformed into a giant and whispered to the Naga for a while before the ship took off and left. Samuel wanted to ask them what they had said, but he had just begun learning the ancient language and could only carefully draw a few crooked words on the mud with his not-so-good claws.

Fortunately, Soruka was always understanding. Taking advantage of his size, he grabbed the big monster's head and, before it could get angry again and show its teeth, said, "The Naga people on that boat were just checking the safety of the lake. A few days ago, a monster ravaged this place, and they are afraid that the lake water has been contaminated with toxins."

Soruka spoke very slowly, and Samuel could barely understand him.

He initially had a favorable impression of the Naga, but Soruka told him, "Don't assume they're 'good' just because of that. It's not that simple. If I weren't 'watching' you, that ship's next mission would have been to take you away, as you would have been a threat to its safety."

Soruka didn't tell him that he had received warnings from the Naga for "protecting the monster," such as that if the monster was found to be disrupting order, it would be tried along with the protector.

The Naga have their own set of logic for doing things. Every civilization that reaches a certain level will have such a deeply rooted and ingrained logic. For the Naga, it is all for the order of the universe. This is the pride of being the "god of the universe".

They oppose

They conduct cruel experiments on species on other planets when there is "no need," but if they determine that it is necessary for order, then they will certainly be pioneers in conducting such experiments.

Thus, the Naga developed the Marubo Neza, equipped with a neutron bomb, as a precaution against the dark ruler slumbering in the South Pacific.

Therefore, the idea of ​​modifying and deceiving the dinosaur people to work for them, filling the Naga people's scarce manpower, and taking on the daily tasks of maintaining, protecting, and securing Marupo Naza, was naturally tacitly approved under this logic.

Only the Naga would cooperate with figures like Tsuneo Ayase and Masaki Keigo, who yearn for the "New Human Project." Most aliens are too busy fearing the emergence of a new cosmic civilization to support its exploration of space.

While enjoying the support, Tsuneyuki and others secretly developed their power. This was a preparation made after they had seen through the nature of the Naga. Who knew when the Naga would suddenly define Earthlings as "an unstable factor in the universe"? Therefore, their cooperation with the Naga was bumpy and superficial.

Samuel was unaware of the secret cooperation between the Naga and Earthlings, partly because the Naga always assigned the Dinosaur Man to carry out the activities, and partly because he himself did not have the extra time and energy to conduct a thorough investigation.

He was initially curious as to why the Naga would create mechanical dinosaurs, but later his attention was drawn to the human figures being chased by the mechanical dinosaurs.

The man in the black robe—no, the "alien" hidden beneath the robe.

What normal human being would have bluish-gray keratinous skin, sharp bone horns, and bent knees? The only parts of his body that resembled those of a human being were his limbs and torso, and a pair of brown eyes.

Samuel instinctively thought that some alien had broken into the Naga stronghold, but when he caught up with them, he felt a sense of familiarity with the "alien" in the black robe.

A strange palpitation swept over him. Samuel didn't understand its source, but he could at least tell that the "alien" had lured away the mechanical dinosaurs, preventing the people at the workstation from being trampled into mincemeat by the monsters.

"Who are you?" he asked.

At the same time, snowflakes suddenly drifted down in front of Number Sixteen.

The verdant forests turned into a snow-covered ocean, and Number Sixteen's breathing immediately became rapid, almost bringing him back to the Bering Sea where his former captain and teammates perished.

He recognized the voice as belonging to a... monster?

The monster, which had grown from a size smaller than a pigeon, suddenly swelled into a colossal creature tens of meters tall. It lay between Number Sixteen and Marubo Naiza, casting a black shadow on the white snow.

This is probably what it feels like to have the sky blocked out. Number Sixteen looked up and saw the monster turn around and whip its tail, creating a violent and sharp whistling wind like a dying banshee.

"Boom—!" The banshee's scream was interrupted by a heavy explosion. Maru-sakana was sent flying, a deep groove dented in her waist. Her steel frame and cables scraped haphazardly, sparks flying from time to time.

The moment the wind picked up, Number Sixteen almost thought he was going to be blown away, like a carrier-based aircraft launching from a catapult. But an invisible force held him back. The monster turned its head, its golden eyes meeting his.

In that instant, Number Sixteen immediately realized that the monster had protected him.

His breathing became more and more rapid—how could he not know who it was?

The monster, codenamed "Samuel" and also known as the "Tomb Keeper" by aliens, appeared at the energy base of the Space Development Center, Delta Space Station. On Halloween night, it captured a group of crow people with a humanoid body. At that time, Fujisawa Sousuke was almost killed and sat on the ground staring blankly at the other party.

Behind him, colorful light bulbs hung from tree branches, their warm glow scorching the cold scales. The crow-men at his feet looked like two corpses. He skillfully took the box from the other's body containing the shrunken humans, then looked up at Sosuke, whose brain had ceased to function.

"Are you alright?" Sosuke felt those eyes asking him that question.

The same eyes also appeared in the Bering Sea, which had replayed countless times in his dreams. The warm water kept him from hypothermia and freezing to death, and the brilliant gold illuminated the gray-blue sea. His survival instinct made him eager to get closer to it.

Now it has reappeared on the white ice floes. Sosuke has been wanting to say "thank you" to it and ask it, "Tired of eating sea fish? How about trying barbecue? Is a whole street of skewers enough to fill your teeth?" Even if he spends all his salary to feed this monster, Sosuke will not regret it—he will only feel sorry for his wife's savings for a while.

He also had another question: "Are you the captain?"