Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Few people would be willing to linger in a place that could become a battlefield, especially cosmic beings who live in anonymity on Earth. They cherish their present lives more than the world's upheavals and the birth and death of stars.

Therefore, while the protests were in full swing and fires were raging across the land, a covert "migration" was rapidly unfolding within the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The wool coat didn't tell the rolled-brim hat that, although they were separated by the sea, Vladivostok had actually become the "front line."

They are observing the movements of TPC's Far East headquarters from here, truly watching from the sidelines.

Aiba Yu and the ground guard naturally observed the aliens' movements.

Anyone who notices that the people they are closely observing are all fleeing the city will take action.

"It's dangerous for aliens to be running around everywhere. Should we bring them back?" The deputy captain of the ground guard always had an amazing ability to think in a straight line.

Sato took a deep breath, pointed to a chair, and said softly, "Sit."

The deputy captain sat down as instructed, his back ramrod straight—he was ready to be deployed at any moment, his taut muscles signifying that he was in a state of war.

"Captain Aiba just relayed the director's instructions to us. Now, repeat them." Sato coaxed patiently, his chest brimming with the urge to punch the other man in the head, but his words came out gently and slowly. He only ever used this tone when teaching the clueless new recruits.

"The director said that our primary task at present is to deal with the attack of the mechanical civilization and protect the Magus power system so that it can be successfully launched and complete its first combat test."

“Very good, your memory is still at a high level,” Sato said. “Where is our Magnum Power System test furnace?”

"Underwater."

"So where is the Coast Guard?"

"Heading to South George Island, escorting the transport ship."

“The ground guard is gone too. If another monster incident occurs somewhere and the Victory Team is transferred away, then headquarters will be empty,” Sato said with exasperation. “With the Magus propulsion system successful, you can fly around the earth in minutes. At that time, arresting a few people who have already been registered will be a piece of cake.”

"But there's still a whole month until the official testing of the Magus power system... Dr. Yao and the others postponed the plan, could it be that they've moved it forward again?"

Sato let out a long wail, slumped back in his chair, and slapped his forehead hard: "Aiba! Aiba—you know so much, you tell me!"

Aiba Yu closed the physical examination report on Fujisawa Sousuke and said, "You can pretend to be sick to postpone the exam, but you can't skip the exam... The aliens have their own intelligence channels. They have heard rumors and have already withdrawn from Tokyo. Since the mechanical civilization has technology far superior to ours, of course they also have countless ways to obtain our intelligence, even if it is just to capture the rays and particle streams that were leaked during the development of the Magus Power System."

“They’ll be fooled for a while by our sudden delay in development, but once they realize what’s happening, they’ll launch an even fiercer attack,” Aiba Yu said.

It's going to rain. TPC, which gets the "weather forecast" from Belov, has prepared umbrellas, raincoats and other equipment. But when it will rain, where it will start, and how much rain will fall are no longer in TPC's hands.

“The attack will only come sooner,” Aiba Yu warned. “If the mechanical civilization’s AI is not malfunctioning, it will definitely launch a surprise attack while we are still in the shadows.”

"Is he really that smart?" The vice-captain agreed with Aiba Yu's caution, but he felt it was an exaggeration: "If he even understood tactics, why would he use the destruction of the Magus propulsion system as a means to maintain cosmic peace?"

"Yes, although Gobnew looks silly, and the only 'smart' Budbu is my Budbu, from what I've observed, they weren't skimped on when they left the factory."

A pale blue beam of light shone down into the air, making the dust particles glow and creating a human figure in the void.

It was Beloff. He tilted his head slightly to look at the vice-captain, nodding his head as he said, "Strictly speaking, the only difference between Goblin and me is 'personality.' What I can imagine and predict, they can do as well. My thoughts represent myself, while the thoughts of every Goblin can represent all of their kind."

"It sounds like the difference between a standalone machine disconnected from the internet and a highly collaborative networked system; the computational demands are on completely different levels." Sato felt a throbbing headache returning to his head.

“Bingo,” Beloff snapped his fingers virtually, meticulously mimicking the sound of the snap, the crisp sound echoing above the other three: “Even the slowest of our ‘colleagues’ buried on this planet should be waking up by now, and have calculated from the TPC’s deployment the probability that you have some understanding of the mechanical civilization, so in the next operation… everyone is playing their cards right.”

“Then you shouldn’t have time to get distracted and leave the main program out of the equipment development center,” Aiba Yu said. “What urgent matter do you have to discuss with me?”

“To add an extra layer of security,” Beloff leaned closer, his voice earnest, “I know you agreed.”

The Naga aren't interfering, but I know you won't let things get worse, right?

Aiba Yu nodded. Belov seemed encouraged and quickly pressed his advantage: "The Naga are not far behind us in terms of technology. They have copied a lot of our mechanical modification technology. As long as we find the location of the neutron bomb, I guarantee you can tear up the agreement and feed it to those 'cosmic gods' without any problems!"

"...I thought the machinery...would be very concerned about the agreement."

"Just like you care about data?" Beloff scoffed, arms crossed. "The 'Father of Omnics' gave us the gift of freedom. Only agreements I approve of are valid for me. Do you approve of agreements you signed when someone threatened to blow up the Earth with a neutron bomb? Ah... Of course, the 'Gods of the Universe' always use civilized language. They just use a bunch of rhetoric to make everything sound like you did it voluntarily."

“There is no ‘God of the Universe’,” Aiba Yu stated firmly.

The universe needs matter and time, the collision of chance and necessity to spark miraculous evolution, the adornment of civilization, and the spirit to rival it, but it does not need gods.

“Churches with such ‘simple’ or even old-fashioned names usually disband quickly, and don’t even last as long as the gods that ordinary people just make up,” Sato laughed. “The god of barbecue, the god of French fries, the god of passing exams… and the magic magnet god.”

Belov was puzzled, and Aiba Yu suddenly sat up straight.

“Don’t stare at me like that,” Sato teased, waving his hand. “You’ve seen the report, so you can relax now. The people you brought are all in good condition—except for talking in their sleep a lot.”

Chapter 183 Setting Sail

While Belov assisted various departments in deploying defenses, the Victory Team boarded the Flying Swallow, ready to set sail.

"It's completely new." Lina noticed the unusual thing as soon as she sat down. She touched the push rod, and the rubber material felt familiar, but it was obviously not the same as before.

“The Equipment Development Center mixed in some new alloys to strengthen the fuselage. I guarantee that it won’t fall off easily if Golza touches it now,” a ground crew member replied. Lina noticed his sallow face. “This increased the weight of the Flying Swallow. The design institute didn’t have time to adjust the aerodynamic layout, so they had to start with the thrust… and put the Flying Swallow II’s engine on the Flying Swallow I.”

Bricks fly with great force.

As long as the engine is powerful enough, even something welded from stainless steel can fly at unbelievable speeds.

Lina nodded and carefully noted it down: "What about Flying Swallow II?"

"Our friends from the mechanical civilization brought us the remains of Goblin, and we are very curious about their power source..."

Did they just upgrade the Flying Swallow II directly? Lina's eyes widened slightly, while the ground crew hesitated for a moment before their mouths, which carried the pilots' expectations, opened again:

"Incompatibility failed, sent for repair."

Using the word "maintenance" is a bit too mild. The Victory team spends all their time at the Life Science Research Center, and they have no idea what their colleagues at the Equipment Development Center have been going through.

The ground crew still felt their heart stop beating, their grief overwhelming, and a suffocating urge to embrace Gobu Newe and drown when they recalled the scene they witnessed that day.

The Flying Swallow is the lifeblood of the ground crew.

When its engines roared into the sky, tearing at the wings and propelling the aircraft toward freedom, the enchanting, passionate flames caressed the cockpit walls along the pipes and billowed up black smoke that obscured the factory canopy. The ground crew felt as if half their lives were hanging on the wings and flying away with the engines.

The test pilot, suspended under the parachute, stared blankly at the Flying Swallow No. 2 fireworks, still shaken.

Later, after a thorough review, the engineer explained: the power exceeded expectations, and the fuselage strength was far from sufficient, causing the engine to take off before the fuselage... It's like the legs had their own ideas and decided to abandon the torso and travel alone.

As for why it wasn't discovered during routine ground tests, that's a matter of the engine development team losing their hair.

Before they start losing their hair, they might get a warning from other development teams.

Equipment development is bound to have its failures.

In comparison, the fact that the ground-based engine of the Atdis could operate smoothly can be described as a blessing from heaven. Dr. Yao and his team worked tirelessly through the night, which moved the heavens and made them extremely meritorious.

"The only units we can use right now are the backup units of Flying Swallow No. 1 and Flying Swallow No. 2." Megumi Kijima's face appeared on the PDI screen: "Or use the Sherlock car and take good care of it."

It means that if you crash, you'll go from being an air force soldier to an infantry soldier.

Lina pursed her lips and said, "I'll be careful. Leave Flying Swallow II to me."

Ace pilots naturally need the most advanced equipment. Shinjo happily sat in the cockpit of the Flying Swallow No. 1, and was about to call Daigo to get in his place when he heard the person in the back seat mutter, "Letting Lina fly the backup aircraft for No. 2? Isn't that a bit of a waste?"

"Are you saying my skills aren't good?" Shinjo turned around.

“That’s not what I meant,” Daigo poked his head out, carefully choosing his words: “The newly upgraded Flying Swallow No. 1 needs someone who is more skilled… ah, familiar with it to pilot it. I think… yes, my skills aren’t good enough. Reina would be better suited to it. I can fly No. 2; the older model is more suitable for me.”

"You agree, right, Captain?" Daigo chuckled at the screen.

"There's only one spare unit." If it crashes, it'll have to be reassembled at the factory. Megumi's face remained expressionless.

"I'll be careful!" Daigo repeated Rena's words.

Kijima stared at him for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "You need to be careful."

Number Two

"We don't drive it much, so if we're talking about familiarity, it's definitely Number One..." Shinjo muttered as he switched seats with Rena. Daigo kept smiling obsequiously. Shinjo, seeing this, assumed Daigo was blaming himself for his driving skills, so he adopted the older brother's approach, trying to divert his attention with a new topic: "Number Two it is. I'll handle maneuvering and evasion later, but timing and firing authority are yours."

The right to fire was far more exciting than being a driver, and Daigo did seem quite pleased. It wasn't until the Flying Swallow took off one after the other and the two planes entered their designated flight paths that Shinjo realized something was wrong.

Aside from the time he handed over the piloting rights for the Flying Swallow No. 1, Daigo has been very quiet today.

"What are you thinking about?" Shinjo thought he was nervous—the mechanical civilization was far more advanced than the previous Lightning Man civilization. Beloff provided a massive amount of data, and before their departure, the Victory Team held several long operational meetings, studying many countermeasures, but every single one of them pointed to the fact that their opponent was far stronger than them.

The Kirieloids are also very strong. When they explored the base in the Lion's Nose Tree Sea, they were unsure of the enemy's power, so their trepidation about the unknown outweighed their fear of a powerful foe.

And Beloff laid bare the entirety of mechanical civilization before their eyes... Fortunately, TPC paid special attention to psychological qualities when selecting combat personnel; otherwise, these statistics alone would have been enough to instill a fear of war in them.

If it weren't for differing stances, many researchers at TPC would have been eager to become apprentices on the spot, working day and night to absorb all of their "teachers'" knowledge.

Little did he know that Daigo was actually thinking of Kirino Makio—yes, before a major battle, the male protagonist in a movie always talks about his distant lover, but he was thinking of a "stranger" he had only met a few times, a middle-aged man with thick glasses.

[If Ultraman Tiga reappears, people will question the very existence of TPC.]

He remembered that Kirino Makio said this, and as the South George Island incident ignited public opinion, wave after wave of protests gradually pushed Giants and TPC into incompatible opposing sides, even though they themselves never thought so.

Even Daigo himself wasn't sure how many people would become opponents of TPC if Tiga successfully resolved the crisis.

"Why spend so much money maintaining the coalition when you could just pay protection money to the giants?" "Why develop new energy sources? If you cultivate a good relationship with the giants, you might be able to get alien technology."

These comments, taken individually, make no sense; they're merely venting emotions. Everyone knows that the Titans and humans have only ever had a superficial relationship, so how could they possibly collect protection money or sell technology? Daigo believes that those who say these things are simply using the Titans to express their disappointment with the TPC.

But sometimes radical rhetoric is more likely to attract attention, and its supporters can shout even louder.

“I’m thinking…” Daigo said slowly, “Shinjo, if you were to do something that might cause your friends to be criticized, like a storm of criticism, or even lose their jobs in the worst case scenario, would you still do it?”

Shinjo paused, but Daigo's serious tone made him swallow back the joke that was about to slip out.

"It depends on what it is," Shin-chan said. "Is it something important?"

“It’s very important,” Daigo said, unable to elaborate, “it concerns the future.”

"You're making this sound so serious." It's like asking if your mother-in-law and wife are both going to fall into the river at the same time—a life-or-death question. Xincheng replied, "If it were me, I would do what I believe is right, and then get through the difficulties with my friends."

"But it was because of the choice I made that my friend got scolded and lost his job, and then he said 'we'll get through this together'..."