Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

"Can you tell me what's going on?" She tried to remain calm, but her slightly trembling legs betrayed her true condition.

A dull creak came from below deck, like a heavy, old, rusted iron door being forced open. Paradia shrank back almost imperceptibly: "What was that sound? Did you...did you see the great monster?"

Paradia appeared harmless and in need of protection, but Sato felt his blood freezing.

Languages ​​change over time. Some languages ​​are buried in the long river of time as the number of people who use them gradually decreases and disappears, waiting for archaeologists to find them one day.

That's the language Sato heard.

The words “Paladia” just spoke were not Japanese. This string of connected sounds was a remnant of a previous civilization: the language of ancient humans.

"Who are you?" Sato took a deep breath and asked in the same language. He placed one hand on his waist, his grip on his sidearm tightening. The joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land? Sato felt none, and Paradia, unaware of her own foreign existence, naturally felt none either.

“My name is Paradia,” she said, uttering the name that “Number Twelve” hated most and was least likely to admit. “I promised the Great Yokai I’d go see the sunrise, but… who are you? What happened here? Did you see Solka? He’s…” She raised her hand above her head to indicate height, “the tallest one!”

Sato froze for a moment, then abruptly turned around and swore, "Damn it, wait for us here!"

"Huh?" Paradia didn't understand the other person's reaction, but she quickly found a new target—

—She seemed to sense the presence of the Great Yokai and Solka. Perhaps some unfamiliar alien or monster had attacked her while she was asleep? Although Paradia felt strange and afraid of the sudden change in environment, she knew exactly where to go to find out what was going on.

“I think I’ve found them,” she said, pulling Sato along. “Were you trying to help me escape? Members of the Earth Guard aren’t allowed to escape. You go first, I’ll go find them. Thank you.”

"Thank you so much, my ancestor!" Sato grabbed her and dragged her toward the base exit.

"what you do!"

"I'm saving your life, saving my life, saving this base's life!" Sato thanked the Kirieloid clones for not developing terrifying muscle strength, allowing him to control them, while muttering curses, "Now I know how all your 'Paradias' disappeared! What did you and Sosuke say? 'You have a bunch, I have a bunch, every bunch is a Paradia!' Were you doing timed cleanups? Unlocking programs at certain times, thinking you're Paradias, then happily going to the mouths of the alien beasts to have your heads bitten off! Did you think the alien beasts were your relatives?!"

"What? So many 'Paradia's'? Hey, let go of me! I'm going to find them!" Paradia was dragged along, staggering. "I'm a member of the Earth Guard! If you don't believe me, I have a certificate signed by Commander Yuzare!"

"Then show it to me." Sato said without turning his head.

Paradia used her free hand to feel around her body, and soon she realized that her clothes were also unfamiliar, let alone any proof.

“Only probationary members need Captain Yuzare’s personal signature to provide valid proof,” Sato said. “Probationary members, obey the orders of the official members immediately. Run in this direction right now. See those lights over there? Go to the brightest spot. Someone will be there to meet you.”

Paradia hesitated for a moment, then quickly made up her mind: "I don't know the situation yet. If you're allowed to leave, I'll leave. Ah, since you're a full member, you must know Soruka, right? You know he always has one, one..."

“An old monster who looks terrifyingly fierce, but our cafeteria chef can make him behave,” Sato said quickly. “We all know him. We will resolve this disaster. Remember, whatever you do, don’t let the ‘monster’ who looks like him catch up with you.”

"What do you eat? And how come it looks like... "

Before the words were even finished, the ground in front of the two people who were already close to the gate suddenly flipped open.

With a tremendous roar, the material that had been specially thickened and poured as the main entrance bulged and cracked, as if something was trying to break out.

The thing charged in utter chaos, focused solely on catching up to its target as quickly as possible, oblivious to the optimal path or the need to conserve its energy. As a result, metal partitions, concrete walls, and the neatly arranged pipes embedded within them, resembling works of art, were brutally shattered. Solid building materials and priceless alloys collided with the massive black shadow, creating a deafening roar everywhere, as if the entire base were floating on water.

The base was indeed on the water, and Sato seemed to hear the sound of waves crashing against the shore. But the base usually had breakwaters around it, so unless a typhoon swept the base in, there wouldn't be such a violent sound of waves.

No, it's not ocean waves!

The heavens seemed to unleash a deadly attack, shifting stars and changing constellations. Sato looked up as dust and sand rained down from the sky like a torrential downpour.

The ground trembled with murderous intent, and dragons and snakes rose from the land. Sato shoved Paradia and shouted, "'Looks like'—that's what it is! They don't recognize anyone, they only want to eat, and the power of giants can drive them mad!"

Sato's attacks were always precise and ruthless. Although Paradia dodged the oncoming rain of stones, she tumbled several times before getting up. Soruka would surely laugh at her poor skills, wondering how someone with such untrained abilities could even dream of joining the guard regiment. Paradia was eagerly anticipating hearing Soruka's encouragement, but when she looked up and saw what was in front of her, she couldn't help but gasp.

A great monster? Of course not!

Even if, as Sato said, they do "look alike," it's like meeting someone on the street who resembles your friend. No matter how similar their faces are, the unfamiliar aura and unfamiliar eyes cannot be hidden. Standing in front of them, you will unconsciously become more vigilant, and the resulting sense of distance is more obvious than the difference between heaven and earth.

"I think I understand what happened," Paradia thought.

……

"The source of the epidemic in the village has been identified."

The starry sky 30 million years ago was very different from today. In addition to the constellations that changed with time, there were also spaceships that the locals were used to seeing flying across the sky. Many civilizations that traveled through the sea of ​​stars and emerging native civilizations coexisted here in a strange way, and a force that no one could ignore maintained a fragile balance.

Soruka is one of the many holders of this power. As long as he is willing to stay in Hoshimi Village, the villagers, even if they are still living like animals, will be untouchable by aliens and monsters.

But fortresses are always breached from within.

After successfully resisting a monster attack, a mysterious epidemic broke out in the village—limb mutations and mental breakdowns. While the initial symptoms were baffling, the common thread of these anomalies forced people to focus their attention on a particular "villager."

Paradia affectionately called him "the great monster," and some villagers gradually became familiar with him, occasionally exchanging pleasantries like "the weather is nice."

"The epidemic is concentrated in the south of the village, and the cases have something in common, besides..."

"Soruka glanced at Samuel, then continued, "There's one more thing: they all drank water from that well downstream."

Samuel shifted uncomfortably. Soruka stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder. After a while, he whispered, "It rained the day the monster attacked. The rainwater seeped into the well. Did you...do you know that your blood would have such an effect?"

Water and land are essential for people's survival. Regardless of Samuel's thoughts at the time, the relocation of Hoshimi Village was once again put on the agenda.

From Parra to Hoshimi Village, and then from Hoshimi Village to Ruruye, Soruka witnessed the migration of two generations. When asked whether to bring Samuel along, among the many opposing voices, only two stood out remarkably:

“Since it’s such a dangerous thing, of course it needs to be kept under close watch,” Soruka said. “To prevent anyone else from contracting the same disease, I’ll be the one to keep an eye on it.”

Paradia raised her hand high: "I agree. We need as much manpower as possible to transport patients, rebuild villages, and protect the roads from danger. With Big Guy's assurance, it won't be a problem!"

Soruka was highly respected among the villagers, but not a single word could dispel all their doubts. When asked, "What if something happens?", Samuel, who had remained silent until now, finally sat up and moved closer to Soruka—the shadow of the giant beast loomed over everyone, sending a chill down their spines.

“He told me about the weakness yesterday,” Soruka said. “Also, the source of the disease is poison for humans, but in my opinion… it is also deadly for our enemies.”

The alien beast factor always goes to great lengths to urge its host to eat and evolve. Its overly active vitality causes the host to undergo various mutations, some of which are "beneficial" while others will kill the host, like a sheep whose horns grow too long and curved and end up piercing its own cheek.

The alien beast factor is such an unreasonable thing, even though Samuel's factor is already considered a "pacifist" among alien beasts.

Whether from a personal or professional standpoint, Soruka would not leave Samuel on the ruins of Hoshimi Village. To put it bluntly, the mere possibility of the alien beast's power fusing with the human host's was terrifying. Soruka didn't want to face a group of alien beasts mutated from aliens; who knew what kind of species they would be?

"Are you willing to travel a long way with us?" Soruka said to Samuel. "Also, don't tell others your weaknesses so easily next time, even if it's just to gain their trust."

Chapter 195 The Road to Destruction

The brief chaos at the Far East headquarters quickly spread to all the dispatched teams.

The winning team was the first to notice.

"Robots are heading towards headquarters!" Horii spotted the undisguised combat group on the radar: "Should we go back to reinforce them?"

Countless red dots moved across the pitch-black water. The xenon lamps at the ground base could illuminate schools of fish lurking at depths of over ten meters, and naturally, they could also detect the "visitors" from the mechanical civilization.

They were a strange group of guests: they possessed unimaginable technology, yet their manner of action could be described as "primitive." Instead of braving the blue flames and swimming like fish through the sea, the Goblinians moved slowly and heavily on the seabed, like weights on a scale.

Mysterious technology may have been used here—although they are mechanical creations with solid shells, they did not sink into the soft mud on the seabed.

Sensing the danger, the school of fish swam away into the distance, and the entire sea was devoid of anything but the group of Goblin Newe silently advancing toward the base.

The sounds of mechanical friction and coupling were trapped in the seawater. The communications officer monitoring this area touched his arm, where goosebumps rose.

“These robots seem to be hollow inside, which is probably why, along with the fact that the materials are probably very light… they can walk on the seabed without sinking,” he said, citing the results from the radar images. “But if they’re hollow, why can they move?”

“Analyzing material properties is the job of the equipment development center. I studied communications in college, so I can’t answer this kind of question.” The colleague pointed to the area with the densest concentration of red dots on the screen—each flashing dot represented a Goblin, which advanced forward in a narrow area like soldiers being dropped from a transport plane.

At the end of this narrow area may lie the "mothership" that releases them. One can easily imagine that in the deep sea, beyond the reach of human eyes, a magnificent steel gate slowly opens, and loyal soldiers step out from within.

They detected a "threat" and mobilized their entire force. One group headed into space, assembling into the giant robot "Ouguma" to tie down the GUTS team, while another group charged towards the Far East headquarters, their steps slow but resolute.

"Can our weapons really stop them?" The communications officer, who had witnessed Goblin's advance, couldn't help but ask this question. Even with his colleagues right beside him, he couldn't control the goosebumps all over his body.

“I don’t know,” the finger held horizontally across the screen drew a faint diagonal line along the narrow area: “We can’t observe what’s further away, but I think ‘Miss Tomoko’ would like to go there and take a look.”

"Miss Zhizi" is a modified product of the Magus Power System, which uses the enormous energy generated by the annihilation of protons and antiprotons as a weapon.

Knowing the mechanical civilization's goals, and in order to evade the highly likely surveillance from them, TP...

C internally gave the Magus power system and its modified products the codename "Miss Somoko" to conceal their actual operations.

It can utilize the light emitted during annihilation as a driving force, and of course, it can also be modified into a weapon by changing the release mode. This was originally the result that Dr. Yao, the developer of the Magus Propulsion System, tried his best to avoid—in his idealistic blueprint, the Magus Propulsion System should be the light that propels human civilization into the universe, not a death omen that brings destruction, leaving nothing but barren land after the intense light sweeps across it.

During the research and development process, as Dr. Yao's research and development of the Magus power system was improved step by step, Dr. Yao felt increasingly terrified. He seemed to understand the feelings of Dr. Nezu, the inventor of Zildar gas, who had disappeared many years ago.

Can the inventor really prevent something perfectly suited as a weapon from being used where it is "most suitable"?

In the early stages of the development of the Magneto power system, Dr. Yao made his request to Soichiro Sawai, the leader of TPC, but did not receive a positive response.

A competent leader would not give an answer like "we will definitely not use it as a weapon," especially after knowing that aliens might be living on Earth, perhaps even in the most ordinary apartment in Tokyo.

Sawai wouldn't make overly idealistic promises. He even had a premonition that if the Magus propulsion system was successfully developed, it would definitely be used in weapons and become humanity's strongest spear, forcing the aliens who had once looked down on the native inhabitants of this planet to re-examine their existence.

His premonition came true: Dr. Yamata was not a stubborn person. After witnessing the threat from aliens and monsters and listening to many voices within his own research team, he finally relented and agreed to modify the Magus power system.

"I hope it will only be used to solve the most urgent problems," Dr. Yao said. It sounded like a request, yet also like he was trying to comfort himself.

With the support of its inventors, the modification of the Magus propulsion system proceeded rapidly, and the Atdis, as the first piece of equipment to be equipped with this system, was naturally among the first to be included in the modification. During this period, it was secretly housed at the Far East headquarters base, only to see the light of day again today.

On one side of the base, the exterior still appears to be covered by the same gray walls as the surrounding area, but the interior has actually been emptied. A tunnel runs from the bottom depths towards the sea—now it is slowly changing direction and tilting towards the sea. With the roar of the gates opening and closing, the Atedis is slowly pushed out.

Due to the tight timeframe for the refit, the joint team from the Equipment Development Center and the New Energy Development Center did not produce the most perfect result. The Atlas was transformed from a freely mobile mothership into a platform fixed on its tracks, and they needed more time to complete the closure of all the compartments.

However, it is sufficient as a fixed launch platform, and the array that Goblin has now deployed is just right for it to perform its function.

The mechanical civilization would never have imagined that the very thing they had set to destroy—the Magus power system—was being used as a weapon against them.

"Have you calculated the effects after launch?" Dr. Yao stood by the control panel. Although he was the leader of the invention team, he did not have the authority to launch the Magus Cannon.

Underwater launch is nothing short of a gamble. Anyone with even a slight understanding of the Magnum's propulsion system can imagine that the energy generated by the annihilation of protons and antiprotons at the moment of firing is enough to instantly evaporate vast swathes of seawater, even heating it to an ionized state. When these ions encounter the cold outer layer of seawater, they will inevitably trigger a larger explosion, causing tsunamis to inundate coastal cities and, days later, reach the other side of the ocean. While the thermal radiation may not have the negative consequences of nuclear weapons that linger for centuries, it could easily boil an entire bay. The resulting chain reaction would be far beyond imagination, extending far beyond the area within the Magnum's firing range.

Predictably, the seabed ravaged by the artillery fire would be melted into a wide path, a path from which no life could survive. The scorching light would sweep everything away; that would be Goblin's path to destruction.

Chapter 196 Remnants of the Old World

"Headquarters has sent a message," the GUTS team finally received a reply. Nori read, "Please focus on dealing with the enemy at hand. There is only one objective: to destroy Gobunny's aggregate, Auguma."

"Oguma? Aren't we going to leave that thing in space behind?" Shinjo and Daigo had already piloted the Hien-1 through the stratosphere.