pertwk Page 166
Page 166
This wasn't just something Leo was saying; Galatron had been incredibly helpful to Leo, and Leo owed him a favor just for that.
"That's your own skill; not just anyone can restart her." Chariga was quite open-minded about it. If Galatron were in his hands, she would only gather dust in the warehouse, but with Leo, she could realize her greatest value.
But thinking about it now, the Pedan aliens were indeed trying to trick him into wanting Galatrom. Luckily, Chariga himself was shrewd enough to see through it and decided not to sell it to them.
Dressed in a maid outfit, Galatron pushed open the door and came in carrying tea and snacks. After pouring a cup of tea for the two of them, she stood behind Leo with a tray in her arms. Her movements and demeanor were impeccable, making her a perfect head maid.
"Thank you." Chariga recognized Galatron, of course, but he didn't delve into how Leo turned monsters into humans. He just wanted to clarify some things for the time being. "You asked me to come here, it can't be just about delivering goods."
“That’s right, there is actually something that’s quite troubling right now.” Leo held his tea, his face showing some helplessness. “With the Dark Emperor dead, the Dark Universe will naturally collapse.”
"However, this cannot be considered a good thing, after all, we all know that the existence of the Dark Emperor is, to some extent, part of the cosmic order."
Chariga naturally understood this. Although the Dark Emperor was not a champion of justice, she only opposed the Land of Light. With her death, who knows how many dark forces would be unrestrained and what would happen under the new order?
"You intend to become the new Dark Emperor?" Chariga's brow twitched. With Leo's strength, it seemed that this was indeed not a problem. He had a very wealthy following, and Leo's own strength was definitely more convincing than that of the Dark Emperor.
“Some people have indeed suggested that, but I’m not very interested.” Ampera and Zetton have both expressed their opinions on this matter, believing that Leo as the new Dark Emperor would definitely be able to effectively restrain certain people with ulterior motives.
"The order established by the emperor alone collapsed with his death, which proves the fragility of such an order. I do not want to be the emperor, nor do I want a new dark emperor."
Now Charlie understood. Leo intended to establish a new system of order, but it certainly wasn't the kind of system the Dark Universe was designed for. "Establish a Cosmic Alliance?"
"I have this idea, but it's not easy to implement." Leo thought for a moment. Actually, he hadn't thought it through himself. Establishing a cosmic alliance is not something that can be done just by talking. The situation in that universe is very complicated, with many powerful dark forces such as the Judas.
The more important reason for summoning Chariga this time is to reclaim the legacy of the Dark Universe. News of the Dark Emperor's defeat will soon reach the Dark Universe. Regardless of how many people will investigate the truth, a struggle for the legacy is inevitable.
Especially the Dark Armor, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. That thing is said to have the same power as the Alien Empera, so there will definitely be many people who want to get their hands on it. Not to mention the creation of Impreza, the Dark Armor is still in Reiblood's hands, after all.
"Recovering the inheritance is a bit troublesome. You know we business people rely on personal connections, so..."
“I’m not asking you to help me steal it. I’m just asking you to warn some ill-intentioned guys and tell them that the Dark Emperor is dead, but that doesn’t mean his legacy belongs to them.”
Charlie Ga relied on personal connections for his livelihood, so he naturally didn't want to offend too many people in this regard. Therefore, Leo only needed him to convey some messages. As for the rest... well, he actually had quite a few people under his command.
Aside from Mioko, Mephisto had previously recruited quite a few people to Leo's command, but they weren't of much use to Earth, so they were all handed over to Mephisto's own Steel Demon Four Heavenly Kings. Balgi is currently in charge of the transfer.
Seeing that Leo seemed to have everything arranged, Charlie had no objections. In fact, it was a good way to do favors, so that some clients wouldn't get themselves beaten up and unable to take care of themselves.
After Charlie left, Leo stretched. "Hiss, Galatron, notify Balki and have him take the people that Sister Mephiss recruited to take over Impreza's manufacturing plant... no, let's take over the entire Imperial system. Let Mio and the others go help too."
“*Moon-Ripple/*First/I understand.” Galatron walked behind Leo and gently massaged his shoulders with both hands. “Preparations have been made for the reconstruction of the damaged city, but recently… there has been some bad news.”
"What's wrong?" Leo tilted his head back to look at Galatron, well, his view was completely blocked.
"The remnants of the old defense force are planning to use the recent events as a pretext to attack Director Sawai and the entire TPC. It seems they intend to seize power."
After hearing what Galatron said, Leo's gaze sharpened immediately. This matter was not as simple as it sounded, and the old defense forces were not fools.
"These guys really come up with something new every day, but they can't do this on their own. Is someone supporting them behind the scenes?"
“I have found some supporters, but this matter is too deep. Digging deeper... will bring extraordinary shocks.”
The fact that the old defense force believed they had the power to take a share of the power from TPC suggests there are many underlying issues involved. It's not just a matter of people being involved; Zaki and the Dark Shadow Mage are quite adept at using underhanded tactics.
"Continue investigating. Who is at the highest level we've found so far?"
"Yu Tsuchihashi, former defense staff officer of the Japanese branch of the former National Defense Force, is now the deputy chief of staff of the SRC. His superior, Military Attaché Saijo, was the former branch chief of the Japanese branch during the former National Defense Force period. He was reassigned to the LTL General Staff eight years ago."
At this point, Galatron paused for a moment, "This military officer Saijo was divorced. His ex-wife was Masaki Keigo's mother, and he later married a single female scientist. They have a daughter, who is the current vice-captain of the Night Raid Team, Saijo Nagi."
Leo's right eyelid twitched twice. "What about their father-son relationship?"
“It’s terrible. Masaki Keigo’s research should have nothing to do with his father. In fact, Saijo Military Officer and Saijo Nagi’s relationship is also cold.”
That's more like it. If the father and son had a good relationship, then Leo wouldn't be able to let Masaki Keigo's research continue right now. He had a good understanding of what kind of people those guys from the old defense force were.
If the old defense force knew that Daigo and the others were Ultraman, they would probably try every means to capture and study them, intending to obtain Ultraman's power, or even be plotting... No, no, could their confidence be based on Ultraman?
"Dark Faust?" Leo recalled the Dark Faust that Komon had mentioned in the report, who had appeared but was beaten up and killed. Could this be Zagi's doing behind the scenes?
Too many things have happened lately, and I haven't been able to pay much attention to monitoring Zagi, but even if Zagi is under surveillance, he must have other ways to act secretly.
"You suspect that Zaki reached an agreement with them?"
"It's hard to say. After all, while the old defense force members are even less intelligent than Gondo, it's hard to say they would cooperate with the enemy. I'll leave this investigation to you."
Leo has too many things to do lately, and since the old defense forces are planning to cause trouble, he, as Director Sawai's right-hand man, is likely to become a target. Thinking about it this way, it's not quite right that there were a few people in this afternoon's meeting.
"And what about my payment?" Galatron reached out and gently cupped Leo's face, looking at him with a sly glint in her eyes. "Even though I'm a maid, I'm not the kind you can order around at will."
"Ahem... Shall we go on a date tomorrow afternoon?" Leo thought for a moment. He had a special mission tomorrow morning—to give a presentation at a school—but he would be free in the afternoon.
"That's more like it. So, would you prefer to see me in a maid outfit or something else?"
"Just don't attract too much attention, um... but that seems a bit difficult, after all, Galatrom, you're quite good-looking."
Wow, this blockhead actually knows how to compliment people! Galatron felt that this was really rare, but she was quite pleased. So she gave Leo a light peck on the lips and then simply pressed him down on the sofa.
Before Leo could react, he was already unable to make a sound. Galatrom had once again defied expectations today.
On the other side, Masaki Keigo, lying on the bed, was still thinking. He looked at the sparkler in his hand and couldn't help but recall everything that had happened that day.
As the sound of the Ultra Bell shattered the illusory fragments of the past, a silver-based Ultraman with red and black accents appeared before Masaki Keigo. He called himself Evil, one of the Ultramen from the ancient civilization.
"Thirty million years have passed, and you still retain your consciousness?" This was something Masaki Keigo had never expected; the giant before him still possessed a consciousness.
"The ruins you are in are called Egrand. Time flows out of sync with reality here. To the outside world, only 30,000 years have passed here."
As Evel said this, he waved his hand, and the old Egrand appeared around him, but there was no one around. He invited Masaki Keigo to stroll together in the ancient city.
"It wouldn't be accurate to call it a remnant of consciousness. As you just saw, I did indeed die in the war that lasted for thirty million years. What you see before you is merely a bit of consciousness that I managed to preserve with all my might at the end of my life."
The city, a product of an ancient civilization, exudes classical beauty. Even the stone benches in a corner of the city seem to follow some wonderful mathematical rules, making people feel exceptionally comfortable.
However, the empty city made everything seem particularly eerie, and Masaki Keigo couldn't help but ask the question that had puzzled him for so long, "How could the ancient civilization of Chaohuan, with its advanced technology and so many Ultramen, have perished?"
"As expected, we still couldn't catch up." Ultraman Ewell sighed. "It seems that the ancient civilization has been gone for more than 30,000 years."
“Actually, thirty million years have passed.” Masaki Keigo keenly sensed the information contained in Evel’s words. “What do you mean by ‘not making it’?”
"The war 30 million years ago started here." As Ultraman Ewell finished speaking, a great fire broke out, and shouts of battle suddenly filled the entire city. Darkness and light, the two sides of Ultraman began to fight, just as Masaki Keigo had seen before.
"Conflict arose among the ancient warriors, which was then instigated and escalated by someone. Starting with Egrand, the warriors who fell into darkness launched the first attack, assaulting the entire city."
"Falling into darkness?" Masaki Keigo noticed that many Ultramen were emanating an unsettling aura. Erwell also pointed at them, "It's not about their appearance, but about how their bodies and minds have become puppets of darkness, without any awareness of it."
"To my shame, I only learned about all this a few minutes before the war began, but by then it was too late. I led my team to fight the enemy to buy time for everyone to evacuate until that thing appeared."
Masaki Keigo pondered the red sphere for a moment. He wanted to ask what it was, but found himself unable to speak. The memory of that thing, whose color and shape he did not know, was gradually fading in his mind.
"That thing doesn't want anyone to know it exists, so your memories will be blurred by the River of Oblivion."
"What is the River of Oblivion? And what was the root cause of the destruction of the ancient civilization?"
Masaki Keigo was eager to know all this, while Ewell pondered for a moment, "Perhaps we should start with the visitor's arrival."
That's a thing of the past.
Chapter 263 Those Who Intend to Seize Power
Thirty million years ago, or even earlier, ancient civilizations reached their zenith, with art, technology, and humanities all in perfect harmony.
Under the leadership of the three monsters, namely Hilarious, Renlong, and Cordara, the monsters on Earth coexisted peacefully with humans. Many large cities, including R'lyeh and Egrand, were even built with the help of the monsters.
Giant warriors from other civilizations lived alongside Earthlings in the same manner for a long time, and they all grew accustomed to each other's presence.
One day later, a beam of light entered the solar system and was captured by Hillary and taken to Earth. Only then did the people of the ancient civilization realize that it was actually a spaceship, carrying a Scorpio civilization from another universe that called themselves "Visitors".
Their civilization encountered a monster called the Alien Beast, plunging the entire civilization into crisis. Later visitors, imitating the posture of the giants who had once saved their civilization, created a bio-weapon called Zagi.
Unexpectedly, Zagi gradually developed self-awareness in the course of the battles. He began to doubt his own existence and harbored malice towards his imitation targets and creators. He commanded a large number of alien beasts to invade, forcing the visitors to detonate the entire planet to perish together with Zagi.
The ancient civilization welcomed the visitors and lived among them, while also guarding against attacks from the Zagi and the alien beasts.
“From the visitors’ information, we learned about Zagi’s power and made many preparations for it, but Zagi never came.” Ewell himself couldn’t figure out what was going on. Anyway, more than ten years passed, and everyone just put the matter aside.
"Later, things started to get a little strange. There had always been some conflict between the ancient humans and the giants. Because the giants were more powerful, they believed that they were protecting humans while also acting as guides, especially the dark giants led by Camilla."
"With the arrival of visitors, the original balance was broken, and conflicts between the parties gradually increased. Visitors who felt obligated to do something created many bronze statues of Geshet."
The bronze statue of Geshet was believed to absorb people's stress and negative emotions. Visitors hoped it would help ancient civilizations coexist more harmoniously, and initially, it did have some effect.
Unexpectedly, even with so many Geshutters, they quickly absorbed an unexpected amount of negative emotions and pressure, causing a large number of Geshutters to transform into monsters and rampage, causing widespread destruction. Although they were quickly eliminated, this led to the deterioration of the situation.
The ancient Ultramen who destroyed Geshutter accused the visitors of having ill intentions, while humans, fearing the giants' growing power, sided with the troublesome visitors.
At that time, the leader of the giants, Tiga, the captain of the Earth Guard, Yuzare, and the visitors all realized that someone was escalating the conflict behind the scenes, but the situation was already beyond their control.
"According to my information, Yuzare, Tiga, and the visitors were preparing for a meeting to resolve the issue completely, but at that moment... war broke out, and we were trapped in Egrand."
“At the time, the entire Egrand was sealed off, and no news could get out, but I’m sure that eye in the sky is the culprit. You have to be careful.”
At this point, Evel felt particularly sorry. If the ancient civilizations could have developed peacefully, things would have gone much further than they have now. Seeing Masaki Keigo, he understood what had happened.
"As far as I know, the ancient civilization went through another great war after that war. The Ultramen were nearly wiped out, and a small number of survivors made it to the present day. Many of the humans today are descendants of the ancient civilization."
Hearing Masaki Keigo say this, Evil felt much relieved. Thankfully, the flame of the ancient civilization had not been completely extinguished, and the new civilization seemed to be thriving.
"How developed is your civilization? You've even learned to use light to wake me up, so it must be pretty good, right? Do you have many enemies?"
"It's alright. Humanity's technology is still in its growth phase. As for enemies... there are about a hundred or so monsters every day, but they're mostly Golza and Melba. Garula is increasing recently. Aliens are another story. Today there was also some kind of Dark Emperor."
A hundred or so Golza and Melba? No, there are only two Melba and Golza on Earth combined. Where did the Dark Emperor come from?
Ewell was momentarily bewildered, realizing that while this nascent Earth civilization might not be as powerful as the ancient civilization in other aspects, its combat strength... was hard to say.
After thinking for a moment, Evel reached out his hand to Masaki Keigo, "No matter what kind of opponent you are, those who come after you must remember that the most terrifying enemy is never outside, but inside, in people's hearts."
"I am dead, but my body can still be used as a fighting force. I failed to protect everything that belonged to me. I hope you can find a different path."
As soon as he finished speaking, Evel transformed into a beam of light and merged into the Nix Spark in Masaki Keigo's hand, which is now the Spark Doll in Masaki Keigo's hand.
Looking at the object in his hand, Masaki Keigo still found it somewhat unbelievable. After researching it for so long, he had somehow managed to complete it in such a muddled way, and had even learned many of the secrets from back then.
Unfortunately, Ewell died too early, and he didn't know what happened after that, but for now... that's enough. Masaki Keigo plans to tell Dr. Tango about this first, and then test the reliability of the Nix Spark.
After that, we do need to consider and select the Ultraman transformation user more carefully... Hmm?
The ringing of the bedside phone made Masaki Keigo frown. Judging from the ringtone, it was a stranger, but not just anyone could know his number. Who would contact him?
Masaki Keigo picked up the phone and answered it. A voice that he both knew and loathed came from the other end of the line, "Keigo, I want to meet with you."
The person on the other end of the phone was none other than Masaki Keigo's biological father, Military Attaché Saijo, the current director of the LTL. Masaki Keigo could roughly guess why he was looking for him.
"Not interested." Although it had been many years since they last met, Masaki Keigo was not so bad as not to recognize his biological father's voice. He dreamed of this man's death.
“I know you’re researching Ultraman’s power.” Saijo’s voice was calm, as if everything was under his control.
"Officer Saijo, don't make things up without evidence. I'm a scientist, but researching Ultraman is just too far-fetched."
After saying that, Masaki Keigo hung up the phone, but his brows were furrowed. He usually didn't leave any traces when he did things. At home, he always kept the curtains drawn and used bulletproof glass for the windows. He also spent so much money on various equipment by going through black market channels for security reasons.
However, if LTL couldn't find anything, then the aliens would have already infiltrated TPC. Masaki Keigo was not surprised that his research had been uncovered, especially since his frequent meetings with Dr. Tango had indeed aroused suspicion among some people.
But Saijo Takeshi never imagined that in just over ten days, his research would have already achieved the first stage of his goal and that he would have obtained the power of Ultraman.
However, the person who secretly researched Ultraman's power had gone into hiding. Saijo Takeshi wouldn't contact him specifically for such a matter. Masaki Keigo didn't see this as an act of fatherly affection; it was more like a test.
"TPC is also researching how to become Ultraman. No, wait, it's him?"
Masaki Keigo immediately realized that although he was a genius, TPC had no shortage of geniuses. Why would they specifically seek to cooperate with him? Did they know that he had an ancient relic?
Having figured this out, Masaki Keigo immediately stood up, while Saijo, the military officer in the building opposite Masaki Keigo's residence, shook his head with some regret, "Let's get started."
As soon as the words were spoken, the LTL execution team, which was already prepared, drew their weapons and melted the lock on Masaki Keigo's door. They rushed inside and, after searching, found only some cash and research data. "Report, the target has escaped. There are no signs of life in the room."
"Running so fast?" Military officer Saijo frowned. He had intended to persuade him first and then arrest him, but he did not expect Masaki Keigo to run so fast.
Just as LTL burst into the room, Masaki Keigo, who lived on the floor below, chuckled coldly. All three floors were his residences, and each had a secret passage, all in preparation for this day.
Carrying his remaining belongings and research materials, Masaki Keigo took out the Knicks Spark, transformed into a streak of light, and disappeared from the room. As for the research materials he didn't take? Of course, they were misleading and erroneous data.
When you're doing something like this, who wouldn't make thorough preparations?
"I'm so sorry, Officer Saijo, we didn't expect him to be so cautious." The accompanying squad leader lowered his head, realizing that the failed capture was really regrettable. "But Dr. Tango is still here, so we can take action against him."
Saijo Military Officer—Military Officer is indeed his name and also his position, so it's not a problem to call him Saijo Military Officer directly. He wasn't too disappointed. "Tango, Otomo, and Kisaragi Rui are all under the direct management of Leo, the vice-captain of ESCG. It's not advisable to touch them at this stage."
These words made the accompanying squad leader, who wanted to show off, lower his head and complain with jealousy.
"This ESCG vice-captain is meddling way too much. A mere defense team captain, does he think he's the TPC deputy director? Even if he were the TPC director, so what? How can he possibly..."
The squad leader was interrupted halfway through his sentence by Military Officer Saijo, who reached out to stop him. "Although there are conflicts, that Vice-Captain Leo's abilities are indeed remarkable. It's a pity he's blocking our way."
Since they're in our way, there's no other way but to find a way to eliminate them. Anyway, given ESCG's current record, they're not really needed anymore.
After the squad leader left, Military Officer Saijo looked at his secretary and said, "This kind of person only knows how to flatter his superiors, but he has no ability and is not worth relying on."