Am I the only one in this team who is not Ultraman?

Page 178

"I never expected you to be active in this universe in the form of Kaito." Narimiya Kazunari looked at Max walking towards him and recalled what had happened in the surface universe.

"Actually, I haven't been here long. The dangers facing this universe have already exceeded my personal capacity to bear. I didn't expect that Mr. Narumiya and the Seton aliens would be connected to this universe."

"Just like the relationship between the King of Ultra and the Land of Light, the Seton aliens were once protected by Delacion." Narimiya Kazuya looked at the sailboats drifting on the distant sea, with TPC fighters occasionally taking off to eliminate monsters in various places.

“Our ancestors made a pact with Delacion that no matter how many tens of thousands of years pass, the Seton aliens will not back down an inch until the problem of the ultimate darkness is solved.”

For this reason, the Seton aliens waited for 30 million years, until now only a few descendants, led by Narimiya Kazuya, have remained, and finally they have seen a glimmer of hope.

"Thank you for your hard work." After returning to the Land of Light, Max had researched the Seton aliens. The Seton aliens were once a powerful force comparable to the Land of Light, but now they have been sacrificed to this extent.

“It’s what we should do.” Narimiya Kazunari shook his head. He wasn’t saddened by it all; it was a worthwhile sacrifice. “You must be very curious about how Kaito and the others are doing, right?”

"After all, it's been half a year since I left, and I still miss it a bit. Considering the timeline, a long time has passed over there, hasn't it?"

"Based on the time flow difference between the surface universe and your world, you have been gone for fifteen years, during which time a lot has happened."

Kazuya Narimiya talked about many things, such as how the DASH defense team repeatedly defeated monsters and fought against enemies in space, reached a reconciliation and coexistence with the subterranean people, and formed an alliance with the Baltan aliens.

Kaito Toma, who was Max's human form, performed exceptionally well on several occasions afterward. He later took over as captain of DASH, became the highest-ranking officer of the DASH Japan branch, and officially married his girlfriend Mizuki, with whom he had a son.

This is also why the Antirull aliens and Geor were brutally beaten by the Dark Baltan and Keprus when they invaded the surface universe. At that time, the Baltan aliens also joined the Seton aliens' side.

“They have truly seized their future.” Max couldn’t help but smile. Despite the vast distance of the universe, nothing could be more gratifying.

"Besides me, there are other friends here this time." Narumiya Kazunari said, pointing to the water. A floating conch shell slowly drifted towards them, and then two beams of light flew out from it and landed on the railing.

Those were two Baltans, but they were tiny, only slightly larger than the palm of your hand. They were the surface-space Baltans who had dealt with Max before and repelled the Dark Space Fleet.

"Hey, long time no see, Max. You've turned into Kaito! I haven't seen him in his younger days in ages." Mini Baltan waved at Max.

"Mini Baltans, and Dark Baltans, you've all come?"

"Because this matter is very important, of course we have to come. Don't worry about the energy supply, we've got you covered."

"That's so reassuring." Max's biggest worry was running out of energy when they went to fight in space, but the energy technology that plagued the Land of Light was not a problem for Baltan.

"Now, we just have to wait until tonight."

While Max and Narimiya were exchanging ideas, in the ESCG command room, Captain Gento and the others were also troubled. The main problem was that the battlefield was chosen to be in the negative universe, which was a good thing, but also had its problems.

Although the operation was agreed to be carried out tonight, if any emergency occurs and they can't find their team of seven, Leo, with his vigilance, would surely suspect something.

Not to mention the importance of this matter. We can't keep the fact that the Delacion surveillance system has gone out of control and is attacking without informing headquarters. But what would be a better way to say it? We can't just say that the Seton aliens told us, can we?

"How should we bring this up?" Captain Stringman asked, and everyone scratched their heads, mainly because they had no actual evidence to prove their claims.

Just then, the command room door opened automatically, and Leo walked in. "Good morning! Oh, you guys are here so early today?"

"Good morning, Vice Captain. You mean that..." Daigo was about to speak when Leo interrupted him, "It's good that everyone's here. Get ready today, we're going to have a big battle tonight."

"Tonight?" Several question marks appeared above everyone's heads. Leo nodded, put down the documents in his hand, and looked at them with a strange expression.

“Last night I met a Setonian. He told me about a certain regulatory system going out of control, and he said he told you guys too. What, you didn’t know?”

Is this even possible? A million questions raced through the minds of Komon and the others. They wondered why Narumiya hadn't told them about communicating with Leo. But wouldn't this make things much easier for them?

"Um... Vice Captain, don't you suspect this is fake?" Komon felt this wasn't like Leo's style.

"Therefore, verification is needed. The Scientific Research Department recovered the core fragments of the destroyed Bishop Groca last night and is currently analyzing the data within them."

Although Leo could mobilize manpower even without any actual evidence, that would be unreasonable. So last night, he picked up a broken core from Bishop Gloca, and Galatron stuffed some information into it.

By now, the Science Research Department is probably close to deciphering the data on the Delacion monitoring system, Chaosfia, and the Ultimate Darkness, as well as some additional technologies.

Although there are still some unreasonable aspects to this, the matter is urgent, and not many people will investigate the details. Moreover, this was a matter proposed by Leo, and his personal level of trust is enough.

"..." For a moment, everyone began to doubt whether Leo was a superhuman with prophetic abilities, otherwise there was no way to explain why he could do things one step ahead.

Soon, Dr. Kisaragi Rui from the Science Research Department hurriedly contacted them, "This is terrible, Vice Captain Leo. Just as you said, that so-called monitoring system is attacking from the other side of our universe, which is a dimension we can't see."

“There are so many bishops in Groca that if they all opened fire together, they could destroy the earth. This situation is more serious than the one in Goblin.”

With Dr. Dango's research results, Captain Gentoo and the others no longer need to worry about how to expose the surveillance system. Everyone looked at Leo with admiration in their eyes. The vice-captain is awesome.

Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous little warehouse, Masaki Keigo was eating dry bread and drinking water while flipping through the latest news, especially about Saijo military officer's defection.

This is Masaki Keigo's secret base. No one except Dr. Tango can find this place, except under normal circumstances.

"Someone's here?" Hearing the noise at the door, Masaki Keigo pulled out his Knicks Sparkle, but after glancing at the monitor, he frowned in confusion. "How could it be him?"

To Masaki Keigo's surprise, the visitor easily entered the password, opened the door, and swaggered in, looking directly at him. "Long time no see, Masaki."

"Kirino, you actually managed to find me?" The person who came was none other than Kirino Makio. Masaki Keigo certainly wouldn't forget him. Recalling Leo's half-joking introduction back then, he suddenly realized that it might not have been a joke. "You really are a psychic?"

"Otherwise, how would I have found you? Judging from your appearance, you've already gained the power of Ultraman, but you look rather disheveled. Were you worried that Saijo Takeshi would find you?"

"Ha, he's even more down on his luck than me. I wonder where he's hiding now." Masaki Keigo would never admit it. Although Saijo Takeshi had escaped and most of those associated with him had been arrested, the power of Ultraman was too tempting, and he dared not show himself casually.

Do you want to find him?

Upon hearing Kirino Makio's words, Masaki Keigo crushed the water bottle in his hand. His gaze sharpened. "You know his whereabouts?"

"I'm a psychic." Kirino Makio's lips curled up. Although he had almost lost this ability before, he had gradually recovered thanks to the help of the girl in red shoes. This power could be used to do more for more people.

"So, Kirino, what will be the price?"

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Seeing Kirino Makio find him, Masaki Keigo seemed to make a connection. After all, Kirino Makio and Leo were best friends. Leo's name... what's going on? Why can't he remember it?!

"I advise you not to push yourself too hard. Since you've guessed a little, just keep it to yourself. You and I both know him, so what is there that we can't trust?"

That seemed to make sense. Masaki Keigo pursed his lips and nodded. He knew his mother wouldn't want him to be blinded by past hatred, but whenever he recalled his mother's tired expression and haggard eyes, he couldn't forgive that person.

Chapter 282 It's become a habit

The TPC's highest meeting has now become a daily meeting for the TPC. After all, who holds a highest meeting every day? Branch leaders in various regions have to adjust their biological clocks to adapt to the arrangements for the highest meeting.

Actually, it's fine to have a meeting, as long as Leo doesn't stand up, because every time Leo stands up, everyone knows that something big is about to happen.

Today's meeting started well, with each department mainly reporting on the upgrade results of weapons and equipment. Currently, over 60% of the TPC fighters are equipped with Hypa Ray and SW1A Barrier, and the Zelda missile is also being fully implemented, but production cannot be increased in the short term.

The Earth today can treat the enemies of the past decade like a football, but even so, everyone still feels it's not enough. This is not about blindly developing military power, but because it's really not enough. Yesterday, Bishop Groca taught everyone another lesson.

That thing's firepower is even stronger than Asgaron's, meaning its defense is relatively weak. But the fundamental reason for its weak defense is that this thing is a mass-produced machine, so there's no need to increase costs elsewhere.

According to TPC's speculation, assuming the best pilots are used, at least one Asgaron and one Desfasa would be needed to have a high chance of defeating one Gloca Bishop.

Earth's weaponry is still insufficient; everyone thinks the same way, though some are harboring ulterior motives.

Although no one wants to talk about Saijo Takeshi's affairs, the information he left behind is publicly available internally, and everyone knows that Masaki Keigo may have really obtained the power of Ultraman.

Masaki Keigo is nowhere to be found right now, but Dr. Tango, who assisted in his research, is still around. However, everyone is basically certain that Dr. Tango's actions were secretly approved by Leo. To mess with Leo's people? That's something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.

Moreover, this makes it easy to guess that TPC is secretly researching more than just Ultraman's various abilities, but to what extent? No one dares to ask.

Leo is now incredibly powerful, and he lives up to the original intention of this power, which is to assume the responsibilities that come with power. However, some people are still worried that Leo might go down an extreme path.

However, some people speculate that Leo might have already become Ultraman, otherwise his physical abilities would be inexplicable.

Of course, rather than Leo standing up to explain the matter now, everyone would prefer him to just sit there quietly, because everyone has been working non-stop for more than a month and really can't take a break. At least give him some time to rest!

However, when they saw Leo stand up, everyone remained calm and unsurprised. It was all perfectly reasonable. They wouldn't be surprised even if Leo said the Earth was going to explode the next second.

Even after Leo recounted the story of Bishop Gloca, the surveillance system, and the Setonians, he was surprised by everyone's indifferent "Oh, is that all?" expressions. Their mental state seemed off.

Aren't you surprised?

"The Earth has been on the verge of destruction three or four times already, so what's so surprising about one more time?"

That makes so much sense. Leo couldn't really argue with it. It seems he underestimated everyone's mental fortitude. There was no way around it; every day had its own monsters to fight. Right now, they actually felt a sense of busyness reminiscent of ten years ago.

At that time, TPC was officially transforming, and I was extremely busy with all sorts of things. I wonder how long this kind of life would last.

Director Sawai also looked at Leo, having roughly grasped the current situation, and asked, "What kind of manpower and weapons are needed this time?"

"Having ESCG personnel is sufficient, but regarding weaponry... I need ten mass-produced Friendship Project missiles, three subspace bombs, and Friendship-2 missiles. Destroying the main body of the surveillance system should bring the entire system to a standstill."

"Even if we can't defeat the enemy's main body, we will directly destroy the passage between the negative universe and our side to buy enough time."

After hearing Leo's plan, everyone fell silent. The danger of the plan was obvious. The difference in strength between the two sides was huge. Regardless of whether it succeeded or not, it was unlikely that everyone in ESCG would be able to return.

"If there are no objections, the meeting is adjourned for today." Director Sawai said, which meant he agreed to Leo's very risky plan. Even if someone objected, they wouldn't know what to say, because it was indeed one of the few viable solutions available at the moment.

Soon, all the branches nodded in agreement, and Friendship No. 2 was immediately disassembled and taken to TPC headquarters.

Leo, rubbing his shoulder, walked out of the conference room after the meeting, but to his surprise, Gondo rushed over and blocked his way, his face very serious. "Is there something you need?"

Gondo nodded, his eyes resolute. "Let me and my Black Storm team handle this plan. Vice Captain Leo, you are indispensable to TPC now. Your life is more important than mine."

"Although my abilities are limited, I will complete the mission even if I am prepared to die!"

Seeing Gondo's state, Leo let out a long breath, then punched him hard on the shoulder. Gondo let out a muffled groan, and Leo pressed down on his shoulder again.

"I appreciate your kindness, but Gondo, don't fight with the determination to die. Fight with the belief that you will win. Death is never scary to us, but we must not lose this battle!"

"ESCG members are all elites selected from thousands, not just pretty faces on the stage. Our mission is to win victory for humanity in the most dangerous battles. TPC can still function without me, and humanity can still live without me, understand?"

Leo patted Gondo on the shoulder and left without looking back, leaving Gondo standing there, tears streaming down his face in resentment. Power... humanity needs more and stronger power.

Gondo subconsciously hoped that the Ultramen would appear and help humanity overcome this crisis, or at least protect Leo and the others so they could return safely.

"How could I think like that!" But the next moment he felt ashamed of his thoughts and slapped himself.

He was the deputy chief of staff of TPC. It's understandable that ordinary people admire and worship Ultraman and hope that Ultraman will appear to protect them, but he must not have such thoughts.

Ultraman are reliable allies, not gods who protect humanity. They are not invincible; they can also get into tough battles and even die. Placing all your hopes on them is an irresponsible and foolish act!

Gondo desperately wanted to know why the Ultramen fought to protect humanity. He wanted an answer in person, whatever it was. He also hoped that Leo was indeed an Ultraman and that he could return safely.

"Come back safely, Vice Captain Leo." Gondo watched Leo's figure disappear at the end of the corridor, then turned and walked towards the science research department.

He made a decision: for the survival of humanity and the future of the Earth, Ultraman's power was essential for humankind. He had also seen the document and knew that Dr. Tango had participated in Masaki Keigo's research.

Of course, he didn't realize that Leo and Director Sawai were the ones who tacitly approved of all this. Mainly, he really couldn't believe that Director Sawai and Leo were the kind of people who would condone such a thing; it didn't seem like something a decent person would do.

"This guy is the kind of hot-blooded idiot," Empera muttered, feeling that Gondo wasn't very bright, but he wasn't a bad person.

“I know him. He comes from the old defense force and was one of the first to join the TPC combat department. He is more senior than Captain Stringman. However, in one battle, all the team members except him were killed. This event had a deep impact on him.”

This is probably why Gondo was so eager to develop TPC's military power, even at the cost of his own life. He had already lost a lot and had seen many others lose just as much as he had, which is why he wanted power—the power to protect everything.

Leo could completely understand this feeling. After all, there were far too many examples like Gondo in TPC, and Leo himself was one of them.

Because he had lost something, he wanted to protect everything that remained, but he didn't consider himself in the process. He was prepared to die, which was a mistake. Leo had already learned this lesson from Hayata.

"What are your plans for this opponent?"

“I don’t know.” Leo rarely said this, but this time he really didn’t know. “Dracion couldn’t possibly not see the future of the regulatory system going out of control. Did He leave a backup plan, or is this… a test for us?”

"If we can't even defeat a regulatory system that has gone out of control, how can we face the sealed dark forces?"

Leo looked out the window at the ocean, the Rocky Mountains, the deep Pacific Ocean, the summit of Mount Everest, Yellowstone, Kilimanjaro, the Amazon rainforest, the North Pole…

Leo could almost hear Delacion's voice: if he couldn't even get past this hurdle, then he should stop here.

The Ultimate Fighting Device flashed, and Zetton appeared beside Leo, gripping his hand tightly. This time, she said nothing, only looking at him, expressing her determination in silence.

Similarly, Leo could also sense the emotions emanating from the others; they wouldn't abandon him, and they wouldn't allow him to abandon them.

"It's time to make some preparations." Leo let out a long sigh. The Asian branch would soon be sending over the missiles, and as for this side... well, the fighter jets are fine, anyway, if they explode in space, the armory won't need to repair them.

However, the pressure on the armory has eased, but the complaints from the logistics department are getting bigger and bigger. It's a real headache. I'll have to modify the autopilot system that I dreamed of installing on the fighter jets and upgrade it to the level of a second-generation chauffeur.

"Vice-Captain." Komon's voice came from behind. Leo turned around, caught the juice he was tossed to him, opened it, and drank it while looking at him. "Aren't you going to rest?"

In order to prepare for the battle tonight, we still need to get a good rest during the day. Komon waved his hand to indicate that there was no problem. "If that's what the vice-captain says, then you haven't rested either, have you?"

"My physical condition is quite good. Not sleeping for a day won't affect my combat performance. Besides, I need to personally oversee the compatibility of weapons and equipment."

After all, Leo had to carry so much equipment on the mission, even bringing out the original missiles from the Friendship Project. He couldn't afford to be careless.

"Sometimes, it really feels like the vice-captain has to use himself as several people. It must be exhausting, right?"

"It's definitely tiring, but it's nothing compared to the maintenance workers at the armory." Hearing Leo say this, Komon looked a little embarrassed. There was no other way; sometimes the situation was urgent, and he couldn't just bring up his Ultraman identity directly.

It's worth noting that some people on the internet have already started speculating about Ultraman's identity, because in movies and TV shows, Ultraman can transform into a human, and monsters and Ultraman that previously only existed in movies and TV shows have also appeared.

If it weren't for the fact that my dream's autopilot system is really useful, and every time I see Ultraman appear every time ESCG crashes, they would have been suspected long ago. It just goes to show that having a scientist on the team is a good thing.

But ultimately, autonomous driving systems also have their limitations, and crashes are inevitable; that's for sure.

"Remember to buy some more gifts to thank everyone at the Armory next time." Leo patted Komon on the shoulder, and then they walked together to the observation deck, looking at the azure sea in front of them.

A sea breeze blew, and a seagull landed beside Leo's hand, watching them curiously. In the seagull's eyes, one person was constantly radiating intense light, while the other was a deep and warm darkness.

How could such an adversary-like relationship be so harmonious? The seagull's brain couldn't support its ability to understand this, so it chose to snatch the fries from the lone bird's hand.

"It's better to be a seagull," Leo remarked with a touch of nostalgia. "All you have to do is think about how to get some fries from the dock."