pertwk Page 224
Page 224
"In the end, if it was just an ordinary bird, how could it have survived such an explosion and even been affected by the Zerda gas, turning into that shape?"
Empera gently hugged Leo. "Leo, I sensed a deep resentment in that monster, mostly directed at that Zelda gas."
As an entity haunted by the resentment of being destroyed by Planet Empera for tens of thousands of years, Empera knows best how painful that is, and Sira is probably also suffering from it.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the volcano that Sila flew out of, Barbossa and Mioko, disguised as Horii and Shinjo, were ordered to guard the area, but they had a bad feeling about it and just hoped that nothing would happen.
But despite her hopes, the volcanic energy soon became abnormal. Mioko only saw a cocoon of light erupt from the volcano, land on the ground, rapidly grow larger, and then hatch, transforming into…
"Golza?" Mioko was stunned for a moment, then pressed the switch of the Texas Beam, intending to kill it with one shot, but the beam passed directly through Golza's body.
"This isn't right, is it?" Mio thought to herself, she'd never heard of Golza having any ability to become intangible. "What's wrong with this guy?"
"It doesn't seem to be a physical entity, more like some kind of spirit. This is going to be difficult to deal with." Barbossa, with his vast experience, immediately noticed that something was wrong with this Golza.
"Just send the data to headquarters. With the efficiency of Earthlings, they can find a solution in ten minutes at most."
Mioko has witnessed firsthand what Earth's efficiency is all about. Take the GUTS team, a front-line defense force, for example. If they can't take down Garula in a minute, they'll have to write a self-criticism report.
“It’s not that inefficient,” Barbossa retorted. The resurrected vengeful spirit Golza seemed confused about its current situation. It wanted to destroy something, but found that it couldn’t touch anything. It scratched its head in bewilderment.
Even Ako, who was at home, could glean some information from the videos sent back by Mioko and the others: "The God of the Underworld... it seems that the guy sealed under the volcano didn't have that name for nothing."
Then, Yako looked at Renlong and asked, "Big sister Renlong, do you really have no impression of this place?"
“No.” Renlong shook his head. “During the great war back then, darkness came very quickly. I know of eight Ultra Warriors, but after Alaya and I counted them, we found something was wrong. Some battles happened in places we couldn’t see.”
"Take Egrand for example, it lost all contact at the same time the Civil War began, and I have never been able to find its whereabouts."
Renlong can explore everything on Earth, but the war caused chaos in the earth's veins, so she doesn't know everything. For example, this time, she had no idea that there was a Xila and that so-called god of the underworld in that place, and there might even be an Ultraman.
Yako twirled a strand of hair between her fingers and pondered for a while. "The period that Sister Renlong couldn't detect was during the Dark War. It seems that the Dark Shadow Mage had planned to divide the battlefield from the very beginning of the operation."
“However, since there might be an Ultraman here, it’s necessary to dig deeper.” Yako thought for a moment, “I’ll have Ariponta dig around and see if we can find anything.”
"Hopefully." Renlong patted her head. She needed to hurry up and finish adjusting the earth's veins, and then check what other random things on Earth she didn't know about.
The Dark Shadow Mage and Zagi have disappeared somewhere. If those two get together, things will get complicated. As for Leo... well, it's a pity that Leo didn't get the Heart of Light left behind by Delacion.
According to Alaya, Galaxy Spark is still upset about this and hasn't gotten over it yet. It seems she's really eager to fight alongside Leo.
Chapter 362 Leo: I'm really not Ultraman
Before he could even sort out Sila's matter, Leo received news of the appearance of the spirit Golza. Well, what else was there to say? He simply didn't believe that the spirit Golza could be some kind of god of the underworld.
Just from the name, you can tell it's someone who can revive other monsters, but its power hasn't fully recovered yet. Luckily, the spirit Golza hasn't run into the city, or it would cause a riot.
But Leo doesn't have that much time to deal with this right now, because he has an important press conference to attend. After all, Earth has almost disappeared several times in the past month, and it's not sustainable to rely on the advertising department to handle everything.
At this point, it was necessary for Leo to step in. This ESCG vice-captain, who had been the focus of attention since taking office, was no longer seen by anyone as just a vice-captain of the defense force after the Goblin Battle. This guy was more like the future TPC director than Fukami, the staff officer.
Today's press conference wasn't just for Leo; Gondo and Staff Officer Fukami were also there. They were the successors specially chosen by Director Yoshioka and Director Sawai, though they still need more experience right now, but their abilities are definitely not an issue.
Fukami is relatively mild-mannered but kind and gentle, a typical dove. Gondo, on the other hand, is a typical hawk who advocates for the development of military power, but now the military power of the world has developed to a point that he cannot understand.
Each branch has at least five Desfasa, the Zildar missiles are fully deployed, and the Hyper Rays are also in use. Even Gondo himself doesn't know how much more Earth's fighting power can expand besides artificial monsters and artificial Ultraman.
But to be honest, the two successors chosen by Director Sawai and Director Yoshioka are quite remarkable. Although Gondo is sometimes a bit slow on the uptake, he is absolutely loyal to humanity and would never betray the Earth for his own interests and rights.
Fukami's personality is exactly what Gondo likes. While they can't understand each other's thoughts with just a glance like Director Sawai and Director Yoshioka, they can still ensure the stable development of the Earth.
To put it bluntly, Director Sawai sensed that the crisis on Earth would soon come to an end, but by then, he and Director Yoshioka would be about to retire, and it wouldn't be a problem for Fukami and Gondo to be in charge of TPC affairs during peacetime.
"Leo, do you think it would be better to revise this speech?" Gondo was a little unsure. To be honest, he himself hadn't participated in many press conferences.
"No need. This press conference wasn't a rehearsal anyway. Speeches are prepared in advance, and there will always be areas that aren't quite right."
Leo patted Gondo on the shoulder, thinking to himself that this guy had been in this position for so many years, how come he was even less experienced than him, who had only joined two months ago? Could it be that he hadn't seen enough of the world?
Staff Officer Fukami nodded approvingly. The past month of work had been particularly beneficial to him. "Moreover, I think most of the reporters who came here this time are here for Vice Captain Leo."
"That's why I'm under so much pressure. Sigh, I need to finish this quickly so I can deal with the volcano in Xingyuan City." Leo couldn't help but complain, "This kind of thing should obviously be done by Captain Stringman."
"What? You're not the captain?" Staff Officer Gondo said, feigning surprise. Staff Officer Fukami casually added, "He's the Executive Vice President of TPC."
"You two, are you making fun of me?" Leo said irritably, punching each of them lightly. Of course, he didn't use his full strength, otherwise Director Sawai and Chief Yoshioka would have to choose someone else as their successor.
Fukami and Gondo couldn't help but laugh, and Leo also laughed. It wasn't that the three of them had a particularly good relationship, but rather that they finally had some free time and could relax a bit.
So far, nothing particularly unusual has happened anywhere on Earth. There are just a dozen more monsters than yesterday, so it seems that Earth is not facing a crisis of destruction today.
Leo took out his phone and sent a message to Mayumi, asking her to keep a close eye on Dr. Nezu's health. He then glanced at the time and said, "It's time to begin."
"Let's go." The three looked at each other, and Gondo and Fukami even unanimously chose to let Leo walk in front.
The press conference was held at the Geo base, a large venue where all the media representatives were from around the world, some of whom had just arrived in a hurry.
Although Leo was walking at the front, he certainly wasn't sitting in the center, otherwise the title of "Deputy" in "Executive Deputy Director" would have been removed.
"Thank you to all the journalists who have come from afar. Today is TPC's first press conference in a month. So much has happened in the past month, so please feel free to ask any questions you may have."
There was no fancy opening; getting straight to the point was the best approach. Simplicity and efficiency are TPC's consistent style. If the opening had taken half an hour, more than a dozen Golza and Melba would have been spawned by then.
Upon hearing this, the reporters became very interested. It had to be TPC! If it were any other company, they would have talked for more than ten minutes at the beginning. Everyone was already in a hurry, and if it were like that, they would probably all fall asleep.
Seeing that all the reporters had raised their hands, Staff Officer Fukami thought for a moment, "The one in the second seat of the third row, I guess."
Upon seeing that she had been called out, the female reporter immediately stood up with a smile. She actually wanted to ask Leo a question, but it was obvious to everyone that Leo was pushing Fukami out as the main character, so why bother making a fool of herself?
"Hello, Mr. Fukami, I'm a reporter from the European Times. We've met a few times before. Regarding the series of major crises that occurred last month, TPC claims it's related to a force sealed within the Earth. Could you please provide more details?"
Upon hearing this question, Advisor Fukami looked at Leo. Due to the existence of the River of Oblivion, TPC's research on the Ultimate Darkness had been stagnant, and even the outside world still did not know what this power was.
As soon as they saw that it was Leo who was going to speak, all the reporters got ready to take notes, which made Fukami a little sad. Leo, on the other hand, had already guessed that there was no way to avoid this.
"According to the discoveries of ancient sites by the TPC archaeological department, a civilization that was more prosperous than the one we have today arose on Earth 30 million years ago, and some of them are the ancestors of modern humans."
"And what is causing the frequent monster crises on Earth today is this very force, which is also the Earth's own force, the force that has nurtured us humans."
"I'm sure everyone remembers that when the monsters appeared ten years ago, the physical fitness of us humans on Earth was enhanced, and the Earth's natural recovery ability was also significantly improved."
Of course, this is just Leo making things up, but it's not entirely nonsense. The part about it being nonsense is that Earth's own recovery actually relies on Renlong regulating the earth's veins, and Earth's will itself has been dead for many years.
The point that isn't nonsense is that Leo genuinely believes that humanity's current strength is due not only to the spark left by Tiga and Nexus, which humanity itself ignited and grew, but also to the poignant wish left behind by Earth in the past.
I hope that the children of the next generation will be stronger, healthier, and happier. I hope they will be well...
According to Renlong, this was the last whisper of Earth that she heard as she awoke from her slumber just as the civil war was about to end. Later, Gatanothor crashed to Earth, and after the end of the ancient civil war, the Dark War broke out.
Perhaps that sentence was the wish that Earth made with its last strength, which explains why Renlong's eyes always revealed an unconcealable sadness whenever he mentioned Earth as his mother.
"Of course, we don't know enough about this power right now, but what is certain is that a very fierce war broke out on Earth over this power back then, which brought the ancient civilization to the brink of extinction."
"Later, the Ultra Warriors sealed away several powerful enemies, preventing this force from completely endangering the entire universe. Some of the ancient survivors remained on Earth, while others went to space. The ancestors of the Sphia life form and we can indeed be said to share the same origin."
Some of what Leo said had already been speculated about online, while others had not yet been mentioned. Today, he said it all at once, which at least let the whole world know what kind of situation he was in. The reporters kept nodding and taking notes; the amount of information was truly enormous.
"Next... fifth in the first row." This time it was Gondo's turn to choose, and he picked a reporter from Time Magazine, who stood up and said this.
"Chief of Staff Gondo, TPC has been aggressively expanding its armed forces over the past month. There are rumors that this goes against TPC's founding principles. What is your opinion on this claim?"
This is a bit dangerous. Leo and Fukami were most worried that Gondo would say something inappropriate, but to their surprise, Gondo remained calm. He thought about it and did not show his usual attitude.
"I do not agree with this statement. The original purpose of the TPC was to promote human peace. Today, humanity is united. The TPC is developing military power for the survival of humanity. Everyone has already seen the severe environment that humanity is facing."
"I like a saying that circulates in the Asian branch: 'Seeking peace through compromise leads to the demise of peace.' Humanity must at least have the power to protect itself, otherwise there is no future to speak of. But I also deeply understand that the users of power are people, and we ourselves must master this power."
During this period, Gondo himself also grew a lot. After experiencing the Desfasa incident, he made progress and patiently studied and learned.
"I still remember when we were fighting King Hilbargon, our weapons and equipment were not good enough. We couldn't even break the enemy's skin. How many people sacrificed our lives that time?"
Mentioning this, Gondo couldn't help but shed tears again. He wiped away the tears in his eyes, "At that time, I watched with my own eyes as my comrade, piloting a fighter jet that had run out of ammunition, crashed directly into the monster's body in order to buy time for friendly forces. His body was completely destroyed."
"If the TPC back then had the equipment we have today, how many fewer people could we have lost? Our comrades, families, friends and compatriots, they could be reunited with their families now."
Gondo doesn't play games; he understands the true nature of things. Most officers who have retired from the front lines are like that; they've only seen monsters and death, and they don't lie about these things.
Fukami patted Gondo on the shoulder as a gesture of comfort, and then selected a reporter. This time, the reporter happened to be Fujimiya's girlfriend, Yoshida Reiko. She directly asked Leo a question, but unexpectedly, Leo raised his hand to interrupt the question.
"Let me state this in advance: although I have had direct contact with Ultraman twice, I am not actually Ultraman's human form."
Leo's helpless expression made everyone burst into laughter, because this was the question that everyone present wanted to ask. It seemed that Leo was not entirely unaware of his public image.
Twice, in front of so many people, Leo was chosen by a red orb that fell from the sky—once by Max and once by Zoffy. The whole internet is speculating whether Leo was already an Ultraman.
After all, Ultraman appeared on the very day Leo joined ESCG, which makes it hard not to suspect his identity. However, some people later pointed out that Leo's crash rate was quite impressive, in a positive sense.
So Leo has virtually no chance of transforming. Rather, it's more accurate to say that some of his teammates who frequently crash might actually be Ultraman. Of course, people usually just treat this as a joke; who can really say for sure?
“Then it seems I can ask my second question.” Reiko quickly recovered. “Vice Captain Leo, what are your thoughts on the existence of Ultramen, and is TPC aware of their origins?”
"Regarding this question, as I mentioned before, a significant portion of the Ultramen currently active on Earth were already on Earth in the ancient times. Furthermore, analysis shows that characters like Max and Hikari should both originate from the Land of Light."
“I know that everyone is thinking that it would be great if the Land of Light could send more Ultramen to help Earth, but unfortunately, I have had direct communication with Ultraman Zoffy. He said that the Land of Light is also short-handed at the moment, but they are willing to become allies of Earthlings.”
The following questions were mostly directed at Leo, with Advisor Fukami and Gondo occasionally offering their support. The discussion ranged from the current situation to future developments, including TPC's expansion strategy.
The TPC combat personnel have now expanded from over a thousand to five thousand, and are preparing to recruit nearly ten thousand more. This only includes frontline combatants, not counting other departments and emergency combat units.
With the changing situation over the past month, it's clear to everyone that if they have a week or even longer to prepare, the battle Earth will face next might be more intense than ever before.
Thinking of this, everyone's eyes fell on Leo. They had been paying attention to him since he took this position. Compared to a month ago, the young man's brows revealed a maturity that did not match his appearance.
And those eyes, those eyes that seemed to hold some kind of worry and unease, always preoccupied with something. Just looking at him made you wonder, if even such a young man could withstand that kind of pressure for a month, could you do something about it?
Looking at these people, and seeing that their light was even stronger than before, Leo suddenly understood what kind of expectations Earth had held back then.
Become stronger, humanity; venture further, humanity; strive to survive; endure all of this.
Chapter 363 The Truth About the Zildar Incident
Deep within a volcano, Sila, now transformed into a monstrous bird, lies dormant. This is not due to any significant wounds inflicted on her by her ex, Pedanim Zetton, but rather to Sila's own internal issues.
Just as Empera told Leo, hatred and resentment clung to her body, and together with the Zelda gas, they transformed Sila into her current form. This resentment caused her pain, but it also made her exceptionally strong, though now she was struggling to hold on.
"It's alright, Sila." The familiar voice that suddenly rang out made Sila let out a cry like an organ. She seemed to see her master standing in front of her, as if the incident had never happened.
“These eggs will definitely hatch. You told me that. You saved them.”
As Mami spoke, she tied the bird's nest that had been blown down by the wind back to the tree. She was thinking that it would be better to give Sila a more stable nest. It had been windy lately, but unfortunately Sila preferred the yard in front of the house. Otherwise, it would be better for her to live at home.
Sera perched on Mami's shoulder, flapping her wings in affirmation. She even flew around the tree once before landing on Nezu Mami's hand, carefully munching on the nuts to avoid pecking her hand.
"I really envy you, Sera." Mami gently stroked Sera's head. "I wish I could be like you, flying freely, even flying into the universe to see what every star looks like."
Sira listened to everything, but she didn't understand what it meant at the time. She only heard the phone ring, and Mami and Sira ran home together. Sira picked up the phone and asked, "Hello, who is this?"
The only person who would call Mami at this time is her biological father, Masachika Nezu. Hearing his daughter's voice, his bad mood caused by being rejected at the seminar finally eased a bit. "Mami, it's me. I'll probably take a plane back this evening."
"Dad, didn't you say there were still many meetings?" Mami stroked Sila, suddenly feeling a bit cold, but it was normal since it was autumn. She had kept all the windows tightly closed these past few days.
"No, all publications are cancelled starting tomorrow."
Hearing her father's dejected tone, Mami understood that she had also heard about the powerful energy contained in the Zildar gas, but no one had ever known how such a large amount of energy was activated. Her family also had a sample of it.
"Hmm... then come back soon, Sera misses you too." After Mami finished speaking, Nezu sighed, "That's true."
I still have a place to go back to, and my family is waiting for me. It's okay to suffer setbacks this time. I'll learn from the experience and succeed next time.
"Dad, don't be discouraged. This doesn't mean everything is over. There are still many things we can do from now on, right?"
“Dad, you said that as long as you’re alive, there’s always something you can do. Let’s do it together! Sila will help you too!”
After saying that, Mami suddenly sensed something and felt uneasy. Sila on her shoulder also began to chirp and flap its wings, flying up and down as if warning her of something.
"What's wrong, Sila?" After spending several days together, Mami deciphered this signal. "There's danger? What danger?"
The air grew hot, and there was a burning smell. Although Mami didn't know what was happening, she sensed danger approaching. The moment the flames burst through the door, she pushed open the window and released Sira out, shouting, "Run, Sira!"
The flames engulfed Mami in an instant and caught up with Sila in the same instant. At the last moment, Sila's sky-blue eyes caught a glimpse of the hideous and twisted evil face hiding in the flames.
It was that guy who caused all this. Hatred and anger surged through Sila's body, but the image of Mami appeared in her mind, calming her resentment. Sila stood up, flapped her wings, and prepared to rush straight to the location of the Zerda gas that she could sense.
Dr. Nezu, of course, could never forget that moment; the scream of his daughter that came through the phone still echoed in his ears.
When he rushed back, his home, along with the surrounding mountains and forests, and even most of the two towns, had been razed to the ground, leaving only the remnants of flames, as if a volcanic eruption had ravaged Xingyuan City.
The angry victim's family wanted to beat him to death, but the police stopped them. After that, he was also burdened with a bad reputation. He thought about just dying, but he felt that he couldn't die like that.
For a person burdened with sin, choosing death is merely a form of self-escape; he must live on and then devise a way to completely destroy the Zerda gas.
"However, I never imagined that I would now have to study how to make Zelda gas better for combat."
Dr. Nezu spoke with a helpless expression on his face. Dr. Yao helped him while looking at the complicated draft papers on his desk. "It seems you still haven't given up?"
"Yes, Earth needs Zerda gas now because it faces a very formidable enemy, but what if all the enemies are defeated in the future?"
Dr. Nezu shook his head. He always thought more than others. As a victim, he knew the power of Zelda gas better than anyone else. Even if the possibility was extremely low, he did not want this achievement to be used in wars between humans in the future.