Chapter 1637: with translation of chapter title

NO．251：Zhouri Ningjing's value is still rising

To be honest, the spatiotemporal monster Elrobero Pa is a very troublesome monster.

Aomo's information about it comes solely from its appearance in 《Ultraman Gaia》, and in that appearance, although its performance was, as Aomo said via Magabasa, rather monotonous—just fireballs and melee combat, those were its whole repertoire.

There was nothing flashy about its light beams, nor any complex time manipulation—only raw power numbers; it once kicked Gaia several hundred meters away, nearly tearing the suit.

Then it resorted to guerrilla tactics.

If a strike missed, it would immediately retreat and then attack again—it not only had such tactics, but also the corresponding intelligence.

It normally dwells in an energy mass resembling thunderclouds, actually using it to communicate and calculate different time-axis coordinates, and launching surprise attacks from there.

Calculating different routes and coordinates is naturally extremely complex, requiring a highly intelligent brain; its appearance in the Gaia filming scene was precisely because it foresaw a future in which it would be killed by the Defense Force's suicide attack, prompting it to emerge and attack in an attempt to preempt its own demise.

Such a proactive mindset of striking first to eliminate threats beforehand is naturally something a beast would hardly possess; without Gaia's aid to humanity, it might truly have succeeded.

But this also precisely reveals the limits of its future observation.

Even the act of overly believing in fate yet violently defying it, thereby accelerating one's own death—merely changing the manner of death—leaves one speechless.

Dealing with a future of being killed should have multiple mitigations, yet it only resorts to relentlessly 'kill the opponent first!' to hasten death—leaving one to wonder whether to lament that the monster is indeed a monster, or to lament whether this is a disguised enforcement of an 'immutable future'.

But regardless, such reflections are based on the perspective within that story's setting, whereas here is not the world of Ultraman Gaia, but the border zone of the Holy Terra Federation.

Time research here has already passed its prime and stagnated; the notion of an immutable future has long been dismissed as empty talk—only what you can strive to change in the present is truly alterable, because conventional works' spacetime travel methods simply don't work here.

Even a Chronos Officer, whose title suggests mastery of time reversal, can in reality only simulate a time rewind within a limited range.

This skill was first applied in criminal investigation, essentially becoming the second occupation after surveillance cameras that heavily squeezes the living space of Detectives.

As for genuine time reversal……

All that can be said is that the script 'I Am XXX After Rebirth' remains, to this day, an urban legend limited to certain transmigrators.

This is common knowledge within the Federation, uncontested for centuries, leaving countless people to utilize time only by seeking alternative paths—either starting from concepts, or exploiting the two-way communication with other worlds via the Heavenly Gate—never considering the simplest, crudest possibility.

But monsters always stand outside common sense.

Although the Federation abounds with extraterrestrial beings and technologies, many such creatures and objects, upon arriving in this realm, exhibit 'suppressed innate abilities', 'reduced powers', 'inapplicable techniques', etc. —a sort of 'maladjustment to local conditions'.

Aomo has also consistently held considerable expectations for the existence of 'monsters'.

The variety of works seen in childhood is so diverse, the appearance witnessed in adolescence so mysterious, and as a youth entered the Ultraman universe, the definition of monsters gradually drifted further; by now, Aomo Lindun's view of monsters has long ceased to be limited to the notion of huge, ferocious beasts, instead embodying a singularity that reflects the soul and tramples common sense.

So when he saw a cloud mass resembling thunderstorm-mixed clouds, identical to the original's thunderclouds, he felt satisfied.

Nothing is more satisfying than accurate, actionable intelligence—though for the four differently colored helmeted suit-wearers, this is largely another matter.

The more information Aomo provides, the greater their pressure becomes.

It's not because they want to ensure the information is completely intercepted and the police will soon arrive, but rather if this monster appeared directly after witnessing some apocalyptic future, how far ahead is that future it saw?

Could it be ten-some minutes, half an hour, or several hours?

Or perhaps just a few minutes?

What evidence, what thing, is it intending to destroy?

Even if its true form is merely a card, it should be a card specially set up by someone, deliberately appearing and attacking when everyone's investigation is halfway through, not only interrupting conversation but also attempting to vaporize everything in the whole shop.

There must be something… there must be something here that it wants to destroy as evidence; but rather than examining it, the urgent priority is to drive it away and create distance……

At that moment, the Carrot Heroes were tense as if a second-by-second countdown hung over their heads, and their main combat method was likewise melee.

Yet they seemed less like Kamen Riders or a sentai team, and more like Pretty Cure.

When Aomo thought that Pretty Cure should at least be able to fire waves, they actually began glowing-handed and -footed beatings on the opponent's legs.

It seemed there was some special 'striking from afar' technique; clearly possessing strong legs capable of kicking Gaia away with one blow, they began retreating repeatedly, intending to dodge, but to no avail.

Being repeatedly pursued and killed, looking extraordinarily brutal, then observing the monster's reaction and hearing its howls, Aomo was reminded of the pain of slamming one's knee into a door.

"Distance created!"

Nishizaki Feng, who felt no empathy for the monster, merely watched its repeated retreats and instead stepped forward, heading straight to the customers he and the other horse girls had been questioning earlier; meanwhile, Magabasa simply flew past behind him, glancing at the dimensional barrier crack that shattered with a single strike of the enchanted folding staff he produced.

"Aomo! Who do you think I should ask first!"

He, having shouted that, had already rushed into the crack, straight to the customers he and the other horse girls had been questioning earlier; meanwhile, Magabasa simply flew past behind him, glancing at the dimensional barrier crack that shattered with a single strike of the enchanted folding staff he produced.

"I'd rather suggest you bring out the previously prepared on-site imprint slime, provided the financial losses allow."

"And have you prepared to be extorted by the shop owner together with the customers… demanding compensation for losses?"

Originally everyone was hiding just fine; although the cheap device's dimensional barrier has at most a C‑grade limit of durability, able to be smashed by Nishizaki Feng's fully loaded, no‑expense‑spared folding staff, yet it still gave everyone a false sense of security, didn't it?

If you break it, these people will surely have a reason to cause you trouble.

Don't say you're just the agent of a justice partner's ally; breaking into someone's safe zone, even under the banner of protecting them, inevitably summons shady strangers—this is noted in the vast majority of tokusatsu works.

"... I can't worry about all that! I can take responsibility!"

"Really impressive."

"I still have my legal team!"

"Even more impressive……"

The sarcastic tone, far from diminishing, actually intensified, bringing a suffocating sensation of film‑like pressure that nearly halted the fluttering of wings; Aomo glanced at the already deployed on‑site imprint slime, which, like an inflating piece of chewing gum, was stretched into depressions by every trace of this space before suddenly contracting into a mass.

With preparation, this retrieval of the film no longer interferes with Basas puppet's flight.

He controlled the puppet to sweep its bird‑specific wide field of view over the surroundings, then paused at the edges where curious gazes could not reach, saying:

"But I still suggest you allocate some attention to check the vicinity."

"What did you find?"

The trainer Xi Qi Feng, who emphasizes spontaneity and experiential instinct, has as his core the listening to the ideas of the horse girls; this aligns exceptionally well with the operational direction of his fellow trainer, Prince, and also makes him adept at heeding others' voices.

Even if that person's voice is quite conservative.

"Can't really call it a discovery."

"I just feel that, if I were the one plotting, the Elrobero Pa could also be a means of diverting attention, while the actual evidence to be erased might be somewhere other than the nearby coffee shop."

"Just imagine—an organization that constantly scurries about like street‑rats under oppression shouldn't have the leisure to breed such a extraordinarily precious and hard‑to‑tame spatiotemporal monster."

So it's more likely to be a card.

But if it's a card, then whoever released it, if they need to control it and possibly retrieve it when needed, would also need a suitable observation spot.

And the places you gave..." Nishizaki Yutaka frowned, lowered his head in thought for a moment, then raised his head, "There's a balcony outside that observatory, right? I've been there!"

Amazing, you've even been to that kind of place.

Now is the time to talk about this!

I'm just a little bird that cultivates Abron cells using Basa messages; my only job is to speak and convey information.

Then shut your mouth!

You mean you don't need me to stay here and explain things to these refugees for you?

... You go tell them! I'll go ahead and check!

I don't advise going alone to check.

I'll follow.

「……」 => "..."

As soon as the words were spoken, an electronically processed female voice suddenly came from beside Nishizaki Yutaka's feet; Aomo glanced at the pair of black ear-covered horse ears that appeared beside the other's shadow.

And the black helmet top, accented with dark red tones.

"Metamorphose Butterfly, go down!" Nishizaki Yutaka reacted strongly, his gaze fixed on Magabasa's bird eyes, tense.

Then there's no problem.

But just as if they hadn't recognized who the other was, the blue bird simply changed its tune, looking at the shadow missing half a head and sighing to itself.

Turns out it's still the Five-Color Squadron.

Even the black addition.

Then I'm leaving!

It's still Metamorphose Butterfly.

Metamorphose Butterfly… the divine butterfly transformation in the modern evolution of ninjutsu, paying homage to various legends…

One of the horse girls under Trainer Nishizaki apparently once had a set of ninja battle outfits for an event, colored black and red, and also possesses an advanced skill registered as the Divine Butterfly Transformation technique, right?

Such a coincidence is worth noting.