Chapter 25

She: 【Kailifu, are you there? Let me share some good stuff with you.

【picture】, take a look, Gomora】

【【picture】, and this one, the first-generation Red King, the outstanding monster of Duoduoliang Island! You must be nostalgic, right? I see the record here has been placed for eight years.】

Aomo, who had typed this string, lifted his head to look again at the bright yellow corn cob, stepped forward, preparing to move on, when he noticed the terminal tremble slightly, making him lower his head a bit, and he saw the reply on the light screen.

Kailifu: 【You've reached Heaven Gate City? Hmm... not as good as the one I carved, no red version? It's clearly called Red King.】

She: 【When EX or possessed by Sphia it turns red, oh, there's also this 【picture】, Dras lifeform! Although it's Tsuburaya Hall, it encompasses everything, I also saw a 1:1 model display case of Garou armor, I can also take a picture and send it to you later.】

Kailifu: 【You can take some pictures of Hora models, right? You still haven't answered my first question, have you reached Hall 8?】

She: 【Yeah, the sooner you see what you want, the better. Coming from Entrance Hall 7, it's just a matter of ten-odd minutes.】

After typing this string, Aomo again lifted his head to correct the route he had previously confirmed and the positions of the surrounding crowd.

In a densely populated exhibition hall, it's naturally dangerous for those who walk with their heads down, so he relied on a quick glance he'd taken a few seconds earlier to scan the surroundings, confirming the positions of nearby people, judging their direction, and reserving a short stretch for himself where he wouldn't bump into anyone—of course, this is just a precaution; in practice he still needs to glance up occasionally to correct his path, just as he now holds the terminal, his gaze wandering among the surrounding display cases and the flow of people.

The founder of the Tsuburaya Exhibition Hall was originally a time traveler, and according to Bi Ze, he was still a 'special effects plagiarist' athlete, bringing the metal hero series to this world, and for the already three-work Ultraman series, he added the two works Ultraman Taro and Ultraseven.

In fact, that time traveler was not the first special effects plagiarist, but he was indeed the first person to think of naming the special effects cultural venue in memory of a predecessor named Tsuburaya Ei-ji.

After he took the lead, supporters and followers of other special effects enthusiasts quickly appeared, even including some original special effects production teams and newly arrived special effects plagiarists who contributed to this, causing the exhibition hall's scale to grow ever larger, and now it has become a large exhibition hall composed of 13 halls together.

Nominally a special effects culture exhibition hall, it naturally wouldn't be limited to Ultraman-related content.

Just as Aomo indeed lifted the terminal's camera and pressed the shutter button aimed at a nearby simulated work.

The original Fang Lang work, a recreation of the scene where Saejima Kouga confronts Horra in human form, the statue's frozen pose is exactly that instant.

Quite a few people gathered here looking for shooting angles, most of them wanting to capture this scene even cooler.

The focus of the shoot was either on the model of Saejima Kouga or on the point where the Fang Lang sword meets Horra's sharp claws; there were also quite a few people standing on Horra's side, but they too were trying to create a sense of oppression for Saejima Kouga, and only Aomo lingered here walking around Horra.

There's no helping it; honestly, Horra's design is indeed rather subtle, as a character from the early episodes of the TV scene, to emphasize its alien and monstrous feel it has no aesthetic appeal, unlike the display stands for Daguba and Gidora, which have a crowd of dedicated photographers around them.

It isn't even the final boss; it's merely placed here by riding on Fang Lang's fame as a scene reconstruction.

However, Aomo was still very conscientious in looking for angles to highlight that eerie feeling; he hadn't been this meticulous even when taking photos of himself and Morrison.

She: 【【picture】, well, let me look for others, is there anything you'd like to see?】

After finishing that string of messages, Aomo waited a few seconds, then glanced at the man beside him.

Among the onlookers, most of whom were photographers, he was a rare pure bystander, holding a phone lacking the terminal's ability to encrypt content, relying only on the screen's built-in anti-peeping color shift, which couldn't stop Aomo beside him.

Aomo could instantly see the chat tool content on his screen, which included a fairly large two-dimensional anime image.

It looked like... Gomora Maiden.

It seemed to be called Kuroda Mikazuki; without checking the memory bank, Aomo wasn't too sure either.

That thing was one of the outcomes of a project to anthropomorphize monsters into maidens... Aomo wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it, not because he had high standards for monster purity, but because the project itself was rather subtle, failing to craft any decent characters, and then it just fizzled out.

Aomo had heard from Bi Ze that that work was also a product of plagiarism, a creation of another world, but that plagiarist obviously lacked the sense of responsibility shown by the plagiarists of 2077 and World of Warcraft! They didn't even intend to optimize the original plan to give it a second life.

It merely provided those basic chibi forms, even more exaggerated than normal proportions, surviving solely thanks to fan artists' creations.

It used to be said that monster culture was a niche within a niche, and monster maidens were even more so, relegated to the extreme of self-contained enthusiasm due to failed promotion and awkward works.

After all, monster culture can be considered a kind of pan-culture, not limited to tokusatsu, nor to virtual realms, and the monster maiden project is indeed just a small thing related to Ultraman.

More or less, it's done for.

It can also occasionally be seen by chance within the overlapping circles of the tokusatsu community.

Aomo's main impression of it still lay with Lake Orchid and Jetton Maiden; he wasn't particularly fond of Kuroda Mikazuki, so naturally he wouldn't consider striking up a conversation, especially since the terminal in his hand finally had a response.

【No, they're all stuff I've grown tired of; have you checked out the display case near the hallway?】

She: 【The Mosura case? I've been there, but didn't see anything special, what a pity】

Kailifu: 【Maybe another time would work; I also need to head out, let's chat later】

She: 【Hold on, I want to ask something, can you spare a minute or two?】

Kailifu: 【? Go ahead】

She: 【Have you been to Heaven's Gate City? Any travel recommendations based on your own experience? If it's something written in travel magazines, no need to mention it】

Kailifu: 【Personal experience recommendation...... There's a drink shop in the northern district of Heaven's Gate City that's pretty good, offering a soul-flavored beverage that mixed-blood folks like you enjoy, said to be able to replace the sensation of directly sucking souls】

【But you'd better not go on the first day; if it doesn't suit your taste, it could start off badly, and you do care quite a bit about the 'beginning,' right?】

She: 【Do you remember the address?】

Kailifu: 【I'll look through the records later and give you the results if I have any; by the way, here's a piece of advice: when you're out and about, pay attention to your keys, don't lose them】

She: 【Although the Border Gate District quite faithfully reproduces modern times, my home still uses an electronic lock】

Kailifu: 【But you'll still be carrying a key, right?】

She: 【Indeed...】

Aomo loosened his left hand and felt the key hook on the back of his waist; although the electronic lock can be opened by voice or fingerprint, when those two functions fail, there remains the original option of unlocking with a key, the highest level of authority.

Given Aomo's caution, he would still carry it even if he didn't need to, just as his wallet to this day still contains banknotes and coins.

One cannot completely overlook certain unfortunate possibilities just because the electronic payment system is highly developed and complete.

He simply couldn't tell whether Kailifu already understood him well enough or was merely insisting on continuing the topic to prove the validity of his own viewpoint.

Kailifu: 【So then, be careful not to lose it; that's that, I'm off now~】

She: 【Okay, goodbye】

Seeing the other's lighthearted tone and recalling their virtual avatar's fluttering posture, he inexplicably felt like laughing; Aomo also somewhat unable to hold back his laughter exited the chat room, after barely retreating from the surrounding 'sorry' sounds and jostling, he then swiped through the photos he had taken and began mass-sending them to the accounts of David, Bi Ze, and Morrison.

As for Twitter updates, we'll talk about that later; since he hardly has any followers, Aomo isn't particularly concerned about it.

However, looking at Morrison's avatar again also somewhat dampened his mood; he couldn't help but recall his previous attention to this city, thinking he had pretty much explored the venue as well, perhaps he should go check out the drink shop recommended by Kailifu—doing so earlier shouldn't be a problem.

Upon thinking this through, he then turned his gaze toward the venue signage not far away to look for an exit.

But when his gaze swept over the Mosura model display case near the hallway, which stood about the height of a person and a half, he again saw that sufficiently special lady.

Beside that woman was a man wearing a black hat, clad in a black cape, wrapped in a black scarf, with even most of his face obscured, leaving only a pair of sharp eyes that could be confirmed.

Gender is still determined jointly by factors such as body outline, the back of the hand outline, stance, and shoe width.

Relying solely on field of view isn't enough to definitely determine the other's gender, since concealing clothing covers too much and is overly suspicious.

But this appearance could also be just a visual deviation from a holographic projection—provided the other's disguise technology fooled the venue ticket-check detection equipment.

But if they have that technology, there's no need to disguise themselves in such a suspicious manner—could it be the lesser of two evils?

Aomo showed slight surprise.

Thanks to the special-effects crew being mostly tolerant, especially toward someone dressed like a weirdo; at other exhibitions security would have already come to drive them away, but here everyone thought he was cosplaying some villain.

Uh-oh... the dangerous role is indeed real......

Just a glance, and Aomo felt a slight sting between his brows.

After a period of lost signal, his perception fed him a sense of familiarity, as if seeing some mercenary friends of his foster father, and his gaze fell on the other's thin hand protruding from the cloak, a hand whose gender could be confirmed, for over two seconds.

That hand hung at the waist, not fully concealed by the cloak, naturally lifted slightly, yet stably impossible, utterly unmoved by breathing or speech.

It seemed as if a weapon could be drawn at any moment, or an attack launched with fists and feet.

Just as if constantly on guard against something.

That natural defensive posture seemed merged with their very being, and those eyes—sharp, slightly menacing, down-turned—had astonishing observational acuity, closely noting everything around, including himself.

The moment their eyes met, Aomo chose to retreat, while the other merely furrowed their brows, taking no action.

More dangerous than ordinary mercenaries... Aomo thought, mercenaries also have moments of negligence; most people wouldn't cultivate such constant combat-ready vigilance in daily life and work—not even his foster father could.

That is the alertness and vigilance possessed only by extraordinary elites.

Wait... there's still another possibility......

While pondering, Aomo walked toward the exhibition exit, stopped in place, then resumed walking, gradually quickening his pace so as not to alert notice.

One possibility.

I'm saying it's possible.

Needing to stay constantly vigilant—could it be because he's a wanted criminal?

Being constantly subjected to high-intensity searches by officials?

Aomo's steps grew ever quicker, a strange stimulation brewing in his chest, his mind began to accelerate, repeatedly prompting the crystal core to search his memories, to search the information from that earlier glance.

Then he noticed that the special lady's hand seemed to be holding something.

An 8-inch metal cylindrical device, wrapped with dark-red crystals twisted like blood vessels, placed in this venue easily mistaken for some transformation toy.

Like a magic wand for an older magical girl?

Is the artistic style somewhat distorted? If it's for an antagonist, that would be understandable.

... his train of thought had drifted; having already exited the exhibition hall, Aomo raised his hand, hailed a hovercar, showed the drink-shop address Kailifu had just sent, then opened a browser and loaded the Heaven Gate City wanted-persons inquiry site.

Directly calling the police would be a bit rash; better to flip through the list and see if any gaze looks familiar.