Chapter 927

NO. 50: Coexistence II

The monster battleship SOUNDEROUS (Fortressmode)/Transmission Ship (Fortress Mode).

Code-named SCS, originating from the earliest active story of Ultraman, that supercomputer with a noticeable presence is from Cherry Hill University.

A high-performance supercomputer capable of accessing countless networks.

And those networks themselves are each like a world.

SCS's code name is taken from that meaning.

As a vehicle for the Second Generation and Naito to travel through various electronic worlds, the interior of the SCS battleship is filled with whimsical ideas that only work in the data world.

Like a radar function that works without needing to shout, and I don't know how my thoughts manage to ignore world differences and take effect.

Also like a function that lets the ship dive into dimensional folds, but whose principle even the creators cannot explain, the dimensional docking feature.

Moreover, the creators can't describe it either, only saying it's a slight improvement they tried out—the ship's shape-shifting function.

It is said to be able to match the Second Generation's combat with monster armor.

But because the Second Generation cannot explain the principle at all, Aomo's anxiety outweighs curiosity, and he has no expectations.

However, aside from that, those miraculous tools are still worth looking forward to.

Like a sewing machine that can one-click print coats; according to the Second Generation, her and Naito's uniforms are made with it to ensure mass production, essentially a mix of several codes in development.

There are plenty of such things aboard the ship.

Whatever medical or entertainment equipment, they are all sci-fi and magical divine creations.

But if one truly wants to understand, it's not completely without ideas.

Considering the whole battleship is hand-built by the Second Generation, and considering the Ultraman universe is built on countless computer worlds, the Second Generation's research and invention is nothing more than a typical case of 'although it's a random mess, the program runs!'

Such a thing is commonplace in the software industry; placing it on a monster girl living in the computer world is hardly surprising.

After all, monsters are symbols of freedom and lack of restraint.

Those various powers longed for, from the perspective of the computer world, are entirely something between viruses and bugs.

Such an existence not understanding its own 'masterpiece' is natural, yet the Second Generation is a monster with ambition.

After being questioned by Aomo once, she actually dove into the pursuit of 'knowing the what and also the why'; a true programmer's likeness is soon within reach, but before that she must overcome real-world obstacles.

That obstacle is named Naito.

"They said not to worry about what that man says, but you've spent too much time on this, Second Generation."

Not yet having become an Ultraman Knight who is a fully affirmative bot for Ultraman, one instead has a tendency to become a fully negative bot for Aomo.

Whatever Aomo expects the other party to do, he just wants to block it.

However, to be frank, saying that too much time has been spent is not wrong; the second generation has already been hanging out here for almost a day, and when he went to meet Yūta and Rikka, that dusty-faced appearance still made the latter two stare in surprise.

Everyone was advising her to first go wash her face before speaking.

But the second generation also has the second generation's obsession.

「You can't say that like that, Naito; if you really figure it out, you can optimize SCS's performance, eh! 」

There's no need to rush about this——

Respecting women's pursuits is also a virtue of gentlemen, Anqi.

Aomo, who followed behind him and stepped onto the ship, drew Naito's angry glance as he turned back with a single sentence.

He didn't care about that, merely waving at Yūta and Rikka, who were nearby at the detailed operation console.

「Aomo-san! 」

Compared to the somewhat aloof Rikka, Yūta was quite enthusiastic about this youth, Aomo, who had saved the inland sea and could also incarnate as that giant.

One could even say he felt a certain degree of respect.

One doesn't know whether it's because of the elder's demeanor or based on the seniority of one who has incarnated as a giant.

「Hey, Yūta, Takara, 」 Aomo smiled, greeted the two high schoolers, and then asked, 「How do you find the base of the Ultraman Knight Alliance? 」

「Um…」 This question seemed to have stumped Rikka, after all she obviously isn't the type interested in sci-fi works.

「How should I put it? Unexpectedly plain, 」 Rikka said, looking at the various furnishings on the bridge; although there were also some quite fantastical things, those devices looked a bit aged.

「Moreover, what is that computer that looks like JUNK? 」

This remark caused Naito, as well as the second generation who was nearby tinkering with a device resembling a microwave oven, to simultaneously lift their eyes and look at the large-headed computer she pointed at.

「I guess that must be Junk. 」

Having found a relatively comfortable seat nearby and sat down, Aomo acted completely at home, as if in his own house; with a mage's hand he fetched a kettle for himself and also refilled the teacup on the table.

「Eh? 」×2

A uniform sound of surprise directed the gaze first toward the speaking Aomo, then immediately shifted to the second generation and Naito.

Over there, still unexplained, Naito had already turned his head toward Aomo: 「When did you discover that? 」

「Didn't I say that before? In my world there are records of stories about Ultraman and Dyna, which also include the appearance of Anqi in those stories. 」

「Having lifted the water cup and taken a sip, Aomo then turned his head back to look: 「Although your coming from a more distant future may not be important either, what matters is first opening JUNK to let Yūta try to see if communication is possible. 」

「Wait! 」 The unexpected interrupter was Rikka, not Yūta.

However, considering Yūta's current state of having lost a large portion of his life skills, it's understandable that he isn't too sensitive about this.

「Mr. Lindon, did you just casually overlook something important? 」 Rikka turned her head to look at Naito.

「You came from the future? Is this Junk also from the future? 」

「Yeah, otherwise, given your time here, I and Naito should have left this place less than half a year ago, 」 said the second generation as he stood up, glanced at Naito, then at Rikka and Yūta, then noticing Aomo's urging gesture, he walked past Naito to turn on the computer.

「Although it's true that some worlds have different time flows, we couldn't change that much in just half a year, eh! 」

「Monsters are still possible, right? 」 Aomo remarked.

He has always been unafraid to boldly question things, and consequently his tolerance for Naito is quite high, at one point openly expressing admiration.

「That also has to be a genuine monster-turned-monster, oh; monsters that can take on human form are still bound by some common sense, and frankly speaking…」 the second generation, who had finally lit up the screen by fiddling with the various buttons underneath, turned his head to look at Rikka and Yūta.

Many humans on Cuckoo Terrace are built upon the foundation of monsters.

「Indeed, I forgot there was also this layer, 」Aomo nodded, 「This actually to some extent explains why over on the badger's side, human hearts can nurture monsters. 」

「Actually, whether it's monster users, humans, monsters, or even Ultraman, the foundation of everyone's existence is the same. 」The second generation said lightly, uttering something tremendous.

The two ordinary people hadn't even had time to digest when she called out:

「All right! Yutai-kun, and—」She tapped the screen in front of her.

The first to go over was Yutai classmate, who still isn't very into this topic even now.

「How, how do you use this? What do you need to input? 」

「Go ahead and circle around him once, this JUNK has been modified twice! It has added sensing functionality and audio enhancement; you can say something, like try calling out to Ultraman. 」

「Um, that…… Ultraman? Are you there! 」

「……Useless. 」Far away watching Yutai and Liuhua circling that JUNK trying, Naite turned his head to look at Aomo.

「This path won't work, let's try something else. 」

Upon hearing that, Aomo, staring at the screen, looked at him doubtfully: 「Doesn't work? 」

「Do you still have any ideas? Those two are completely doing useless work, aren't they? No matter how you input commands, even running around front and back, JUNK shows no response. 」

「If he really were, JUNK's light would light up directly. 」

「A detector? 」Aomo watched Yutai standing behind that big-head computer, 「I thought it was an X-ray. 」

The chest and abdomen of Ultraman clearly appeared on the screen without a doubt, but apparently…… no one present noticed this.

Regardless, he first pulled up the terminal light screen and captured this scene into the photo album.

「What is an X-ray? 」

「……After all these years, you still don't really understand human creations? 」

「Of course not, I still know how to use TVs and computers. 」

「……」

Aomo remained silent, raised his hand to show a six, then immediately picked up his water cup and drained it.

「Indeed, there's not much gain; if you find it bothersome, I'll take them back. 」

「Bothersome? I never said that, 」Naito glanced at the distant couple, then turned and saw Aomo's gaze, 「What are you doing? 」

「I'm wondering what you've used your experience for, to be so childlike. 」

「You jerk! 」