Chapter 24: 23 Should This Time-Stop Ability Be Kept?

“Bang!” The dial spun as Qi Ming slammed down the raised movement.

“Whoosh!” A streak of light surged upward as Ultraman Tiga appeared on the battlefield.

For Qi Ming, handling these two simple foes required no more than the three-star grant of Seven; one star’s Tiga was more than sufficient.

He launched a flying knee strike, delivering a crushing blow to the writhing Pila alien, knocking it down.

Then Qi Ming swiftly fired a simple, uncharged Zepellion Beam, striking its head.

“Boom!” The Pila alien exploded violently, a speck of green light sinking into the button at the upper-right corner of Qi Ming’s watch.

【Access/Transform】.

Faced with this option, Qi Ming hesitated—rare for him—because time-stop was too tempting.

But the Pila alien’s time-stop was directional; it could only freeze time if it hit its target.

It paled in comparison to Dio and Jotaro from “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” who could halt time across the entire world with a mere thought.

Moreover, in the original “Seven” series, the Pila alien had once used its [Time Stop Beam] against Seven.

Seven simply blocked it with an energy shield, nullifying it, then countered with an ice axe that split the Pila alien in two.

Clearly, this time-stop, equivalent to a “paralysis technique,” had severe limitations; even the Pila alien’s combat power couldn’t break through it directly, relying solely on ambush.

Most importantly, he’d killed it too fast—he hadn’t figured out its true nature.

He couldn’t determine whether the time-stop was an innate ability of the Pila alien or achieved through external technology.

If it was the latter, he’d be screwed—his martial arts couldn’t possibly adapt to a space-being with no limbs, just a tail.

What if he transformed into this weak, slow, defenseless Pila alien and got one-shot by an enemy, with no chance to escape?

Better to choose 【Transform】—he was nearly at ten star grants, enough to unlock 【Star Gathering】.

Maybe he could “gather” a powerful being with space-time abilities, one capable of sending him home—like the Golden Dragon from “Tiga.”

Thinking this, Qi Ming selected 【Transform】; the Ultraman’s arbitrary button’s 【Star Grant】 reverted to 8 points.

Nearby, the Zuluk alien watched as the giant killed one space-being in two strikes; the ferocity of his assault stirred a deep unease in it, making it hesitate whether to flee this dangerous place.

But as it lifted its feet off the ground, Nami Nishijo fired from Flyer One, striking it down.

“Hey, now it’s its turn to crash!” Kishida, who had just parachuted from the crashed Flyer One and was about to engage in ground combat, chuckled.

With his escape route cut off, the Zuluk alien had no choice but to fight to the death.

It swung its bone blade at Tiga, knowing that unless it eliminated this foe, today would end in disaster.

In the original “Leo” series, Seven said the Zuluk alien used a “two-stage attack,” which Leo’s current techniques couldn’t counter—he had to master the “three-stage attack” to break it.

To that end, he punished Feng Yuan severely, then forced him to chop through a waterfall, leaving Qi Ming utterly baffled.

On the battlefield, the Zuluk alien charged, bringing both blades down on Tiga.

Qi Ming blocked with his left hand, countered with his right, and kicked with his leg, sending the alien flying hard.

See? That was it.

If this was targeted training, why on earth did they need such absurd drills for such a simple move?

Besides, he remembered Leo had trained for a while at the origin of Cosmic Phantom Fist—【Dragon Constellation D60】—didn’t they teach basic martial arts there?

The fallen Zuluk alien rose with a desperate fish-leap, charging again and swinging its right blade in a vertical slash.

Qi Ming sidestepped, then struck the Zuluk alien’s right wrist with his left palm and its chin with his right palm.

The Zuluk alien’s duck-bill-like elongated chin had no scale protection; the heavy blow sent it into darkness, and it collapsed again.

Shan Zhong: “So strong! I feel the Ultramen’s fighting style has become increasingly brutal lately.”

Kishida corrected: “‘Brutal’ isn’t the right word—he’s on our side, helping us.”

Once he confirmed the Zuluk alien was incapacitated, Qi Ming crossed his wrists in front of him, then spread them outward to gather energy, forming his arms into an L-shape before unleashing a white beam.

The full Zepellion Beam!

“Boom!” The Zuluk alien shattered into fragments, following the Pila alien’s fate.

Another speck of green light sank into the button at the upper-right corner of Qi Ming’s watch.

【Access/Transform】.

This time, Qi Ming didn’t hesitate—he chose Transform decisively.

Star Grant: 9.

Insight: 2/5.

The Zuluk alien was also just a C-rank, like the Pila alien?

Qi Ming had assumed its fierce reputation in the original series meant at least a B-rank.

Probably because early Leo was too weak, so the Zuluk alien seemed overwhelmingly powerful by comparison?

At this moment, Tiga’s Color Timer began flashing.

Though defeating the two monsters hadn’t taken much effort, Tiga’s 30% power limited him to only one and a half minutes on Earth—the timer was almost up.

Just as Qi Ming was about to revert, he felt a surge of killing intent rising from beneath his feet; he instantly shot upward.

“Boom!” The spot he’d just stood on erupted with searing geothermal fire—if he’d delayed his ascent by even a second, he’d have been badly hurt.

“This flame… it’s the Kiliadroid.” Qi Ming spun around, staring at the rooftop of a distant building, where an unmistakable malice radiated.

On the rooftop, a man grinned coldly at Tiga.

Seeing Tiga had noticed him, he wasn’t startled; calmly, he stepped backward, his figure dissolving.

Clearly, this was a Kiliadroid—after a failed ambush, it retreated without lingering.

That “holy flame” had just been the Kiliadroids’ second “proof” to humanity, and a warning to the Light Giants.

Commander’s room, Emi: “Same explosion as last time—the attack truly came from underground. Qi Ming’s intel was accurate!”

Because the spot where Tiga had stood was an open field, the eruption of “geothermal fire” was clearly visible to the naked eye.

“By the way, where’s Qi Ming?” she suddenly realized—he’d vanished from the command room.

Shishiro Tsumugi coughed: “Probably went to the restroom.”

Dr. Yatomi: “After all that exertion, he should be taking a break.”

In the city, though no buildings had burned, flames had begun spreading from the trees lining the streets.

Counselor Tongshan and Shishiro Tsumugi ordered emergency response; Nami Nishijo used Flyer One’s foam cannon, but it was useless against the raging fire.

Seeing this, Qi Ming fired Tiga’s Ultraman Water Gun, extinguishing the flames before reverting.

The crisis was temporarily averted—but the next assault could come at any moment.

(End of Chapter)