Chapter 268: 264 Captain, I

The spatial structure of the Land of Ends was completely shattered, and the energy of the explosion rippled into the real world, dyeing the pitch-black night sky a crimson red.

"Last time the Fear-Monger opened a wormhole, I casually tossed an atomic bomb into it."

"This time I tossed a Planet-Destroying Bomb into the wormhole; it's been eating better and better."

Qi Ming reached out and beckoned, and two blue light spots were sucked into the Ultraman Key.

They belonged to Bizomu and Zorim.

【Access/Convert】.

【Access/Convert】.

There was nothing to hesitate about with Bizomu; Qi Ming converted it into 3 points of Star-Gift.

As for the Giant Beast Zorim, Qi Ming was somewhat tempted.

Although this thing wasn't humanoid and his martial arts couldn't adapt to it.

But its size was large enough; just relying on its compatibility, it could crush a group of monsters.

Thinking of this, Qi Ming chose 【Access】.

Star-Gift: 7.

Manufacturing: 22/40.

Today was truly a bumper harvest.

At the same time, Ultraman Gaiya's Color Timer finally began to blink. Ultraman Gaiya and Black Oubu exchanged a glance, both canceled their transformations, and dissipated into light.

The hostages snatched away by Kuttula walked out of Victory Feiyan 2, breathing the Earth's air, their eyes brimming with excited tears.

They took out their phones one after another to report their safety to friends and family.

"Great, this is Earth, we're back!"

"We escaped, we escaped from that hellhole; I thought I was a goner for sure!"

"Miko, it's me, Ishigami. Ultraman saved me! All those monsters were wiped out!"

Watching the crowd weeping with joy, a warm current also surged in Qi Ming's heart.

Moroboshi Dan took out his PDI communicator: "Qi Ming, leave the cleanup work to us; you go back and rest first."

Qi Ming replied in the communicator: "Alright, I also want to have a more regular schedule."

He indeed needed a good rest.

At the same time, Director Airan Cheng took out his phone and posted the video he had just filmed in the group, letting them see how Qi Ming's Ultraman Gaiya SV had dominated the entire scene.

Director Airan Cheng: "Did you see that, Xiang Tenggong? Qi Ming avenged you, making that guy scream in agony."

Xiang Tenggong appeared very calm: "As expected, he always wins; he never disappoints."

Senior Ji Shi Zhun: "That's great."

Judging by the speed of their replies, they hadn't been resting, but were nervously waiting for the result.

Now that they knew Qi Ming had defeated the enemy and led the Earth and humanity through the crisis, their heavy hearts were finally set at ease.

Seeing the message replied by Senior Ji Shi Zhun, a strange feeling arose in Qi Ming's heart.

In the original *Nexus* series, Senior Ji Shi Zhun and his arch-nemesis Mizorogi "perished together" in the Land of Ends, disappearing into the light.

But now, Mizorogi had been struck by the Photon Stream and died completely, yet Senior Ji Shi Zhun still existed.

Nexus would only leave after its Dunamist found the meaning of existence and survival, and then it would go to find the next Dunamist.

Senior Ji Shi Zhun still hadn't untied his inner knot, so he could continue to fight alongside Qi Ming.

…………………………

The next morning, Qi Ming woke up, opened his eyes, and browsed the news for a while, discovering that the negative impact of the Land of Ends had been almost completely eliminated.

To outsiders, it was just a dozen people being snatched by tentacles and then rescued.

Zero casualties—that wasn't worth making a fuss about in this world.

And the positive impact began to ferment.

TPC released the footage from Victory Feiyan 2, letting the world see the superior level at which Victory Feiyan 2 defeated Kuttula, making people understand that human weaponry was constantly improving, thereby increasing their confidence in TPC.

Director Airan Cheng released the combat footage of Ultraman Ultraman Gaiya.

The dim sub-space, one enemy after another, the nearly desperate encirclement...

And then Ultraman Gaiya transformed into a brand-new stance, forcefully carving out a path of light with overwhelming power.

Too strong, it made people hyped to the extreme!

"The new Ultraman Gaiya is so strong; taking on four at once is a piece of cake."

"Simply invincible!"

After glancing at the comments, Qi Ming went to the cafeteria for breakfast. On the way, he happened to run into Nagi Saijo and Moroboshi Dan, followed by Senior Ji Shi Zhun, whose injuries had stabilized after treatment.

"Morning."

"Morning, how did you sleep last night?"

Qi Ming: "Light as a feather, I slept quite soundly, though I did have a somewhat bizarre dream."

"A dream!" Nagi Saijo became alert.

She said that before Mizorogi went missing, he had also had strange dreams. He said he dreamed of a hair-raising ruin at the end of a jungle, feeling that the deep darkness was about to swallow him.

Nagi Saijo: "Judging from the final result, he was indeed swallowed by the darkness."

Senior Ji Shi Zhun, standing to the side, was somewhat surprised, because the ruin in Mizorogi's dream seemed to be the one he had visited.

However, Mizorogi hadn't walked into the ruin, while he had, and had come into contact with the light.

Qi Ming: "No, my dream was quite nonsensical."

He said he dreamed that on a typhoon night, a father and son were sitting in a Maybach, and they drove onto an overpass.

At the end of that overpass, the chief god of Norse mythology, "Odin," was riding an eight-legged horse, holding the long spear Gungnir, as if to make things difficult for the father and son.

As a result, the next moment, Moroboshi Dan appeared driving a jeep and instantly sent Odin's mount, the eight-legged horse, flying away.

Then, the Father of Ultra in the passenger seat jumped down and snapped the Gungnir thrown by Odin in half.

Nagi Saijo: "..."

Senior Ji Shi Zhun: "..."

Moroboshi Dan: "You actually know the Father of Ultra? But what is this dream foreshadowing?"

Qi Ming: "I have a very active mind, so I often dream of strange things; there's no need to make a fuss."

He said he had even dreamed before that he was wearing a domineering golden armor and beating up a sturdy "stinky squid," but nothing happened when he woke up; he still had to go to school.

"Let's not talk about these bubble-like empty dreams; let's talk about business."

"The new Texas Beam successfully took down Kuttula yesterday, which proves it indeed possesses the ability to obliterate Space Beasts."

"Share this technology with the TLT; after all, they are also a main force in the battle against Space Beasts."

Moroboshi Dan highly agreed with Qi Ming's proposal, believing that in the current situation, humanity should help each other like this.

Counselor He Zhi and Counselor Quan Teng had different thoughts.

They believed that technology could be shared, which could re-establish contact with TLT, but they definitely had to take the opportunity to ask for some benefits.

Qi Ming: "You guys can go talk about it, but remember to bring one message to the person in charge at TLT."

Counselor Quan Teng: "What message?"

Qi Ming: "The source of the Space Beast chaos, the 'mastermind' hiding among humans, might be causing trouble from within. Tell them to keep a close watch and see if they can take the opportunity to dig this person out."

In the original *Nexus* series, TLT strapped the heavily injured Senior Ji Shi Zhun to an experimental table after the battle and developed the "Ultimate Ray," which had the same power as the 【Layered Storm】, using relevant data. As a result, after the final battle, Mitsuhiko Ishibori, mimicked by Dark Zagi, deleted all the data for the "Ultimate Ray."

He transferred the technology partly to stop TLT from targeting Dunamists again—to be good allies and not reach out recklessly—and partly to see if he could lure the snake out of its hole.

…………………………

At three in the afternoon, Qi Ming saw a new message from Xiang Tenggong in the group.

It roughly meant that after obtaining Agul's power, he often thought about the future of the Earth, but the more he thought, the more confused he became, and he was always very depressed.

Director Airan Cheng: "Is it the meaning of 'I have never felt happy being an Ultraman'?"

Xiang Tenggong: "..."

After calming down, he stated that he had now given Agul's power to someone worthy of trust and suddenly felt unprecedentedly relaxed.

He said he temporarily had no power to fight and wanted to go out for a walk, see the Earth's mountains, rivers, and seas, and clear his mind.

Perhaps in the process of traveling, by observing the Earth and society from a human perspective again, he could have new insights and figure some things out.

Regarding this, Qi Ming highly approved.

The reason he had accepted the light given by Xiang Tenggong without hesitation last night was because he felt Xiang Tenggong wouldn't lose his identity as an Ultraman just like that.

Maybe one day, when he was "suddenly enlightened" and called out to the sea, the Earth would give him the power of "Agul V2" again.

Of course, Qi Ming felt that this world definitely wouldn't be that simple and would experience twists and turns, but there was hope after all.

However, letting Xiang Tenggong go out alone like a traveling frog, he was a bit worried.

The world was too chaotic; when Xiang Tenggong was weak, he could be beaten up by some bar thugs and was often targeted by the Fear-Monger.

"Need to find someone to protect him." Qi Ming thought for a moment, went directly to the TPC prison that day, pulled out "Murakami," who had stolen artifacts at Mount Suna, and said he would let him redeem his crimes with merit.

"Mr. Jingtian Jinglong, there is something I would like your help with..." After summoning the heroic spirit of Jingtian Jinglong, Qi Ming discussed it with him in detail.

…………………………

The next day, Qi Ming arrived at Director Airan Tech to teach Director Airan Cheng martial arts according to their previous agreement.

Qi Ming got straight to the point: "My suggestion is to practice reaction speed first."

Director Airan Cheng: "Reaction speed?"

Qi Ming: "Yes, in battle, the faster your reaction speed, the better you can respond. Your injuries haven't fully healed yet, so let's do some simple training first."

After speaking, he took out a tennis ball, had Director Airan Cheng face the wall, and stood behind him.

"President Director Airan, try to catch every ball."

Immediately after, he threw the ball against the wall; the tennis ball hit the wall and bounced back, and Director Airan Cheng hurriedly caught it.

"This training method can not only increase reaction speed but also increase the precision of your strikes and movements."

Qi Ming kept throwing the ball, the trajectory and landing point of the throws were completely random, making Director Airan Cheng sweat profusely.

Qi Ming threw it fifty times in total, and he only caught twenty-eight.

"Hmm, there's still quite a lot of room for improvement." Qi Ming wasn't surprised and didn't blame him, just told Director Airan Cheng to remember to practice diligently.

Director Airan Cheng: "Team Member Qi Ming, teach me swordplay as well."

Qi Ming: "Actually, my swordplay level is very average, and I'm even more of a layman when it comes to heavy swords."

However, under Director Airan Cheng's insistence, he still briefly shared some of his views.

"Heavy swords emphasize breaking skill with force and suppressing people with momentum."

As Qi Ming spoke, he took out a wooden sword in the style of the Orb Holy Sword provided by Director Airan Cheng and set up a starting stance. "The key lies in how to utilize its weight and inertia, rather than relying purely on brute force."

"First, the hand holding the sword must be steady, but not too tense. The power of a heavy sword lies in its potential energy, so you need to learn to borrow force to strike, rather than fighting head-on."

As he spoke, he demonstrated a simple chopping motion.

The heavy sword drew an arc in the air, carrying a whistling wind, as if even the air was being torn apart.

"See that? The power of this strike doesn't rely entirely on the arm, but utilizes the power of the waist and legs..."

Qi Ming spoke for half an hour, and Director Airan Cheng benefited greatly.

"Let's train this way for the next half month; you must persist." Qi Ming said; this was the first stage of training he had planned for Director Airan Cheng.

Director Airan Cheng: "No problem... but Team Member Qi Ming, are you going on a long trip?"

Qi Ming: "I have that idea."

He returned to the maritime base, called out Moroboshi Dan and Hikari, and asked if they intended to go back to the Land of Light to take a look.

Qi Ming: "Although the universe might be chaotic now, I can transform into Ultraman Gaiya SV, so I have the power to fight against most strong enemies."

Xiang Tenggong couldn't transform into Agul for the time being, so he wanted Moroboshi Dan and Hikari to return to the Land of Light to recover their transformation abilities to fill the gap in combat power.

Hikari was moved, and Moroboshi Dan also had some thoughts.

Moroboshi Dan: "Go back... but it takes at least ten days to get from Earth to the Land of Light. What if Earth faces a crisis during this time?"

Qi Ming: "There are still two Ultramen, Black Oubu and Nexus; now is the best time."

After he transformed into Gleeza to clear the field last time, no new enemies had appeared for almost half a month.

And now, Mizorogi was dead completely, and the Fear-Monger had taken another round of bombing, so no new strong enemies should appear in the short term, right?

Moroboshi Dan: "That makes some sense..."

As a result, the next moment, the communicators of Qi Ming and Moroboshi Dan rang at the same time.

The one looking for Qi Ming was Emi; she said she had just received news that a construction site had dug up a bronze mirror while working, which seemed to be related to the legendary "Soldier of the Moonlit Night."

Upon hearing this, Qi Ming knew this was a key item from episode 22 of *Dyna*, "Soldier of the Moonlit Night."

Kishida told Moroboshi Dan that the Caro Base on the moon had discovered a strange monster corpse and was currently carrying out recovery work.

Qi Ming leaned over to look at the picture and saw a monster that looked like conjoined twins.

Qi Ming was very familiar with this monster; it was 【Meizulang】 from episode 48 of *Tiga*, "The Fugitive from the Moon."

A corpse? This is a smokescreen; it is very likely in a state of suspended animation!

Kishida said: "In addition, according to the report from Caro Base, the lunar ruin 'Valley of the Kings' has also recently transmitted abnormal movements."

Valley of the Kings...

Is the event from episode 14 of *Dyna*, "The Overlord Sleeping on the Moon," also about to happen?

The Moonlit Night Trio?

Damn it, after fighting a super war last time, Earth got a two-week breathing room.

This time, it's only been two days, and the next round of joint offensives has actually appeared?

It connects really well!

Soon, Emi's message came again.

"Captain, new situation. Two Taganulars have appeared in Xiaoxi City, Japan, and Nevada, USA."

"They absorbed liquefied Titerium and grew to sixty meters, and are currently releasing the high-heat beam that previously destroyed the Mechanical Island toward the sky."

Qi Ming: "!"

Taganular attacking the sky must be to snipe an enemy coming from the universe that might threaten Earth's ecology.

In the original series, two Taganulars appeared at the same time to attack the third biological weapon of V99, 【Space Bomb Monster Wallaron】.

Is the third wave of the offensive arriving?

Is the V99 space fleet also about to descend on Earth?

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I caught a cold, so I could only type this much today, please forgive me.

I will update more tomorrow to compensate everyone.

(End of chapter)