Chapter 39: 38 The Orphan

The Kaitel alien struggled violently, kicking the mountain man square in the chest and sending him flying, pinning Kishida down.

“Ow.” Mountain felt the world spin, nearly blacking out.

I should’ve listened to Qi Ming earlier and just blasted it to pieces! Then I wouldn’t have had to suffer this.

The recovered Kaitel alien had no intention of fighting in this unfamiliar environment; as soon as he was free, he bolted for the distance.

“You, a veteran with experience fighting aliens, how did you mess up again?” Qi Ming reacted swiftly, tossing off those words and moving to pursue.

But he was carrying nine human statues, making movement difficult.

Qi Ming feared that sudden motion might crack one of the statues and leave the person permanently maimed upon revival, so he gently set them down.

By the time he finished this sequence, the Kaitel alien had already escaped over ten meters away, dodging Nishijō Nagi’s gunfire.

Qi Ming stepped forward, launching a flying kick, hoping to force the opponent to dodge and close the distance.

Unexpectedly, the Kaitel alien didn’t dodge or evade—determined to escape, he took the blow head-on and used the force to keep moving forward.

“Cough…” He spat silver blood, glanced back at Qi Ming, then vanished swiftly into the night, escaping the Victory Team’s pursuit range.

Kishida shoved Mountain aside: “Damn it! Tomorrow, I’ll have the police force deploy—absolutely bring him back!”

But trouble struck tonight.

The next morning, Qi Ming arrived last at the command room, and the moment he stepped inside, he felt an oppressive, heavy atmosphere.

Moroboshi told him the Kaitel alien who escaped last night had killed someone.

Qi Ming was slightly surprised: “So fast?”

Moroboshi: “The victims were a married couple surnamed [Umeda]. The Kaitel alien killed them in front of their son and daughter!”

Umeda…

Hearing that surname, Qi Ming felt something was wrong; after seeing the photo, his heart sank.

These orphaned Umeda siblings were the same pair who lived with Hōgen throughout the entire original Ultraman Leo series!

In the original Ultraman Leo, it was the Zuluk alien who killed the children’s parents.

But in this world, the Zuluk alien had exhausted every trick trying to get past Qi Ming and couldn’t harm anyone.

Qi Ming had believed their fate had already changed under the flutter of his butterfly wings—yet here it was…

Kishida, face dark, slammed his fist hard on the table: “Damn it! If we’d killed it yesterday while it was still a statue, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Mountain also looked grim; the wounds from yesterday still ached.

He faced Qi Ming, embarrassed, now filled with regret.

Nishijō Nagi’s face was pale, unusually downcast, silent.

In her view, this was entirely avoidable—Qi Ming had already planned to kill that alien; it was their interference that caused this.

Qi Ming wouldn’t say anything inhuman like, “No wonder Vice-Commander Nishijō—you’re an orphan, so you cleverly made others feel the same pain”—there was no point in blaming each other now.

Reckoning would come later, after dealing with the current mess; now, “dividing blame” would only deepen divisions.

The situation was already grim and complex—he couldn’t let the team fracture too.

Though Mountain and the others were a mess, they were still somewhat useful.

He asked Megumi: “Found the alien yet?”

Megumi shook her head: “No. All surveillance cameras failed to capture it. The police have no leads.”

Qi Ming: “Strong counter-surveillance awareness. Including this released Kaitel alien, there are now five alien species active on Earth.”

The Crowmen, Mochin aliens, Abubas, Natan aliens, and the Kaitel alien.

Five simultaneous threats—made one’s scalp tingle.

Qi Ming remained relatively calm—if he could eliminate all these aliens, it would be a massive harvest; his Star Points would surely reach ten, allowing him to perform Star Gathering again.

He had a feeling that next time, he’d “gather” something powerful.

Moroboshi sensed things were dire: “If they all appear together, even Japan’s entire military force wouldn’t be enough to suppress them.”

Qi Ming glanced at him: “If they truly appear together, the Kaitel alien should clash first with Abubas—don’t forget they have a grudge.”

There were also tensions among these five alien species.

“Alright, everyone, snap out of it.”

“It’s already happened. What we must do now is contain the deterioration and prevent further tragedies.”

“Now, I’ll share what I know and analyze our current situation.”

Though the newest recruit, Qi Ming at this moment radiated a quality called “leadership,” calming everyone with his composed demeanor.

Everyone instinctively gathered closer.

“First, the Crowmen—they have crow-like heads and human bodies. They arrived in large numbers, using [Miniaturization Ray Guns] to capture humans, intending to take them back to their planet as slaves.”

“Though numerous, they cannot grow to giant size; only one spaceship barely holds their form, but even the FlySwallow II could handle them easily.”

Megumi raised her hand: “Yesterday’s Abubas was driven off, and all the kidnapped humans have been rescued.”

With zero gains, would Abubas go after the Crowmen?

Qi Ming: “Possible. I don’t know if he’ll come, but the Mochin alien will definitely go after the Crowmen—his prey, [Zara], was taken by them.”

He told them the Mochin alien enjoyed playing a “hunting game.”

He had handcuffed two other planet’s residents, [Lucia] and [Zara], and abandoned them on Earth.

Then, as the hunter, he pursued them as prey.

He could giantize and possessed considerable combat strength.

Megumi: “That’s too cruel!”

But Mountain had a different opinion: “If Qi Ming’s intel is correct, this is an alien matter, unrelated to Earth—we shouldn’t interfere.”

No surprise from Mountain, the one who’d hand over Ace to the Hippolytans.

In any other team, this view would’ve been drowned in criticism.

But in this “greatest hits” Victory Team, his opinion found surprising support.

Moroboshi opened his mouth but held back, eyes flickering.

Nishijō Nagi remained silent.

Kishida also felt the situation too complex—multiple aliens watching Earth, they had no spare energy to meddle in alien grudges.

As long as they didn’t invade Earth or destroy cities, leave them be.

But Kishida still had some shame—he cleared his throat after speaking and added: “Of course, by our civilization’s values, this is obviously wrong and morally condemnable.”

Qi Ming: “By your logic, the conflict between Chisumaya and the Mochin alien is also ‘an alien matter.’”

(End of Chapter)