Chapter 486

“Snap! Snap! Snap!”

Three hunters fired simultaneously, bullets striking Pandora’s body.

Upon hearing the gunshots, Pandora’s child, Qinpai, immediately retracted its head into its abdominal pouch; Pandora herself bolted wildly away in fright.

“This guy’s a coward!” Fujiwa chased after her, firing from behind.

After all, she was a kaiju—though timid, her body was still incredibly sturdy; ordinary bullets couldn’t pierce her.

But her tail was Pandora’s most vulnerable spot; once struck by a bullet, yellow blood immediately gushed out.

Even so, Pandora made no counterattack—she spat out a cloud of smoke to conceal herself, then scrambled desperately back.

……………………………………

Hōgen and Yūko waited at the bottom of the valley, finally waiting for Pandora’s return.

She now looked in terrible condition, trembling all over from pain.

Hōgen: “Something’s wrong—she’s injured, bleeding from her tail… Pandora, swing your tail over here, I’ll help you!”

Pandora understood human speech; she immediately swung her tail toward Hōgen.

“It’ll hurt—Pandora, hold on!”

Saying this, Hōgen pulled out a small knife and painstakingly extracted the bullet lodged in her tail.

Though wracked with pain, she endured it fiercely to avoid harming Hōgen and Yūko.

After the bullet was removed, she appeared utterly drained, yet still let out a low, mournful cry toward Hōgen—thanking him.

Hōgen tossed the bullet onto the ground: “Alright, Miss Yūko, Pandora’s fine now. Let’s go back.”

Yūko looked at Pandora’s battered form: “I can’t go back. Pandora saved my life—I want to stay and care for her.”

Hōgen found this reasonable and prepared to return first to inform Fujiwa.

……………………………………

“What? Yūko’s with the kaiju?”

Upon hearing this, Fujiwa was stunned.

Hōgen lowered his hand: “But don’t worry—the kaiju is friendly.”

One of Fujiwa’s hunter companions sneered: “Nonsense.”

Fujiwa declared outright: “We can’t wait any longer—we must kill the kaiju and rescue Yūko!”

Hōgen blocked them: “Don’t act rashly—that kaiju is truly harmless. Miss Yūko stayed behind to care for her.”

Fujiwa could no longer contain himself—he stepped back, raising his gun at Hōgen: “Will you get out of the way?!”

Hōgen stared, stunned, at the dark muzzle: “Mr. Fujiwa, you—”

He never imagined the man would be this obstinate—and would threaten with a gun someone who came to help.

The next instant, two of Fujiwa’s hunter companions circled behind Hōgen and smashed their rifle butts into his head.

Hōgen’s vision went black—he collapsed unconscious.

Fujiwa stripped Hōgen of his PDI communicator and Victory Hyper Gun, then tied him tightly to a tree.

“Alright, let’s go kill the kaiju.”

Having dealt with him, the three followed the path Hōgen had taken, heading toward Pandora’s location.

Ten minutes later, Qi Ming and Karimira found Hōgen.

“I knew this would happen.” Qi Ming sighed, looking at Hōgen bound to the tree.

In the original series, Kōtarō suffered the same fate.

Even though Kōtarō was Fujiwa’s close friend who attended his wedding and gave up his vacation to help him, Fujiwa still turned on him without mercy—pointing a gun and tying him up.

Hōgen’s situation was worse—he was knocked unconscious outright—just like Seijiro Dan.

Attacking members of the Victory Team… these people are insane.

Qi Ming untied the ropes and shook Hōgen: “Hōgen, wake up—I’m Saforin.”

Hōgen remained unresponsive.

“Let me handle it.” Karimira took a bottle of mineral water from her backpack, unscrewed the cap, and poured it directly over his face.

“Cough… cough…” The cold water drenched him—he slowly stirred awake: “Mr. Qi Ming? You’re here—no, hurry, stop them!”

Karimira: “Don’t blurt out nonsense—how did you end up like this?”

Hōgen, clutching the back of his head, recounted what happened; Karimira looked down her nose: “You’re an Ultraman—and you couldn’t handle humans? You got knocked out? Do you even deserve your power?”

Qi Ming: “Hōgen’s still new. Even Captain Dan was often knocked out by aliens. Everyone has immature moments—growth takes experience.”

Karimira recalled how Dan had recently been defeated by two Pit Star agents: “So you’re saying Dan’s still immature?”

Qi Ming: “…”

He supported Hōgen while Karimira picked up the ropes, and together they chased after Fujiwa’s group.

………………………………

Meanwhile, Fujiwa’s trio reached the mouth of the Senjō Cave and saw Pandora, recovering inside, and Qinpai, crawling out from her abdominal pouch.

“What do we do? The big kaiju’s at the cave entrance—should we go in and kill it?”

“Maybe we can lure it out, using that big rock beside us.”

“Yes—use its child, this little kaiju, to draw it out.”

Without delay, they acted—one hunter took a trap from his backpack and set it up.

“Snap!” Qinpai stepped on it instantly—his body twisted in pain, letting out a shrill cry.

Sensing her child was in danger, Pandora ignored the pain in her tail and thrust her body out of the cave.

Seeing Pandora appear, the three hunters cheered and pushed the massive rock with all their strength: “Now—push together!”

The next instant, the boulder rolled down Gaoshan and crushed Pandora’s tail.

Already injured, the blow sent Pandora into unbearable agony—she screamed with a heart-rending roar.

Qinpai, seeing his mother in agony, tried to help—but his foot was trapped in the trap, leaving him helpless, shrieking in desperation.

The pitiful sight of the mother and child made the three hunters grin; but Fujiwa still felt unsatisfied—he raised his hunting rifle and aimed it at Qinpai’s head.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a whip sliced through the air with a sharp crack.

“Snap!” Fujiwa’s rifle was knocked clean from his hand.

He spun around—Karimira stood there, her long rope acting as a whip, her face icy.

Qi Ming, supporting Hōgen, arrived as well; he surveyed the scene and said: “Good, we made it in time.”

In the original series, this group shot and killed Pandora’s child, causing Pandora to shed blood-tears—and turning a once-friendly kaiju into a vengeful monster.

Fujiwa recognized Qi Ming’s face: “It’s you!” He instantly felt trouble brewing.