Chapter 50: 49 Counterkill: Scumbag Reporter Hirakawa (Requesting Follows!)

[Star Cluster] activated!

Qi Ming pressed the button; all four buttons of the Ultraman Random Key emitted a green laser simultaneously, converging into a single light screen.

On the screen appeared a strange space, where a giant radiating red light battled a serpent-like enemy.

“Gaia Ultraman and Phantom Dragon!” Qi Ming immediately recognized the two colossal beings.

This was the scene from the first episode of “Gaia Ultraman,” “Capturing Light,” where Takayama Wato saw it during a particle accelerator experiment.

The camera zoomed in on the Phantom Dragon, showing it extending its neck and massive head to thrust violently at Gaia.

Qi Ming: “?”

Wait, why did they give the Phantom Dragon the close-up? I didn’t draw this garbage, did I?

“Shhh!” Gaia Ultraman spread his arms, gathering vast amounts of photon energy at his head to form a massive red ribbon-like blade.

This was Gaia Ultraman’s ultimate technique—[Photon Ice Blade]!

The Photon Ice Blade struck the Phantom Dragon, which stiffened, then exploded violently, instantly obliterated.

The camera froze, then recalibrated after losing its target, locking onto Gaia Ultraman beside it.

Gaia’s face filled the screen, giving Qi Ming the feeling—he was looking at Gaia, and Gaia was looking back at him.

Gaia nodded, then the screen vanished.

The dial of the Ultraman Random Key rotated, revealing a giant silhouette on the screen with three lines of text:

Gaia Ultraman.

Integration: 60%.

Rating: B-Class.

“Just now, did Gaia really see me? We made eye contact through the Ultraman Random Key’s screen.”

“He nodded at me—was that the Earth’s will affirming me?”

Qi Ming lingered in thought for a moment, then let it go; whether it was true or not didn’t matter.

For him, returning to his own Earth was what mattered most.

Does Gaia Ultraman possess the ability to traverse time and space?

It seems like he does, yet it also seems like he doesn’t.

Although Takayama Wato and Fujimiya Hiroshi traveled to another world’s Earth to protect the Tree of Life in “Ultraman Orb: The Origin.”

But perhaps they simply built a time-travel machine to get there—unrelated to Ultraman’s power.

Forget it, I’ll figure it out slowly after my next transformation.

………………………………

“They’re all really dead…”

Not long ago, Seijiro had remotely reported that all the aliens had been eliminated by Team Qi Ming and could no longer threaten Earth.

Kenji, the chief staff officer at the marine base, thought this sounded like fantasy and immediately demanded to go see for himself.

After arriving on-site and seeing the carnage and devastation, he fell silent.

Saeki Rika, as cold and rigid as Nami, was stunned: “Did one person do all this? This is simply…”

Kenji: “He’s an alien-killing machine!”

He scanned the surroundings: “Where is Team Qi Ming? I need to speak with him personally.”

Faced with such terrifying achievements, Kenji could no longer sit idly—he wanted to personally recruit Qi Ming.

At that moment, a commotion came from afar.

“Reporters—lots of reporters came because of the noise.”

Kenji frowned: “These reporters run faster than anyone when there’s a whisper—get the press officer here immediately.”

Qi Ming, hearing the noise, stepped out; seeing so many reporters, he immediately used his PDI communicator to privately message Kei, telling her to tell Lucia stay in the car and not come out.

“My god, this guy looks… is he also a Victory Team member?”

“Look at his belt—those are Victory Team weapons!”

The reporters immediately surrounded Qi Ming, cameras and microphones pointed at him.

They believed that even if Qi Ming said nothing, countless female viewers would buy his image—newspaper and magazine sales, TV ratings, would be guaranteed.

Qi Ming froze, for among the reporters he recognized the “Reporter Trio” from “Gaia Ultraman.”

News director Tian Rui Jian’er, cameraman Inoue Rinbun, and female anchor Yoshii Reiko.

Good—this hellish world had a touch of light.

But there were still demons: the scumbag reporter Hirakawa had come too.

He trampled over countless reporters’ feet to shove his way to Qi Ming’s front, thrusting his microphone as if to jab it into Qi Ming’s face.

“Team member, why did you take so long to achieve results after the Defense Force? Were you fishing with a long line?” Hirakawa asked.

Chief Kenji’s face turned pale—he recognized this as a trap question with two possible interpretations.

If Qi Ming denied it, it confirmed the claim that “TPC is inferior to the Defense Force.”

If he admitted it was a long-term strategy, Hirakawa would seize on the civilians killed by aliens these past days and blame TPC for sacrificing lives to achieve its goals, inciting public outrage.

This guy’s intentions are vile!

“Don’t let Qi Ming answer—say nothing until the press officer arrives,” Kenji whispered, but the order clearly couldn’t reach Qi Ming, buried under the reporters.

Tian Rui frowned, disliking Hirakawa’s behavior, and prepared to speak up.

Qi Ming spoke calmly: “TPC has always prioritized protecting the public and maintaining peace. Guided by this principle, we confront brutal aliens and eliminate them all.”

【No matter what they ask, just state your own viewpoint.】

Hirakawa blinked—he’d assumed Qi Ming was young and easy to manipulate, hoping to draw out key phrases he wanted.

But this reply left no opening whatsoever.

Hirakawa quickly resumed his fake professional smile and pressed on: “It seems you were confident all along—why didn’t you release your operational plan earlier to reassure the panicked citizens? Are there hidden truths the public doesn’t know?”

Qi Ming: “That’s not the point. The point is we eliminated multiple aliens with minimal losses, operated in the suburbs, suffered zero casualties, and caused no property damage to civilians—don’t you think our achievements are substantial?”

【If they keep asking this, reply: “That’s not the issue. The real issue is…” then continue stating your viewpoint.】

Hirakawa’s face flushed red and white—he realized this young man saw through his tactics.

He couldn’t keep pressing with sharp questions; if it became too obvious he was harassing him, he’d be blacklisted by every female viewer in Japan.

Chief Kenji and Saeki Rika were astounded—they hadn’t expected this guy to be not only powerful but also skilled at handling the media!

Meanwhile, the Victory Team members exchanged strange glances.

Yamaguchi: “These words… they sound familiar.”

Kei remembered clearly: “That’s the ‘response formula’ Qi Ming used when the captain was questioned by reporters on TV.”

At that moment, Qi Ming’s expression hardened as he turned to Hirakawa:

“I believe the public feels uneasy because some unethical media outlets exaggerate facts.”

“This reveals our sick societal values—I hope the industry rejects reports lacking professional ethics.”

“I believe the authorities must pressure these unscrupulous reporters to answer for their biased reporting.”

Chief Kenji and the Victory Team members were stunned again.

Qi Ming, after deflecting every attack, had just launched a counterstrike!

——————————

Monday arrived—this is the final week of our new book period.

Whether we make it into the top ten of the new book rankings depends on this last week!

Requesting monthly tickets, tips, and follows—tomorrow’s chapter will be an extra update!

(End of chapter)