The legend of Tiga

Chapter 2270 The Fourth Dimension
"Koda!!!"

Having witnessed Koda Toshiyuki being swept away by a vine as thick as an arm, Kibi Kosuke was furious and screamed at the top of his lungs. He immediately grabbed the Brest pistol and was about to crawl back inside.

Even knowing that danger lurked within, he still disregarded it completely. When his team members were in peril, he fled. He could no longer be the captain of the team, and he would have no face to face his family.

But the tentacle-like vine was one step ahead of him. Before Kibi Gonzalo could even crawl inside, a vine appeared out of thin air in front of the cave entrance. It was as if the air was the soil and the vine had sprouted and grown, pushing its way out of the ground. It was quite strange, but it had really appeared. With a 'whoosh,' it reached out towards Kibi Gonzalo, intending to entangle him as well.

"Captain!" Kariya Yukihira exclaimed in alarm, but the vine was too fast. Kariya Yukihira had barely seen the vine and had barely uttered a sound when the vine, which had appeared only two or three meters away from Kibi Gousuke, had already reached in front of him and swiftly wrapped around his neck.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the vines had wrapped around Kibi Gosuke's neck several times and were pulling back, causing the originally loose vines to suddenly tighten.

The sudden force almost pulled Kibi Gousuke, who was about to rush forward, down. Even so, he staggered forward and was about to crash into the hard wall when Kariya Kohei quickly grabbed Kibi Gousuke and helped him stabilize his body. At the same time, he grabbed the vine with his other hand and pulled backward with all his might to help Kibi Gousuke catch his breath.

Kariya Kohei instinctively raised his gun, but only after the muzzle was halfway up did he realize that the distance was too close and the shooting space was too small. Not to mention whether he could cut the vines, the captain would definitely be injured.

Therefore, Kohei Kariya immediately changed his strategy, lunging forward and pushing off the wall with his raised right foot. He then grabbed the vines and pulled on Gosuke Kibi with his outstretched hands. He straightened his right leg and leaned back, his muscles bulging and trembling as he unleashed his full strength to pull the captain and the vines backward.

This was indeed a great help. It not only helped Hibi Gosuke regain his balance, but also loosened the vines wrapped around his neck, allowing him to catch his breath. He quickly grabbed the vines with both hands and pulled back with Kariya Kohei to avoid being dragged in by the neck.

Then his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the cave entrance, trying to find Koda Toshiyuki's figure.

Even when he was in danger himself, as soon as he felt a little better, he immediately thought of the safety of his teammates.

At least he had Kouhei Kariya to help him, but Toshiyuki Koda was completely ignored.

"Koda!"

While struggling to pull the vines wrapped around his neck back, Kibi Gosuke shouted Koda Toshiyuki's name at the top of his lungs, trying to pinpoint Koda's location by sound and then look for an opportunity to deal with him.

Before Koda Toshiyuki could answer, Kariya Kohei, who was straining so hard that his veins were bulging, gritted his teeth and roared, "Captain, push harder!"

Even with their combined strength, they couldn't pull the vines over; instead, they were being pulled closer little by little. At this rate, forget about creating distance for shooting; they might even be pulled inside by the vines.

"I've already used all my strength," Hibi Gousuke said through gritted teeth, veins bulging on his face, his teeth almost breaking, and his muscles trembling as if he were about to burst from overload.

Even though she had exerted all her strength, using every ounce of her might, she still couldn't resist the strange force coming from the other end of the vine. Her feet on the ground were sliding little by little, and her legs, which were bracing against the wall, were being squeezed and deformed.

If this continues, forget about saving others; he might even lose his own life. From inside the room came Koda Toshiyuki's shouts: "Captain, don't worry about me! You guys get out of here!"

Before he could finish speaking, his voice abruptly stopped, sending a chill down Hibi Kosuke's spine. A sense of foreboding washed over him, and he forgot all about his own safety, repeatedly calling out, "Koda, Koda!"

But there was no response from inside, causing Kibi Gosuke's heart to plummet into an abyss of despair.

He himself was being dragged toward the hole blasted in the wall. Despite his best efforts, he was simply outmatched in strength. So, Kibi Gonnosuke gritted his teeth and immediately prepared to draw his gun. It was better to injure himself than to be dragged in and left to be at the mercy of others.

at this time:

call out!
A tiny beam of light instantly struck the vines wrapped around Kibi Gosuke's neck, and a sound was heard—

boom!
With a loud bang, sparks flashed before his eyes, momentarily blinding him and forcing him to close them. But the sound of the explosion still echoed in his ears. The vines that had been tightly binding him suddenly lost their strength, causing the powerfully striding Gonji to lose his balance and fall backward, tumbling together with the equally fallen Kariya Yukihira.

As it rolled, the eyesight diminished dramatically, but the ears could clearly hear a series of explosive sounds, which obviously interrupted the vines' attack. However, the attack did not stop; it continued to launch attacks, knocking back those vines that tried to squeeze out of the holes in the wall, preventing any of them from breaking through.

After rolling around several times, Gonno Hibi finally stopped. Although he was a little dizzy, Gonno Hibi forced himself to get up quickly, and pulled Kouhei Kariya up with him as well.

Before they could even stand properly, a very familiar voice came from their right rear: "Are you two alright?"

"Chiba!"

"Captain Chiba!"

Overjoyed, the two turned around almost simultaneously and saw Chiba Makoto, holding a laser gun, striding towards them. It was clearly him who had fired the shot in time to save Kibi Kosuke from being dragged into that strange room.

"You're finally here, that's great," Kibi Kosuke finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then said urgently, "Koda, Koda has been swept away, he's in here. By the way, this place is very strange. No matter which way you go in the corridor, you always end up back in the hall. And all the rooms are exactly the same and upside down."

Kibi Gosuke spoke succinctly and rapidly, recounting the information they had painstakingly gathered, to prevent Chiba Makoto from entering in complete darkness like they had, only to find himself lost and with one of his team members trapped.

"I understand." Chiba Makoto nodded, without stopping to exchange pleasantries. Instead, he quickened his pace, rushed forward as if running, bent down, and with a burst of strength, darted through the hole blasted in the wall. His courage in entering such a dangerous place without hesitation was admirable, even knowing he was Ultraman.

After all, strength is strength, and courage is courage. Having strength doesn't make you fearless. A fully armed recruit might not be as good as a desperate man wielding a screwdriver.

"Kariya, you go and meet up with Nakajima and the others immediately, and have them drop their heavy weapons, understand?"

Without waiting for Kariya Kohei's reply, Kibi Gosuke turned around and rushed towards the hole again. This time, with Chiba Makoto providing cover from inside, he successfully and smoothly passed through and re-entered the strange, upside-down room.

Chiba Makoto was holding his uniquely designed laser gun, pointing the muzzle upwards and firing incessantly at the vines. Every time he pulled the trigger, a section of vine was blasted to pieces.

The vines that could withstand the power of Brest's pistol beam were like soft persimmons in front of this 'Ultra Gun'. They broke with a single blow and shattered with a single explosion, posing no threat whatsoever. In no time, they were blasted into a complete rout by Chiba Makoto, with pieces falling to the ceiling. The survivors quickly retracted and disappeared back into the air.

Kibi Gosuke, standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

How long has it been? From the first beam of light that broke his neck until now, it's probably only been ten or twenty seconds. The dense, forest-like, seaweed-like vines have been dealt with? That's incredibly efficient.

Wait--

"Where's Koda?" Kibi Gosuke raised his head high, scanning the surroundings, trying to find Koda Toshiyuki's figure among the numerous instruments and equipment on the ceiling.

However, there was no trace of Toshiyuki Koda, neither on the surface nor in the cracks.

Koda Toshiyuki, a grown man, disappeared from sight in just half a minute, vanishing without a trace.

"Were they taken away?"

When Chiba Makoto rushed into the room, he didn't see Koda Toshiyuki, who had obviously been swept away by the vines earlier.

"Where can we take him? To another room?"

Kibi Gosuke asked repeatedly, his eagerness evident in his voice.

Koda Toshiyuki was taken away right under his nose, and to cover for him, which filled Kibi Kosuke with guilt. He felt that he was the one who had harmed him, otherwise...
"Don't rush, let's check the other rooms first."

Compared to Kibi Gosuke's impatience, Chiba Makoto appeared very calm, which made Kibi Gosuke quickly suppress his inner turmoil. He nodded and said, "I was too hasty. He must still be nearby."

"Let's go check on that seed in the hall first."

As he spoke, Chiba Makoto took the lead and walked out of the room, arriving at this eerie corridor.

Kibi Gosuke followed behind, and was shocked after just one glance, blurting out, "How could this be?"

Before they came out, the corridor was filled with dry vines, and the soybeans had been pulled down and trampled on the floor. But now?
What unfolded before them was a lush, verdant landscape bursting with life. Full vines and lush foliage filled the walls and corridors, as if they had entered a vineyard in the height of summer, with vines and leaves everywhere.

But this is a corridor!

Where did all the withered vines and rotten leaves go?
Chiba Seiko carefully examined the layers of vines and leaves, a smile playing on his lips: "This is interesting."

"Do you see anything?"

Kibi no Gosuke couldn't figure it out either, but that's okay, there's an expert by his side.

“I have a clue, but I’m not entirely sure yet,” Chiba Makoto said, walking forward. “Do you know what a Möbius strip is?”

"You mean, an infinitely looping two-dimensional representation in a three-dimensional world?"

"That's right. In the three-dimensional world, a Möbius strip is a double-sided surface, which is a topological figure. We can see its curvature and twisting, but this is based on the coordinate system of 'height'. In the two-dimensional world, there is no height, so there is no curvature and twisting. Therefore, in the two-dimensional world, a Möbius strip is a straight line."

"A Klein bottle? You mean, this is actually a Klein bottle?"

Kibi immediately thought of the Klein bottle, which existed only in theory and could not be manufactured in the three-dimensional world at all:

Extend the top of the bottle, then twist it 180 degrees to enter the bottle and connect it with hole 5 at the bottom, thus obtaining a torus without 'edge'.

But just as a Möbius strip cannot exist in a two-dimensional world, a Klein bottle does not exist in a three-dimensional world; only theories and formulas describe its existence.

According to current theories, the three-dimensional world has height, which is an additional dimension compared to the two-dimensional world, while the four-dimensional world has time, which is an additional dimension compared to the three-dimensional world.

In the three-dimensional world, time is invisible and intangible, but in the four-dimensional world, it is probably easy to observe and visualize. However, since this is a three-dimensional world, time becomes an invisible, intangible, and impossible concept to exist.

Upon hearing this, Gosuke Hibi immediately understood why they were trapped in the corridor. They had been walking forward, but they kept coming back to the beginning, with corridors in both directions.

It turns out they were trapped in a 'Klein bottle'. But here's the question: how did a Klein bottle end up here?
How was it initiated?

Wait!
Kibi Gonnosuke didn't know the answer to the first question, but he had some insight into the second one: the loud 'bang! bang! bang!' sounds they heard while they were trapped in the corridor.

Originally, he thought those tentacles had broken through some kind of 'seal' and thus appeared in the world, but now it seems there are other answers, and they involve dimensions and spacetime.

“If it’s fourth-dimensional time, then we should be at a point when the vines are still thriving.” Chiba Makoto muttered to himself, then waved his hand and said, “Let’s go, let’s go ahead and see what that giant egg looked like before it withered.”

"Ok!"

When Kibi Gosuke heard what Chiba Makoto said, he actually became a little interested. Of course, if he weren't under pressure to find Koda Toshiyuki, he would be even more interested.

The two strode forward, occasionally pushing aside the drooping vines and protruding branches as they walked. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination.

The largest hall on the first floor of the research institute was unsurprisingly filled with vines and branches. At first glance, one might mistake it for a primeval forest that had been untouched for thousands of years.

The central area is a raised earthen slope, and...
A giant, beating heart!

(End of this chapter)