Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

The operation against the Lightning Men was about to begin, and the command room at the Victory Team base was completely silent. Lina, who always advocated "prioritizing communication," was now staring at the Lightning Men's movement trajectory on the screen, her brow furrowed, not uttering a single word—no one could forget that when Cui Ming was fighting desperately on the front lines against Gabaruga's electromagnetic pulse, these creatures hiding in the ionosphere were emitting grating, gloating laughter.

"Do you really think we're good-tempered and can keep putting up with this?" Lina clenched her fists, her anger barely concealed. Even she, who longed for peace the most, didn't object, and no one else had any concerns. All eyes were on Cui Ming, waiting for him to give the order.

Just then, Ye Rui suddenly pointed to the dense red dots on the screen, his tone tinged with worry: "But now there's a problem... Instructor, there are too many Lightning Men, scattered throughout the entire ionosphere. Our weapons have limited coverage, making it difficult to suppress them all at once!"

Cui Ming remained completely calm, a knowing smile playing on his lips: "Don't worry, this problem is easy to solve. And... you'll soon find out why I insisted on launching this operation."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out his communicator, pressed the call button, and his voice clearly echoed throughout the command room: "Lin, Kaina, let's move out. Miyuki, you're in charge of remote support, monitoring ionospheric energy fluctuations."

"Received!" Lin answered crisply from the communicator. Immediately afterward, the screen displayed a live feed of the Yukikaze—the silver-gray fighter jet sliced ​​through the clouds like a sword, its energy cannons on either side flashing a cold blue light. Kaina, acting as the AI ​​assistant, precisely calculated the coordinates of the Lightning People's settlement and transmitted the data to Lin in real time.

"Lock onto the target area and fire the super-thermal difference beam!" Lin's voice was decisive and unquestionable.

The next second, the Yukikaze's energy cannon suddenly erupted, two beams of light, one extremely cold and the other extremely hot, instantly pierced through the clouds and went straight into the depths of the ionosphere. "Boom—!" A violent explosion came through the communicator, and the screen in the entire command room trembled.

Immediately afterward, a deafening scream echoed through the sky, clearly audible even on the ground. Everyone stared at the screen as a dark shadow plummeted from the clouds, crashing heavily onto the distant wasteland, raising a cloud of dust—it was a gigantic monster, its body covered in wrinkled gray skin, with the long, thin tentacles characteristic of the Lightning Man still remaining on its head, clearly a mutated form of the Lightning Man.

"I see..." Ye Rui's eyes widened, and he instantly understood. "The electromagnetic energy from Gaibaluga caused a large number of Lightning People to mutate!"

Cui Ming stared at the monster struggling to its feet on the screen, his eyes sharp as knives. He spoke into the communicator in a deep voice, "Monster codename confirmed—Gazort. All units, attack commence! Prioritize destroying its tentacles and severing its electromagnetic induction capabilities!"

The Flying Swallow fighter jet immediately took off, its onboard missiles whistling as they hurtled towards Gazot; ground-based defensive turrets also opened fire simultaneously, a dense barrage of artillery fire exploding around the monster. Lina, piloting the Flying Swallow II, precisely dodged the electromagnetic beams emitted by Gazot and launched a fierce attack on its abdominal wound.

In the command center, everyone was on edge—they finally understood Cui Ming's intentions: this operation was not only to eliminate the threat of the Lightning Men, but also to preemptively eliminate these monsters mutated by electromagnetic forces, preventing them from causing greater damage to the city in the future. Cui Ming watched the intense battle on the screen, his fingers lightly tapping the control panel, his tone calm yet resolute: "This is just the beginning. Since they have chosen to become a threat, there is no need to leave any room for maneuver."

On the distant wasteland, Gazot's screams rang out again, its movements growing increasingly sluggish under the suppression of artillery fire. The members of the Victory Team worked in perfect coordination, each attack hitting its vitals with pinpoint accuracy—this time, they would not give any threat a chance, nor would they forget those chilling laughs from the ionosphere.

While the Victory Team's fighters were still locked in combat with the first Gazort, Lin, piloting the Yukikaze, had already gained altitude again, launching a new attack on the ionospheric clouds. The super-thermal beams, like two sharp blades, repeatedly slashed through the clouds, each impact accompanied by a piercing scream—one, two, three… More and more Gazorts plummeted from the clouds, their gray bodies crashing onto the wasteland, raising clouds of dust that blotted out the sun.

"Shoot them to death! Don't let them get close to the city!" Cui Ming's voice echoed through the communicators to all the combat units.

"Roger!" the EDF unit responded in unison. The next second, a roar echoed from the ground as dozens of Balias armored vehicles emerged from concealment, their 140mm high-pressure howitzers on either side slowly rising, their muzzles aimed at the fallen Gazot. Those in the know understood that while these were nominally "anti-terrorism weapons," the 140mm caliber and upgraded high-explosive warheads suggested they were designed for dealing with terrorists—clearly, they were deadly weapons prepared to counter large-scale threats!
"Fire!" With the commander's order, dozens of howitzers fired simultaneously, orange flashes erupting at the muzzles as shells whistled towards their targets. "Boom—! Boom—!" The continuous explosions shook the earth. The Gazort at the very front, just as it tried to get up, was struck directly by a shell. Its gray skin was instantly blasted into a bloody mess, and its massive body staggered and "sat" to the ground, letting out a painful roar.

But this was just the beginning. A cloud of dust rose from the distant horizon as ten heavily armored Titan tanks, like moving steel behemoths, slowly drove into the battlefield. Their cannons were thicker than the howitzers of Balias, and the barrels still bore faint traces of rust from seawater corrosion—no one had expected that these Soul-Suppressing Cannons, originally used in naval warfare and capable of sinking aircraft carriers with a single shot, would now appear on land, aimed at these mutated monsters.

"Titan Squad, target the three Gazorts on the left, prepare the Soul Cannon!" Cui Ming's command was precise. The Titan tank's cannon barrel slowly adjusted its angle, and a ghostly blue energy condensed at the muzzle. The next second, ten thick energy beams roared out, like ten angry dragons, instantly piercing through the bodies of the three Gazorts.

"Boom!" Before Gazort could even scream, it was blown to pieces, its dark brown fluid splattering everywhere. The remaining Gazorts seemed to sense fear and began to flee in all directions, but they were relentlessly pursued by the Victory Team's fighters—the laser beams fired by the Flying Swallow 1 precisely severed their tentacles, while the Flying Swallow 2 bombarded their legs with missiles, rendering them completely immobile.

The Balias armored vehicle seized the opportunity and fired another salvo. The 140mm howitzer's explosive power was even more terrifying after the upgrade; each shell blasted a wound several meters in diameter into the Gazort, sending gray flesh and shattered armor flying everywhere. One Gazort attempted to unleash an electromagnetic beam in retaliation, but was directly hit in the head by the Titan tank's Soul Cannon. The beam dissipated instantly, and its head was blown to pieces, leaving only half a wreckage.

The battlefield had become a living hell, filled with the roar of steel behemoths, the screams of monsters, and the explosions of artillery shells. Cui Ming stood on the roof of the command vehicle, looking at the scene before him, his eyes unwavering—these Gazorts were a threat mutated from the Lightning Men, and if they were not completely eliminated today, they would only cause more casualties if they broke into the city in the future.

"Continue the attack! Until all Gazorts are confirmed to be completely lifeless!" Cui Ming ordered again. The EDF forces intensified their artillery fire, with the Barias' howitzers and Titan tanks' Soul-Suppressing Cannons alternating their attacks, while the Victory Team's fighters patrolled high above to prevent any escapees. (End of Chapter)