Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

In the rest area after training, Daigo hesitated for a long time before finally walking over to Choi Myung, who was leaning against the railing enjoying the breeze. He clenched his sleeve and finally mustered up the courage to speak: "Um...senpai, I've always been curious, how do you possess such powerful combat abilities?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Ming turned to look at Daigo, then gazed at the distant sky, a hint of unfathomable melancholy in his eyes. "Actually, this isn't the first time I've traveled to other worlds."

"Ah, oh," Daigo paused, not fully understanding the meaning of "time travel," but he didn't dare to interrupt and just listened quietly.

"Of all the worlds I've traveled to before, I was the most unlucky." Cui Ming's voice softened, as if recalling distant memories. "Have you ever played a game called 'Earth Defense Force'?"

"Oh! I've played it before!" Daigo's eyes lit up instantly, and his tone became excited. "I even played it with Nori before. It's so exciting and fun fighting giant insects and alien creatures. Hmm?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Daigo suddenly realized something, and his pupils contracted sharply—wasn't the core force in "Earth Defense Force" the "EDF"? And Cui Ming had just mentioned "time travel," which reminded him of the "Storm One" that everyone had been discussing before.
"You...you mean it?" Daigo's voice trembled slightly.

Cui Ming turned his head, nodded slowly at him, and then pointed to himself: "I am Storm One in the game."

"?!?!?!? It really is you, senior?!" Daigo was completely stunned. He stood there with his mouth agape for a long time. When he played "Earth Defense Force," he had exclaimed "So cool!" while watching Storm One charging into battle on the screen. He never expected that in reality, this "game character" would be standing in front of him and would become his instructor!
"Yes, the first and second generations fought against alien invaders, and the fifth and sixth generations fought against the Star Guides. I personally experienced all of those things." Cui Ming's tone was calm, as if he were telling someone else's story, but to Daigo, it was like a thunderclap.

Daigo had played *Earth Defense Force 6* and was well aware of the terrifying power of the Star Guides in the game, as well as how many life-or-death crises Storm One had faced in the game. He swallowed hard and asked cautiously, "Senior... how many times have you reincarnated? And, Star Guides..."

Cui Ming didn't answer directly, but just twitched the corner of his mouth and changed the subject to another matter: "I've thought about it, I've already forgotten. Anyway, I can remember every single word from the TV programs. By the way, you just asked about the Star Guide?"

Dagu nodded.

“They ran away.” Cui Ming’s tone was colder. “Their artificial intelligence calculated that it would take three or four times the combat power of the entire Star Guide race to defeat me. Knowing they couldn’t win, they packed up and ran away.”

"..." Daigo was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly realized, "Then you must have killed quite a few Star Guides in the cycle of reincarnation, right? With your combat power, you could have wiped out their entire race several times over, right?"

"Yes, we've killed quite a few," Cui Ming readily admitted, a sharp glint in his eyes. "But it's alright, I've been chasing them. No matter which universe they run to, these guys won't escape."

Looking into Choi Myung's eyes, Daigo instantly understood—Choi Myung was incredibly vengeful. He clearly had no intention of letting the disaster and suffering the Star Guide had brought to Earth and others go unpunished. He would settle the score even across the universe.

"Senior, aren't you getting too tired doing this?" Daigo couldn't help but ask.

Cui Ming smiled and patted his shoulder. "It's good that you're tired. Protection isn't just about words, nor is revenge. But don't worry, once we've dealt with the Star Guide, I can finally take a good rest." Daigo looked at Cui Ming's profile and suddenly felt a heavy weight in his heart. He used to only think that Cui Ming was strong in combat, but now he realized that behind that "strength" lay countless cycles of tempering, and the perseverance to struggle on the edge of life and death time and time again. And this same Cui Ming was still moving forward to protect Earth and to seek justice—this dedication filled him with both admiration and heartache.

"Senior, if you ever need any help in the future, please feel free to contact me!" Daigo suddenly straightened up and said with a firm look in his eyes.

Seeing his serious expression, Cui Ming couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, when you get a little stronger, I might really need to trouble you."

The wind in the rest area gradually grew cooler. Daigo hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering him: "By the way, senpai, I saw in a tokusatsu drama before that Seven-senpai was always being tricked by honey traps, was that true?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Ming paused for a moment, then fell silent, his fingers unconsciously stroking the kettle in his hand. After a few seconds, he slowly nodded, his tone somewhat complicated: "It's true."

"..." Daigo frowned instantly, his tone full of indignation. "These aliens are too despicable! They actually transformed into the human form that Seven loved most and used such methods to scheme against him!" He felt sorry for Seven when he thought about how Seven trusted him completely but was deceived by aliens disguised as humans, and might even get hurt as a result.

Looking at Daigo's indignant expression, Cui Ming felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He patted Daigo's shoulder, his tone tinged with helplessness: "Yes, it was indeed despicable." He paused, his gaze drifting into the distance, as if recalling Seven's past experiences, "What did Seven do wrong? He just loved humans too much, protecting them like his own children, which is why he was so unguarded towards them. Those aliens exploited this weakness, using human appearances as disguise to deceive and hurt him time and time again."

Daigo felt even worse. He recalled how Seven had transformed and fought without hesitation to protect humanity, the gentle look in Seven's eyes when he looked at humans, and then the aliens using despicable means to exploit this "love." He felt extremely angry: "These aliens don't understand Seven's feelings at all! They only know how to destroy and scheme, and they don't deserve to have the emotion of 'love'!"

“That’s why we need to protect Seven even more.” Cui Ming’s tone became firm. “He is willing to trust humans without reservation, so we can’t let him get hurt because of that trust. If we encounter aliens disguised as humans again in the future, we must see through them immediately and not let them have a chance to get close to Seven.”

Daigo nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with determination: "Don't worry, senior! I will definitely pay more attention! If I encounter any aliens like this, I will absolutely not let them hurt Seven!" He even secretly planned to pay more attention to the methods of identifying "imposters" during future training, so that he could protect Seven in time if he really encountered such a situation.

Dan Moroboshi, who was chatting with Nozue not far away, seemed to have overheard their conversation and couldn't help but glance over, a faint smile playing on his lips. He was well aware of his weakness for being easily swayed by honey traps, and he knew it stemmed from his deep trust in humanity, but hearing Daigo and Choi Myung stand up for him still warmed his heart.

Perhaps this is why he has always protected humanity. These seemingly weak creatures always stand up for him and protect him when he needs them, telling him in the most straightforward way that his "love" is never a one-sided sacrifice, but a two-way protection.

Cui Ming noticed Moroboshi Dan's gaze, raised his chin at him, and said with a hint of teasing, "Did you hear that? Your 'children' all want to protect you."

Dan Moroboshi smiled and shook his head, saying nothing, but the tenderness in his eyes deepened. In the setting sun, the three shadows were stretched long, and a warm atmosphere filled the air—this trust and protection that transcended race was perhaps the most precious emotion in the universe. (End of Chapter)