Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

The Reicuran aliens panicked completely, frantically reaching for the escape devices, hoping to escape before the ship completely went out of control. But as soon as they touched the control buttons, the "tricks" they had planted beforehand seemed to have been preordained, exploding one after another.

The pilot of the left-hand spaceship had just pressed the ejection button for the escape pod when, with a "bang," the hatch didn't pop open. Instead, a metal plate with spikes sprang out from under the control panel, slamming into its forehead. Grayish-green blood flowed down the "signal eye." It clutched its head, about to curse, when it accidentally pressed the red button next to it—a "surprise" it had secretly installed for the co-pilot yesterday, intending to embarrass him after conquering Earth. Now, however, it had triggered a mechanism; a sudden burst of reverse propellant shot from the tail of the spaceship, causing it to spin like a drunkard and crash into its companion spaceship.

Inside the wrecked spaceship, the leader frantically tugged at the escape pod's lever, but it wouldn't budge. That morning, to prevent his subordinates from escaping first, he had specially wrapped steel cables around the lever and welded half of the joint shut. Now, the more desperate he became, the less he could pull, and he ended up pulling too hard, snapping the lever off. Worse still, this tug triggered another trap—an "energy leak valve" secretly installed by the right-hand pilot. The spaceship's energy core instantly began to leak, a pale red energy mist filling the cabin, the warning lights on the instrument panel flashing like exploding lights, and the entire hull of the spaceship began to smoke, as if it had just been pulled from a fire.

The situation on the right-hand spaceship was even more absurd. The pilot tried to activate the backup engine to escape, but after pressing the button, the engine didn't respond. Instead, an electric shock device popped out from under the seat—something it had prepared for a "potential adversary" last week, only to find itself in that seat today. An electric current surged through its body, causing it to convulse and collapse in front of the control panel. Its hand accidentally pressed the weapon fire button, and a red beam shot towards the spinning spaceship on the left. With a deafening boom, a large hole was blasted in the left-hand spaceship's wing, billowing black smoke that drifted towards the space station.

The funniest part was the small spaceship in the middle. The pilot tried to slip away in the chaos, but as soon as he opened the hatch, he was hit in the back by a "gravity anchor" that fell from above—it was something he had secretly installed on the neighboring spaceship the day before, intending to cause it to crash due to excessive weight during takeoff. Unexpectedly, one of his teammates had "switched" it onto his own ship. As soon as the gravity anchor activated, the entire spaceship sank instantly, crashing directly into the leader's leaky spaceship. The hulls of both ships were deformed from the impact, parts rained down, and the flames they emitted merged into one.

In the control room of the Earth space station, the operators were dumbfounded. They had expected a fierce battle, but the screens showed nothing but the Reicuran aliens' self-inflicted farce: some ships spun in place and crashed into their teammates, some were electrocuted by their own traps, and others were stunned by the gravity devices they had secretly installed. In the end, several ships were tangled together, emitting black smoke like a string of candied hawthorns, occasionally exploding into small sparks, looking like a bunch of broken toys "fighting" each other in space.

When Cui Ming received the live feed, he was drinking water and almost spat it out when he saw the scene. He pointed at the chaotic Reijuran aliens on the screen and laughed at Moroboshi Dan beside him: "These guys... are more troublesome than cat and mouse. They're really good at betraying their own kind."

Dan Moroboshi couldn't help but smirk as he looked at the last burning spaceship on the screen, his tone slightly mocking: "Looks like they can 'take care' of themselves without us even lifting a finger. This kind of alliance can't even defend itself, yet they want to invade Earth?"

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, the last struggling spaceship exploded in space with a detonation of its energy core when the pilot tried to defuse a bomb planted by a teammate. The debris scattered around the space station, but was easily cleared by the station's defense systems. Throughout the entire process, humanity didn't even fire a single shell; the Reicuran aliens, because of their own trap, had their "invasion plan" shattered.

Watching the farcical scene unfold on the monitor screen—the Reicuran aliens killing each other and ultimately exploding into a chaotic mess—the operators in the space station's control room couldn't help but laugh. Even Dan Moroboshi had a faint smile on his face. But Cui Ming didn't relax. He frowned, staring at the screen, his fingers sliding back and forth on the control panel, zooming in on every corner of outer space—years of combat experience told him that a selfish and cunning race like the Reicuran would never send everyone to their deaths; they would definitely have a way out.

"Stop laughing. Carefully check the surrounding airspace for any escaped ships." Cui Ming's voice interrupted the laughter, his tone serious and unwavering. "These aliens are masters of leaving a backup plan; it's impossible for them to be completely wiped out." The operators immediately stopped laughing and focused intently on the search. A few minutes later, one operator suddenly exclaimed, "Captain Cui! Found it! To the right of the explosion area, there's a small escape pod rapidly evacuating, heading towards the asteroid belt!"

On the screen, an inconspicuous gray escape pod was desperately trying to escape under the cover of smoke and dust from the explosion. If Cui hadn't ordered a thorough search, it might have easily gotten away with it.

"As expected, some escaped." Cui Ming's eyes turned cold. He reached for the walkie-talkie, pressed the call button, and his voice echoed through the communicator to all combat units: "All units! Attention! A Raichulan alien escape pod has been spotted, heading towards the asteroid belt! Activate the interception plan immediately and capture it at all costs! We absolutely cannot let it get away!"

He paused, his tone hardening with a hint of gritted teeth: "Remember! We need to see the 'insects' alive or dead! Bring them back to base for interrogation immediately after you catch them! These guys are definitely organized intruders, and they're certainly hiding other schemes! After the interrogation, I'm going to give them a good 'roasting' in the hottest fire, so they'll know what happens when they dare to cause trouble on Earth!!!"

A unified response came from the other end of the walkie-talkie: "Roger! Mission accomplished!"

Soon, two Flying Swallow fighter jets took off from the defense base near the space station and chased after the escape pods; at the same time, the EDF patrol ships deployed on the edge of the asteroid belt also received orders to adjust their course and form a pincer attack.

Cui Ming stared at the shrinking pursuit distance on the screen, his fingers lightly tapping the control panel. He knew that the Reicuran aliens in this escape pod likely possessed more information about the invasion plan—such as whether other accomplices were lurking on Earth, or what other underhanded tricks they might have up their sleeves. Therefore, he had to seize them no matter what, and not give them any opportunity to pass messages or cause trouble again.

Looking at Choi Myung's tense profile, Moroboshi Dan couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect you to be so cautious. Anyone else might have let their guard down in that situation."

"Laughs aside, we can't be careless in this battle." Cui Ming didn't turn his head, his eyes still fixed on the screen. "The more vigilant we are towards these aliens, the less danger Earth will be in. Besides, 'barbecue butt' isn't just a casual remark; I need to make them taste the price of offending Earth." (End of Chapter)