Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

The escape pod darted wildly through space. Inside, the Reicuran alien clung to the control stick, his claws trembling. His mind was filled with the images of his companions betraying and killing each other. The more he thought about it, the more regretful and devastated he became—he never expected that these guys who usually called him brother were all hiding such extraordinary skills!

"Good heavens! So you guys were the ones who were hiding the deepest!" It mentally ranted as it dodged the pursuit of the Flying Swallow. "What 'unbreakable alliance'? It's all bullshit! You all have your own little schemes up your sleeves, just waiting to sabotage your teammates and hog all the benefits, huh?!"

The more it thought about it, the more absurd it seemed—it had initially thought that secretly preparing an escape pod was already quite "cunning," but compared to its companions, it was nothing! That seemingly honest, short, and chubby companion had actually installed reverse thrust in someone else's spaceship; the leader was even more ruthless, not only welding the escape pod's lever shut but also hiding an energy leak valve; even the most inconspicuous tall and thin guy had installed an electric shock device under his seat!

"So I'm the youngest and most innocent one out there?!" The Reicuran alien almost cried, slamming its claws on the control panel. "At most, I just wanted to run away, but you guys went and even wanted to scatter our teammates' ashes! This isn't invading Earth, this is a group of people ganging up on each other!"

Before it could finish its rant, an even more devastating image flashed through its mind—before setting off, it saw its wife stuff a black box into its spare storage compartment. When asked about it, she only said it was "for emergencies." Now, thinking back, the shape of that box was exactly the same as the device on the leader's ship that detonated the energy core! And its son, who had secretly installed a "small part" at the bottom of the escape pod a few days ago—now it realized that it was clearly a jammer that could remotely lock the engine!
"Damn it...why?!" The Reicuran alien was completely dumbfounded. His claws loosened, and the control stick almost tipped over. "Even his wife and kids have been set up with a bunch of traps?! What kind of hell am I living in?! Are the words 'betraying our own people' etched into the very bones of us Reicuran aliens?!"

Looking at the approaching Flying Swallow fighter jet behind it, and thinking of its family who were full of "surprise", it suddenly felt a little desperate. If it had known that its companions and family were so ruthless, it should never have come to Earth to carry out the invasion. It would have been so much better to stay at home in peace! Now, it has become the only one that escaped the net, being chased by humans like a stray dog. Even if it can escape, it will probably not have a good ending when it goes back to face the traps set by its wife and children.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have pretended to be so 'innocent'!" It slammed its fist on the control panel. The escape pod lurched due to the loss of control, nearly crashing into an asteroid. "If I had prepared some sabotage items back then, I might have already killed all my teammates and made a clean getaway! I wouldn't be being chased like this now!"

But it was too late for regrets. The laser lock-on alarm on the Flying Swallow had already sounded, and the escape pod's engines were malfunctioning due to the tense operation. The Reicuruan stared at the flashing red warning on the screen, only one thought remaining in his mind: If I had known this would happen, I would never have teamed up with these "ruthless" people! My little schemes were nothing compared to theirs!

"The spaceship ahead! You've been targeted! Surrender immediately!" The pilot's shout came through the loudspeaker of the Flying Swallow One. The red dot of the laser sight was firmly locked on the engine of the escape pod. If the Reicuran aliens dared to make any move, they could be shot down immediately.

But the instinct for survival made the Reicuran alien completely deaf to advice. It stared intently at the control panel, its claws turning white from the effort, with only one thought in its mind: "I must live! I must live!" The intense will to survive unleashed unprecedented power in it, and it slammed down the hidden button on the escape pod—its only "trump card" that it hadn't told anyone about: a simple virtual image generation device.

"Go! Go! I want to live!" the Raichulan alien roared, his hands flying across the control panel. The next second, a dozen or so phantom spaceships identical to the escape pod suddenly appeared around it. These phantoms were not only realistic in appearance, but they could also simulate energy fluctuations and even fire fake light blasts at the Flying Swallow, trying to confuse the enemy and take the opportunity to escape.

Seeing the suddenly appearing "spaceship," the pilot of Flying Swallow No. 1 was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted: "Don't be fooled by the illusion! Lock onto the real escape pod and prepare to attack!" But before Flying Swallow could make a move, the dense artillery fire from the ground shattered the illusions of the Reiculan aliens—the EDF ground air defense forces had received orders to lay a tight net in the area where the escape pods might make an emergency landing.

"Let them see! What a fire net looks like!" At the command of the ground-based air defense position, hundreds of anti-aircraft guns opened fire simultaneously. Dazzling flashes of fire erupted from the black muzzles as dense shells rained down on the sky, forming a metallic net of fire covering the entire airspace. These anti-aircraft guns had been specially modified; their shells could not only accurately lock onto physical targets but also detect illusions through energy detection, giving the Reicuran aliens no chance to slip through.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Shells struck the outer shell of the escape pod one after another. Although the phantom was still moving in vain, the real escape pod was already engulfed in dense artillery fire. The engine was hit first, billowing black smoke. The escape pod lost its balance and plummeted to the ground like a kite with a broken string.

"Hmph hmph hmph ahhhhhh! Ughhhhhhh!!!" The Raichuran alien let out a desperate scream as it desperately tried to maneuver the out-of-control escape pod into a relatively flat area. Finally, the escape pod crashed onto a barren wasteland with a loud bang, its outer shell shattering and parts scattered all over the ground, the flames illuminating the surrounding night sky.

The Reicuran alien crawled out of the deformed cockpit, its body covered in wounds, its gray-green skin stained with oil and blood. It staggered to its feet, glanced back at the completely destroyed escape pod, and heard the roar of vehicles in the distance—the EDF ground forces were on their way.

"I have to run! I have to run even on the ground!" The Reicuran alien gritted its teeth, enduring the excruciating pain as it ran deeper into the wasteland. It knew the spaceship was destroyed, the phantom was useless, and its only hope now was to find a hiding place by groping its way through the unfamiliar terrain. But it hadn't run far when it heard even more rapid footsteps behind it, along with the barking of wolfhounds—the human search had begun. (End of Chapter)