Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

Chapter 707 The Real Earth Protection Fortress

Inside the pyramid-shaped command center of TPC's Far East headquarters, which was under construction, Soichiro Sawai and Tetsuji Yoshioka stood side by side in front of a massive holographic projection screen. The screen displayed real-time monitoring footage of energy facilities around the world, but their gazes were fixed on a specific point in the Pacific Ocean—there, three enormous Taganura were consuming energy, their back vents spewing pale purple steam, like three interstellar warships poised for battle.

“Sawai, look at their energy reactions.” Yoshioka tapped the edge of the control panel lightly with his folding fan, and the data curves on the screen were rising at a visible speed. The body temperature of the three Taganura had exceeded 8000 degrees Celsius, their carapaces were glowing with a lava-like orange-red aura, and the horn-like protrusions on their heads were beginning to condense brilliant golden energy.

This state perfectly matches the "shining state" described by Choi Myung and recorded in the archives.

Sawai's fingers slid rapidly across the touchpad, retrieving the latest satellite tracking data: "Yoshioka, did you notice? The angles of their high-heat beams are synchronously calibrated." On the holographic map, the intersection of three golden rays pointed directly to an unusual heat source in geosynchronous orbit—there, a spaceship disguised as a meteorite was slowly unfolding its dark silver butterfly-shaped wings, its optical camouflage distorting like ripples on water amidst energy fluctuations.

Yoshioka suddenly slammed his folding fan heavily on the table: "This is impossible! They're just insects, how could they possibly have tactical coordination capabilities?" But before he finished speaking, the three Taganura simultaneously raised their heads, and beams of ultra-high-temperature light shot out from their horn-like protrusions, drawing three dazzling golden trails in the atmosphere. The moment the beams hit their targets, the entire command room was enveloped in blinding blue light, and the image on the holographic screen distorted violently, as if even space itself trembled under this terrifying energy.

"The energy shockwave had a range of 1200 kilometers," a doctor's voice came through the communicator, brimming with barely concealed excitement. "That spaceship—no, it should be called the mothership—has been completely vaporized!"

Sawai slowly turned around, looking out the window at the energy refining plant, a symbol of the pinnacle of human technology. There, Cui Ming was carrying the two-tailed monster by its tail, dragging it towards the EDF's containment pod like a disobedient pet. In the distance, the Taganura swarm was orderly arranged around the energy harvesting tower, their long snouts inserted into the delivery pipes like straws, yet no overload alarms were triggered—clearly, the TPC engineers had readjusted the energy distribution system according to Cui Ming's advice.

“Remember our argument?” Sawai’s voice suddenly deepened. “You said disbanding the Defense Force would strip humanity of its fangs, while I believed peace required tolerance.” He gestured for Yoshioka to look at the screen, where footage of the Taganura swarm shooting down the second spaceship was playing. “Now it seems we were both wrong. Fangs and tolerance—humanity needs both.”

Yoshioka was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Old Ze, do you know what's most ironic?" He pointed to Taganura on the screen, high-fiving the TPC robotic arm with its scythe arm, "These guys are consuming enough energy to keep the entire North American branch running for three months. But now," his eyes hardened, "I'd rather let them eat their fill, as long as they keep helping us take down those bastards hiding behind the meteorites."

At that moment, Cui Ming's communication request suddenly came through to the command room. On the screen, he was tapping the head of the two-tailed monster with his slimy fingers: "Sawai, Yoshioka, I suggest installing energy buffer devices on the Taganuras." Behind him, a Taganura suddenly turned its head, its horned protrusions flashing golden light again, startling the two-tailed monster into immediately curling into a ball. "The energy output of these big guys is too unstable. What if they get carried away one day and blow up the moon?" Cui Ming grinned. "I don't want to get scolded by Captain Gijima."

Sawai and Yoshioka exchanged a glance and burst out laughing at the same time.

In this new era where monsters and humans coexist, perhaps Cui Ming's tough yet humorous communication style is the true way to survive. Yoshioka reached for the communicator: "Cui Ming, tell Dr. Kashiwamura that I said—install the best energy regulators on the Taganuras, and deduct the cost from my retirement fund!"

Outside the window, the Taganura swarm once again collectively unleashed high-heat beams, reducing the third ill-intentioned spaceship to cosmic dust. In that blinding golden light, Sawai seemed to see a future where humans and monsters alike would protect each other—an era where the fear of the starry sky was no longer necessary, an era where even the Twin-Tailed Monster had learned to line up for energy cubes.

Of course, this is something we can only think about for now.
But who knows what the future holds?

As for whether there are any problems with Taganura dismantling spaceships like this, when those ships hidden in the darkness of space were repeatedly struck by Taganura's million-degree high-temperature beams and turned into cosmic dust, there were quite a few voices of concern. But thinking about it more deeply, those enemies that Taganura specifically grew to gigantic size to deal with are definitely not good things! Looking back at Taganura's past, it was originally just a small beetle monster. In order to fight against powerful opponents, it did not hesitate to devour a large amount of liquefied Titerim, causing its body to swell to 60 meters and its weight to soar to 50000 tons, all to fight against those evil cosmic forces that wanted to invade Earth.

The battle logs provided by Cui Ming reveal that the Taganula once fired a high-heat beam, precisely hitting the invading Koala planet and destroying a small asteroid. Later, facing a similarly dangerous situation, even with their own lives in grave danger, several Taganulas unhesitatingly unleashed their strongest attack to try and stop the invaders from destroying Earth. This series of actions proves that the spaceships targeted by the Taganulas were undoubtedly owned by malicious individuals, posing a deadly threat to Earth's ecosystem and even human survival.

Moreover, it was Earth monsters that were taking action, not us humans—in a sense, this was a clever situation. The conflict between Earth monsters and cosmic invaders diverted attention from humanity's own military strength. While Taganura was engaged in fierce combat with those spaceships, humanity had more time to develop technology and strengthen its defenses. For example, TPC could use this time to further optimize energy refining technology and improve its research on monsters and extraterrestrial life, thereby enhancing its overall ability to respond to crises. On the grand chessboard of the universe, humanity, as a pawn, needs to be carefully positioned, and Taganura's actions undoubtedly created more room for maneuver for humanity, allowing it to accumulate strength in the shadows and wait for the best opportunity to counterattack.

(End of this chapter)