Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

The Victory Team has officially begun its mission.

The alarms at the Far East base no longer sound as frequently as during training. Most of the missions dispatched are relatively easy tasks such as "investigating abnormal energy fluctuations" and "monitoring the trajectory of unknown flying objects"—after all, there aren't that many monsters yet, and those cosmic forces that are eyeing Earth are still deterred by the Brave King's feat of "annihilating a star with one hammer," and dare not cause trouble easily.

The team members were happy to have a relaxed time. After each mission, they could chat about embarrassing moments during training or discuss where to go to relax on their next vacation. However, in this relaxed atmosphere, something gave everyone a more direct impression of the "brutality of the Cui family"—the scene of Cui Ming and Lindis maintaining weapons.

The people in the base had long agreed on the brutality of the invaders, but every time they saw Cui Ming and Lindis maintaining their spinal swords, they were still shocked by the scene.

That afternoon, as the Victory Team members passed by the weapons maintenance room, they saw a familiar scene again: Cui Ming and Lindis were each standing in front of a workbench, holding fine sandpaper and special lubricant, intently polishing the two strangely shaped spinal swords.

The sword gleamed with a cold, dark purple sheen, its clearly defined skeletal patterns standing out vividly under the light. The skull outline at the hilt was complete, and the energy cores embedded in the eye sockets occasionally flashed with a faint light as the sword was being polished. Cui Ming gripped the hilt, meticulously sanding away the scratches on the blade with even pressure, as if handling a precious work of art. Lindis, meanwhile, used a cotton swab dipped in lubricant to carefully wipe the joint between the blade and the hilt, preventing rust.

“This spinal cord sword…it’s terrifying every time I see it.” Nori muttered softly behind Horii, his eyes filled with awe—after all, it was a weapon made from the remains of an enemy, and just looking at it made him feel tense all over.

As a weapons expert, Horii could understand the practicality of this weapon, but he couldn't help but sigh: "Although I know it is meant to be used against invaders, using the enemy as a weapon is still too unconventional."

Shinjo and Lina stood a little distance away, silent, watching the two of them intently tending to their weapons. Shinjo's understanding of "brutality" deepened. Zongfang frowned, his gaze fixed on the sword, lost in thought—he could understand this method of "fighting evil with evil," especially after learning that these weapons were aimed at aliens who specialized in invading other planets to capture slaves and whose hands were stained with blood. He had no right to judge them.

Everyone already knew that these spinal swords were meant to kill a group of inhuman invaders, so even though the weapons themselves were terrifying, no one said much. However, seeing how meticulously Cui Ming and Lindis maintained them, one couldn't help but think: Wow, using enemies as weapons directly—that's ruthless, and truly impressive.
Cui Ming and Lindis seemed oblivious to the team members outside the door, continuing focused on their work. To them, maintaining these weapons wasn't a display of "brutality," but rather a warning to the enemy and a guarantee of their own combat effectiveness—after all, facing those vicious invaders, only by keeping the weapons in peak condition at all times could they deliver a fatal blow at the crucial moment.

The team members watched for a while, then quietly left. Afterwards, when faced with similar scenes, their initial shock gradually gave way to silent acceptance. The GUTS team's mission continued, but everyone understood more clearly: against true evil, gentleness and concession were useless; only by being strong enough could they protect the Earth.

That's brutal. We'll let the Victory Team visit the collection of Lindis's favorite head later.
After the team members quietly left, only Cui Ming, Lindis, and the newly arrived Ju Jianhui remained in the weapons maintenance room.

Lindis packed up her tools and left first. Jujian Hui walked to Cui Ming's side, her gaze falling on the Magma Spine Sword in his hand. She frowned slightly and remained silent for a long time before speaking: "Every time I see this weapon of yours, I feel quite..." The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back. Her eyes were full of complex emotions—on the sword, Magma's ferocious expression before his death was eternally frozen, and the bone patterns seemed to still retain the ferocity of that time. Just looking at it made one's heart sink.

To be honest, if anyone didn't know the origin of this weapon, seeing Cui Ming wielding a sword made from the remains of an enemy would probably lead them to assume that Cui Ming was the "bad guy." Cui Ming seemed oblivious to her hesitation, swinging the spinal cord sword in his hand. The blade sliced ​​through the air with a soft "whoosh," and he explained with a smile, "I can't help it, this thing is really useful. It's extremely heat-resistant. Last time we fought a high-temperature monster, ordinary weapons melted, but this one was perfectly fine."

He added, "And it can grow to a giant size. If the Ultra Warriors run into trouble, we can lend it to them. It's incredibly practical." His tone was full of approval for the weapon, and he didn't see anything wrong with using the remains of an enemy to make a sword.

"..." Listening to his words, Kei felt a headache coming on—this weapon, which was clearly so "horrifying," had become a "practical and useful item" in Choi's mouth, and she didn't know how to refute it.

But then she thought, what can she do? This is her own man. After hesitating for a few seconds, the helplessness in her heart gradually turned into tolerance: Fine, whatever he says is right! Anyway, Magma and his gang of aliens are slave traders who specialize in capturing slaves. They have no idea how much blood is on their hands. It's good that they die a painful death and their remains are made into weapons. It's a kind of retribution.

Seeing that she didn't speak but just stared at the sword, Cui Ming thought she was worried about the weapon's safety, so he shook the sword again: "Don't worry, I take good care of it, there won't be any problems. This sword will come in very handy next time we encounter similar invaders."

Seeing his serious expression, Megumi couldn't help but sigh and reached out to brush the small iron filings off his shoulder: "I know, it's good that you understand." Although she still found the weapon itself somewhat frightening, as long as Cui Ming used it against bad guys, she had nothing to say—after all, protecting the Earth always requires some "unconventional" methods.

Cui Ming smiled and nodded, putting the spinal cord sword back into its specially made scabbard.

"By the way, it seems like no one else besides Munakata knows about our relationship, right?"

"Um"

"Do you have time to talk to them?"

"Alright." (End of Chapter)