Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

On the open ground outside the lava cave, Daigo had just deactivated his transformation and was still reeling from the battle. His mind was filled with the image of Cui Ming blasting the eyes of the Flame Demon Warrior with a shotgun. He looked at Cui Ming walking ahead and couldn't help but swallow hard—that feeling of disbelief welled up inside him again.

Damn, the drill instructors are terrifying.

Daigo can fight when he transforms into Ultraman Tiga, but that's with the help of Ultraman's power. Cui Ming, on the other hand, can fight the Flame Demon Warrior head-on with just a gun and a set of tactical moves, even more decisively than Daigo, the "Giant of Light." These are completely different concepts! One is "fighting by borrowing power," the other is "being power itself." Thinking of this, Daigo couldn't help but sigh inwardly: As expected of the instructor! Powerful! No need for further explanation!

Before he could finish his reflection, Cui Ming suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on him, giving his figure a strangely solemn air. Just as Daigo was about to go forward to ask, he heard Cui Ming's voice: "Daigo, you go back first, I have to go out for a bit."

"Huh?" Daigo was stunned. "Now? Where to?"

The next second, he saw a scene he would never forget—Cui Ming raised his hand and unzipped his coat, revealing a pocket inside filled with all sorts of transformation devices! There were silver clasp badges, red and blue wrist devices, and a prop that shone with a gold and silver luster and resembled the overlapping sun and moon, which was particularly dazzling in the setting sun.

"?!?!? No! Instructor?!" Daigo's eyes widened instantly, his mouth agape enough to fit a fist. He never imagined that Cui Ming, who usually seemed to rely solely on weapons and tactics, actually possessed so many transformation devices! This shocked him even more than seeing Cui Ming brutally beat up the Flame Demon Warrior.

Cui Ming casually picked up the "Sun and Moon Shining Together" transformation device, tracing the surface texture with his fingertips. His tone was calm but with a hint of solemnity: "My friend gave it to me. Daigo, we are human, and there are some differences between us and Ultraman. Remember that."

Daigo nodded blankly, his mind a complete mess, and could only mechanically reply, "Yes."

Cui Ming said no more, raised the Sun and Moon Transformation Device in his hand, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and then suddenly spread them to the sides. A dazzling golden light instantly burst from the transformation device, completely enveloping Cui Ming's figure. Daigo subconsciously shielded his eyes with his hand, and heard a familiar light fluctuation in his ears—the energy reaction unique to Ultraman when he transforms.

When the light faded, Cui Ming's figure was no longer there; in its place stood a giant, entirely silver-blue with a red crescent-shaped timer on his chest. A gentle yet dignified aura emanated from him—it was none other than the legendary "Compassionate Warrior"—Ultraman Cosmos!

Gauss looked down at Daigo, who was still in a daze, and slowly nodded, as if saying goodbye. Then, he bent his knees slightly, leaped into the air, and a pale blue light band emanated from his body. Like a shooting star, he streaked across the sky and flew straight into the depths of space.

On his journey into space, Cui Ming's consciousness merged with Cosmos's power, his mind focused on only one thought: "Alright, let me see what that is." Earlier in the cave, he had sensed an unusual energy fluctuation in space, belonging neither to monsters nor to any known aliens. That faint sense of threat compelled him to investigate personally. On the ground, Daigo finally recovered, staring at the direction Cosmos had disappeared, his mouth still agape. He now understood what Cui Ming meant by "there's a difference between humans and Ultraman"—some power is never gained through "transformation," but rather by an innate strength that rivals the power of light.

A silver-blue light streak traced a straight line in the vacuum of space. Cui Ming, in his avatar Gauss, traversed at several times the speed of normal flight. His sleek, moon-god-like form broke through the interstellar dust until a distorted, orange-red light object entered his field of vision—the object was hurtling toward the silver-white spacecraft ahead with an irregular trajectory. The words "Gipsy III" printed on the hull were clearly visible under the starlight.

Gauss froze in mid-air, raised his right arm toward the light object, and said in a steady but undeniably authoritative voice: "Stop."

The orange-red light body continued its movement without pause, and the energy fluctuations on its surface suddenly became more intense. Its edge had already touched the left wing engine of the Jeep III, and the hull began to glow with an eerie red light—a sign that Ligadron was infiltrating the ship's energy core.

Without any unnecessary movement, the silver-blue patterns around Gauss's body suddenly faded, and a crimson light spread from the timer to his entire body like flames. The crescent-shaped fins on his head transformed into wedges, vertical lines split from the base of his ears to the corners of his eyes, and a diamond-shaped ruby ​​ornament appeared on his forehead, with asymmetrical swirling stripes flowing across his body. The transition to corona mode took only 0.3 seconds, and a blazing energy field instantly spread, baking the surrounding interstellar dust until it shone.

Ligadron's energy form trembled violently, its previously smooth infiltration motion becoming sluggish. It had never seen such a rapid form change before, and the oppressive feeling, carrying the blazing heat of the sun, made it instinctively sense a deadly threat—this was completely different from the cosmic creatures it had encountered before, which had not even given it any room to maneuver.

Gauss crossed his left arm across his chest, his right index finger together, and three crimson arrows shot out like meteors, accurately striking the energy tendrils connecting Ligadron to the spaceship. With a hissing sound, the orange-red light body flickered violently, forced to detach from the Gypto III engine, turning into irregular light clusters and retreating backward.

Before Ligadron could regain his footing, Gauss had closed in to within a hundred meters. His hands moved swiftly in front of his chest, conjuring a concentrated solar-powered fireball in his palms, flame patterns flowing across its surface—the high-frequency skill "Blazing Wave" from Corona Mode. The fireball, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, hurtled towards Ligadron, exploding into a ring of fire upon contact.

The moment the orange-red light was enveloped in flames, the energy fluctuations became severely disordered, and the light at the edges began to dissipate. Ligadron panicked completely; it had only intended to parasitize the spaceship to absorb energy, never expecting such a ferocious attack. The intangible energy core contracted violently, then suddenly erupted with a blinding red light, forcefully tearing a gap through the flames.

Gauss did not pursue, but remained suspended in the void in his launch posture, his crimson body in corona mode resembling a burning meteorite under the starlight. He watched as the energy form of Ligadron accelerated away in a distorted trajectory, its surface still bearing the lingering burn marks of flames, until it disappeared into the end of the interstellar dust.

The tremors of the Jeep III gradually subsided, and the red light from its left engine slowly faded. Gauss turned to the ship, raised his hand, and released a gentle stream of silvery-white energy, carefully scanning the hull structure—only after confirming that no residual energy remained from the Ligadron did he slowly de-combat. The red flashing frequency of the timer slowed, and the intense heat of the Corona Mode subsided, yet it still maintained a vigilant scan of the cosmic void. (End of Chapter)