Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

Meanwhile, the evacuation of the space station was in full swing. Astronauts, clad in spacesuits, quickly entered the escape pods, which detached from the station like arrows and flew towards Earth. On the monitoring screen, the green dot representing the escape pod steadily moved away from the station, heading towards a safe area. Watching this scene, Cui Ming's tense nerves finally relaxed slightly—he could accept losses in battle, but he would never allow innocent people to be put in danger due to his negligence.

"Ligadron will enter the atmosphere in 20 minutes," the operator beside me reminded me.

Cui Ming nodded, walked to the command platform, and pressed the activation button for the weapon system. The sonic oscillator emitted a low hum, beginning its preheating; the anti-aircraft gun barrels slowly rose, aiming at a certain direction in the sky. He picked up the walkie-talkie and ordered all combat personnel: "All units, take note, enter combat readiness in 5 minutes. The first wave will use the anti-aircraft guns to weaken its rocky outer shell, then use the sonic oscillator to attack the core. Remember, absolutely do not let it land!"

A chorus of responses came through the walkie-talkie. Cui Ming walked to the window and looked up at the sky. Although he couldn't see Ligadron yet, he could sense that a fierce battle was about to begin. He touched the Sun and Moon Transformation Device in his pocket—his "trump card," but before using this power, he wanted to teach Ligadron a "profound" lesson with human weapons.

"I hope you won't disappoint me, and don't waste these 'gifts' I've prepared," Cui Ming muttered to himself, his eyes filled with fighting spirit. In the sky, the clouds gradually gathered, as if brewing a tense atmosphere for the upcoming battle.

On the monitor screen, the red dot representing Ligadron suddenly deviated from its preset fall trajectory and hurtled towards the TPC space station. Cui Ming stood in front of the command console, his eyes narrowing—as expected, this thing's desire to merge was even stronger than he had imagined; it had actually changed its target midway, intending to devour the space station's metal structure first!

"Luckily, I was prepared." Cui Ming's lips curled into a cold smile, his finger hovering over the red "self-destruct activation" button. On the screen, the meteorite formed from Ligadron had already crashed into the left wing of the space station. Cracks appeared in the gray-black rocky outer shell, and orange-red energy tentacles, like greedy vines, instantly wrapped around the space station's alloy frame. Visibly, the space station's metal walls began to melt and deform, slowly assimilated by Ligadron, and the originally silver-white hull gradually became stained with dark purple patterns.

"Warning! The left wing structure of the space station is being eroded by an unknown energy, with a fusion rate of 3% per minute!" The system alarm blared, but Cui Ming showed no panic on his face—he had set up an "emergency self-destruct procedure" for the space station when arranging the evacuation, precisely because he was afraid that Ligadron would pull this stunt.

"All escape pods have been confirmed to have detached, and the safe distance has been met." The operator's voice came through, and Cui Ming no longer hesitated, pressing the self-destruct button heavily with his fingertips.

"Om-"

A blinding red light suddenly illuminated the core area of ​​the space station, followed by a violent explosion that echoed through space. The dazzling flames engulfed the entire space station and also enveloped the Rigadron that was fusing metal. The high-temperature shockwave tore apart the surrounding energy tendrils, and fragments of metal that had been assimilated were sent flying in the explosion, slamming into the Rigadron's rocky outer shell and leaving countless cracks.

On the monitor screen, Ligadron's energy fluctuations instantly became chaotic, and its orange-red core light dimmed considerably. It burst from the explosion's flames, its rocky body covered in charred marks, and most of the crystalline mineral protrusion on its shoulder was broken off—clearly, it had been badly damaged. "Trying to devour my stuff? Not so easy." Cui Ming looked at the disheveled Ligadron on the screen, his tone full of mockery. Although the self-destruction wouldn't directly kill the creature, it had at least disrupted its fusion plan and weakened its defenses—this was exactly the "annoying counterattack" he wanted, letting Ligadron know that even if it wanted to become stronger through fusion, he had ways to make it suffer the consequences.

At this moment, Ligadron seemed to be completely enraged. It stopped trying to find other fusion targets, changed direction, and charged towards Earth again, its energy core on its chest flashing with violent light, clearly intending to break through the defenses at all costs and then merge extensively after landing.

Cui Ming walked to the weapons control panel and pressed the start buttons for the sonic oscillation clock and anti-aircraft gun: "The show is just beginning. Notify the ground troops to prepare to receive our 'guests'."

Inside the underground armory, the sonic oscillation clock emitted a deep resonance, beginning to accumulate energy; the anti-aircraft artillery on the ground slowly raised its barrels, pointing the muzzles at the sky, awaiting the arrival of Ligadron. Cui Ming watched the red dot getting closer and closer on the screen, his eyes sharp as knives—the self-destruction just now was merely an "appetizer," and the upcoming "welcoming ceremony" would truly make Ligadron understand how foolish it had been to provoke him.

The moment it broke through Earth's atmosphere, flames erupted on the surface of the "meteorite" that Riggardron had transformed into, its gray-black rock armor glowing slightly red under the intense heat. It could clearly sense familiar energy fluctuations emanating from the blue planet below—the energy from Ultraman Cosmos, who had previously repelled it—and a strange yet intimidating mechanical energy converging from the ground towards the sky.

"Isn't it just about finding something to combine with..."

A wave of resentment washed over Ligadron. In its mind, fusion was a survival instinct, as natural as humans needing to eat and breathe. It only wanted to find some metals and energy devices to strengthen itself; it neither actively attacked humans nor destroyed cities. Yet, from space to Earth, it was always met with attacks—first the fiery beams of the red giant, and now the feeling of being locked on by energy from the ground, as if it had committed some heinous crime.

Just as it was trying to adjust its posture and find a suitable target for fusion, a series of whooshing sounds came from the ground. Three armor-piercing incendiary rounds, trailing orange-red flames, accurately struck its rocky outer shell. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Explosions rang out one after another, rock fragments flew everywhere, the crystalline mineral protrusion on its shoulder was blown off, and dark red energy fluid seeped out from the cracks.

"They won't even give us a bite to eat, and then they just fry us up?!"

Ligadron's resentment was instantly replaced by anger. It hadn't expected humans to be so "petty," not even giving it a chance to approach the ground. Its energy core flickered violently, and it accelerated its descent, attempting to break through the barrage of fire, but more shells followed—the anti-aircraft guns deployed by Cui Ming had entered rapid-fire mode, the dense rain of bullets like a steel storm, relentlessly bombarding its rocky body, cratering its outer armor. (End of Chapter)