Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

The body wash is too overpowering; Fangte has never considered improving its scent.

The Earthling who called him out, named Aihara Ryu, is not bad.

Mebius, the opponent he's going to defeat... well... not bad either.

Such a thought arose spontaneously in Samuel's mind.

Chapter Thirty-Four: A Call from the Deep Sea

Samuel has disappeared.

Perhaps the word "missing" is too sensational, but those two words are now all over Estend's mind.

According to the original plan, after the battle against Bogaru, Sai...

Muir will return to the Kanto Disaster Relief Team headquarters immediately, and might even make it in time for dinner.

But even as dusk fell and the crescent moon faded, Estend still hadn't seen Samuel. According to internal GUYS communications, four hours had passed since the end of the operation against Bogaru.

Estend was certain he had seen the message, "Registered codenames 'Mebius,' 'Sword,' 'Samuel,' withdraw from the battlefield." Why hadn't Samuel returned yet? Had he encountered some monster again?

……

……

Samuel did encounter a monster, but that wasn't the most troublesome thing.

After flying out of the barrier with Mebius, he was about to go back when he sensed that the life force of the armored guy called "Sword" was rapidly disappearing, while Mebius stubbornly grabbed Sword's hand.

“He’s going to die,” Samuel said.

On the other side, the Loader had landed. Aihara Ryu and Ikaruga Sei got off the aircraft and looked up to see Mebius kneeling helplessly beside the sword.

Captain Serizawa?

Aihara Ryu took a few steps forward, feeling his legs trembling slightly.

Impossible, Captain Serizawa, Captain Serizawa!

"Telling me is impossible!" They've only been reunited for a short time, is he really going to have to carry the burden of the past alone again?

The life force on the sword was almost imperceptible. Samuel had seen this situation many times before. It usually meant that there was no hope of recovery. The Yapool's recycling department could only drag back a corpse. If the cell activity was properly maintained, it might become the basic skeleton of the next "work".

But... Samuel looked at Mebius, who was bowing his head, and then at Aihara Ryu, who had told him to hurry up. They were grieving for the death of the sword.

At times like these, the Yabo people from the Fourth Research Institute would simply carry their equipment over, collect the corpses, and then stuff them into the institute to make use of the waste, turning the pile of flesh into something new that could move.

The Yapo people were very familiar with this process, so they did not experience any particular emotional fluctuations. In most cases, they would only complain about their workload. The rare instances of anger were only because Samuel had not collected enough intact experimental materials as they requested.

Samuel recalled that when he defeated certain monsters, other monsters that looked very similar would occasionally approach him, emitting harsh and unpleasant hissing sounds. At this point, Fred would laugh and tell Samuel to go up and receive the new experimental subject that had been delivered to his door.

Previously, Samuel did not understand the behavior of the monsters who approached them, but now, seeing the appearances of Mebius and Aihara Ryu, he suddenly realized that the monsters were mourning the passing of others.

After joining the rescue team, he could understand the people he often saw crying by the ruins. He realized that they were not wasting time releasing their fear, but mourning the loss of their relatives and friends.

Then, he saw a golden beam of light gently reflected on the sword.

The last remaining trace of life ceased to dissipate, and the sword transformed into a silver-blue light, drawn into the universe by the pillar of light, with Mebius following in its wake.

“Such a warm feeling…” Samuel looked up at the source of the golden beam of light.

"Captain! Captain Serizawa!" After the blue figure in armor disappeared, Aihara Ryu stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing to his knees in despair.

"His life force has stopped and dissipated." A strange voice suddenly sounded in my mind.

Who?

Aihara Ryu suddenly looked up, his gaze meeting that of the silver-black giant.

“Life…breath?” Aihara Ryu stared blankly at the giant’s milky white eyes.

Samuel nodded to him, then transformed into a silver-black light and flew away into the distance.

He planned to use the same trick again, diving into the sea to get back to the Kanto Disaster Relief Team headquarters in the most inconspicuous way. Just as he was about to enter the water, a wisp of golden light drifted in front of him.

A somewhat aged but reassuring female voice came from inside: "An Ultraman I've never met before, not a member of the security force, yet he's appeared on Earth..."

Something?

Samuel ignored him; he had to get back to the rescue team. Estend had told him not to arouse suspicion, so he had to be at the training ground by tomorrow morning.

"Splash—" The silver-black ball of light entered the water, splashing up a circle of ripples.

"I need to go back and confirm if there is such an Ultraman in the Land of Light. The danger Mebius is facing may need to be reassessed. And Hikari, what a troublesome kid." The golden light fragments disappeared like melting snow.

What Ultraman? His name is Samuel, a light particle life form created by the Yapool.

Samuel dived into the deep sea, surrounded by darkness, with only the faint sound of flowing water remaining. His mind involuntarily replayed the scene before the sword was drawn away by the beam of light.

That expression... a genuine concern, a desire to hold on to something... he had seen it on someone's face before.

Years ago, after the eleventh mission, he was sent back for "major repairs." Estend had looked at him with that same expression until the repair pod closed. At the time, he thought his mentor was disappointed—"Do you know how troublesome it is to repair your system! Of course, it's just a matter of more work, but you couldn't even bring back a living Tiaguru!" At least Font was disappointed.

It turns out... a long time ago, he already had someone who cared about him even when he was facing death.

It wasn't because the mission failed, it wasn't because...

It wasn't because the experimental materials were imperfect, nor because the cost of repairing the "assets" was too high, but because he was genuinely concerned about himself.

Not long ago, Estend made him remember that he was "Samuel".

At the time, he was a little confused about the meaning of this sentence: Why repeat his code name?

But now, looking back, he suddenly felt a little touched.

Perhaps... at least in the eyes of the guide, compared to the valuable "assets" of the Seventh Research Institute and the identity of the Yapool's research results on light particle life, the guide values ​​the life form known as "Samuel" more.

[Alert, Error 417, Threatening thought process.]

[Alert, Error 417, Threatening thought process.]

The silver-black figure that had been flying over the seabed suddenly plunged down. It couldn't even steady itself in time, so it rolled several times, stirring up a trail of murky mud and sand, until it finally came to a stop after hitting a smooth, rock-like object.

"Hissing and wailing—"

The "rock" actually moved, revealing two orange eyes.

A strange hiss broke the silence of the deep sea. The previously pitch-black waters suddenly lit up with orange and blue "lights," and more than a dozen "rocks" that had been lifeless began to converge on the object that had disturbed their rest.

[Communication initiated; access permission requested.]

Samuel pressed his head to his feet and stumbled to his feet. Suddenly, the two "rocks" that had come to life swam over at full speed and bit his leg. Samuel instinctively tried to retaliate with his Flame Cloak, but the silver glow barely formed a phantom before immediately dissipating.

Several tail whips wrapped around him. He instinctively grabbed the one wrapped around his neck and finally, through his blurry vision, figured out what the pile of "rocks" attacking him was.

"A two-tailed monster..."

He turned his head, and the crystal on his forehead emitted a blue cutting beam—a beam that would normally slice through the two-tailed monster's tail whip—but now it only managed to create sparks on its surface. Fortunately, the tail whip wrapped around his neck sensed the pain and withdrew, allowing Samuel a brief moment of respite.

[Communication failed for Permission 01]

Samuel had just punched away one of the two-tailed monsters when he was rammed by several others that swam around in circles and charged forward, causing him to stumble backward repeatedly.

[Communication failed for Permission 02]

"Shut up, it's too noisy."

Perhaps the seabed silt was too soft, for Samuel felt a little unsteady on his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a whip lashing towards him. He reached out to grab it, but grasped only air. The whip struck his left rib, and the sparks briefly illuminated a small patch of murky seawater.

[Communication failed for Permission 03]

"what is going on?"

He felt as if his head had turned into a boiling pot, with a long-handled spoon stirring it inside. The systems implanted throughout his body were activated, and with enough light, the black, asphalt-like patterns on his skin could be clearly seen to have a faint, deep purple hue.

It's as if there are two selves: one is slow-witted, as if forcibly held back by something, and operates like a creaking old gear; the other is clear-witted, but is not controlled by its own will, and executes another set of logic as if no one else is around.

The impact to his back sent Samuel tumbling forward. He half-knelt on the seabed and deflected a tail whip aimed at his head with a chop to the side, but the creature charging at him bit his neck. Its sharp teeth finally broke through the tough skin, tearing out a strand of golden photon blood.

Samuel operates in his original form, not limited to time, but limited to energy.

Despite his battle with Bogaru, with his remaining energy, sneaking back to the rescue team wouldn't be a big problem. However, in his current state, dealing with this horde of two-tailed monsters that had caused such a ruckus was simply too much of a strain.

"Beep, beep—"

The timer flashed red.

If it were Fangte, Estender, or any member of the Seventh Research Institute nearby, they would definitely prepare some specially compressed and solidified energy cubes for him.

But right now, all he had around him were a bunch of two-tailed monsters with gaping mouths full of sharp teeth and wielding long tail whips.

[Danger Level 3, current elimination rate 12.79%]

[Request to lift the restrictions.]

[Unable to respond. Submit a request to lift the restriction yourself and include it in the report.]

A deep purple glow shone in the depths of the ocean, thousands of meters below the surface.

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Aura of Home

"Where is Zou? Where did he go?"

Kanto Disaster Relief Team Headquarters, Training Ground.

The morning chill hadn't yet dissipated when Hasegawa's team assembled, ready to begin their regular training.

Hayato Hasegawa frowned and asked the only four people in front of him, "And Yu, he was on half a day off and should be back today, why isn't he here?"