Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

“It’s not just a matter of getting them back on the ship now, Minister,” the radar observer, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

The already numb members of the information department focused their attention on him, only to hear him continue: "There is an abnormally high energy reaction, starting from South George Island, approaching the last known location of the transport team at an extremely high speed."

"How fast are you referring to as 'extremely fast'?" the minister asked, picking up the phone.

“When I detected its signal, it was near South George Island,” the observer replied. “I blinked twice, and it’s in the Northern Hemisphere now.”

The hand holding the phone, ready to dial, froze in mid-air.

“It’s probably a monster,” said the man sitting next to him, who had been directing the parade and the dinosaur-man.

Sato, who was monitoring the situation from the sidelines, spoke up: "Our team on South George Island saw something 'extraordinary' being born in the magma, and then that team disappeared. Now it has its eye on the transport team... no, it has its eye on the people who were originally on South George Island."

"There's no other explanation but monsters," the Minister of Information said blankly. "Do we have a second Victory Team?"

Sato spread his hands: "Each of our branches has a victory team, as part of our work plan for the next three years."

“I don’t want to hear lame jokes, I have to solve the problem!” The Minister of Information recovered quickly. His fingers paused in the air for a moment, then moved rapidly again: “European branch, North American branch… Equipment Development Center.”

“Life Science Research Center,” Sato interjected, explaining under the other’s puzzled gaze, “I have some bad news. The dinosaur people have ulterior motives. My people have discovered that they seem to be planning something big.”

"If you have any other bad news, just say it all at once. Let's be efficient."

"It should be good news. Just a heads-up... the situation in the North Atlantic may be resolved soon."

"Ok?"

Under the disapproving looks he received, Sato dialed the number for the base's central cafeteria and ordered a batch of desserts. His expression was completely open and natural, utterly unaware that this action had already earned him a "scumbag" label from his colleagues in the information department.

As for his statement that "the North Atlantic issue may be resolved soon," just take it as a lame joke.

Sato understands his friend. When that person gets into work mode and decides to work overtime, nothing you offer can tempt him to stop—even the director's orders, he'll only agree verbally.

Although reluctant to speak, it's undeniable that even on Earth, there are still many places inaccessible to humankind. Sato sighed and wrote his message in his correspondence with Aiba Yu.

Meanwhile, at the branch offices across the country, the launch pads, locked onto the "islands" in outer space, shifted their angle amidst the grating creaking of mechanical friction. The new coordinates were entered into the system, and pairs of "eyes," spanning millions of nautical miles, were cast upon the isolated ship far overseas.

……

There was a group of people on the ship who were "isolated from the world," and in the eyes of the wool coat, they were excellent nourishment.

Having lived on Earth for hundreds of years, he had witnessed countless landscapes. The original inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego were ultimately extinct; they died from disease, invasion, and persecution. The campfire that brought hope to Magellan's fleet did not bring hope to those who lit it.

Since then, the wool coat has developed a strong interest in the study of human sociology, much like how someone observing ants accidentally discovers that ant colonies are not of one mind; they divide into factions and compete for the already limited territory in the nest.

He saw desire. Everyone has desires, which compel people to make choices and take steps, from the simplest things like eating and satisfying hobbies to larger goals and ideals.

The Kirieloids know how to capture them. By holding them in their hands, they can gain countless devout followers, scheming collaborators, and usable "materials."

He built a closed kingdom on South George Island. Perhaps catalyzed by the alien beast factor driving people mad, the people inside, just as he had predicted, engaged in a long and bloody internal struggle after their resistance proved fruitless.

This provided him with new ideas for breeding top-tier alien beasts.

"I want to give them hope for life, such as becoming stronger by eating their own kind, or feeling the changes in themselves from the factors in their blood... People are always willing to believe their own speculations. They have every reason to believe that once they reach a certain level, such as becoming the strongest one, they can break out of the prison and escape."

The hatched alien beast made the wool coat very happy. He patiently explained to his companion the reason why he had misappropriated resources and kept it a secret: "But there is no standard for becoming stronger in this way. It's like climbing a mountain at night. You know that if you climb in one direction, you will eventually make it over. But you don't know how long it will take or what changes you will encounter. So you become more and more anxious. Then, the anxiety is broken - TPC found you."

The man in the rolled-brim hat thought for a moment and replied, "TPC is going to rescue people, but they are infected alien beasts, and there are many people they are guarding, so... it's hard to be compassionate during the operation. I guess... TPC's transport ship is going to be in trouble?"

“They’re in trouble,” the wool coat said confidently. “That was a group that almost stormed the hatchery. TPC left with a bomb; even the slightest tremor could detonate it.”

"That tremor was..." The answer was obvious, as the man in the rolled-up hat looked up at the blood-stained sky.

“Our test subjects possess contradictory traits. When their will is still intact, they resist inhuman behavior with great intensity. But once that will is extinguished, they crave 'fusion' with their own kind, or rather, evolution. This craving is so strong that it can be called 'greed.' When hungry, they will eat anything they can get their hands on.”

The wool coat said, "This is also the reason why our previous experiments failed. We created similar clones based on the genes of the tomb keepers. The researchers regarded the large amount of energy absorbed by the clones as an indicator of success. The clones multiplied very quickly, but the direction was completely wrong. So we could only get stupid and clumsy waste products that were useless except as energy furnaces."

"On South George Island, I got the answer—it's naturally sunken."

A species obsessed with fighting is adept at absorbing new things from anywhere it can get its hands on; it is inclusive and evolutionary…

"So you want to raise a real monster?" Despite his companion's confident demeanor and the fact that he himself could hardly fathom his thoughts, the man in the rolled-brim hat still felt uneasy: "Aren't you afraid you won't be able to control it, or that it will be so focused on finding its mother that it will end up as the gravedigger's dessert?"

"That's a good thing."

"Good thing?"

The man in the wool coat said, "If our 'lamb' takes down the tomb keeper, it's like winning the lottery, or like all the stocks I invested in hitting their daily limit."

The man in the rolled-up hat once again looked like he'd lost his mind, while the man in the wool coat continued to rattle off words he couldn't understand: "If the tomb keeper kills the 'lamb,' it's like a business rival swallowing a company that's indebted to the point of being a nation. We don't know how many new markets he'll gain, but we'll definitely be able to seize his market share. Maybe after a while, they'll go bankrupt and die because they're insolvent."

The man in the rolled-brim hat only vaguely understood part of what he said: "What if he hadn't suddenly died?"

“Then let’s strike at the root of the problem,” the man in the wool coat said, clenching his fist. “We’ll sue him for tax evasion and engaging in commercial monopolies.”

"what?"

The man in the wool coat chuckled: "Earthlings are very fair, I mean, fair to themselves. And our 'lambs' might not necessarily lose... The essence of South George Island is all on that ship. Maybe after eating it, they can undergo a super evolution."

Wool coats never care about experimental subjects.

After suffering two defeats, being loaded onto a transport ship by TPC, and sensing the approach of terrifying predators, most of the infected with the Alien Beast Factor fell into a state of hysteria.

But so what? As long as they can remember who they are, they are marginalized in society. Even if they have been missing for many days, their relatives and friends will just assume that they have moved to another place to make a living.

Like that boy in Punta Arenas, if the ship sails smoothly to South George Island, his parents will scold and miss him from thousands of miles away, but no one else will scold and miss him day after day.

The information that Tsune Aya gave to Sanada Ryosuke was very accurate: a group of marginalized people in the shadows, whose life or death was mostly only cared about by themselves—perhaps they didn't care at all. Whether as members or something else, they were very suitable for the needs of the "New Human" project organization.

She assigned Sanada Ryosuke the task of selecting the materials. Sanada Ryosuke was supposed to secretly persuade or beat up some people before they were loaded onto the ship, and stuff them into another designated ship. This ship would not accompany the transport convoy; it would return to Tierra del Fuego, ready to support the garrison on South Georgia Island. Sanada Ryosuke had ample time to lead them out.

But Sanada Ryosuke's movements were unbelievably slow. He knew that once the person he had chosen was sent back to the organization's base, there would be no chance of them ever coming out again. If he hadn't passed the test back then, he might not even be alive now. The "senior" in the textbook wasn't nearly as kind and amiable as he appeared.

Just like the TPC mentioned by Tsukishiro Ayaka, they are all plunderers who covet this "resource" and transfer infected people from one prison to another.

Ryosuke Sanada couldn't understand how his life had turned out this way. He was a promising young talent, yet he had gradually turned himself into a rat in the gutter. He could now crush steel with one hand, easily do things that his old classmate Horii could never do in his entire life, and talk about his most important secrets whenever he talked to his "colleagues." But he had completely lost the feeling of being ahead of others—he had fallen into the abyss, and the phrase "striving for first place" now made him want to laugh.

Physically, he was no different from the infected on the ship; they were all monsters who couldn't stand the light of day. His only advantage was that he at least knew his own name, retained his years of knowledge, and knew the difference between humans and non-humans.

Some of them were tricked away and sent to another purgatory... which is roughly what is called "inhuman".

Ryosuke Sanada breathed a sigh of relief when the infected rioted due to the approaching alien beasts. The young man who was in charge of receiving him said a few words and was about to run out to check the situation, but was stopped by Sanada's loud voice.

"Don't go out!" Sanada Ryosuke stood up and grabbed him with incredible speed: "Stay here."

The young man only felt a gust of wind behind him, and then the person sitting on the sofa a few meters away suddenly appeared in front of him. Before he could even think, he was so shocked by the sudden turn of events that he froze on the spot.

Ryosuke Sanada was the captain's guest, introduced as "a top member of the Life Science Research Center," someone most people would rarely even meet. With so many infected people on board, it was only natural for headquarters to send an expert to check on things, so no one suspected anything else.

The expert also looked very professional. Everyone says that elite people wear suits and ties, but Sanada Ryosuke was wearing the same work clothes as the crew members, yet he was still the focus of attention. The young people felt that this was probably the temperament of an intellectual—in layman's terms, "he looks smarter than everyone else."

The expert still looks sharp; his eyes are bright, and he is agile, with one hand gripping his arm like a mechanical arm clamping a fragile ping-pong ball.

The ping-pong ball felt like it was about to crack. The expert seemed unaware of how much force he had used, and his face... the young man couldn't catch his breath and passed out.

Ryosuke Sanada raised his hand to touch his face, but did not touch anything soft.

The skin felt hard to the touch, like a mask covering the entire face.

That's good, that way my old classmates won't recognize me.

The sounds of commotion carried on the acrid air. He went outside and locked the door.

The crimson sky overshadowed the azure sea, making the entire ship seem to be ablaze. The vibrant colors were painted on everyone's skin, softening even the steel.

Ryosuke Sanada looked up, his eyes meeting the firelight from the captain's cabin. The intense heat had turned the edges of the door red-hot, and the door itself was gone. Some of the crew had been sent to fight the fire, while the others, armed, stared at him with suspicion and uncertainty.

“Stay here,” he repeated what he had just told the young man: “This is the only safe place right now.”

Chapter 188 The Demon

"Minister, a new abnormally high concentration of energy reaction has been detected." The information department specialist was already numb.

"Anyone with eyes can see it." The red light on the large display screen was flashing near the location where the transport fleet's communications had been lost. Ground communications were down, but the guys in the sky were still working.

Three low-Earth orbit satellites all focused their attention on this area. The moment the image refreshed, Takuma Sato suddenly stood up: "Ah, I have to go to the front lines of the protest."

No one cared what illness the ground guard captain was having again, because the images on the screen were simply too shocking.

"...Monsters fighting?" someone exclaimed in astonishment. "The monsters are finally fighting amongst themselves?!"

The scalding water sprayed over the signal pole, and the sailors stared blankly upwards as a familiar black shadow was cast into the sky of fire and white mist.

"Dolphin 202?!?" The people gathered on the deck scattered, making ample space for the dark figure to land. What else could that familiar thing be but Dolphin 202? But when did it learn to fly? Has the violent maniac at the Equipment Development Center relapsed?!

Everyone instinctively hunched their shoulders, waiting for a loud crash as Dolphin 202 slammed onto the deck. Then they would have to split up to rescue people or save the ship... Hopefully, the deck wouldn't be breached.

But this orange "sea fish" landed unusually gently. If the people from the Space Development Center were here, they would definitely grab their colleagues from the Equipment Development Center and ask them when they mastered the non-ignition soft landing technology.

"Click," it landed as lightly as a bird.

With a "bang," the hatch opened, and several people in red clothes, drenched in sweat, rolled out.

"We..." the first person gasped for breath, "We were saved by a monster! It, it..."

He stretched out his trembling hand, his fingertip touching a shadow in the white mist—there were two more shadows like that.

The three shadows represent three monsters.

They roared as they plunged from the sky into the sea, the sound like a mountain collapsing, and the transport ships trembled like sampans.

Immediately afterwards, they burst forth from the waves, steaming with water vapor, with thunder and fire crisscrossing among them.

A light rain began to fall, and it was surprisingly warm. The air felt scorching, making everyone's respiratory tract feel hot. Someone rushed to the command room: "Can we get the ship out of here?! The monster is right above us!"

The command center was in complete disarray.

Ten minutes ago.