Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

His eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, so he couldn't see clearly, but the air rushing into his nostrils told him what it was. "Blood? Who's there!" he shouted, reaching for his leg with his other hand.

"Beep beep." The "person" responded, while simultaneously pinching his wide-open jaw with a mechanical hand colder than blood.

……

"Four of the outer observation posts have lost contact, including Gobunew."

Since the first anti-TPC protests in the city, the police lights have never been turned off.

The ground guard is undoubtedly the main force in the fight against the mechanical civilization, but the commander of this team is incompetent: Sato Takuma lost contact with his team seven minutes ago, and the last time he appeared was on the surveillance footage of the underground warehouse.

The vice-captain was extremely anxious, organizing the interception of the crazed alien beasts while nervously monitoring the situation in the sea. Now, his worst fears had come true—the mechanical civilization and the alien beasts had executed a brilliant coordinated attack from within and without. He didn't know whether to send reinforcements to stop the rampaging beasts in the base, or to first drive back the infiltrated enemy.

He could only report to Commander Yoshioka and await the old man's decision.

“Don’t worry about that alien beast,” Yoshioka said, meeting the vice-captain’s astonished gaze. “Don’t worry about Sato either, I know where he is.”

"But base"

"The monster, capable of punching a wall with a single blow, is rampaging through the base! How can we ignore it?! They almost lost their entire guard squad due to that monster's sudden outburst!" The vice-captain took a deep breath: "We'll carry out your orders, but we need to know why."

“It’s a long story, and I don’t have time to explain to you,” Yoshioka said sternly, never showing any mercy. “Following orders is TPC’s decision.”

TPC's decision wasn't solely Yoshioka's; it indicated that at least the higher-ups had anticipated this scenario. The vice-captain was speechless. He opened his mouth, then slammed his heels together as he stood at attention: "Understood! I'll deploy the defenses. Make sure no one can harm a hair on 'Miss Tomoko' until she's ready!"

TPC had long had a plan for the invasion of mechanical civilization.

This was to be expected; Samuel knew about the active civilizations in this universe, especially since he had brought back creations of a mechanical civilization from between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter—a pile of scrap metal and an AI "guide": Beloff.

The alerted TPC used new encryption methods and even updated its code words. The conversations between individuals in the mechanical civilization were thoroughly analyzed by the TPC. With the support of spies or moles, the TPC had an absolute advantage, at least in terms of information.

But this doesn't mean TPC can easily push these robots into the sea. Goblin, determined to carry out the elimination order, is not something a single person can stop. They act swiftly and recklessly, and the observation posts set up on the perimeter are quickly taken down. The command center only received one silent communication: a few "beep" sounds floating on white noise, like a puddle of oil left on the sea surface by a crashed plane.

“They opened up the entrance from two directions and were preparing to launch an offensive,” Beloff explained the “beeping sound”: “This is good news. The entrance they found was indeed an equipment transport line, a behavior pattern I am familiar with.”

"You're familiar with the parameters too?" someone replied. "That means we can't stop it even if we empty an entire magazine!"

“There is still a chance if every bullet is fired at the same joint,” Beloff replied. “The material for forging them is a highly dense metal that will sink to the bottom of the seabed on its own after a few years if left unattended.”

This feeling is awful. It's like playing a game where the map and monster data are all open to you. You've done your research, and there are red screen warnings when things get dangerous, but once the monsters are out of control, you can't even scratch them, and they can hit you with just one slap.

In the game, you can slowly chip away at the enemy's health with healing items, but the people blocking the front lines at the base are living, breathing human beings. Nobody wants the headquarters to become a meat grinder, so they seek a way to eliminate the enemy as quickly as possible: switch to a weapon that doesn't require constant damage.

If one magazine isn't enough, what about an RPG? Armor-piercing rounds? Robots, huh? Are they susceptible to EMP grenades? Or maybe we could use a Texas Cannon in the base... As long as we keep the noise from the repair room and equipment logistics down, I doubt anyone will object.

“Out with the old, in with the new,” Yoshioka, who proposed the battle plan, drew a long line on the map: “To minimize the environmental impact of the Magus cannons while eliminating the enemy as much as possible… we have the best bait!”

“If they want this base, let them in for a look, then shut the door and beat them up,” Yoshioka said, tossing down his pencil. The long line stretched from the Far East headquarters base, through the seabed, like a sharp blade plunging into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. “Then we’ll do the same to them.”

Above the base.

The air force that had been transferred out early took off from Tokyo's airport and circled in the waters near headquarters.

Yang Tai had never received such a crazy order before. He swallowed hard: "Beta locked onto the target, headquarters... third equipment exit, you can... you can launch."

"Stop stammering! Don't get flying with this kind of mentality!" Ralph's voice pierced through the headset: "Pay attention to ground commands. If you can't press down, I'll shoot you down. Even if you crash, make sure the opening is plugged, understand?"

That's headquarters! Yota thought to himself. Who would have thought that his first missile, launched so soon after the start of the war, was aimed at headquarters! Although it was precision-guided and probably wouldn't cause any problems, like it might miss and hit Commander Sawai's office... but that's headquarters!

“Understood!” Yang Tai replied through gritted teeth. The wings whipped up a violent wind as he struggled to control the flight, maintaining target lock. Occasionally, a crimson light flashed, illuminating dark humanoid figures. Yang Tai knew those weren't human, but the Goblin Legion sent by the mechanical civilization. The air force needed to destroy the exit at the most opportune moment; ground forces would melt the entire passage. They needed to assess the enemy's status and "name" any survivors.

As for whether the headquarters base can still be used after this battle?

"If Tiga is here, the base will definitely be able to be saved," Yota thought to himself.

……

“Excellent commanders are not fixated on the gains or losses of a single city or territory; they have insight into people’s hearts and know what is most important.”

On the ground, Sato Takuma, who had been out of contact for eight minutes, and "Paradia" were running wildly through a wide passage.

The alien beasts seemed determined to get their hands on them, relentlessly chasing after them with howls until they got their hands on the small cake. Sato dared not run in the direction Goblin had attacked from; being attacked from both sides would mean certain death for either of them. The planned exit was good, but it was blocked by the alien beasts. Should he just crash into them? Sato simply turned around and disappeared into the underwater tunnel connecting the headquarters base to the mainland.

"Is this your reason for leading me to escape to the city?" Paradia was furious. She wasn't stupid; she knew the limits.

The light there told her everything. But precisely because she wasn't stupid, she needed to find out Sato's plans before confirming that he was disregarding the citizens.

“Didn’t you notice the guy behind us slowed down?” Sato glanced back. “TPC’s factories are located all over the world. A lot of large equipment is transported in through this tunnel and then assembled at headquarters. That guy behind us, Sosuke, used to love coming here with his girlfriend when he was still in human form.”

As a highly classified team, the GUTS unit's base was not easily accessible to ordinary TPC members, let alone the hangar for maintaining the Hyuga. Even with the advantage of being part of the air force, Sousuke could only glimpse the Hyuga from afar through the glass. He could joke with the ground crew about wanting to go in and touch it, but if he actually barged in, he'd probably be brought out at gunpoint.

The closest I ever got to the Flying Swallow was when, aside from during a mission, Samuel was talking to Daigo in the Flying Swallow's hangar—Sousuke had a legitimate reason to "call out the captain" and stepped into the Flying Swallow's territory for the first time.

The girl, using the alias "Aya Kamimura," also loved the plane, so this was their go-to spot besides the hangar. The engine, developed by her team, needed to be brought in from outside; it was the heart of the Flying Swallow—a heart that, like the maintenance schedule, was frequently replaced, thanks to the GUTS's "brutal" operating methods since the battle against the monsters.

Did Tsune Aya truly love the Flying Swallow when she was called "Kamimura Aya"? Only she herself knows the answer—perhaps her brother, Kamimura Zao, could discern the truth from his actions and expressions, but he had been dead for many years, and what remained were the living corpses corrupted by the promises of the Kirieloids, or so Tsune Aya believed.

"A good commander will not be fixated on the gains and losses of a single city or place." If Tsune Ayaka were present, she would definitely agree with Sato's point of view and stop running away, turn around and go to meet him... to send her beloved alien beast to heaven.

“I’m a soft-hearted person,” Sato said, panting, saying something the vice-captain would never believe: “So Aiba took advantage of that and made me your babysitter.”

“If I were to take you directly into the battlefield, the Magus cannon could vaporize even monsters tens of meters tall. Dealing with you two troublesome bugs would just be a side effect. As for me, I’m a bio-cyborg and don’t rely on this physical body to live anyway. This is the easiest way, leaving no future problems,” Sato said.

“You wouldn’t do that,” Paradia said. “You’re a member of the Earth Guard, and I apologize for thinking you would disregard the lives of the citizens.”

“It’s so frank it’s unsettling. Paradia really is like that. She does it so well,” Sato sighed. “You probably noticed as we ran along that this isn’t R'lyeh, not any place you know.”

Paradia nodded and corrected, "I am Paradia, not 'acting like a real person'."

“Haha,” Sato chuckled dryly, “Alright, you are. Enough of the unnecessary talk, let’s get to the present… The guy following us is called Sosuke. I don’t know if you remember that name. Anyway, he’s a human. Aiba told me to keep an eye on him. If he goes crazy because of some kind of stimulation and can’t be controlled, we should lure him away. Aiba told me that ‘the first target of the alien beasts is always the human host.’”

"Did he tell you how to solve it?" Upon hearing the news that this alien beast "was a human," Paradia was not too surprised—she had already seen such a person in Hoshimi Village. The moment she saw the alien beast that Sosuke had transformed into, she recognized it as something like the "plague" in Hoshimi Village, something associated with Samuel.

“You and Sosuke were both ‘sent’ into the base by the Kirieloids. When you came out, that’s when the Kirieloids will take you back,” Sato said. “But the Kirieloids’ plan is definitely not just to escape so easily… I’m sure that in their plan, Sosuke will at least cause great damage to the base, eat some staff members, including you, of course. As creatures that evolve extremely quickly, the alien beasts will soon be strengthened by feeding, growing stronger and stronger like a snowball. That’s when the Kirieloids will take you back.”

“But he probably…” Paradia looked back at the increasingly slow alien beast, which was as slow as a sports car that had run out of gasoline and was barely surviving on diesel: “He probably didn’t eat a single one.”

“Because he is Sosuke, Aiba has been training his self-control. I don’t know how the Kirieloids determined the trigger for his outburst, but our previous preparations have come in handy,” Sato said. “Now that he’s like this, I can actually rest assured. Next, we just have to hold on until Aiba comes back.”

“As for you, I don’t know how the Kirieloids managed to do that. Please allow me to refuse to call you ‘Paradia,’” Sato gazed deeply at her, and she returned his gaze with crystal-clear eyes: “We’ve only known each other for a short time, but I’m good at observing. You’re more thoughtful and introverted than Paradia, like a student fresh out of university. Paradia, on the other hand, is more experienced than you. Well, I know you don’t understand… Anyway, if you ‘come back,’ please don’t give up, even if it’s just as ‘Number Twelve,’ live well.”

Chapter 199 Dialogue

"What a sincere conversation."

An unfamiliar voice came from the other end of the passage.

The roar of the alien beast was almost deafening, but neither Sato nor Paradia were normal, so they heard the sound coming from nearby.

He muttered to himself in a low voice and immediately judged that the other party was not friendly.

Sato looked up and saw two figures appear in the light at the end of the road. Judging from their outlines, they were a woman and a child of about half a height.

The woman who had just spoken raised one arm, and she was holding something in her hand—

"Snapped".

There was a crisp sound.

The alien beast roared suddenly.

No, he was wailing! Paradia glanced back, then turned to the figure and said, "What have you done!"

"There must be a way to recycle the products you develop yourself... Didn't you analyze it very well just now?" Two figures, one tall and one short, stepped closer.

“You, you…” As the people got closer, Paradia could see their faces clearly. She felt her spine cooling down inch by inch, and the chill seeped in from every pore.

The woman who spoke had the same face as her!

Right, Paradia noticed that her voice was exactly the same as her own, but because the tone and intonation were so different, she didn't realize it at first!

“My name is ‘Number Thirteen’,” the woman said. “It’s a pity that your will was finally devoured by ‘Paradia’… Don’t be confused, this is said to ‘Number Twelve’. We made an agreement that the survivor would collect the other’s body.”

"Number Twelve" and "Number Thirteen"—these names, belonging to consumables, signify the fate of their owners from the very first day they are given to them. "Number Twelve" once told Sosuke that they would both become ashes, one pile for you and one pile for me.

It was actually a stroke of luck that her ashes were still called "Number Twelve," which was also her greatest wish, showing that she was at least still herself when she died.

“I almost thought you were going to escape. You so desperately wanted to be yourself, but it was Father who was willing to let you go… so you couldn’t escape and you couldn’t survive.” Number Thirteen stared at Paradia with sharp eyes. She made no attempt to hide her murderous intent. It was this person in front of her, this innocent, bright woman, whom all sorts of people had adorned with beautiful words, who had cast an indelible shadow over their fate.

Sato didn't know if his gun would be of any use to them. What made him feel most dangerous was not "Number Thirteen," but the boy of average height beside her.

He watched the boy's every move, bowed slightly, and his finger on the trigger was covered with a thin layer of sweat: "It seems you have a good relationship with 'Number Twelve'. In that case, you should know better who your enemy is—is it her, or the Kirieloids?"

"No need for further explanation, you're all the same," Number Thirteen patted the head of the half-grown boy next to him: "You're all equally deserving of death."

The child, who was about half a meter tall, raised his cheek and rubbed it against her palm, saying affectionately, "Mom is right."

Mother? Sato had no idea that there were mother-child relationships among the clones created by the Kirieloids—that's right, the child was also a clone like "Number Twelve" and the others. If his information was accurate, the child's gene donor should be named: Amui.

"Really..." What a bunch of freaks they've created! Sato cursed the Kirieloids in his mind. At this point, he had no choice but to risk his life. He couldn't be bothered with the ethics of clones, but he couldn't ignore Sosuke.

“Hey,” he whispered, “cyborgs don’t depend on physical bodies, so don’t worry about me later…”

“I won’t become food for Sosuke and harm him,” Paradia said. “If I can’t beat him, I’ll jump into the sea.”

This place is a transportation corridor. TPC has conducted pre- and post-construction inspections to ensure it is waterproof and does not collapse. Where do you think you're going to jump into the sea?! Sato swallowed the curse that was about to escape his throat, and as he bent over sharply, he pulled "Paradia" down with him. A light bullet whistled past overhead.

"Boom—" The dim space was briefly illuminated as the light bullet struck something, and the shockwave from the mid-air explosion pushed the two people to the ground.

It's good that bio-cyborgs are good at surviving, but why don't they have a strong physique like aliens? Sato spat out a mouthful of blood and tried to look back.

The alien beast—no, Sosuke—frustratedly slapped its tail, sometimes advancing and sometimes retreating, its claws scraping against the wall with a creaking sound. Brick and stone fragments fell with a clatter, and its reddened eyes darted around for a while before finally locking onto "Number Thirteen" and "Amui."

The appearance of the Mother drove the alien beasts mad. Meanwhile, Sosuke had not received proper food supplies along the way, only eating chunks of mud and steel plates that resembled tree bark, and constantly depleting his strength. Now, he was being suppressed by the Kirieloids' methods of recycling products—the final result was that the will of humanity once again prevailed.

He shook his groggy head, trying to ignore Sato and the humans around him who smelled so good, and subconsciously recited the captain's words: "Everyone is waiting for you to come back."

"I haven't even scared Yota and Ralf into wetting the bed with this face yet," he muttered. "Oh no, what if I scare Aya? Does Aya like reptiles... She likes swallows, and I haven't even asked her if she likes reptiles!"