Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

A shout came from behind. Estend turned around and looked up. Hosokawa Takumi stuck his head out of the window on the 7th floor, waving something in his hand while wrapping a newspaper around it with his other hand: "Parking space number 12, don't crash it!"

The car keys wrapped in newspaper were thrown down from the 7th floor. Estend calmed down a bit, thanked them, and drove towards where the golden "butterfly" fluttered.

“Samuel, Samuel…”

Walk through the deserted streets.

Through a forest of lead-gray concrete.

Occasionally, laser beams rained down from the sky, shattering the bricks along the roadside. Estend paid no attention to them; he only stared at the figure in the distance who seemed to be struggling, trying hard to stand up.

It's just like Fos-001, trapped in a solidly reinforced cell, still trying to break free of the control armor.

Fang Te saw the white car approaching and let out a cold laugh that was hard to decipher.

“Omarment,” Fotter gestured with his chin toward his subordinate, “connect your authority as well, so that our ‘assets’ understand their position!”

"Yes!"

"Ughh ...

As he jumped out of the car and ran around the rubble, all he saw were golden sparks flying everywhere, and Aiba Yu lying among the broken tiles, curled up, coughing up blood.

A green beam of light enveloped Aiba Yu.

That's Fangte's spaceship.

"As a former student, aren't you going to have a talk with me?"

Estend looked up at the source of the sound.

Fang Te, his former mentor, met his gaze through the transparent bulkhead.

Chapter Ninety-Six: The Road of Divergence

"It seems you've been on Earth for too long, my dear student."

Estend stepped onto the spaceship and saw the unconscious Samuel being taken away, his restraints reapplied. Fant led Omarment and his former colleagues from the research institute to stand behind the control panel, greeting him in an unusually gentle tone.

“You’ve been deceived by Earthlings and those guys from the Land of Light, haven’t you?” Fang’s words caused his subordinates to turn and look at him in disbelief: “As long as you admit your mistake, I will handle the matter of the Tribunal, and you will still be my student.”

Omarment opened his mouth as if to say something, but only managed to utter half a word before being silenced by Fangte's glare.

The air in the control room seemed frozen, with only the faint humming sound from the engine room coming through the thick metal walls.

No wonder Fangte's emotions have been so abnormal lately. He even still has the idea of ​​bringing Estand back. Omarment was shocked and wanted to try to persuade the director to stop going his own way, but this was definitely not the time to speak.

Estend was also stunned by his words. He had thought about facing Fangte's wrath, or being handcuffed and taken to the spaceship to the courthouse without being able to say a word—but he never expected Fangte to speak to him in such a conciliatory tone.

Fang Te slowly approached him, saying, "There's still hope. Samuel has been recovered. As long as we clean up this rural planet, His Majesty the Emperor won't care about this 'minor setback'."

Estend took a half step back, but Fountain was not annoyed by his reaction. Instead, he stopped and wanted to hear what he had to say.

"...Professor Fang Te, I have a question, could you answer it for me?"

Seeing that Fang Tetsu had adopted a listening posture, Estend clenched his fist and said, "Kataslow said there's something about my parents that you didn't tell me."

Fang Te tightened the corners of his mouth.

Estend continued, "They didn't die at the hands of the Ultra Guard, did they?"

The control room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and Omarment unconsciously slowed his breathing.

“Grandpa wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t sought revenge,” Estend’s voice clearly reached everyone present: “Professor Fond, what role are you playing?”

Fang Te stood there, looking at his students with unfamiliar eyes.

Estend really wanted his answer, and his earnest attitude made Fang Te laugh.

His students looked bewildered again. Estend didn't understand why he was laughing, just as Fant didn't understand why Celtia would raise a son who was "an anomaly among the Yapools," and then raise a grandson with the same personality.

“Should I call it a curse?” After laughing enough, Fang Te finally sighed, “You’re just like your ‘outcast’ parents…”

His tone grew colder until it was devoid of any warmth: "Seltia should not have any stains on her body."

“You’ve certainly spent too much time with the inferior beings on this planet, to the point that you’ve learned a bit of the weaklings’ ‘compassion’—insulting the family name.” The words Fangte uttered sent a chill down Estend’s spine.

"'What role am I playing?' I'm helping Celtia and Grudas to distance themselves from the scum of the Yapool. As for his coming to Earth for revenge, that was something no one expected. We suffered heavy losses at Ace's hands, who knew he would get carried away and go to Earth without orders from headquarters."

“You are still young, Estend,” Fant’s tone returned to its original gentleness as he reached out his hand to his “misguided” student, Celtia’s only descendant: “You still have a chance.”

Estend did not respond; he remained silent, maintaining a stalemate with Fant. Fant remained motionless for a while before looking him over again, as if recognizing him anew.

"...I gave you a chance."

Like a final decision, or perhaps a self-suggestion, Fang Te whispered these words, then...

He let out a sigh of relief—then took two steps forward and, before Estend could react, slapped him hard across the face, then kicked him again, still not satisfied.

Omarment finally breathed a sigh of relief; otherwise, he really wouldn't know whether he should report his director's underhanded tactics.

"You betrayed my trust! You disregarded the reputation of the Seventh Research Institute! You've got some nerve, Estend?!" He grabbed the stunned student by the collar, lifted him up, and slapped him again to bring him back to his senses. "Using your narrow-minded emotions to hinder the Yapool's plans! Who do you think you are? A savior?!"

"Ed, life is the most precious thing in this universe."

"Huh? But aren't medals made of Maspacko gemstones extremely rare? There aren't many of them."

“That’s not ‘narrow-minded emotion’…” Estend licked his bleeding teeth, then took another punch to the face.

Fang Te shook his slightly sore hand and continued spitting at him: "No one can stop us based on their own position! Did you throw away everything you learned in Alantar just like your 'tainted' parents?"

"That's different. While the Maspaco Medal is rare, it can always be remade. Extraterrestrial life forms are numerous, but each one is unique."

"This is not what the teacher said!"

“Arantar never told us that those ‘insect-like’ ‘lower beings’ also laugh and cry!” Estend grabbed the hand gripping his collar, struggling to break free: “They have their own happiness and suffering…”

"Ed... I really hope you'll understand someday, but Dad's also afraid you'll understand."

“If you’re willing to listen to me,” Estend said, “I’ve met many people on Earth. They are all different individuals, just like us, each with their own pursuits and troubles—they all yearn for the stars and long to step into the universe! They have their own evolutionary paths; they are clearly life forms just like us!”

"Oh!"

He was kicked in the stomach and fell to the ground, curling up and trying to keep himself from vomiting.

Fang Te released his grip, then slowly walked to his side and squatted down: "So... this is how you untied the chain that the Seventh Research Institute was guarding its 'assets'? Because of this ridiculous, so-called 'same life' reason?"

His voice suddenly rose, and he demanded, "Is this why you became a traitor to the Yapools, a disgrace to the Seventh Research Institute, and a stain on your parents' reputation!"

"You do not understand……"

"You're the one who doesn't understand!" Turning that pained face back to face him, Fangte was furious: "How do you think the Yapools have established themselves in the universe? How do you think the Yapools have achieved 'immortality'? How do you think we've been able to support such a massive 'aggregate of resentment'?"

“Let me repeat what Arantar taught you,” he said clearly, through gritted teeth: “'Before the continuation of civilization, everything is insignificant,' including our will! Our lives!”

"Looks like you get along well with Earthlings? So much so that I need to help you refresh your cosmic knowledge! Listen to me, only weaklings who need to huddle together for warmth advocate compassion, love, and peace, because they know that without these, they will be mercilessly crushed!"

“Bah, that’s because the powerful enemies we’ve encountered haven’t treated us the same way! That’s why they’ve become more and more unscrupulous,” Estend spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva: “...We can have another path.”

"Ah, another path, learning from the space police of M78?"

"Oh!"

Fonte, still not satisfied, kicked him again. Omarment hesitated, wanting to tell him that killing someone would be difficult to explain to the court, but he dared not speak and could only remain a silent background like the others.

The furious research institute director had long forgotten everything else. He was furious at the betrayal of the student he had placed his hopes on, and pained by witnessing that "stain" continue like a curse, yet he was powerless to stop it.

“If you still hold onto the wrong ideas,” he said, stepping on Estend’s shoulder, which was curled up on the ground, forcing him to turn around, and speaking into the other’s distracted eyes, “it is better to die gloriously than to go to the Inquisition.”

“I will make you repent.”

Chapter Ninety-Seven Dilemma

The familiar, almost cloyingly familiar lead-gray metallic walls.

The same familiar scent lingered faintly in the air. Every time I smelled it, it was accompanied by a cramped space and the sensation of something moving and burrowing under my skin.

Maintenance solution.

Ah, I've been thrown into the repair pod again.

It almost cost me half my life to remove them. The cables buried under my skin were like maggots that had sucked up all the nutrients. They were stretching themselves out, peeking out at the outside world.

From the outside, it appears as gradually expanding black lines.

At the last moment, the world spun around him, and in the seemingly dark world shrouded in darkness, Samuel seemed to see someone.

The man stepped over the gravel, bypassed the crumbling ruins, and rushed into a sea of ​​shimmering golden light.

The man's expression was truly awful; he had a mournful face, looking as if he were about to enter his coffin.

He had seen the same expression on the same person before—during his first major overhaul as "Samuel".

"Is it okay to just throw it in and soak it in the conditioner?"

"Still maintaining the form of Earthlings," a Yapo person muttered.

"It's just a simulation of human appearance; it could jump around and thrive even in lava." Another Yapoolian glanced at the "assets" quietly sitting in the repair pod, his tone full of disappointment at being a waste of their potential.

"We thought he could compete with the super beasts of the Fourth Research Institute, but who knew it was another Fos-001. This expedition will definitely have nothing to do with our Seventh Research Institute. I really don't know how long we'll have to work day and night to get back to work."

The "assets" sat quietly in the repair chamber, and through the brown, semi-transparent maintenance fluid, he could vaguely see the bloodstains that had not yet dissipated.

"Hey, thanks to your money-losing 'assets,' we have to stay here and can't go out! I really don't know who's keeping whom locked up."

The maintenance fluid provided the damaged system with the energy to recover, and also helped Samuel barely maintain his original form when the timer was forcibly stopped—otherwise, he should have reverted to his original form long ago, instead of still being in Aiba Yu's appearance.

The Yabo people kept complaining incessantly in my ear, but they didn't notice that the "assets" had moved, seemingly not in a dormant state.