Entertainment: You're asked to make a graduation project, but you're asked to film Ultrama

Above the Duoduoliang River beach, a fierce wind whipped up heavy, leaden-gray clouds that churned rapidly, while large raindrops pelted down with a pattering sound.

A ten-minute evacuation notice was broadcast throughout the surrounding area, and residents near the riverbank and teachers and students in the children's park were evacuated immediately.

On the empty, muddy grassland, only the riverbank shrouded in gloom and the huge disc suspended motionless in the air remained.

At this moment, the disc was emitting a terrifying aura.

In the future, standing in the rain, his whole body was soaked through with the icy rain.

He looked down at his left wrist, the Mebium aura gleaming faintly in the gloomy sky.

Bio's scathing questions and accusations echoed in his mind like heavy hammer blows.

The blood debt from fifty years ago, the atrocities committed by humans against innocent investigators, and that heart-wrenching phrase, "Ultraman is a weapon of humanity"...

If I were to transform at this moment, would I be protecting innocent lives, or would I be becoming a tool to cover up my past sins?

If the boundaries of justice have already become blurred, what is the meaning of my battle?

Xiaomeng was visibly wavering; anyone in her shoes would be confused.

[A hatred spanning fifty years—humanity truly made a mistake back then, and this is something that cannot be resolved by force.]

Ultraman has a heart too...

It's hard to imagine what Xiaomeng is thinking... He's an alien too...

Just as my mind was in turmoil over the future, a steady and powerful sound of footsteps suddenly came from the sound of rain.

From the depths of the rain, a figure draped in a gray monk's robe slowly approached.

The newcomer wore a straw hat and carried a wooden cane. His face, weathered by wind and rain, appeared as serene as a mountain, and his eyes were so deep that they seemed to have witnessed half a century of vicissitudes.

The camera zoomed in on that familiar face.

[Holy crap! Hideki Go?!]

[Guiman's human form has arrived! And it's dressed as a monk!]

[This outfit... Captain Ibuki was dressed like this monk when he went to find Hideki Go before Jack fought Murucci! What goes around comes around, I'm moved to tears!]

[The senior colleague personally came to guide the junior colleague!]

[A tribute! All of them are tributes!]

Hideki Go stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on Mirai, who was soaked to the bone. His gentle voice pierced through the rumbling thunder:

"future."

"Brother Jack...?"

Future's eyes were filled with astonishment.

"You're confused, aren't you?"

Hideki Sō slightly raised his head, gazing at the gloomy sky, his eyes filled with an overwhelming sense of longing and pain:

"Fifty years ago, I also stood on this riverbank, letting the heavy rain soak me to the bone."

"At that time, lying in a pool of blood was that innocent friend from Metz, surrounded by a mob blinded by fear..."

"At that moment, I was also disheartened and didn't even want to protect the people in front of me anymore."

Her chest heaved violently, as if she wanted to ask something...

Hideki turned his head, his gaze deep and resolute as he looked directly into the future, and said, word by word:

"The streets are already a mess, aren't you going to do anything about it?"

Future shuddered violently.

Ultraman has never been anyone's weapon, nor is he a high and mighty judge.

Humanity has indeed taken wrong turns and even committed irreparable sins.

But as long as there is even one person on this land who is willing to extend a helping hand, the meaning of protection will not disappear.

The disaster won't stop because of the debate; the chaos in the streets needs him to end it with his own hands.

Just like the opening theme song of Ultraman Mebius says.

"The meaning of the fight is not hatred, but to protect the dream that we have created together."

Rainwater slid down the future's cheeks, completely washing away the confusion in its eyes.

He straightened his back and took a deep breath.

[Shocking...]

It's a perfect ending.

The streets are already a complete mess!

[This line gave me goosebumps!]

This is not to excuse wrongdoing, but to prevent a greater disaster from spreading.

The ten-minute time limit quietly expired.

In the sky, the Goose Phoenix roared through the thick clouds, while Ikaruga George and Kazama Marina piloted their fighter jets and circled at low altitude.

However, constrained by Captain Sakami's strict orders, they held the firing button tightly, but were unable to fire even a single missile.

On the ground, Aihara Ryu's team uniform was already soaked through by the torrential rain.

He gritted his teeth and stared intently at Bio, who was standing in the middle of the riverbank.

"Ten minutes are up."

Bio laughed wildly, but there was no joy of victory in his laughter, only endless sorrow and desolation.

"What, aren't you going to fight back?!"

"Your fighter jets are just going to stand by and watch?!"

Aihara Ryu roared against the raging wind:

"We will absolutely not fire first! Especially since your delegation is on board!"

"Bio, this is not the way to resolve hatred!"

"Shut up!"

Bio's face contorted, revealing a deeper, more hidden monologue of despair:

"Did you think I brought some kind of diplomatic mission?"

"From beginning to end, I was the only person on this spaceship!"

Aihara Ryu's pupils contracted sharply:

"What did you say?!"

"In the eyes of the higher-ups on our home planet, my father's unauthorized investigation back then has long been a scandal that cannot be mentioned!"

Bio roared, tears mingling with the rain, "To maintain their so-called interstellar image, they completely erased Father's sacrifice, as if nothing ever happened!"

"The so-called demand for 20% of the mainland's land is nothing but a hollow lie!"

"Why do you think my father gets weaker and weaker every time he comes to Earth?!"

"Earth's environment has long been polluted; we Metzians simply cannot survive here!"

Bio clutched his chest, roaring almost maniacally:

"I even came here carrying a death sentence from my home planet!"

"All I did was because I couldn't bear to see my father's death being jointly whitewashed and forgotten by politicians on two planets!"

"I want to etch this tragedy, along with its terror, deep into the very marrow of each and every one of you!"

With a roar, Bio ripped off the cute little bear handkerchief that had been wrapped around his shoulder, and frantically channeled all the resentment and hatred he had accumulated over fifty years into his mental energy, which entered the disc in the air!

"Come out, Zoyamurucci! Destroy everything!"

Boom—!

Thunder shattered the sky, and waves of mud surged into the heavens!

The ferocious behemoth, Zoamurucci, imbued with endless resentment, emerged from its cocoon amidst the raging torrential rain!

Its eyes glowed with a scarlet bloodlust, and its dorsal fin spewed out scalding, foul air as it madly trampled the earth.

Just as the giant beast raised its foot to stomp on the breakwater, a dazzling golden light suddenly pierced through the rain!

"Mebius—!!"

Amidst the light, a red and silver body rose from the ground.

Mebius stood solemnly in the pouring rain.

Let the heavy rain shatter into tiny droplets on your body...

The composition at this moment seems to be the same as it was 50 years ago.

But in Zoyamurucci's eyes...

The giant in the downpour was just like the warrior from half a century ago.

They too stood in the rain, struggling in the confusion between divinity and humanity.

The rain poured down, and a fierce hand-to-hand battle unfolded in the mud.

Faced with the monster's attack, Mebius braced himself with his arms against Zoa Murucci's heavy foot, and used the momentum to roll over, blocking the rampaging monster on the riverbank!

However, Zoamurucci before them was amplified by immense resentment, making him incredibly strong.

No matter how hard Mebius punched, the monster's body only sparked a few times before a powerful sweeping blow landed heavily on Mebius's chest!

Bang! A dull, loud noise echoed across the riverbank.

Mebius was sent flying backward, sliding dozens of meters through the mud.

The icy mud soaked his body. Zoa Murucci opened his huge mouth and unleashed a blue destructive beam that exploded around Mebius!

"future!!"

The eyes of Aihara Ryūme on the ground are about to split.

Seeing Mebius covered in wounds in the torrential rain while protecting humanity, and seeing Bio laughing maniacally by the riverbank, completely consumed by hatred, Aihara Ryu's heart felt as if it were being torn apart.

Hatred is a mirror image.

Aihara Ryu recalled the time when he lost Captain Serizawa, when he was filled with self-abandonment and only thought of firing and destruction.

He lowered his head and picked up the fallen Tulaiga spear from the muddy water.

Should we kill Bio in front of us?

With just one shot, the psychic power will dissipate, and the crisis will be averted.

However, Aihara Ryu's finger stopped at the edge of the trigger.

If shots are fired here, the atrocities of fifty years ago will be repeated fifty years later, and humanity will be forever mired in this blood feud, sinking into depravity for generations to come.

Captain Sakami's words echoed in his ears—"I never wanted you to become a cold-blooded soldier."

Aihara Ryu took a deep breath.

In that instant, he completed his transformation.

He was no longer a soldier who only knew how to follow his fighting instincts, but a guardian who was truly willing to bear all of humanity's mistakes and responsibilities.

Under Bio's astonished gaze, Aihara Ryu slowly raised his arm, turned the dark muzzle of the gun around, and pressed it squarely against his heart!

"What are you doing?!"

Bio's maniacal laughter abruptly stopped, and he asked in a choked voice.

Aihara Ryu stood ramrod straight in the pouring rain, his eyes calm and composed.

"On behalf of all Earthlings, I apologize to you."

"Your father died protecting a poor child on Earth, and today, I intend to follow in his footsteps."

Aihara Ryu stared directly into Bio's trembling eyes, his voice piercing through the thunder:

"I've had enough of watching Mebius suffer for you and me, enough of your hatred dragging innocent people down with you..."

"But I will never kill you, because you look exactly like me."

"Stop it, Bio!"

"Find the truth of what happened back then in another way, instead of dragging innocent bystanders down with you!"

After saying that, Aihara Ryu slowly closed his eyes.

Without further hesitation, he silently counted in his mind: five, four, three, two, one!

Pull the trigger!

"Bang--!"

A dull tremor exploded in my chest!

The expected piercing pain did not occur.

Aihara Ryu suddenly opened his eyes and looked down. He saw that the components of the Tulaiga gun in his hand had already been shattered into countless fragments by a pure and powerful psychic force in the last microsecond, and were scattered by the wind.

Across from him, Bio was soaking wet, standing motionless in the mud, his right hand trembling slightly as he hung down.

He looked at Aihara Ryu, who was slumped on the ground, and an unprecedented, intense tremor surged in his eyes:

Even if you die, nothing will change...

Bio's voice was so hoarse it was unrecognizable:

"But just now... you really intended to die."

"At least, from the moment you pulled the trigger without hesitation, I understood everything."

Faced with an Earth youth who was willing to sacrifice his life for a grudge from fifty years ago and to quell the grief of the aliens, the ice of hatred that had been frozen in Bio's heart for half a century completely collapsed and disintegrated at this moment.

[A masterpiece...]

[Brother Long is a real man! That shot he took himself truly proves that humans aren't such scoundrels!]

[Bio should have been able to see true responsibility in humanity!]

They truly risked their lives to resolve the hatred.

Mutual communication is indeed important, but the fear of the unknown is inherent in human nature, and human good and evil cannot be viewed in isolation... It seems there is currently no perfect answer to this question...

The sticky and contagious nature of "hatred," the hypocrisy and lack of constructiveness of "those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts"... this episode really tries to convey so much.

"...Today, I lost."

Bio slowly turned around.

Zoyamurucci, who was roaring wildly in the torrential rain, suddenly froze.

Enveloped in psychic power, the monster's massive body ceased to move...

Then it vanished completely in Mebius's beam of light...

The light slowly dissipated.

Mebius did not revert to his transformation for a long time, as if he was mourning something.

The gloom that had enveloped the sky quietly cracked open, and the rain gradually stopped.

The sky gradually cleared, as if indicating that the gloom on both sides was dissipating.

Looking at Aihara Ryu's outstretched right hand, Bio shook his head.

He slightly lifted his robe, revealing the handkerchief the girl had given him earlier.

"Let's save the handshake... for when Father's legacy blossoms."

Bio's figure gradually became transparent and faded in the dim light.

"Controlling this monster with telekinesis must be exhausting... I really don't know how my father managed to do it back then..."

In the moments before he vanished completely, for the first time, he let down his guard, a faint smile of relief appearing on his lips, and softly called out:

"You really are an idiot..."

"Farewell, Aihara Ryu."

A gentle breeze swept by, leaving only tranquility on the riverbank.

In the distance, Mebius retracted his fighting stance, his red and silver body transforming into countless golden particles of light that scattered across the gradually clearing earth.

Seriously, this episode's dramatic scenes were phenomenal; the themes were incredibly profound.

Hatred is not something that can be easily erased.

But this is already the best possible ending...

Even among people of the same race, there are barriers; how much more so between humans and extraterrestrials?

Inside the command center of the Asian headquarters.

The debriefing meeting is in progress.

"It has been confirmed that the other party's disk has left the solar system."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Kinoshita quickly stepped forward and projected an interview transcript onto the screen:

"Captain, everyone, today I visited Principal Saito of 'Friends Nursery School,' and she told me a story about that boy, Sakuma Ryo, from back then."

All eyes turned to that direction.

"Ms. Saito said that when she was young, she often saw boys digging in the soil on the riverbank."

"She asked the boy curiously what he was digging for. Instead of saying he wanted to take revenge on the world with hatred, the boy smiled longingly and told her that he wanted to dig out a spaceship as soon as possible and fly to the planet of the Jinshan Uncle who liked him the most."

Kinoshita's eyes were slightly red:

"It was this pure love that transcended the barriers between planets that inspired Ms. Saito to found 'Friends Nursery School' and pass on this inclusiveness and love to the next generation."

The command center was solemn.

At this moment, the previously silent Future also stood up and spoke softly:

"I also commissioned the investigation department to trace the descendants of that kind bakery girl from back then—Ms. Yoko."

"Ms. Yoko tragically passed away in a car accident when she was in her early thirties, leaving behind a young child."

"However, the investigation department uncovered something unbelievable..."

Looking around at everyone, he said earnestly:

"For more than a decade, an anonymous remittance was sent to that orphan every month, silently supporting Ms. Yoko's son all the way through university."

Aihara Ryu suddenly looked up:

"Could it be... that the person who sent the money was Sakuma Ryo, who was ostracized by the whole town back then, but remembered a bite of bread from Yoko?!"

Tang Zheping flipped through the terminal:

"No identification information was left behind, and there is no evidence in the file."

"Why do we need evidence for something like this?"

Captain Sakaki held his coffee cup, a gentle yet profound smile playing on his lips:

"Sometimes, even a person themselves may not fully understand their own true feelings..."

"He may have changed, or he may not have. Everyone should just believe according to their own understanding."

……

Yes, just believe it...

The setting sun slanted through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the command center, bathing the entire room in a warm golden-red hue.

Aihara Ryu stood by the window, looking down at the remaining gun part in his palm. The gloom and irritability that had been weighing on his heart for so long were finally completely soothed at this moment.

He had come to understand Captain Sakami's deeper meaning, witnessed Mebius's noble act of opening his arms despite his suffering, and saw another answer to interstellar hatred in Bio's final, relieved figure.

Even if the world has been mired in prejudice and malice, as long as someone is willing to put down their gun and offer a sliver of goodwill, the flame of understanding will never be extinguished.