Ultraman: What do you mean by saying L77 is about to explode?

Chapter 124 Humanity Must Strengthen Itself in Order to Travel to Space

"Sphia... is it a life form that can assimilate any matter...?" Megumi had a headache. She hadn't expected that Earthlings would encounter such a creature so soon after venturing into space. It was hard to imagine how many more disasters they would face in the future.

Everyone watched as the Sphia sphere, rapidly traveling through space, was displayed on the large screen.

Director Sawai's expression was equally solemn as he looked at the image of Jeep 3 flying steadily near Jupiter's orbit.

The current Jeep No. 3 has not yet been possessed by Sphia.

It is near Jupiter's orbit, while the Sphia sphere is approaching it from the side at a speed far exceeding that of current human spacecraft. The two are gradually closing the distance between them in the universe.

"Team Leader Norizu," Director Sawai turned around, "immediately send the highest-level order to Delta Space Station, instructing them to attempt to contact Gypsy III, and order Dr. Ezaki and his team to immediately abandon their original orbit and avoid Sphia!"

Ye Rui accepted the order and began making contact.

"No, Director! Jeep III is currently too far away from us, and Spysia is fast approaching. Our warnings simply won't reach them. Even if they manage to escape, they'll be contacted and assimilated. The Carlo base can't reach Jupiter either; they're too far away!"

"hateful!"

Yoshioka's face was grim. He was never one to sit idly by and wait for death, and he couldn't bear to watch this scene unfold before his eyes. "Are we just supposed to sit here and watch our best astronauts be assimilated by those guys?" He looked up at Caul, who was standing next to him.

"Chief of Staff, since you know about the monster's abilities, don't you have any way to help at this time? Can your monster go here and defeat these Specia?"

Kaul leaned back against the command table and shook his head.

"It's no use, Director Yoshioka. The universe is too vast. Even the Giants of Light, without the ability to teleport, cannot instantly traverse the distance from Earth to Jupiter to save them. The Softia are flying at an extremely high speed now. They are not drifting aimlessly in the universe; they are consciously searching for high-energy heat sources and intelligent life. At their current trajectory, they will make contact with Gypta 3 in at most an hour. Although Gypta 3 has not yet been possessed, it is only a matter of time."

Kaul was sorry, he couldn't do it, and that was his predicament. With current Earth technology, even the experimental Snow White spacecraft couldn't reach Jupiter in an hour.

"If you don't want those three outstanding astronauts to die silently, and you don't want Earth to face a Specia Fusion Beast in the future," Kaul patted Daigo on the shoulder, "the most important thing to do now is to continue upgrading your weapon systems."

"Upgrade weapons?" Hori pushed up his glasses, somewhat puzzled. "Staff Officer Caul, are you saying that ordinary lasers are no longer effective against them?"

"It's no use," Caul said with certainty, having watched the episode. "If you attack them with ordinary lasers or missiles, they'll bounce off. Only more advanced weapons can cause real damage."

"I understand," Director Sawai took a deep breath and downed the now-cold tea in one gulp. "Yoshioka, Megumi, let's begin preparations immediately. Now that the crisis has already erupted in the universe, we can no longer cling to the old illusions. The armament of TPC must continue, and we may even have to invest more funds..."

"Understood, Director." Captain Megumi straightened up. Although she wanted to say something, she had no choice but to do so in order to protect the Earth.

A week flew by in the tense atmosphere of the entire TPC.

Over the course of this week, subtle changes have taken place in people's emotions and the environment of the base.

Autumn has deepened in Tokyo, and the sea breeze brings a chill.

The training grounds at TPC's Far East headquarters.

Daigo and Shinjo were shirtless and sweating profusely as they conducted high-intensity physical and agility training in front of the sandbags.

"Huff...huff..." Shinjo rubbed his aching shoulders wearily, but his eyes were shining.

Although the special training these past few days made him feel like his bones were about to break every day, he had to admit that Shinjo felt his body was undergoing amazing changes. His movements were more agile than before, and his muscles were more toned than when he was in the defense force.

"Daigo, you've gotten faster!" Shinjo dodged Daigo's probing punch with a quick movement and said with a smile.

Daigo tucked his fist in and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His chest rose and fell slightly, and his previously somewhat bewildered eyes now shone brightly with the surge of power.

"It was Mr. Kaul's medicinal wine, and everything he taught me, that worked." Daigo smiled, turned around, and looked out the window at the sea that shimmered blue in the sunlight.

"Daigo, you said..." Shinjo's smile gradually faded, and his gaze followed Daigo's to the outside.

"How are Dr. Ezaki and the others doing near Jupiter? Our astrophysics team at the base has been monitoring them for the past few days, and it seems that Sphia has already merged with Dr. Ezaki and the others..."

Shinjo clenched his fist: "Dr. Ezaki was a pioneer of mankind. He often said that the future of mankind must not be satisfied with just staying in the small cradle of Earth. I absolutely do not believe that such a great person who loves the starry sky so much would become a monster in silence and just submit like this."

Daigo didn't speak, but he could sense Shinjo's resentment and pain for Dr. Jiang Qi.

"Instead of indulging in sentimentality here, why don't you take your training to the next level?" Caul's rude voice came from the entrance of the training ground.

Wearing a black uniform, Kaul walked over carrying two water bottles. He tossed the bottles to the two men, leaned against the horizontal bar, and took off his sunglasses.

"Officer Kaul." Shinjo and Daigo quickly stood up straight and bowed.

Kaul waved his hand: "New City team member, although you are stronger than before, you are too afraid of losing, so your movements were slow when you changed your moves just now. If you really encountered a faster alien, you would have already failed."

Shinjo lowered his head in embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Staff Officer, I was just a little worried about Dr. Ezaki and the others."

Kaul looked at the new city and sighed.

"The universe is vast, and there are indeed countless beautiful planets and kind-hearted beings, that's true, Shinjo. But all of that is predicated on humanity having the power to protect itself, and surviving the cruelty before encountering those beautiful things. This afternoon, take Daigo to the research bureau. It seems that the weapon modifications of other TPC branches have reached the most critical stage. As pilots, you need to go and cooperate in the actual aircraft testing."

"Yes, sir!" Shinjo and Daigo immediately responded loudly.