Great, we're doomed now!

However, there were no vampires or other enemies behind him, only an old woman wearing a strange cloak, with long silver hair and radiating an ethereal light.

Some left, some stayed... Those who stayed had different ideas... Some wanted to preserve the flame, some chose to serve the darkness... Then they had to become creatures living in the darkness themselves...

"You are..." Ye Shou slowly opened his eyes wide.

The woman's gaze did not fall on Ye Shou, but instead fixed on a point in the void, like an NPC in a game, continuing to talk to herself.

[To kill... one must find... the power of light... and darkness...]

Chapter 213: Riddler, Get Out of the Ancient Times! (4K)

The light inside the cave suddenly distorted, and the hard rock walls around it seemed to ripple like melting wax figures.

The scene before Ye Shou's eyes shifted instantly, with layers of illusions, both real and unreal, rushing towards him:

He saw the massive city collapse in flames, bizarre monsters trampling the streets, spewing beams of destruction from their mouths, and futuristic yet religious buildings crumbling to the ground.

A gigantic and alluring flower bloomed on the barren land, its golden pollen scattering in the wind. Many people reached out towards the flower, their faces displaying a strange, obsessive, and blissful smile, as if they had forgotten all the destruction and suffering around them.

People either fled in panic or perished in a life of debauchery; a prosperous civilization crumbled like a sandcastle!

Immediately afterwards, the figures of dark giants swept across the sky, their massive bodies casting ominous shadows, and with a casual wave of their hands, mountains crumbled and the earth split. They looked down at the tiny humans and let out a low, disdainful laugh, a laugh filled with pure malice.

Ye Shou discovered that these illusions had become "smaller".

The towering buildings are within reach, the majestic pyramids are as tall as the buildings themselves, and even the flying machines appear miniature.

...Perhaps what has changed is his perspective.

He saw ancient monsters appearing all around him, and also saw shadowy giant phantoms gathering around him.

Its "identity" is constantly changing. Sometimes it faces darkness, and sometimes it faces light. This is by no means the echo left by a single life form, but the collective memory of that era!

call--

The scene flashes by, showing the surviving humans struggling to survive in the ruins.

Their eyes were a mixture of fear and numbness as they huddled among the ruins. There were no monsters or giants now, the sky was dark, and the entire planet trembled with violent geological activity.

Some people build something and choose to leave their hopes to the distant future;

Some people dedicate themselves like saints, reducing their bloodline to that of a weak mammal, and leaving a "singularity" in their genes that allows for further evolution;

Some people will stop at nothing to survive, transforming themselves into followers of darkness!

Countless dark creatures obscured the tattered sky, emitting piercing shrieks as they hovered around some figures crawling on the ground.

The corruption of faith, the sacrifice of blood, the branding of curses... the figures of those people gradually became distorted and changed under the erosion of ominous aura.

The bat that was worshipped as a "god" was merely a relic of that dark era.

- Om!

All the illusions came to an abrupt end.

The cave returned to its original darkness and silence, with only the ancient carvings on the rock walls silently telling the story.

The silver-haired woman in white, You Lian, stood quietly in place, looking at Ye Shou with a peaceful gaze, carrying a hint of sadness, as well as a sense of the irreversible nature of everything. However, the catastrophe that had just occurred to civilization had brought Ye Shou an indescribable shock.

The so-called "precognition" is just a memory brought from a previous life. How can the plot that can be learned through an electronic screen compare to being truly there?

"...I thought the 'ancient civilization' was the ancestor of modern humans, after all, they have almost identical appearances."

After a long silence, Ye Shou spoke up about something that seemed unimportant.

You Lian thought for a moment, seemingly somewhat surprised, but as an "AI" left over from ancient times, she still honestly replied:

[We have indeed become utterly extinct... but scholars have extracted a special genetic factor that is bound to 'light' and spread it through some means.]

"Some way?"

I can't be sure either; perhaps some people degenerated into primitive primates, among whom your ancestors may exist.

Alternatively, other mammals without any kinship ties may have convergently evolved into the same form as us under the influence of light.

...Thirty million years is enough time to change many things.

Ye Shou pondered and said, "Perhaps these situations existed at the same time, but gradually mixed together over a long history, forming the ancestors of primitive Homo sapiens and De Annets. Now it is impossible to distinguish between you and me."

Human evolutionary history is still incomplete, let alone dating back precisely to 30 million years ago... I can't confirm which one it is, but in any case, you've successfully written 'memory' into your genes, that's amazing."

The background setting of Ultraman Tiga is rather chaotic, with conflicts between the old and new versions. However, in every version, the ancient civilization possesses exceptionally powerful technology.

Hiding the adaptation to "light" in genetic factors and passing it down to future generations... It sounds incredible, but they really can do it!

Ye Shou suddenly thought of something:

In the original work, two stone statues appeared in the underground ruins of Kumamoto City. One was an unnamed giant similar to Ultraman Tiga, and the other was a monster called Gedi, which also had a timer and looked like a komainu (guardian dog).

—Aside from artificial Ultraman and villainous transformations, it is the first Ultraman monster with a "built-in timer".

And Gaddy was resurrected after assimilating with the life of a puppy!

Therefore, it seems that not only primates, but other animals might also possess it, and that puppy might just happen to have some of the light factor.

"Very good, now I hear you clearly." Ye Shou suddenly smiled, then changed the subject—

"Did you deliberately hide important information before, or did I lack the necessary permissions, which is why you sounded so hesitant about using terms like 'light' and 'darkness'?"

[......]

You Lian's originally calm expression wavered slightly. She stared at Ye Shou for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

[The real "me"—Yu Lian, the leader of the Earth Defense Force—is dead. What you see before you is merely an AI program that mimics her thoughts. I can only act according to instructions.]

"So, you can't tell me all the information at once, and the relevant information can only be unlocked when things develop to a certain stage, right?"

"If I bring Masaki and Daigo here, will they be able to understand me—you should know who I'm talking about."

[......]

"It seems that's not possible."

Ye Shou took a deep breath and couldn't help but click his tongue: "That's why I really hate riddle people!"

It's too early, it's not the right time yet, you'll understand in time—this kind of setting is unpleasant enough just to look at, and it's even more frustrating to encounter in reality!

Of course, Yu Lian may have her own considerations:

What if the whole truth is revealed prematurely, putting too much pressure on the human host and causing them to collapse?

Don't forget how a straight tree grows crooked!

However, for Ye Shou, this "prophet," such behavior of speaking only half and hiding the truth is really annoying.

He knew very well why the ancient times perished, so he didn't need to worry about those things.

Psychological stress?

That thing was at full capacity from the very beginning!

Putting Gatanothor aside for now, Ye Shou urgently needs to confirm which "version" of "Ultraman Tiga" this is—the TV version and the theatrical version have very different settings!

Depending on the circumstances, his "main quest" may change significantly... But You Lian, who experienced it firsthand, just doesn't speak human language, so it's no wonder Ye Shou felt annoyed.

"At least tell me if there are any Dark Giants?"

[How did you know that?]

You Lian glanced at Ye Shou in surprise, then suddenly realized what was going on.

[When the adaptability of the Light Factor reaches a certain level, it is indeed possible to see ancient memories and even recreate our technology.]

After asking and answering her own question, she fell silent. After a moment, she slowly shook her head and said something that greatly surprised Ye Shou.

There are no giants of darkness, only corrupted human hearts.

Why do you say that?

When darkness awoke and began its march on the earth, light came from Orion and merged with some of us, becoming heroes and gods, helping us to temporarily repel the darkness.

But many people lost their courage after experiencing fear, preferring to indulge in illusions rather than live in a world that could be destroyed at any moment... Faced with the self-destructive humanity, some giants chose to leave, while others stayed to protect the uncorrupted humans.

There are also a very few... who are willing to protect humanity even when it has fallen, accepting the submission and offerings of the fallen, becoming the darkness that brings them peace, and ruling in the way they desire.

The civil war between light and darkness was essentially a struggle between different factions of humanity… In the end, the ancient civilization was destroyed.

Was it a deliberate omission of Gatanothor and Zigera? — Ye Shou narrowed his eyes.

Skipping this line proves that the giant conch shell is still the final boss, so it has the highest level of confidentiality.

Fortunately, although this "story" fills in many details that Ye Shou didn't know, overall the plot hasn't been significantly altered, so there's no need to worry about threats other than Gatanothor for the time being.

"Was that giant bat an ancient monster?" Ye Shou changed the subject when he couldn't get anything new out of the question.

This time, Yu Lian didn't deliberately mince words and said directly:

[It doesn't have such a long lifespan... This place was originally the habitat of a certain tribe. They created a paradise during the apocalypse. Faced with the changes in the world, they took the initiative to study dark creatures and modified their own genes.]

It's lamentable that humanity is always so arrogant, believing that it can manipulate forces it doesn't understand at will... They did survive the apocalypse, but they were mutated into something else entirely as a result.

After a long period of evolution, they had completely lost their past memories, and one of them, driven by bloodlust, devoured all its companions... This was [Hyranos]!

Ye Shou was genuinely surprised this time: "It's actually a 'demi-human monster'?"

—Like "Ebloon," it is an existence born from the dark heart of humanity.

[That's one way to put it, but it doesn't consider itself human. For Hyranos, the meaning of life is to constantly increase its followers and then devour them... its power will only grow stronger.]

Yuzare calmly said, "[The vampire virus cannot resist the power of light, but Hyranos can summon darkness... Its regenerative ability is extremely strong. To kill it and truly eliminate this curse, its entire body must be pulverized, exceeding its regenerative limit.]"

"Thank you for your suggestion. Is there anything else? Like its weaknesses or something?"

[......]

Youlian's figure slowly became ethereal, her expression forlorn as she vanished into a halo of light.

[...to save...to become light...]

The scene changed, and when Ye Shou came to his senses, he was surrounded by darkness again, as if nothing had happened.

Ye Shou scanned all the contents on the stone wall. He wanted to continue searching to see if there were any unexpected gains, but the aura of a vampire suddenly appeared within his perception range, forcing him to quickly move away.