Great, we're doomed now!

"Fight me, Ye Shou!"

"what?"

Ye Shou looked at her, his brow furrowing: "...What do you mean?"

"Fight me." Her voice came from inside the giant, lower than usual. "I've always believed in the law of the jungle, that the strong dominate the weak to establish order... So, I abide by this rule myself—the winner between you and me decides!"

The loser submits to the winner.

—This is too simple to be a rule, and it seems a little insufficient to be a reason for Ye Shou and Carmilla to fight.

Ye Shou was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Why? There shouldn't be any conflict between us that can only be resolved this way."

"Don't ask so many questions, just pretend I'm going crazy!"

"……All right,"

Ye Shou pursed his lips helplessly and didn't ask anything more. Judging from Carmilla's performance, this battle was inevitable, no matter what the reason.

So he put his suitcase in his private space, allowing him to focus wholeheartedly on the battle.

Buzz!

Light shone from Ye Shou's body, and pale golden ripples swept across his surface. In an instant, a majestic and handsome Ultraman appeared before Carmilla!

Two life-sized figures faced each other, separated by more than ten meters. The water in the quarry rippled in circles from the energy emanating from them.

—Carmilla made the first move!

The light whip was lashed out from the palm, easily cleaving through the air. Ye Shou dodged to the side, the tip of the whip grazing his breastplate, the remaining force carving a shallow groove behind him, sending pebbles flying.

The second whip followed immediately, at an even more treacherous angle, lashing down diagonally from above. Ye Shou raised his hand, drawing the golden sword from thin air and blocking it horizontally.

The two moved zigzagging among the rubble and puddles, the sound of their whips cracking like tearing silk, and their golden swords piercing the air with a sharp, swift motion.

One is fast, the other is even faster!

The giantess showed no sign of holding back; her moves were fierce and her energy was boundless. Although she was using a long whip, it cut through the earth like a sharp blade, leaving crisscrossing cracks, resembling the ruins after an earthquake.

However, despite such a fierce attack, it failed to harm Ultraman Bayeri in the slightest. This was not only because Ye Shou was superior in combat skills, but more importantly because he was very familiar with Carmilla's fighting style and could always anticipate her reactions.

"As expected of you!"

After repeatedly hitting a wall, Carmilla was annoyed but couldn't help but praise him. Then she suddenly changed her pace, seemingly losing patience and eager to decide the winner.

—And this is the opportunity Ye Shou has been waiting for!

He no longer probed or parried; instead, he raised his sword, drawing a tiny fan shape, and slid it down the side of the whip—

chap!

"Varied!"

Carmilla tried to retract her whip to adjust it, but Ye Shou's sword had already slid down the whip to her wrist and slashed fiercely.

Clang!

The sword jolted, and a sharp pain shot through my wrist!

The light whip slipped from her hand, and the recoil pushed her backward!

She stepped on some loose stones, and the Dark Giantess lost her footing, falling backward to the ground.

Ye Shou subconsciously reached out and grabbed Carmilla's wrist, pulling her back with the movement. His other hand, still holding the golden sword, also wrapped around her slender waist.

Carmilla didn't fall, but she was almost hanging on Ye Shou's arm.

"...Damn it, I still can't beat you."

Carmilla's breathing hadn't completely calmed down yet, her chest rising and falling slightly, and she said something that was hard to tell whether it was a complaint or admiration.

She looked up, and from this angle, she could see the vast blue sky through Ye Shou's face... and her mood instantly became much more relaxed.

"You lost," Ye Shou said.

"……Um."

After a few seconds of silence, she shifted her gaze from the sky to his eyes.

“I lost—so as agreed, I will follow your instructions from now on.”

She paused for a moment, her voice calm as if she were talking about something she had already decided long ago.

"So you can take me with you now."

"……Um?"

Go to your world.

Ye Shou suddenly widened his eyes: "Huh? I thought you just came to confess to me... When did we ever say that...?"

He seemed caught off guard, as if he hadn't expected this turn of events.

"?"

Seeing his reaction, Carmilla sensed something and her tone suddenly turned cold: "Don't you think it would be better to keep me by your side?"

"..."

If it weren't for his Ultraman form, Ye Shou would probably be sweating bullets!

Chapter 456: It's all Gatanothor's fault! (4K)

Light is like a bond, connecting different people and passing on the torch.

Great achievements are not only made by geniuses and great people. What drives people forward is often not lofty ideals, but a clear goal that can be seen with one's own eyes.

Just by getting a little closer to "that person," just by working a little harder today, your life and even the world can change quietly.

For example: Shizuma Foundation.

It is the country's premier mega-corporation, and its founder, Mitsukuni Shizuma, is a world-renowned tycoon.

Unlike most conglomerates rooted in traditional industries, Mitsukuni Shizuma emerged decades ago, relying on technological prowess far ahead of its time to carve out a niche in fields such as energy, aerospace, and quantum computing.

The TPU he established—the Earth Peace Alliance—is a transnational organization independent of any country, possessing its own armed forces. Its elite Victory Team is the frontline force fighting against monsters and aliens!

At first glance, TPU looks very similar to TPC from another world, but the two are only similar in appearance; their cores are completely different.

TPC is the result of Soichiro Sawai's lifelong efforts, in collaboration with major countries and countless scientists; it is a crystallization of human wisdom.

TPU was almost entirely built by Mitsukuni Shizuma alone!

He paved the way with money and used technology as bait to win over the powerful figures on the planet, and then flexibly integrated the forces of all sides.

It is precisely because of the different "foundations" that the TPU is not as powerful as the TPC (the TPC has basically reached the level of unifying all mankind), and its influence is relatively much weaker.

Even so, Shizuma Mitsukuni has undoubtedly accomplished a great feat!

Some call him a genius, others a madman, and still others privately remark that Mitsukuni Shizuma's style is too unconventional, like someone from another world. Shizuma himself never responds to these assessments.

At this moment, he was sitting in his private office, holding a teacup that had long since gone cold, lost in thought, seemingly pondering something.

The documents spread out on the table hadn't been touched in a long time. On top were a few photos. His gaze swept across the city skyline outside the window and landed on the distant mountains, which were tinged with pale gold by the setting sun.

"...Kusei-sama."

He had been waiting for this day, ever since he transmigrated to this parallel world, he had been filled with hope... He had already given up, but unexpectedly, heaven took pity on him and gave him a chance.

Yes, he is not from this world.

In a distant parallel world, on another Earth, he was an intelligence officer belonging to TPC, responsible for liaising with various research projects within the company and the Kuze Group.

At that time, TPC was undertaking an ambitious project—

Using the Eingredient supercomputer, a cross-dimensional quantum shuttle experiment can be conducted on the far side of the moon. If it can operate safely, it could send a human from the moon to Mars in one minute.

Unlike space travel that requires a warp drive, this technology is free from the limitations of spaceships; it only requires setting up "teleportation arrays" at both ends.

He was an unofficial member of the project team, and also held a position at the Jiushi Group. He came to observe as a recorder.

—The accident happened without any warning!

The parameters of the quantum tunnel suddenly went out of control, and a blinding white light engulfed the entire laboratory... When he woke up, he was in a parallel world that was very similar to Earth. All he had left was a portable terminal that stored a lot of technical data and a platinum watch engraved with gentian patterns.

—That is a token of the Kuze Group that only true elites and meritorious individuals can obtain. It bears a part of the Kuze family crest and is proof that they will be trusted by the group for life.

The first few years were extremely difficult. He had no legal status, no resources, and while they could speak the same language, there were cultural differences. Fortunately, he arrived not during wartime, but rather during a period of economic prosperity, which gave him a lot of room to maneuver.

After all, he was an elite who had fought his way up in the workplace. After accepting his situation and giving up his hope of going home, he began to strive to realize his self-worth!

Using the technology stored in that terminal, he started with a small team and gradually grew his business. He deliberately imitated the methods of two people—Sōichirō Sawai and Kūze Hōmō—and would always think about what they would do when faced with difficulties.

Of course, Sawai's personal charm and Ye Shou's extraordinary talent are something he can never replicate, but as the saying goes, what you keep thinking about will eventually come to fruition. After many years of hard work, he has finally laid a solid foundation.

He created new energy batteries, quantum communication modules, and everything that the world doesn't yet have... The powerful and wealthy went from initial disdain to astonishment and greed, and finally to acceptance and compromise, all within a span of twenty years.

By the time he came to his senses, the Shizuma Group had become a behemoth of great importance in the country!

But he always felt he hadn't done well enough. He cheated with technology from the future, and only managed to catch a glimpse of those two people's backs after working up half his head bald.

Sawai was able to get the foreign ministers of his sworn enemy countries to sit down and shake hands in peace, while he himself was already exhausted just from negotiating with his own country's defense forces.

The Kuze Group has never encountered a bottleneck in resources when implementing any plan. Kuze Ye Shou is like a mechanical cat in an anime, always able to produce the most suitable thing when everyone needs it most. Everything runs incredibly smoothly under his hands. No matter how incredible the goal is, it is already accomplished before you even realize it!

That's why Mitsukuni Shizuma lamented: mortals are mortals after all. Even if they have tools far beyond the reach of this era, they still cannot replicate the great achievements of those chosen ones.

He was already fifty years old when he realized this, and having barely accumulated enough resources, he began to work toward his ultimate goal—to establish "TPC".

He originally thought that he would grow old in this other world, hand over TPU to the next generation of young people, and then quietly go to his grave with those names that he would never have the chance to mention again.

But a few months ago, things changed:

The discovery of ancient ruins awakens a sleeping dark giant, making him realize that this parallel world not only has monsters, but also a very similar "background" to his hometown, with the existence of special life forms like "giants".

Although she wasn't the one he longed for day and night...

Even more surprisingly, the intelligence department actually deciphered the name from the remaining stone tablet—Bayeli!

Then, when Diavolo attacked, he saw a familiar figure on the news... Even through a blurry light and shadow, and even though the size and posture were slightly different from what he remembered, Mitsukuni Shizuma recognized the Ultraman standing in front of everyone at a glance!

That day, the man, who was over fifty, sat alone in his office until dawn. After the initial excitement came an indescribable sense of relief and peace.

He even felt that this was enough, and there was no need to get any closer... Being able to see that figure from afar made all his efforts over the years worthwhile.

Mitsukuni Shizuma didn't immediately go to find Yoru. He knew his former superior, Yoru, always had his own plans, and making contact rashly might only cause trouble. He could only wait, while instructing the intelligence department to closely monitor all related developments.

As for how he connected "Bayeri" and "Kuseyo no Mori"?