Great, we're doomed now!

It wasn't until her energy organs malfunctioned that Ainome stopped, panting heavily, staring blankly at the hole... The smoke and dust gradually dissipated, and the space slowly closed up again.

Is everything alright?

They probably weighed the options and gave up on entering the other dimension.

The demon god felt a surge of relief, but just as he breathed a sigh of relief—

A pair of hands easily broke through the boundary and reached into the cave.

"!"

Those hands gripped the sides of the opening, and a dark red light seeped out from between their fingers, flowing slowly like magma before suddenly exerting force!

wow~

The hole was torn open.

It wasn't a superpower or racial talent, but rather that it was torn apart from the middle by a pair of hands that disregarded all the laws of physics, as easily as tearing a piece of paper.

"Om~"

The Dark Giant emerged from the torn rift.

He stood in the void of another dimension, calmly and without any emotion looking ahead.

The moment his gaze swept over her, every cell in the Demon Goddess Ai Nengmei's body tensed up, and her heart began to beat faster. This was due to an uncontrollable tremor that surged up from the depths of her soul!

The demon god's lips can no longer curl up.

That somewhat cruel smile has now vanished without a trace, replaced by a distorted expression squeezed and deformed by fear.

It had nowhere to retreat!

If even the interdimensional space can't stop Ye Shou's progress, then nothing in the world can protect him!

Since that's the case... we have no choice but to take a gamble!

The demon opened its mouth as if to say something, but found itself unable to utter a sound. It could only let out a threatening roar and charge towards Bayeli.

-

Lucifer's body trembled violently!

The murky dark red began to fade from the edges of his pupils, the giant of light's resistance gradually subsided, and Masaki Keigo's consciousness emerged from that chaos, looking rather bewildered for a moment.

Daigo noticed Lucifer's change and tentatively loosened his grip, but still maintained his fighting stance, ready to exert force again if the situation worsened.

He was overthinking it. Lucifer had indeed returned to normal. He just stood there, oblivious, with only the timer on his chest still flashing.

"Are you alright?"

Daigo called out tentatively, and upon hearing the sound, Lucifer slowly lowered his head, looking at his hands.

Was he just focusing his beam of light, aiming it at his own companion instead of the monster?

It was like a bucket of ice water being poured over his head, making him feel an overwhelming sense of shame and embarrassment!

"I……"

Masaki Keigo felt as if something was blocking his throat.

He wanted to say something, because whatever the reason, he had indeed gone berserk, while Tiga, who was also bewitched by the demon god, quickly came to his senses.

If attacking his comrades would make him feel ashamed, what's worse is that all of this was seen by ordinary people. What if this tarnishes Ultraman's image?

Ultraman should be a perfect savior, and should never be feared by the people!

Thinking of this, Masaki Keigo clenched his fist!

He was probably the one among the human hosts who cared about this the most.

Even though he and Daigo worked together to release a healing light wave to appease the masses, dispel the lingering effects of the demon god, and waited for Ye Shou to return from another dimension and successfully defeat Enomina, Masaki was still unable to let go of his resentment.

After the war, all the members of the GUTS team had returned to headquarters, but Masaki found an excuse to stay behind. Looking at the ruins that had expanded considerably due to his rampage, his expression remained somber.

He had always considered himself an excellent human being, even considering himself Ye Shou's right-hand man, but what happened today made him waver a little.

Perhaps I'm not so suited to be Ultraman...

"Ok?"

Suddenly, a vibrant color in the corner caught Masaki's attention. He glanced at it casually, but then certain fragments of memory flashed through his mind, causing his pupils to shrink.

As the sun was about to set, the flower bud that had emerged from the ruins had closed up. Masaki Keigo cautiously walked over to examine it, as if he had seen some kind of monstrous beast.

Ancient memories are resurfacing...

"Hello, Captain?"

Without hesitation, Masaki called Ye Shou: "I found a wild 'Qijiela'."

"……understood."

Volume 11: To the Day of Destiny: Chapter 480: The Flower of Compassion (4.5K)

Code name "Nine and Three-Quarters".

The underground floor of TPC headquarters is a secret floor that does not exist on the design drawings at all, and no more than ten people are qualified to enter it.

Ye Shou was standing in front of the table, holding a transparent culture jar in his hands. Inside was a plant about ten centimeters tall, with its roots soaking in a light blue nutrient solution. The stem was slender and flexible, and a pale yellow flower bud that had not yet fully opened hung at the top.

—Zijera.

The edges of the petals are tinged with a faint orange-red, like clouds dyed by the setting sun. Even though the buds have not yet opened, you can already see their enchanting beauty when they bloom.

Of course, for Ye Shou, the flower's appearance was secondary; its pollen was what truly "attracted" people...

When placed in a low-temperature sealed box, a thin layer of mist covered the transparent box walls, making the flower buds inside appear and disappear.

Right next to it is another well-preserved Zigela, which was put into storage much earlier, from an ancient relic brought back by Ye Shou from 30 million years ago.

He looked at the two flowers carefully for a moment, took a deep breath, and closed the barrier.

Masaki Keigo stood two steps behind him, his arms crossed over his chest, his brows furrowed the entire time.

He stared at Zijella for a long while before finally speaking: "It seems the darkness of the ancient times is stirring. What should we do next?"

Ye Shou did not answer immediately. He pondered for a moment before cautiously saying, "Wait."

"...Hmm?" Masaki's brows furrowed even more. "Waiting for what?"

"Wait for the Qijiela to bloom."

Masaki paused for two seconds, as if to confirm whether he had heard correctly.

"You mean we're just going to wait here and do nothing?"

“Yes.” Ye Shou smiled helplessly. “This time is different from before. It’s not like we’re fighting monsters… so there really isn’t a good way to deal with it.”

“But!” Masaki took a step forward and pointed to the sealed box. “This flower is directly related to the extinction of the ancient times. You should know this better than I do. Once it blooms on a large scale, it means the end of the world… Aren’t you worried?”

"I know everything you're saying, and I know the details better than you do."

Ye Shou interrupted him, but showed no impatience: "I can even tell you about Zijera's abilities... Its pollen can cause people to fall into a blissful illusion, lose their will to fight, and meet destruction in their dreams."

"...Is this how ancient humans went extinct?"

"They are not the root cause, but they did lead humanity to give up the fight."

"Then why not take preventative measures in advance?" Masaki raised his voice slightly. "If you give me the samples, I can work with Horii to study targeted biological viruses, or even physically eliminate every single one before it spreads on a large scale!"

"No need."

"No need?" Masaki stood there, stunned.

"Even if you do that, it won't make much of a difference."

Ye Shou looked up at him, his eyes calm, yet carrying a complex emotion that Ye Shou couldn't decipher.

“The Zijera is a native species of Earth. Its existence is not an evolutionary error. No one can stop its appearance because it is a test given by fate,” Ye Shou said. “Humanity should face it and overcome it, rather than choose to escape.”

"..."

Masaki opened his mouth and then closed it again, subconsciously believing that what Ye Shou said must make sense.

But something still feels off... I still can't fully agree with Ye Shou's opinion.

“But the ancient times—” he paused, as if organizing his thoughts, “the ancient times possessed a civilization as glorious as ours, perhaps even more powerful militarily, and they had so many giants… but they still perished in the end.”

Ye Shou nodded silently.

"In other words... humans cannot defeat the Zijera, right? Because they lacked courage, the ancient ones fell before facing the final darkness!"

If this is the case, why should we stand by and watch history repeat itself?

I believe TPC has steered the world in a better direction, perhaps leading to a different ending with the ancient world, but I still think it's too risky to just leave Zijella alone."

His voice lowered, carrying emotions that had been suppressed for a long time, his tone subtly agitated, almost unable to contain himself.

"...The reason we will retain our ancient memories is to make up for the regrets of the past. We can prepare for the future and nip dangers in the bud before they take hold, or at least find ways to avoid them."

You mean?

"Zijera should be physically eliminated!"

We cannot expect humans to make different choices, nor can we believe that ordinary people can firmly resist such temptations... I think they should not be exposed to this crisis in the first place!

Using my Gaiozak (subterranean shark), I'm sure I can find the roots of Zijera, and we must burn them before they rise to the surface!

Only by eliminating this threat can humanity concentrate its efforts on confronting the real one… If we can't even get past this hurdle, what right do we have to talk about the future?

The air in the room was still for a few seconds.

Ye Shou did not avoid his gaze, nor did he rush to refute. He remained silent for a while, and then sighed softly.

"Yes... your point of view is not wrong."

He said, "But Zijella's roots are deeper than any other plant's, and they are not so easy to uproot."

Masaki waited for him to continue, but Ye Shou simply turned around and left. Even though he was usually very determined, he hesitated for once because of his disagreement with Masaki.

...When Masaki Keigo walked out of the TPC headquarters and arrived at the main hall on the first floor, it was already dark.

Instead of returning to his residence or going to his dormitory at TPC, he went alone to the recreation area and found a bar where employees could relax after get off work.

He chose a corner seat and ordered a whiskey. The spicy liquid burned his way down his throat to his stomach, but his expression remained unchanged. Perhaps his mental confusion overshadowed the physical stimulation.

Squeak~ Squeak~