Great, we're doomed now!

She had obviously heard Sawai's declaration, and although she didn't quite understand why everyone had suddenly become chaotic, there were at least a few things she, as a child, could understand:

That means TPC will send small planes to burn these flowers.

"Mommy... Mom?"

"What is it?" The proprietress straightened up and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

What are we doing?

“TPC is coming to burn down Zijra,” the landlady said impatiently. “So we have to hide them.”

“But,” the little girl looked up, her eyes filled with serious confusion, “aren’t TPC supposed to protect us?”

"Protection?" The proprietress raised her voice. "They're going to burn down things we love without even asking us a question. Is that what they call protection? This completely violates the principles of democracy!"

The little girl looked down at the temporary tattoo on the back of her hand—it was a TPC merchandise item with the GUTS logo of the Victory Team.

"But... the GUTS team are our friends..."

Her voice was soft but earnest: "The teacher said that they protect us from monsters and maintain peace on Earth... Good children don't betray their friends."

Even so, even so... they can't force us to do things we don't want to do.

"Mommy said on Halloween that children shouldn't eat too much candy... I didn't want to, but I listened, and Mommy even said I was a good child."

"..."

The proprietress opened her mouth, but no words came out.

She looked down at the flowerpot in her arms, then at her daughter's hand. The pattern on it had faded a bit, and a small edge had curled up, but the outline was still clear.

She couldn't blame her daughter because her husband, a disabled retired soldier, had been fitted with a lifelike prosthetic body by a charity program from TPC Germany and was assigned to the Earth Defense Force's Spacecraft Unit.

Jinna's fondness for TPC is undoubtedly the result of her parents' daily exposure to it...

Yes, she herself would never want to have a conflict with TPC.

This makes absolutely no sense!

"Waaah!"

The proprietress suddenly burst into tears, and the flowerpot in her hand fell to the ground.

"You're right, Jinna... but Mommy is so useless... Mommy can't do it, I really, really can't... Waaah!"

She knew that her current behavior was wrong, no different from those drug addicts, and that she was just making excuses for herself. This made her feel extremely ashamed in front of her daughter.

"Mommy, why are you crying?"

Jinna suddenly panicked, her eyes welling up with tears. She grabbed her mother's clothes, while the landlady knelt down and hugged her.

“It’s okay, Mommy’s okay… Yes, let’s work together, and let’s call Daddy too… Tonight we won’t do anything, we’ll just stay home and not cause any trouble for our friends at TPC, okay, Jinna?”

"Ok!"

The proprietress put the flowerpot back on the ground, straightened up, and glanced at the alley entrance.

The dim yellow light of the streetlights cast long shadows on the road. Some people were running to the sides, their faces bearing an expression she had never seen before... the kind of expression one only has when about to lose something of utmost importance, a wild and reckless expression.

Was I like this before?

After making up her mind, the proprietress, who had calmed down a bit, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

hum~

It was completely dark outside the alley. The mother and daughter heard the deliberate hum of the hovercraft engine. The sound of the first drone swept overhead like a night bird flapping its wings, blending into the noisy night...

-

"Go away!"

"hateful!"

"We will not give in!"

Down with TPC!

The normally docile crowd now resembled wartime rioters; office workers and high school students alike gathered together, holding signs and loudly protesting TPC's "atrocities."

In many other places, actual actions have already begun, with people using various tools to try to shoot down drones. Power suits, which were previously widely adopted to protect them, have now become weapons for rioters.

"Wei" and a host of other AI-controlled drones will never attack humans under any circumstances. So even with their technological advantage, they are repeatedly shot down and then put into gasoline drums and burned with various other things.

The piercing alarm blared, indicating that someone had deliberately set a fire in an attempt to confuse the drones or distract TPC.

Even firefighters are now reluctant to go on duty, but fortunately, fire and disaster prevention systems in various places have long been equipped with small M·A called "Bruman". This fast-moving and small-sized auxiliary machine can move freely in the city, and its defense is not something that ordinary rioters can break through, so it is easy to control the situation.

Even so, the night still couldn't find peace...

Suppressing them should be easy. TPC possesses cutting-edge technology. Even if employees leave their posts, AI-controlled unmanned equipment, coupled with high-level permissions, is enough to keep the entire system running.

From M·A to mobile suits, and even space battleships, TPC, if it so desired, could even become a dark force dominating the world, like a background character in some games who holds absolute power.

But that's meaningless and certainly not the style TPC has always had.

Even if one possesses a "greater good," even if one stands on the opposite side of humanity...

"We don't need TPC to teach us how to do it!"

"Yes!"

"Go away!"

--boom!

A rock hit the helmet, and even though it had a shock-absorbing effect, it still made my head buzz.

But when Masamune looked at the mob throwing "cannonballs" at him, he felt not anger, but rather an unusual calm.

He now somewhat understood why Ye Shou had stood by and watched everything unfold... To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, it was like a biblical story.

Even though God is omniscient and omnipotent, and loves mankind, he still watched as the serpent of Eden tempted Eve.

—Because even "gods" cannot control human thought.

Of course, Ultraman is not a god, but they still cannot forcibly change the fate of mankind.

Keeping the "serpent" and "wisdom" hidden from humankind might delay their expulsion from Eden, but that would be like keeping a baby in an incubator forever.

The outside world is dark and dangerous, and evil and selfishness exist deep within human nature... This is a fact that cannot be escaped and does not need to be escaped.

Yes, you are so stupid and ugly... you're like clowns in a third-rate movie.

—Masaki quietly observed the crowd.

The thugs lost interest in him because he didn't react, and ultimately didn't go forward to beat him up... Perhaps these people also realized how unreasonable they were, but they were just unwilling to face their own cowardice and admit that it was their own problem.

They moved on to the next street to capture the drone, and Masaki slowly opened his eyes at that moment.

Even so, I will still stand up for you!

It's not because I was chosen to become Ultraman and have this responsibility, but because I, as a human being, have accepted our weaknesses!

hum~~~

The ground suddenly trembled, and on the distant grassland, a huge crack tore open the horizon. Then, plant roots as large and towering as the Tower of Babel broke through the obstruction and spiraled up into the sky.

Its surface was covered with pits of all sizes, and it was clear at a glance that it had been corroded by the aura of the evil god for a long time, but its fundamental properties as a plant had not changed at all... Logically speaking, it should not have voluntarily emerged from the ground at night.

"Is that Zijella's 'root'?"

Masaki's expression turned serious, and his eyes flashed with a burning light.

He knew that Zijella's true "roots" were deeply embedded in people's hearts... so as a human being, he certainly had the right to uproot them!

Lucifer!

"Diga!"

Two beams of light shot into the sky, and the figures of two giants appeared on the grassland. After they appeared, they looked at each other in surprise, as if they had not expected such a coincidence.

But they quickly nodded to each other in agreement:

"Ok!"

"Let's attack together!"

Volume 11: To the Day of Destiny: Chapter 485: Farewell, Zigela in the Dawn (4.5K)

Lucifer and Tiga were trying to get close to the main body of Zigela, whose huge plant stem was as thick as a tower, with flower buds that had not yet fully opened hanging from the top, and the orange-red edges of the buds were particularly dazzling.

Just as they were about to enter the attack range, the ground suddenly shook—

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!

Dozens of vines burst forth from the soil, moving with lightning speed, leaving no time to react.

Lucifer raised his left arm to block, but two vines wrapped around his wrists, the force causing him to stagger forward. The next second, more vines surged from both sides, wrapping around his ankles, knees, and waist, tightening like snakes.

Tiga's situation wasn't much better. Two vines appeared almost from beneath his feet, and before he could even fly, they wrapped around his right leg and pinned him firmly to the ground. Daigo tried to break free, but two more vines wrapped around his left arm, pulling him to one side and causing him to lose his balance.

More vines, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, lashed against the two men's breastplates, each strike exploding into a shower of brilliant sparks!

"just!"

"Humph!"

Ultraman Tiga's body suddenly glowed with a red light and intense heat. The vines wrapped around him quickly dried and cracked under the high temperature, then exploded like gunpowder, turning into ashes that fell down in a flurry. He took the opportunity to break free.

Lucifer made a different choice. A layer of white frost condensed on his body, and the chill spread from the timer on his chest to his limbs. The vines that were binding him froze from the point of contact, and the brittle fibers broke one by one, shattering into ice shards on the ground.

The battle scene was broadcast to the world by a large number of drones. It's unclear who orchestrated it, but it's as if they knew what was going to happen in advance and arranged everything well in advance. Even though various industries around the world are currently paralyzed, the live broadcast can still proceed smoothly.

"Tiga, Lucifer...please, don't hurt Zigela."

"We did it voluntarily!"

"No, no!"

...Masaki shook off the frozen debris and was about to move forward with Tiga when several vines, concealed by the firelight and ice shards, lashed out from the side, striking their ribs squarely.

At the same time, the buds of Zigela slowly opened a layer of petals, and pale golden pollen drifted from the edges of the petals, spreading in the air like a dreamlike mist.

Those who witnessed the golden mist trembled with excitement and couldn't help but cheer—

This led to them starting to speak disrespectfully of Ultraman.

Logically, Masaki and Daigo shouldn't have been able to hear it, but perhaps due to the pollen, their movements slowed down noticeably.