Am I the only one in this team who is not Ultraman?

Seeing the leader of the Lebik aliens nod, Leo knew that he probably had no hope for this guy. How could someone with such low intelligence become a leader? Are aliens these days so simple and honest?

"What do you know about the Pedan aliens?"

"Not many. I've never heard of such a group before."

"Never? Is it possible that you on Lebike planet are not well-informed?"

Upon hearing Leo's question, the Lebik aliens immediately became anxious. "We Lebik aliens are, after all, a dominant force in this universe. How could there be any power in this universe that we don't know about?"

To be more precise, how could a civilization with technology like King Joe be unknown in the universe? The Lebecs, after all, had developed to the point of being able to travel between stars, yet we had never heard of them before.

But that was all the Lebik leader knew about the Pedan aliens. After Leo asked a few more questions and confirmed this, he left without hesitation.

Komon uploaded the record in his hand, while standing next to Leo, smiling easily, "The vice-captain is really resourceful. Just scare this Lebik alien leader and he'll confess everything."

"Scare him? Ah, no, I'm not bluffing." Leo paused for a moment, then quickly realized what he meant and smiled easily. "I'm serious. If he really won't confess anything, there's no point in keeping him alive. His actions are enough to warrant the death penalty even under Earth's laws."

"...Um, isn't this against the rules?" Komon really hadn't expected Leo to actually intend to do that. "What if there's some important information..."

"With his IQ, you can't expect him to know any important information." Leo's comment was precise and deadly. "I just don't understand, did these aliens not develop brains when they evolved?"

There's really no way to refute that. Komon knows what Leo means. King Joe is a rather troublesome enemy for the TPC and the defense force. If the Pedan aliens really want to conquer Earth, they can just send King Joe to attack directly. Why go through the Lebik people?

Clearly, either the Pedanians have something on Earth that they are afraid of, or the Pedanians are not as strong as originally estimated, and they want to use the Lebikians to test Earth's strength.

It might have been the latter before, but now it's probably the former.

Just as Leo and Komon had suspected, the Pedan aliens were currently in a state of utter confusion. They had indeed handed over the two King Joe suits to the Lebik aliens to test the strength of the Earth Defense Force.

The Pedanians actually discovered this "new Earth" not long ago. The reason was that a strong energy reaction broke out near the dark universe to which Emperor Empera belonged not long ago. According to Pedan scientists, this caused the two universes to intersect.

Although they are different universes, they have similarities. For example, the universe of the Pedan aliens also has an Earth, and its climate and other conditions are almost identical to the Earth where Leo and his friends live.

For the Pedanians, this was a very exciting discovery. Earth's environment was quite habitable for them, and its resources were abundant. So they planned to investigate and see if they could conquer this planet.

Then they began investigating this new Earth and discovered that something was wrong; something seemed amiss.

Although this Earth doesn't have those seemingly monstrous giants of light, the problem is that they've been experiencing frequent monster attacks for the past ten years. Ten years! And yet, the humans on this Earth are still alive and kicking. Is that reasonable?

Out of caution, the Pedan aliens did not choose to attack Earth directly. Instead, they found the Lebik aliens to be their suckers and sold them two old King Joe missiles, using the Lebik aliens to test the combat capabilities of Earth's defense forces.

Then, faced with the images sent before King Bridge was destroyed, the Pedan Star advance team fell silent. They looked at each other, and even without saying a word, they knew that this matter was probably going to be difficult.

Putting aside the firepower of these Earthlings, which is still within an acceptable range, can someone explain how two Ultramen and even a Zetton suddenly appeared on Earth? It wasn't mentioned in the previous investigation data.

"Captain, should we retreat? We only have five King Joe Ultramen left. These two unfamiliar Ultramen don't seem like easy to deal with."

"Shut up. Do you think I don't want to retreat? But if the leader finds out we were scared away by two Ultramen, he'll definitely kill us."

The advance team leader glared at his subordinates with annoyance. Although they still had five King Joes, they were all old-fashioned and their weapons and equipment were not advanced. It would be too difficult for them to defeat two Ultramen.

Not to mention there's also Zetton on Earth. Although Zetton and those two Ultramen are obviously not on the same side, in terms of combat power, it is clearly not an easy opponent.

"Moreover, the Baltan aliens have their eyes on this planet. Based on what I know about them, there must be something about this Earth that has attracted them."

"But Captain, isn't Zetton controlled by the Zettonians? Why are you saying that the Baltanians are targeting this place?"

"What do you know?" The captain of the Pedan advance team rolled his eyes at his underling. "With the level of the Zettonians, how much stronger can the Zettons they train be than our King Joe?"

"Based on the footage transmitted back from King Joe, a Zetton with this level of combat power could not possibly be raised by a Zettonian, whether it was raised by a Baltanian or a Mefilasian!"

So anyone can raise a powerful Zetton, except for the Zetton aliens, right?

"...Then why call that monster Zetton?"

"Because this monster is from Zetton, and the combat power of ordinary individuals is quite strong. Although it is a monster from Zetton, it is so famous that people often buy it to breed and modify it."

Strangely enough, the Zetton monster has many derivative individuals, but no matter who raised the Zetton, they are all more powerful than those raised by the Zetton aliens, which has led to them being despised by many.

"That Zetton on Earth could easily defeat two Ultramen plus two King Joes. Could a Zetton with that kind of strength be raised by the Zetton aliens? I don't believe it even if you beat me to death. It must have been the Baltan aliens who did it."

"Achoo." Leo couldn't help but sneeze, feeling like someone was talking about him, while the Pedan alien was still pondering his next plan.

First of all, they definitely won't retreat, because going back would be considered treason. But attacking Earth directly is also unrealistic. Not to mention that there are still two Ultramen on Earth, they can't defeat Zetton, who is under the control of Alien Baltan.

"I've got it!" The leader of the Pedan aliens' advance team suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Let's take over the Lebik aliens' home base first, and use it as our outpost on Pedan!"

"Captain, that's a great idea!"

"As expected of the captain, he has reached a height that we can never reach in our lifetime."

The underlings all started their usual flattery, even though it was a plan that was just thought up on a whim, but it was still much better than going back to Pedan Star to die.

Moreover, the Lebik aliens are well aware of their own strength. If they can't beat the Earth Defense Force and Zetton, do you think they can't beat the Lebik aliens?

And so, the Wutai Jingu Bridge flew majestically toward Lebik.

However, Earth is currently unaware of this. King Joe, Ultraman, and the reappearance of Zetton have put considerable pressure on Earth, especially given Zetton's extraordinary fighting power and unknown stance.

Combat power: The Earth Defense Force now needs stronger combat power. Looking at the two broken King Joe tanks in front of him, Shota Hebikura, the head of the armory, couldn't help but sigh.

"So you want to turn King Joe into a weapon for combat... King Joe, I remember when I was a kid I loved watching those special effects movies, but I never thought that one day monsters would actually appear."

"You never thought that the giant robot that only existed on TV when you were a child would actually appear in front of you, right?" Inaba Torajiro, who was also in charge, walked to Captain Hebikura with a complicated expression. "I was like that when I was young."

The Ultraman TV series is so well-known, and it received considerable attention after the monster disaster first occurred ten years ago. People then began to fantasize and pray that Ultraman would come to save them.

Now it seems that such an Ultraman has really appeared, but along with him, new enemies have also appeared. How should Earth deal with all of this in the future?

"Mr. Ye Hu, has the plan from above been approved?" Hebi Cang looked at Ye Hu, who nodded. "It has been decided. The Texas Beam will be used as the main weapon, along with an anti-gravity system and... the Max Propulsion System."

"Even the Max propulsion system will be installed on it?" Hebikura looked at Ye Hu in disbelief, but it wasn't so surprising. "Even Dr. Eight-Tailed has chosen to give in. It seems that the Earth won't be too peaceful from now on."

"Yes, but humanity has survived for ten years. No matter how difficult the road ahead may be, we will not perish."

Listening to what Ye Hu said, He Cang subconsciously looked at his workstation. Besides his usual office supplies and various documents, there was a knife lying there quietly.

"Yes, humanity... will not perish."

Chapter 8 Miss Jaden expresses her dissatisfaction

"What? You want to install the Max power system on King Joe too?" Imu stood up in surprise. "It's unbelievable that Mr. Yao would agree to something like this."

As a student of Dr. Yao Meifan, I know very well what kind of temperament my teacher has. Dr. Yao has always been a representative of the dove faction, and he does not want his research results to be used as weapons.

I am particularly worried that in the future, when technology continues to advance and monster disasters are no longer a problem, people will turn these advanced weapons against each other, and then humanity will truly be doomed.

However, it is indeed surprising that Dr. Yao, who has made the most important research in his life, the Max propulsion system, is given priority for use in King Joe.

"Dr. Yao is never an unreasonable person; he just experienced that era and saw things too far ahead." Captain Gento said, holding his coffee, seemingly with some emotion.

"That era?" Leo, who was writing a report, looked up curiously.

“It was during the old defense force era.” Daigo, a former member of the GUTS team, knew this better. “During the old defense force era, all the countries on Earth were in conflict with each other, secretly competing in equipment, which almost led to a world war.”

"That's right. Dr. Yawei went through that period, which is why he opposes any behavior that develops weapons without considering the consequences. Even he brought out the Max Propulsion System, which means that our situation in the future will probably be even more difficult."

"The Max propulsion system must be a very impressive research project, right?" Leo didn't quite understand. He hadn't read many books, and he had never even heard of the Max propulsion system before.

When Leo asked this question, everyone realized that the vice-captain's educational level seemed to be the lowest in the team. Unlike the others, even the worst students had graduated from well-known universities. Leo had not continued his education after finishing middle school.

"Simply put, the Max propulsion system is a propulsion system that uses the collision of protons and antiprotons to generate enormous energy as propulsion. If the research and development can be fully completed and popularized, then the energy problem can be said to no longer exist."

"It sounds really impressive." Leo didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from judging from the expressions of Meng and the others that the Max power system was indeed a very impressive research achievement.

"The renovation of King Joe Bridge will take some time. Hopefully, nothing unexpected will happen before then." Hong Kai sighed, then continued grinding coffee with his head down.

Everyone in ESCG has their own hobbies. For example, Daigo loves gardening, Gento tries to explore games and TV series that children like, Komon likes drawing, Kai loves grinding coffee and playing the harmonica, Gamu and Fujimiya love scientific research, and Fujiwara likes reading.

If Leo had any hobbies, it would probably be to dig out past battle reports and make some experience summaries, because he lacked knowledge in this area, and his job could not tolerate any mistakes.

"But what exactly are those two Ultramen?" Leo's question made Gai and Gento's coffee tremble slightly. "By the way, don't those two Ultramen have codenames yet?"

"Director Sawai said he'd hand this over to us as well." Gento put down his coffee. "The first giant to appear, Gai, said Orb would be a good name. How about Blaze for the next one?"

"Ah, I'm fine." Leo never took these kinds of things that seriously, and the two names sounded quite fitting. "I just don't know if these two Ultramen are actually the same as those in the TV series, loving the Earth and protecting humanity."

“I think… it should be the same, after all, back then they chose to fight against King Joe to protect the city.” Captain Stringman lowered his head silently.

“I think so too.” Hong Kai unconsciously looked away, trying to make his tone sound less tense. “They should be on the side of humanity, just like the Ultramen we know.”

"I hope so. I'm worried that this might be another new trick by aliens, using the image of Ultraman to gain our trust."

Such a possibility cannot be ruled out, and Leo's concerns cannot be described as unfounded. However, he realized that everyone seemed somewhat helpless and frowning at this statement, which was not quite what he had imagined. He had thought that everyone would also think of this point.

However, Leo did understand. Everyone hoped for a powerful hero like Ultraman who could defeat monsters and save everyone, even the defense force. It would be too difficult to protect the Earth with human strength alone.

"Of course, maybe I'm overthinking it." Leo scratched his head sheepishly. "But if those two really are Ultraman, they should have human hosts, right? Where would their human hosts be?"

In an instant, Daigo's scissors broke the branches of the bonsai, Gamu and Fujimiya both accidentally typed the wrong key, Komon's paintbrush flew out of his hand, Fujiwara Juri's book fell to the ground, and Gento and Kurenai's coffee almost fell over.

Strange, why is everyone reacting so strongly? Leo was a little confused, but the others in ESCG were starting to have doubts, especially Gento and Kai, who even subconsciously wondered if they had been exposed.

"As for Vice Captain Leo, I'm more concerned about Zetton than Ultraman Blaze and Ultraman Orb. Based on the analysis, he should also be acting under someone's orders. Captain Leo, who do you think his mastermind is? A Zettonian?"

Now it was Leo's turn to have a strange expression. He pretended to cough twice, "Since even King Joe of the Pedan aliens can appear, it's not impossible that the Zetton aliens are manipulating Zetton from behind the scenes."

While wondering if his manipulation of Zetton had been exposed, Leo also sensed dissatisfaction emanating from Miss Zetton inside the battle device, as if she was quite unhappy about being placed alongside the Zetton aliens.

"Such a possibility is not out of the question. Besides the Pedan aliens, the Baltan aliens could also be the manipulators of Zetton... Oh no, I subconsciously used the content of movies and TV shows as reference material."

Captain Stringman quickly shook his head, realizing that this was wrong. Even if the Pedan aliens, King Joe, Zetton, and even Ultraman really appeared in their world, it didn't mean that they could use those special effects videos as a reference for reality.

If this leads to misjudgments in future operations, it cannot be dismissed simply as a matter of negligence.

After working for a while longer, the day was almost over. Leo glanced at the time, stretched, organized the documents, and picked up his helmet. "That's all for today. I'll be going now. See you all tomorrow."

"By the way, isn't the vice-captain moving to headquarters?" Daigo remembered that Leo was the only one in the team who didn't live at TPC headquarters. Even Gento, who had a family, only went home every few days.

“I… well, I did consider moving to headquarters before.”

This was indeed Leo's previous idea. After all, staying at headquarters meant that any emergencies could be responded to immediately, while living outside would inevitably be inconvenient and even carry some other risks.

But all of this was perfectly resolved after Miss Zetton appeared, and the cars distributed by ESCG were quite fast, even able to fly, mainly thanks to the anti-gravity system developed by my dream.

"I have someone at home I'm worried about, but luckily the base isn't far from home, so it doesn't take long to go back and forth."

With a helpless smile on his face, Leo waved to everyone and then turned to leave. Even though he was responsible for protecting humanity, ESCG still left work on time.

"Vice Captain Leo really does leave work on time. I thought he was the type to work long hours." Although they hadn't known each other for long, Hong Kai had worked on missions together, and he knew very well how much Leo valued his job in the defense team.

“Vice Captain Leo’s home is a shrine, and the old man who took him in tragically died in an accident a month ago. He was probably worried that the remaining person would be too lonely.” Gento, as the captain, still cares about the families of his team members, and this is all written in their files.

As Captain Gentoo had suspected, Leo didn't choose to live at headquarters because he was worried that Ren would be too lonely at home alone.

Although Miss Ren was not completely ignorant of modern life, she rarely went out and was not good at communicating with others.

Moreover, Leo can now have Miss Zetton take him to the scene of the monster disaster at any time, so he has no worries about being too late.

Back in the car, Leo placed the combat device on the phone holder he had just bought yesterday. As he watched Miss Zetton's image pop up, he scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Miss Jetton's eyes held a hint of doubt, which made her icy beauty look somewhat endearing.

“Because I could sense just now that you didn’t seem too happy to be discussed with the Zettonians.” Ever since officially summoning Zetton, Leo could feel a channel between himself and her, which made it easier for them to understand each other’s thoughts.

“…You’re quite right.” Miss Jetton bowed slightly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have passed on my negative emotions to you.”

“What’s there to apologize for, Zetton? I need your strength. We’re comrades, right?” Seeing that Zetton seemed to have something else to say, Leo quickly interrupted, “So from now on, I hope to get to know you better and build a relationship of mutual trust.”

For Zetton, she always seemed to place Leo in a position a level above herself, like a master and servant rather than a fighting partner. Leo didn't like this relationship. He knew very well that without Zetton, he wouldn't be able to do it on his own, and King Joe would cause even greater damage.

In this respect, it is even Leo who is relying on Zetton's power. He hopes that his relationship with Zetton can be more equal, and he is very uncomfortable with the feeling of being treated with such deference.

“If this is your wish, then I understand, Your Excellency. Um… Leo, is this form of address acceptable?” Zetton was still a little unaccustomed to it, but her tone was noticeably fluctuating. Leo could sense her unease, as if she was worried that this form of address would displease him.

“This form of address sounds much more pleasant than things like ‘Your Excellency’.” Leo nodded, and Zetton, sensing through their special relationship, understood that Leo truly meant it, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Leo sensed that Zetton seemed to be in a very good mood, but he still had a question, "So, Zetton, do you not like Zettonians?"

"I can't really explain it, but I just... I always feel a sense of disgust towards the Zettonians." Zetton looked away somewhat embarrassed, and Leo didn't intend to ask any further questions.

"The other monster you mentioned before, has it woken up?" Leo remembered that Zetton had mentioned that he had a companion monster.

“Not yet. I’ve roughly figured out some things.” Jaden shook his head. “I’m sorry, that was my misjudgment. It’s not your companion monster, but a new monster created after the data of a monster you defeated was absorbed by the Battle Device.”

As he spoke, a projection of a monster that Leo was very familiar with popped up on the screen of the battle device. He even subconsciously read out the monster's code name, "Dimaga".

Leo certainly wouldn't forget this monster. It was because Dimaga's appearance caused great danger, making him both incredibly angry and desperately thirsty for power, that Zetton appeared in this world for the first time.

"So my companion monster is actually only you?"

"Are you worried that I'm not strong enough?" Miss Zetton's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction. After realizing that Leo didn't treat her as a subordinate or a tool for fighting, her emotions became much richer.

"No, that's not it." Leo decisively waved his hand and shook his head to indicate that there was no such thing. After all, the scene of Zetton dismantling King Joe with just a few punches and kicks and then beating up two Ultramen was too shocking. With that kind of strength, what is there to doubt?