I'm in another world, and I start out transformed into Lancelot.

Captain Hebikura squinted at the screen, then glanced at Rose's overly calm figure as she walked toward the edge of the ruins on the distant battlefield, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

He picked up the walkie-talkie and calmly reassured his subordinates, "Understood. It's probably subsidence caused by the explosion. Don't panic, continue checking other areas. Mark that anomaly and check it again with a deep-sea detector later."

While the armory personnel were completely absorbed by the "disappearing head sword," a barely perceptible glint flashed in Rose's icy blue eyes. D4 Origin materials... safely stored.

She very naturally tucked her left hand, which was tucked into her pocket and fiddling with something, deeper inside, her face still bearing that relaxed expression of "the research mission has been successfully completed."

"Well then, you two can continue your conversation. It seems there are still some minor hiccups in the cleanup work. I won't disturb you any longer; I'll take my leave now!"

Rose waved her hand, turned and walked away with light steps, humming an off-key tune, as if she had only taken a few photos and had no interest in the little commotion behind her.

Huang Douqiu immediately followed suit, and the screen flashed rapidly with emoticons 【(?o?o?)】 and 【(～￣▽￣)～*溜啦溜啦】.

Ace's gaze lingered on Rose's departing figure for a moment. The experienced warrior was extremely sensitive to subtle fluctuations in space, and the extremely subtle anomaly he had just sensed, as well as the "disappearance" of the sword in the distance, had not completely escaped his perception.

This Earth scientist was indeed "keeping his abilities hidden." He turned his gaze away and looked at Zeta.

"Zeta, on your journey ahead, always remember your name—the meaning embodied by the last hero. Carry this initial aspiration... and protect everything you cherish."

Zeta nodded vigorously, clenching his fist: "Aisini-san! I will definitely do it!"

Seeing the unwavering light in Zeta's eyes, Ace said nothing more. His figure slowly rose into the air, and under Zeta's gaze and the reflection of the starry sky, he transformed into a dazzling beam of light, merging into the deep universe.

The Big Dipper in the sky seemed to have completed its mission, its light gradually fading, returning to the original brilliant starry sky.

The energy dust from the Barabara explosion had settled, and the land on the edge of the city, which had been plowed up by the battle, had temporarily quieted down.

The construction team was using heavy equipment to fill the pits and clear the rubble—as for the mysteriously disappeared Balabala sword, Jiehua was biting her pen and frowning as she looked at the "local loosening" data returned by the geological survey instrument.

Ultimately, the "target sample" was crossed out on the report, and it was hastily written that "it is speculated that the strata were instantly liquefied and swallowed by the energy impact of the explosion, and the depth of the debris exceeded the conventional exploration range."

The special operations aircraft maintenance team was bustling with activity like never before. The Sevenger and Undym, still carrying the smell of gunpowder, stood quietly in their respective positions. Mr. Ye Hu led his men through the area, the air thick with the sparks from welding torches and the crisp scent of lubricating oil.

King Gorky's towering metal body occupied the central position on the platform. Part of its complex armor had been disassembled, revealing the intricate internal skeleton and the core module that shimmered with a soft blue light. The maintenance crew appeared extremely small at its feet.

"Based on the analysis of the combat data, the response latency of the third server group needs to be optimized by 0.7 milliseconds, and the buffering strategy to deal with the impact of extradimensional energy has been updated to protocol V3.2."

Jin Guqiao's steady electronic voice echoed in the huge maintenance workshop as he meticulously reported the self-inspection results. His voice was calm and gentle, and one could not tell that he had just emerged from a fierce battle.

Yoko stood with her arms crossed over its ankle armor, looking up as she listened, her face a complex mix of heartache and pride: "Thank you for your hard work, partner." She reached out and gently patted the cold alloy surface.

“It’s my duty,” King G. Joe replied gently. “In addition, the analysis shows that your heart rate peaked during the time I was locked by the spatial backlash and that Ultraman was bound, exceeding the normal driving load curve by 17%. Please be sure to get some rest, Yoko.”

Yoko paused for a moment, then chuckled, "You figured that out... I'll be more careful next time."

"Hmph." A slightly lazy and mocking voice rang out not far away. Captain Hebikura had strolled over at some point. He had changed out of his serious captain's uniform and was wearing a seemingly ordinary dark casual shirt, still holding his ever-present coffee cup in his hand.

His gaze swept over King Ghosn and Uyingdam, whose appearances were now mostly tidied up, and he spoke in a light tone:

"Alright, all the heroes need to heal. Mr. Ye Hu, let the maintenance team wrap up early tonight. There's no rush for post-battle recovery. I'll treat everyone to sushi to relax!"

"Oh my god! Sushi!" Haruki instantly forgot all the previous intellectual conversation and jumped up excitedly, "Yay!"

"Long live the captain!" Yuka cheered, and Yoko smiled as well: "That's great."

Just then—"Pfft~ Hiss!!!"

A sudden, somewhat comical, deflated sound, accompanied by a large amount of pinkish-white bubbles with a sweet strawberry scent, burst forth from the old experimental table piled with parts, drafts, and tools not far behind Rose! It instantly submerged half of the table, and several innocent bearings rolled onto the floor.

"...Huh?" Everyone was stunned.

The culprit, a soybean ball, is struggling to emerge from a sea of ​​pink bubbles. Its round body is covered in bubbles, and a huge, embarrassed, and innocent emoticon is lit up on the screen: (;'Д`)！!

"...I'm so sorry, boss! I was too excited! I was just organizing today's battle data and highlights, and I accidentally...clicked the start button for the prototype of the atmosphere-relieving bubble agent that failed to develop last time..." Its electronic voice grew softer and softer, almost trembling with tears.

The small office area was filled with an overly strong aroma of strawberry milk.

Rose's temple throbbed almost imperceptibly, but she instantly regained her composure and elegance. She ignored the chaotic "sea of ​​strawberry bubbles" and her assistant shivering in the center, her face remaining impassive.

“Zero, it seems you need to optimize your internal emotional management logic chain more meticulously. However…” She changed the subject, a playful smile even appearing on her lips, and turned to Hebikura, who was also somewhat bewildered by the sudden situation.

"...It seems that the plan to have sushi tonight is not very safe. Given the current high-concentration atmosphere and everyone's fatigue after the battle."

She elegantly pulled a beautifully designed card from her white coat pocket, flicked it lightly with her fingertip, and the card spun towards the snake warehouse:

"The newly opened Xinghe Hot Spring in the suburbs, a VIP private hot spring resort, just sent me a reservation confirmation this afternoon. The time slot starts in one hour and forty minutes from now. The owner is very grateful for my small suggestion to improve their hot spring water purification system."

When the genius mechanic said this, he deliberately emphasized the words "a little bit," as if he were saying "just a drop in the ocean."

Hebikura raised his hand and precisely caught the card. Looking at the gilded words "Luxury Open-Air Stargazing Private Bath - Armory Victory Celebration Special," he glanced at the still bubbling experimental platform and the source of the fragrant soybean ball. His lips twitched, but in the end, it turned into a low chuckle:

"Ha. Dr. Rose's suggestions are always so timely and effective. Let's have the hot springs then." He decisively forgot about the sushi. "Everyone! Meet downstairs in half an hour!"

The rising white steam, carrying the faint scent of sulfur, gently enveloped the entire open-air hot spring pool. Beyond the huge floor-to-ceiling glass walls lay the bustling cityscape at night, and further on, the deep starry sky.

The hot spring pool is cleverly designed, with a spacious hot spring area gently divided into two spaces by a waist-high natural bamboo and wood fence covered with vines. The rising steam permeates both sides of the fence, and the sounds of water and laughter can be clearly heard through the gaps, yet they effectively block the view.

On one side of the women's bath, Yoko was resting with her eyes closed, her cheeks slightly flushed from the steam. King G. Joe's steady electronic voice seemed to still echo in her ears. She suddenly opened her eyes and said to Kiyaka, who was slightly drowsy while soaking in the bath beside her:

"Jiehua, Jin Guqiao mentioned in his report that your newly developed energy damping coating is quite effective. Although it did not completely offset the kinetic energy of the space rebound, it buffered it by nearly 40%. Otherwise, I might have been knocked unconscious in the cockpit today."

"Eh! Really!" Yuka instantly perked up, splashing around in the water. Her glasses fogged up instantly, and she wiped them haphazardly with her hand. "Great! It seems the nanomolecular structure design direction is correct! I need to go back and optimize the formula immediately, and adjust the damping frequency again. Next time, it will definitely hold at 50%!"

On the men's side of the bath, Haruki let out a long, extremely satisfied sigh, sinking his whole body into the hot water with only his head above the surface: "Wow...this is so nice..." He completely ignored Zeta's envious murmurs in the Magic House.

Hebikura was soaking next to Haruki, leaning lazily against the smooth stone, squinting her eyes and enjoying the water temperature.

"Why think so much during a rare holiday? Just enjoy this hot spring and make the most of someone's VIP private event..." The last half of the sentence was obviously a joke directed at Rose.

Rose, on the other side of the pool, seemed completely oblivious to the final teasing remark. She leaned relaxed against the warm, jade-like pool wall, her head tilted back slightly, water droplets sliding down the graceful lines of her neck.

Her icy blue eyes were half-closed, reflecting the silent yet bustling starry sky above. The rising steam softened her usually overly refined and aloof face, revealing a rare tranquility devoid of any calculation.

The soybean ball sank quietly in the shallow water beside her, with only half of the ball and a faint blue standby light showing.

"Ah...there are so many stars..." Yuka looked up, her little face full of amazement, temporarily putting aside the formulas in her mind. "Doctor, Doctor! Do you think we can use a detector to analyze which of these starlight belongs to Ultraman? Or detect a nebula with particularly high energy or something?"

Rose did not answer immediately. Her eyelashes drooped, long like butterfly wings, casting faint shadows beneath her eyelids.

His posture seemed to be truly immersed in the tranquility brought by the starry sky, and even the excitement brought by the unknown "dangerous trophy" in the laboratory was temporarily melted and diluted by the hot spring water.

After a few seconds, her voice, even gentler than a hot spring, carrying a hint of warmth and mist, slowly rang out:

"Perhaps, it doesn't have to be so complicated. The very existence of some lights...is a silent answer."

"I never expected the professor to say such romantic things..." Yuka nodded as if she understood, but a gust of cold wind blew by, and she subconsciously shrank her body into the hot water.

The distant stars, discussed by the tiny humans, remained silent, twinkling on their own.

In the distance, the city's neon lights flowed silently into a hazy river of light through the rising steam from the windows. The deep blue night sky, like the gentlest guardian, silently embraced this corner of humanity that had just weathered a fierce battle, now only steaming with warmth and weariness, trust and tiny hopes.

Water droplets silently slid down the walls of the hot spring, dripping and merging into the all-encompassing hot spring, leaving no trace and making no sound.

Chapter 138 (4K5) The Capture of Cerebro

The armory headquarters was as silent as a sleeping steel behemoth in the dead of night, with only the cold white lights in the corridors flickering stubbornly in the stillness like weary sentinels.

Meanwhile, a viscous conspiracy is creeping along invisible vines, quietly coiling around the beating heart of the defense force.

In a corner of the surveillance footage, Commander Kuriyama's figure suddenly appeared in the heavily restricted area leading to the S-class classified data repository.

His steps were stiff and hesitant, each step unnatural like that of a puppet, completely devoid of his usual decisive and efficient demeanor.

Clearly, this trip was not its original intention—a cold and greedy consciousness was firmly entrenched deep within its skull, ruthlessly driving this humanoid body called "Commander".

"Zero, let's get to work!" A slightly hoarse female voice, tinged with exhaustion, rang out from the shadows.

Rose leaned against the cold, hard metal wall, her figure almost blending into the shadows in the corner, with only the holographic interface that popped up on her wrist casting dappled light in her pupils.

"Interference band -4, power set to 30%, precise coverage of target node. Operation countdown, 3, 2—"

"--1! Target neural node anchoring! Electromagnetic focusing field activated!" The crisp electronic voice of Soybean Ball Zero perfectly matched the ending of her command.

The round ball, like a silent ghost, slid into the narrow ventilation duct at the top of the corridor and instantly hovered precisely above Kuriyama's head through an almost imperceptible gap.

An invisible and intangible electromagnetic beam, yet condensed with high-frequency energy and a specific frequency, suddenly took shape, like a high-precision surgical probe, silently piercing deep into the back of the target's neck!

"Ughhhhhh!!!" Commander Kuriyama instantly arched his body upwards like a shrimp as if a high-voltage power line had been switched on, letting out a scream filled with extreme pain (in a physical sense)!

Those empty eyes, now parasitized, were filled for the first time with primal physical pain, staring wide-eyed, filled with the terror of "Holy crap! Who shocked me?!"

Immediately afterwards, a semi-transparent, bizarrely shaped parasitic life form, resembling a deep-sea worm but radiating a cold metallic luster, was violently "squeezed" away from its warm, fleshy host by the powerful energy field!

It is none other than Cerebro, the infamous player of the "Civilization Self-Destruction Game" whose name resounds throughout the galaxy!

Suddenly exposed to the cold air, having lost its warm and comfortable "human enclosure," Sereblo appeared exceptionally weak and pitiful, but not innocent!

It instinctively wanted to curl up into a ball and immediately squeeze into any corner or crevice that could shelter it from the wind and rain, or at least back into that still slightly warm body that had just collapsed softly with a "plop"!

“This road is blocked~” Rose casually flipped her wrist, and a cylindrical container the size of a palm silently appeared in her palm.

Just as Cerebro sprang up like a compressed spring, aiming straight for the back of the fallen man's neck—

Click! A crisp, clear sound, like the winding of a fine watch, rang out!

The opening of the binding jar was as precise as a pre-set trap, perfectly trapping the furious "alien beetle" that was struggling with all its might and radiating a purplish-black light.

"Squeak squeak squeak—!!!" Cereblo, locked in the "single VIP suite," went completely mad, frantically banging his head against the wall in the energy cage that was even more solid than a bank vault!

Each full-force sprint and impact only creates a faint ripple in the force field, like a glass marble thrown into the Pacific Ocean—pathetic and laughable.

Almost at the very instant the can's opening clicked shut—

"Tsk." A chilling, dismissive click.

With the sound of light footsteps, Jugglus Juggler silently emerged from the shadow of a thick metal pillar behind Rose.

His brows were furrowed, and his snake-like eyes, like icy blades, were fixed on the binding jar in Rose's hand, which was still buzzing and creaking.

"Your skills at fleecing are truly reaching new heights, Miss Rose?" Jugglus's voice was deep, filled with undisguised displeasure and annoyance at having his prey stolen. "So eager to snatch meat from my pot?"

"Oh dear, Mr. Jugglus, don't put it so harshly." Rose's tone was light, as if she had just casually swatted a fly that had wandered into the laboratory. "I'm just cutting my losses in time to prevent an unnecessary and potentially chaotic escalation that could cause you a huge headache."

She even pinched the jar between two fingers and tossed it slightly upwards, causing the Sereblo inside to let out a series of even more shrill "squeaks" and the frequency of impacts to instantly increase.

Jugglus narrowed his eyes and took another step closer, an invisible, imposing aura spreading out, as if the air itself had solidified: "This parasite is my lesson plan, my chessboard. You've crossed the line."

"Ho~ lesson plan?" Rose raised an eyebrow, her tone carrying just the right amount of teasing. "Then you really should have a good talk with your lesson plan and make sure it's not so blind when choosing a host next time, okay?"

"Let it run wild like this, controlling Commander Kuriyama to sign a few self-destruct agreements with the highest authority, or ordering special air force aircraft to fight each other for fun?" She paused, her sharp gaze fixed on Jugglus Juggler. "Then it won't be a lesson plan anymore, but an unmanageable catastrophic teaching accident."

Jugglus's pupils contracted sharply. His anger and irritation were like sparks thrown into an ice bucket, instantly extinguished, leaving only cold irritation and annoyance at having his inner worries exposed.

Rose points out his deepest concern—he seeks awakening after chaos, not utter collapse.

Catching a fleeting moment of hesitation in his eyes, Rose immediately seized the opportunity, her icy blue gaze sweeping precisely across the area below the collar of Jugglus Juggler's impeccably tailored suit, as if guided by an invisible lamp.

An ominous dark purple glow emanated from the pocket close to the body, pulsating slowly as if it possessed a life of its own.

“And…if we’re talking about keeping humanity in a state of crisis,” she said, her voice trailing off with a hint of cunning, “…can’t you do it yourself? You shouldn’t lack the methods, right?”

Jugglus followed her gaze and looked down, his eyes meeting the impatient tapping of a dark ring in the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

The demonic artifact seemed to sense its master's emotions, its heat intensifying as it greedily absorbed the emotional energy that had suddenly surged within him because of Rose's words, like a red-hot coal.

"Tsk..." Jugglus's furrowed brows were so tight they could almost trap a fly. He looked up and stared intently at Rose's calm and delicate face.

"Could it be," his voice lowered dangerously, like a viper flicking its tongue, "that you deliberately lured this guy onto this stage using some kind of targeted delivery service, just to force me to do my job?"

He began to suspect that this woman was not only good at providing precise assistance, but also at inserting her own "catalysts" and "tools" into the script.

"Well~ who knows?" Faced with this question that was so direct it was almost an accusation, Rose blinked and feigned cuteness. "The universe is so big, anything can happen~ The important thing is..."

She flicked her wrist, and the transparent jar imprisoning Cerebro twirled gracefully between her fingers. "This guy's dangerous game needs to be put on hold. If he continues to use the human elite so recklessly to play chess, this game will really go awry."

"I don't think a complete collapse of the situation would be good for you, for me, or for the innocent people on this planet, would it?"

Before she finished speaking, Rose's free left fingertip had already drawn a pale blue rune trajectory in the void.

A shimmering spatial teleportation array silently unfolded beneath her feet, its eerie blue light flowing like living water, rapidly engulfing her entire body and the crucial "trophy" in her hand.

"I'll take this unwelcome guest to a quieter, more comfortable place so he can calmly reflect on his life."

Her smiling voice trailed off at the peak of the teleportation light, "As for the cleanup here, and... how to explain this terrifying night to the officer who is about to wake up, I'll leave that to you, Captain. See you later."

Jugglus stood still, his serpentine vertical pupils gleaming with an unpredictable, cold light in the dim corridor light, staring intently at the spot where Rose had disappeared.

His fingers unconsciously slipped into his suit pocket, gripping tightly the dark ring inside—cold to the touch, yet faintly warm because of his intense emotions.

Rose's words echoed clearly in his mind—"Keep humanity in a state of crisis...can't you do that yourself?"

A complex and indescribable emotion flashed across his eyes. She had indeed disrupted his "plans," but undeniably, she had provided a clearer and more controllable new script direction, and had also conveniently resolved the biggest hidden danger he had been vaguely worried about: Cerebro's loss of control.

This feeling of being controlled and guided made him uncomfortable, but this "efficiency" and insightful "assistance" subtly met his needs.