What does it mean that the group members have given me back the light?

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The episodes mentioned in this chapter, namely episode 23 of the original Ultraman, "My Hometown is Earth," and episode 33 of the returned Ultraman, "The Monster Messenger and the Boy," along with episode 42 of Ultraseven, "The Messenger of Nonmart," are known as the three major problems of the Showa era. Those interested can check them out.

Chapter Twelve: Old Man Shrimp Head

As lunch break approached, golden sunlight slanted through the glass window, casting warm spots of light on the wooden floor. Tiny dust motes danced slowly in the beams of light, and the shadows swayed gently on the ground, like a silent lullaby. The desk by the window was warmed by the sun, making one want to lie down and take a nap.

Banami saw Anja sitting with her chin resting on her hand, looking out the window, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a stray strand of hair at her temple.

Sunlight streamed through the glass, falling on her loose hair, but couldn't penetrate her wandering eyes—she clearly didn't know what she was thinking, yet a knot of unresolved tension still clung to her chest.

Even though she had gotten the answer from Nono, and that answer was clearly rational and correct, it wasn't what she wanted.

Monsters like Jamila... is there really no other way but to destroy them? Even Ultraman is helpless against them?

Seeing that Anja looked listless with her head down, Banana suddenly realized something.

Are you watching me?

When Banai saw Anza pause, she realized that just moments ago, Anza had clearly noticed a brief exchange of glances between herself and her deskmate.

It wasn't like an unconscious touch, but rather the awkward feeling of deliberately looking away after your gaze has lingered on your face for a long, long time and you've accidentally noticed it.

Eh...?

Anna Hanami fell into deep thought. Since the start of high school, her seat and her deskmate's seat had never changed. But if she thought carefully about how many times they had interacted, she suddenly discovered a surprising fact.

1 times.

The two exchanged more than two words only once.

After all, her deskmate was terribly strange. After school, he was always alone and often skipped class. Despite his outstanding modeling skills, he never established a relationship with any girl or boy at school. The only time she interacted with him was when he was looking at his phone under the table and she reminded him, "The teacher is coming."

And now, this persona that's so aloof and cold is silently gazing at me with deep affection for several minutes, or even longer, when I'm feeling down and have lost my appetite...

Could it be that?

Hanami took a deep breath and quickly opened the chat group.

[Old Eight's Big Stomach: 111, I feel like my deskmate has a crush on me, what should I do? Waiting for an answer online, it's urgent!]

Ten seconds later, the first reply appeared.

[Want to drink Mei's ○ juice: Male or female? Is she good-looking? Wow~ Is Hachi's spring finally coming?]

[The Ultimate Elbow Master: Why Use It Too?]

[Want to drink Mei's juice: How did you know I succeeded in inviting Mei-senpai to my house to watch Ultraman? Let me tell you, I even managed to touch her little finger while she was scared, hehe.]

[The First Idol of the Reunion Movement: Who Asked You?]

[Hermit Purple is the strongest Stand: What?! Who is that guy?! He's actually eyeing my adorable grandson... cough cough, anyway, call the police quickly! We absolutely have to call the police and catch this bastard, Hachi!]

Noah is still chasing me: ???

Gu Nuo typed out a question mark in confusion.

No, sis, why are you going down like this?

He had only intended to double-check Banami's identity before revealing that he and Banami were in the same chat group.

But now...

[Mr. Joseph, the number one idol of the Reunion Movement, don't get too excited. The important thing is what Hachiko thinks, right?]

[Want to drink Mei's juice: Yeah, yeah, old man, why are you acting like an old man? Everyone advocates free love now, okay?]

[Hermit Purple is the strongest Stand: Damn it! These high school brats, do you think I don't know what's going on in their heads? I've already lost He Li once! Call the police! I have to call the police!]

...I feel like if I were to be honest now, the whole group would feel really awkward...

Gu Nuo sighed softly, closed the chat group, and quietly left his seat.

Meanwhile, the topic continued to be discussed in the chat group.

[The Strongest Elbow Master: Um... I'm wondering if Senior Hachi might have made a mistake... Wouldn't it be awkward if there was some misunderstanding?]

[Aspiring to be a champion of justice: ...I agree with Itadori's opinion. Hachi, what's your basis for saying that the other person has a crush on you?]

[Old Eight's Big Stomach: Uh... does secretly watching me for a long time count?]

[The First Idol of the Reunion Movement: What Else?]

[Old Eight's enormous appetite: Gone...]

[I want to drink Mei's ○ juice: ……]

[The first idol of the Reunion Movement: ...]

[Hermit Purple is the strongest Stand: ...]

The ultimate elbow striker: ...

[Aspiring to be a champion of justice: Okay, everyone, the shop will refresh tonight, remember to check it out when you have time.]

[Old Eight's Big Stomach: Okay... (looking aggrieved).jpg]

Seeing Anja's pout, Bana sadly slumped onto the table.

Okay, upon closer reflection, I realize that I was indeed somewhat hasty in making my judgment.

But it wasn't entirely my fault, was it? Who told this Gu... Gu classmate... eh? What's his name again?

Seeing Anna deep in thought, Hana suddenly stiffened.

Gu Nuo... Nuonuo?

Is it a coincidence?

……

……

Unaware that Anna had already shown signs of noticing something, Gu Nuo was no longer in the mood to care about such trivial matters.

Standing on the rooftop of the teaching building, he took out the sheathed short blade from his breast pocket.

At this very moment, it is flashing an ominous light at an extremely high frequency.

Here we go again... this time it's during the day...

Gu Nuo sighed and pulled the short blade from his hand.

There was no need to shout; that was never something a clumsy imitator of his predecessors should do.

Light descends silently and flies into the distance.

……

……

Not long ago, at TLT headquarters.

"Relying on the River of Oblivion system is extremely unreliable, and fear will not disappear just because it is stored in a different place."

A slightly short-legged, somewhat chubby young man, wearing the Victory Team uniform, stood solemnly in the center of the conference room, facing several TLT executives whose faces were extremely gloomy.

"I think we should reveal the truth about the alien beasts as soon as possible, so that the public can have the courage to face their existence. Only in this way can we truly suppress the birth of alien beasts."

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Chapter Thirteen: Dark Mephistopheles

"What are you talking about! You bastard! What kind of idiots are the people TPC headquarters sent?!"

The high-ranking officer in military uniform slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly: "Five years have passed since the completion of the Wangchuan System. The achievements of our MP (Memory Police) department over the past five years are evident to all. We have prevented countless incidents of spreading fear of alien beasts. Do you want to deny all the achievements of our department since its inception with just one sentence?"

"Then why have the alien beasts that have appeared so far become increasingly powerful?"

Horii Masami stared into the other person's eyes without the slightest fear:

"As far as I know, since the Shinjuku incident, the size of the alien beasts appearing in various parts of the world has been getting larger and larger, right? Even the synthetic type Izumiru that appeared a few months ago, with its second host already too injured to fight, if it weren't for the timely appearance of Ultraman transformed by the third host, there might have been an even more serious alien beast disaster than the Shinjuku incident."

"You!" The military officer in uniform blushed.

"Horii, calm down."

"Okay, both of you shut up!"

Matsunaga Yoichiro and Iruma Megumi frowned simultaneously and spoke up to prevent the conflict from escalating further.

Despite this, Matsunaga Yoichiro, like the high-ranking military officers, was extremely dissatisfied.

They're both fighting against alien beasts, both trying to save humanity. So why? Why are the people dispatched by this newly formed squad called the "Victory Team" criticizing them with such a condescending tone?

"Captain Megumi, the intermediary,"

Matsunaga Yoichiro maintained his calm tone, "I remember that the work TPC headquarters assigned to Horii was related to upgrading or modifying the Wangchuan system, right?"

"I understand what Mr. Matsunaga means."

Megumi nodded, then looked at Masami Horii with a piercing gaze: "We can talk about other things later. Now, let's discuss your opinions on this matter."

Seemingly aware that his radical proposal had caused the captain a lot of trouble, Horii Masami shrank back before beginning his commentary:

"...Although the fears and memories stored in the Wangchuan System have been transformed into quantum data, as time goes by, this data has gradually brought a considerable burden to the Wangchuan System."

He tapped the computer on the table, and a 3D projector was placed directly in front of everyone in the conference room:

"After some research and communication with the visitors, I discovered that a certain frequency of electromagnetic waves that my mentor, Dr. Mizuno, and I had previously discovered by chance could effectively eliminate the 'fear' component in these data if they were also converted into quantum form."

"What do you mean?" Matsunaga Yoichiro asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes, by using that frequency, we can significantly clear the 'fear' within the Wangchuan system, thereby reducing the burden on the Wangchuan system. To put it simply... it's about cleaning up some junk memory for the Wangchuan system."

Masami Horii shrugged, interrupting the hesitant high-ranking military officer who was about to speak:

"But please don't overthink it. Electromagnetic waves of this frequency can only be used within the Wangchuan system. It's impossible to directly eliminate people's fear."

The military officer's expression changed, and he turned his head away with a cold snort.

"Even so, reducing the burden on the Wangchuan system is still a significant achievement."

With a smile, Megumi said, "Then this task will be handed over to you, Horii. Is that alright?"

“Yes, Captain!” Horii Masami stood at attention and replied.

……

……

"That being said, there is still a lot of preparation work to be done."

Horii Masami sighed as he typed on the computer in front of him, rows of data reflected on his helmet.

"Uh... so many? Are all of these instruments actually used?"

Kazuki Komon, gripping the control stick of the Logan Chester Alpha, asked with some curiosity.

The Lockheed Chester sped across the forest—just over ten minutes after the meeting, they were already en route to TPC headquarters.

"What you said..."

Horii Masami raised his head and said to Komon Kazuki, "With such a massive system as the River of Oblivion, there is a risk that fears will be leaked and memories will be contaminated if we don't use more sophisticated instruments to operate it."

"Yeah……"

Komon Kazuki smiled a little embarrassedly, but didn't pretend to know: "I feel that Horii is really amazing. He knows so much about scientific research."

"Sigh, in the end they're just logistics personnel who can't be brought to the forefront. I really admire the Night Raid Team for persisting in fighting the alien beasts on the front lines."

Horii Masami held a certain degree of goodwill towards this Night Raid team member who seemed to share some similarities with Daigo from his own team. After thinking for a moment, he asked:

"Actually, I'm quite curious about how your attitude towards Ultraman changed from accepting orders to helping those suitable individuals even if it means accepting punishment, under such high-pressure orders from TLT?"

"Well... there's a really long story behind this..."

Kazuki Komon carefully chose his words: "My first contact with Ultraman was when I joined the team, when he rescued me from the jaws of a monster... Mr. Himeya... and Rei, the light that shone from them was..."