White rings of light spiralled outward from the suitcase on the beach, forming a wormhole that appeared bottomless.
The time coordinates were set according to Airu's account. To prevent temporal disorder, Yuzhou had her specify the moment just before Planet Kushia was completely digitized.
That was the point immediately before Airu escaped from Kushia.
Only by rescuing her father at that moment could the future remain unaffected.
"Airu, that point in time should be extremely dangerous. Why don't you wait here instead?"
Yuzhou had initially planned to take Airu with him, but after some thought, he realized she possessed little combat capability. If she were to encounter danger while rescuing her father, the situation would become far more complicated.
"…Alright."
Although Airu wanted to accompany Yuzhou, she understood that her lack of combat ability might become a burden. After a brief hesitation, she nodded.
Without further delay, Yuzhou leapt into the temporal wormhole the moment Airu agreed.
...
The destination was outer space.
Likely due to Gillvalis's interference, the wormhole's coordinates were slightly offset, preventing a direct arrival within Planet Kushia.
If any human had witnessed this scene, they would have been utterly astonished.
Yuzhou was drifting through space in human form, wearing no spacesuit or protective equipment whatsoever.
Storing the suitcase into his spatial bracelet, Yuzhou looked ahead at the planet gradually being enveloped by a crimson data net, his brow furrowing slightly.
His current position lay directly in front of Planet Kushia.
As for the timing, it was roughly when Gillvalis had just begun devouring the planet.
Entering Kushia using a human body alone was impossible.
Yuzhou took out the Sparklence, placed it against his chest, and transformed directly into human-sized Tiga.
He crossed his hands over the crystal on his forehead and swept them downward to either side.
His body shifted into a silver-and-purple colour scheme, transforming into Sky Type.
Immediately afterward, he turned into a streak of purple light and flew toward Planet Kushia.
At this stage, Gillvalis had only deployed its data net to cover the planet and had not yet fully assimilated it. As such, the crimson data net did not function as a seal and could be passed through directly.
Within Planet Kushia, the sky had turned blood-red.
Throughout the cities, near countless structures, stood Gillvalis's weapons—Galactrons.
These Galactrons searched relentlessly for remaining intelligent life on Kushia, bombarding everything in sight.
Explosions erupted everywhere, one after another.
Given the sheer size of Planet Kushia, locating Airu's father was no simple task.
However, according to Airu, the Giga Battlenizer and the Red Steel were paired artifacts.
As long as neither was sealed, the two would naturally resonate with each other.
At this moment, Airu's father should have been carrying Red Steel while escaping together with Airu.
"Let's give it a try."
Yuzhou muttered to himself.
He reached forward with one hand, and a pitch-black iron rod tinged with a faint bluish hue materialized out of thin air in his grasp.
Raising the Giga Battlenizer high, Yuzhou saw it emit a blue glow. The light extended like fine strands of hair, drifting toward a specific direction.
"That way?"
Following the indication from the Giga Battlenizer, Yuzhou's gaze settled on a massive fortress.
If his guess was correct, the Red Steel should be located there.
And Airu's father should be inside as well.
Just as Yuzhou confirmed the direction, several blasts of artillery suddenly rained down upon him.
Reacting instantly, Yuzhou swung the Giga Battlenizer, dispersing every incoming blast.
When he looked again, the Galactrons that had been destroying buildings and firing indiscriminately had all redirected their cannons toward him.
"What is going on?"
Yuzhou was momentarily baffled. He was merely passing through as an Ultraman.
Why had these machines abandoned their original mission to target him instead?
"Could it be…"
Yuzhou glanced at the Giga Battlenizer in his hand.
Airu had once said that Gillvalis's objectives on Earth were not limited to eradicating intelligent life. Another goal was to obtain—and destroy—the Red Steel.
After all, Red Steel was a weapon specifically designed to counter Gillvalis.
Since the Giga Battlenizer and the Red Steel were paired artifacts, it was obvious that Gillvalis had detected it.
It had even ordered nearby Galactrons to attack him, clearly intending to seize the Giga Battlenizer.
"So now you think I'm easy prey?"
Realizing why the Galactrons were attacking, Yuzhou felt a surge of anger.
He had been minding his own business, staying out of trouble.
If not for concerns about altering the timeline, he would have eliminated Gillvalis outright.
Yet now this thing dared to set its sights on the Giga Battlenizer.
"Killing a few Galactrons shouldn't be a problem."
With that thought, Yuzhou gripped the Giga Battlenizer and charged toward the Galactrons, weaving swiftly between their streams of fire.
He did not revert to giant form. Instead, a blur of afterimages darted rapidly around the Galactrons.
Moments later, Yuzhou reappeared in the sky, still holding the Giga Battlenizer.
Crackling sounds followed—sparks burst from the Galactrons' bodies.
Upon closer inspection, the red glow in their eyes had faded completely.
Explosions echoed across the ground as the Galactrons detonated one after another, shattering into fragments that scattered everywhere.
After dealing with them, Yuzhou put away the Giga Battlenizer and transformed once more into a streak of purple light, flying toward the massive fortress.
Now that he had a general idea of Airu's father's location, it was best to keep the Giga Battlenizer hidden.
Those Galactrons had been drawn by its presence.
Eliminating a few was manageable, but wiping them all out could disrupt the timeline.
To avoid unnecessary complications, there was no need for Yuzhou to keep the Giga Battlenizer exposed.
Before long, the purple light that was Yuzhou entered the vast fortress.
From within came the rumbling of machinery—it sounded like a Galactron was actively destroying the interior.
That meant intelligent life still remained inside. Kushians were still there.
The interior of the fortress was enormous.
As Yuzhou flew through it, he surveyed his surroundings.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere. From the valuables strewn across the floor, it was clear that this fortress had once stored precious items.
However, the immediate priority was rescuing Airu's father.
And his location should be right beside the Galactron inside the fortress.