"Gladly!"
Yuzhou did not refuse Taro's invitation.
After all, Tregear, standing beside them, was looking at him with clear anticipation—obviously hoping to hear more about his own future.
The Land of Light
Plaza of Light
Taro found a quiet spot and sat down together with Yuzhou and Tregear. Soon after, he began asking Tregear about the distracting thoughts that had been weighing on his heart.
This time, Tregear did not hide anything.
He laid everything bare before Taro.
In truth, Tregear had already tried talking to him once before. Unfortunately, Taro's painfully straightforward mindset had prevented him from understanding Tregear's feelings at all, leaving Tregear even more conflicted.
"I want to become a brave, battle-hardened warrior—just like you, Taro!"
"Staying in the laboratory doing scientific experiments… that isn't my dream!"
"I want to join the Space Garrison too!"
After finally voicing his true feelings, Tregear felt much lighter.
Taro was just about to respond with another steel-plated straight-man remark when Yuzhou raised a hand and stopped him.
"Tregear," Yuzhou said calmly, "do you know why, in the future, you are able to become one of the Ultra Brothers?"
This time, Yuzhou quickly organized his thoughts. He intended to give Tregear one more decisive push.
"Why?"
Tregear was puzzled—but deeply eager to hear anything related to his future.
"Because," Yuzhou said evenly, "you save the Land of Light."
The words landed like a thunderbolt.
"What?!"
Not only Tregear—Taro was utterly stunned.
In Taro's understanding, Tregear had always excelled in research, not frontline combat.
"You both know Ultraman Belial, right?" Yuzhou continued.
"In the future, Belial invades the Land of Light with a monster army. Tregear uses inventions of his own creation to enhance his combat power—and defeats him."
"Because of this, Tregear gains Father of Ultra's recognition, joins the Space Garrison, and becomes one of the Ultra Brothers."
"And later on… Tartarus is defeated by Tregear as well."
Yuzhou calmly "spoiled" the future for them.
Whether it was true or not didn't matter—neither of them could verify it anyway.
"I… I really become that strong?"
Tregear stared at his own hands, trembling with excitement.
To think that in the future, he would strengthen himself through his inventions, become a powerful warrior, protect the Land of Light, and defeat the invading Belial—
Yuzhou's words reignited the hope within him.
After losing his faith due to Hikari's fall into darkness and transformation into Hunter Knight Tsurugi, Tregear finally felt like he could stand up again.
"By the way, Tiga… could I ask you for a favour?"
Tregear suddenly thought of something and looked at Yuzhou earnestly.
"Go ahead," Yuzhou replied, nodding.
"My superior, Hikari—he fell into darkness after Planet Arb was destroyed. Can you save him?"
Tregear's tone was filled with genuine pleading.
However, Yuzhou shook his head.
"Tregear, don't worry," he said. "There's no need for me to intervene. Hikari will return to his original self."
"What?" Tregear froze. "When will that happen?"
"I can't say exactly," Yuzhou replied honestly. "But rest assured—Hikari will be fine."
"If that's true… then that's wonderful!"
Tregear trusted Tiga completely—the Ultraman who came from the future and had saved him.
Yuzhou nodded. With that settled, there was no longer any reason for him to remain in this timeline.
After bidding farewell to Taro and Tregear—and reminding Taro not to be quite so straight-minded—Yuzhou departed.
Returning to the location where he had first appeared, Yuzhou traced the residual spacetime aura left behind by Tartarus. A white wormhole opened, and he stepped inside.
Between towering skyscrapers, Yuzhou surveyed his surroundings.
It was obvious—this time, he had arrived on Earth.
And yet, something was deeply wrong.
The place was unnaturally silent.
Not merely quiet—
but deathly silent.
The streets were completely empty. No figures. No signs of life.
"Why… this is clearly Earth, yet all humans are gone."
Leaping between buildings, Yuzhou reached the rooftop of the tallest skyscraper.
Looking out across the city, he could not find a single human being.
"Could it be…"
A realization struck him.
The Earth from the dimensional universe of Ultraman Saga.
In that world, nearly all life had been captured by the Alien Bat, used as nourishment to cultivate Hyper Zetton. That Alien Bat had even travelled across dimensions, capturing monsters to accelerate Zetton's evolution.
The only survivors were an all-female Earth Defense Force—
And a group of children.
As Yuzhou was still thinking, a massive shadow suddenly descended from the sky, landing toward the building where he stood.
Only at the last moment did the figure notice Yuzhou, nearly losing balance upon landing.
Yuzhou instinctively moved aside, giving space.
The newcomer was someone he knew well.
Ultraman Zero.
However—
The Zero before him clearly did not recognize him.
It seemed Yuzhou had crossed into a parallel universe.
"Who are you?! Where are the humans of this Earth?! Where did they all go?!"
Zero fired off three questions in rapid succession.
He had already been confused after responding to a mysterious voice that summoned him to this timeline.
Now, discovering that Earth was completely devoid of life pushed him to the edge.
And upon seeing Yuzhou—someone who looked like a human, yet showed no fear toward a giant—Zero immediately suspected that he knew something.
"The humans of this Earth were captured by the Alien Bat," Yuzhou replied calmly.
"Alien Bat?" Zero exclaimed. "Why would he capture so many humans?!"
"To cultivate a monster weapon," Yuzhou answered.
"Hyper Zetton."
Zero's anger flared instantly.
"So that's what happened…!"
To wipe out an entire Earth just to create a monster—
Such cruelty was unforgivable.
"Then you," Zero said, turning his gaze sharply toward Yuzhou, "who exactly are you?"
Every human on Earth was gone—yet this one remained.
He knew the truth, showed no fear, and stood calmly before an Ultraman.
Zero could no longer ignore his suspicions.