"You… are not an ordinary human either."
After observing Yuzhou for quite some time, Musashi finally spoke.
"I'm also an Ultra Warrior," Yuzhou said frankly. "It's just that, for certain reasons, I can't transform for now."
He saw no reason to hide it. Tartarus could not hear them at the moment, and his transformation would only attract unnecessary attention. Telling Musashi and the others posed no problem.
"Huh? No wonder I felt something was off about you from the beginning," came Zero's voice from inside Taiga's bracelet.
"So you're an Ultra Warrior too."
Yuzhou merely smiled in response.
The Zero of this spacetime did not know him—but in another universe, Zero had long since become his old comrade.
Suddenly, two massive steel giants descended from the sky, startling both Taiga and Musashi.
The cockpits of the steel monsters opened, and two women stepped out.
"Little Wu, we've been looking for you everywhere!"
When the two women saw the young boy beside Taiga, joy immediately appeared on their faces.
Clearly, they already knew him.
"Oh—so they're acquaintances."
Taiga relaxed instantly, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Hey, which one of you was that blue Ultraman just now?"
One of the long-haired women looked at Yuzhou and the others with clear interest.
"Right here!"
Taiga immediately sold Musashi out, pointing straight at him.
"?!"
Musashi froze on the spot. This was without question the fastest he had ever had his identity exposed.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now!"
Taiga said, turning to leave.
Before he could take a step, a flying steel claw shot over and blocked his path.
"This is…"
Taiga turned back to look at the woman controlling the steel giant, momentarily speechless.
…
Yuzhou knew these women well.
When humanity on this Earth had nearly gone extinct, this group had remained.
Office workers, nurses, factory labourers—even the former leader of a criminal syndicate.
Without exception, they were all women.
And yet, because a group of surviving children had come seeking help—asking whether they were the Earth Defense Force—they had become the Earth Defense Force.
To protect the children and give them hope and courage to live on, these women formed their own defense organization, modified industrial machines, and built giant mechs to fight the monsters that appeared.
In truth, their situation was tragic.
Among them, there really was even one former Earth Defense Force trainee.
…
Following the two women piloting the mechs, Yuzhou, Taiga, and Musashi arrived at what was called the Earth Defense Force headquarters.
In reality, it looked like nothing more than an industrial factory.
Perhaps it was designated as headquarters because it had wind turbines capable of generating power.
"We are Team-U," said the woman leading them as she introduced the camp.
"We protect these children here."
As she spoke, a group of children ran out from within the camp. Upon seeing Taiga, they shouted excitedly.
"Look! It's Brother Asuka!"
Because Taiga was wearing the Super GUTS uniform, the children mistook him for Asuka.
"Brother Asuka!"
A group of children ran toward him, beaming with excitement.
But as they got closer, they all froze.
Because Taiga was not Asuka.
"Huh? It's not Brother Asuka…" said the little girl running at the front, stopping suddenly.
"Sister Anna, who are these people?"
The woman who had brought Yuzhou and the others here was Anna, the current captain of the "Earth Defense Force."
"They're guests," Anna said gently as she crouched down.
Soon after, the children enthusiastically dragged Taiga off to tour the base.
Perhaps because of his Super GUTS uniform, Taiga was especially popular with them.
Under Anna's guidance, Yuzhou and Musashi also toured the camp and met the members of the all-female Earth Defense Force.
Everyone was quite curious about the arrival of three men at the camp.
Anna explained the situation of this Earth to Yuzhou and the others.
The Alien Bat had invaded, capturing Earth's humans in order to create Zetton…
And that was how the world had been reduced to its current state.
In short, the Alien Bat had turned this Earth into an experimental ground.
Those still remaining in this world were likely only the people within this "Earth Defense Force."
While listening to Anna's explanation inside the camp, alarms suddenly blared.
Everyone exchanged looks and rushed outside, arriving at a wide-open area.
All the survivors gathered there—both adults and children—each wearing anxious expressions.
In the sky, a figure appeared, projected like a virtual hologram.
Alien Bat!
"Are your bodies holding up, you pitiful survivors?"
Alien Bat laughed mockingly.
"Zetton feeds on your despair and fear."
"Come—despair and fear once more!"
With that, the holographic projection vanished.
The ground began to quake violently.
Two loud explosions erupted from a nearby hill, dirt blasting into the air as two monsters emerged.
One was Gubila, which had just been purified by Cosmos.
The other was a dinosaur-like ancient monster—Gomess.
"Another monster appeared—on top of the last one!"
Taiga stared at the scene in shock.
"I'll handle this!"
Musashi was clearly furious that Alien Bat had driven the monster he had just purified back into madness.
He charged forward, raised his transformation device, and shouted as he transformed into a silver-and-blue giant.
Ultraman Cosmos!
"Wow! It's Ultraman!"
Under the guidance of the women, the children retreated back into the camp.
Watching the battlefield through the windows, they cheered happily at the sight of Cosmos.
Cosmos immediately engaged both monsters.
However, he was in Luna Mode—and he was facing two monsters at once.
Though he initially gained the upper hand, he was soon forced back repeatedly under their combined assault.
"A two-on-one is definitely hard," Taiga said worriedly after seeing the situation.
"And it's the kindness mode, no less!"
"The key isn't the number of enemies," Zero's voice suddenly came from the bracelet.
"It's about using the Eye of the Heart to capture your opponent."
"Huh?"
Taiga glanced at the bracelet, momentarily stunned.
"The Eye of the Heart…"
As he spoke, Taiga closed his eyes and began trying to comprehend what Zero meant.
"Yes, Taiga. You can do it!"
Zero continued encouraging him enthusiastically.
As Taiga "focused," the bracelet quietly began to glow.
Moments later, a sleek, stylish pair of glasses flew out from it.
(End of Chapter)