Watching the mechanical arm seize all of his Ultra Medals, Haruki stood frozen for a moment, his mind going blank.
"Haruki, prepare to deploy Special Storage Unit Windom! Counterattack the intruder inside the Armory!"
Juggler's voice suddenly came through the earpiece, snapping Haruki back to his senses.
"Roger!!!"
Fuelled by anger, Haruki rushed straight toward the hangar.
Juggler had not expected anyone to be so audacious as to directly invade the Earth Defense Force's Armory.
The intruder, however, was not a person—but a robot.
King Joe.
The real mastermind was nowhere to be seen.
Observing the invasion from afar, Yuzhou was mildly surprised at how quickly King Joe appeared—and even more surprised that it went straight for the Defense Force's headquarters.
Even so, Yuzhou had no intention of intervening.
Haruki already possessed more than enough medals to deal with King Joe. In the original timeline, this enemy was defeated by Ultraman Z's Gamma Future form.
Windom launched first.
It didn't last five exchanges.
Yoko then deployed Sevenger, charging in immediately—only to achieve nothing and be battered to the brink of destruction.
And yet…
Z never appeared.
Yuzhou frowned.
Juggler frowned as well.
"Haruki, are you alright?"
Juggler asked through the comms.
"I'm fine… more or less," Haruki replied bitterly.
"I'm just stuck in the cockpit and can't move."
"That's not what I meant," Juggler said bluntly.
"Why haven't you transformed yet?"
At this point, Juggler no longer bothered hiding the truth.
"…I want to," Haruki answered helplessly.
"But all my Ultra Medals were taken by that steel monster!"
"…What?"
Juggler froze and turned to look at King Joe.
So that was it.
That thing wasn't here for destruction—it was targeting Haruki's medals.
With no Ultraman appearing and the situation rapidly worsening, Juggler knew he could no longer wait.
He took out both the Z Riser and the Dark Sparklence, hesitating over which to use.
Then—
A silver, red, and black Ultraman with sharp blue eyes suddenly appeared before King Joe and charged forward.
"Geed?!"
Juggler stared in surprise.
Riku couldn't stand it anymore and jumped in.
Since an Ultraman had already transformed, Juggler calmly put both devices away and pretended nothing had happened.
Yuzhou hadn't expected Geed either, but someone stepping in was still good news.
Geed's Primitive Form was a curious case—strong, yet fragile.
After a few exchanges, Riku realized something unpleasant.
King Joe didn't feel pain.
He did.
Without hesitation, Riku activated the Seven and Leo Capsules.
Solid Burning Form—activated!
Encased in heavy armour, steam-like energy blasted from Geed's arms and back as he clenched his fists and charged.
BOOM!
A flaming punch slammed into King Joe's chest.
This time, there was no recoil.
King Joe staggered backward several steps and collapsed onto the ground.
Watching from afar, Yuzhou couldn't help but marvel.
"At this rate, Ultraman Z is about to become Ultraman Geed Season Two."
Under Solid Burning Form's assault, King Joe was swiftly torn apart, its components scattering across the battlefield.
After all, Solid Burning carried the power of Ultraman Seven.
And historically—
King Joe was Seven's natural enemy.
Geed's Colour Timer began flashing.
Just as he prepared to withdraw, a blade suddenly slashed across his back.
Geed stumbled and crashed face-first into the ground.
"What?!"
Juggler's eyes widened as he looked toward the attacker.
The newcomer had green, rabbit-ear-like protrusions on both sides of his head.
His eyes glowed bright blue, pupil-less.
Most disturbingly—
The swirling green vortex between his eyes was actually his mouth.
Space Pirate—Alien Barossa.
Juggler had heard of them during his travels.
Notorious cosmic plunderers who robbed treasures across the universe.
If it was worth stealing, Barossa would steal it.
Frankly, it was fortunate they believed the Land of Light's security was airtight—otherwise Hikari would already be bankrupt.
Geed dissolved into particles of light.
After the surprise attack, Riku's transformation time had run out. Knowing he couldn't hold on, he reverted to human form.
"Riku-senpai!"
Haruki struggled out of Windom's cockpit and ran toward Riku, limping slightly from his injuries.
Before anyone could recover the scattered medals, Barossa swept them all up.
"Such powerful medals!"
Barossa laughed arrogantly.
"I'll be taking these without hesitation!"
He then turned his attention to King Joe's remains.
That King Joe had originally been stolen from the Aliens Pedan—
and Barossa had been using it repeatedly for raids ever since.
Juggler sighed.
Looks like he really did have to step in.
Then—
A voice thundered from the sky.
"Without hesitation?"
A massive silver foot slammed into Barossa's back, sending him flying.
CRASH!
Barossa smashed into a building, reducing it to rubble.
As he looked up at his attacker, fear seized him instantly.
Belial.
The one who struck him was Ultraman Belial.
Even restored to his original form, Barossa would never forget—
Dark Belial had once destroyed an entire universe.
"Daring to harm my son…"
Belial crossed his arms, forming a deadly cross-shaped stance.
"You're courting death."
Deathcium Ray!
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The beam struck Barossa directly.
In an instant, Barossa's body exploded, engulfed in roaring flames.
Watching the scene, Yuzhou shook his head.
In the original storyline, Barossa had quite a bit of screen time.
Here—
He was wiped out immediately.
A textbook example of a glorified extra.
Of course, Alien Barossas were special.
Each reproduction cycle produced ten thousand eggs.
Which meant—
Every Alien Barossa had ten thousand biological siblings.
And worse—
They were extremely vengeful.
Kill one, and the rest would line up to throw themselves at you.