In the quiet night, Natsuki lay in bed, eyes wide open, locked in a silent standoff with his wrist bangle.
A faint knock on the door broke the silence.
He had sensed the visitor the moment they stopped outside.
Natsuki slowly sat up, a look of confusion crossing his face.
Who would come to my room this late?
He slowly raised his hand. The door opened remotely, revealing a face framed by wire-rimmed glasses.
Seeing the face, Natsuki's brow immediately furrowed.
Is he here to cause trouble? Did he completely ignore my warning this morning?
"I remember you're... Al... Al-something?" Natsuki asked, sitting up and rubbing his chin as he tried to recall the name.
"Hermann."
"Hermann Gottlieb."
Hermann pushed up his glasses, introducing himself politely. He didn't appear to be looking for a confrontation.
"Okay, Hermann."
"You came all the way here this late—it's definitely not just for an introduction." Natsuki crossed his arms, scrutinizing the man.
A golden light flickered in his eyes.
The door behind Hermann slammed shut with a loud bang.
Natsuki's first impression of Hermann had been poor, so he wasn't about to be friendly now. He could see the ambition hidden in the man's eyes.
"I mean no offense, Mr. Natsuki." Hermann glanced back at the closed door, a flicker of nervousness in his chest, though he kept his composure. He addressed Natsuki politely, raising both hands to show he was unarmed.
"If I had any intention of offending you, I wouldn't have knocked," he explained methodically.
He knew a little about Ultramen. They were terrifyingly powerful beings, with the elite possessing the power to overturn universes.
However, he also held the stereotype that most Ultramen were bleeding-heart idealists.
In his experience, most were righteous do-gooders who would rather suffer themselves than harm a weak human. Some would even forgive humans after they committed serious errors.
He had initially assumed a warrior from the Space Garrison would be a moral exemplar, easily manipulated by moral rhetoric to indirectly serve his own ends.
But Natsuki had completely defied expectations, starting with a three-minute threat. Moral blackmail was useless here.
Hermann didn't know how this guy had even gotten into the Space Garrison, or what achievements allowed him to act so recklessly without being disciplined.
In any case, Natsuki—a complete variable—had severely disrupted his original plan.
So, he had devised a new one.
"Mr. Natsuki, I can help you." Hermann met Natsuki's interrogative gaze and made a surprising offer.
"I overheard your mission from the Marshal. I can help you find the culprit causing the anomalous spacetime fluctuations."
The room's virtual moonlight illuminated his face. The movement of adjusting his glasses caught the light, shrouding his identity in a mysterious veil.
This definitely piqued Natsuki's interest.
Killing a Kaiju was simple, but rooting out the real mastermind was time-consuming and exhausting. For a lazy person like him, this was the most annoying type of mission.
"How can I trust you?" Natsuki pinched his chin, examining the man. He analyzed every detail of Hermann's demeanor, trying to determine his trustworthiness.
Hermann knew his first impression had been terrible, so he decided on a strategy:
Full disclosure.
Since the other party was an Ultraman, if he laid out his sincerity without ulterior motives, there was still room for negotiation.
"I will tell you everything I can say," Hermann stated resolutely.
He wouldn't play the riddler now; it was pointless.
"Oh?" Natsuki narrowed his eyes, realizing Hermann seemed to possess significant information.
"Start talking."
Whether he would trust this man depended entirely on the next few minutes.
Natsuki had planned to follow Marshal Pentecost to the other side of the Pacific Breach, capture a few Precursors, and interrogate them about the spacetime anomaly. If Hermann could provide useful intel, it would save substantial effort.
This mission was shaping up to be Natsuki's most efficient yet. He had only arrived on Earth yesterday, and tomorrow he would be attacking the enemy's home base. If other Space Garrison members saw this efficiency, they would be shocked.
"The anomalous spacetime fluctuations you need to investigate are essentially the result of changes in Spacetime Source Energy." Hermann pushed up his glasses, explaining patiently.
"Every world has its original Fate. You can think of it as a timeline or a script."
"Outsiders—beings who do not belong to this world—descend and change its Fate. The greater the change, the more wounds the world sustains, and the more opportunities there are to steal Spacetime Source Energy."
Natsuki frowned slightly.
The mission was more complex than he thought. If Hermann was right, he was facing an organization, not just simple invaders.
"What organization do these outsiders belong to? What are they called?" he asked.
"I can't say."
Hermann looked at Natsuki's serious gaze and shook his head gently.
"Because I am one of them. I can only provide partial, related intelligence. I cannot say more, or I will disappear immediately."
"We were all originally human, from different worlds. We died in various accidents, were recruited, and sent to different worlds to steal Spacetime Source Energy through various means."
"We don't know what kind of entity recruited us, nor do we know the purpose of collecting this energy."
"We only know we must complete our missions, or those ranked at the bottom will be eliminated."
Natsuki listened intently.
The situation was growing complicated.
Spacetime travel capabilities... recruiting the dead from different worlds... This force was clearly not to be trifled with.
When did such a power emerge in the multiverse?
"Continue," Natsuki urged.
This was no longer just a problem for this planet. He didn't know what the mastermind wanted with the energy, but he guessed it wasn't good. Anything involving spacetime was usually a precursor to something massive.
The mission was far more serious than he had imagined. While he usually preferred to be lazy, in the face of such a critical matter, Natsuki always chose to handle it first before relaxing.
Who would have thought such a remote corner of the universe held such a massive threat?
"For people like us, the world we are currently in—even the Land of Light where you live—exists as stories projected into the worlds we came from. This gives us an innate intelligence advantage, allowing us to more conveniently change a world's Fate."
Hermann conveyed all the information he could without reservation.
There was competition even among the Travelers. When he realized Natsuki was a hunter he couldn't possibly defeat, he chose the most rational path.
If you can't beat them, join them.
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