What is light?
An electromagnetic wave that can be perceived by human eyes.
If eyes were modified to perceive the full spectrum of electromagnetic waves, then the entire world would be filled with light.
Darkness would cease to exist.
Is it not a ridiculous statement to represent justice with light?!
"I don't believe in light." Standing in the building of the Saitek Group, Keigo Masaki played with the spherical object in his hand and whispered, "The destiny of humanity should be chosen by humans, not decided by the so-called light. Good and evil are not important; what's important is how to protect humanity and keep them safe from monsters and enslavement by other races."
"They won't trust us. When they destroy all military weapons and establish so-called peace alliances, they'll believe that survival is a right granted to all life by heaven, and that Ultraman will protect that right. They'll think we're warmongers, the culprits who destroy peace, the running dogs of an evil empire. They trust those Ultraman more than their own kind."
A scientist next to Keigo Masaki spoke with a hint of pain in his voice.
"We don't need to consider them; we just need to do what we believe is right. The GUTS team is investigating the Imperium, and ensuring the Imperium's arrival is our most important mission," Keigo Masaki said. "Those giants don't like the Imperium; if they discover the Imperium's arrival, they will try everything to stop it."
Saitek Group is undoubtedly the most competitive and creative company in this world.
Keigo Masaki, its president, is a world-renowned physicist and biologist.
He has won numerous science and technology awards and is known as the most knowledgeable person among humans. The few people gathered around Keigo Masaki were all elites of humanity. They have made outstanding contributions in aerospace, new materials, genetic biology, and fundamental physics theory. To some extent, they are true elites, not those pigs who rely on their parents' wealth and connections.
Every individual gathered around Keigo Masaki is extremely important to human society. They lead the cutting-edge technology in their respective fields.
However, all of them feel disappointed and despairing about the current human society. This society is sick.
It is incurably ill, on the verge of decay.
Since humanity entered the industrial age, various monsters have emerged one after another.
Facing these crises, humanity, instead of strengthening military research and development, has become increasingly dependent on those giants. This has been the case from the eighteenth century to the current twenty-fifth century.
Many of humanity's military equipment are ancient relics from hundreds of years ago.
It's not that human technology hasn't progressed.
Rather, the entire society is being slowly emasculated.
Humanity as a whole is becoming more feminized, heavily relying on those so-called Ultramen in the fight against monsters.
Many Ultramen claim to be the guardians of cosmic order. They come from a place called the Land of Light, responsible for protecting everyone from harm.
Under the protection of these giants, humanity has become increasingly bloodless and lacking in masculine traits.
All resources are directed towards the civilian sector. They have successively colonized different planets, and have already developed the entire solar system. There are indeed enemies in the universe. Those hateful aliens constantly appear, wreaking havoc on human cities.
Whenever this happens, the giants descend from the sky, effortlessly defeat the monsters, and then depart amidst the cheers of the people.
It has always been this way, never anything new. The minds and logical thinking of the ignorant masses are limited to this.
Just a few reports and some seemingly plausible experts can easily fool them.
Important official organizations on Earth, such as TPC and MAC, are all promoting the theory of Ultraman's guardianship.
One can open any TV channel and see experts extolling the greatness of Ultraman.
"Without Ultraman, there is no future for humanity."
"We are all light, part of Ultraman."
"To live in a world protected by Ultraman, I have no regrets in this life."
Online, simply uploading a video of Ultraman fighting monsters can excite those people to a frenzy.
Now, the first thought any child has when seeing a monster is for Ultraman to appear quickly and defeat it. Their worldview has ingrained the subconscious belief that Ultraman will protect them. This is precisely where these human elites feel a sense of sorrow.
In a few more generations, humanity will likely no longer have any voices opposing those giants. They are light, justice, benevolence, and everything to humanity.
People will forget the essence of war.
Relying on the power of those giants,
They will no longer learn to fight those terrifying enemies themselves.
When they see monsters, they will shout the names of various Ultramen, instead of fighting back themselves.
At that time, what difference will there be between humanity, having lost its drive, and livestock living in pens?!
Keigo Masaki was equally concerned about such a future.
Even terrified.
For this reason, he has been trying another thing: to steal the power of those giants.
Utilizing the influence of Saitek Group.
He secretly gathered many like-minded partners and formed an alliance, dedicated to saving humanity. Through Saitek Group's financial and material resources, he arranged for those people to join the teams where the Ultraman hosts resided.
Using various pretexts to investigate the hosts' transformation devices and the source of their power.
For some unknown reason, when those so-called Ultramen are active among humans, they always prefer to borrow the bodies of local creatures. Those whose bodies are borrowed are referred to as hosts. The secret of the hosts is known only to a few people.
Keigo Masaki is one of them.
He vaguely felt that a huge secret might be hidden within. To unravel this secret, he initiated the light particle research project. This project also allowed him to come into contact with a mysterious inter-universal force. The Imperium. Their scale was not large, consisting of only an exploration team.
But they possessed extremely advanced technology, with deep understanding in space and time. The Imperials hid within society, gathering information about this universe and lobbying indigenous elites who might join them.
Preparing for the Imperium's arrival. To win over Keigo Masaki and the alliance behind him, Imperial scholars revealed some truths to him. They informed Keigo Masaki of the existence of the myriad heavens, the origin and cycle of all things in the universe, and even the terrifying entities the Imperium had been fighting against. Those evils, so pure they were indescribable. Terrifying beings existing solely for destruction, deception, and annihilation.
Countless universes have been destroyed.
Some that have not yet been destroyed have become breeding grounds for these terrifying entities, being reared as food. There is no absolutely safe place in the myriad heavens and realms. The vast Aetheric Ocean connects all universes. These universes influence each other.
It is destined that no creature can escape that tragic fate. To win victory and avoid becoming food for those chaotic beings, the Imperium must unite all humanity.
Preventing arrogant and ignorant people from poisoning the entire race.
Once victory is achieved, it will bring an unimaginable glorious future to humanity.
Every human isolated in the heavens will become a true whole.
Just as droplets of water will eventually merge into the ocean.
An inter-universal empire belonging to humanity will thus be established. The pinnacle of civilization humanity can imagine will become a reality.
Keigo Masaki was not easily swayed.
However, the truths revealed by those Imperial scholars touched him. There was one thing Keigo Masaki had never spoken of to anyone.
Since he was very young, he had frequently had nightmares.
Dreaming of terrifying dark doomsdays, seeing the end of humanity in his dreams.
Innocent people screaming and crying in a sea of fire. Those terrifying dreams were like ancient memories resurfacing, or like premonitions of future fragments.
When Keigo Masaki grew up and came into contact with those Ultramen, he also realized that his dreams revealed the fate of humanity.
Humanity will be annihilated in darkness.
Every life will be lost in revelry, despair in the torment of plague, and cry themselves to death in the face of fear. Those Ultramen from the Land of Light and other worlds cannot save humanity. They will even abandon humanity at critical moments.
Humanity must save itself.
It must choose its own future and firmly hold destiny in its own hands.
Keigo Masaki unhesitatingly chose to join the Imperium, pledging allegiance to the so-called Emperor.
His condition was that the Imperium must protect this world.
Preventing the terrifying dark doomsday he had foreseen from arriving.
Preventing those evil Chaos Gods from harvesting his people. The Imperium provided Keigo Masaki with some technological assistance, accelerating his research into light particles, allowing humanity to master the power to become giants.
At the same time, they prepared for the Imperium's arrival. To fight against those evil entities and keep them out of the world where ordinary people live,
It is impossible without a powerful, self-sacrificing legion.
Humanity's strength stems from their continuous efforts, brave and fearless generations.
Not from a single hero, and certainly not from a single Ultraman.
However, Keigo Masaki knew that this matter was not so simple. The arrival of the Imperium would inevitably bring turmoil.
A dictatorial empire would be absolutely unacceptable to the people of today.
Human civilization only entered a nearly ideal democratic society with the help of Ultraman.
After the Imperium's arrival, it would inevitably shatter all of this, overturning and re-establishing all rules and order.
Can you imagine an entire human civilization ruled by an emperor?!
Such totalitarianism would be absolutely unacceptable to those so-called democrats.
Keigo Masaki, however, was very clear that humanity must join the Imperium.
Only a unified, united human civilization can confront those unimaginably dark and terrifyingly unreal beings.
Relying on external protection is ultimately unreliable.
Humanity must become strong on its own.
Keigo Masaki suppressed the many thoughts in his mind and focused his attention on the current predicament.
"We must accelerate our research into light particles. This power must be in the hands of humanity," Keigo Masaki said. "I will not allow any problems with this."
He had to accelerate his research into light particles, striving to uncover the secret of the host's transformation as quickly as possible.
In years of investigation, Keigo Masaki discovered a problem.
Many hosts initially obtained their powers in completely different ways, and according to some secret investigations, their light was also completely different.
A portion of Ultramen came from a mysterious Land of Light.
Very far from the solar system.
It is currently beyond Keigo Masaki's reach.
Another portion originated from the planet itself.
For example, the currently active Ultraman Tiga, whose host is Daigo, a member of GUTS, possesses the genes of an ancient warrior within him, allowing him to manipulate the giant's body using light.
It can be said that his power originated from the super ancient giants, not the Land of Light. Then there was Ultraman Gaia, active in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, who is said to have originated from the power of the Earth.
Ultraman Seven and Ultraman Taro, active in the mid and late 20th century, originated from the Land of Light.
Behind these matters lies an unusual truth. There is a power hidden in the universe, waiting to be discovered and used.
By mastering the appropriate method, one can transform into light and control the giant's body to fight.
Keigo Masaki has always been trying to artificially control that light, to make that power humanity's guardian deity, humanity's weapon of war.
With the assistance of the Imperium, his research has made significant breakthroughs.
Given some more time, he would be able to complete the fusion of humanity and light particles.
Bringing humanity into a new era. The only drawback is that the existence of the Imperium has also been detected by forces like GUTS. They are investigating the exploration team sent by the inter-universal power of the Imperium, following clues. This greatly worried Keigo Masaki; he used various means to seek help from high-ranking officials, hoping they could stop GUTs' investigation.
Some members of the alliance are active in high positions; although their influence is not large, they do have some sway.
As Ultraman's influence on human society grew, the ideology advocating for humanity to completely abandon weapons and all military research became increasingly prevalent.
However, not everyone is so easily fooled and misled by so-called peace and beauty. The heavily restricted military still has many clear-headed individuals. They know that truth and peace only exist within the range of a cannon.
If your cannon can reach any enemy who wishes to invade you, then truth and peace exist.
Without that cannon, truth and peace are an unrealistic dream.
Some people are deeply concerned about the rampant extreme pacifism.
And politicians seeking democratic votes are even more obsessed, promoting proposals that are more exaggerated than the last.
Some politicians even proposed a feminized society, using genetic modification to make men more gentle, so they would no longer be savage and crude. To Masakii Keigo's horror, this trend had already begun.
Male public figures in some countries generally leaned towards effeminacy; at first glance, one would subjectively assume they were girls.
Not long ago, a male public figure with fair and delicate features, long hair flowing over his shoulders, a slender and soft physique as if his bones were made of bananas, elegant and gentle demeanor, and a sweet, charming voice, became popular online. The reason was that he drank a glass of ice water at a public event and charmingly said, "So cold, so cold."
This single sentence ignited the internet, being hailed by countless media outlets as the cutest boy of the year, attracting the adoration of countless teenagers, earning immense wealth, and achieving a perfect life.
It's hard to imagine the extent of this societal pathology.
If humanity continues down this path, its destruction is only a matter of time.
Many people felt deeply saddened by this.
Masakii Keigo used his abilities to persuade those people, making them secret informants for the Imperium. Their goal was the same: to dedicate themselves to saving this pathological society.
"Several of the most advanced observation instruments will arrive in two days, and then a new round of experiments can begin," a scientist said.
"Should we perform some genetic modifications on the candidates to prevent them from being unable to adapt to the power of light, which might cause problems?"
"Utilizing the power of light requires the genes of an ancient warrior; this might also be a breakthrough point."
Masakii Keigo listened to the discussions of the other scientists.
Just as he was about to arrange the upcoming research and experiments,
A phone call suddenly came in.
It was a TPC informant. The person's words were very brief.
It seemed calling him was a very risky matter.
"They found the foraging hawk in Oceania."
Masakii Keigo was stunned for a moment, then dialed another number. Those guys are really persistent, why don't they just go fight their own monsters?
The vast Pacific Ocean constantly experiences storms and waves hundreds of meters high.
Even though humanity has developed colonies in the orbits of gas planets like Jupiter, they still cannot claim to have conquered the ocean.
When humanity arrogantly tries to declare its control over nature,
Nature always strikes back, letting humanity know who is truly in charge. The Pacific Ocean is immensely vast, with countless islands.
Some large islands are developed.
However, small islands are often ignored, as complex tectonic movements can make them disappear overnight without a trace.
For this reason, few people pay attention to those uninhabited islands.
However, many people do not know how much wealth is hidden in the ocean.
An occasional small island that surfaces might hide something that could shock humanity.
For example, this uninhabited Pacific island, identified by the Imperium's exploration team from information retrieved from the cosmic background. The universe is like a disc; all events that have occurred leave traces on it.
As long as the right method is mastered, those residual traces can be read.
If those traces can be interpreted more deeply, one might even glimpse the future. The Imperium's cosmology pointed out a very sharp view.
If not subjected to external changes, the universe is likely to operate according to the information it inherently contains.
In simpler terms, this is the so-called plotline.
It's like throwing something into outer space; it will fly in the direction it was initially thrown until it is destroyed or interfered with by external forces. The operation of the universe is also like this.
It is continuous.
If we take it a step further, to the level of the entire myriad universes,
That would be a conclusion that would make gods and all living beings despair.
Of course, interpreting all the information of a universe is not an easy task. The Imperium's exploration team has no intention of doing such a thing. Their main purpose is to understand the local situation and consider how to conquer the area.
If it can be done without resorting to force, that would naturally be best. There were no trees on that island.
It was all bare rock.
A long-dormant volcano was located in the center of the island, serving as its only landmark.
Other than that, there was only the endless blue ocean.
If one mastered the technique, following the volcano inward would lead to a special path, entering a very spacious underground area.
"It's hard to imagine that the ancient humans of this universe had already mastered such technology, combining what they call 'light' with themselves to obtain extraordinary power."
Magos Sigma observed the information panel before him, excitement gleaming in his electronic eyes embedded in his eye sockets.
Fist-sized, oval-shaped hovering drones hovered in this vast underground space.
Beams of light emitted from them scanned the underground area. The Magos' servants also moved through the tomb, using portable detection equipment and analysis engines to inspect the tomb, searching for samples the Magos needed. This space was very peculiar.
It was like a forgotten tomb.
A tomb belonging to the Ultramen.
All were giant stone statues, broken and dismembered.
From the databases of GUTS and several other special departments, Magos Sigma learned about the so-called Super Ancient War.
A group of humans who possessed extraordinary powers clashed, and ultimately all perished in a civil war.
"The cost of venturing into the myriad realms is immense, but it is all worth it. If the Imperium masters this technology, it can form a new legion."
"The Imperium's Titan army is already powerful enough," said Sharr, the third Captain of the Man-Eater Sharks, who was responsible for protection and wore power armor, indifferently. "If we can open the way, we only need a few days to conquer this world and present a world to the Holy Emperor."
"But it's not as simple as you imagine. Do you see the remains of those giants? They possess a special power, a power between reality and illusion. I suspect this universe once had a powerful civilization no less than the Old Ones, and it left a legacy for this universe."
Magos Sigma walked and spoke, "That ancient civilization created a power that allows the creatures living in this universe to use it to repel the invasion of those monsters. If we find a way to use this power, then we can apply this power and technology to the Imperial warriors."
"Why did they do that?" Sharr asked.
"You'll have to ask them," Sigma moved forward, metal limbs supporting his massive metal body, the sound of mechanical gears constantly emanating from within.
"It might be a more insidious conspiracy, or perhaps it was a final act of goodwill before civilization faced destruction or left this universe. But no matter what, the existence of this power can only be described as incredible. It is cutting-edge energy technology. To speak irreverently, while the Imperium's technology is powerful, this technological method is still one we have not mastered."
"If we can reverse-engineer it and bring it back to the Imperium, the Holy Emperor himself will personally receive us for our contribution."
"Sounds good," Sharr said. "But you still need to hurry. Something here is preventing our information transmission with the proton detectors."
"This situation makes me a bit uneasy. This universe has too many dangers, and not being able to observe other places at all times makes me feel uneasy."
Magos Sigma scanned the gigantic tomb, "Soon, once the samples are extracted, we will leave."
No sooner had he spoken,
A servant relayed a message.
"Sir, abnormal energy readings detected. There seems to be a seal here!!"
TPC Headquarters.
GUTS Special Operations Command Center.
"We absolutely cannot allow those damned evildoers to destroy this beautiful world."
Megumi Iruma, the leader of the GUTS Special Operations Team, was in her prime, her elegant uniform accentuating her impressive figure. Although she had given birth, her skin was delicate and smooth, and she still possessed a captivating charm.
When she delivered stern speeches and motivated her team, she was even more heroic and captivating, possessing a unique allure. The several TPC members supervising nearby secretly swallowed their saliva.
Captain Iruma was known as TPC's most beautiful woman, with countless admirers.
Even having a child couldn't deter those suitors.
After all, who could resist the temptation of a widowed woman?
"This time, we will be acting in conjunction with the GUARD team responsible for the North American region. We absolutely cannot disgrace ourselves. We must capture those damned invaders." Megumi Iruma scanned everyone, "Do you all understand?"
"Understood."
"Understood."
"Understood."
"Understood."
All the team members stood ramrod straight, their gazes firm. They were GUTS members fighting for justice. They would never fear any crisis.
"Nohri will stay at the base to handle communication support and technical analysis. Everyone else, depart," Megumi Iruma said.
GUTS Wing 1 and GUTS Wing 2, two fighter jets, glided out of the hangar. Then, with powerful bursts of light from their engines, they soared into the sky, becoming tiny black dots that vanished into the horizon. The GUTS Wing series fighter jets departed from TPC headquarters at extremely high speed.
In the Pacific region, they rendezvoused with four fighter jets dispatched by the GUARD team responsible for the North American region and proceeded together to their destination.
After several hours of flight, they reached the target island.
After several scans confirmed no ambush,
Megumi Iruma, Daigo, and other GUTS members, along with the GUARD team, landed on the island to search for any traces of the organization called the Imperium. This organization was active worldwide.
It incited people to worship and pledge allegiance to the Holy Emperor, attempting to restore a feudal imperial system.
If that were all, it would just be a delusional, unrealistic organization.
However, from numerous intelligence reports, this organization possessed an extremely high level of technology, even enslaving several monsters. This situation attracted the attention of GUTS and other teams.
It was highly likely that terrifying evil lurked behind this organization.
Some speculated that they would, like some lunatics in the past, attempt to create monsters and then use them to rule the world, restoring their feudal imperial system and establishing their empire.
Such actions were absolutely impermissible.
As guardians, they must crush such evil. They would never allow humanity to be enslaved by terrifying dictators. The team members who landed on the island were completely unaware that they had already been targeted by enemies hidden in a different dimension.
Several pairs of eyes watched them walk unknowingly into a place of death. The sharp teeth of the Man-Eater Sharks were about to tear into their gift. The power fields of the power weapons were activated, their machine spirits craving to drink the blood of the Imperium's enemies.
The helmet's calibration device locked onto the fighter jets flying patrol in the air. The gun barrels, specially designed for shooting heavily armored units, moved with the flight of the fighter jets, waiting for the best shooting opportunity.
When GUTS Wing 1 once again flew low, performing a full island scan,
The operation began.