In the immeasurably vast universe of heavens.
Any single universe is like a speck of dust on a beach, tiny and unnoticed. The many civilizations that live and develop within them are even smaller, like microorganisms in the human world.
Humans don't care about the thoughts of microorganisms.
Nor does the universe of heavens care about the thoughts and destinies of humans or any other civilization.
Human cognition and destiny are meaningless to the vast heavens.
No universe cares about whether something is righteous or not.
In many cases, the winning side is called righteous.
No matter how evil or cruel they once were, as long as they achieve final victory, they are righteous. The civilizations and forces that once resisted them become the evil recorded in their history books. This is why evil can never defeat righteousness. The members of GUTS believe they are on the side of righteousness.
However, the final decision-making power is not in their hands.
Only the winner will be given the title of righteous.
Countless people will find reasons for the victor, clearing away all negative past remarks.
Cruelty can be explained as acting for the Greater Good.
Bloodlust can be explained as personality.
All atrocities committed by the victor will receive a rationalized explanation.
As for the loser, even if he loved his people like his own children and was reluctant to abandon his followers when fleeing, he will still be regarded as a hypocritical villain by later generations.
Unfortunately, the members of GUTS have not yet realized the cruelty of this world. They believe that by defending the human world and fighting monsters, they are on the side of righteousness.
Masakis Keigo's mockery and teasing made them extremely angry. The only exception was Daigo.
As the human host of Ultraman Tiga, to be honest, his idea of resisting the Imperium and hating Masakis Keigo was not firm. The saying 'power should not be controlled by a misguided heart' has been passed down from the 19th century to the present 25th century.
People regard this saying as a golden rule, criticizing those ambitious individuals who attempt to forcefully control Ultraman's power through technology or develop technology using technology.
Daigo is a kind person.
He once believed that human society should not have too many weapons.
If too many weapons are manufactured, they are very likely to be used against humans themselves, not monsters.
It is precisely the strict control over weapons in recent years that has brought about the long-lost peace for humanity.
Only then can human society face only the threat of monsters and not worry about civil war breaking out.
If powerful weapons were rampant, humanity would constantly fall into civil war and chaos. This statement is not an exaggeration.
Aggressive hawks, xenophobic hate groups, various ambitious individuals, and social rifts and contradictions caused by wealth disparity.
It is the restriction of weapons that has curbed their ambitions.
Otherwise, for the sake of so-called safety, if weapon restrictions were lifted, people would constantly develop various destructive weapons.
Humanity would fall into an even more dangerous situation because of those powerful weapons.
At that time, someone would inevitably propose developing even more powerful weapons. This cycle would repeat, constantly raising the stakes.
Until the weapons created by humans destroy humanity itself.
Daigo also strongly supported the idea of banning weapons, believing it was key to creating human peace.
But after personally experiencing nine Ultramen fighting together and overwhelming the enemy, he wavered a little.
If those Ultramen hadn't intervened, today's battle would have ended in his defeat. The entire city would have been reduced to ruins.
Countless people would be displaced, losing their families and parents. The concept of righteousness has never had a precise definition.
Many people will classify many things as righteous for their own ambitions.
But they all have one common characteristic: they are all in a position of power or are on the side that achieves the final victory.
If he, as Tiga, failed, causing countless humans to die, would that truly be righteousness?
If Masakis Keigo, a fanatic of the Imperium, used his ambition to create Ultramen who protected human society, would that be evil?
Daigo fell into confusion.
He could no longer clearly distinguish between righteousness and evil.
GUTS and the Imperial faction represented by Masakis Keigo ultimately parted ways unhappily.
Captain Munakata failed to arrest this fanatic.
If they had actually engaged.
GUTS might not have won.
Masakis Keigo's security personnel also had weapons.
If they had fought, both sides would have suffered terrible casualties.
Captain Munakata didn't want to risk the lives of his team members.
Furthermore, there were many refugees watching.
If they had started a fight, a very serious crisis would have inevitably occurred.
It was better to return to TPC Headquarters first, consult with their superiors, and then make a decision.
Masakis Keigo was a prominent figure; he couldn't run away.
Daigo also returned to TPC Headquarters with his teammates.
"Aren't you going to keep him?" A human host walked up to Masakis Keigo, watching Daigo leave.
Masakis Keigo smiled.
He had already conducted a comprehensive study of every human host.
Human hosts chosen by Ultraman's power all shared a common trait: they were all very kind. They would sacrifice their lives for others.
Kind people are easier to manipulate than bad people. This was a consensus.
"Don't worry, he'll join us soon," Masakis Keigo said confidently. "He has already felt the benefits of Ultramen fighting together."
After saying this, Masakis Keigo turned back to the surrounding audience and shouted again.
"These Ultramen are just the beginning. We will introduce fifty more Ultramen in the next three months. By then, humanity will no longer be troubled by monsters."
He performed the Aquila Salute on his chest and shouted hoarsely, "All this is the glory of the Holy Emperor! He will forever protect every human citizen! Long live the Imperium! Long live the Holy Emperor!"
His inflammatory words caused the refugees, who had just experienced a monster attack, to subconsciously shout along.
"Long live the Imperium! Long live the Holy Emperor!"
"Long live the Imperium! Long live the Holy Emperor!"
"Long live the Imperium! Long live the Holy Emperor!"
The sound was deafening, not only echoing in the ruins but also spreading across the world via the internet.
"They're practically fascists," Horii said, watching Masakis Keigo's speech on the screen inside the car returning to base.
Openly promoting the Imperium and inciting humans to accept the rule of a tyrannical emperor. This made him feel like they had returned to feudal times.
"These guys must be related to Captain Iruma's disappearance," Shinjoh, sitting next to Horii, also spoke. "Masakis Keigo's collusion with the Imperium means he definitely knows about Captain Iruma's disappearance, and he might even know her whereabouts."
"When we get back, we'll start investigating this. If Masakis Keigo was really involved, I won't let him off," Captain Munakata said, clenching his fists and lowering his voice in anger.
Captain Iruma held an important place in his heart.
Now that her fate was unknown, how could Captain Munakata possibly give up?
Now that these Imperial lackeys had actively revealed themselves, he would definitely pursue the matter to the end.
When they returned to TPC Headquarters, General Sawai came to find them.
General Sawai was the United Nations Secretary-General and also the founder and Director-General of TPC.
It was he who proposed the special armed force GUTS, specifically for combating monsters.
It is worth mentioning that General Sawai was a staunch advocate of disarmament; he was the one who proposed abolishing the Defense Forces.
His expression looked somewhat gloomy, unlike his usual cheerful demeanor.
"What happened?" Captain Munakata asked.
"I might have to resign," General Sawai's words surprised everyone.
Daigo asked anxiously, "Why do you have to resign? Without a good superior like you, our work will be very difficult to carry out."
"That's right, you can't resign! If you resign, what will we do?"
"General Sawai, has something happened?"
The members of GUTS kept asking questions.
None of them wanted General Sawai to resign.
If General Sawai left, GUTS would definitely be marginalized quickly. The hawks would rapidly grow stronger, rebuild the previously disbanded Defense Forces, and begin developing various powerful weapons.
General Sawai looked at everyone before explaining the reason.
Masakis Keigo and the human hosts appearing before the media made him realize something was wrong.
He wanted to issue an arrest warrant and thoroughly investigate the Imperial lackeys hidden in human society, led by Masakis Keigo.
However, his order was quickly rejected by several departments working together.
Even the TPC Joint Headquarters, his superiors, criticized his rash action. The risk of arresting human hosts and the widely admired Masakis Keigo in public was too great.
It was only then that General Sawai realized the extent to which the Imperial organization had infiltrated human society was terrifying. The hawks had long since fallen into the Imperium's embrace. This was why his capable right-hand man, Captain Iruma, had disappeared. Those people had repeatedly obstructed him from allocating resources to search for her.
Having understood all this, General Sawai's heart immediately felt dead.
He didn't know who among those people were Imperial lackeys and who were not.
It was also possible that only a small number of people were not, and the majority had already become lackeys. This was why Masakis Keigo had been able to develop Ultramen so smoothly. Too many people were supporting him from behind the scenes.
Any move he made against figures like Masami Keigo and other imperial faction members would be jointly vetoed by other departments.
If he didn't resign, there was no way to fight the Imperium by staying.
"Damn it, a bunch of blasted bastards." Munakata slammed his fist against the wall, causing a loud bang. The loud noise made several passing TPC staff members turn their heads. They started discussing in low voices.
"Munakata, calm down." Shinjoh placed a hand on Munakata's shoulder, urging him to restrain himself.
"We can't tolerate these damned traitors and bastards, they must pay the heaviest price," Horii said. "They dared to lay hands on the Captain, we won't let them get away with it."
"Director Sawai, you can't resign. If you resign, they will become even more arrogant, and we will assist you in secretly investigating this empire organization. When we find evidence of their crimes, we will gain public support and destroy this force in one fell swoop." Lina walked up to Director Sawai and said in an encouraging tone, "No matter what, you have to pull yourself together, Director Sawai, we haven't lost yet. If you resign now, then we truly have no hope."
Seeing Lina's sincere gaze, Director Sawai suddenly felt a surge of courage.
He still had the support of the GUTS team, and the leadership of TPC headquarters couldn't all be hawks. There was still a chance to fight on.
As long as they rallied the various factions opposing the dictatorial empire and found a way to uncover evidence of the Imperium organization's crimes, they could launch a desperate counterattack and root out the arrogant hawks in one fell swoop.
"You're absolutely right, Lina. I was overthinking it, I was actually going to be weak against those people."
Director Sawai nodded.
He abandoned the idea of resigning and prepared to go back and continue his battle of wits and courage with the hawks, foiling their ambitious schemes. To regain the advantage, they made a decision.
Director Sawai went back to rally the other doves and politically resist those people's attempts to make humanity join the Imperium. The GUTS team, following the clue of Masami Keigo, began secretly investigating the Imperium organization.
"This is a war no less dangerous than fighting monsters, it has no smoke of gunpowder, but it is just as perilous." Director Sawai said this to the GUTS team before leaving. The members of the GUTS team exchanged glances, seeing the determination in each other's eyes.
Nothing in this world could defeat the GUTS team.
Nebula M78. The Land of Light. The Land of Light. This is the place with the most Ultramen in the entire universe. This universe has a special mechanism where many civilizations, after growing to a certain extent, are eroded by darkness.
Hidden dark daemon gods and dark monsters constantly appear until the civilization is destroyed or falls into darkness.
Ultraman is the only power that can stop that terrible fate.
Unfortunately, not every struggle ends in victory.
Often, it ends with the Ultramen's defeat and the destruction of the civilization. This situation only changed about 300,000 years ago with the appearance of the Land of Light.
Powerful Ultraman armies like the Space Garrison and the Silver Cross Army successfully prevented many worlds and civilizations from falling into darkness.
Many so-called dark emperors and daemon gods were defeated and sealed away by the Ultraman warriors of the Land of Light.
With the help of Ultraman King, the Land of Light established a giant cubic prison and a monster graveyard.
Monsters and dark Ultramen that posed a great threat were imprisoned inside.
Unfortunately, 10,000 years ago, Belial, the leader of the Dark Ultramen, escaped from prison and also broke into the monster graveyard, releasing countless sealed monsters. This traitor of the Land of Light has been recruiting forces, attempting to defeat the Land of Light. To seize the Land of Light's treasure, the Plasma Spark Tower.
Belial has gathered an alliance of monsters and aliens and has launched twelve large-scale wars in total.
Each time, the Ultraman warriors achieved final victory, repelling Belial's attacks and thwarting his ambitious schemes.
As the tide of darkness surged, the Land of Light also slowly became tense.
Many Ultraman warriors intensified their preparations for war, ready to face Belial's thirteenth counterattack.
Many Ultramen who had gone to support other planets rushed back, preparing to confront the traitor of the Land of Light. The headquarters of the Space Garrison is located in orbit around the Land of Light, a super-giant orbital space station. The orbital space station is mainly composed of crystalline material and is filled with light throughout.
A giant energy converter is located in the central area of the orbital space station.
Energy flows through the crystals, supporting the functions of various areas of this super-giant orbital space station. This super-giant space station not only serves as the headquarters of the Garrison but also as the entrance to the Land of Light. The entire Land of Light is protected by a mysterious barrier.
Unless the barrier is destroyed, no matter how powerful a life form is, it cannot enter the Land of Light.
Ultramen outside must pass through this orbital space station to enter the interior of the Land of Light. The Land of Light does not have spaceships or anything like that.
Even if they do, they are very few functional ships.
Every resident has the ability to fly in the void and travel through anti-universe domains.
Spaceships are dispensable to them.
Zero, a young member of the Space Garrison, stood on the giant orbital bridge of the headquarters, gazing at streams of light mixed with the brilliance of the anti-matter universe, appearing in the star system near the Land of Light. Those beams of light entered the interior of the Land of Light along the orbit. They were Ultramen returning from all corners of the universe.
Returning for the potential invasion by the evil enemy, Belial.
Every year, Ultramen leave this planet, assigned to various places to protect local civilizations and help them through their most difficult beginnings. Teaching them to embrace the power of light.
In the Land of Light, being born, training to become an Ultraman warrior, and leaving family and friends after graduation to protect weak civilizations throughout the universe is a normal pattern, as common as the changing seasons and the alternation of day and night.
But now it was broken.
Residents of the Land of Light no longer left, and Ultramen scattered across various locations were recalled.
Ultraman warriors scattered across the galaxy gathered within a few months.
Zero also returned recently.
For the past few hundred years, he had been fighting on other planets.
Fighting against the tide of darkness, fighting against those twisted monsters, and preventing the destruction and invasion of weak civilizations by powerful civilizations.
He could personally feel the strengthening of the dark tide, the power of those monsters had become even more terrifying, even the strongest of the New Generation found it somewhat difficult to deal with them. This universe was becoming increasingly dangerous.
"He's coming back." Another Ultraman's voice sounded.
Zero turned his head and saw it was Ultraman Ace.
Strictly speaking, Ultraman Ace was Zero Ultraman's uncle.
Ultraman Ace was the fifth of the representative Ultra Brothers of the Space Garrison.
Zero Ultraman's father, Ultraman Seven, was the third of the Ultra Brothers.
Ace possesses the largest number of beam skills and is one of the branch chiefs of the seven major nebula branches.
It could be said that he held a high position and power.
"I really want to completely eliminate that guy." Zero clenched his fists and said with some resentment, "Twelve invasions, we have lost too many brothers."
"It's difficult." Ultraman Ace shook his head. "Belial has fused too much power, and it is said that he has even devoured the Heart of Darkness. His power is so great that no one can defeat him, unless the legendary Mysterious Four Ultras appear again, only then might it be possible to kill him."
"Not even Ultraman King?" Zero asked.
"No, Ultraman King and Belial had a great battle during the last invasion. He personally admitted to us that he could not destroy Belial." Ace said in a heavy tone, "For this invasion, you must be prepared, Zero."
"Prepared for what?" Zero looked at Ace in confusion.
"Nothing in this world is eternal. The Land of Light has been established for 300,000 years, and if it is destroyed, you must bear the responsibility of the New Generation."
"How could the Land of Light be destroyed!!" Zero said, "Unless I fall, Belial should not even think about taking one step into the Land of Light."
"Zero, don't be impulsive. Listen to me, this is a conclusion we have all reached together. Your father, Seven, also accepted this outcome, he just didn't want to tell you these things himself.
The dark tide has been constantly strengthening in recent years, and those malicious monsters and aliens have become stronger than ever before. This crisis for the Land of Light will be unprecedented.
Our duty is to protect the peace and hope of the universe, and the Plasma Spark Tower must not fall into Belial's hands. If the fall of the Land of Light is inevitable, you must lead the outstanding New Generation and take away the Plasma Spark Tower to preserve our strength."
"If the Land of Light falls, where else can we go?" Zero asked.
"Go to a place with light." Ace left this sentence and turned to leave. "Remember your duty and mission, Zero."