Megumi Iruma's words left Daigo in deep thought. The series of rhetorical questions had left him somewhat at a loss.
But when he thought of that child's smile, Daigo's resolve hardened again.
If even he wasn't willing to make sacrifices to help those in need, then who could help them?
He couldn't turn a blind eye to the terrifying darkness, nor to the impending crisis.
"I'm ready, Captain," Daigo said firmly, "No matter the cost, I will protect the kind and innocent."
Megumi Iruma looked at Daigo.
Determination shone on his young face.
He was as kind as ever.
As willing as ever to sacrifice himself for others.
"You've grown, Daigo."
After saying this, Megumi Iruma casually pressed a button in the room.
A light screen appeared in the air.
Camilla's figure appeared on the screen.
"Come here for a moment, Camilla," Megumi Iruma said in a commanding tone.
Camilla suppressed her anger.
But she dared not refute.
Megumi Iruma was far more valuable in Magos Sigma's eyes than they were. The privileges and status bestowed upon her were also higher than hers.
Provoking Megumi Iruma was undoubtedly challenging Magos Sigma's authority and the order established by the Holy Emperor himself.
Soon, the doorbell rang.
"Come in," Megumi Iruma said. The door opened at her words, sliding to both sides.
Camilla, dressed in a miko outfit, and her two subordinates walked into the simply yet luxuriously decorated suite, immediately spotting Daigo.
Hudra and Darram instantly assumed battle stances.
Camilla, on the other hand, frowned deeply, revealing a barely perceptible anger.
Sneaking into a young, charming woman's room in the middle of the night.
And it was just the two of them. This was clearly a scenario of a cute younger brother accidentally entering his neighbor's older sister's room. The thought of something possibly happening between the two made Camilla clench her fists.
Pah!
Tiga, you scumbag!
The trio were about to make a move, but Megumi Iruma stopped them.
"Tiga has agreed to stand with the Imperium; he is no longer an enemy."
"I knew it," Camilla said with an inscrutable smile, "Tiga always gets persuaded by Yulian."
Megumi Iruma glanced at Camilla, ignoring the jab in her words.
"Find him a suitable room, he can stay there for now."
"Isn't this room good enough?" Camilla said in a low voice, "He can stay here and help you, ma'am, relieve muscle fatigue and long-accumulated complex emotions, making you feel refreshed and invigorated."
"Are you defying my orders?" Megumi Iruma looked at Camilla; she could hear jealousy and dissatisfaction in the other party's words.
It was said that thirty million years ago, Tiga and Camilla had a romantic relationship.
It seems this guy has never moved on.
Even though the current human host is Daigo, she is still full of jealousy.
Love-struck, truly incurable.
Megumi Iruma's words were incredibly firm, exuding a personal aura. The trio dared not directly refute.
In terms of strength, they could naturally easily crush the not-yet-fully awakened Megumi Iruma.
But her identity was there.
If they touched Megumi Iruma, the Imperium could beat them to a pulp and then send them back to be completely disassembled. The trio could only bow their heads and accept the order. They led Daigo out.
Megumi Iruma watched the four leaving the room until the door automatically closed before retracting her gaze.
She stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, silently gazing at the bustling city.
A barbecue restaurant.
"As long as Daigo brings back the Land of Light, we can resume our old lives," Lina encouraged the former GUTS members.
GUTS had been disbanded. The United Nations re-established the Defense Force.
An powerful army led by Kei MasakI, composed of Ultramen, became a strong force against monsters. This army is currently expanding, and the number of Ultramen is increasing.
Soon, it will become the defense force protecting the entire solar system.
Keigo Masaki no longer concealed his identity as the Imperium's spokesperson.
He had repeatedly publicly called on the United Nations to raise the Imperium's double-headed eagle flag and peacefully join the Imperium's family. The Imperium's various propositions were also publicized, and it quickly gained a large number of loyal followers due to its powerful strength. The Imperium's strength is growing stronger and stronger.
In the foreseeable future, the Imperium will become the catalyst for human unity.
However, humanity had paid such a high price to enter a relatively beautiful democratic era.
Now, due to the arrival of the Imperium, it faces the crisis of being destroyed. To stop all this, the only hope now is to get help from the Land of Light.
"I hope Daigo can return soon," Munakata said in a low voice, "We are too passive now, and we don't have much power left to stop them."
"Breaking news: The Security Defense Force discovered an alien persecution incident during patrol. The lady's name is Lucia, an ordinary person living on planet Zaza. The Mujin aliens destroyed their home and treated the survivors as prey for a battle royale."
On the public screen of the barbecue restaurant, a female news anchor appeared, reporting urgent news. This news attracted the attention of Lina and the others.
Even though they were no longer GUTS members and no longer had the equipment and responsibility to combat aliens. They still had an inherent sense of mission, paying attention to these events.
"Are there more monsters coming?" Horii said with a solemn expression.
"Unfortunately, we no longer have the authority to manage this," Noda shook his head, "TCP has stripped us of all our powers. Now, we are just ordinary people."
"You can't say that. Even without the GUTS identity, as long as citizens are in danger, we must step forward," Munakata looked at his teammates encouragingly, "As long as Daigo can bring back the power of the Land of Light, there will definitely be a turning point."
"This incident is extremely heinous. According to Lulua's description, a large number of her kin have already been brutally murdered. Arbitrarily invading others' homes and treating them as prey for a battle royale is an appalling act. It is utterly immoral and without bottom line. It is the bullying and harm inflicted by a powerful civilization upon a weaker one. Now, we invite Sir Keigo Masaki, head of the Defense Force, to comment on this matter and respond to the public."
The news camera cut to Keigo Masaki.
He appeared to be in a strategic command center, with holographic projections and maps suspended behind him.
Upon seeing the camera cut to him, Keigo Masaki displayed the demeanor of a politician.
He was indeed a genius.
He could excel in business, scientific research, and politics.
"We are currently pursuing those Mujin aliens. Their arbitrary entry into human territory has already offended us, and their rampant, brutal killings on this land are even more intolerable. At the same time, I want to say that this is a true event that demonstrates the cruelty of the universe. Powerful civilizations show no mercy to weaker ones, treating them as livestock and prey to be hunted at will."
"Human civilization needs to learn from this. Only powerful strength can defend the dignity and glory of the human race. Only then can innocent people avoid becoming toys and food for other races. The universe is not a fairy tale, and the right to survive is not granted by heaven. If we blindly indulge in so-called peace, it will only sow more seeds of disaster for the future."
"Peace is only achieved through force, and truth is only found within the range of a cannon. We may not use military weapons, but we must never be without them. Humanity must never accept any theories or ideologies of demilitarization; any act that promotes such ideas or even pushes for related legislation is an utterly shameful betrayal of humanity."
"Without a strong military force, human civilization cannot achieve glory, and humanity cannot have a better future."
Keigo Masaki spoke with fervent passion and righteous indignation.
"So, how is the pursuit going?"
The female news anchor asked.
"Please answer the following questions for the public: Will we go to war with the Mujin aliens? Will they retaliate against us? Do we have enough strength to deal with the Mujin aliens? Can the Defense Force prevent humanity from suffering the same fate and outcome as the Zaza aliens?"
Keigo Masaki nodded, and in front of the public, he motioned to open several windows. The pursuit process was being broadcast inside.
"We have dispatched three defense teams, totaling six Ultramen, to participate in this pursuit operation. They are all excellent soldiers. Currently, the Mujin aliens are still on the run; they have a small, disc-shaped spaceship with a diameter of over five hundred meters. However, they will soon be cornered."
"The Defense Force is being rapidly assembled, and we hope that more aspiring young people will sign up and participate in the screening process. It's important to note that this screening requires genetic compatibility; the higher the compatibility, the easier it is to gain the recognition of Ultraman's power. At the same time, complex ideological evaluations are also required to ensure the candidate's loyalty to the human race."
"If the Defense Force cannot stop the Mujin aliens, relying on the previous organizations would only lead to a more tragic outcome. Whether the Defense Force can prevent humanity from being treated as slaves and playthings like the Zaza people does not depend on me, nor on every member of the Defense Force, but on every individual."
"If everyone does not support the Defense Force, then what reason do we have to fight? And what will we use to fight those terrifying enemies? The establishment of the Defense Force has encountered great resistance; some have betrayed human interests, using seemingly beautiful slogans to deceive the public and incite them to oppose the Defense Force."
"The original intention of establishing the Defense Force was to protect the general public and to defend human survival. As long as humanity is united in supporting the Defense Force and supporting the Imperium, then the Defense Force will certainly be able to ensure that the human race does not become slaves."
"Here we go again," Shinjoh said, shaking his head, "They seize every opportunity to propagate the theory of cosmic threats, trying every means to make countries support their military expansion and integration into the Imperium."
During this period, there were also many monster attacks.
However, the Defense Force was always able to timely prevent those monsters from entering cities, controlling the disaster within an acceptable range.
Keigo Masaki, however, was no longer satisfied with this.
He had repeatedly proposed that humanity should prioritize prevention rather than being passive.
He demanded the expansion of the Defense Force's authority, global monitoring, and the harmless disposal or direct elimination of potential threats to humanity. This demand was met with opposition from many pacifists.
"Whenever someone tries to win a war before it even begins, innocent people will inevitably be sacrificed."
"For our safety, should we then eliminate all creatures that might become our enemies?"
"That's too ironic."
"If one day I also become one of those so-called enemies in their mouths, will I also be directly eliminated by them?"
"If ambition is left unchecked, will it be a disaster for all humanity?"
"Anyone who doesn't oppose Keigo Masaki must be a bad person. How could they say such terrible things!!"
Faced with such immense pressure, Keigo Masaki did not compromise.
He repeatedly used the gaps in fighting monsters to speak, and through monster attacks on humans and the tragic deaths of innocents, he aroused people's sympathy and turned it into anger, gaining their support. This time, the Mujin aliens' hunting behavior also became a good excuse.
It would cause public panic and allow Keigo Masaki to gain more political capital, putting greater psychological pressure on decision-makers in various countries.
In a while, it was likely that the opposition from pacifists would no longer be able to suppress him.
Strengthening humanity's military power and keeping monsters out of the human world would soon become a consensus.
Many people saw this clearly, but no one dared to openly and directly oppose Keigo Masaki's words. They could only indirectly attack the potential for dictatorship that such legislation might bring.
No matter how cruel, Keigo Masaki stood on humanity's side.
Openly opposing him could easily be misunderstood as not caring about the innocent victims.
Using their lives to perform a peace show.
If it was too extreme, it could even escalate into statements about the upper echelons not caring about the lives of the lower classes. The problems caused then would be even more severe.
Munakata and the others were enraged by Keigo Masaki's scaremongering of the ignorant public.
But there was nothing they could do.
Now, the only hope was to wait for Daigo to bring back the warriors from the Land of Light.
Only then could they stop the Imperium's encroachment on human society and kick out those evil, dictatorial individuals.
Keigo Masaki's next words, however, sent these hopeful people plummeting into despair.
"This time, with the help of this news, I also want to solemnly introduce a new Ultraman. This Ultraman is Ultraman Tiga, who has been working hard to protect humanity. After careful consideration, this Ultraman's human host finally chose to join the Defense Force."
"Many people may not be unfamiliar with this human host; he is Daigo, a former member of the disbanded GUTS. After persuasion, Daigo deeply realized that joining the Defense Force was the best choice for humanity."
Lina and the others were dumbfounded, looking incredulously as Daigo appeared on screen. Their mouths were wide enough to fit a balloon.
Daigo, who had been with them day and night, was actually the human host of Ultraman Tiga.
What was even harder for them to accept was that Daigo had chosen to stand with Keigo Masaki, or rather, the Imperium.
"How could this be? Didn't he say he was going to seek help from the Land of Light?" Lina's face was filled with shock, unable to recover, her mind a complete mess.
Munakata suddenly stood up.
"This can't be true!! I don't believe such a thing."
"But that's Daigo," Shinjoh pointed to the image on the TV. He and Daigo were the best partners; he would never mistake him.
"Let's go find him and ask him clearly," Noda also stood up, "I don't believe Daigo would do that. How could such a kind person join a dictatorial empire? He must have been brainwashed."
Lina stared blankly at the TV screen.
"Daigo, why did you betray us?"