"COSMOS!"
On a desolate stretch of land, a pillar of blue light soared into the sky as Ultraman Cosmos appeared once more. Soon, a cacophony of monster cries erupted around him.
"Lithra!"
"Astrons!"
"Red King!"
"Kemur!"
"Baltan!"
"Ultra Fusion!"
Five fusion voices rang out, and five silhouettes immediately materialized around Cosmos. The Friendly Giant Bird—Lithra; the Ferocious Monster—Astrons; the Skull Monster—Red King; the Abduction Phantom—Kemur; and the Space Ninja—Alien Baltan.
A total of five powerful aliens and monsters surrounded Cosmos, boxing him in.
"Hah!"
Faced with the five entities encircling him, Cosmos showed no fear. Assuming his starting stance, he charged straight at Red King!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Roar~~"
Red King, not to be outdone, also sprinted forward, while the other four remained stationary, observing the duel for the moment. Red King flexed his biceps, preparing to teach Cosmos a lesson, only to have his first strike miss completely. Looking up, he realized Cosmos had already somersaulted over him during the attack, delivering a stinging kick to the back of his head as he passed.
"Gah~ Gah~ Gah~"
Red King clutched his head, hopping around and flailing his arms in a display of clumsy frustration. Cosmos, landing behind Red King, grabbed the monster's tail and began spinning on the spot before the beast could react. Lifted into the air, Red King waved his arms frantically, but his short limbs were useless.
"Screech~~"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Lithra couldn't stand by any longer and spat out a barrage of thermal ray missiles. Seeing the projectiles, Cosmos hurled Red King away and intercepted the missiles mid-air.
The battle ignited instantly. Kemur slid provocatively behind Cosmos, his dark, massive hands reaching out to choke the giant's neck. Without even turning his head, Cosmos caught both of the alien's hands. Kemur's single eye flickered wildly, and a moment later, a sharp elbow strike from Cosmos sent a surge of pain through his gut. With his hands still trapped, Kemur was helpless. In one fluid motion, Cosmos spun around and used his momentum to whirl the alien through the air before slamming him into the ground.
Alien Baltan quickly closed in, his massive claws smashing down heavily and striking Cosmos' back with a dull thud.
"Xiao!"
Having landed a successful hit, Baltan pressed the advantage. However, Cosmos—having been ambushed once—quickly rolled away to dodge the follow-up. Swinging his arm forward, he unleashed light blades that struck Baltan, erupting in a shower of sparks.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Yahhh~~~"
Suddenly, lava missiles struck Cosmos' back, enveloping him in explosions. Trapped in the barrage, Cosmos let out a pained cry. Behind him, Astrons was acting as a stationary turret, spitting out lava missiles with relentless glee.
"Screech~~~"
Lithra had taken to the sky at some unknown point. Diving down, she unleashed a continuous thermal ray that struck Cosmos squarely in the chest, knocking him flat.
"Ugh... Ahh..."
Seeing him down, Astrons had no intention of engaging in melee; he continued to vomit lava missiles, his own energy depleting rapidly. Alien Baltan followed suit, opting for range as he spread his large claws.
"Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom!"
White light missiles streaked from the claws, battering Cosmos and kicking up a thick veil of white mist. Less than a minute into the fight, three monsters had switched to long-range tactics. Under the concentrated fire, Cosmos seemed to have no choice but to endure the beating. Furthermore, the three monsters didn't stop their assault just because the mist obscured their vision.
"Roar~~~"
The "Giant Corn" Red King wanted a piece of the action. Realizing he lacked range, he hauled up a massive boulder. But just as he was about to throw it, blue crescent blades flew out of the mist, striking his palms. The sudden sting made Red King instinctively drop the boulder, which landed squarely on his own foot. He immediately began hopping around in a frantic dance of pain.
"Ow ow ow!"
The three attacking monsters and the spectating Kemur were stunned by the counter-attack, and an ominous premonition washed over them.
"Xiao!"
A blue silhouette streaked out of the smoke—it was Cosmos. Taking to the sky, his first target was Lithra. His speed was incredible, closing the gap instantly. As they crossed paths, sparks erupted from Lithra's neck, and she fell painfully to the earth.
Boom—
Cosmos appeared behind Astrons as if by magic, delivering a flurry of palm strikes that dazed the monster. Grabbing Astrons by the neck, he executed a heavy suplex. As the dazed Astrons tried to rise, his tail was seized, and he was hurled directly into the spectating Kemur...
Half an hour later...
In Virtual Combat Room 2 of the Imperial TPC Academy, forty sci-fi-style incubation pods, two meters long and one meter wide, were arranged in neat rows of ten. At that moment, six of the pods slowly hissed open.
"Arrgh! How did we lose again?!"
"I don't accept this! Our firepower was so intense, how did Ye Feng escape?!"
"Sigh, even if you don't believe it, he still got out and trashed us..."
As Lin Fei spoke, his girlfriend pointed out the blunt truth, causing him to lose face instantly.
As the three discussed the match, Ye Feng stepped out of one of the pods—which were actually virtual training combat pods, not incubation units. As soon as Ye Feng appeared, Lu Bai lunged out of his pod and shouted, "Ye Feng! I want a duel! One-on-one, right now!"
"Uh... what's wrong with Lu Bai? He looks like he's gone mad." Xiao Ling, who hadn't participated, looked suspiciously at a dejected Qin Yuxin.
Qin Yuxin's mood didn't stay low for long; thinking of Lu Bai's experience inside, she felt a sudden urge to laugh and quickly shared the details. In truth, Lu Bai's performance in the match had been pitiful. At the start, he was flicked in the head by Ye Feng and then used as a literal meat-shield to block his own team's attacks. Later, when he finally found a boulder to retaliate, he crushed his own foot!
The rest didn't need much explanation. Lin Fei, Yu'er, and Qinqin had all managed to land hits on Ye Feng, causing him some trouble. But Lu Bai... throughout the entire fight, he had been a clumsy mascot. Not only did he fail to land a single hit, but he was also teased and toyed with by Ye Feng, leaving him completely humiliated!
"Pfft! So that's it. No wonder Lu Bai is so heated." After hearing the description, Xiao Ling laughed shamelessly, regretting that she hadn't been in the observation room to witness Lu Bai's embarrassment.
A week had passed since the Antlar extermination mission. After three days of recovery, the freshmen began their virtual combat assessments. The tests involved random 1V1 draws. With the assessments for all five hundred freshmen finished, only five days remained in the academic year. During this time, the virtual rooms remained open, and in a rare move, the school granted this class a two-month summer break. Likely, after the real-world monster trial, the higher-ups felt the students needed a proper chance to unwind.
As the sun began to set, the group of seven left the combat room and headed for the cafeteria. Along the way, they discussed the nuances of controlling giant bodies and how to apply their daily training to kaiju-sized combat.
During the talk, Lu Bai asked curiously, "Ye Feng, how are you able to fight so effortlessly in that form?"
Lin Fei added, "I wanted to ask too. It feels like you can exert 100% of your strength the moment you grow huge. Do you just not need to practice?"
In reality, most aliens or monsters cannot master a giant body in a short time. Aliens might find it slightly easier since they are roughly humanoid, but it's still difficult. For context, if a person's fighting score is 80 in human form, they'd be lucky to hit 40 as a giant. It's not about how strong the training is, but a fundamental issue of spatial awareness. Imagine being able to jump two meters and land perfectly; now try doing that while wearing a heavy, oversized mascot suit.
Ye Feng was an anomaly. He was a 90-point fighter as a human, and still a 90-point fighter as a giant. It was simply absurd.
Ye Feng could only offer a sincere answer to his friends: "I'm not sure. After fusing and transforming, I don't feel that awkwardness at all. On the contrary, it feels exactly like my own body. Aside from the energy management being a bit tricky, it's basically the same as being human."
That was his outward explanation, but inwardly, Ye Feng had a bold theory: the Light of Cosmos had completely merged with him. During the eighteen years before his awakening, the light had been integrating with his soul. That's why, even during his first transformation, there was no learning curve. How can you be unfamiliar with your own body?
Qin Yuxin and the others were different; their monster powers came from the Dark Ring, adapted from their inner desires. Though they were products of desire, they weren't "them," so a lack of control was inevitable.
The conversation continued until they prepared to part ways. Today was their last day at school before the two-month break. Qin Yuxin stayed behind for a moment, looking at Ye Feng. "Ye Feng, do you have any plans for the holiday?"
"I'm heading back to Hangzhou first," Ye Feng replied. "Principal Hu asked me to visit the school in a week to watch the juniors' awakening ceremony."
"Oh? He asked me too. What a coincidence."
Principal Hu was their high school principal back in Hangzhou. They both knew why they were being invited: to serve as role models for the younger students. It wasn't a big deal, and since there was a 50,000-yuan appearance fee involved, there was no reason not to go. They agreed to travel back together at 10:00 AM the next morning before parting.
In the empty office of the Forbidden City underground base, Shajura looked at the pendant in his hand. 'The Teacher's journey is about to begin. Should I follow him?'
At that moment, a weathered and majestic voice echoed in Shajura's mind.
"You cannot return to the past. He is unique; only he can freely travel between the past and the future. If you follow, you will simply fall into another parallel world..."
The ancient voice seemed to have read Shajura's thoughts, offering a silent warning.
"Tch. Don't go reading my mind whenever you want, old man."
"Ho ho. I don't need to read it; your thoughts are written all over your face."
The majestic voice held a rare hint of amusement, making Shajura turn away in annoyance. "Fine, fine! I won't go. But I have to give this to him."
Without waiting for a reply, he walked out of the meeting room.
Back at the dormitory, Ye Feng sighed as he entered the room, looking at the clutter of discarded items on the beds and desks. His roommates had left this morning. Seeing the mess, Ye Feng had no choice but to start cleaning up.
"Tsk tsk. Who would have thought that Ultraman Cosmos, the Warrior of Kindness known throughout the universe, would be cleaning up a messy dorm room? Truly a rare sight."
A mocking voice suddenly drifted in from the balcony.
Ye Feng instantly grabbed the Hyper Gun from his desk, pointing it at the silhouette on the balcony. "Who are you? How do you know about the Ultra Warriors?"
Ye Feng's expression was grim. In this world, the existence of Ultramen seemed to have been erased; no one recognized him. But now, someone had appeared silently and spoken his name! He felt a surge of anxiety, his palm gripping the gun breaking into a cold sweat. He was extremely wary of this uninvited guest.
Ye Feng looked toward the balcony, but the figure stayed in the dark corner. With the balcony light off, he couldn't make out a face.
"Me?" The person in the shadows pondered for a long time before replying lazily, "I'm just a common wanderer of the universe who happened to stumble upon a legend called the 'Ultra Warriors.'"
This answer shocked Ye Feng. He quickly asked, "Tell me, where did you find it?"
Ye Feng was tense. This news proved that Ultra Warriors existed in this universe; they had simply vanished into the long river of time for some unknown reason.
"Where, indeed... let me think?" The mysterious figure seemed to struggle to remember. Under Ye Feng's intense gaze, he finally exclaimed, "Ah, I remember!"
Ye Feng's face lit up, but the next sentence made his expression turn dark.
"But why should I tell you?" The silhouette looked at Ye Feng mockingly from the shadows, seemingly waiting to see what he would do.
A vein popped on Ye Feng's forehead. "You're playing with me!"
He stopped asking and pulled the trigger. Laser rounds barked from the Hyper Gun.
Bang! Bang! Clack!
"My, my, such a hot-tempered one. I'm truly curious—are you really that 'Warrior of Kindness'?"
After several shots, the glass door was shattered, but the stranger seemed untouched and continued to mock him. Ye Feng's eye twitched as he lowered the gun. He sensed no malice, but this person was unreliable and seemed to enjoy toying with him.
"Sigh... no more shooting? How boring."
"Cut the crap. What do you want? I don't believe you came here just for a chat."
Seeing the stranger's eccentric tone, Ye Feng interrupted him without wasting words.
"Tch. That tone of yours is quite annoying," the stranger snorted. "I'm here to deliver something. Catch."
Before Ye Feng could react, a dark object flew through the hole in the shattered balcony door. Ye Feng caught it out of instinct. When he opened his palm, he froze.
"Who are you, exactly?!"
Ye Feng tried to follow up, but after five seconds of silence, there was no response from the shadows.
"Gone?"
He walked to the switch and flicked on the balcony light. Aside from a pile of glass shards and several bullet holes in the wall, there was no one there.
"He really left."
Ye Feng frustratedly ran a hand through his hair. He felt this person was vital and could answer the questions burning in his heart: why he became Cosmos, where the Ultra Warriors went, and why they were missing from this world.
He felt this because of the pendant the stranger had thrown him. To anyone else, it might look like a simple trinket. But Ye Feng recognized it!
In his hand was a pendant made of an azure amber crystal. Inside the crystal, something resembling a lotus was sealed—it was beautiful. This crystal was intimately connected to Ye Feng's current existence. It was a Cosmos Stone.
The Cosmo Pluck was actually a transformed version of a Cosmos Stone; it was a part of Cosmos itself. Just by holding the pendant, Ye Feng felt a power within him yearning to break out.
Thinking of the mysterious traveler who had given him the stone, Ye Feng felt even more troubled. He felt like he had fallen into a hole dug by some "big shot"—the kind of hole you can't climb out of, no matter how hard you try.
"A wanderer who knows about the Ultra Warriors... it couldn't be Kurenai Gai, could it?"
In his mind, the only wandering alien intimately linked to the Ultras—besides Ultraman Orb's human form—was no one else. But another question surfaced in Ye Feng's mind: 'This Gai guy... seems a bit... unorthodox...'
•
Today updates!
Well it took me some days but I managed it. Also, no matter how dire your pocket was, never, ever, took welder job for couple of bucks. I'm just giving some advice here since I had to act like a blindman for three days for it. Anyway, you can found advanced chapter on my Patreon here—↓
patreon.com/EBBYRITH.
—feel free to visit it!↑