At the Yingtian Airport control tower, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief upon discovering that the wing-damaged T3126 civil airliner had been saved.
"Director, according to the passenger list sent from the Imperial Capital, two students from the Imperial Academy were on this flight. The blue giant protecting the T3126 is the transformed state of one of those students."
A secretary, having organized the data sent from the capital, quickly reported to the tower leadership.
"Mm, I suppose this is a blessing in disguise." The Director, a veteran in his fifties who appeared very experienced, fixed his gaze on the satellite feed on the main screen and ordered: "Quickly, relay the information to T3126. Direct them to land on Yingtian Runway 5. Get the ambulances and fire department ready immediately."
"It's not good, Director! Unidentified flying objects have appeared behind the T3126 and are rapidly closing in on the blue giant!!!"
"What?!"
After transforming into Ultraman Cosmos, Ye Feng carried the airliner and flew toward the nearest Yingtian Airport. The airliner was approximately thirty meters long, while Cosmos stood about fifty meters tall; carrying the plane while flying was not only possible but actually quite fast.
Inside the plane, smiles finally broke out on the faces of the rescued passengers. Qin Yuxin managed to find Ye Feng's backpack, though her own had vanished; she wasn't upset, though. Under those circumstances, still having one Monster Ring was lucky—at least she could use it to transform if necessary.
The captain and co-pilot used the radio to communicate the tower's message to Cosmos outside. Cosmos nodded and accelerated with all his might toward Yingtian Airport.
Inside the plane, however, Qin Yuxin looked out the window with a perplexed frown. The sudden explosion of the plane was simply too strange. Recalling how Ye Feng had stared outside right before the turbulence, she instinctively looked out as well.
"What is that?!"
Qin Yuxin's eyes widened. She quickly spotted two discs rapidly approaching. Regardless of whether Ye Feng could hear her, she shouted inside the cabin: "Ye Feng! Two unidentified flying objects are approaching! Be careful!"
Despite the chaotic noise inside the plane, Cosmos quickly distinguished Qin Yuxin's voice. Turning his head, he saw the two discs—they appeared to be the same ones he had glimpsed earlier. The plane's explosion was almost certainly linked to them.
With this suspicion in mind, Cosmos scanned the terrain below, attempting to find a suitable place to set the plane down.
BOOM—
While searching, a sonic boom suddenly thundered as the GUTS Eagle appeared on the scene. Within Cosmos' sight, the GUTS Eagle began to separate. The Alpha, Beta, and Gamma units split off and flew toward the discs.
The Beta unit pulled up alongside Cosmos. Before Ye Feng could react, the steady voice of a man came over the comms.
"Leave the discs to the GUTS team. You just focus on getting that airliner back to Yingtian Airport."
Hearing this, Cosmos nodded. Using his energy to shield the crippled airliner, he flew rapidly toward Yingtian Airport.
Diaoyu Island. The Imperial GUTS members currently conducting the search simultaneously received an order.
"Notice, notice: King Tortoise and Queen Tortoise have appeared in Yingtian Prefecture. Yingtian GUTS is currently intercepting. Captain Qin Tianyi, please proceed there immediately upon receipt."
Hearing this, the young captain—Qin Tianyi—responded instantly: "Qin Tianyi received. Proceeding immediately." After responding, he connected to the team channel and ordered: "I order you to continue the search. All actions are to follow Vice-Captain Qin's command."
"Understood!"
"Roger!"
After receiving the confirmation, Qin Tianyi looked at his Vice-Captain and said hurriedly, "I'm heading out first, Uncle. I'll leave things here to you."
"Go on. I'll hold the fort here; nothing will go wrong." Standing nearby, Qin Yun quickly gave his assurance.
Yingtian Airport. In less than a minute, Cosmos arrived with the T3126 airliner. Seeing the rescue teams on Runway 5, he touched down and gently set the plane.
"Aren't you leaving?!" Qin Yuxin, the first to disembark, saw that Cosmos showed no sign of reverting and asked hurriedly.
Cosmos shook his head. Seeing that Qin Yuxin and the other passengers were safe, he flew directly back into the air, heading toward the location where the discs had appeared. Without the airliner slowing him down, Cosmos quickly flew back to the combat zone.
He arrived to see the Alpha unit already downed. Fighting against the two turtle monsters were Shidola, the Plateau Dragon, and Ragon, the Undersea Humanoid. Shidola appeared as a bipedal, humanoid giant bird monster. Ragon was a moss-green humanoid whose face resembled a fish. These two monsters were likely the pilots of the Alpha unit; after the crash, they had fused with their monsters to engage King Tortoise and Queen Tortoise.
However, the two seemed to be getting brutally beaten by the Tortoise couple and were clearly no match for them, even with the support of the Beta and Gamma units. Seeing this, Cosmos fired several light blades from the air, forcing King Tortoise and its mate away from Shidola and Ragon.
"Captain, look! Isn't that the blue giant that escorted the airliner?" On the Beta unit, a pilot shouted in shock as Cosmos flew back.
The Vice-Captain sitting in the Beta unit saw him and said immediately, "Maintain constant vigilance against King Tortoise and Queen Tortoise. We must stall until reinforcements arrive." Clearly, the Vice-Captain had received word that help was on the way.
Below, after separating the combatants, Cosmos' towering figure landed right between the four of them. Ignoring the two battered seniors behind him, he fixed his gaze on the Tortoise couple and assumed his fighting stance.
"Hah!"
"Kuang~~~"
Facing this new opponent, King Tortoise and Queen Tortoise didn't think twice and charged straight at him. Cosmos also broke into a run. As they closed the distance, he delivered a flying kick that sent King Tortoise tumbling away. Before Queen Tortoise could react, he pinned her arms and executed a mid-air rotation. Queen Tortoise was forcibly spun around by Cosmos before being slammed heavily onto the ground.
At that moment, King Tortoise had somehow regained its feet and delivered a head-butt that sent Cosmos reeling back.
"Ya."
Cosmos rolled across the ground a few times before quickly standing up. He watched the Tortoise couple as they stood, hesitating to advance.
Ye Feng was confused. Logically speaking, King Tortoise and Queen Tortoise were supposed to be exceptionally docile monsters. Why would they actively attack a human airliner? Upon encountering these two, Ye Feng realized why the plane had exploded. King Tortoise or Queen Tortoise must have dropped red pearls while passing the airliner, causing the detonation. As for why they followed the plane afterward, he couldn't quite understand.
It was then that Cosmos looked closely at the couple. He saw that while their eyes were red, they contained a sort of resentment and a violent, vengeful emotion. He wondered if they were being influenced by something. Yet, there was no trace of the Chaos Header on them. While the Chaos Header could drive monsters berserk, that was usually just raw, mindless violence. It didn't usually produce eyes filled with this specific type of rage and resentment.
Amidst his confusion, King Tortoise led the charge again. Cosmos engaged him, but the moment they clashed, he realized something was wrong: King Tortoise's strength was astronomical. It was much stronger than the Chaos Antlar he had faced in the Tengger Desert.
Fortunately, the moves of the Luna Mode did not rely on brute force. As he parried King Tortoise's head, he quickly rotated the monster's body to dissipate the massive force before using his arms to hurl the beast away.
Just then, small stones suddenly rained down on him from above. Cosmos looked at the red spheres stuck to his body and his heart sank.
Oh no!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
BOOM—RUMBLE!!!