By 7:00 AM, the four-dimensional invasion had reached a temporary lull. The Megajheera that had been terrorizing cities across the world vanished, presumably having been repelled for the time being.
At the TPC Imperial Headquarters, Lin Jing sat in the conference room, staring at the reports of Megajheera sightings from around the globe and the casualty reports from various cities. He sank into a profound silence.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Enter."
Collecting his emotions, Lin Jing called out to the door. A reporting officer walked in, saluted Lin Jing, and began his briefing.
"Director-General, these are the damage reports for the TPC branches and the Defense Force across all provinces and cities. Everything is here."
"Just tell me," Lin Jing said, rubbing his temples, signaling the officer to cut straight to the results. "What is the approximate scale of the losses? How bad is it?"
Seeing how exhausted Lin Jing looked, the officer hesitated momentarily. But noticing the Director-General's firm gaze, he reported, "The North has largely held its ground. The Northern GUTS teams saw thirty percent of their personnel injured and ten percent deceased. The Defense Force lost thirty percent of its equipment, but casualties weren't excessive."
Hearing this, Lin Jing nodded with some satisfaction. Such casualties were within the range he could accept. However, after a moment's thought, he recalled that the Northern GUTS teams were essentially fully staffed. Thinking of the South, where the main force had vanished, Lin Jing let out a long breath. "Tell me... how are the losses in the South?"
"The... the South..." The officer didn't read it out loud. Instead, he braced himself and slid the file across the table toward Lin Jing. "Director-General, perhaps it's best if you see these for yourself..."
The officer's face was pale. Seeing this, Lin Jing could guess that the damage was likely far more severe than imagined. Taking a deep breath, he flipped to the page for Southern losses. His pupils shrank instantly; a sudden surge of pressure almost made him faint, but he forced himself to stay upright.
Thud!
Slamming the folder shut, Lin Jing waved his hand dismissively. "You may leave. Let me have some peace."
"Yes, Director-General." Before leaving, the officer added one more thing: "There is one more matter. We have been unable to contact students Ye Feng and Qin Yuxin. We pulled the surveillance footage and found that the last place they appeared was the West Lake Square subway entrance. These are the video logs."
He took out a communicator, transferred the data files to Lin Jing's computer, and walked out, closing the door behind him.
The office fell into a deathly silence. Lin Jing produced a cigarette from somewhere, lit it, and began to smoke. Exhaling a thin cloud of white mist, he felt his mood settle slightly—at least the sharp edge of the pain was dulled.
In the entire Southern region, thirty percent of the GUTS reserve personnel had been killed, and sixty percent were injured. Only ten percent of the staff remained to maintain operations. A standard GUTS unit typically consists of fifteen official members, including the captain, supported by sixty reservists in each city. While that seemed like a large number, when faced with a situation like last night's, it wouldn't last long.
First, the reservists lacked significant combat experience; their prowess could not compare to the official members. Though they had the courage to face invaders, in a real fight, they were simply outmatched. To prevent further attacks, backline reserves were essential, yet now, only ten percent of the Southern GUTS combatants remained. Even if the local TPC guard units could fight, it was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water.
The Megajheera that attacked last night had energy levels equivalent to at least Class A, and there were no fewer than ten in every city. Ten Class A monsters—especially mechanical ones—were several times more difficult to handle than organic ones. Just thinking about it gave Lin Jing a splitting headache.
Recalling the officer's words, Lin Jing turned to his computer. With a few keystrokes, a recording appeared. The footage showed Ye Feng and Qin Yuxin entering the subway station looking exhausted. The video had been processed; as the time hit 11:53 PM, a circle appeared around the subway arrival display.
It showed that the train was supposed to arrive in two minutes, yet a train had already pulled into West Lake Square. At that point, the screen split to show another video of the actual scheduled train. The time was 11:53 PM, but that train was still one station away; it hadn't even arrived yet, which was normal for the last train of the night.
The video was fast-forwarded to 11:55 PM, when the real train arrived. An energy detector readout on the side flickered, proving that a Four-Dimensional space portal had been opened.
"It couldn't be such a coincidence that they entered the Four-Dimensional space..."
Lin Jing watched another video. It showed the very train that had abducted Ye Feng and Qin Yuxin, picking up citizens one by one.
"What are the invaders planning? Is this related to the Megajheera and the disappearance of Captain Qin Tianyi and the other GUTS members?" Carrying this doubt and the data, Lin Jing went to find Shajura.
Four-Dimensional Space, the Pitch-Black City.
The train had been traveling through the city for a long time. Ye Feng had no idea how long it had been, because since arriving here, the time on his phone had stopped moving, as if it had been paused.
Ye Feng didn't dare break out of the carriage because the glimpses of GUTS Eagle wreckage and mechanical arms outside told him this was an alien nest. He didn't know who the wreckage belonged to yet, but he felt he would find out as soon as the train reached the station.
The train gradually slowed down. Ye Feng knew they were approaching the terminal. Through the window, he observed several aliens wearing what looked like black hoods standing on the platform, seemingly waiting for the train.
"Alien Baroom. Then this must be the Four-Dimensional space."
Ye Feng was quite familiar with aliens; after all, he had watched the entire Ultraman series after crossing over. He could recognize at least seventy percent of the aliens and monsters.
"If this really is the Four-Dimensional space, things are going to be difficult..."
Alien Baroom had only appeared once, in Ultraman 80. In that episode, it was clearly shown that Takeshi Yamato's (80's) ability to transform was restricted. As Ultraman Cosmos, would he be restricted as well?
With this thought, and while there was still a little time before the train fully docked, Ye Feng tried to manifest the Cosmo Pluck from the Cosmos Stone. He closed his eyes, focusing intently, but opened them again shortly after.
"As expected, I can't transform. Is the enemy specifically targeting me? Or did I just stumble in by accident?"
Ye Feng couldn't tell. If it were the latter, he really felt he had the worst luck in the world—he clearly should have checked his horoscope before leaving the house.
As the train pulled in, Ye Feng did a final equipment check and glanced at Qin Yuxin. Well, she hadn't woken up; it looked like he would have to fight alone. He could only hope there were only five or six Baroom guards on the platform. Any more would be a real pain.
As for trying to blend in, Ye Feng had no intention of doing that. The driver's cab door had been forcibly opened. If they checked, they would be on high alert instantly. Rather than playing dumb and waiting for an opening, it was better to hide and pick off two or three of them the moment they entered the train.
Although called a platform, this place didn't look like a Chinese subway station. Instead, it resembled an old-fashioned Japanese railway platform—very open surroundings with only one main building.
Outside the platform, five people wearing red and white GUTS uniforms were crouched in hiding. Their eyes were fixed on the Alien Baroom; they clearly intended to hijack the train.
"The train is about to dock. Have you seen how many of them there are?" a young man's voice whispered. His tone suggested he was a captain, though his voice sounded quite young.
"Twenty-two on the platform, four guarding the perimeter. Twenty-six in total," a female voice reported. After finishing, she asked with some uncertainty, "Captain, there are twenty-six of them and only five of us. Are we really going to do this?"
"Of course. Have you forgotten the plan we overheard from the Baroom yesterday?"
"They've sent a massive number of mechanical monsters to invade Earth, and because they are short on manpower, they decided to kidnap humans."
"As GUTS members, we cannot allow this to happen. Since it's a train, it must have a way to enter and exit the Four-Dimensional space."
"Besides, they are in the light while we are in the dark. If we seize the opportunity and each take out two at once, we have a chance to wipe them out."
As the young captain laid out the plan, the other four members began to feel it was a bit insane. But after a moment of consideration, they didn't ask further. Having been stuck in this pitch-black world for so long, any plan that might lead them out was a good one.
The train came to a halt. The doors were about to open.
The young captain took a deep breath. As the doors slid open and the Alien Baroom prepared to step inside, he was about to signal the attack.
Unexpectedly, a gunshot rang out from inside the train, leaving the young captain and the other four GUTS members completely stunned...
•
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