The Ultraman Who Loved Humanity, and the Person Who Was an Ultraman

When fighting the Crow Men, Zhou Hong had been especially imposing and powerful, like the very embodiment of invincibility.

But the moment he got home late that night, Grandma, who had been waiting for him, gave him an earful.

"Come home earlier next time. It's not safe outside at night." She kept going on and on.

Though he had told the old woman he wouldn't be home for dinner, his long absence had left her worry plain on her face.

Zhou Hong repeatedly promised there wouldn't be a next time.

Grandma stopped her lecture and took out some prepared late-night snacks from the insulated box.

The warmth of the bowl and chopsticks flowed from his fingertips into his heart. He wasn't hungry, but his hands still tightened around the chopsticks.

The darkness of night gradually gave way to the light.

As always, sunlight passed through the gaps between the high-rises and bamboo grove, scattering in sparse patches across the room.

After making Grandma breakfast as usual, Zhou Hong hurried to the headquarters base and headed straight for Horii's lab.

TPC's security was much like Hikari's lab. They claimed it was airtight, that not even a mosquito could get in—unless you brought one in yourself—but in reality, it was full of holes.

It was laughable. There wasn't even a guard in sight.

Horii had heavy bags under his eyes, but he still warmly welcomed Zhou Hong into his lab.

"I still need to run some experiments to restore people to their normal size. It'll take a little more time," Horii said lightly. "I can't solve it that quickly."

It was as if his soul were already floating away.

"That's fine. I'm not here to ask you about that today." Zhou Hong waved a hand.

Horii's soul immediately returned to his body, and his voice grew much louder. "Is there something else?"

"I wanted to ask whether the Crow Men's weapon could be used on monsters." Zhou Hong got straight to the point.

If it could, he would head to Shishinohana Forest at once and capture the adorable Silver Dragon.

Then he'd get the black-tech genius Horii to make a Poké Ball, with a device that canceled the shrinking ray when opened and fired it again when the monster was recalled.

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

"No." Horii shook his head decisively. "I've already studied the Crow Men's weapon."

"The beam can shrink a living being only if it completely covers them, and it's useless if the beam's concentration isn't strong enough."

"Once the beam spreads, it can easily mix with all kinds of other light. That's why the Crow Men chose to use it at night. This means it can't reach very far, and it has strict requirements regarding the time and place of use."

"Never mind whether the beam could cover a monster that's fifty meters tall."

"The beam doesn't reach far, so using it means getting close to the monster. And if we get that close, we're done for."

"It's too limited. The science division has already decided to abandon research into this weapon."

Zhou Hong was deeply disappointed. He felt that Horii still wasn't quite good enough. If it had been Dora Masaki, perhaps he really could have come up with some useful side products.

But if it had been Dora Masaki, he might have ended up fighting Zhou Hong instead.

Horii took a gulp of coffee, smacked his lips a couple of times to wake himself up, then continued, "The Crow Men's weapon may be useless, but the data on their spaceship is pretty valuable."

"Yazumi is still working overtime. The star charts and some of the alien records he's decoded so far are already extremely precious."

"This data can deepen our understanding of the universe, that dark forest."

"It'll be a great help when we deal with visitors from space."

The universe was vast. Now that he'd flapped the butterfly's wings, who knew what unusual changes might follow?

Perhaps an entire race of dark aliens would invade. If that happened, they'd need to find hostile forces to help fight them.

An enemy's enemy wasn't necessarily a friend, but stirring up the waters made it easier to fish.

If they could make the right decision when aliens arrived on Earth—whether to eliminate them or help them—they could save a lot of time.

Zhou Hong wasn't interested in any of that. He sighed helplessly. "I really want to catch the Silvagon that tore Gagi apart in Shishinohana Forest."

"I want that little cutie as a training partner and a pet."

"Horii, do you have any good ideas?"

Horii thought this was the most outrageous request he had ever heard in his life.

Catch a monster as a pet?

For a moment, he thought there was something wrong with his ears.

He patted his chubby cheeks, which exercise had failed to slim down, and shook his head.

"Sorry, what did you just say? I didn't catch that."

Zhou Hong helplessly repeated what he'd said before.

Horii looked at Zhou Hong as if he were some kind of immortal.

He felt that ordinary people like them lived in a completely different world from Zhou Hong. Zhou Hong really was fearless because of his skill.

The Silver Dragon Silvagon of Shishinohana Forest had been observed countless times, and after a long period of observation, it had been determined to pose little danger. But it was absolutely not a pet!

It was a fifty-something-meter-tall monster!

The kind of monster that could crush a whole crowd of people with one step!

"I can't help you. If I could do that—"

"I'd apply to become a consultant, and I'd even be confident about becoming the next director."

"But if there's even the slightest problem with that technology, I'll spend the rest of my life behind bars."

Zhou Hong suddenly felt that Horii made a lot of sense.

Once such a machine had been developed, it could solve most monster-related problems.

He could join TPC's upper ranks and, when Director Sawai retired, perhaps even become director with everyone's support.

Zhou Hong let out a long sigh. It seemed that if he wanted to tame a monster, he'd have to meet Ultraseven and ask him for a Monster Capsule.

Given Ultraseven's love for humanity, Zhou Hong was certain he wouldn't hesitate to give him one.

As a human, Zhou Hong trusted this Ultra Warrior completely.

Because he was Ultraseven, who loved humanity deeply.

But he probably wouldn't meet Ultraseven in this lifetime.

They weren't even in the same universe, and Zhou Hong had no experience traveling between universes. He didn't know whether Ace in the Ultra Heart could provide a location.

But even if he did provide one, I probably wouldn't leave this universe.

On this planet, he had now found his home.

The place where he belonged.

Watching from beyond the screen, he had envied those Ultra Warriors as they traveled between worlds and fought.

But now that he was the protagonist, what peace in the universe could make him leave his family—the very people he needed to protect—almost forever?

The responsibility of being an Ultra Warrior?

Don't make me laugh. Before becoming an Ultra Warrior, he was human.

People were selfish sometimes.

Besides, Ultraman wasn't a god. He couldn't save everyone.

Maybe one day, as a human, he would change. But at this moment, this was who he was.

P.S. I'll take anything you can give me.

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