Chapter 17
Bang!
No sooner had Zoffy finished speaking than Original Ultraman shoved him away, fury written all over his face. "Zoffy, do you know what you're saying?"
"I know perfectly well. So now, this instant, immediately, leave Blue Star with me!" Zoffy's tone was forceful, allowing no refusal.
"No, I don't believe you. I'm the supreme commander of this mission, and I haven't received any other orders from the king. So I can't believe what you're saying!"
Zoffy offered no further explanation. He simply took out an identity badge representing Ultra V, corroborating the truth of what he had just said.
But Original Ultraman's face remained stern. "I disagree with you. Even if you are the supreme commander, I still refuse your order to flee!
"Do you know what will have to face these meteors and monsters if you choose to run?
"Our Ultra Empire, our people, and our king!
"So I will never agree to flee. Only cowards choose to run away!"
Hearing this, Zoffy truly wanted to rush over and punch this guy a couple of times. If he could beat him, he would have knocked him unconscious and carried him away right then.
But under the present circumstances, neither his own fighting strength nor the time available allowed him to do that.
All he could do was say furiously, "Do you know what you're saying and doing? Are you trying to defy orders?"
"I, Original Ultraman, am of the Ultra Empire's royal bloodline. I obey no one's orders but the king's!"
"You, you-these are the king's orders! Are you going to obey or not?" Zoffy was almost mad with anger at those words, even beginning to stammer.
Original Ultraman was right. He was of royal blood, and Zoffy really had no way of dealing with him.
Even if he refused to obey orders, there was nothing Zoffy could do. Even if he wanted to knock him unconscious and take him away, he lacked the fighting strength.
In this situation, he truly wanted to throw up his hands and quit.
He knew Original Ultraman was a little stubborn. After all, they had worked together for five hundred years. How could they not know each other?
The king had even specifically mentioned this before they set out.
Although he had received those orders, he had not actually given them much thought.
After all, they had gone out to exterminate Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes so many times, and nothing had ever gone wrong.
And this time, they had been given a whole month.
In his view, never mind a month-if things went smoothly, they could head home within a week. There would be no occasion for him to take charge at all.
Who could have known something like this would happen?
In fact, he had already tried contacting Ultra V when he first discovered these meteors and monsters.
But for some reason, Ultra V had not responded.
He had known then that perhaps something else had happened within the empire as well.
So many things were happening at this critical juncture. Before they left, Ultra V had specifically instructed him that if trouble arose, he could act decisively and take the others away from Blue Star himself.
Original Ultraman fell silent when he heard Zoffy say these were the king's orders.
How could he not know that these might indeed be the king's orders?
Zoffy had worked alongside him for five hundred years. How could Original Ultraman not know what kind of person he was?
So if Zoffy dared say such a thing, he must have grounds for it. Normally, even without Ultra V's badge, Original Ultraman would have believed him unconditionally.
But... he could not leave!
Just as he had said earlier, behind him lay Blue Star and the Ultra Empire's eighty-one subjects!
He did not know how many meteors he could stop, but even if he could withstand just one more, the people on Blue Star would have one more chance of survival.
Seeing that Original Ultraman remained unmoved, Zoffy spoke again. "Hurry up and leave with me! These are the king's orders!"
"I'm not leaving!"
Original Ultraman shook his head, his tone firm.
The thirty-odd young people piloting Giants of Light behind Original Ultraman spoke in unison as well. "We're not leaving either!"
"You're defying the king's orders! You're being fools! You're gambling with yourselves and the entire Ultra Empire's future!"
Zoffy practically roared those words, but Original Ultraman and the young people behind him remained unmoved.
The two sides remained locked in a standoff as the meteors and swarms of monsters continued approaching Blue Star, trailing flames like the most beautiful meteor shower in the starry sky.
"I know these are the king's orders, but I truly can't leave. Zoffy, go. Take these young people with you. I..."
"Stop feeding me that fucking bullshit! Now, this instant, immediately, leave with me!"
Original Ultraman did not answer. He simply shouted at the young people beside him, "Form ranks!"
In an instant, the thirty-odd young people took up a defensive formation. The remaining fifty exchanged glances for a moment, and another twenty joined their ranks.
Zoffy was almost mad with rage. Throwing all else aside, he rushed forward and landed a left hook on Original Ultraman. Original Ultraman did not resist. Zoffy then grabbed him by the neck, turned his head toward the meteors in the starry sky, and roared:
"Look at those! Tell me what they are!"
"Meteors and monsters."
"Then tell me, what is the world-ending calamity we've spent seven hundred years preparing to face?"
"A flood."
"Then do you think our fortresses can withstand these meteors? Or do you think you can stop them with your body?
"If you want to die, go die yourself! Don't drag these young people down with you! They're all the future of our Ultra Empire!
"Do you want our Ultra Empire to perish here today?"
Zoffy's furious roars left the young people who had joined Original Ultraman's ranks exchanging glances. For a moment, they did not know whom to obey.
"I, I just..."
Before Original Ultraman could finish, Zoffy suddenly received a holographic communication from Ultra V.
Without the slightest hesitation, Zoffy accepted it. In an enormous laboratory, Ultra V and a group of researchers were still tirelessly studying something.
They had not even noticed the meteors so clearly visible in the starry sky.
That was because they were still trying to pinpoint the coordinates of Liu Dajun's world.
Moreover, they had already called upon every biological computer currently available. Just a short while earlier, they had detected the complete disappearance of Liu Dajun's consciousness.
At the same time, they had also sensed that distinctive spatial fluctuation. They were confident that, given a little more time, they could study and lock onto that special spatial fluctuation.
This was also why they had not noticed the meteors in the starry sky.
Otherwise, given the Ultra Empire's current technological level, they would have discovered them long ago, without even needing Zoffy to inform them.
Ultra V straightened the somewhat creased cape behind him and asked, "Zoffy, has something happened?"
"Your Majesty, world-ending meteors have appeared!"
"What?!"
Ultra V visibly staggered upon hearing this, even wondering whether he had misheard.
Hadn't the calamity they had spent seven hundred years preparing to face always been a world-ending flood? Why had it become meteors?
And there was one thing they could be certain of: their civilization was still more than a month short of a thousand years. Why had it come early?
"There aren't just meteors. There are monsters too, enormous numbers of them! They're about to enter Blue Star's star region, and they'll reach Blue Star's atmosphere in twenty minutes at most!"
Ultra V staggered again. Had a guard not supported him, he would almost have fallen.
But Ultra V could no longer spare any attention for that. He hurriedly asked the researcher beside him, "How much longer will it take to pinpoint those spatial coordinates and lock onto that special spatial fluctuation?"
The researcher beside him had naturally heard the conversation between Ultra V and Zoffy, and hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, even if we use every biological computer in the nation, we'll still need three days to pinpoint those coordinates. And, and that doesn't include..."
Ultra V waved him off without waiting for him to finish. Three days was too long. There simply was not enough time, and that was only to pinpoint the spatial coordinates.
Without deciphering that special spatial fluctuation, they would have no way to reach Liu Dajun's world either.
"Zoffy, immediately take everyone away from Blue Star. Leave Blue Star's star region, and never return!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, but Original Ultraman..."
Before Zoffy could finish, Ultra V interrupted him. "I know. I'll speak to him. Connect him to the call."
A moment later, Original Ultraman's image appeared in the communication as well.
Ultra V looked at Original Ultraman with an utterly solemn expression. "Original Ultraman! From this moment on, you will obey Zoffy's orders unconditionally until you leave Blue Star's star region. Once you find a planet where the people of our Ultra Empire can rest and rebuild, you will sever all ties with the Ultra Empire and establish a new nation, the Land of Light! And you will be the sixth king of our Ultra Empire, as well as the Land of Light's first King of Ultra!"
"I..."
"You are still a citizen of my Ultra Empire. So now, immediately, obey your orders!"
Original Ultraman clenched one fist, placed it against his chest, and shouted toward the communication, "I will carry out your orders!"
As his words fell, two tears had already slid from the corners of his eyes.
The communication soon ended, and Zoffy led everyone flying swiftly off in a direction to their left.
They moved very fast, but as they flew, none of them could help looking back at that azure planet.
That was their home. Their families were still there.
They knew that, after leaving this time, they might never return to this planet for the rest of their lives.
Meanwhile, after giving that order, Ultra V's back, which had remained straight for five hundred years, finally slumped.
He knew there was no hope left for their civilization.
They had spent seven hundred years preparing to face a world-ending flood, only to be told in the end that they had been wrong!
The conviction that generations had held fast to for seven hundred years finally, at this moment, utterly broke Ultra V, the king who had led the Ultra civilization through reform and made it stronger.
"Your Majesty, now we..."
Ultra V was silent for a long moment. His bent back straightened once again, and a terrifying, soul-piercing light burst from his somewhat listless third eye.
"Shut down the spatial research project. Activate the highest-level defensive light waves. Activate the strongest protective form. Heaven has played a joke on us, but even so, I will tell heaven that our Ultra Empire will never admit defeat!"
Although he said this, in his heart he already knew that the Ultra Empire was finished. If it had been a flood, he would have been one hundred percent certain of facing it. Even if those monsters had appeared alongside it, he would still have had confidence in facing them.
But a meteor shower was something he had never considered.
Still, one last thread of hope remained in his heart: Zoffy and the others. As long as they lived, there was still hope for the Ultra Empire.
But those here would not give up either. Even though he knew that hope was slim, he would fight to the very end!
At Ultra V's command, terrifying beams of light shot skyward from the eighty-one fortresses, finally converging before abruptly spreading into an enormous protective barrier that enveloped all eighty-one fortresses.
Its total area covered as much as one-tenth of Blue Star.
The enormous protective barrier was like a gigantic bowl placed over Blue Star, firmly protecting the eighty-one fortresses. Inside it, protective barriers covered each fortress like smaller bowls as well.
This was already the Ultra Empire's greatest defensive measure. If even this could not protect the people within, then...
Deep in the universe, Su Mo watched Zoffy and the others trying to flee, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Trying to run? How could I allow that? If you run away, how am I supposed to raise my rank of existence? Mosquitoes, now it's time for you to show your worth!"