Am I the only one in this team who is not Ultraman?

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Their clothes were not their usual work uniforms, but old-fashioned combat suits, with simple black and white lines accented with blue and red, and their helmets were also old-fashioned.

The Lions' captain, Galka, stared incredulously at his seventy-year-old uncle. "Minister Salah, what... what are you doing?"

Salah did not answer, but looked at Director Sawai, who tried to clench her fist as if to regain some feeling, and then looked at Megumi and the others, "The Ultra Warriors are facing a very difficult situation, but there is still a chance for rescue."

"In Leo's plan, there is a backup plan, which is to use the Max power system to recharge the Ultraman's energy. However, this requires experienced pilots to operate it manually, which is why we called you back."

Megumi Kijima raised an eyebrow. "Can't we use artificial intelligence?"

Compared to humans, artificial intelligence has a lower risk rate and should be a safer and more reliable approach, but Staff Officer Nan Yuan shook his head.

"Due to the interference of Gatanothor's darkness on electronic devices, artificial intelligence systems cannot function well. If we want to protect electronic systems, we have to abandon artificial intelligence."

"What about feasibility?" Captain Hecang was very concerned about this. Everyone already knew what the mission that had led to this emergency recall was, and now...

"According to Armory King Joe, Gatanothor and Grimd will only symbolically prevent you from going to the rescue; they need more negative human energy, so..."

Even if Staff Officer Fukami didn't continue, everyone knew what was going on, and Megumi Kijima gritted her teeth.

"So they will deliberately let us pass, and then crush our last glimmer of hope in front of the whole world, thus plunging all of humanity into utter despair."

Staff Officer Fukami's expression was also quite unpleasant. Although the statement and plan sounded absurd, based on the information he had at hand, it really was true.

For the Dark Wizard and Gatanothor, destroying humanity is not the goal. Once they gain greater power and reach the legendary level, they will naturally be able to drag all universes into darkness. Until then, they will only exert pressure, but will not destroy humanity.

"As you retreated, the monster offensive on the eastern front also weakened considerably, which was clearly intentional."

Just as Leo told Armory King Joe, Gatanothor and Grimd had been lurking in the shadows because they were worried about Ultra King and it would affect their plans against Leo, but the Dark Shadow Mage was definitely not one of them.

If Gatanothor and Grimd are eager to destroy humanity right now, then the Dark Mage might even make a truce with Leo first. This is counterintuitive, but it is indeed true.

Before reaching the legendary realm, the Dark Shadow Mage will not allow humanity to be destroyed, because apart from humans who have continuously passed on the fire for thirty million years and honed it for ten years, no other species can provide him with such powerful negative energy.

“However, manual operation would be very risky.” Zong Fang was somewhat worried. Although no one present would refuse to take on the task, whether they could complete it was another matter.

"So this is where we come in to help." A voice suddenly sounded from behind, causing everyone to turn around. Looking at the young face, William was surprised, "Daniel?"

"Our Alchemy Star hasn't made an appearance in a long time, and we hope to be of some help this time." Daniel, the chairman of the Alchemy Star Council, said with a serious expression. The Alchemy Star has been busy debugging various equipment for the past few months.

The Friendship Project's missiles can be miniaturized and mass-produced, as can the Desfasa missiles, thanks to the research of Alchemy Star. Together, they are no less capable than the combination of Yazi and Helotia.

“We will help you with the adjustments. Don’t worry about the energy output power or the conversion formula.” Catherine gave a thumbs up, indicating that there were no problems.

"What about the fighter jet preparations?" Team Blizzard's captain, Ekaterina, rarely spoke, usually only asking crucial questions. "The new batch of fighter jets just completed their modifications, but considering your current condition..."

"Do you still have the psychic injections?" Megumi knew that there was no time to lose now. The morale of the humans was low, and if things continued like this, there would be no way to salvage the situation.

"Leaving aside the risks of time travel, even with the protection of the Max power system, you will still be affected inside the black fog, unless... unless you use the Mortalanga injection." Staff Officer Nan Yuan clenched his fist, somewhat unwilling. This was an extremely risky method.

"The virus targeting the dark-modified Mortalanga can speed up your biological clock. Because it's a weakened version, the speed is three times the normal speed, and your reaction speed and physical abilities will also be improved, but... you must be injected with a moderating agent within an hour, otherwise your life will be in danger."

“An hour isn’t much time,” Ivanov patted his chest. “Nothing to worry about. In that case, let’s get ready to set off.”

"I'm sorry to have put you on such a dangerous mission." Director Sawai felt genuinely apologetic, but no one present felt that this matter had nothing to do with them.

"...We understand, but Director, what are you going to do..." Ishimuro hesitated, but Director Yoshioka clapped his hands and said, "During your mission to rescue Ultraman, someone will always be needed to hold the eastern front."

"Although we're all old bones, our driving skills haven't gotten rusty. We old folks can still shine again, so don't underestimate us."

“How can this be? If even you, the director, are like this…” Director Sawai interrupted me by raising his hand. “There’s nothing wrong with it. Your lives are lives, and so is mine. Don’t forget I also come from the military.”

After speaking, Director Sawai saluted the group of defense personnel, and they all stood at attention, their eyes blazing. "We have always faced various crises and trials, from the emergence of Golza ten years ago to the spread of darkness today."

"But humanity has never been defeated. Time and time again, we have overcome disasters and come through them, and today will be no exception."

"Now, the Ultramen who have always helped us, our closest comrades, are in danger. We cannot stand idly by. This is for the future of humanity and the entire universe, so please!"

"Understood!" Everyone raised their hands in greeting, and the next moment the plan was sent directly to their terminals. Everyone glanced at it, then turned and walked towards the underground hangar, each person's mood subtly different.

The Dark Shadow Mage temporarily separated the eight universes, resulting in the restoration of memories for people from different universes, who now clearly know who their comrades are.

"Daigo, wait for me, I will definitely come to save you," Rena firmly believed. This time, she would fight alongside Daigo.

Gu Men, wait for us. Captain Cang recalled that resolute face, the young man he had watched grow up, who was now so reliable.

"Fujimiya, I dream, you must hold on until we arrive!" Commander Ishimuro took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and decided to take the field himself.

At the same time, Taixin, who had just finished debugging the equipment and was so exhausted that he collapsed, felt a darkness before his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, "Here, have a drink."

He subconsciously took the water and drank a couple of sips. After calming down, Tae-shin was finally able to open his eyes and looked at the woman in front of him in surprise, "Hye-mi!?"

“It’s not just me.” Former SKaRD member, now the leader of the B Operations Team of the LTL Special Investigation Division, Aoibe Megumi, pointed behind her. Yashin followed her gaze, “Vice Captain Teruaki and Anri are also there!”

A few months ago, SKaRD disbanded. Gento was transferred to ESCG, Emi went to LTL, and Teruaki and Anri were assigned to help fill personnel gaps in Eastern Europe. Taishin himself was transferred to the Armory. He never thought he would see everyone again.

"You've worked hard, Taixin. How's Asgaron?" Huiming helped Taixin up, and he suddenly had the strength to stand on his own. "No problem at all. He's ready to go at any time. I'm counting on you guys to be the captain."

“Leave it to us.” Teruaki’s gaze was firm, then he walked toward Director Sawai, who had just arrived, and saluted. “Former SKaRDd vice-captain, current training officer of the Eastern Europe branch, Teruaki Akikura, reporting for duty!”

"...I thought you would blame me for dismantling SKaRD." Director Sawai felt extremely guilty about this matter.

“No, I won’t, but… thank you for recalling me. This mission is indeed ours to do, SKaRD, mission confirmed!” Huiming’s gaze was serious. “This is our SKaRD’s last mission.”

"Go ahead." Director Sawai nodded, and Teruaki led Emi and Anri into the cockpit. The modified Asgaron could only unleash its full power when piloted by three people.

After doing all this, Director Sawai started thinking again. Even if he included himself, there was still a shortage of manpower. The Dark Shadow Mage would definitely send more combat power to the eastern front. In particular, if he died, the morale of the human side would suffer a major blow.

"You seem troubled, Sawai."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Director Sawai turned around in astonishment, his face filled with disbelief. "Hayata, Dan, Go, Hokuto, and Higashi Kotaro... why are you all here?"

Grandpa Hayata walked forward with a smile, "Let's see if there's anything this old man can still do. With so many fighter jets, it's not unreasonable for each of us to take one, is it?"

"...This is the latest model."

"I've checked it all. The underlying logic of the driving system is still the same as before, it hasn't changed, so it won't have any impact." Hideki Go had a confident smile on his face.

Although they have all retired in recent years, their physical fitness has actually improved, and they can participate in the battle after a little adaptation.

"Let us help too. We watched Leo grow up, and humanity can't be destroyed at this time." Grandpa Beidou also had an explosive temper and wished he could get into a fighter jet right now.

Looking at this group of old friends and comrades-in-arms, Director Sawai's eyes welled up with tears. His resolute demeanor finally failed him at this moment, because in addition to the people in front of him, there were more and more veterans who had also long since retired.

"Thank you...really, thank you so much."

Chapter 644 Reunion of Old Comrades

In the underground hangar of TPC, Hideki Go, having changed into his old combat uniform, looked at the Shin'yō and Hyuga EXJ, as well as the modified versions from other branches, such as the red and green Red Dragon fighter from the Asian branch, the golden Glory Guard from the European branch, and the blue Freedom from the American branch.

Aside from these, the mass-produced Desfasa, Asgaron, Panlong, Atdis... all of humanity's most advanced equipment is here.

"Ten years ago, we could never have imagined that we would have equipment like this today," Hayata couldn't help but sigh. Indeed, only from this distance could one truly appreciate the awe-inspiring scale of such massive equipment.

Of course, these features are not what they need to use on the mass-produced Desfasa. The new driving system doesn't have time to adapt yet, but it's sufficient.

“There are probably more than a hundred veterans who have come here. They are all old comrades who survived back then.” Dan Moroboshi walked over and changed into his old combat uniform.

Ten years ago, when Golza first appeared, in order to ensure combat effectiveness, TPC and various countries decided to call on people whose physical abilities had been mysteriously enhanced to participate in training so that they could become an asset in future battles.

This was mainly because Director Sawai, Director Yoshigoro, and some now-retired senior executives already knew at the time that the monster disaster would not be limited to Golza, and many of the people involved in the training were elderly, with Mr. Hayata being one of the people who led the team back then.

Others, such as Mr. Higashi Kotaro, have also been trained, but they have not yet had any real combat experience. However, this does not prevent them from stepping forward at this time.

Even so, they kept the clothes until today when they had the opportunity to wear them again.

"These fighter jets are equipped with the latest technology, but the design of the piloting system is no different from the original one, otherwise it would be terrible. The auxiliary systems are also very useful."

The driver of the Beidou Star, who had just finished a test drive in the simulator, was eager to get back to work. "My test score was very high," he said.

"There's also a care mode." A young and pleasant voice came from behind. Dan Moroboshi turned around and looked at the beautiful blonde girl walking towards him. Although she was smiling, he just felt uncomfortable.

"My name is King Joe... Uh, why are you reacting so strongly, sir?" King Joe was a little confused. "Old Master Moroboshi, are you serious about taking that step back?"

"It's nothing, I just feel a little uneasy for some reason. You're Leo's..."

"Yes, I'm his wife, we're legally married." Armed King Joe was quite shameless at this point. Of course, it wasn't a marriage certificate; she just gave herself the surname Knicks, just like Galatrom.

Grandpa Hayata and the others looked at each other, previously worried that Leo wouldn't find a partner, now they also had to worry about the future family relationships of Leo's family.

“I came here specifically to express my gratitude as Leo instructed.” As he spoke, King Joe imitated Leo’s tone of voice. “If it were them, they certainly wouldn’t stand idly by. After all, that’s the kind of people they are, the kind of people I admire.”

"That kid... he's been hiding a lot from us. We'll settle the score with him later. Right now, we need to prepare to strike." Hokuto Seiji's temperament was as direct and straightforward as ever, and time was running out.

"Have a safe journey." King Joe bowed, then turned and left, returning to the main control room at the back. He patted Helotia on the shoulder, "How's the situation?"

“I don’t understand it, but I’m deeply shocked.” Helotia leaned back in her chair. “Did they really only have less than a month of training ten years ago?”

“Yes, based on their resumes.” Armory King Joe nodded. Helotia scratched her head. “But their average score in combat flight simulation tests is as high as Leo’s, and they didn’t switch to hard mode!”

“…That’s more like it.” Armory King Joe sighed. If it weren’t like this, it would be truly terrible.

Aside from himself and Zetton, only Plasma Gomora and Armory King Joe each knew half of Leo's plan. Plasma Gomora's mission was over, and now it was Armory King Joe's turn.

They only had ten minutes to prepare, and it was time that Leo had bought for them. The group quickly got ready for battle and boarded their fighter jets.

For some reason, even though the last time was ten years ago, and even though he had never actually participated in a single battle, when he actually sat in the cockpit, Hideki Go still felt a long-lost sense of nostalgia.

It was at this moment that a very familiar voice came through his channel, "Xiang, it's been a long time."

“Kishida?” Although ten years had passed, Hideki Go recognized his familiar friend’s voice immediately.

"Captain Ibuki is here too. I never expected our team's first mission would be today." Kishida laughed, with a carefree and nonchalant air.

“But it doesn’t feel like this is the first time I’ve flown.” Hideki suddenly felt much more at ease. He gripped the control stick tightly, his heartbeat clearly pounding.

On the other side, Hayata was also familiarizing himself with the cockpit. Indeed, nothing had changed; the control stick, the firing mechanism—many things were the same as they were back then. At the same time, a voice came through his communication system, "Hayata, how are you feeling?"

"Ichika?" Old Master Hayata was taken aback for a moment, then immediately realized what he meant and looked at his old buddy waving at him from the fighter jet beside him. "So it was you."

"I was just thinking that maybe one day we old bones will have to fight again, and when that time comes, there won't be much time left to get used to things."

Yi Chu smiled mischievously, then sighed, "Besides, this is the best design solution that you personally tested."

On the other side, Dan Moroboshi's reunion with his old friends did indeed take place just before boarding the fighter jet. Shigeru Furuhashi looked at his good comrade-in-arms from the same period and said, "We're all getting old, Dan."

“Yes, we’ve lived long enough,” Dan Moroboshi said, putting on his helmet. “But there are still many who have just come into this world.”

"Let us old bones hold the line one last time." Gu Qiao put on his helmet, and after the two bumped fists, nothing more was said.

On the other side, Higashi Kotaro also saw two familiar faces, "Nanbara, Ueno, what brings you two here..."

Tadao Nanbara and Takashi Ueno, the deputy chief of the TPC Operations Staff and the TPC weapons development and research expert, were also wearing combat uniforms and gave Kotaro a thumbs up, saying, "Good brother, let's go."

"Let's go." Kotaro laughed heartily and entered the cockpit of the modified Flying Swallow No. 1. Meanwhile, Hokuto glanced at Yamanaka, who had been in the same class as him, and shook his head, not even wanting to go up and say hello.

For some reason, Hokuto and Yamanaka just couldn't stand each other. They had a lot of arguments ten years ago. Yato, on the other hand, had a brief but pleasant chat with Captain Oyama.

"Director, are you really going to go on stage yourself?" Advisor Fukami was still a little worried. Director Sawai's safety was of paramount importance, but he couldn't dissuade him no matter what.

"If Yoshioka and I are killed in action, you, Staff Officer Nanbara, and Gondo will take over our duties." Director Sawai was determined; he couldn't just watch others go to the battlefield.

“But…” Fukami still didn’t say that he wanted to go to the battlefield. Being entrusted with a mission in times of crisis is the best way to see a person’s abilities, and he needed to take on that responsibility now.

There was nothing more to say, so Staff Officer Fukami bowed to indicate that he understood. Feng Yuan and Ye Hu also came over. "Director, we have a request."

"What's wrong? Not used to the MK3?" Considering the two brothers' formidable fighting skills, Armory King Joe specially equipped them with a close-combat version of the MK3.

"If that Magma alien appears, can we handle it?" This was their only request. They couldn't quite put their finger on what was wrong, but they just felt an inexplicable rage towards the Magma alien.

"Of course, but you must pay attention to your own safety." The purpose of specially distributing MK3s to Feng Yuan and Grandpa Ye Hu was precisely this. Worugan was too difficult to deal with in his dark armor, so as long as he could be restrained, that would be fine.

“Of course, it’s just… I never expected that Director Ji Gang would actually be able to drive a Desfasa.” Feng Yuan really hadn’t expected that, but Director Ze Jing smiled and said, “How many times do you think he’s secretly climbed up there?”

"Despite his age, this guy is still the same as he was back then. He wants to try out all kinds of new equipment, especially this kind of big robot. I guess he still has a childlike heart."

Upon hearing this, Director Ji rolled his eyes. "What do you know? I'm just helping to test the equipment and provide modification experience!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Director Sawai was too lazy to argue anymore. He put on his helmet and sat inside the Snow White. No one would have thought that this director of TPC would actually be piloting this notoriously volatile machine.

The Snow White doesn't actually have any design flaws; rather, its performance is the most powerful among all the fighters currently in use by TPC. However, precisely because its performance as a space shuttle development machine is so strong, only a handful of people have been able to pilot it so far.

One is Fengyuan, another is Leo, and the third is Director Zejing.

Now, all preparations are complete, but in the shelter, many people are still dejected. Although destruction has not yet arrived, everyone feels as if a heavy stone is pressing on their hearts, making it hard to breathe.

"Dad...will we die?" A child hugged his father, his eyes filled with tears. The father, who was already feeling very depressed, couldn't nod in the face of such a look. "No, child, trust TPC, trust the defense team."

"But Ultraman was defeated, and the defense team couldn't beat those monsters either... Waaah." Children rarely hide their thoughts, and they had never seen such a scene before.

In the past, no matter what kind of monsters or aliens they were, the defense team and Ultraman could defeat them, so everyone didn't need to be afraid and just needed to take temporary refuge. But now all of Ultraman have been defeated, and Nix is ​​also in a tough battle. It's obvious to everyone that Leo is at a disadvantage.

The children's sobs were particularly noticeable in the quiet shelter, and more and more children joined in the crying. Hearing these cries, the adults who had been keeping their heads down clenched their fists, never having hated themselves for feeling so powerless.

"Even so, your dad and mom are still here!" The father hugged his child tightly. "Your dad and mom will protect you, always will."

"Teacher, I'm scared." The little girl in kindergarten curled up in a ball, also feeling uneasy. Riko Saito reached out and gently stroked her head. "Don't give up yet, Mirai. Mirai Anshinin. Do you remember why your mother wanted to give you such a name?"