Chapter 125: How Could I Not Have Thought of This Before?
Page (1/3)
To establish a special-operations team, it was not enough to have combat personnel. They also needed logistics, a maintenance department, ordinary base staff, and so on.
Qiao Zhe was not treating this as a hobby. Considering the professional nature of the team, he thought it over and decided to keep Wakura.
The base needed someone to manage it, and logistics and support also required a person in charge. Qiao Zhe could not handle everything personally, so Wakura was the perfect choice to oversee these matters.
When he added it all up, Wakura felt as though he had actually been promoted.
With the Night Raiders, he was merely the captain of Team A and normally had no authority over anyone else.
He had even less power in his hands. TLT’s system was different from that of other special-operations teams. Wakura could only be considered a team captain; he had no right to manage Team B of the Night Raiders.
Even operational command was handled by Yu Kirasawa.
Now, however, things would be different at the new base. It was practically a promotion, placing him on the same level as Matsunaga.
Once Wakura understood the situation, he immediately chose to stand with Qiao Zhe.
Building a new base from scratch would take far too long. Since Matsunaga’s side was willing to provide assistance, everything could proceed much more easily.
As for why they would not continue operating from Freedom Fortress, the River of Oblivion was a ticking time bomb.
Space Beasts were not as simple to deal with as ordinary monsters.
Courage could overcome fear, but not everyone possessed courage.
The fear of death was part of being human—or, for that matter, part of being alive. Every living creature possessed an instinctive fear of death.
The more people feared Space Beasts, the more widespread and powerful the beasts became. The very premise was absurd.
Moreover, the vibrations emitted by Space Beasts while they were active allowed them to share information with one another, enabling them to evolve rapidly in all kinds of ways.
The River of Oblivion created by TLT might only treat the symptoms rather than the root cause, and it had left behind enormous hidden dangers. Even so, for the time being it had indeed served a purpose. The spread of the Space Beasts and the speed of their evolution had been suppressed.
Allowing the River of Oblivion to continue absorbing negative memories was certainly not a viable solution, but matters had to be handled one step at a time. After all, no one could swallow an entire giant in a single bite.
Besides, Qiao Zhe had no way to deal with the River of Oblivion. If he simply blew it up, the entire human world would be thrown into turmoil. Once people remembered the Space Beasts, another vast wave of fear would be born.
He naturally would not do such a thing.
Even those dark forces would have no interest in such negative energy tainted by memory. If an ordinary Ultraman dared to absorb it, he would be corrupted on the spot.
Qiao Zhe had not yet mastered the darkness within himself. There was no reason for him to go anywhere near those negative forces.
After they discussed and selected a location for the new base, Wakura stayed behind to complete the handover with Matsunaga.
Yu Kirasawa, Mitsuhiko Goryu, and Nagi Saijyo were the three people Qiao Zhe had to take to the new base first.
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
Just before leaving, Qiao Zhe suddenly remembered something. He turned to Sara Mizuhara and reminded her, “The River of Oblivion is ultimately only treating the symptoms, not the root cause.”
“If we want humanity to stop fearing the Space Beasts, it would be better to research a way to give human beings courage.”
Sara Mizuhara understood that, but putting it into practice was not so simple.
“Courage. Not everyone has the courage to face a Space Beast.”
She gave a slight shake of her head, her expression helpless. It was easy to say, but difficult to accomplish. Human courage could not simply be controlled into existence.
Wakura, listening nearby, looked puzzled. What exactly was this River of Oblivion?
After thinking for a moment, Qiao Zhe suggested, “Ultimately, the human body is made up of various cells.”
“A person’s consciousness is affected by hormones secreted by the body, while neural reactions cause emotions to be expressed.”
A person could not consciously produce courage, but the body could be influenced by chemical substances.
For example, after receiving an injection of a stimulant, a person would become highly agitated. Would they still feel afraid?
Of course, it would not be so simple in practice.
If someone injected themselves with stimulants upon encountering a Space Beast, they might indeed stop feeling fear—but they might also lose the instinct to flee and charge straight toward their own death.
This was merely one possible direction of research.
The body could be induced to produce hormones that affected the emotions, counteracting the fear triggered by an encounter with a Space Beast.
In simple terms, an ordinary person could receive an injection that altered the body without producing any visible effect under normal circumstances.
When that person encountered a Space Beast and felt fear, the body would automatically secrete hormones that influenced the emotions, using positive feelings to offset the fear.
They would be afraid, yet somehow no longer afraid.
As for how to create such a Space Beast vaccine, this was a tokusatsu world. Even if the scientists on this Earth were incapable of it, there was still the Alchemy Star of Gaia’s Earth.
However, Qiao Zhe did not dare bring Space Beast factors to Gaia’s Earth. The substance was simply too dangerous.
There would be no problem bringing the scientific research data from this world to Gaia’s Earth.
After hearing Qiao Zhe’s suggestion, Sara Mizuhara fell into deep thought. The idea might actually work.
It was much like dealing with a virus: a vaccine was injected into the human body in advance.
“How could I have failed to think of such a simple scientific principle before? How strange.”
Once she suddenly understood, Sara Mizuhara could not help feeling puzzled.
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
The Visitor: Indeed. Why couldn’t you think of it?
Zagi: Why don’t you try guessing why you couldn’t think of it?
Qiao Zhe chose a mountainous location for the base. As luck would have it, there was already a military base there, so with the assistance of Sara Mizuhara and Matsunaga, everything proceeded without difficulty.
The only exception was XIG’s airborne base. Since they had built only one and had no backup, Qiao Zhe had even considered speaking with Ishimuro.
Still, Ishimuro would probably never agree. After all, how could someone simply give away such an enormous airborne base?
The construction of this mountain base resembled that of the Ultra Guard in Ultraseven.
It was a secret base hidden within the mountains, and there was no need to evacuate its personnel. Once Wakura arrived, he could take over its management.
After arriving, Yu Kirasawa went to complete the handover with the base’s current director.
Mitsuhiko Goryu and Nagi Saijyo followed Qiao Zhe toward the base’s command room.
Nagi Saijyo had already regained consciousness, though she still looked somewhat dazed.
Zagi was dead. Although she had not personally avenged herself, this outcome was already more than enough.
Having finally avenged her greatest grudge, she had initially felt genuine joy. But soon afterward, she was left with a profound sense of aimlessness.
What was she supposed to do from now on?
Her gaze shifted toward Goryu beside her. From him, Nagi had learned that she had withdrawn from the Night Raiders and joined a team established by the Ultraman warriors.
Goryu was currently surveying their surroundings.
He had assumed that establishing the new team would be fraught with difficulties at the beginning. He had never expected them to have a fully equipped base waiting for them.
Noticing Nagi’s gaze, Goryu looked at her and said with feeling, “Nagi, with a base like this supporting us, I’m even more confident that we can fight the Space Beasts!”
The shabby little place used by Team A of the Night Raiders could never compare with this proper military base.
Nagi was momentarily stunned by his words. Then, understanding what he meant, she nodded firmly.
“Yeah! I’ll fight alongside you!”
Even though Zagi was dead, the Space Beasts had not been completely eradicated. And now she had important people in her life. How could she continue wandering in confusion?
End of Chapter