If you ignore Qi Mingyan's advice, you will surely live to regret it.

"This guy... he seems to be a Baltan-seijin, doesn't he?"

Looking at the strange, rock-like sculpture before him, which possessed a head shaped curiously like a pair of buttocks, Qi Ming recalled its identity after a long moment of thought.

This creature originally appeared in the thirty-ninth episode of *The Return of Ultraman*, "Winter Mystery Series: The Twentieth Century Snowman," as an advance scout sent by the Planet Baltan. It was capable of spewing ultra-low-temperature freezing gas from its mouth, intending to freeze all of Tokyo, before ultimately being melted by the Ultra Spark that Jack transformed his bracelet into.

Abubas, however, required powerful soldiers capable of fighting both day and night to break the balance of Planet Stendel. Such a powerful extraterrestrial was far more attractive to him than ordinary humans. Consequently, in this world, the Baltan-seijin had been taken down before it could cause any real trouble. The collision between multiple extraterrestrials had, in fact, created a delicate balance.

Yamanaka stepped in again to stir up trouble: "What makes you so certain he's an alien? Just because he looks a bit strange?"

Qi Ming retorted, "Officer Yamanaka, do you think everyone thinks like you, using their fondness for buttocks in place of a brain, resulting in their head taking on the shape of one?"

Kishida and Nagi Saijo also crowded around to observe, concluding that such a unique form could never belong to a human.

Qi Ming continued, "It seems to be a case of thieves falling out, which inadvertently helped us resolve this nuisance. This guy is a Baltan-seijin..."

After he provided a basic briefing on the alien, Kishida was stunned. "These things... how do you know all this?"

Yamanaka scoffed, "You aren't just making up a story to scare us, are you?"

Qi Ming replied, "Don't underestimate my intelligence network; a friend of mine from Shenzhou told me this."

Once again, he conjured a friend out of thin air. At this moment, his identity as a "person from Shenzhou" served as a convenient shield.

Nagi Saijo regained her composure. "So, Abubas fearing bright light wasn't just your baseless speculation, but information based on detailed and reliable intelligence, is it?"

Qi Ming gave a noncommittal response. He drew his Victory Hyper Gun and blasted the solidified Baltan-seijin into smithereens.

Yamanaka was startled. "What are you doing!"

Qi Ming replied, "Eliminating an alien invading the Earth, of course."

He waited for a long time, but no Star Gift points appeared. This made him think of the exact words used by Staff Officer Hoji in *Ultra Seven OV* when he demanded the execution of Seven in his human form: "Generally speaking, when an alien takes on a form equivalent to a human, they do not possess very high energy."

Was it because the Baltan-seijin hadn't grown to giant size and didn't even reach C-rank, that it wasn't worth a single Star Gift point?

"There's another one. Let's try this." Soon, Qi Ming discovered another alien frozen into a statue.

This was the Kettle-seijin, which originally appeared in the eleventh episode of *Ultraman Leo*, "A Man Caught in a Quagmire." In Qi Ming's memory, this creature was like a terrorist, killing everyone he saw on Earth. He had easily defeated several MAC members, murdered a champion boxer who was assisting Gen Otori, and later killed that boxer's wife at the cemetery—targeting an entire family. The insults from the boxer's nephew toward Gen, and the scolding and beatings from Dan Moroboshi followed—the "man caught in a quagmire" mentioned in the title was none other than Gen.

It seemed Abubas was quite efficient at night; he had taken care of this one too. May the good soul have peace!

Qi Ming drew his gun again, intending to strike while the iron was hot.

Seeing this, Yamanaka quickly shouted, "What are you doing again!"

Kishida added, "This one might not necessarily be an alien!"

Compared to the strangely shaped Baltan-seijin with its butt-shaped head, the Kettle-seijin in its statue state actually looked quite like a human. Judging by its outline, it had a head, a torso, limbs, a nose, and a face. Yamanaka insisted, "Isn't this just a human?"

He continued righteously, "When it comes to dealing with aliens, we are your seniors; we have more experience than you!"

Nagi Saijo also intervened, arguing that even if it were an alien, it should be taken prisoner and brought back to base for the staff officers to decide its fate.

Dan Moroboshi, having heard the argument over the communication channel, also stepped in to persuade Qi Ming not to be so overbearing and to discuss matters with his teammates. He felt that Qi Ming's relationship with the others had finally begun to thaw, and acting unilaterally now would only create a rift once more.

If the Kettle-seijin were in its normal state, Qi Ming would certainly not agree, as the TPC's security would never be able to hold it. But in its statue state, he could afford to loosen the reins; perhaps, if handled well, he could squeeze some Star Gift points out of this guy.

"Whoosh!" At that moment, a light shone in the distance, and a figure flashed by and vanished.

"It's that alien who claimed to be from Planet Natan!" Yamanaka, with his sharp eyes, caught a glimpse of the departing figure.

Nagi Saijo sighed, "He got away!"

Qi Ming was not in the least worried that the creature could cause any trouble. If anything, it had saved them the effort of finding a way out.

Ten minutes later, the group had detached all the human-like statues trapped in the pillars—a total of twelve humans and one alien.

"It's so heavy; I can't carry them all at once," Kishida said after lifting one human statue.

Even Nagi Saijo could only carry two at a time.

Qi Ming pulled out a long rope, bound the remaining nine human statues together in one go, and lifted them with ease. "No need to be so troublesome."

Even though they already knew he possessed "innate superhuman strength," the sight still left the three of them dumbfounded.

Yamanaka looked at the Kettle-seijin statue he was lugging, then at the effortlessly relaxed Qi Ming. "I think this statue is a lot more human than you are."

Standing where the Natan-seijin had just departed, the group left the spaceship. Once back outside, Nagi Saijo immediately called for a transport plane.

"What now? These people haven't changed back even after leaving the pillars," Kishida asked.

Nagi Saijo replied, "Take them back first and see if the Medical Bureau has a way. If that fails, we'll have to seek help from the Star of Alchemy."

Yamanaka said, "The statue I'm carrying seems a bit special. Was I seeing things, or did his finger just move?"

This immediately alerted Qi Ming. He looked at the Kettle-seijin statue Yamanaka was carrying.

Like the Tiga statue reviving in the first episode of *Ultraman Tiga*, the figure's arm lifted, and its body began to flush with vivid color.

As a powerful extraterrestrial, its life activity far exceeded that of an ordinary human; once freed from the seal of the stone pillar, it had recovered!

Silver long hair, a black and gold body, and a strange, distorted face.

Seeing the Kettle-seijin restored to its original appearance, Yamanaka and Kishida immediately realized that Qi Ming was right—this was definitely not a human!