52. Terrestrial Shark VS Super-Ancient Monster (Bonus chapter for reaching 1,000 regular readers!)

A ferocious monster was rampaging through the city, ruthlessly smashing tall buildings that stood in its path, each footfall causing catastrophic destruction.

Moroboshi Dan, of course, could not stand idly by and immediately issued the command to sortie.

Maneuvering the Guts Wing No. 1, Moroboshi Dan engaged in a fierce dogfight with Golza. Green apex beams continuously bombarded Golza, but the firepower remained insufficient to deal a fatal blow.

Golza retaliated with its ultrasonic ray, but even with one injured leg, Moroboshi Dan’s piloting skills had not regressed; time and again, he skillfully steered the Guts Wing No. 1 to dodge the attacks by a hair's breadth.

For the moment, neither side could gain the upper hand.

On the other side, Yamanaka and Kishida, piloting the Guts Wing No. 2, engaged in a heart-pounding aerial battle with Melba.

Kishida yanked the control stick hard, and the Guts Wing No. 2 dodged yet another dive from Melba like a swallow flipping away from a swooping hawk.

Seizing the opportunity, Yamanaka opened fire, cleanly blasting off Melba’s left wing. Losing its balance, the creature began to plunge.

Kishida: "Nice shot!"

Yamanaka: "As expected, you can always count on us."

"Whoosh!" In the split second of their triumphant relaxation, the falling Melba abruptly jerked its head up, firing a current-laced orange flame—the Melbanic Ray—from its eyes.

The strike hit the wing of the Guts Wing No. 2, forcing Yamanaka and Kishida to make an emergency landing.

"Severing Melba’s wings and stripping away its aerial supremacy is already a job well done. I'll leave the rest to that guy..." Qi Ming muttered to himself, watching Melba, which had been reduced to a ground-bound chicken due to its broken wings.

"Qi Ming, this Guts Wing No. 1 alone won't stop them. Transform already!" Moroboshi Dan shouted.

Qi Ming maintained his composed demeanor. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Let's first invite the master of this place to show some 'hospitality'."

Naturally, he was referring to the president of Kumamoto's Cedic Group, the genius scientist Keigo Masaki.

In his obsession to obtain the power of Ultraman and become the "savior who would guide humanity," this fellow had been plotting in secret for years.

With the latter's intelligence-gathering capabilities, he must have known that the three ultra-ancient monsters had destroyed the giant stone statues in the pyramid.

Having hidden two stone statues within the caverns of Kumamoto City, Masaki would undoubtedly put up a fierce resistance against this threat.

Golza seemed to sense something; it crouched down and began furiously digging into the ground.

It had likely located the two stone statues hidden within the cavern and intended to tunnel in to wreak havoc.

"Bang!" The next instant, the earth cracked open, and a colossal subterranean shark emerged from right behind Golza.

The Subterranean Shark—[Geozark], entered the fray.

"Swish!" It charged forward, its razor-sharp, blade-like head savagely piercing straight through Golza's waist.

"Roar!" A pained Golza let out an angry howl, its right claw slamming fiercely onto the subterranean shark's back, but the latter remained utterly indifferent, as if devoid of any sensation of pain.

"A monster! There's a monster underneath Kumamoto City as well—this is its territory!" Moroboshi Dan deduced, turning to look at Qi Ming. "Did you know about this all along?"

Qi Ming replied, "No, it's just a 'electronic guard dog' left in charge of looking after the house."

He gently stroked the Ultraman Any-Key on his wrist, preparing to harvest the life energy of the two ultra-ancient monsters after the subterranean shark finished them off.

In the original Tiga series, the subterranean shark had driven the late-stage Tiga into a bitter battle; finishing off a half-crippled Golza and Melba was a guaranteed victory.

"Whoosh!" Golza fired its ultrasonic ray once more, but the subterranean shark was completely unfazed by the direct hit.

"Such formidable defense!" Moroboshi Dan marveled, involuntarily thinking of King Joe.

Qi Ming thought to himself that it was only natural; in the original series, the attacks of the Guts Wing No. 1 were utterly useless against the subterranean shark, and only when replaced by the state-of-the-art Guts EX-J could it barely manage to scratch its hide.

"Swish!" The subterranean shark charged once again, using the sharp dorsal fin on its back to slice off the remaining half of Melba's right wing.

After a single round of engagement, the two ultra-ancient monsters finally realized the vast disparity in strength between them.

They couldn't scratch the opponent, yet the opponent could easily inflict severe damage upon them.

There was no hope of winning—run!

Without hesitation, Golza and Melba turned tail and fled once more.

The subterranean shark, however, remained indifferent, showing no intention of hunting them down to the last.

Qi Ming looked surprised. "What is the meaning of this? If Keigo Masaki isn't going to finish off the ultra-ancient monsters that want to destroy the giant stone statues right here and now, is he planning to be on guard against thieves every single day?"

Moroboshi Dan also argued that if the two monsters escaped, the future troubles would be endless; when they reappeared, who knew how many lives would be claimed. He urged Qi Ming to transform once again.

This time, Qi Ming did not refuse.

Though he found it strange why Keigo Masaki had ordered the subterranean shark to halt, the situation was critical, and Golza was on the verge of escaping underground.

Qi Ming had no time for deep reflection. Even for the sake of Star Grace Points, he had to kill these two monsters.

He tapped the button on the Any-Key, lifting the core mechanism and spinning the dial until the silhouette of Tiga appeared on the screen.

"What a pity, I still couldn't save this Star Grace Point, but harvesting two with slivers of health left will at least make things a bit easier."

Qi Ming pressed his finger onto the dial, pushing the mechanism down as a blinding light erupted inside the cockpit of the Guts Wing No. 1.

The next moment, Ultraman Tiga stood tall upon the street.

He grabbed Golza by the tail, forcefully yanking back the creature just as it was attempting to burrow underground and escape.

Looking back and seeing Tiga, Golza's body trembled violently once more, wearing an expression of utter horror as if it had seen a ghost, struggling desperately to escape from Qi Ming's clutches.

On the other side, upon seeing Tiga, the subterranean shark slightly adjusted its posture, its blue pupils locked onto Tiga's back.

"Ultraman..." Aihara Ryu, who had drifted down via parachute onto the roof of a building, watched Tiga's figure with a complex expression.

"Great, the pyramid's Ultraman has appeared! We can rest easy now!" Yamanaka exclaimed cheerfully as he stepped out of the Guts Wing No. 2.

"His name is Ultraman Tiga," Megumi corrected him over the communication channel.

"Are you guys alright?" Nagi Saijo asked Kishida and Yamanaka.

Yamanaka laughed heartily. "We're fine, both of us are full of energy."

Qi Ming, standing nearby: "..."

With his capabilities, dealing with two ultra-ancient monsters that could barely even stand was naturally as easy as turning over his hand.

With a sweeping low kick, he knocked them both down, and while they struggled to rise, he unleashed the Zeperion Ray.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Both exploded into fragments, and two points of green light were drawn into the Any-Key on Qi Ming's wrist.

To think they were both merely [C]-rank... This left him somewhat disappointed.

[Store/Convert].

[Store/Convert].

Qi Ming was about to select [Convert] when a sudden thought struck him, and he instead chose [Store] for both.

The main control interface changed.

Star Grace: 1.

Amplification: 6/10.

What was amplification again?

"Whoosh!" The next instant, the subterranean shark, which had just seemingly settled down, fired a pale-blue energy beam from the tip of its snout straight at Tiga's back.

"As expected, you still couldn't resist making a move against me." Having anticipated this, Qi Ming sensed the commotion and sidestepped instantly.

The subterranean shark's energy beam missed its mark, blasting a building behind Tiga into dust.

Aihara Ryu stared wide-eyed.