57. I'm the Only One Who Pressures Others

The next few days passed uneventfully, and Qi Ming's Star Blessing points reached 4.

Megumi noticed that over the past few days, Dan Moroboshi's expression seemed somewhat unnatural whenever he faced Qi Ming.

Qi Ming, however, remained entirely normal, keeping a close eye on the developments at Sedic Technology Corporation during this time.

Upon hearing that Masaki Kego had been caught off guard, was currently scrambling in a panic, and wore a gloomy expression in the face of the incoming investigation team, he felt immensely satisfied.

That afternoon, a new situation arose.

An abnormal tremor occurred at a quarry in the suburbs of Tokyo, and the GUTS team was requested to dispatch for an investigation.

Dan Moroboshi gave a cough. "Kishida, along with Qi Ming, go investigate. That's fine, right?"

He looked toward Qi Ming to seek his opinion.

Qi Ming's expression was completely normal. "I have no problem with that."

Kishida also nodded in agreement.

On the way to the hangar, Kishida looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, and lowered his voice. "Let's talk things out properly later. Brawling inside the cockpit is no joke."

He was worried that things might go wrong and he would end up playing "human acrobatics in the sky" courtesy of Qi Ming.

Qi Ming replied, "Am I really such a bad person?"

Kishida instinctively nodded, then hurriedly shook his head.

...

The yellow Guts Wing No. 1 soared through the stratosphere. Sitting in the rear seat, Qi Ming listened to the sharp screech of the wings tearing through the air while intently watching Kishida's hands pull on the control stick.

"Could he really learn just by watching?" This thought flashed through Kishida's mind.

In the past, he would have said it was impossible.

However, after witnessing Qi Ming's various methods, he was beginning to waver.

So, he cleared his throat and began explaining, "This is the control stick, which can adjust the control surfaces on the wings and tail..."

As he was speaking, Dan Moroboshi's voice cut through the comms:

"Plan change! A monster has appeared at that quarry!"

"Prepare for combat. Saijo and the others are piloting Wing No. 2 and will be arriving immediately."

Well, scratch the investigation; the monster had already burst out from underground.

Kishida immediately switched to full throttle. Upon arriving at the scene, Qi Ming instantly recognized the figure wielding a whip.

It was Gudon! He could never mistake such a classic, hardworking monster.

Kishida spoke into the comms: "This is Kishida, having arrived at the scene piloting Guts Wing No. 1. What is the evacuation status of the ground personnel?"

Megumi at the base replied: "Reports confirm that everyone has been successfully evacuated."

Kishida: "Good!"

He prepared to show off in front of Qi Ming, this "aviation novice," to let him witness a senior officer's superb skills.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Guts Wing No. 1 continuously fired green laser-tipped missiles, pelting Gudon with sparks and making it stagger about.

It could not fly and possessed virtually no anti-air capabilities, leaving it to take a passive beating.

After enduring a one-sided thrashing for a while, Gudon realized it could not stay here any longer and prepared to burrow back underground.

"This is a quarry in the suburbs with no buildings around, and the crowd has been evacuated. It's the perfect chance to use the high-yield 'Anti-Monster Missile' to finish it off in one go." Kishida was full of passionate zeal at that moment.

Meanwhile, Qi Ming was observing the surrounding battlefield.

"Gudon appearing at the quarry, paired with Kishida in the same aircraft, and there is still one missing element... Ah, here it comes!"

Qi Ming tugged at Kishida's sleeve. "Kishida-队员, there's an emergency situation you need to be aware of—a girl holding a bug net has just run toward Gudon."

Kishida was stunned. "Are you kidding me! The crowd has been evacuated!"

In the original plot of *Return of Ultraman*, Shin Hayata (or rather, Hideki Go) was paired with Kishida, and the latter told him to fire the missile. However, Go, endowed with superior vision granted by Ultraman Jack's possession, spotted the little girl and refused to fire.

As a result, he received a severe reprimand.

Things like, "Are you still half-asleep? Isn't there nobody out there?" "I won't let you use such a flimsy excuse to gloss this over," and "We must punish the erring Go."

In the end, Go was sentenced to three days of confinement.

Now, it was Qi Ming's turn to face this exact scenario.

Trying to pressure me? Sorry, the only thing happening here is others being forced to drink from the cup of toast I hand them.

Without standing on ceremony, Qi Ming forcefully pressed a pre-prepared telescope against Kishida's face. "Do you see it now?"

"There really is someone!" Kishida's face instantly turned pale.

He shouted into the comms, "Captain, we have an emergency situation! A child wearing a yellow hat has entered the combat zone. Both Operative Qi Ming and I have confirmed it. Right now..."

Qi Ming cut in, taking over the comms: "We are firing the missiles to eliminate the monster."

With that, he reached out as if to shove the control stick and launch the missiles at the locked-on Gudon.

Kishida was scared nearly out of his wits and hurriedly stopped him. "Operative Qi Ming, what are you doing!"

Qi Ming replied, "Eliminating the monster, of course."

Kishida: "If we launch the Anti-Monster Missile at this distance, that girl will die!"

Qi Ming: "But if we don't finish off Gudon here, what happens when it escapes and shows up in downtown Tokyo next time?"

"Firing the Anti-Monster Missile now means only one girl dies. How many people will die if it goes on a rampage in the city center?"

Hearing this, Kishida froze. His hand on the control stick began to tremble involuntarily, as if he were holding an insurmountable, world-shaking dilemma.

"Then... why did you call my attention to it just now?" Kishida asked in a dry voice.

Qi Ming answered with complete composure, "Because once you became aware of it, we became 'accomplices.' We will bear the guilt and responsibility together."

In short—"Kishida was in on it too."

Kishida simply couldn't bring himself to push the button, and could only watch helplessly as Gudon slipped back underground.

The rest of the GUTS members listening in on the comms channel had heard the entire argument. Even Yamanaka was left speechless by Qi Ming's "ruthlessness."

In the end, Dan Moroboshi's voice rang out: "You two, head back first..."

On the way back, Kishida looked at Qi Ming with a gaze full of terror, feeling that this guy practiced some sort of demonic arts.

He was just too sinister!

Upon returning to the base, the entire command room was dead silent, and everyone looked at Qi Ming with a mix of awe and dread.

Dan Moroboshi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, then stopped. If it had been before, he surely would have reprimanded Qi Ming for disregarding human life and harshly criticized him.

However, things had been a bit frosty between him and Qi Ming over the past few days, and he was currently pondering how to mend their relationship. Naturally, stepping up to publicly criticize him was out of the question.

He coughed a few times and motioned for Nagi Saijo to handle it.

Nagi Saijo nodded, walked right up to Kishida, and glared at him with a dark expression. "What were you hesitating for? Why didn't you follow Operative Qi Ming's suggestion and launch the missile? Your mission is to defeat the monster!"

Dan Moroboshi: "?"

His original intention was for Nagi Saijo to scold Qi Ming a bit so he wouldn't go to such extremes in the future.

However, from the perspective of Nagi Saijo, whose motto was "defeating the monster comes above all else," Qi Ming's approach was entirely correct!

When a monster goes on a rampage, isn't it normal for a few people to die? If they let the monster escape now, what would they do if it appeared next time and caused an even more catastrophic disaster?

Right then and there, she unleashed a fierce torrent of criticism upon Kishida, who lowered his head, his face alternating between shades of green and white.

Seeing that the point had been made, Qi Ming stepped in to smooth things over.

"No, thinking about it now, perhaps I was being overly pessimistic and gloomy, always focusing on the worst-case scenario."

"After all, the fundamental purpose of our battle against the monsters is to protect humanity and maintain peace."

"If we can track down the monster and eliminate it before it appears again, then Operative Kishida's intuition was the correct one."

Hearing these words, Kishida couldn't help but cast a grateful look toward Qi Ming.

Look at that, he even had to thank him in the end.