6. Star's Blessing
After pressing four buttons in succession four times, then turning the dial clockwise four times, the manual appeared on the watch face.
The information left Qiming, who was usually composed and unflappable, utterly stunned.
This watch was called the Ultraman Arbitrary Key, a device integrating multiple functions such as “user transformation,” “DNA storage and retrieval,” and “life energy conversion.”
It classified powerful lifeforms into four ranks: S, A, B, and C.
When a lifeform died, its life energy could be converted into a special energy called “Star Gift.”
Alternatively, its DNA could be analyzed and stored in the watch, allowing the user to later consume Star Gift energy to transform into a massive power form.
C rank equaled 1 point, B rank 3 points, A rank 6 points, and S rank 10 points—both conversion and consumption followed these values.
The deceased Garura had converted 3 points of Star Gift energy, indicating it was classified as B rank by the Arbitrary Key.
Because of residual life energy, the first transformation after analysis didn’t consume any Star Gift, which explained why Qiming could directly transform into Tiga three days ago.
Likewise, his next transformation into Seven wouldn’t consume any energy either.
The passing score for integration was 60%, not 100% as Qiming initially thought.
“Taking Tiga as an example, 60% means being able to freely switch among three forms and sustain the composite Tiga for three minutes. Then 70% must be the ‘Flash Baby Form’ that appeared in the battle against the second-generation Giri Rod, and 100% would be the Shining form?”
Qiming turned the dial to flip the page and saw the last ultimate feature.
“Consuming ten points of Star Gift to perform ‘Star Gathering,’ the Ultraman Arbitrary Key will autonomously search through endless dimensions for powerful lifeforms, retrieve their DNA, with integration levels varying.”
Simply put—it’s like drawing from a card pool.
Using that “two-character mobile game” as an example, this kind of situation might occur in the future.
“Whoa, I drew a 15% One-Life Leaf Rot, currently just a white ball. No worries, enemies, come at me with your full strength—the harder you try, the better.”
“Look, I drew a 75% Four-Life Gaia. Watch me become the supreme and utterly crush you all.”
“Wow, I drew a 100% fully leveled Hypajeton. Now I must immediately destroy all gasoline barrels worldwide.”
However, judging by how this Ultraman Arbitrary Key could break dimensional barriers, Qiming was certain it was this device that brought him to this chaotic world.
As for the return ticket—did I have to draw a being with time-space abilities to travel back home myself?
The most intriguing part was the final message left by the developer.
“I no longer need to create killers. I wish to witness a steadfast hero.”
---
“Although the Arbitrary Key won’t break, it’s best to press gently during use. Striking it hard will trigger a random mode.”
“Do what you believe is right, Morning Star.”
Qiming’s eyes flickered. “They even know my nickname—is this someone familiar? But sending me to this godforsaken place without so much as a greeting is really rude.”
...
“This carefree guy actually took three days off right after joining the team! Didn’t even come to training or assessments. Does he plan to rot in his room? No discipline at all!”
In the Victory Team’s command room, Yamashita was complaining, and Kishida nodded in agreement.
Danzou Moroboshi, unwilling to hear such divisive words, said, “Member Qiming has his own thoughts. I trust him, and you should too.”
At that moment, Deputy Captain Nagisa Saijo, with a cold and stern expression, spoke:
“Captain, your injuries are severe. You must not engage recklessly anymore.”
“The person who replaces you on the front lines must be chosen carefully. The battlefield the Victory Team heads to is a bloody and sacrificial place—it’s no place for delicate pillows.”
Danzou wanted to say, “Trust him; he can be relied upon to watch your back,” but after some thought, he felt intuition wasn’t enough and changed his words to, “Let time give us the answer.”
Just then, the door opened, and member Emi entered.
She still wore a look of shock.
“I think I saw that ‘only good-looking’ Member Qiming you talked about. He was running in the gym, and a crowd was watching him.”
“Running?” Kishida scoffed. “What kind of training is that? Trying to run faster to escape during battle?”
“That’s not the point,” Emi raised her voice. “The point is he’s not just ordinary handsome. Can he evacuate people during earthquakes? Normal girls see him and can barely move.”
Yamashita asked, “Including you?”
Emi immediately denied it, “Not me.”
Nagisa Saijo thought carefully and prudently for a moment: “That is indeed a problem.”
“I’ll go talk to him,” Danzou said, leaning on his cane as he headed to the gym where Qiming’s daily training had just ended.
Danzou asked, “How do you feel? Are you getting used to living here?”
Qiming sighed. “I really want to numb myself with the mindset that ‘this is a dreamlike journey, and when I wake up, I’ll find I’m back at the starting point,’ but the changes in my body tell me that everything is real.”
“Changes?”
Qiming said, “I just finished my twenty-fifth lap running, but I’m not tired at all, and my speed is much faster than before.”
---
Danzou was shocked. One lap around the gym track was 400 meters; twenty-five laps meant he had just run 10 kilometers!
Qiming said he used to imitate an anime character, doing a hundred pull-ups, a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups daily with scientifically correct posture, then running 10 kilometers.
Unless there was a special reason, he would persist. Although tired, he felt a sense of satisfaction after completing it.
Now, he felt no fatigue at all and sensed inexhaustible strength surging through his meridians.
He looked at the Arbitrary Key on his right wrist and couldn’t help but recall what Hideshige Sato said in Jack Ultraman—“The power of Ultraman has taken effect on me.”
“That’s good news,” Danzou was pleased. He told Qiming it was time to join the team for flight training.
Qiming asked, “Flight training—piloting Hayate One?”
He had flown a relatively simple rescue seaplane in Britain before, but fighter jets were obviously more complex and required more time, which he felt unnecessary.
“Can’t the process of ‘monster appears—pilot fights in jet—jet is shot down—I transform into Ultraman at the last moment’ be simplified? Just one step to transformation,” Qiming considered joining the ground forces, which would make transforming easier.
Danzou hesitated, “But other team members will think you are avoiding responsibility and will have objections.”
Qiming said, “Their opinions don’t matter. If you truly want to maintain peace, energy should be spent on more important matters.”
He asked, “Captain, you’re injured and can’t transform now. Why not have brothers from the Land of Light come help?”
In “Ultraman Mebius,” Taro came to replace Mebius when his current abilities were insufficient.
In “Ultraman Taro,” the Six Ultra Brothers even had time to come to Earth for barbecue.
You’re incapacitated and can’t fight anymore—can’t you send an Ultra Brother to relieve or assist?
Danzou was troubled: “My comrades in my hometown are fighting for justice elsewhere. Also, I came to Earth as a ‘planet observer,’ so some things I do here are hard to explain to them.”
Are the other Ultra Brothers too busy? But I saw you guys in “Ultraman Taro” chilling on Earth for barbecue, looking pretty relaxed.
Still, Qiming understood. After all, this world was full of demons and monsters; the Land of Light was probably busy combating threats across the universe.
Qiming had many questions he planned to discuss with Danzou, like “What happened to your capsule monster? Did it rush into the toilet with the Time King Rabbit?”
And “There are too many insects in our team; should we clean them out? How’s the progress on assembling the Tiga statue...?”
The next moment, alarms sounded. An emergency had occurred. All Victory Team members immediately headed to the command room to assemble.