Asuka looked into the distance — sure enough, the man in the black leather jacket had already disappeared without a trace.
"Mr. Kirino, thank you so much for helping me this time!"
Seeing that the man was gone, Asuka once again expressed his gratitude to Kirino.
"It was nothing," Kirino replied with a casual wave of his hand.
"I need to head back to headquarters and report what happened. If you discover anything else, please contact me right away."
Asuka thought for a moment. He had to inform the headquarters about this incident and request more personnel for the investigation.
"No problem," Kirino said with a nod, standing with his hands behind his back.
The two exchanged contact information, then said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Not long after, just as Yuzhou stepped out of the Crystal Palace, he spotted Kirino's familiar figure.
"Kirino, what brings you to R'lyeh for a vacation?" Yuzhou asked, walking toward him.
"Vacation? Not exactly," Kirino replied with a faint smile and a shake of his head. "I came here to find you."
"Oh? What for?"
Yuzhou knew that Kirino possessed psychic powers — abilities that let him perceive things others couldn't.
He had also heard that Kirino's powers had evolved, becoming even stronger than before.
"It's about an alien," Kirino said seriously.
"An alien? Don't tell me you're talking about Charija?"
Yuzhou recalled something. A few days ago, Charija had mentioned that during the Evil God's awakening, he had met a strange human by the beach who claimed to know Yuzhou.
"Charija? No, not him," Kirino said with a smile. "But I am quite interested in the relationship between you two."
"A giant of light and a monster merchant — how did you two even meet, and why do you get along so well?"
"That's a long story," Yuzhou replied with a small chuckle. "I'll tell you when there's time."
He knew that even with Kirino's psychic powers, it was impossible for him to fully perceive the truth about Yuzhou.
"Anyway," Kirino continued, "the alien I wanted to talk about is this one."
As he spoke, he waved his hand — and an image materialized in midair.
It showed the moment when a fist stopped right in front of Asuka's face.
But this time, the owner of that fist was no longer the black-clad man — it had transformed into an alien being.
"This guy — do you know who he is?" Kirino asked, pointing at the image.
"This guy…" Yuzhou frowned, but then quickly asked, "Never mind that — Asuka's okay, right?"
He couldn't help feeling a little concerned for Asuka.
"He's fine. I drove that alien off," Kirino said calmly, his hands once again folded behind his back — his usual posture.
"That's good," Yuzhou nodded. "Seems like your combat power has increased quite a bit."
After all, Yuzhou remembered that Kirino originally had no combat ability at all.
His psychic powers had been mostly supportive — not offensive.
"Combat power? Not nearly as strong as yours," Kirino said with a chuckle. "Honestly, I envy that light of yours."
"The power to protect others."
Yuzhou froze for a moment, then shook his head. "No — you already have your own light."
"Huh?"
Kirino looked puzzled. He didn't quite understand what Yuzhou meant.
"When did your psychic powers evolve?" Yuzhou asked instead of answering directly.
"Let's see…" Kirino thought for a moment. "About ten years ago, I started noticing signs of change."
"At that time, I realized I could project the images I saw directly in front of me."
Kirino's tone grew nostalgic as he recalled that period.
"Ten years ago… that was right after Gatanothor was defeated, wasn't it?" Yuzhou asked.
"Yes, that's right. Wait — you mean…"
Kirino suddenly seemed to realize something, but stopped mid-sentence.
"That's right," Yuzhou said softly. "You carried light within you back then."
When people all over the world gave their light to the Giant of Light,
Kirino's light had been among them.
"That same light enhanced the psychic powers you already had — and caused them to evolve."
"I see…"
Kirino lowered his head, staring at his hands. Then he gently touched his chest.
He hadn't expected that the light he longed for had already been inside him all along.
"And this alien in the picture — I know who he is," Yuzhou said after studying the projected image carefully.
"If I remember correctly… he's a Jeanne Alien — or maybe a Chern Alien?"
Honestly, Yuzhou himself couldn't quite tell them apart.
There were two of those aliens — one specialized in strength, the other in intelligence.
They looked very similar, which made it hard to remember which was which.
But from the image Kirino showed, Yuzhou began to piece things together.
The recent hit Monster Battle Game had been developed by the intelligence-type alien among the two.
In the original story, that alien created the game's most powerful monster —
with the intention of using it to conquer Earth.
Even Ultraman Dyna had almost been devoured by that monster.
"Oh no…"
Yuzhou's eyes widened slightly as he suddenly realized something.
If things were unfolding the same way as in the original plot…
then the monster that had survived for three minutes against Tiga — Charija's monster —
would soon be brought into reality.
And what's more — his own form as Ultraman Tiga might even be replicated!
"What's wrong?" Kirino asked curiously when he saw Yuzhou's sudden reaction.
"Nothing," Yuzhou said, shaking his head.
But deep down, he knew this was serious.
If that powerful monster truly appeared, Asuka wouldn't be able to handle it alone.
"It seems I'll have to handle this personally," Yuzhou muttered.
"In that case," Kirino said, "I'll inform Asuka about this. That young Giant of Light asked me for help — I can't let him down."
"Alright," Yuzhou nodded after a moment of thought. "You can tell him that I'll take care of this matter."
"No problem."
After chatting a bit longer, the two went their separate ways.
Yuzhou didn't return to the Crystal Palace. Instead, he went straight to Charija's residence on R'lyeh Island.
But when he got there, Charija didn't even notice him — he was too absorbed in his Monster Battle Game.
"Charija?"
Yuzhou called out to him.
But all he heard in response was—
"Rocket Headbutt!"
Charija shouted excitedly as he smashed his opponent's monster on-screen into pieces.
Yuzhou sighed helplessly — but when his gaze fell on Charija's screen, he froze.
"That monster… is that Five King?"
On the screen was a fusion monster that Yuzhou recognized instantly.
It was formed by combining Golza, Melba, Super C.O.V., Gan-Q, and Reicubas —
a terrifying creature known as…
Five King.