"Counsellor Gondou really knows how to stir up trouble."
Back on the island's surface, Yu Zhou sat on a rock beneath a tall tree.
The forest here wasn't dense — sunlight streamed through the gaps in the leaves, scattering across his shoulders in flickering patterns.
The visibility was good enough that, from his position, Yu Zhou could see what was happening above the weapons factory.
Overhead, the Prometheus battleship — now under the control of the Monera alien — was firing round after round of artillery, destroying buildings and facilities around the complex.
Smoke, explosions, and the smell of gunpowder filled the air.
Just then, a fighter jet took off from the factory, heading straight toward the Prometheus to launch a counterattack.
But halfway through its ascent, smoke suddenly poured from its tail — and the jet spiralled out of control, plunging into the sea below.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Inside the factory's command centre, Counsellor Gondou slammed his hand on the desk, shouting at the top of his lungs.
He glared at the live feed on the monitor, his face twisting in rage.
"The Super Victory Team… what a bunch of idiots!"
He didn't dare say it out loud, but inside, his fury boiled over.
The only fighter jets the factory had — gone, crashed just like that!
He rubbed his sore hand, wincing at the pain. For a brief, absurd moment, he wondered if any of his staff had brought some Chinese Red Flower Oil for the bruise.
Though events were playing out much like in the original timeline, one thing was different.
Asuka hadn't fallen for the Monera alien's provocations this time.
After the jet crashed into the sea, he unfastened his seatbelt mid-descent, leaping into the ocean before impact.
A radiant light shimmered beneath the waves — and then, with a roar, Ultraman Dyna burst out from the sea, charging straight toward the Prometheus.
The massive ship immediately detected his appearance and began turning its cannons to face him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Without hesitation, Dyna unleashed three consecutive energy blasts, each one striking Prometheus squarely.
He'd already been irritated ever since the Prometheus stole his monster kill on the Moon, not to mention Gondou's constant antagonism toward Ultraman and the Super Victory Team.
Now, all that frustration was channelled into his attacks.
But even though all three shots hit perfectly, they barely left scorch marks. The enormous battleship floated there, unmoved.
"Its defence is that strong?!"
Asuka was stunned.
If an ordinary fighter jet took even one of his small-scale energy blasts, it would've been either blown to bits or, at the very least, sent spiralling down with its tail smoking.
But this ship didn't even flinch.
Moments later, several cannon shells from Prometheus struck back, explosions erupting across Dyna's chest and forcing him to stagger backward.
"Just transform already and tank the thing!"
Yu Zhou muttered around a bite of fruit he'd plucked from the tree, watching with a scowl.
All this hesitation — it was maddening!
"Come on, Asuka… you've been with Daigo for so long and still haven't learned how to brawl properly!"
"Ultraman Dyna! If you stand in the way of humanity's destruction — you will die!"
The Monera alien's voice echoed from the Prometheus as the enormous battleship began to twist and shift.
Panels folded, armour plates rotated — it was transforming like a giant mechanical beast.
Asuka landed on the ground, momentarily frozen as he watched.
It was the first time he'd ever seen something like this.
"Even if it's a Transformer, don't just stand there — tank it!"
Yu Zhou couldn't take it anymore. He dashed out from the grove, pulling a megaphone from his dimensional bracelet and shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Hit it head-on, Dyna!"
"Eh?"
Asuka turned toward the voice and saw the man who called himself Gai, standing with a megaphone in hand, yelling encouragement at him.
He wasn't entirely sure if this was the same "Gai" Yu Zhou had mentioned before — but he knew one thing for sure:
The guy was right.
Don't hesitate. Just go for it!
Switching instantly into Strong Type, Dyna's massive form rumbled the ground as he charged.
He reached the still-transforming Prometheus and grabbed one of its newly extended mechanical legs — then tore it clean off with a brutal yank.
Sparks exploded as metal twisted and snapped.
Dyna tossed the severed leg aside, then immediately moved on to the next target.
Spotting a protruding cannon mount, he grabbed it — and ripped it out by the base.
Zzzzzz! Crackle!
Electric sparks danced through the air as the detached cannon hit the ground.
The Monera alien clearly hadn't expected Dyna to go full berserker during its transformation phase. For a moment, it didn't even know how to react.
"Prometheus… be destroyed!"
Red energy surged into Dyna's right fist, and with one mighty punch, he blasted through the ship's core, sending a blinding wave of energy through its structure.
The Prometheus, half-transformed and burning from within, began to collapse.
Asuka didn't stop there. He lifted the smouldering hulk into the air — then hurled it upward with a roar.
Raising his arm, he unleashed his signature light beam —
and in the next instant, the Prometheus exploded into a massive fireball, fragments scattering across the sky.
"No—!!"
The Monera alien's scream echoed from within the wreckage… before being swallowed by the explosion.
"Damn you… Giant of Light!"
From high above, the voice of the larger fragment of the Monera alien resounded — the portion that had escaped earlier.
But it didn't linger. With one furious cry, the blue light orb streaked northward and vanished beyond the horizon.
"Crap!"
Yu Zhou's expression changed. A sense of dread hit him like lightning.
He immediately opened his communicator.
"Captain Megumi! Order the civilians in District K3 to evacuate, now!"
"What?! Understood — I'll issue the command right away!"
Captain Megumi could hear the urgency in Yu Zhou's voice.
Even without an explanation, she understood the gravity of the situation and began relaying orders to the command network.
In the original timeline, Yu Zhou remembered, the Monera alien had issued a death warning, declaring it would begin annihilating humanity starting in K3 District.
But now, things had changed.
The alien had been defeated before making any announcement.
That meant there would be no warning this time — and a furious Monera alien would likely strike out in vengeance.
And the most probable target?
District K3.
"The Monera Queen's real threat… lies in its ring-shaped plasma cannon,"
Yu Zhou muttered, recalling the data.
That weapon could cause devastating wide-area destruction.
The Monera Queen — the alien's ultimate form — was colossal, even larger than Yu Zhou's transformed state.
In the original story, thanks to the alien's "death notice," the K3 civilians had been evacuated early, minimizing casualties.
But now, without that warning, if the Queen launched its ring-cannon suddenly…
The losses would be unimaginable.
Realizing that, Yu Zhou took off the Transformation Emblem and slipped it back into his bracelet.
Then, from within his jacket, he drew a crystal-clear Spark Lens, holding it across his chest.
The time to act had come.