"Masaki, Gamu, how's the progress?"
When Yu Zhou arrived at the newly remodelled research facility inside the City of Time, he saw Masaki and Gamu working side by side on a temporal machine.
Recreating the Super Dimensional Explorer was no easy feat.
But truthfully, the fact that Gamu could even develop something capable of traversing time and space was nothing short of brilliant.
Though it might not reach the level of Noah's Wings, which could freely open a portal to any point in time or space, this was already a tremendous achievement.
"It's almost finished. We've entered the testing phase," Masaki reported, showing Yu Zhou the prototype — the Super Dimensional Explorer β.
At first glance, it didn't look particularly special: a silvery spherical shell equipped with wheels for controlled movement.
According to Masaki and Gamu, the operator had to enter the device, much like piloting a small spaceship, and then manually control its navigation.
"By using myself as a medium, I should be able to return to my original world,"
Gamu said confidently as he looked at the beta model, now ready for its first test.
"How exactly do you test something like this?"
Yu Zhou asked the crucial question.
If he remembered correctly, the Super Dimensional Explorer didn't just send its passenger — it travelled with them.
If the prototype accidentally jumped to another dimension, it might never come back.
"This…"
Faced with that, Gamu fell silent.
It was a paradox, after all.
"Don't worry about it — let me conduct the test myself."
Gamu clenched his fists, eyes determined.
"Are you sure about this?"
Masaki asked, concerned.
Even with Gamu's expertise — as someone who had once created the original Explorer — there was no 100% guarantee the machine would succeed.
"I'll be fine." Gamu patted Masaki's shoulder with a smile.
Over the days spent building this device, the two had become close friends. Gamu, ever curious, often asked Masaki about this world, and Masaki had shared what he could.
That was how Gamu learned why there were two Tigas in this universe — and why the Ultras existed here at all.
He was astonished to discover that, unlike in his own world, the Ultras of this reality were relics of the ancient past, remnants from the Ultra-Ancient Civilization.
They were stone statues of the Giants of Light, which could awaken when fused with humans possessing the gene of light.
In other words, unlike Gamu's Gaia or Fujimiya's Agul — who were sentient beings of light — the Ultras here were essentially humans channelling the bodies of those ancient giants.
Once preparations were complete,
Gamu stepped into the Super Dimensional Explorer β, ready to return home.
Masaki had already learned the core technology behind the machine from Gamu. Even if this one was lost, he'd be able to build another.
"These past few days… I've truly been in your care!"
Inside the Explorer, Gamu waved to Yu Zhou and Masaki, bidding them farewell.
"Come visit anytime," Yu Zhou said with a grin, waving back.
Masaki handed Gamu a small device — something unique to this world — so it could act as a medium to bridge dimensions.
In return, Gamu left behind one of his shirts, giving Masaki a chance to reach Gamu's world someday.
"Alright, here goes!"
Inside the cockpit, Gamu pulled down the control lever. The Explorer's metallic surface began to spin rapidly, energy crackling along its frame.
"Yes, just like that." Masaki nodded, eyes fixed on the accelerating sphere.
"Once its rotational velocity surpasses the speed of light, it'll enter a temporal tunnel."
"So, it's actually that scientific?!"
Ever since becoming Ultraman Tiga, Yu Zhou's understanding of "science" had become… rather fuzzy.
His life had been filled with so many mystical, surreal experiences that he'd forgotten what hard science even felt like.
Masaki's words suddenly grounded him again — a small reminder that this world still ran on physics.
"In that case," Yu Zhou said, eyes glinting, "Masaki, I have a bold idea."
Masaki turned to him, puzzled. "What kind of idea?"
"The Giants of Light — they're made of light, right?"
"That's correct. They are light," Masaki replied.
"Then when I transform into one and fly, that means I'm moving at the speed of light, right?"
"Technically… yes?"
"Then if I throw a rock while flying, wouldn't the rock move faster than me?"
"…That sounds about right?"
"So that means the rock is moving faster than light, doesn't it?"
Masaki: "???"
Something about that logic felt deeply wrong… yet strangely convincing.
"And what if I hold a flashlight, and then throw that while it's on? Wouldn't that make it move faster than light too?"
Masaki: "…"
He wanted to argue — desperately — but couldn't find the words.
His brain screamed "impossible," yet his ears whispered, "it kinda makes sense."
While the two were busy debating theoretical physics, the Super Dimensional Explorer β suddenly vanished before their eyes, dissolving into the air like it had slipped into the void.
"Success!"
Masaki's eyes lit up as he stared at the now-empty platform.
The disappearance meant only one thing — Gamu had successfully entered the time-space corridor.
This wasn't just a small step for Masaki — it was a giant leap for the science of their world.
This world's technology was… hard to categorize. Advanced in some ways, primitive in others.
If Yu Zhou had to compare, he'd still say the most advanced world belonged to Ultraman X — the XIO team's tech was on another level.
They could replicate both monster and Ultra attacks using card data, and even virtualize and control monsters in combat. That was cutting-edge.
Still, this world wasn't exactly behind.
After all, they'd already created artificial Ultras — man-made Giants of Light. That was no small feat.
Even XIO hadn't managed that.
Thinking about it from another angle, maybe Commander Gondou's actions weren't entirely evil after all.
Whether it was the Prometheus Project or the creation of artificial Ultras, his intent had always been to strengthen this world's defence.
It was only the way he went about it — particularly his manipulation of Asuka — that Yu Zhou couldn't forgive.
"He basically walked right into my line of fire," Yu Zhou muttered.
If Gondou hadn't used Asuka and instead activated the artificial Ultras through some other means, Yu Zhou probably wouldn't have interfered.
After all, that would've just been part of this world's evolution.