After chatting warmly with Yazumi for a while, the young man excused himself — the threat of the Sphere Black Hole demanded his full attention.
"Come, Asuka," Yu Zhou said, leading him aside. "This time, the enemy isn't one you can handle alone."
Although training the next generation was important, the Sphere Black Hole wasn't something one Ultraman could defeat. It required everyone's combined strength.
"I knew it!" Asuka grinned. "You senpais would never leave me hanging!"
"You brat," Yu Zhou laughed, lightly knocking Asuka on the head. At this moment, he truly looked like a veteran mentor.
"Asuka, let's fight together," Daigo added with a gentle smile.
"Yes, Daigo-senpai!" Asuka's heart filled with emotion. To him, having these two mentors who guided him whenever he felt lost — and who always extended their hands when he faced danger — was the greatest blessing of his life. No matter the place or time, whenever he needed help, Yu Zhou and Daigo always appeared like light cutting through space-time itself.
Before they left, Daigo quietly informed Captain Hibiki that he was taking Asuka on a classified mission — one that Yu Zhou conveniently attributed to an order from Chief Advisor Megumi. With that authority, Captain Hibiki naturally couldn't object.
As the three of them departed down a secluded passage, Hibiki squinted slightly, deep in thought.
He already knew the truth — Asuka was Dyna.
As captain, he possessed keen insight — as sharp as Megumi's.
As for Yu Zhou and Daigo's true identities… he didn't have confirmation, but his instincts told him, he was right about them too.
"Captain?"
Ryo called softly, seeing Hibiki lost in thought.
"It's nothing," Hibiki smiled faintly. "Just thinking about something."
As a captain, his intuition was sharp — almost painfully so.
And Ryo could sense it too; there was something unusual about the way the captain watched Asuka's departing figure.
"Could it be… Captain already knows Asuka's identity?" Ryo wondered silently. Watching Asuka's back fade from view, she felt a twinge of unease.
"Asuka… please, come back safely," Ryo murmured.
Three streaks of light shot up from Jupiter's surface — Yu Zhou, Daigo, and Asuka transformed and soared into the stars.
Their first destination: the City of Time and Space, floating invisibly just beyond Jupiter's orbit.
The massive fortress remained cloaked, hidden from prying eyes. As the trio passed through a shimmering ripple in space, they vanished from sight.
"Masaki, how's the preparation going?" Yu Zhou called as they entered the grand central hall.
There stood Masaki, already transformed, gripping a blazing Plasma Torch.
"Almost ready to launch," Masaki replied, raising the torch. "With this thing, our energy reserves should be sufficient."
"Wow, I can feel the power from here!" Asuka's eyes lit up, curiosity bubbling as he leaned closer to the torch.
Just then, Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb emerged from the hall's side passage.
Yu Zhou immediately went to greet them — his relationship with Camearra had long since evolved from uncertain to unmistakably clear.
"Camearra, you'll stay behind and guard the City of Time and Space," Yu Zhou told her firmly.
Their opponent was the Sphere Black Hole — a terrifying entity.
In the original events, even after Dyna defeated it, he was still pulled into its immense gravitational field and disappeared, beginning his long journey through the multiverse.
Yu Zhou couldn't risk Camearra suffering the same fate.
"No. I'm going with you," she said flatly.
"Camearra, listen to me," Yu Zhou pleaded. "The Sphere Black Hole is unpredictable. If something goes wrong—"
"I said, I'm going with you."
Her tone was calm but unwavering, her eyes locked on his.
"This… sigh, fine," Yu Zhou finally relented. He knew too well — once Camearra made up her mind, there was no changing it.
They'd just have to be careful once the battle began.
"Alright then," he said. "Masaki, you'll take command of the City of Time and Space. Hudra and Darramb will assist you with the attack systems."
Masaki had been studying the fortress for quite some time — he now understood how to operate its colossal weapon systems.
Tests showed that a single energy blast from the City of Time and Space was hundreds of times stronger than the Prometheus ship's Neo-Max Cannon.
It truly was a fortress worthy of being called the Cradle of the Demon Gods.
"No problem," Masaki nodded confidently.
Hudra and Darramb also agreed without hesitation — they'd grown familiar with the ship's operations and were ready for battle.
"Alright," Yu Zhou said, turning to the massive screen at the front of the hall. "Let's see where the Sphere Black Hole is now."
Masaki activated the display.
A swirling black vortex appeared — twisting the very fabric of space, devouring asteroids and cosmic debris as it drifted slowly toward Jupiter.
"It's already approaching Jupiter," Yu Zhou murmured.
The sight was terrifying — a massive whirlpool of darkness, like a cosmic mouth ready to swallow the planet whole.
"Then let's go."
In four bursts of light, Yu Zhou, Camearra, Daigo, and Asuka shot out from the fortress, breaking through the cloaking ripple and appearing in open space.
From afar, they could see it — the enormous, spiralling Sphere Black Hole, inching ever closer to Jupiter.
"It's almost time," Yu Zhou said. "Daigo, you'll start with a light beam attack. The Sphere will deploy a defensive barrier. When that happens, its core will be exposed."
"When the core appears," he continued, "Camearra, Asuka, and I — along with the City of Time and Space — will strike from four directions simultaneously. We destroy the core, and it's game over."
Everyone nodded firmly.
They split up, flying toward their respective attack positions.
Behind them, the enormous silhouette of the City of Time and Space began to shimmer into view, moving toward the enemy under Masaki's control.
"Look—what is that?!"
Back on Jupiter, people stared upward in awe and fear. Through satellites — and even with the naked eye — they could see it:
the colossal fortress emerging from the void, a structure so vast it dwarfed the stars behind it.
The battle for the solar system was about to begin.