"Please take care of us, X."
Tingyun lightly waved her folding fan, smiling gracefully.
"Before we return to Luofu, my humble Whistling Flame Caravan will be relying on the protection of you two benefactors. Twice now you have saved our lives such great kindness and virtue are beyond repayment. Once we return to Luofu, if there's anything either of you require, I shall do my utmost to assist."
After two consecutive attacks, Tingyun had realized that the infamous Antimatter Legion, led by a Destruction-class abomination, had set its sights on them.
With the current strength of the Whistling Flame Caravan, resisting such an enemy would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. The only ones she could rely on now were the two benefactors before her.
"That's fine by us. If the Antimatter Legion shows up again, leave them to me and X."
[Indeed. Should the enemy dare to come again, Daichi and I shall make sure none return!]
Wait, us? Are we some kind of knightly duo now?!
Daichi's mouth twitched slightly, while Tingyun simply laughed softly, waving her fan again.
"Such words truly put this young lady's heart at ease. However, after two assaults from the Antimatter Legion, there are many matters in the caravan that require my attention. For now, I won't be able to continue showing my benefactors around the ship. I beg your pardon."
Having said so, Tingyun personally escorted Daichi back to his quarters before leaving to handle the aftermath of the attacks.
—————————————————
"Hey, X. Come watch the stars with me."
In his room, Daichi dragged a reclining chair over to the window, placing X's terminal on a nearby table. Adjusting the angle so that X could also see, he leaned back to gaze out at the vast starry sky.
[Is it hard to see the stars back in your home, Daichi?]
X accompanied him in silence for a moment before asking. The glittering cosmos, a sight far too familiar to a being of light. But for Daichi, it was something else entirely.
"Yeah, pretty hard. The last time I saw stars like this… must've been when I was a kid."
It had been a long time since he'd seen such a brilliant night sky. After losing his family and moving alone into the city, the stars had become nothing more than just a faded memory.
Now surrounded by the endless cosmos, Daichi stared into the distance countless stars. Shining alone in the void, each burning with its own light solitary yet dazzling.
[Daichi, you seem down.]
X's voice was soft.
[Is it because I suddenly brought you into this universe?]
"No, not really."
Daichi leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head, smiled faintly.
"People get sentimental sometimes when they travel far from home. But with you around, that feeling kinda disappears."
[Are you sure you're okay?]
"Don't worry. Humans just… get sentimental sometimes."
He laughed again, then glanced over.
"By the way, that line you said to Tingyun earlier where'd you even learn that?"
Do Ultras… quote catchphrases now?
[Oh, that? I found it in one of the images in your photo albums. It looked cool, so I tried it out.]
X sounded almost proud.
[There were also phrases like 'Strike with resolve!', 'Victory through determination!' and 'Break through the impossible!' They sounded amazing!]
So it was from his meme collection… For a moment, Daichi thought X had suddenly turned poetic.
[Also, Daichi, I found a folder labeled "Study Materials"… but there are several pictures inside that look a lot like Miss Tingyun—]
"Wha—!"
Daichi grabbed the terminal and shook it frantically.
"Don't look at those, X! You'll corrupt yourself!"
[I—I get it! Ugh… dizzy… Daichi… stop shaking…]
Seeing the display flicker as X's voice wavered, Daichi finally set the terminal back down.
"Ahem, sorry X. But yeah… better not look at that stuff. It's… not for you."
After all, those were… "treasures" he'd gathered from mysterious little chat groups definitely not something to share.
"Anyway," Daichi continued, reclining again
"why did you choose me?"
He leaned back again, staring at the starlit void.
Surely it wasn't just because they shared the same name, right?
[Let's just say… it was fate or rather, a coincidence born of destiny.]
X's voice grew nostalgic.
[Before meeting you, I was pursuing a monster called Greeza. My plan was to combine my power with the energy of a nearby star and end it in one decisive strike. But in the midst of battle, a creature appeared... Bullton.]
Bullton the Four-Dimensional Monster. A being capable of opening dimensional rifts and banishing anything from existence.
Daichi's eyes widened. He remembered it well Bullton had appeared even in Ultraman Z, where it literally flushed Zero into another dimension like a cosmic toilet.
Looks like X had his fair share of chaos too. If things had gone differently, he might've had to deal with two Greezas at once. a nightmare even for a giant of light.
After all, in Ultraman Z, Greeza was born from the distortion left behind after Bullton's destruction.
But what did Bullton's appearance have to do with their encounter?
Sensing Daichi's unspoken question, X continued.
[At that time, I couldn't spare any attention for Bullton but during the battle, Greeza turned its attention toward Bullton, intending to devour it.]
[Sensing the danger, Bullton launched an attack against both me and Greeza, opening a dimensional rift in an attempt to swallow us together.]
[Bullton's ability could have banished Greeza from the universe entirely, protecting all life from its threat. So I used all my strength to prevent Greeza from escaping. In the end, both of us were pulled into Bullton's space gate.]
There was a brief silence before X spoke again.
[Originally I thought I would be trapped in that exile dimension with Greeza forever, locked in endless battle. But unexpectedly, the dimension destabilized and exploded. My body was destroyed in the blast, and the surge of spatial energy sent me to your side, Daichi.]
[What I didn't anticipate was that the explosion carried remnants of Bullton's power. The instant I made contact with you, that energy reacted and it pulled us both into this world.]
As he said this, X's image flickered faintly, a trace of guilt in his tone.
[It's my fault. I had lost my body then… and your wavelength resonated with mine. I reached out to you instinctively but in doing so, I dragged you here, to this universe…]
"It's fine, X."
Hearing X's voice grow more and more subdued, and seeing his light dim on the terminal, Daichi quickly picked it up, meeting X's gaze through the screen.
"Honestly, it doesn't bother me. Back in my world, I was already alone. It doesn't really matter where I am anymore."
Seeing the light within X brighten once more, Daichi smiled gently.
"Besides… your arrival made one of my childhood dreams come true."
[Your dream? What was it, Daichi?]
"To become light."
To become a giant of light, to fight monsters and protect the Earth it was the dream of countless children of his generation. Daichi had been no exception.
And now, by a twist of fate, that childhood dream had quietly come true. Though… back then, it wasn't X he admired, but Tiga. Better not mention that part.
"By the way, X, did you know? In my world, you're actually quite famous."
[Eh? But… I shouldn't have appeared in your universe before, right?]
"Well, let's just say…" Daichi scratched his cheek awkwardly. "There's a series back home named after you, actually. It tells the story of what might've happened if you and Greeza hadn't encountered Bullton."
[There's really a work like that?]
X's curiosity was immediately piqued.
[Daichi, can you tell me about it?]
"Of course. It starts with you facing Greeza, and then—"
As Daichi chatted away, laughter and excitement returning to his tone, elsewhere on the ship, Tingyun was facing an entirely different situation.
——————————————————
"Not just the Sky-Faring Commission… even Lady Yukong isn't responding…"
Tingyun's fingers tapped rapidly on the jade console, her face tense, eyes filled with worry as she scrolled through streams of data searching for any favorable news.
Unfortunately, the Antimatter Legion's preparations had been far too thorough. They had not only severed external communications but even jammed the private link Tingyun had reserved for contact with the Luofu.
It was now obvious the Legion intended to annihilate them completely. Had it not been for the intervention of the two benefactors, the Whistling Flame Caravan might have already met its end.
But self-pity had no place here. The only good news was that their benefactors were willing to continue assisting them. As long as none of the Lord Ravagers of the Antimatter Legion personally intervened, returning to Luofu was still within reach.
Still, Tingyun's brow furrowed deeply. As the leader of the caravan, she bore the responsibility of ensuring everyone's safe return.
Yet behind the Legion's movements, she could already sense the shadow of one of those dreaded beings.
The Antimatter Legion possessed seven Lord Ravagers. Four of their names remained unknown, but the styles of the other three clearly didn't match the pattern of these recent assaults.
Among the known Doom Lords:
Zephyro, who favored overwhelming destruction through sheer power.
Iron Tomb, who prioritized seizing technological dominance before conquest.
and Celenova, whose confrontations with the Xianzhou ships were well-documented their abilities and methods familiar to Tingyun's people.
That left only one possibility.
Only one Lord Ravager could be behind this…
For nearly a millennium, countless civilizations had mysteriously driven themselves to ruin and when only remnants remained, they were finally erased by the Lord Ravager of the Antimatter Legion.
During the first attack, the greatest damage the Legion inflicted upon the star barque was its propulsion system. Other than that, the void soldiers had only targeted the people.
But during the second attack, the Doombeast a creature capable of annihilating planets had merely stopped the barque's advance. It hadn't even attempted to destroy it.
The contrast between these two assaults was too great. The Antimatter Legion clearly had no intention of destroying the ship.
And as Tingyun recalled what little she had once read about that nameless Lord Ravager, a chilling phrase from Xianzhou's ancient wisdom came to her mind:
"Even the mightiest dam may collapse from an ant's nest."
Every civilization that this Doom Lord had chosen as a target had, without exception, fallen not by outside force, but by internal collapse.
To make such prosperous, thriving civilizations destroy themselves over absurd causes… there could be no doubt: someone had stirred the chaos from within.
And that "someone" was this unknown Lord Ravager.
Tingyun now understood why the Antimatter Legion hadn't destroyed their barque in either attack. This Lord Ravager likely planned to use the Whistling Flame Caravan to infiltrate Luofu and make the Xianzhou Alliance suffer the same fate as those lost civilizations.
Her fingers moved rapidly over the jade console, transmitting the deductions she'd made to the jade pendant she had earlier given to Daichi.
That pendant wasn't merely a token of status it was also a modified data receiver.
If this Lord Ravager truly intended to strike them personally, then the ones most likely to survive… were the two benefactors. The strongest among them.
Even if it meant facing a Lord Ravager, if there was any hope that the benefactors could escape and bring warning to Luofu, then sacrificing the Whistling Flame Caravan would be a price worth paying.
As Tingyun contemplated her next move, the door beside her suddenly slid open and Daichi appeared holding the X Devizer in his hand.
"Miss Tingyun! There's something wrong!" Daichi called, his voice urgent.
Tingyun paused her work, looking up in surprise. "Benefactor, what is it?"
"X said, there is a very powerful energy that is approaching quickly!"
"Energy ...?"
[There—!]
Before she could react, X's voice rang sharply from the terminal.
A burst of orange flame suddenly ignited within the control room close, far too close to Tingyun for her to evade in time.
"My, my" came a lilting female voice from within the fire.
"I only wanted to find a suitable vessel… I didn't expect I'd have to handle it personally."
Her voice was mocking yet elegant, unmistakably the voice of the one behind the previous attacks.
The Lord Ravager who planned the previous two attacks, Phantylia.
"X!!" Daichi shouted.
In that instant, blinding light filled the entire control room.
X materialized in in human size lowering Tingyun gently to the floor as the radiance pushed back the flames.
Phantylia, wreathed in her orange fire, stared at the Ultraman before her disbelief flickering in her eyes.
"...Impossible" she whispered.