On the streets of Japan, on Earth.
As one of the world's few developed nations with a population exceeding one hundred million, Japan's infrastructure was quite comprehensive.
Even after the brief invasion by the Swarm, the damaged houses and buildings could still be restored in a short amount of time.
After all, Japan was a region where monster attacks were a frequent occurrence. With years of experience, achieving this was not surprising.
The scene shifted to a street. On the silent road, there was only the solitary figure of a young girl.
This cool and detached-looking girl was dressed very uniquely, and she looked around at her surroundings as if she had never seen them before.
"What an empty place. There isn't even a single rat on the street."
Walking down the deserted path, Stelle curiously observed the silent environment around her.
Ever since she could remember, she had never been to any area other than the space station.
She had just joined the Astral Express and was about to set sail when she was pulled here by the rumored Aeon of Preservation.
Therefore, Stelle was quite curious about this unfamiliar and less-developed civilization before her.
Along the way, vending machines, closed shopping malls, parks, amusement parks, and other recreational facilities could be seen everywhere, bringing a spark of color to Stelle's eyes.
Without a doubt, in terms of civilizational advancement, this place was far behind the space station, but the various dazzling facilities were still quite eye-catching.
"Zero, look at the shelves of that shop over there. It looks like there's a bunch of Ultramen on display."
Walking up to a shop with its doors tightly shut, Stelle peered through the display window at the toys inside. Her gaze was drawn to a row of Ultramen on the topmost shelf.
The toys looked very crudely made, likely intended for elementary school students or kindergarten children with limited spending power.
"Are they arranged from left to right in the order that the Ultramen visited Earth?"
Frowning, Zero looked at the toys on the shelf, his gaze quickly settling on the second Ultraman from the left.
The crude workmanship didn't faze Zero. He simply stared at the model toy of Seven, lost in thought.
Come to think of it... he still didn't know the specific condition of Seven's body.
Stelle seemed to sense Zero's gaze from within her. She glanced left and right, then walked up to the shop's entrance right in front of Zero.
Then... with the practiced skill of an experienced thief, she deftly opened the shop door and took the Seven toy from the top shelf.
"You seem to like this one a lot, Zero," Stelle said, playing with the toy in her hand.
"You..."
Stelle's skilled lock-picking left Zero dumbfounded. "Hey, that's theft, isn't it? And also, why are you so good at that!?"
Hearing Zero say this, Stelle put her hands on her hips. "Who do you think opened all those treasure chests lying around in Herta's Space Station?"
"Besides, this doesn't count as theft. Didn't I already pay for it?"
Stelle pointed a finger at a few blue slips she had placed on the cash register, gesturing to Zero inside her. Although those few credit slips wouldn't even be enough to buy a piece of candy back at Herta's Space Station.
"No, that doesn't look like Earth's currency at all. It's your currency from over there, isn't it," Zero said, clutching his head, a headache forming.
But even so, currency from another world could be considered a collector's item anywhere in the universe, let alone on Earth, even if its intrinsic value was very low.
Leaving the shop, Stelle and Zero continued their search for the Ultra Brothers.
"Look, Zero, this Ultraman looks a lot like you. Especially the thing on his head, it's almost identical to your Eye Slugger. Who is he?"
Bored, Stelle played with the toy in her hand and asked curiously.
Stelle wouldn't believe it if someone told her this Ultraman had no connection to Zero.
Although the color patterns on their bodies were different, the resemblance between Seven and Zero was still apparent, especially in the head region. You couldn't say they were identical, but they were pretty close.
"He... uh..."
Zero frustratingly touched the Eye Sluggers on his own head, somewhat at a loss as to how to answer the question.
In truth, the answer was simple. He just had to say it was a father-son relationship. It was just that the socially awkward Zero was a bit too shy to discuss the topic.
This, in turn, made Stelle even more curious, and she continued to press Zero on the matter.
Zero tried to change the subject, but it had no effect on Stelle, so he had no choice but to spill the beans.
"He's your dad?"
After Zero told Stelle about his relationship with Seven and his own ignorant youth, Stelle said in surprise.
Okay, she was a little surprised.
Stelle actually knew that Zero's father was named Seven, but it seemed difficult to judge an Ultraman's age by their appearance, so she was still a bit taken aback.
"But what's there to be shy about? Weren't you proudly saying you were Seven's son just before?"
After a brief moment of surprise, Stelle rolled her eyes. She thought it was going to be some interesting gossip, but it was just this?
It wasn't even as interesting as closely observing the construction of Herta's puppets.
"..." Zero remained silent.
He couldn't very well say it was because he was about to see Seven and was a little too excited, could he?
Ever since he sensed Seven's light, he had been very excited. It was just that his personality prevented him from showing it.
It was embarrassing to admit, but Zero had thought that after enduring so many trials, he had grown into the pride of his father.
But in reality, he had hit a wall right after his debut. When his father was engulfed by the Swarm, he couldn't save him in time and had to rely on his uncles to step in.
---o---
[Light Curtain Bullet Comments]
As Stelle and Zero conversed and the environment on Earth changed, the audience outside the video also began to discuss avidly.
Charging at the Jeep: "Zero... you have always been my pride. To have grown so outstandingly, it is precisely because you are my, Seven's, son."
In the Land of Light, Seven did not hold back his approval and praise for Zero, even though the current Zero had not yet reached the state shown in the video.
Galaxy Baseballer: "Did you hear that, Zero? Your old man is praising you."
The Universe's Loiterer: "I saw it, I'm not blind. Isn't this perfectly normal? After all, this young master is so excellent."
At the K76 Penal Colony, Zero rubbed his nose, feeling extremely excited inside, but he kept a straight face.
Beside him, Leo saw this and thought he shouldn't let him get too proud. While he could still beat him, he had to hurry up and vent all the frustration he had received from his dad back in the day.
Eriri: "I never would have thought. Zero is actually a tsundere."
Utaha Kasumigaoka: "Are you sure you're qualified to say that about him?"
The Angel Next Door: "Tsun... dere? What does that mean? Does it mean very arrogant and very delicate?"
Himouto Umaru-chan: "You can basically understand it like that, but it actually refers to a very 'moe' 2D character archetype. Though it's kind of fallen out of the meta now."
---o---
[Light Curtain Video]
Not sensing what Zero was thinking, Stelle continued to wander the streets along her original route.
Because most of the Ultramen's light had become extremely faint due to the combined effects of the Swarm and the theft of the Plasma Spark's core, Zero could only sense the general location of the Ultra Brothers, but couldn't pinpoint them. This led to the scene of Stelle wandering around.
"Zero, I've looked everywhere. Are you sure this is the place?"
Tired from searching, Stelle sat down on a public bench in a park, completely clueless.
After all, the one who could sense the light was Zero, not her. She could only wander around within the designated area like this.
"This shouldn't be right," Zero muttered. He clearly felt a strong presence of light nearby, but there wasn't a single person in sight.
Could it be because his father and the others were so weak that even he couldn't recognize them?
Zero guessed, turning his attention to Stelle.
Honestly, as a human host, Stelle's strength was undoubtedly the strongest. Even some ordinary monsters could only take a beating from her baseball bat.
In addition, since she was a "Stellaron spirit," Stelle had a natural advantage in concealing her aura.
Thinking of this, Zero was about to tell Stelle his guess when he realized his human host had been surrounded by a group of people at some point.
"Oh, looks like this street isn't completely empty after all."
Looking up at the group that had appeared, Stelle muttered to herself.
"Excuse me, have you... uh, seen this?"
Holding up the Seven toy in her hand, Stelle asked.
She had originally wanted to ask directly about the location of the Ultra Brothers, but she suddenly remembered that these were probably just ordinary people who shouldn't be able to detect Ultramen.
Faced with Stelle's question, the people around her looked at each other. The leader of the group stepped forward and said, "Are you looking for Ultraman? Or an Ultraman toy?"
The man with a camera and a press pass hanging around his neck walked up to Stelle, his eyes sizing her up and down as if he was thinking about something.
"You know where Ultraman is?" Seeing this person, a glint flashed in Stelle's eyes, and her gaze fell on the press photo on his chest.
Hīrukawa Mitsuhiko? Judging by this photo, this guy seems to be a reporter.
"I don't," Hīrukawa Mitsuhiko replied. "I only know that it's better to believe in yourself than in Ultraman. Before those monsters break through the defenses, you'd be better off gathering some supplies and hiding underground."
With that, the strange man took a step forward, looking down at Stelle. "You must be the same, right? To be out at a time like this, you must also be disappointed in this planet and Ultraman."
"They can't protect us at all. In the end, we still have to rely on ourselves."
The moment the man approached, the other people around him surrounded Stelle, clearly not wanting her to leave.
From the expressions and demeanor of these people, they were likely a group who had already despaired in the face of the apocalypse.
"How about it? Want to join us?"
Hīrukawa Mitsuhiko's covetous and fanatical gaze looked as if he wanted to swallow Stelle whole. If an ordinary young girl were in this situation, she would have probably been scared witless.
Stelle had a rough idea of what kind of character this was. She sized up the crowd, her gaze finally landing on Hīrukawa Mitsuhiko. "From the looks of you, you seem to hate Ultraman a lot. Can you tell me why?"
Holding to the principle of not passing judgment without knowing the full story, Stelle chose to give him a chance and asked with intrigued amusement.
"Hmph, hate Ultraman?"
"What do you know? Those people are all a bunch of fools. They worshiped Ultraman like a god, but in the end, Ultraman failed."
Hīrukawa Mitsuhiko gritted his teeth, as if he had suffered some great injustice.
"It's all because of these Ultramen! It's because of the appearance of these Ultramen that a monster shows up on Earth every other day! If it weren't for them, why would these insect monsters target Earth!?"
As Hīrukawa Mitsuhiko frantically vented his anger towards Ultraman at Stelle, he didn't notice the hint of contempt in her golden pupils.
She put down the Seven toy in her hand and calmly looked at Hīrukawa. "So you still haven't said why you hate Ultraman. Is it just because they didn't stop the Swarm?"
"The Swarm? Those insect monsters? I've had enough! GUYS and Ultraman are equally incompetent! It's because of them that Earth has become like this..." Hīrukawa's face was contorted in a snarl, and he was about to continue spewing his hatred for Ultraman and GUYS at Stelle.
And then... THWACK!
Stelle unceremoniously drove a fist into his stomach, sending him flying a good four or five meters away.
"Your spit almost landed on my face," Stelle said with a look of disgust, slowly getting up from the bench.
She flexed her wrist and said to Hīrukawa, who was lying on the ground groaning and clutching his stomach, "I really don't know why Ultraman would save scum like you."
"This is just a lesson. I hope you'll remember it."
Hate Ultraman? Stelle couldn't understand the man's line of thinking. To hate even a goody-two-shoes like Ultraman, this person had to be absolute trash.
From initially thinking Stelle was easy to fool, to later surrounding her to forcibly recruit her into their group.
These people were no different from a pyramid scheme. The apocalypse had probably been the last straw for some of them, allowing this scumbag to gather so many people in such a short time.
"Bastard...!!" Hīrukawa writhed on the ground, the pain in his abdomen making it difficult for him to stand.
He looked at the others who were just standing there dumbly and roared, "What are you all standing there for!? Get her!!"
Hearing Hīrukawa's words, the crowd looked at each other, then tremblingly took out their weapons and surrounded Stelle.
Although Stelle's punch just now was fierce, with the advantage in numbers and gender, they had no reason to be afraid.
"Oh? You want to play with baseball bats?" Stelle narrowed her eyes, noticing a few thugs in the crowd holding bats.
What a coincidence. Trying to show off your axe in front of the god of carpentry.
In the spirit of a fair duel, Stelle also planned to pull out her own bat and see whose was bigger.
But before she could make a move, a powerful, resonant voice came from a distance: "Stop right there! Let that girl go...!!"