Chapter Twelve: Autopes (Please Bookmark and Vote)

Nanase Makoto had already met with Rina. Upon learning that someone had seen a glowing Ultraman, Rina finally remembered—apparently, in this world, besides Tiga, there was another giant.

“Fujii Yuta? What’s that guy doing here?!” Rina frowned in confusion.

But it wasn’t her concern, nor did she care to get involved. After all, once she knew Xie Jing was Ultraman, she never worried about his safety. It was the monster that appeared that caught her attention; from what her father had said, it was clearly an intelligent being, even capable of speaking Neonese.

Hopefully, Xie Jing wouldn’t end up killing it.

Xie Jing, of course, had no idea what was on Rina’s mind. He had already reverted from his transformation—although this special transformation didn’t have a time limit, it still consumed a significant amount of his stamina in the end.

He’d rather deactivate it while he could—after all, transforming again was hardly a problem for him.

Resting with his eyes closed, Xie Jing waited for the monster—or rather, the Alien Rechulan—to return. There were questions he needed answered.

Until then, Xie Jing planned to play dumb and see just what this infamous cosmic thief, known for his plundering ways in Ultraman’s memories, would do!

He had already begun to recall the details of this episode—mainly because the monster’s appearance was so unique.

He wasn’t afraid of any danger, truth be told. In the world of Tiga, apart from a select few, most of the monsters were, in Xie Jing’s eyes, nothing more than trash!

Time ticked by, second after second.

He waited for a long time—so long, in fact, that Xie Jing was about to drift off to sleep, when at last, something stirred.

The hatch of the spaceship opened, and the Alien Rechulan, whose whole head was covered in sharp spikes, swaggered in with a manic laugh.

Seeing Xie Jing’s human form, the Rechulan wasn’t surprised at all. Clearly, it already knew certain things about Ultraman, which only put Xie Jing further at ease.

“Heh heh heh~ Ultraman, I never thought you’d fall into my hands so easily!”

It gestured menacingly, clearly very pleased with itself.

Xie Jing put on a furious expression and roared, “Aaaaarghhhh!”

“Sinister, cunning Alien Rechulan! Earth isn’t a place you can defile! Get back to your own planet at once!”

“Is that how all Ultramen speak? I’ve seen plenty of dark Ultramen, you know. I imagine they know exactly where Earth is by now,” the Alien Rechulan laughed, the indented part of its head flickering blue light.

Hmm... It sounded like it knew something. Xie Jing’s eyes lit up. Just as he was about to retort, he saw the Alien Rechulan touch a control panel. A surge of blue light rose, and Xie Jing felt something probing his mind—his memories.

Images and scenes flashed before his eyes as the Alien Rechulan greedily inspected them all.

“Heh heh heh~ Let’s see what secrets you so-called righteous warriors of the light are hiding!!!”

And then it saw...

A bedroom, walls plastered with all sorts of Ultraman posters, a tiny television barely a few inches wide sitting at the center.

Everywhere, Chinese characters—even the music playing was a familiar Chinese song.

“A new storm has arisen, how can we stop moving forward...”

“Report... a spaceship is approaching us... fire...”

On the little TV, familiar scenes unfolded.

“...That’s right. I received your message and began attack preparations at once... Returning to our planet...”

A giant version of himself! And fighting alongside him—Tiga Ultraman!

If the Alien Rechulan could sweat, it would have been drenched by now!

Flipping further through the memories, it saw a boy of eleven or twelve living in a country of blocky scripts, for whom, in childhood, Tiga Ultraman, broadcast daily on television, was the most precious memory.

Then, the Rechulan saw pyramids, saw the light, saw dazzling brilliance.

What followed, the Rechulan no longer dared to look.

Slowly, it lifted its gaze to see Ultraman drifting down from the cross, and it backed away in alarm.

Just now, it had already noticed Xie Jing’s subtle movements before its return.

“You... who are you really?! What is that machine? Can it really... predict the future?!”

“Heh.” Xie Jing chuckled softly, advancing step by step toward the Alien Rechulan.

The latter retreated until it was pressed against the wall, unable to go any further.

Xie Jing was angry—watching those memories had made him long for home more than ever.

Towering over the Rechulan in his angry, transformed state, Xie Jing deliberately increased his height to almost three meters—enough to look down on the alien.

“I won’t kill you, as long as you tell me: why did you come to Earth?!”

“We... we were just passing by...”

Boom—

A ball of light blasted a gaping hole in the spaceship.

“I’ll ask you one more time—why did you come to Earth?!”

“Autepes! It’s Autepes!!!” The Alien Rechulan was now terrified; under Xie Jing’s overwhelming pressure, it lost all thought of resistance.

“Autepes?” A new name!

“Y-yes, that’s it—Autepes!” the Rechulan stammered. “Autepes is the mastermind of cosmic darkness, the embodiment of death and destruction, and the mortal enemy of your Land of Light! It’s been spreading rumors across the universe that Earth holds the ultimate secret of Ultraman, the final sanctuary of hope! That’s what’s drawing so many monsters to Earth!”

“The final sanctuary of hope... Autepes...” Xie Jing repeated the names to himself, realizing he was hearing them for the first time.

Then, Xie Jing formed a blade of light with one hand, pressing it to the Rechulan’s belly. “Then... where is Autepes?”

“I don’t know, I swear!” The Alien Rechulan pleaded desperately. “I’m just an ordinary Rechulan. I only heard about these things during my travels.”

“Are you going to talk?” The light blade was especially effective against monsters.

“I really don’t know! I don’t!” The Rechulan raised both hands above its head, curling up into a ball on the floor.

Xie Jing slowly withdrew the blade, sensing it wasn’t lying.

At the very least, if it truly knew about Autepes, or worked for Autepes, it wouldn’t have let a human space station destroy its entire crew with a single shot.

Straightening up, Xie Jing resumed his human form and said, “I told you I wouldn’t kill you. But you must tell me everything you know about Autepes!”

“Al... all right.” With Xie Jing showing no intent to kill it, the Rechulan gradually relaxed, and began to share what little information it knew, one piece at a time.

This Rechulan really hadn’t accomplished much in life, and knew very little—hardly any of it useful. Xie Jing was deeply disappointed, but he had no intention of resorting to violence.

Turning away, he opened the spaceship’s door and said, “Stay here and wait for the humans to deal with you!”

“The humans?” The Rechulan felt a deep sense of humiliation—after all, in its eyes, humans were a weak and powerless species. Was it really to spend the rest of its life like a monkey in a zoo, gawked at by all?

No! I refuse!

A monster will never be a slave!!!

The more it thought about it, the angrier it became. The fear Xie Jing had instilled in it faded now that he was back in human form.

All I need... all I need to do is transform right now...

Just one step...

Heh heh heh~

He’s gone... he can’t see me... just one step... heh heh heh~

The fire in its heart was lit—might as well risk everything!

Its body rapidly expanded—ten meters, twenty, thirty...

In the blink of an eye, a colossal creature sixty meters tall towered against the sky.

PS: That sinister “heh heh heh” is so addictive—I can’t stop myself! Also, I only got the contract and the official stamp last night. I was hoping to climb the ranks, spent a hundred yuan, and still got stuck at eleventh place. It’s driving me mad!