Chapter Five: The Pyramid

The pyramid was nestled in a mountain forest under the jurisdiction of the Flaming Hand of Neon, a fair distance from the TPC base. So Xie Jing simply boarded the Swallow.

As soon as he entered the cockpit, Xie Jing discovered the pilot was Da Gu—the human form of Ultraman Tiga.

Years ago, when Tiga aired in China, it sparked an Ultraman craze among teenagers. As the most familiar human host to Chinese audiences, Da Gu was deeply beloved.

In the original plot, as Ultraman Tiga's human vessel, Da Gu was kind, resilient, possessed of powerful will and unyielding spirit. No matter the adversity, he never gave up hope—a perfect human host.

Naturally, Xie Jing knew Da Gu’s character, but he could not understand why he glimpsed a flicker of hostility in Da Gu’s gaze.

Could it be that Da Gu somehow sensed Xie Jing might steal his destiny?

Lost in speculation, Xie Jing felt the Swallow soar from the base, hurtling toward their destination at tremendous speed.

For the first ten minutes, silence hung between them, until Da Gu finally spoke, unable to hold back.

With a grave expression, Da Gu asked, word by word, “What exactly are you thinking? Why would such an important mission be entrusted to just the two of us?”

Lounging in the back seat, Xie Jing grinned. “Da Gu, my friend, I had to pester Captain Hoshino for ages, even invoked my connections from behind the scenes to make this happen!”

At this moment, Xie Jing decided to reveal a sliver of truth.

“Did you know? Ever since I saw Yuli that day, I’ve had the same dream for three nights: in it, you become a giant!”

Da Gu’s face turned ashen; his hands trembled on the yoke, and the Swallow lurched.

“What are you talking about? That day, Yuli was clearly looking at you!”

Xie Jing angled his head toward Da Gu, still smiling. “What if I told you, in this world, Da Gu—you are the protagonist. Would you believe me?”

He could sense Da Gu’s body stiffen.

“According to everything that happened in my dreams, tomorrow, Golza and Melba will follow you all here. They’ll destroy the pyramid, shatter the statues of two giants. You will crash—and then become light, the guardian of Earth.”

“You will transform into the Giant of Light—Ultraman Tiga! A warrior dozens, even hundreds, of meters tall, wielding immense power!” Xie Jing recounted the first episode’s plot in broad strokes.

Da Gu’s hands began to tremble.

“How... how could that be? Did you see the future?”

Xie Jing sighed. “I saw all fifty-two episodes!”

Da Gu: “?”

“What do you mean? What fifty-two episodes? And why would I become a giant?!”

“You think being a giant is wonderful? In your dreams, you’re lonely, isolated. You fear others discovering your secret, you dread being different from your teammates. You always fight alone. No one understands you, no one knows what you have sacrificed.”

Da Gu stared vacantly ahead, his hands shaking ever harder.

Xie Jing kept one eye on the yoke, continuing to push Da Gu’s buttons.

“Even so, do you still wish to become a giant? Are you willing to give up everything to protect Earth? Even your cherished, peaceful life?”

Da Gu buried his face in his hands, the veins on his arms bulging.

Hey, hey, focus—the plane!

Clearly, Xie Jing’s words had gotten to Da Gu. Perhaps, in some mysterious way, he already knew.

“Ever since Yuli appeared, I’ve heard... the only way to become a giant... is to let myself... become light!”

Xie Jing was startled. That wasn’t in the original script—inner voices as a plot device?

Then he remembered: when searching for the pyramid, a voice had reached Da Gu’s ears, proving the message was meant for him alone.

Taking firm hold of the yoke, Xie Jing switched the Swallow to autopilot and breathed a long sigh of relief, glancing at Da Gu.

Da Gu’s reaction to the unknown was wholly genuine.

He didn’t understand what it meant to be a giant, but he’d seen Golza’s terrifying, massive form. To face such monsters in battle—he could hardly believe it.

The aircraft sped on. Soon they neared the Flaming Hand’s domain. Da Gu took the controls once more, his brow furrowed, his face troubled.

After a long silence, he spoke.

“If fate has chosen me, I’ll accept it. Whether I become a giant, whether I lose my peaceful life, I want to protect humanity, to protect Earth.”

Xie Jing: “...”

He’d only meant to tease Da Gu, but seeing him utter such earnest, awkward words, Xie Jing was at a loss for how to respond.

Luckily, just then an alarm blared—the plane had reached its destination.

As they descended, Xie Jing disembarked alone. The TV series had glossed over this part too quickly; he would have to search carefully.

Da Gu, meanwhile, sat for more than ten minutes before finally rising, opening the hatch, and stepping out.

“If you wish to become a giant, go ahead! I don’t want your giant!”

Xie Jing didn’t care whether Da Gu followed. He had no interest. Inside the pyramid, there were three Ultraman statues. As long as he could become one, what did it matter if it wasn’t Tiga?

Besides, how could an outsider hope to compete with the world’s protagonist? Da Gu could stumble upon the pyramid by chance; if Xie Jing didn’t put in the effort, he might not even find it.

He remembered: the general location of the pyramid could be glimpsed from a mountain stream. Above the water, there was a rope bridge. It was on this bridge that Da Gu, half in a daze, first saw the pyramid.

Wandering the forest for ten minutes, Xie Jing found nothing. He sat on a boulder, pondering other ways to locate it.

Soon, he pulled out a silver, circular object and held it in his palm.

A single-use Cosmic Compass!

But Xie Jing didn’t intend to use it. Such a precious one-off item should not be wasted; the pyramid’s appearance was inevitable, only a matter of time.

To squander something so rare for a little expediency would be a terrible loss.

So why even take it out?

A compass, by its nature, points the way. A “Cosmic Compass”—the name alone sounded grand and powerful. Surely it could help him find a pyramid.

And indeed, following the direction indicated by the compass, Xie Jing discovered a bridge.

Who would have thought, in this wild mountain terrain, a suspension plank bridge would appear?

Standing on the bridge, Xie Jing gazed into the distance in the direction Da Gu had looked in the show. A golden light flickered in the far-off sky.

Faintly, indistinctly, a colossal, sky-piercing pyramid appeared, shimmering with radiant gold, enshrouded from top to bottom by a golden energy field that obscured the interior.

At last, he had found it.

Xie Jing stepped toward the pyramid, passing through the golden veil, where he beheld three enormous figures standing atop the steps.

“Tiga, I’ve found you.”

Suddenly, a box popped up before his eyes, filled with a string of Martian characters. Below were two options: “Yes” and “No.”

“What is this, system?”

No response.

“Fine, I give in!” Confronted with such an uncooperative system, Xie Jing had little choice.

“Yes!”

He tapped lightly, and the scene before him dissolved into dazzling light. In front of each of the three statues, a brilliant cluster of light shone with unparalleled intensity.