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As Gaia's agent, Ling Ye can borrow Gaia's power to instantly appear in any corner of the earth, even inside the planet's core, as long as she is willing. Ling Ye usually doesn't rely too much on this ability. When it is not necessary, she prefers to travel in the human way.
But it does not include necessary emergencies. So the next second, she appeared in Otawara.
This is an agricultural city that produces a lot of rice and peppers. Although it is the administrative center city where the Tochigi Prefecture Office is located, there are still large tracts of farmland in this era. In early spring, the farmland is already green, thriving, with birds singing and flowers blooming - if there are no super beasts.
Not knowing the exact location, Ling teleported several times before finally finding the scene.
There is only the scene, but no super beast.
Beidou hopes that it will be in time, but sometimes, the development of things does not depend on people's wishes.
The flames were blazing, the steel was melting, and the man-made objects that were originally the crystallization of technology were twisted into strange shapes. It should be a Shinkansen train, but it was completely unrecognizable.
Ling didn't try to put out the fire. There was no point.
Judging from the appearance of the train at this time, it seemed that it might have been thrown hundreds of meters into the air by the super beast and then smashed down heavily.
Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people died in that instant. She didn't sense any life, no wounded, because no one survived. There was only death.
Chapter 236 Facing Life and Death
The fire is still burning.
The disaster site was a stream valley, where flames were scorching the stream water. A large amount of black, unidentified charred matter, various debris and even the charred remains of human bodies appeared in the water downstream.
There was a bridge across the valley that was originally used for trains, but it had completely broken apart. A portion of it hung in the mountain stream, and the larger metal bridge fell down and twisted together with the wreckage of the Shinkansen, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other.
Burning flames, twisted metal, and blazing explosions. Lingye's consciousness was a little hazy. She seemed to have returned to the day a year ago when she saw the familiar scene. Yes, it was also March in early spring.
The flames devoured everything in sight in an instant, the people she loved, the people who loved her, and many strangers. In the blink of an eye, when she could not even think, they disappeared from the world. Everything that she had taken for granted was frozen in that instant.
When people's emotions cannot bear the weight of loss, they think of God and Buddha. They place their endless empty despair on illusory religious beliefs, hoping that they really exist to bear their sorrow.
Ling also thought of a poem, the one written by Tsangyang Gyatso.
[In this world, apart from life and death, what is not a trivial matter? Whose privacy is not exposed by the afterglow? The flowers of the funeral have a certain degree of opening and closing, and the fruit of the Bodhi tree plays the sound of the empty mountain. ]
When facing life and death, people will have many insights. But Ling does not believe in gods and Buddhas. If there is a god in this world, it is only Gaia.
She remembered her medal - Mother of Ultra, the skill that could even reverse life and death.
Ling also knew that such a thing was wrong. As Gaia's agent, she knew the boundary between life and death better than anyone else. But the dead were gone, what about the relatives who received the bad news? If they knew that there was a chance to save the loss, many people would probably be willing to give everything they had.
Principles and boundaries are no better than blank paper at that moment.
These deceased people had no relationship with Ling, so she was able to think calmly from the perspective of an observer.
But what if it was her relatives? If she had this medal a year ago, which allowed her to cast the "Silver Cross Ray", would she really be able to resist using it when facing her deceased parents?
Tell yourself that the boundary between life and death should not be broken, it is just a process. Death is not the end of everything, there will be a new life after that. Yes, just like what she said to Shanzhong, a high-sounding truth.
But the new life has nothing to do with her! After the soul returns, it is completed and no longer distinguished from each other. What reincarnates again is a brand new life.
Those were not her parents. She was no longer anyone's daughter, and she had no blood relatives in this world.
This is reality.
She still has relatives and friends, Grandpa Kenno, Maria, Tomoyo, and Sakura. If they encounter misfortune one day, can she really bear the temptation of bringing the dead back to life?
Would Gaia stop her? Ling also thought that she would not, just like He would never interfere with her own decisions.
For the first time, she felt fear about the medal she had unlocked.
In human form, he holds the power of God.
TAC planes flew overhead.
"We are late." Looking at the burning valley, Captain Long's tone was a little heavy.
"Is it Meta's Domain?" Yoshimura guessed. The previous times they arrived at the scene, there was nothing there either, but it was because the Ultra Beasts were locked up in the Domain by Gaia.
"It shouldn't be." Yamanaka pointed to a mountain pass near the scene, "There is a big hole there, which shows signs of digging. The super beast probably left from underground."
The super beast had already run away, and they didn't even get to see what it looked like. All that was left was this mess, and who knows how many innocent people had been killed.
Search and rescue is of course necessary, but everyone knows that search and rescue has no practical significance in such a scenario.
"A Shinkansen train, at least a thousand people." Noriko murmured. She could not stand such scenes the most.
This is the first time that the Shinkansen has not had a fatal accident in the nine years since it was first opened in 1964. The first time was when all the passengers on a train died.
"Looking back, it's been a long time since we encountered such a terrible disaster."
The last time, it was when Baraba ravaged Tokyo. The defense forces were completely wiped out, and many civilians who were unable to evacuate in time also suffered casualties.
Gaia became stronger after that. She seemed to be a god of war who would never fall. Even if she failed, she would insist on defeating the enemy and become stronger the next time she appeared.
When there is danger, she is always the first to stand in front of everyone.
Next is the Meta Realm. Ever since she began opening the realm before every battle, many people no longer even knew that Ultraman was fighting for them, and thought that after defeating the Yawa people in the past few months, peace had returned to the earth.
Even if there are news reports about the appearance of super beasts and monsters, people no longer care about things outside their sight. The days without monsters and aliens seven years ago have returned, and the trauma of war seems to have faded away.
This is a good thing, allowing people to live a normal life away from fear.
From Team Kote to Team TAC, this was the original intention of establishing these teams, and now Gaia has realized it.
"Gaia and Ace, Ultraman has done enough for us." Captain Long said, "So we can't let our guard down. Let's go to the ground. Noriko, Yoshimura, you contact the search and rescue team to see if there is anything that our TAC team can help with, including the transportation of large equipment. We will fully support you."
Noriko and Yoshimura, who were named, made statements.
"Yamanaka, Konno, go search the caves dug by the Ultra Beasts to see if there are any clues of Ultra Beasts left behind. We should be able to collect some samples from footprints, hair, and body cells and send them to Kiji-kun for identification. We need to find out the details of the other party as soon as possible. We can't fight a monster that knows nothing."
As for Beidou who arrived last, he was arranged to be on guard in the air to prevent the super beast from appearing again.
The Eagle and the Universe found a relatively flat open space in the valley to land, and the team members split up in pairs to perform their respective tasks. Captain Long himself walked towards the scene of the accident.
Because he had just seen someone on the plane, he was not sure whether he should approach the other person, but finally decided to walk over.
Sure enough, there she was.
But after getting closer, Long stopped again. He was a little hesitant whether to go over now, because of the little girl, she seemed to be crying?
"When will this kind of thing end?"
Long heard her voice and knew that the girl was talking to him. There was no crying tone in her voice, so was he seeing things?
"I originally thought that as long as we let the enemy know that we are strong and can hurt them, making them fail again and again without gaining any benefits, no one will bully us anymore."
"But that doesn't seem to be the case. Why can't all the monsters and super beasts be eliminated forever and ever?"
The Ultra Warriors in those medals entrusted their strength to her, making her mistakenly believe that she was really strong and could protect everyone.
This is all an illusion, right?
No matter what she did, no matter how many enemies she defeated, it was useless. There were always more enemies coming, just like the earth was a rare treasure.
But aren’t there planets with life everywhere in the universe?
In Lingye's eyes, the wreckage of the crashed train overlapped with the wreckage of the original plane. In the past year, after going through so much, it seemed that nothing had changed.
"This is a disaster. It's not anyone's fault, and it certainly isn't the fault of the Ultra Warriors." Long said.
He and the girl did not say hello to each other, as if they were strangers who happened to meet here and chatted casually without caring about who the other person was.
"I know."
She knew, of course, that Gaia might be a god, but she was not, and that she had no ability to protect everyone on Earth all the time. Such a disaster could happen at any time.
"I'm just a little confused as to whether resurrection from the dead should exist."
Bring back to life?
Captain Long was surprised. Although he knew that Ultraman was an almost omnipotent god of war, this was still unexpected. No, it wasn't Ultraman, maybe it was just her?
"I don't think this is a good thing. Of course, this is just my own opinion." Captain Long said. How could he, a mere human being, comment on this?
"'God resides in heaven, and the world is at peace.' I've heard this before. When humans are helpless, they go to the shrine to pray. When they are sad, they go to the gods to express their sorrow. Having someone to talk to is enough."
"Gods should be made of clay and should not do anything more. When people go to pray to gods, they only pray for their deceased family members to rest in peace. No one will ask the gods to bring them back to life."
This is natural. If the person in the coffin sits up again, what will be welcomed is definitely not the surprise of the family, but the black donkey's hoof.
Is that right?
It seems so.
"'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.' Is that the saying?" Lingye said.
Long was stunned for a moment.
"Yeah, that's right, it's very fitting, much better than what I said."
He didn't expect Ling to say such a thing. After all, Gaia, God, and Caesar don't seem to match each other in style. But who knows, among the gods, maybe Gaia and God are good friends.
“I didn’t say that, Jesus said that.”
Jesus said this in response to the Pharisees and Herodians who were questioning him, the Son of God, about whether believers should pay taxes to the kingdom.
Human affairs belong to human beings, and God’s power should not exceed its boundaries.
Lingye suddenly felt a little better.
"Thank you, uncle from the TAC team."
"Well, the sun is about to set, little girl, you should be careful when you are alone in the forest. Go home early."
They didn't know each other and said goodbye to each other. It was just a chance encounter between strangers.
That night, the TAC team
After receiving the super beast cell samples collected by Yoshimura and Konno, Kizuki immediately started the sampling investigation work.
The analysis results were placed on Captain Long's desk.
"From the sample, we analyzed the genes of the flying fish, a creature from Earth, and also found the genes of alien creatures that do not exist on Earth. So there is no doubt that this is a super beast."
Although they mentioned "super beast" before, it was just a casual remark. Whether the enemy is a super beast, a monster, or an alien, the TAC team has no idea. Only this identification conclusion is the most objective.
The distinctive feature of super beasts is that they use genetic technology to transform earth and alien creatures.
"Flying fish? The kind that have wings and can fly?"
"Flying fish do have wings, but they can't fly, they just glide." Mu Kaji corrected the mistake in Konno's words.
"How can a creature from the ocean run onto land and attack the Shinkansen?"
“There is no more evidence to prove this, but I think it is speed.”