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"The captain's ship has also been saved." Kotaro looked at the cruise ship docked at the port, the cruise ship on which he had lived for more than two years.
Just now, it was because he saw the monster approaching the cruise ship that Kotaro climbed up the crane. Now the cruise ship is saved, and the captain's long-term care is not in vain. That cruise ship is Captain Shiratori's lifelong sustenance.
"I say, although I don't know where you encountered the bad things, it's time for you to pass away, right?"
"Ah, rebirth?" Ling didn't know why Kotaro suddenly said that.
Kotaro pointed at her feet.
"No shadow."
Kotaro had already noticed it halfway through his speech. It was a sunny day, but there was no shadow under the girl's feet. There was only one explanation for this kind of thing in folk tales.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot."
The next moment, a shadow appeared under Lingye's feet. She forgot to cancel the optical invisibility.
However, even though she was just invisible, Kotaro could see her enough to tell that he was unusual.
"So you thought I was a ghost."
"Is not it?"
If the other person was really a little human girl, why would Kotaro chat with her in such a dangerous place? He would have taken her to shelter long ago.
"Has Kotaro ever seen a ghost before?"
"Occasionally."
He couldn't tell whether it was a ghost or a monster. After all, he was just an ordinary person, not a priest or an exorcist.
Ling was not angry at being mistaken for a ghost, she took out her badge.
"I'm not a ghost. This amulet is for you. Remember to carry it with you. It can protect you when you encounter danger. But once you make a decision, you can't give up halfway."
Putting the badge into the hands of Kotaro, who was still confused about the situation, Ling took a step back.
"What happens next is up to you."
"I decide on my own? What's the matter... Hey" Kotaro wanted to say something, but found that the little girl had disappeared.
If it weren't for the extra badge in his hand, he wouldn't even be sure if it was just an illusion.
"You claim you're not a ghost, yet you appear and disappear mysteriously." Kotaro muttered.
He looked at the badge in his hand and felt that he should know what it was.
He did know, but there was another voice in his heart that always resisted it.
“What Ultraman can do, humans can definitely do as well. As long as they have perseverance and courage.” He muttered to himself and put the badge away.
After a few minutes' delay, the monster was repelled.
It fled back to the sea with injuries, and the ZAT team withdrew and returned to base.
The problem facing Kotaro is, where should he live today?
After living on the cruise ship for several years, he no longer had a home on land and did not have enough money to stay in a hotel.
Of course, this is not a big problem. I will find a job tomorrow. As for today, the sky is my roof and the ground is my bed. The seaside in summer is also a good place for camping.
The monster was repelled but not killed. This was not a good thing for ZAT, because the opponent could come back at any time.
"Captain, our weapons are limited in their effectiveness against monsters. It would be great if we could approve the use of TAC's equipment."
The speaker was the deputy captain Shuhei Araki, who also participated in this operation and witnessed the entire battle.
He felt that the reason the monster escaped was mainly because their current equipment was not capable of fighting the monster.
Its usual mission is to protect the city's appearance. ZAT is mostly equipped with restraining weapons, few of which are directly lethal.
The missiles were also conventional, similar to those equipped by ordinary defense forces, and there were no V9, cell-destroying missiles or the like.
The previous TAC was different. TAC was specialized in destroying super beasts and was equipped with all lethal weapons.
"I have discussed this with my superiors. I thought the battle with Yabo was over and the Earth had entered a period of peace. But it seems that the Earth is not at peace yet and there are still enemies that need to be eliminated."
"So the higher-ups have approved the use of special weapons, not just from the TAC team's inventory, but even from the Meteor... No, forget that word, I mean there are some more fantastic weapons."
Asahina used the word "wonderful" to describe it, which made people a little confused.
What is Meteor? It's a code name I've never heard of.
But Araki knew that since the captain kept silent, it must be because his security level was not high enough and the relevant confidentiality level was not something he could understand.
As a qualified soldier, he naturally pretended not to hear anything.
"And it's not just equipment, there will also be corresponding additions in terms of personnel."
"Are they selected from the Defense Forces?"
"Compared to the defense forces, what do you think of that guy today?"
"Young man? Which one?"
“The one who drives the crane.”
Araki knew who the captain was referring to, the one who used a crane to drag the monster. It was rare for him to do that, but the result was good, so no one could criticize him.
An impressive fellow indeed. But he's not a soldier at all, is he?
"What does that matter?" Captain Asahina said indifferently to Araki's question. "I checked, the young man's name is Higashi Kotaro. A soldier's combat qualities can be cultivated later, but the courage to face monsters is the most precious."
Moreover, recruiting from the public is a tradition.
Captain Kiriyama of the Ultra Guard recruited Dan Moroboshi, Captain Kato of the MAT team recruited Hideki Go, and the TAC team recruited Seiji Hokuto and Yuko Minami.
The results turned out to be good.
As the captain of the ZAT team, recruiting a brave young man from the public, isn't this also responding to the call of predecessors?
Chapter 335 Taro
When Higashi Kotaro woke up from his sleep, the sky was just beginning to turn pale.
Winter is approaching and it’s a bit cold even in the sleeping bag.
He didn't have a watch, but his biological clock told him that it was about four in the morning. He had been on the boat for so long that he was not used to sleeping on land.
There was no shaking of the waves, it was peaceful and quiet.
Coming out of his sleeping bag, he stretched and realized something was wrong.
Wiping his sleepy eyes and looking around, he suddenly realized why something was wrong.
Not far from him, the seeds of the Chikulis flower that he had planted before, a flower that is said to bloom only once every hundred years in the desert, actually blossomed into a large cluster of flowers in just one night!
Beautiful flowers sway under the morning star.
"If I were you, I would burn these flowers."
Kotaro discovered that the little girl he saw yesterday appeared next to him again.
"Why is it you again? And you said you're not a ghost, just an ordinary kid. How can you stay up at four in the morning?"
Ling was rarely angry. Who made her get up at four in the morning? Didn’t she want to have a good sleep?
If it weren't for Mother Ultra's request, she wouldn't want to meddle in other people's business.
"If you hadn't raised a bunch of space creatures for nothing, I wouldn't have wanted to come here. So you're just sleeping on the floor here? Aren't you going home?"
"I don't have a home, and I don't need one."
Kotaro cannot stay idle in one place. To him, "home" is a kind of bondage, and he prefers to travel around the world.
"Are these the flowers that you are talking about as cosmic creatures?"
"What do you think? What else is there besides these flowers?" Ling also yawned. I had hypoglycemia, was still half asleep, and was in a bad mood.
"You planted the flowers yourself, don't you know it?"
Ling could tell at a glance whether it was life on Earth or not. And this so-called "flower" was not a plant at all. It was a disguised beauty on the surface, but an ugly monster under the soil.
"This seed was given to me by a tourist who boarded the ship when it was docked in Cairo. He said it was a plant that grows in the Sahara Desert and blooms only once every 100 years."
"One hundred years, why not five hundred years? Five hundred years to bloom, five hundred years to bear fruit, and five hundred years to mature. Do you think these are the peaches from the Heavenly Palace's Peach Garden? Are you Monkey King?"
"If you want to eat peaches, I can help you find some, but forget about cosmic creatures."
Since there is Takama-ga-hara, it is very likely that secret places like Heavenly Palace and Pantao Garden, where human beliefs were born, also exist.
Kotaro was a little dissatisfied with being teased like this, but he couldn't say anything to refute. For some reason, he always felt a little incompetent in front of this girl.
He wanted to say something strong to save his weak position, but he couldn't find a suitable excuse. The only topic he could think of was the badge on his body.
"I don't want this anymore, take it back!"
At this moment, he was a bit like a sulky child. Unfortunately, Ling was not his mother, let alone his stepmother, so she would not spoil him.
"Sure, as long as you make the decision. I've said that everything from now on is up to you. But no matter what decision you make, it cannot be changed."
Lingye stretched out her hand, pretending to take the badge back, but Kotaro quickly pulled his hand back.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, I haven't thought about it yet, let me think about it again."
Ling also wanted to laugh, and she actually laughed out loud, which made Kotaro even more unhappy.
But Ling was also happy, and the grumpiness from waking up so early in the morning was almost gone.
Taro is just a child, and in a sense, he is not even 'born' at this moment.
"Are you going to burn these flowers or am I going to burn them?"
When asked this question, Kotaro actually believed Reiya's words. Now that he thought about it, the guy who gave him the seeds was wearing a black suit and a black hat, which was indeed a bit suspicious.
Although he has included "making the Chikulis flowers bloom" in his life list, what can I say, haven't the flowers already bloomed?
The list didn't specify what to do with the flowers after they bloomed, so it didn't violate the rules he set for himself.
Then burn it.
Kotaro found some dry wood and dead leaves that were more flammable and piled them among the flowers. He couldn't find any better fire starter for a while.
"These should be enough, right?"
"probably."
Ling had never burned a fire in the wild, so she was not sure.