Gongcheng Yuandu found himself in a silent forest. Dim sunlight filtered through the branches, casting fragmented shadows, while dense foliage blocked out any daydreaming about the clouds in the sky. In the wide, open valley, the eerie calls of unidentified creatures echoed from time to time, making one's hair stand on end...
Panic flickered in the youth's eyes as he walked forward at a very slow pace. The crisp crunch of stepping on dry, withered leaves and twigs resounded in his ears. For some reason, Gongcheng Yuandu felt a heart-pounding sensation that only heightened his terror.
From time to time, he called out to the System in his mind, trying to seek help, but unfortunately, he failed; the System gave him no response.
I do not know how much time passed before an inexplicable feeling of palpitation spread through Gongcheng Yuandu's entire body, seeming to guide him toward a certain destination. The fallen leaves and twigs beneath his feet, as well as the thick grass ahead, became obstacles in his path, and he felt an urgent need to find the place his heart was guiding him to.
"Swish..." Gongcheng Yuandu parted a large patch of overgrown weeds with his sturdy hands.
After pushing forward for a long while longer, the palpitations grew weaker. He knew that the place he was looking for was close. The fear in his eyes gradually receded, replaced by endless determination and persistence. Like a devout believer of some sect, his face filled with piety, he looked at the sight ahead as if he were beholding his holy master:
The dim, amber light of the setting sun shone upon a park-sized ruin surrounded by numerous giant boulders. Yet, most striking of all was a "mountain"-shaped, aircraft-like stone sculpture situated above the ruins. Puzzlingly, the architecture completely defied the laws of physics, causing Gongcheng Yuandu to knit his brows tightly.
Despite his incomprehension, the youth's heart burned with a wild, prairie-fire-like fervor for these ruins, bordering on madness. By this time, the palpitations had vanished completely, replaced by an immense attraction that called upon Gongcheng Yuandu to explore.
Lifting his foot, he stepped down the steep and unstable stone steps. Upon reaching the ground, Gongcheng Yuandu walked a little further before finally entering the interior of the ruins.
The interior of the ruins was extremely spacious, populated by numerous stone statues of terrifying-looking monsters. Against the backdrop of the setting sun outside, Gongcheng Yuandu felt as though he were playing some VR horror game or walking through a haunted house. Fear slowly devoured the determination and persistence in his eyes, causing a sudden sense of unease in his heart.
He kept pumping himself up, forcing himself to calm down, but the cold sweat on his back clearly betrayed the fear in his heart.
Suddenly, it dawned on him that he could clearly hear every sound along the way.
He quickly touched both of his ears, then opened his mouth to say a few words as if to prove something. Just as he hoped, he could hear without his hearing aids!
A sense of pleasant surprise rushed over him like a tide, but he quickly calmed down, turning his gaze toward a pitch-black cave not far away inside.
The sound of a heartbeat reached his ears. Gongcheng Yuandu instinctively touched his chest where his heart was, feeling an exceptionally steady heartbeat beneath his hand. His breathing was no longer rapid, though that inexplicable attraction was growing stronger and stronger.
"Is it telling me to go in..."
Staring fixedly at the cave, he asked with curiosity.
"Should I... go in?"
He asked himself, still afraid that there might be poisonous snakes or fierce beasts inside the cave. Ultimately, however, with determination and resolve, he strode toward the pitch-black cave.
As soon as he stepped inside, as if triggering some mechanism, the torches on both sides lit up one by one from the outside in, each emitting its own glow. The flames flickered constantly, as though they were cheering or welcoming Gongcheng Yuandu, a stranger, and lighting the way for him.
Gongcheng Yuandu stopped in his tracks, confusion mixed in his eyes. He murmured softly, "Are these... welcoming me? Or... is there a mechanism beneath my feet?"
He looked back over his shoulder. The cave entrance was not sealed by any door; the scenery outside was still visible. He forced himself to calm down.
"This is too bizarre..."
He was entirely certain he had never been to this place before. Putting aside further thoughts, he walked slowly inward along the torchlight.
The further he went, the brighter the firelight grew. Gongcheng Yuandu felt as though these ruins had existed for a very long time, possessing an epic of their own.
He eagerly wanted to know what kind of thing inside the cave could hold such an attraction for him, so, harboring his doubts, he strode forward.
For him, this could no longer be considered a dream. From the initial forest to the fallen leaves and withered branches underfoot, and then to that patch of weeds, everything brought him an incomparable sense of reality. This sense of reality was definitely not something that belonged in a dream; it was simply as if he were truly inside these ruins.
Finally, he reached the end of the path. When he stepped into the innermost part of the cave, the torches neatly lined up along the semi-circular stone wall instantly illuminated the entire space.
Yet Gongcheng Yuandu was not captivated by the torches; his sharp eyes were fixed firmly on a "mountain"-shaped stone coffin standing upside down in the center of the space, which emitted a faint blue glow.
Suddenly, an inexplicable wave of memories flooded into Gongcheng Yuandu's mind, much like the way the System transmitted information about the Dark Spark.
After a long while, Gongcheng Yuandu let out a long breath, a hint of complexity entering his eyes.
He now knew everything about this place.
The Noah ruins.
And those memories were the stories of the struggles of people who passed on the light, generation after generation... (Tokusatsu *Ultraman Nexus*)
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he shook his head and said, "The light is a bond that strangles generation after generation, but there are always those who fearlessly go to pass it on. I admire them, but perhaps I don't wish to become them. And then there is the human heart..."
He offered his own critique of those memories.
Looking once more at the stone coffin before him, he spoke its name aloud: "Stone Wings..."
"So, Ultraman Nexus! Are you the one calling me?!" he cried out loudly, his voice echoing through the space. Unfortunately, no one answered him.
However, just as he stopped calling out, the Stone Wings suddenly flashed with a dazzling brilliance that filled every corner of the space, even absorbing the light of the torches. Gongcheng Yuandu closed his eyes and raised a hand to shield his face, trying to lessen the sting of the light, but the radiant scene vanished in less than two seconds.
Lowering his hands, Gongcheng Yuandu looked back at the Stone Wings, only to see a heavy, pillar-like object suspended before him.
"The Spark... Lens?"
Gongcheng Yuandu looked at the transformation device floating in front of him, speaking in a complex tone.
Suddenly, he lowered his head and pulled a white, pistol-like object from his left pants pocket.
"Energy Blaster?"
The youth looked in bewilderment at the gun in his hand and the transformation device before him, at a complete loss.
At that moment, the green jewel embedded in the center of the Spark Lens suddenly burst with an exceptionally intense light. The youth hurriedly covered his eyes against the glare. When the light subsided, he abruptly opened his eyes, sat up, and gasped for breath, beads of dense sweat dotting his brow.
The scene that met his eyes was a gray blanket.
Gongcheng Yuandu opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing at all, feeling only a lingering confusion in his heart: "Was it... a dream?"