In an instant, all the dove representatives in the conference room lost their composure.
They began to voice their objections one after another.
Seeing the situation spiraling into chaos, Director Yoshioka slammed his fan fiercely onto the table, and absolute silence fell instantly.
"The Director hasn't spoken yet, what are you all arguing about?"
Despite his words, the look of profound appreciation for Yin Xi in Yoshioka's eyes was practically overflowing.
He had long felt that GUTS's combat capability was far too weak.
Humanity should not always rely on the power of Ultraman.
Instead, they needed to rely on their own strength to protect Earth.
"However, even if we start research and development now, will we make it in time for the Gijera attack?"
Director Sawai's calm voice rang out.
"It's too late. I merely wanted to give you all a precautionary warning in advance."
As he spoke, Yin Xi cast an apologetic glance toward Camilla.
Camilla naturally understood what Yin Xi meant.
Without a word, she simply nodded slightly.
As if sensing something, Sawai finally resolved his hesitation.
"I understand. I will arrange the subsequent work. Thank you both for your hard work."
With that, he immediately stood up and bowed to Yin Xi and Camilla.
Yoshioka, standing nearby, did not hesitate either, rising to his feet the moment Sawai stood up.
He also bowed, their synchronized actions making everyone still seated in the room feel rather awkward.
They hurriedly attempted to stand and bow as well, but Yin Xi was already nowhere to be seen.
"I don't get it. Why on earth do you care so much about the survival of Earth and humanity?"
Camilla crossed her arms, striking a pose of deep contemplation.
*(That's definitely because I'm a human too.)*
However, Yin Xi certainly couldn't voice his inner thoughts aloud.
"Perhaps it's because I've stayed here for so long and grown attached to it."
Sensing that he was lying, Camilla shot him an unamused, sidelong glance.
"Have it your way."
With that, without waiting for Yin Xi to catch up, she walked ahead on her own.
Watching Camilla head off in the direction opposite to the GUTS conference room,
Yin Xi scratched his head in confusion.
Yet, he still puppy-doggedly followed after her.
Previously, Horie had successfully analyzed the barrier released by Yuzare, and Mizuno had somehow managed to successfully connect the computer to the barrier.
Consequently, this barrier now served as a natural protective shield for TPC.
Anyone harboring malice, whether human or Alien, could not break through.
The moment someone was repelled by the barrier, Mizuno's end would receive a signal.
Just moments ago, Mizuno received the signal that the barrier had been triggered.
Munakata immediately dispatched Daigo and Shinjo to investigate.
"Commander, Commander, we've found a suspicious individual wearing a brown jacket, and he's already passed out. Should we bring him back?"
After a brief moment of thought, Munakata ordered the two of them to bring the suspect back.
Just as the pair intended to tie up the suspicious individual and bring him back for interrogation,
a figure clad in a black robe flashed past in the woods not far away.
In an instant, the figure appeared behind them, dark purple energy coating its hands, launching a lethal strike straight away.
*Whoosh.* The hand-chop headed directly for Shinjo's back somehow stopped dead, unable to advance even a fraction of an inch.
A slender whip of light tightly bound the black-robed person's wrist.
Daigo and Shinjo reacted immediately, putting distance between themselves and the opponent.
Daigo even took the opportunity to activate the built-in recording function on his helmet.
Pulling hard on the light whip, Camilla intended to drag the black-robed person directly toward her.
Unable to break free for the moment, the black-robed person stopped struggling against Camilla.
Instead, they leaped toward her; the tightly bound light whip loosened slightly as a result.
The black-robed person immediately wriggled free from it.
Suddenly, a mighty roar rang out.
"Gaia!"
Yin Xi abruptly emerged from out of nowhere, delivering a powerful, flying kick squarely into the opponent's chest.
The black-robed person went flying backward, crashing down right at the feet of Daigo and Shinjo.
The black hood slipped off briefly, revealing the face beneath.
It was captured precisely by Daigo's recorder.
It was a rather good-looking woman.
The woman did not wish to prolong the fight; springing to her feet with a single, massive bound, she bolted deeper into the forest.
The next instant, four more black-robed figures emerged from the forest, scooped up the unconscious man on the ground, and vanished in the direction the woman had fled.
Shinjo wanted to pursue them, but Daigo stopped him.
Yin Xi's expression grew increasingly solemn.
In his memory, there had never been so many Gijera acting together.
"Were those... those Gijera people?"
Camilla retracted her light whip, walked over to Yin Xi, and asked.
Yin Xi nodded.
"Still, I've never seen so many of them at once before."
"Oh? You've dealt with them before?"
Yin Xi did not reply, for he had no idea how to answer.
Seeing that Yin Xi had clammed up again, Camilla said nothing more.
She simply figured she had gotten used to her riddler of a little brother.
Meanwhile, seeing that no one was pursuing them, the several Gijera halted their steps.
"Lady Witch, you were far too reckless this time."
The black-robed woman let out a cold snort and remained silent.
"That fool Mitsuo Itabashi almost got captured. If the humans figure out a way to deal with us..."
The witch also glared with annoyance at the still-unconscious Mitsuo Itabashi.
"We must alter our subsequent preparations. That woman is powerful."
"Understood, Lady Witch."
...
"So you're saying this guy in the brown jacket is likely a Gijera? Why would he want to infiltrate our base?"
"Mizuno, could you please pull up the database and compare these two faces Daigo photographed to see who they are?"
"Got it, give me a few minutes."
Inside the conference room, everyone was gathered around the video footage Daigo had captured, engaged in a heated discussion.
Before long, Mizuno projected the retrieved information onto the screen.
"The man's name is Mitsuo Itabashi, and the woman's name is Beniko Oda. The database shows that both of them are long dead."
"It seems our opponents also possess the ability to parasitize dead bodies. Truly troublesome,"
Shinjo said with a grimace.
Uncharacteristically, no one argued with his statement this time.
Over the next few days, the entire GUTS team was mobilized, searching day and night for traces of the Gijera.
Yet, it was as if they had vanished into thin air, leaving no further actions behind.
This only made everyone even more vigilant.
Everyone knew this was merely the calm before the storm.
However, several days of investigation were not entirely without results.
Mizuno successfully identified the cause of the initial explosion and quickly reverse-engineered their reconnaissance methods.
Right now, he was monitoring major regions in real-time.
He hadn't rested in a long time.
And on this very tranquil night,
figures clad in black robes threaded through various buildings.
Other black-robed figures surrounded the members of GUTS.
Holding a skewer of barbecue in one hand while pulling Rena along with the other, Camilla was the first to sense that something was amiss.
The number of black-robed figures surrounding her was the greatest.
Without wasting words, Camilla directly drew her light whip, bound Rena, and tossed her straight into the Šarvator.
She locked the doors from the inside and activated the Šarvator's defense system.
Rena tried to climb out, but Camilla shoved her right back down.
"Don't come out, you hear me? Coming out just holds me back, and I'll end up hating you."
Meeting Camilla's serious gaze, Rena ultimately could only nod.
Seeing the worry filling Rena's eyes, Camilla smiled with a sense of relief.
Confirming that Rena had no intention of coming out, Camilla tossed aside her barbecue skewer and walked gracefully into the middle of the street.
Four black-robed figures emerged from the darkness as well.
Simultaneously, inside the base,
Mizuno, who had been on the verge of dozing off, was abruptly jolted awake by an alarm on his computer.
Large red zones appeared simultaneously in three different locations.