Night had already fallen by the time everyone returned to the GUTS Command Center. Shinjo sat down in his chair and sighed, "Man! We actually got saved by a Monster again!"
"Yeah, that mysterious guy looks like he's on our side," Hori remarked.
Megumi Iruma smiled faintly at this, glancing at Xiao Luuo with a knowing look. Xiao Luuo simply returned her gaze with a smile.
Just then, Hori blurted out, "That Monster today suddenly got so weird!"
"Indeed. It was already tough to deal with, but its strength suddenly skyrocketed. Even its regeneration speed got faster!" Munakata muttered, reflecting on the battle.
"Found it! Everyone, look at this!" Muzui interrupted, transmitting a video onto the big screen.
"What is this?" Hori stared at the screen, which showed a wisp of black Qi entering Cildron's body, after which Cildron's recovery abilities increased dramatically.
"I'm not sure yet, but I'm certain that this wisp of black Qi is what suddenly made the Monster so much stronger!" Muzui explained, his fingers still flying across the keyboard.
Xiao Luuo was startled at first, thinking to himself, *So they can see that wisp of black Qi too! But why did it appear? Could someone be pulling strings behind the scenes? But who could it be?*
"In any case, we need to be much more careful in our future operations. It's getting late, everyone go get some rest!" Megumi Iruma checked the time and said.
"Ah, I'm exhausted. I'm going to take a good, long bath!" Daigo yawned.
"Daigo, are you pickled or something? Why do you smell so bad?" Rena leaned in to sniff Daigo, then pinched her nose.
"Hahahaha!"
After chatting with the others, Xiao Luuo returned to his room. It wasn't large—just a desk and a bed.
As soon as he sat on the bed, the system's voice echoed in his mind.
*"Ding! The system is about to upgrade. Remaining points will be preserved after the upgrade. Current points: 750. Draw counts will be reset. Proceed with a draw?"*
"Draw!" Xiao Luuo chose to draw without hesitation!
As the Monster roulette wheel slowed down, a glowing Monster card appeared. When the light faded, the figure of a Monster was visible on the card.
"Eleking?" Xiao Luuo said, puzzled.
*"Ding, the system is entering upgrade mode. Estimated time: 36 hours."* After that, there was no further response.
Xiao Luuo placed the Eleking card into his Monster card collector.
The next day at noon.
Xiao Luuo stared blankly at the images on the big screen, thinking, *Did my arrival alter the original sequence of events in this world? The Monster that's coming this time isn't Gasor T.*
At that moment, the door to the GUTS Command Center slid open. Director Sawai walked in and asked directly, "How is the situation?"
"That capsule might contain an extraterrestrial lifeform. We've tried calling it, but there's no response," Megumi Iruma hurried to Director Sawai's side to report.
Sawai walked over and took the captain's seat in the command room.
"Is it here to invade?" Director Sawai asked.
"We aren't sure yet."
"Is there any way to avoid it?"
"The enemy spacecraft is moving too fast. It's impossible to avoid," Nanase Agency said.
"What is the range of the Bazel Cannon?"
Hearing Director Sawai's question, an operator standing behind Nanase Agency checked the radar and replied, "It just entered range!"
"Foreign spacecraft! This is Nanase of Delta! If you do not answer us immediately, we will destroy your ship!" Nanase Agency issued another warning.
"How much time until impact?"
"Three minutes until impact."
"Fire immediately! That's an Alien Reicuron! They have no intention of responding," Xiao Luuo said at once.
"That's right, blow up their ship immediately!" Director Sawai ordered.
"But!"
"The lives of the 278 personnel at the Delta Space Station matter more than anything else!"
"Fire the Bazel Cannon!" Nanase Agency reluctantly gave the order.
At the command, a laser beam blasted straight toward the oncoming spacecraft. However, just as the Bazel Cannon was about to hit, a laser blast fired back from the spacecraft.
Yet the Bazel Cannon proved superior, blasting the spacecraft to pieces. A split second before the explosion, an escape pod launched from the ship and hurtled directly toward Earth.
"Did you see that? What would have happened if the Bazel Cannon had fired fifteen seconds later?"
Nanase Agency remained silent, simply lowering his head.
"Nanase Agency, please take the next flight back to Earth." With that, Sawai turned and left. Stopping abruptly as he passed Xiao Luuo, he looked at him and asked, "How did you know they were invaders?"
Xiao Luuo awkwardly rubbed his nose and said, "I've done quite a bit of research on Monsters, so I know a thing or two."
Sawai smiled and nodded, patted Xiao Luuo on the shoulder, and said, "It's our good fortune to have a Monster expert like you in GUTS."
He then turned and walked away.
Rena kept her eyes fixed on the man on the screen, her gaze full of dissatisfaction and resentment. As the big screen shut off, Rena lowered her head.
Seeing this, Megumi Iruma walked over to Rena and said, "Nanase Agency tried to prevent blowing up the ship until the very last moment. I think he's remarkable."
"That man... that man has nothing to do with me!" Rena snapped angrily, turning on her heel and storming out of the Command Center.
"What's wrong with her?" Hori wondered aloud.
Stepping out of the Command Center, Rena slipped back into her memories: her father had promised to buy her a tube of lipstick as a birthday present, but Nanase Agency had broken his promise because of a mission.
That grievance had remained buried in Rena's heart ever on.
Meanwhile, aboard the spacecraft returning to Earth, Nanase Agency and his crewmate were chatting and laughing when suddenly, the hull began to vibrate violently!
Another spaceship had appeared behind them out of nowhere and was relentlessly firing on their vessel!
The attack knocked out the ship's power!
"Change course! We are under attack!" Nanase Agency immediately transmitted a distress signal to TPC headquarters.
Megumi Iruma rushed into TPC headquarters at that moment and asked Muzui, who was working at the console, "What's happening?"
"The spacecraft piloted by Nanase Agency has been attacked and is descending. Enemy fire hit the ship, and its altitude is dropping rapidly!" Muzui reported quickly.
Hearing this, Rena panicked and bolted for the door, accidentally knocking Shinjo flat on his back!
"Operative Rena!" Megumi Iruma called out in alarm.
"Guts Wing 1 is preparing for launch!" Muzui announced.
"Operative Rena, report to the command room immediately! Operative Rena! Operative Rena!!!" Megumi Iruma shouted through her communicator.
Rena chose to ignore her completely.
"Launch preparations complete, ready to depart!" With that, she piloted Guts Wing 1 right out of the TPC base!
"Honestly! A father and daughter defying orders together!" Megumi Iruma sighed, slumping into her chair.
"What on earth is going on, Captain?" Daigo asked.
"Actually, Rena's original last name was Nanase," Megumi Iruma explained.
"Nanase Agency is her biological father, who abandoned her thirteen years ago." She turned to Munakata and instructed, "Deputy Captain, head to the scene immediately and rescue any survivors!"
"I'm heading out. Let's go."
As soon as they had all deployed, Megumi Iruma asked, "Xiao Luuo, what's the deal with that Alien Reicuron? Xiao Luuo? Wait, where did he go?"