Right now, Melba was being beaten back step by step by Gomora and Ultraman Tiga. It had already used its all just to handle Gomora, and now, with Ultraman Tiga joining the fray, it truly faced opponents on all sides.
At this moment, the Color Timer on Ultraman Tiga's chest was beeping incessantly, its flashing speed growing noticeably faster.
Right then, Ultraman Tiga rapidly finished charging its energy, a posture that undoubtedly meant its most powerful attack—the Zepellion Ray—was about to be unleashed!
Witnessing this, Xiao Luuo felt a jolt of alarm and shouted out without a second thought: "Gomora, go stop him right now!" As if sharing a telepathic bond with Xiao Luuo, Gomora grasped its master's intent in an instant. Like a cannonball fired from a cannon, it lunged straight at Ultraman Tiga, slamming hard into him and sending the giant crashing unceremoniously to the ground.
Struck by such a violent blow, the Color Timer on Ultraman Tiga's chest, which had been blinking at a slower rate, now flashed with increasing urgency! Seeing the critical situation, Xiao Luuo made a prompt decision and issued an order: "Gomora, use the Super Oscillation Wave! Watch your strength, just enough to knock him immobile—you must not destroy him completely!" After all, knowing Daigo's stubborn personality, he would never give up easily before the very end of a battle.
If he were to scatter into particles of light and vanish without a trace during their first encounter, the toll on him as a human host would be immense.
Upon receiving Xiao Luuo's command, Gomora immediately began gathering energy to prepare the Super Oscillation Wave. Sensing that something was wrong, Melba nearby hurriedly flapped its wings in an attempt to take flight and escape the scene, but no matter how it struggled, it could not shake off Gomora's hawk-like gaze locking onto it.
Accompanied by a deafening roar, Melba was sent flying backward by the powerful Super Oscillation Wave, looking like a kite with a snapped string. Its massive body plummeted at an astonishing speed, finally crashing heavily onto the hard ground.
In an instant, dust billowed up like a surging, monstrous wave, blotting out the sky as if the entire world had been shaken by the immense impact.
The very moment Melba was shot down, Xiao Luuo, who had been watching the battle intently, keenly captured a peculiar phenomenon—a mysterious, profound black aura quietly drifted out from inside Melba. Right then, Melba lay motionless on the ground, with only its slightly rising and falling chest faintly heaving, a sign that it still clung to a sliver of life.
Xiao Luuo stared at Melba, which had now returned to its original form. Its once majestic wings were riddled with holes of all sizes, looking utterly battered and torn.
Faced with such a wretched sight, Xiao Luuo unhesitatingly pulled out a blank Monster Card and whispered softly: "Become my partner, Melba!" Without missing a beat, he resolutely inserted the blank Monster Card into the Initial Battle Niser in his hand, then slowly extended it toward the fallen Melba.
Instantly, the Initial Battle Niser burst with a dazzling white light. Soon after, Melba's body was gradually enveloped by this mysterious light, turning in the blink of an eye into a brilliant golden stream of light that shot rapidly into the Battle Niser like a falling star.
At the same time, the blank Monster Card automatically popped out, landing squarely in Xiao Luuo's palm. The surface of the card clearly reflected Melba's valiant and imposing figure, lifelike and vivid.
Xiao Luuo gazed at the Melba card in his hand, a hint of contemplation and excitement flashing in his eyes. Then, he slowly turned around and cast his gaze toward Ultraman Tiga, who had just managed to climb up from the ground. At this moment, Ultraman Tiga was locked in a tense and fierce standoff with Gomora.
The corners of Xiao Luuo's mouth curled up slightly into a shrewd smile, though he had no intention of toying with Daigo. He took a deep breath and shouted again: "Gomora, return!"
The moment the words fell, a dazzling golden light shone from Gomora's body. Its massive form gradually grew translucent, finally transforming into a brilliant golden ray that flew back into the Battle Niser in Xiao Luuo's hand.
At the same time, that golden light condensed into a brand-new battle card—Gomora's card. Surprisingly, however, wisps of white smoke were actually drifting from this card right now.
Seeing the monster before him suddenly vanish, Ultraman Tiga relaxed his tense nerves slightly. Realizing clearly that his transformation time was nearing its limit and the Color Timer on his chest was flashing red at an alarming rate, Ultraman Tiga leaped up without hesitation and soared into the vast sky.
Xiao Luuo quietly gazed at the two precious cards in his hand, a look of satisfaction washing over his face. He gently stroked Gomora's battle card and whispered softly: "You've worked hard, Gomora!" Then, he carefully placed the card into his carefully prepared Monster Card collector.
Once that was done, an irrepressible joy surged in Xiao Luuo's heart. He secretly rejoiced at having acquired the Melba card and couldn't help marveling: "Melba, is this even an ordinary monster anymore? It's simply top-tier fusion material!" At this thought, Xiao Luuo felt filled with anticipation and confidence for the future.
Meanwhile, Shinjo aboard Guts Wing 2 could not help wondering aloud: "Gone? The giant flew away, but the monster... how did it disappear?" A giant question mark hung over his little head.
"Headquarters, the unknown monster has vanished, and Golza has escaped," Munakata reported directly to headquarters via the communicator.
"Understood. You guys head back first," came Megumi Iruma's aloof voice.
At this moment, everyone's thoughts drifted back to the scene of Daigo's crash, and they couldn't help lowering their heads to mourn their comrade. Just then, an untimely voice broke the silence: "That's Daigo! Look over there!" Sure enough, it was Hori who spoke, pointing toward a small stream on the ground.
Rena immediately looked in the direction Hori was pointing, and there was Daigo, standing by the stream with his helmet in hand, waving at them! The gloom on her face was instantly replaced by excitement.
She landed Guts Wing 2 directly.
"Daigo, you worried us to death!" Rena complained.
"You jerk, you scared the life out of me!" Shinjo chimed in with a chuckle.
Munakata pushed the others aside and asked Daigo solemnly: "What on earth happened?"
"The emergency ejection malfunctioned."
"You're lucky to be alive!" With that, he patted Daigo on the shoulder, a smile breaking through his solemn expression.
Back at the base, Muzui suddenly cried out: "Found him! Here, there's a person."
With that, he projected Xiao Luuo's image onto the big screen.
Megumi Iruma fell into deep thought as she looked at Xiao Luuo's figure on the screen. How could anyone possibly be in such a remote place?
Meanwhile, relying on the memories in his mind, Xiao Luuo hiked all the way until he finally reached the spot where Daigo and the others were. Wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, he enthusiastically waved his arms at the group and shouted loudly: "Hey! Are you guys GUTS? I want to join GUTS too."
Hearing this, everyone present was slightly startled before turning their gazes toward Xiao Luuo. Munakata put on a solemn expression and responded firmly: "GUTS carries heavy responsibilities and is no child's play. In a moment, we will have you sent back to the city."
However, Xiao Luuo did not back down at this remark, instead blurting out without hesitation: "I know that, but I truly yearn to join GUTS!" Before his voice had even faded, Shinjo stared hard at Xiao Luuo and demanded: "Just you? What makes you think you have what it takes to be a member of GUTS? You should know that getting into GUTS is exceptionally difficult!"
Faced with Shinjo's questioning, Xiao Luuo showed no sign of arguing. Instead, he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of identification documents carefully prepared by the system.