I used to think Leo was just a rookie during this period. Even if I was weaker than him, I figured I couldn't be that far off. Little did I know that I was the actual rookie here, while he was the veteran!
Sure enough, that glaring "Low-level Warrior" line in the System interface didn't lie at all.
"Hiyah!"
After all, Leo was not yet the master of hand-to-hand combat he would become in the later years. Under the combined assault of the Giras brothers, he quickly showed signs of defeat and was swatted away by a claw strike from Black Giras.
"Roar!"
Instead of pressing their advantage, the Giras brothers charged up energy beams from their horns once again. The blue beams struck the ocean surface, and a fresh tsunami began to brew.
With that done, the Giras brothers cast fierce gazes at the newly risen Leo, their destructive beams poised and ready.
Right at that moment, several missiles suddenly dropped from the sky, striking the heads of the Giras brothers with pinpoint accuracy and interrupting the destructive beams they were gathering.
MAC Macchi 2 flew right over the top of Black Giras, with Dan Moroboshi looking down from the cockpit.
The color timer on Leo's chest was already flashing, suggesting he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. And as for that newly risen Ultra Warrior, interwoven in red and silver...
Even as composed as Lord Seven was, a hint of joy could not help but show on his face now.
He hadn't expected that kid to be telling the truth after all—he really was an Ultra Warrior! This was great; having an extra powerhouse made it much more certain they could defeat Alien Magma and the Twin Monsters.
As for whether he truly came from Planet O-50, did that even matter?
"You're finally here!"
Watching Dan Moroboshi inside the fighter jet, Minghui slowly gave him an Ultra nod while letting out a quiet sigh of relief in his heart.
With Lord Seven's Ultra Telekinesis to back him up, even if this battle was lost, the risks wouldn't be too catastrophic.
Yet judging by Leo's currently teetering state, the chances of victory were looking exceedingly slim.
The new tsunami had already formed, and this time the Giras brothers seemed to have ramped up their power; this round of the tsunami was obviously much more ferocious than the previous one.
It wasn't quite close yet, but the overwhelming momentum that threatened to swallow and destroy everything made the heart of everyone watching sink heavily.
Minghui was under immense pressure. He had tried his absolute best, but he simply couldn't recapture that feeling he'd had earlier.
Right now, aside from being bigger and stronger, he was completely useless. At most, he could rely on his massive physical advantage to protect a handful of people. But in the face of a tsunami like this, even if he could shield a few individuals, what about the remaining thousands?
"Damn it!"
He had actually become an Ultraman, yet he couldn't even protect a tiny island...
Was he destined to repeat the tragedy of the original story?
If the ending really turned out that way, the Battle of Kuroshio Island wouldn't just be a permanent scar in Feng Yuan's heart—it would likely become his own, too.
The roaring tsunami drew closer and closer. Minghui's heart suddenly grew still. He cast his gaze down at the island beneath his feet, and an idea sparked in his mind.
If he couldn't hold back the tsunami, why not raise the island instead?
"This body... it has to work!"
"Hah!"
Minghui let out a low shout, dove headfirst into the sea, and swam downward.
"Captain! That newly appeared Ultraman slipped away!"
Dan Moroboshi had been keeping a close eye on the situation below. Seeing the red-and-silver Ultra Warrior dive into the sea, he was somewhat perplexed. Just then, Ichiro Aoshima's voice came through the communicator.
Dan Moroboshi frowned, picked up the communicator, and barked, "Silence! Focus on your task and don't get distracted!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Lowering the communicator, Dan Moroboshi's brow remained tightly furrowed. The tsunami was about to slam into Kuroshio Island—why on earth would he dive into the ocean at a time like this?
Could he... really be fleeing from battle?
Right at that moment, Kuroshio Island gave a collective shudder, though it quickly settled down.
Because of the sudden tremor, the people on Kuroshio Island began stumbling about, plunging into even greater panic.
"What's going on?!"
"An... an earthquake?"
"God... save us!"
The tsunami hadn't been dealt with yet and was about to crash onto the island, and now an earthquake had started on top of that. Faced with these two natural disasters, Kuroshio Island probably wouldn't escape destruction!
"Where's Ultraman? Ultraman, please come and save us!"
"Don't count on Ultraman anymore! Didn't you see? Ultraman already ran away!" Under the threat to their lives, some people were already growing belligerent.
Someone couldn't help retorting, "No! Leo is still fighting the monsters—Ultraman won't abandon us!"
"Leo can't beat those two monsters either, and he can't help us. We're done for." That person laughed bitterly.
The person who had just spoken up wanted to say something, but watching Leo appear increasingly powerless against the two monsters, he finally fell silent as well. Despair welled up in the depths of his eyes, and he muttered under his breath.
"Are we really finished?"
"Is Kuroshio Island... going to be destroyed?"
............
"I won't allow it!"
Under the sea.
Minghui swung his fist hard, delivering a powerful blow against the pillars beneath the island. Large chunks of rock shattered and crumbled away.
Another punch landed, and a wider fissure cracked open.
"How can I let Kuroshio Island be destroyed all over again?!"
Minghui's punching grew faster and faster. Every blow widened the cracks in the pillars even further. Following his movements, Kuroshio Island on the surface was affected as well, trembling along with him.
"Hah!"
Finally, the last heavy, forceful strike landed. The stone pillars at the base of the island snapped with a thunderous roar, and countless shards of rock blasted outward from the impact, swept away by the churning currents.
The fracture of the underwater pillars caused an even greater shockwave. The people on the island were knocked off their feet by the swaying, and some buildings even began to wobble, though thankfully none of them collapsed in the end.
"Hah!"
Minghui raised his head from the seabed to check the progress of the tsunami, seeing that it had closed in on Kuroshio Island and would soon crash onto the shore.
Clenching his fists, Minghui swam right up to the broken section of the pillars, raised his hands, and pressed upward.
"If a caveman could push the Moon back in the day, lifting a tiny island now should be a piece of cake for me! Hah!"
Minghui let out a furious roar, pouring every ounce of his strength into lifting upward.
..........
"It's over, we're dead for sure..."
As the tsunami closed in, more and more people wore expressions of despair.
"Damn that Ultraman, coward, chicken! Sob, sob..." Some people had completely broken down mentally, weeping and wailing while venting their anger on Minghui, the Ultraman who had 'fled before battle'.
The island beneath their feet shook violently once again.
Yet the people had already grown numb to the earthquakes; the tsunami right before their eyes was the fatal crisis. They closed their eyes and waited to die.
The roaring tsunami surged forward. Its height of several dozen meters made it look like a curtain blotting out the sky, waiting only to crash down and claim everyone's lives.
Finally, the tsunami reached Kuroshio Island, carrying with it a momentum capable of engulfing everything—and slammed fiercely against... the retaining walls of Kuroshio Island.
"W-Wait a second, the tsunami looks like it's getting lower!"
Someone noticed the phenomenon, scrambled back up from the ground, and broke into a joyful expression.
"No..."
He looked left and right, scratched his head in bewilderment, and muttered with a puzzled expression:
"It looks like Kuroshio Island... is rising!"