Chapter 555 - Crustal Upheaval
"How could you be a burden? I would be more than willing to fight alongside you."
Despite his overwhelming strength, Yu Zhou carried no airs about him.
In his original world, although he had destroyed countless monsters, many remnants still remained. If Achilles and Herau could be brought back with him, they would undoubtedly become a significant fighting force.
"Then what about you, Tiga?"
Since Achilles and Herau had chosen to follow Yu Zhou, Yuzare turned to him, waiting for his answer.
"I… I must return to my homeland."
Yu Zhou raised his head and looked toward the sky.
"So, you're leaving…"
Yuzare sighed softly after hearing this.
She did not know why her heart felt so empty—only that it was deeply uncomfortable.
"But I will leave Earth a way forward."
As he spoke, Yu Zhou flew toward the continent.
Seeing this, the others followed closely behind.
Before long, they arrived at a mountain range deep within the landmass.
Yu Zhou stood upon a flat stretch of ground and mobilized the power within his body. His form soon turned to stone.
Then, a beam of light shot out from his Colour Timer. His appearance itself did not seem to change.
"I will leave behind a body for battle," Yu Zhou explained as he hovered in midair.
"If someone possesses a heart of light and the genetic inheritance of light, they will be able to enter the statue and fight."
"Like how Achilles and Herau became Giants of Light?"
Gazing at the statue, Yuzare recalled the origins of Achilles and Herau.
"Yes."
Yu Zhou nodded.
"But if we leave behind our battle bodies as statues," Achilles suddenly asked,
"won't that prevent us from transforming into Giants of Light?"
"Exactly," Herau agreed. "We also want to leave our battle bodies behind, just like you."
"That won't be a problem," Yu Zhou replied after a brief moment of thought.
"Your energy reserves aren't sufficient, but I can make up the difference. Try using light energy to replicate your battle bodies."
"Understood!"
Hearing that it was possible, Achilles and Herau were visibly excited.
If they followed Tiga and left, Earth would be left without any Giants of Light.
Being able to leave statues behind, just as Tiga did, was the ideal outcome.
They acted immediately.
The two stood on either side of Tiga's statue and began channelling the power within their bodies, replicating their battle forms.
Yu Zhou extended both hands, injecting red energy into Achilles and purple energy into Herau.
Power—flames…
Speed—ice…
Before long, both Achilles and Herau turned to stone. Beams of light flew out from their Colour Timers, and Yu Zhou ceased supplying energy.
The two lights reformed into Achilles and Herau themselves. After checking their condition, they found nothing amiss.
"In that case, the battle bodies are successfully left behind," Achilles said, nodding at his statue.
"When do you plan to leave?"
With all preparations complete, Yuzare asked.
"That… I don't know yet."
Yu Zhou shook his head, then added, "By the way, have you developed any machines capable of time travel?"
He remembered that the ultra-ancient civilization had once created something called a time capsule.
It was loosely connected to spacetime. If it truly allowed time travel, he might not need Chariots at all to return to thirty million years later.
"A time-travel machine?"
Yuzare searched her memory, then shook her head.
"No, but Mr. Keshiva once developed a device known as a time capsule."
"It can reach a designated location under certain conditions."
"It's called a time capsule because it can endure for hundreds of millions of years without deteriorating."
"Forget it."
Yu Zhou waved his hand dismissively.
Waiting was the last thing he wanted to do. Spacetime traversal was far more efficient.
Three statues now stood tall upon the land.
To protect them from erosion and destruction by nature, Yu Zhou created a Pyramid of Light around them.
As for the Sparklence, once a person with a heart of light touched the statue, it would materialize from the light energy he had infused into it.
The Light Particle Converter was not retrieved either—it fell upon the wastelands of the Dark Domain.
There was also a Sparklence there, which Yu Zhou did not bother with.
As for how it was later swallowed by a monster from the Dark Domain, carried out, and eventually became the Bronze Sparklence—that was a story for another time.
To Yu Zhou, Sparklence were now mass-produced items.
As the true Tiga, he no longer needed the Sparklence to transform.
Still, having grown accustomed to using it, transforming directly felt somewhat strange.
"Now that Earth has returned to normal, we don't need to look for a new home anymore, do we?"
Yuzare gazed at the faintly glowing moon in the clear sky.
On sunny days, the Moon was indeed far less conspicuous.
Cain and the others were still stationed there.
"No. The ultra-ancient humans will still leave Earth in the end."
Yu Zhou suddenly recalled the course of history.
The ultimate reason the ultra-ancient civilization abandoned Earth was—
Large-scale crustal movement.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the world began to shake violently.
"An earthquake?"
Yuzare steadied herself and looked around in confusion.
Boom!!!
A thunderous explosion erupted as the peak of a nearby mountain burst open, magma shooting skyward before raining down in all directions.
"Look over there!"
Anmon pointed toward a distant mountain ridge, shouting.
Everyone followed his gaze—and froze.
Massive waves were crashing over the mountaintops.
This was mountainous terrain.
A tsunami appearing here was nothing short of absurd.
Yet there it was.
Towering waves slammed down upon the mountains, further intensifying the trembling of the earth.
"Move, now!"
Yuzare rushed aboard her ship, ascending rapidly.
Yu Zhou and the others also took to the air.
As for the giant statues, protected by the Pyramid of Light, there was no need to worry.
Naturally, the protection was not infinite—the light would eventually wear away.
But enduring a single great catastrophe posed no issue.
"Crustal movement,"
Yu Zhou said as he watched the continent fracture beneath the clouds.
"Even without a dark invasion, humanity on Earth would still suffer catastrophic losses from this upheaval."
"Very few would survive in the end."
"Why…"
Yuzare stared at the devastated Earth in disbelief, tears streaming down her face.
After enduring disaster after disaster, hope had finally seemed within reach—
Only for the world to fall into yet another apocalypse.