Boom——!!!
The moment Yuzhou stepped out of the spatial vortex and onto a city street, a thunderous explosion drew his attention.
More accurately, the deafening sound nearly shattered his eardrums.
Not only Yuzhou—everyone on the street turned toward the source of the blast.
In the distance, thick smoke billowed upward, clearly the result of a massive object crashing down from the sky and kicking up clouds of dust.
From within the rolling haze, a gigantic beast crawled out. It opened a crocodile-like maw, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and let out a series of ferocious roars.
Savage—this seemed to be the monster's very nature.
After roaring, the beast began rampaging wildly, smashing buildings and tearing through nearby structures.
Panic instantly spread through the street. Amid screams, people scattered in all directions, fleeing for their lives.
Yuzhou, by contrast, remained calm, standing in place as he carefully observed the monster.
Aside from its crocodilian jaws, its nose bore what looked like a shark's dorsal fin.
On its left side grew a large fin, while on the right side—
The right fin looked as though it had been cleanly severed by someone.
"So it's the Cosmic Ferocious Shark, Genegarg," Yuzhou said quietly.
He hadn't expected that right after leaving the world of Ultra Galaxy Fight 2, he would arrive directly in Z's world.
This was the storyline following Galaxy Fight 2—the incident where Genegarg arrived on Earth, as mentioned by Z himself.
Judging by its appearance, the missing right fin was likely the handiwork of Hikari.
Genegarg roared again and pushed itself fully upright.
Before it could destroy more buildings, a massive figure dropped from the sky and landed heavily nearby.
Sevenger.
Earth's technological level here was impressive—advanced enough to construct mechanical giants to fight kaiju.
Sevenger was one such creation, developed by STORAGE, this world's defense organization.
"Speaking of STORAGE… he should be there," Yuzhou thought.
The idea sparked a trace of anticipation. He was looking forward to seeing an old acquaintance within STORAGE.
He wondered whether that person had changed after becoming a Giant of Light.
As for Sevenger, Yuzhou knew very well who was piloting it—the future human host of Ultraman Z, Natsukawa Haruki.
Facing Sevenger, Genegarg let out another furious roar.
Just as the two were about to clash, a streak of blue light descended from the sky, landing squarely between Sevenger and Genegarg.
The dazzling radiance was blinding, but it quickly faded, revealing a towering figure within.
A giant primarily blue in colour, accented with red, black, and silver—
Ultraman Z.
Originally, after Z pursued Genegarg, Zero had followed as well.
However, in space, Zero had been swallowed into a different-dimensional space by a Bullton spat out by Genegarg, leaving only Z to chase it to Earth.
Upon appearing, Z immediately charged at Genegarg, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks.
Under Z's flurry of attacks, Genegarg seemed momentarily stunned.
Likely unaccustomed to Earth's gravity, it offered little effective counterattack.
"Genegarg doesn't look that strong," Yuzhou remarked. "And yet Hikari actually let it escape… absurd."
After watching the fight briefly, Yuzhou turned and continued walking down the street.
Everyone else had already fled. The street was empty, leaving only Yuzhou behind, an eerie silence settling over the area.
Broadcast announcements echoed through the city, instructing civilians to evacuate to the New Asahi Elementary School shelter.
Following the road signs, Yuzhou transformed into a streak of purple light and sped toward the shelter.
His speed was tremendous—but suddenly, a massive body crashed down directly in front of him.
If he hadn't reacted in time, he would have been crushed beneath it.
Yuzhou braked sharply and came to a halt.
Lying before him was Ultraman Z.
Z did not recognize Yuzhou in his human form. He only knew that the senior known as Tiga was exceptionally powerful—the one who had driven Tartarus away.
Seeing Yuzhou, Z merely felt relieved that he hadn't landed on a civilian. He quickly got back up and resumed fighting Genegarg.
Yuzhou was about to continue on his way when yet another massive body slammed down in front of him.
"Seriously? Is this a joke?" Yuzhou muttered, speechless.
It was becoming obvious that he wouldn't be reaching the shelter anytime soon.
Truthfully, Yuzhou had only planned to go there because the streets were empty—he wanted to ask someone for directions to STORAGE.
Instead, he kept getting blocked.
This time, the one lying in front of him was Sevenger, piloted by Haruki.
Moments later, Sevenger stood back up and charged toward Genegarg once again.
"Two-on-one, and it's still this hard?" Yuzhou sighed.
At that moment, he fully understood Zero's evaluation of Z—why he called him a one-third-trained half-baked Ultra.
Because Z really was like that: limited ability, reckless action, all brute force and little finesse.
Continuing forward, Yuzhou soon reached the New Asahi Elementary School shelter.
Inside, many evacuees were gathered, watching the distant battle unfold.
Unexpectedly, Genegarg suddenly charged like a wild boar, smashing into both Z and Sevenger and sending them flying—straight toward the shelter.
Panic erupted.
Men, women, and children inside the shelter screamed as the monster rapidly closed in.
Z and Sevenger recovered quickly. One moved to the front, the other to the rear, grabbing hold of Genegarg and forcibly halting its advance.
"Lift it up and finish it with a big move already!" Yuzhou muttered under his breath.
Of course, Z couldn't hear him.
What puzzled Yuzhou was that after stopping Genegarg, the two actually pulled away from it.
The next instant, a red glow flared across Genegarg's body.
Countless red energy projectiles shot out, streaking toward Z and Sevenger.
Z could have deployed an Ultra Barrier to block the attack—but instead, he crossed his arms in front of himself, taking the bombardment head-on as explosions erupted across his body.
Sevenger, lacking any energy barrier, was blasted by the barrage until smoke poured from its frame.
Inside the STORAGE command centre.
"Hebikura" stared at the live feed on the monitor, his brows knitting slightly.
"This Ultraman… he looks kind of clumsy," he commented.
That was Z's first impression on Hebikura.
As STORAGE's captain, Hebikura cared deeply about his subordinates—especially that idiot kid, Haruki.
Watching Sevenger being hammered by Genegarg's barrage, Hebikura nearly lost control and intervened himself.
"Captain! The monster's body temperature is rising rapidly!" Yoko exclaimed, reading the data on her console.
"That's bad—Haruki's in danger!" Hebikura snapped.
On the screen, Genegarg unleashed a purple energy beam from its mouth, blasting straight toward Z and Sevenger.
Hebikura grew anxious.
He swiftly pulled a crystalline rod from his pocket, his finger almost pressing it down—
But before he could act, the screen was completely engulfed by blinding light, obscuring everything from view.