"Captain? What is that thing?"
Yoko stared blankly at the Sparklence in Hebikura's hand, asking in confusion.
"Ah… nothing, nothing," Hebikura replied hastily, quickly putting the Sparklence away before changing the subject. "What's going on with the screen?"
"I don't know," Yoko said as her attention immediately shifted back to the monitor. At that moment, the screen showed nothing but blinding white light.
As the radiance gradually faded, a giant figure composed of silver, purple, and red emerged on the display.
The giant stood firmly in front of Sevenger and Z. At the same time, Genegarg's rapidly rising body temperature condensed into a powerful purple energy blast, which it fired straight toward Sevenger and Z.
Boom!!!
In an instant, the newly appeared giant's body shifted to a silver-and-red hue. Raising one arm, he blocked the incoming energy head-on, forcibly stopping Genegarg's attack.
Behind him, Z looked utterly shocked.
"It's him!!!"
The moment Hebikura saw the new giant, he exclaimed out loud.
"Huh? Captain, you know this giant?" Yoko asked, turning toward him with a puzzled expression.
"Ah—no! I mean… who is that? Why is there another giant now?" Hebikura quickly corrected himself, awkwardly improvising an excuse.
"Yeah, why is there another giant?" Yoko echoed.
But as she spoke, excitement quickly took over her face. After all, researching aliens and giants was something she genuinely loved.
There was no helping it—Yuzhou had intervened.
He couldn't just stand by and watch Z and Haruki get killed by Genegarg.
Even if the two would eventually become one after death, there was no reason for them to die here in the first place.
"Senior Tiga?!!"
Z stared at the giant before him and cried out in shock.
This kind of call was more like telepathic communication—ordinary humans couldn't hear it.
That included Haruki, who had not yet become one with Z.
"Z," Yuzhou said calmly. With a powerful swing of his arm, he dispersed Genegarg's beam, then turned his head toward Z. "Become one with the human beside you and fight together. That way, your strength will grow much faster."
"Become… one?"
Z glanced at Sevenger beside him and froze for a moment.
"I understand!"
Z nodded firmly, and his consciousness entered Haruki's mental world.
To be honest, Z already felt that the Earth human piloting Sevenger was quite remarkable.
To be able to fight Genegarg so fiercely using Earth's technology alone was no small feat.
One had to remember—even his own master, Zero, had suffered a loss at Genegarg's hands!
"Eh? We're out of power!"
Despite the appearance of another giant, Haruki was still prepared to continue fighting. Unfortunately, Sevenger's operating time had run out.
Just as Haruki began to panic, a gate of light opened beneath his seat, and he fell straight into it.
"Where… is this?"
Haruki looked around. The place resembled a different-dimensional space, with no visible exit.
"Earth human, your name is Haruki, right?"
Z's figure suddenly appeared behind him, startling Haruki.
"Ah—yes! So you can talk!" Haruki nodded, then abruptly realized something. The being in front of him was the giant from outside!
"My name is Ultraman Z," Z said directly. "Haruki, if we become one, we can defeat the monster outside!"
"Huh? Become one?" Haruki was completely stunned.
"Yes, become one," Z nodded. "Are you willing to fight together with me?"
"So you're saying… if I merge with you, we can defeat that monster, right?" Haruki hesitated for a moment and asked to confirm.
"That's right. Senior Tiga said so," Z replied with another nod.
"Senior Tiga?" Haruki looked even more confused. "You mean the other giant? With him around, do we even need to fight? He seemed like he could defeat that monster by himself!"
Haruki recalled the scene where the newly appeared giant blocked Genegarg's beam with his bare hand, suddenly feeling that he and Z might not even be necessary.
"That… should be true," Z admitted after a brief pause. "But Haruki—do you want to protect peace together with me?"
"Ah, well… STORAGE has Sevenger. We can protect humanity and Earth, and fight monsters," Haruki replied after thinking for a moment.
Z: "..."
"However…" Haruki suddenly continued, just as Z was about to give up. "If you want to fight together with me—then let's do it!"
"I want to protect Earth with my own hands!"
"Good! Then take this!" Z said, handing the blue Z Riser to Haruki. Immediately after, Z turned into light and vanished.
"Huh?"
Before Haruki could react, a card bearing his own portrait suddenly appeared in front of him.
"What's this?"
"Insert the Ultra Light Card into the Z Riser," Z's voice echoed through the space.
"Ossu…" Haruki muttered instinctively, inserting the card into the Z Riser.
"Haruki, access granted!"
A voice rang out from the Z Riser. At the same time, a small blue box appeared at Haruki's waist.
"What's this now?"
Haruki opened the box and found three medals inside.
"These are the Ultra Medals of my masters—Zero, Seven, and Leo," Z explained. "Insert the medals into the Z Riser. That way, you should be able to use their power!"
"You really have a lot of masters," Haruki couldn't help but comment.
Even so, he followed Z's instructions and loaded all three medals into the Z Riser.
Under Z's guidance, he twisted the device, reading the medals' data and energy.
"Zero."
"Seven."
"Leo."
As the Z Riser completed its scan, Z's enormous form appeared behind Haruki amid intersecting beams of light.
"Now—shout my name!" Z instructed.
"Uh… what was your name again?" Haruki froze and asked awkwardly.
Z: "..."
"Ultraman Z!" Z replied firmly.
"Ultraman Z?" Haruki tried saying it quietly.
"No, that's not right. You need to shout it with more spirit!"
"Spirit?"
"Yes! Listen carefully—shout it with overwhelming spirit!
Call my name—Ultraman Z!"
Haruki nodded, raised the Z Riser, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"ULTRAMAN Z!"
Nothing happened.
"The trigger—press the trigger at the end!" Z whispered urgently.
"Huh? The trigger?" Haruki glanced at the Z Riser, raised it again, and pressed down hard.