Inside the base, a temporarily converted sealed cell.
"Click."
The sound of a key inserting into the steel door.
Zachary Leiman, starved for a day and night, jerked awake at the sound. Bound tightly, he could only wriggle forward, hoping the visitor brought food.
"Food... water..." he croaked hoarsely.
He looked nothing like his polished image from news broadcasts. His brown hair was matted, his face haggard, his suit tattered—indistinguishable from a homeless person.
Not that he'd been mistreated at this base. Everyone was too busy trying to save the world to bother with him.
Leiman stared at the door with hopeful eyes, imagining delicious meals.
When the door fully opened—
He first saw familiar flip-flops and a green floral shirt. The man from his nightmares!
"Yo, looking pretty lively." Natsuki looked down at Leiman wriggling on the floor and raised an eyebrow. "Still got energy to exercise, huh."
"I..." Leiman met his gaze, momentarily speechless.
Just as he was about to say something, Natsuki tossed in an oversized squid.
"Your roommate's here."
"Don't worry though—neither of you will be staying long. We're arranging your transfer to a prison on our side." Natsuki dusted off his hands.
Albert and Marshal Stacker also arrived.
Quek, thrown on the floor, groaned awake.
Good thing this cell was large enough—otherwise five people wouldn't fit.
Three Travelers, one Ultraman, one local marshal. Quite the odd lineup.
"Did you guys complete that... task of yours yet?" Natsuki turned to Albert.
He remembered these Travelers' goal was changing the world's fate, then stealing Space-Time Source Energy. Now except for one dead Traveler, the rest were here.
"No. Usually our missions settle after the time limit ends or only one person remains." Albert answered honestly.
Natsuki had completely disrupted their mission. He was just grateful he'd chosen Natsuki's side early on.
His only hope of escaping his Traveler identity was Natsuki. Naturally he'd hide nothing.
"How long until settlement?" Natsuki asked.
"Seventy-six hours." Albert replied.
A bit over three days...
Natsuki rubbed his chin. That was a bit long.
He didn't want to babysit these two for three days.
"How about this—I'll contact the Land of Light first and have them locked in the space prison." Natsuki said.
"Alright." Albert nodded. "Once they leave this world, the mission will auto-settle."
"My impact on this world wasn't large, so the Space-Time Source Energy harvested won't be much either."
"After settlement, I'll be forcibly transported out of this world, then into the next mission world."
Only organized Travelers like them harvested Space-Time Source Energy from affecting worlds. Natsuki's changes wouldn't affect his settlement.
Natsuki listened and nodded.
Through their time together, Albert seemed somewhat trustworthy. At least their interests aligned.
Natsuki wanted to investigate the organization behind these Travelers, while Albert wanted to escape his Traveler identity. They currently stood on the same side.
"Your organization behind you is really lax, letting you reveal so much intel." Natsuki said.
After cross-checking with other Travelers, he knew Albert's intel was genuine. This guy truly wanted his freedom back.
But this made him more curious about their backing organization. Wasn't there supposed to be keyword detection? How could he reveal so much?
Albert's explanation: "Like I told you before, the system interfacing with us has zero intelligence. It's completely like a program."
"So... I've suspected before that perhaps someone's indirectly using us through this program."
"Only they've never shown themselves or revealed any information."
Having experienced several worlds as a Traveler, he was very curious about whoever was behind the system, but never had opportunities to obtain relevant intel.
They hid too deep.
As Albert spoke, the two prisoners in the cell also understood.
"Damn it!"
"You betrayed us!"
"No wonder he found me so easily!" Leiman cursed at Albert. This guy was disgracing all Travelers.
He already didn't know how to fight something as overpowered as an Ultraman, and now there was a mole too!
Completely unwinnable!
"You'll pay for this." Quek also spoke—he could speak human language.
Such blatant betrayal would surely earn system punishment.
"Pay?"
"I'd like to know who would make me pay." Albert shot back without courtesy.
The system interfacing with them was just an emotionless program. As long as he brought back Space-Time Source Energy, the system wouldn't target him. Besides, no one would know what happened here.
If someone wanted to punish him, it would have to be whoever was behind the system. He'd actually like to see who they were.
"You..."
"Fine... ruthless." Quek stared at Albert and said helplessly.
He saw it—this guy had bet everything on the Ultraman.
Going all-in was a kind of wisdom.
Honestly, if he'd had the chance, he'd have switched sides too.
He knew even if he tried now, they wouldn't accept him.
"But even if nothing happens to you—"
"Next mission world, if this guy appears again, everyone will definitely target him." Leiman looked at Natsuki.
Albert could bring back Space-Time Source Energy for the system, so he'd be fine.
But if Natsuki appeared in the next world, the system would definitely detect an anomaly. Once was an exception that wouldn't trigger detection—after all, neither the system nor the organization behind it treated them as people.
But if this world's situation happened a second time, their system would definitely intervene.
"Target me?" Hearing this, Natsuki pointed at himself, puzzled.
"You sure?"
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