Just as 'Ruan Mei' was apprehended by the two geniuses.
While Zero and several other giants of light were heading towards the Tarak Federation.
Certain changes had already begun to quietly take place within the Tarak Federation.
On an ordinary life-sustaining planet located within the borders of the Tarak Federation, towering, layered skyscrapers crammed every available living space.
Specialized equipment unfolded level upon level atop the high-rises, blocking the sunlight from reaching the depths below.
In the Tarak Federation, ever since the Federation's establishment, sunlight had become a service one had to pay to enjoy.
And down in those deepest depths.
In the cramped, squalid spaces, dilapidated like sewers.
All illumination came from the dense, countless virtual advertisement boards.
And in one particularly narrow, cramped room.
A teenage boy stared intently at the virtual screen before him, watching a tokusatsu hero show from some unknown civilization, filmed who knows how many years ago, that had almost no popularity.
Born and raised in the lowest depths, he had never seen real sunlight.
Nor could he ever afford the popular hero shows that required payment to watch.
Until one day, he found this free hero series.
The hero in the show, whose set up was the solar incarnation Helios, had a bright red body and silvery-white chest armor.
He wielded blazing flames and radiance, capable of driving away countless enemies and bringing dawn to the world he protected.
A clichéd story, unoriginal setting, and a frighteningly long number of episodes.
But he had fallen in love with this unpopular hero.
Because it could bring sunlight.
He always prayed, if only Helios could come here.
Could he also bring sunlight for him, and for everyone living here?
He wanted to see what real sunlight was like, if it was really as warm as the star-net said.
If they could bask in the sun, maybe it could help his mother defeat her illness, help his father defeat the bad guys who stole his smile.
Harboring such simple longing, he finished today's free viewing quota. Followed immediately by an inspirational ad bragging about their planet's continuously growing economic output this year.
Regretfully, he chose to exit.
Then got up to care for his mother.
This was his daily routine, a routine that had started when he was eight years old, the year his mother fell ill.
It had continued for seven years.
As for studying?
Studying also required payment, and it was extremely expensive.
The Federation didn't even allow anyone to privately teach their knowledge to others.
Just as he thought today would be the same as always.
Care for his mother, wait for his working father to come home for dinner, then go out to discuss today's episode with his friends.
BAM—!
The shabby iron door was violently kicked open.
The clean, crisp uniform he'd only ever seen on TV stood before him.
And behind that security officer was his father, hunched over, looking terribly nervous.
"Ha, vermin. There are two more people here, aren't there? Breathing rights for three people, pay up now! Otherwise, heh~ you'd better pray your wife and child can live without breathing."
As he spoke, he pulled out three collars that looked expensive just from their appearance.
And tossed them casually onto the floor.
"This collar automatically tightens if you don't pay, suffocating you. Put them on yourselves. Of course, they're one hundred credit points each."
"What?! B-but I don't have that much money left!"
Hearing the man's words, the security officer impatiently lashed out with a kick!
THUD!!
The already frail, sub-healthy man was no match for the officer's strength.
He was sent flying back, crashing into a pile of clutter in the hallway.
The security officer suddenly started shouting in furious anger:
"Then just die!! You scum! Who gave you permission to raise your voice at me! Of course, your death doesn't matter. The corpse disposal fee and today's breathing rights will be collected from your wife and child. If they die too, then we'll collect it from everyone in this building!"
At this point.
He sharply looked up and yelled at the neighbors peeking from behind their doors:
"You hear that?! Anyone who dares to die becomes a sinner to everyone else!! Those who want to die are just adding to your debt!"
The hallway fell into silence.
Only the man's blurred, incessant pleas and apologies persisted, echoing in the cramped space.
Meanwhile, on the advertisement screen above the man's head, the portly lord, boasting endlessly about how much economic value his people created, smiled broadly.
It made the frail, hunched man lying on the ground seem all the more absurd and ridiculous.
The boy stared at this scene in disbelief, unable to speak.
The security officer grew impatient.
He strode into the room.
His eyes fell on the bedridden, unconscious mother. A vicious grin spread across his face as he shoved a collar into the boy's hand:
"Hey, you. Go put this collar on her!"
Making the child personally kill his own mother—the brat's expression would surely be a sight to behold.
He looked down at the boy, a cruel, pleased smile twisting his features.
The boy stared blankly at the exquisite collar in his hand, suddenly realizing one thing: Dad had no money. This refined piece of high technology would take his mother's life!
He instinctively thought of Helios, of everything he stood for.
"...No."
"Hah—?"
The security officer grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him up.
"Say that again?"
Looking at the officer's savage face, the boy found courage from somewhere. He suddenly raised the collar and smashed it towards the man's face:
"I said NO!! You villain! Get away from my mother!!"
The collar didn't cause a single scratch, deflected by the uniform's built-in force field shield.
But the security officer suddenly became calm.
He drew his service pistol, aimed it at the mother on the sickbed, and expressionlessly pulled the trigger, as easily as pressing a lighter's button.
BANG—!
A gunshot rang out. The bullet tore through the mother's chest.
And utterly shattered the boy's world.
Instinct drove him to swing his fists, crying, pounding frantically against the man.
He didn't understand why no solar incarnation came to defeat this villain.
He didn't understand why, when he had done nothing wrong, his mother had to be killed.
"You're the one who killed your mother, you bastard."
The security officer's malicious sneer echoed in the boy's ears.
But the boy remembered Helios's experiences. That one time, the villain had done almost the exact same thing.
But Helios had exposed the villain's sophistry.
"No, you killed my mother!"
Tears streamed down the boy's face as he stared fixedly at him, staring intently.
As if he wanted to etch every inch of the man's flesh into his very soul.
"Huh?"
The security officer tilted his head, finding the boy's gaze utterly repulsive.
"Wait, sir! He's just a child, he doesn't understand anything! I'll pay the money, I'll pay it right now!"
The father struggled to crawl over from the ground. He wanted to beg, to plead for his child's life.
"You killed my mother, and now you want to force everyone to pay for you, a murderer!!"
Faced with the boy's shouts and the father's pleas, the security officer silently raised his pistol.
And pressed it inside the boy's mouth.
"No, you're the murderer. You killed your mother. Say it! Otherwise, I'll blow your throat out with this bullet."
The smell of gunpowder from the recent shot and the heated gun barrel stimulated his nerves. He knew he was going to die, but he didn't want to yield.
Because Helios said yielding only makes villains worse.
Even if he had to die, he wanted to die standing tall, like the solar incarnation.
"The one who killed my mother is YOU!! It's YOU!!"
The roaring boy watched the finger on the trigger begin to squeeze.
His heart held only boundless sorrow. He wasn't afraid of death.
But he was so weak.
He couldn't even defeat one small-time villain. He couldn't protect his mother. He couldn't wait for Helios to descend with the sunlight.
He instinctively, in his final moment of life, prayed for a hero to come, to punish the evil.
Perhaps the threat of death refined his will into a pure plea.
Some existence answered his prayer. An inconspicuous seed of light descended from the void.
Then—
Boundless, brilliant light erupted from the boy's body.
That flame-red form, bearing a will as fierce as the sun, descended upon this dark and cramped world!
--+--