Seeing the majority of their classmates defeated, with only Lin Fei and a few others still holding on, Lu Bai could no longer sit still.
"I say, Ye Feng, shouldn't we get mov—"
"ULTRAMAN COSMOS!"
Lu Bai: "???"
Lu Bai spun around instantly. He saw that Ye Feng had already inserted his card into that blue ring. Simultaneously with the voice announcement, a brilliant blue-and-white light erupted.
"Awaken!"
"Light of Cosmic Order!"
The radiance enveloped the Ring of Light, and before Lu Bai's bewildered eyes, the Cosmo Pluck manifested once again.
Griping the Cosmo Pluck, Ye Feng looked up at him and asked, "By the way, Lu Bai, what were you trying to say just now?"
Because Ye Feng had inserted the card right as Lu Bai was speaking, the overlapping electronic voice meant he hadn't heard him clearly.
Facing the question, Lu Bai was momentarily dazed. Originally, he wanted to ask if they were really going to stay on the sidelines at this stage. But before he could even finish his sentence, this guy was already fully prepped. Was I really the only one with a slow reaction time?!
He quickly recovered. "Nothing. By the way, how did your ring turn into a stick? Can you still fuse with that?"
Despite his words, Lu Bai's eyes were practically glued to the Cosmo Pluck. For some reason, this short staff seemed to possess a magical aura that drew him in.
"Can you really become that blue giant with that thing?" Looking at the staff in Ye Feng's hand, Qin Yuxin recalled the tall, majestic figure from a year ago, and her mind involuntarily flashed back to the terror of being pinned beneath six monsters.
"Yes. Though he isn't called 'Blue Giant.'"
Over the past year, people had kept calling him the Light Alien, the Blue Giant, the Blue Alien, and so on. Honestly, Ye Feng was finding it hard to accept. Fortunately, from now on, the ring would remain by his side, making transformation easy as long as he was unharmed.
"Cosmos. Ultraman Cosmos. That is my name after transforming."
As Ye Feng spoke the name, Qin Yuxin and the others momentarily forgot about Lin Fei's group, repeatedly whispering the name to themselves.
Gansu TPC Outpost.
Lin Jing and the others were staring at the main screen at the exact moment Ye Feng spoke. In fact, the moment Ye Feng activated the card, they had detected a massive surge of light energy. Recalling the events of a year ago, Lin Jing had immediately synced the main screen to the location of Ye Feng's group.
"Ultraman Cosmos... 'Cosmos' is the name, so could 'Ultraman' be a surname?"
Lin Jing began to ponder the meaning of the name. If "Ultraman" was a surname, did that mean there was an entire race of them in the universe? Everything in the world has a balance; if there are monsters and aliens that destroy the universe, there must be a counter-force. This was the advice the mysterious alien had given him. This opposing force must be the Ultraman race.
The alien had mentioned that for some special reason, the opposing force to the monsters had seemingly vanished. It was very strange—if the Ultraman race had been gone for so long, did their reappearance now carry a specific significance?
While he was lost in thought, the situation in the Tengger Desert shifted again. Astrons, controlled by Lin Fei, along with the other remaining students, were beaten back into their human forms. The students standing by for rescue rushed in to pull them to safety. Lin Fei looked the worst of all; his face was deathly pale, devoid of all color.
Seeing they had no more opponents, the three Antlars turned their gaze toward Ye Feng's group of humans and began to advance step by step.
"Holy shit! You guys are still just watching the show? Get in there!"
After being brought back, seeing that Ye Feng's group was uninjured, Lin Fei realized these "campers" hadn't fought at all. Seeing the Antlars approaching, he was so anxious he stood right up, his previous exhaustion seemingly forgotten.
"Oh, right! We need to go!" Lu Bai snapped out of it. He shared a look with Qin Yuxin and the other girls, and they all reached for their Monster Rings to summon their cards. Suddenly, a figure sprinted past them, charging straight toward the three Antlars.
"It's Ye Feng! Is he planning to take on three monsters by himself?" Lu Bai's exclamation made Qin Yuxin freeze mid-fusion. She looked at Lu Bai, then at the sprinting Ye Feng, wanting to ask: Are you sure he wants to fight alone, or is it that you want to stay back and "kill-steal" once the job is done?
Ye Feng moved with incredible speed. After sprinting a hundred meters, he thrust the Cosmo Pluck toward the sky.
"COSMOS!"
Duang!
Tring—
The tip of the Cosmo Pluck bloomed like a lotus. A streak of blue-and-white light flared from the center, enveloping Ye Feng entirely. A ball of blue light soared into the sky. Before the three Antlars could even react, the light traced a sharp arc through the air. In the next instant, sparks flew from the chests of all three Antlars as they were knocked to the ground, kicking up clouds of yellow sand.
Tring—
After repelling the trio, the blue light hovered in the air about five hundred meters in front of Qin Yuxin's group, transforming into a pillar of blue light. As the pillar faded, a blue giant—about fifty meters tall—stood tall.
"Whoa! That looks way too cool! This form is leagues ahead of those monsters!!!" Seeing Cosmos' silhouette, Lu Bai began shouting. Previously, he had only seen images in news reports and thought the claims were exaggerated lies. Now that he saw it in person, he knew every word had been true!
"SCREECH~~~"
The Antlars scrambled up. Seeing the blue figure before them, they knew he was the one responsible. They let out a series of long, furious cries.
In response, Cosmos assumed a Tai Chi starting stance. The onlookers recognized this; it was the exact stance Ye Feng used in his combat training.
"Hah!"
After assuming his stance, Cosmos let out a unique grunt. Everyone watched the blue giant with bated breath.
"ROAR—"
"YAH—"
Cosmos and the Antlars charged at each other simultaneously. Their heavy footsteps kicked up sand and caused the earth to tremble incessantly. But just as the two sides were about to clash, Cosmos' speed suddenly accelerated. He became a blur, passing the three Antlars as a mere afterimage. In that single pass, all three were flipped onto their backs.
Luna Strike. By enveloping his body in light energy, he produced a high-speed piercing attack. In less than 0.1 seconds, all three monsters had been neutralized.
"SCREECH~~"
The fallen Antlars let out mournful cries. Clearly, Cosmos' strike had been incredibly painful; even their rock-hard carapaces offered little protection.
Cosmos spun around instantly, his right palm glowing with light energy. As he thrust his hand forward, a barrage of blue light blades—the Moonlight Smash—erupted, striking the three Antlars. A series of explosions followed, mingled with the screams of the monsters. In just two exchanges, they had been completely suppressed.
As the dust settled, momentarily veiling the three Antlars, Cosmos lowered his hand and ceased the attack. He didn't relax his guard; instead, he watched the dust warily. Suddenly, the ground vibrated. Sensing what was coming, Cosmos kicked off the ground and soared into the air just as the three Antlars tunneled out from beneath where he had been standing.
Finding their target airborne, the monsters let out frustrated screeches, seemingly cursing him to come down and fight like a man. As if he understood, Cosmos moved at high speed in the air. In less than a second, he delivered two consecutive flying kicks that sent the two Chaos Antlars crashing back down.
The Antlar leader was stunned. Its simple mind seemed to be asking: Wait, how are my subordinates down already?
It received its answer immediately. Cosmos appeared in front of the leader in a flash. While it was still dazed, a horrific scream rang out. One of its massive horns was suddenly sheared off and pinned into the ground. The Antlar leader let out a pained shriek and retreated frantically.
Before it could react, Cosmos struck again. He seized the remaining intact horn. With his right palm coated in light energy, he delivered a sharp chop, severing it instantly.
"ROAR—"
"SSSSS————"
Seeing this scene, every single observer gasped in shock.
Lu Bai could only mutter: "That's too brutal!"
He never expected that the usually mild-mannered Ye Feng would not only show no mercy but would use such vicious, surgical strikes against the monsters! In just three rounds of combat, both of Antlar's iconic mandibles were gone. As for where they went? One was in Cosmos' hand, and the other was stuck in the sand. It couldn't be more obvious!