Chapter Twelve: Keigo Masaki

HUD Team Base

Lin Yu looked up.

It was a fortress forged from steel and technology, standing tall within a vast military restricted zone.

A giant emblem adorned its facade, bearing the inscription: Pan-Human United Defense Force Headquarters.

The main structure of the base was a colossal building, gleaming under the sunlight.

In front of the base stood a very distinctive statue—two intertwined hands.

One was a human fist, the other a strange, enormous claw.

Clearly, one represented humanity.

The other... perhaps symbolized a friendly monster or an extraterrestrial being?

"Greetings, Captain!"

Two youths, fully armed and dressed in blue-gray uniforms emblazoned with large Earth patterns on their chests and arms, marched past bearing the letters "HUD." They saluted Lin Yu as he stepped down from his vehicle.

They were the guards of the HUD.

No defense team could operate with just a few members.

In fact, the base was vast, with extensive divisions including but not limited to various cafeterias, training grounds, shooting ranges, and libraries, accommodating over three thousand personnel.

However, most were merely maintaining the base’s operations.

When it came to fighting monsters, it still relied on a handful of pilots handling the fighter jets.

The base was primarily divided into three major sections:

The surface combat zone;

The underground command layer;

And most importantly, the Supernatural Power Containment Area.

Lin Yu didn’t yet know what would be contained there, but it had been constructed nonetheless.

"Osui really knows how to get things done," Lin Yu remarked with admiration.

"You all keep busy," he said, waving his hand as he entered the base.

...

After some investigation, Lin Yu roughly understood the situation.

They were short on personnel.

Moreover, he finally realized why the base was so grand.

Because they didn’t have any fighter jets.

They had built the combat zone but lacked sufficient fighter jets.

Not that there were none at all, but none strong enough to battle monsters or extraterrestrials.

It was simply a matter of funds.

With constant invasions by monsters and aliens, these vital assets were always in short supply—jets were deployed as soon as they were built.

Besides, Tokyo already had the Victory Team and the GUYS Team, so any allocation of jets here was even fewer.

"Forget it, if we don’t have them, we don’t have them. Anyway, I’m not relying on those things," Lin Yu said.

"The immediate priority is recruitment. I’m a captain with no team members under me—how is that acceptable?"

Sitting in the captain’s chair in the command room, Lin Yu pondered for a moment.

"Since this is the HUD team, I certainly can’t just recruit ordinary humans again."

"Let me think... are there such people on Earth?"

Lin Yu’s slender fingers tapped swiftly on the screen before him. Most queries yielded no results.

But there were some gains.

Soon, several profiles appeared.

"There really are a few," he murmured.

"And..."

"He’s on the list too."

"Maybe I can learn more about whether Ultraman truly exists in this world."

"Even... if it’s the Dark Ultraman!"

Lin Yu stood and left the meeting room.

The computer screen showed a man around thirty years old, his hair meticulously groomed, his expression arrogant, like a successful businessman.

His name was Keigo Masaki.

...

Several dozen kilometers away, at an underground construction site.

Dozens of workers toiled under the scorching sun, operating excavators and dump trucks.

"Hurry up, let’s push the schedule today."

"Another drill bit broke—this soil’s really tough."

"Hey, why do you think Boss Masaki spent so much hiring us to dig here?"

"Who knows? As long as someone pays, we work."

"True that. Let’s get it done, brothers, lend a hand."

"Wait, did you hear something?"

"Sounds like it came from that direction."

A few low whispers floated through the stifling air.

Adjusting his glasses and wiping sweat from his brow, Keigo Masaki ignored the discomfort.

His eyes burned with enthusiasm as he examined a heavily revised map.

He glanced again toward the source of the strange sounds.

His heart pounded wildly.

"It’s here. It really is! I knew it—I’ve been scanning for years, there’s no mistake!"

"The legends must be true!"

"There’s an ancient secret hidden here, and with my ancient genes, I will unravel it and become..."

"The savior!"

A hint of fanaticism appeared on Masaki’s face.

"Boss Masaki, there’s some strange noise. Should we keep digging?"

The overseer approached, his face tinged with fear.

The underground noises sounded terrifying.

"Keep digging, double pay!"

Masaki waved his hand dismissively.

"But..."

The overseer hesitated but, seeing Masaki casually write a check, chose to continue.

There was no choice—Masaki was paying too well.

"Are you sure? There’s something down there that’s not good."

A voice suddenly spoke from behind Masaki, faint yet unnervingly close.

As if whispered right into his ear.

Masaki’s pupils constricted sharply!

He dropped the map, the check, and the pen.

Without a word, he delivered a powerful elbow strike.

At such close range, any normal man would have been winded.

Masaki was no weakling; trained in professional combat, he was more than a match for Daigu in hand-to-hand.

But...

He struck nothing.

Behind him was empty.

"Boss Masaki, what’s wrong?" the overseer asked nervously, eyeing the check on the ground.

Damn, is he going to regret this? The double pay was no small sum.

"...Nothing, you carry on," Masaki said, glancing around uncertainly. He picked up the pen and quickly signed the check, handing it to the overseer.

The overseer beamed, bowed deeply, and left.

"Did I hear things?"

"Maybe it’s just stress."

Masaki scanned the area again, assured no one was near, and gave a self-deprecating smile before picking up the map.

But on the map, four large characters suddenly appeared, the ink still fresh:

"You didn’t hear wrong!"

"Damn!"

Usually composed and arrogant, Masaki cursed loudly and threw the map to the ground.

"Stop playing tricks and come out!"

He roared.

The overseer’s moment of delight turned to terror as a deafening roar followed.

"Boss Masaki, we’ve dug through... it’s a monster—a monster!"

"Guwaruu!"

A strange low growl echoed underground, piercing and grating.

Several workers’ ears began bleeding, swaying unsteadily.

Amid their terrified gazes, a massive beast emerged.

Its body was gray-black, measuring over fifty meters.

Its body was covered in tough stone plates, its defense possibly rivaling or surpassing that of Granreign.

At the same time, its body was pockmarked with what looked like corrosive pits; its eyes glowed blood-red, claws razor-sharp.

As the beast moved, the ground shook violently.

It was an ancient monster—the Garura!

A relative of Golzan and Melba, by lineage.

"How could this be..."

Masaki’s mind froze, staring in shock.

This was the power of the ancient era?

No, it was not what he had imagined at all!