Chapter Fourteen: Creating History

“Why can I hear your final voice?” Tetsuya pressed the activation switch on the time machine, gazing at the apparition of Yorei suspended in midair. As he ate his curry, he voiced his question.

Unexpectedly, Yorei did not answer him. She scrutinized Tetsuya for a long moment, then finally uttered in a distant voice, “So it’s you…”

“Me?” Tetsuya raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

Yorei shook her head, refusing to answer. She simply stared deeply at Tetsuya, her tone colder than ice: “You, traitor to the Light!”

“Traitor?” Tetsuya set down his spoon, picked up a Rubik’s cube from beside him, and shifted into a more comfortable posture. “Traitor to the Light—that means darkness, doesn’t it?”

“But… do you sense any trace of darkness in me?”

Yorei studied him, puzzled, then shook her head almost humanly, speaking slowly: “No…”

“Then why do you call me that? Don’t you know I could sue you for slander?” Tetsuya replied, his gaze shadowed with irony.

“You betrayed the Light…”

With a sudden motion, Tetsuya sprang from his seat and approached Yorei, his voice growing grave. “Then let me ask you—how was your Ultra-Ancient Civilization destroyed?”

“Ultramen never interfere with human choices, because they are all Light…”

Tetsuya shook his head with disdain. “Don’t try to deceive me with empty phrases. I want the truth! The truth buried beneath history!”

Yorei even took a step back, finally lowering her head. “The blooming of the Flowers incited war among humans, and the conflict spread to the Giants themselves, who then fell into war as well.”

“Be more specific.” Tetsuya fixed her with a keen gaze. “Don’t think I’ll believe the lies of your so-called intelligent program. I know you’re a sorceress—what’s stored here is your will.”

He paused, then continued, “What war? Between whom? What was the outcome? Tiga was the strongest Ultra-Ancient Dark Giant thirty million years ago—where did he stand in the war? And me… what role did I play?”

Yorei looked at him with a weighty gaze. At last she spoke: “The war was among the Giants. In that war, the Dark Giants emerged. Tiga was their leader, but in the end, he chose to join the Light. In the war among the Giants, those who survived were the strongest, but they lost their power and could only turn their bodies to stone, remaining on Earth, while the Light vanished into the cosmos.”

“And ultimately, what destroyed our Ultra-Ancient civilization was the ‘Ruler of Darkness,’ the evil god Gatangea. Without the Giants, we could not resist him. Civilization was destroyed. Some of our people had already abandoned Earth during the Giants’ civil war, seeking a new home in the vast universe, but by the time of our civilization’s fall, there had been no word from them. Perhaps they had already vanished into the endless cosmos.”

Tetsuya frowned deeply as he listened. He hadn’t expected to receive so much information all at once and, unsure how to process it, he seized upon a detail. “Those who disappeared into the universe—what were they called?”

Yorei stepped back, a faint smile appearing on her face. “I will never tell you… traitor!”

“You—!” Tetsuya was left speechless with anger. To be falsely accused as a traitor to the Light left him deeply aggrieved. In the world of Nexus, he had fought with his life to protect Earth, yet now he was branded with such a title. It was infuriatingly unjust.

“I will never fall into so-called darkness…”

Yorei gave him a long, searching look. “I hope you remain true to your convictions.”

As Yorei finally faded from the air and the time machine slowly powered down, Tetsuya was left with a heavy heart, his anger having nowhere to go. He had no one to confide in about these matters; everything had to be borne alone. Such days left him unbearably weary. In the empty command room, he was the only one left—his teammates had all gone to deal with the Gakuma lurking on Kura Island, while the White Dragon was still under reconstruction, so Tetsuya had not been deployed.

He let out a long, deep sigh, picked up his Rubik’s cube, and walked out of the command room. Gazing into the light outside, the image of Sara Mizuhara surfaced in his mind—he could never forget her. He had once fought desperately to protect her; such a woman could hardly be erased from memory so easily.

Wandering aimlessly, Tetsuya looked up in surprise to find himself standing before the laboratory.

“This laboratory…” Tetsuya glanced at the chubby, almost comically sly face of Dr. Tango, whose portrait hung on the wall. Tetsuya put on an innocent smile: “Dr. Tango~”

“You are… Tetsuya Hayate?” Dr. Tango, busy as he was, turned around and, after a moment’s thought, recognized him.

“You haven’t returned to Caro Base?” Dr. Tango asked in surprise when he saw Tetsuya.

“I’ve already resigned from Caro Base. Now I’m just a humble member of the Victory Team.” Tetsuya, proud, patted his uniform as Dr. Tango stared at him as if he were some rare specimen.

“How is your research on the Giants’ statues coming along?” Tetsuya peered inside, noticing several metal cases stacked in a corner of the lab.

“Oh… to be honest, it’s not an easy task…” Dr. Tango stammered, nervously pushing his glasses and averting his gaze.

Tetsuya simply smiled, not pressing the point. His eyes swept across the cluttered lab table, where he spotted an exquisitely crafted business card. Picking it up, he grinned, “This is…? A card from Mr. Keigo Masaki?”

“Oh… oh…” Dr. Tango snatched the card back, wiping sweat from his brow as he hesitated over his words.

“Shh…” Tetsuya placed a hand on Dr. Tango’s shoulder, leaning in to whisper, “I, too, am one of Mr. Masaki’s people… You know, even Caro Base has investments from Mr. Masaki.”

“Ah—you should have said so sooner! That gave me quite a scare…” Dr. Tango’s round face broke into a relieved smile, and his words became much more forthcoming.

Tetsuya could easily see that Dr. Tango had likely already pledged his loyalty to Masaki in secret, but this was still the early stage, so he had to intensify his research on the Giants’ statues while keeping his findings hidden from his superiors. Tetsuya was quite pleased by this. The smoother Masaki’s plan proceeded, the sooner Tetsuya might have a chance to become another Giant himself.

Moreover, Dr. Tango was not one for subterfuge—he was almost painfully straightforward, lacking guile. Whether in his excited words after fleeing the TPC, or in the original story when he eagerly reported his findings to Kujii, it was clear he was not cut out for secrecy. He much preferred to show off his discoveries, his vanity impossible to restrain.

“My research on the Giants’ statues is going well—the mechanism has already been analyzed, and I’ve even managed to create sand that’s nearly identical to the original shattered fragments. I’m just not sure how effective it will be; further testing is needed.”

“Can you believe it!?” Dr. Tango cried out excitedly.

“I am going to make history!!!”