PDLP Chapter 66: The Call – An Unsolvable Racial Conflict
Chapter 66: The Call – An Unsolvable Racial Conflict
It's Friday again.
At this time, in the Bilibili film and television section, as the most hardcore tokusatsu talk UP master on the entire network, Poison Tongue Lao Tang's live broadcast room had already put up the title "Watch Ultraman Tiga Episode 28 with me".
But today, instead of joking around with the viewers as usual, he was holding a thermos with the Victory Team logo on it, looking serious.
"Brothers, to be honest, Gu Nan is really ruthless."
Old Tang pushed up his glasses, looked at the barrage of comments like "depressing" and "get your tissues ready," and sighed.
"Last week they tore us to the bone, and this week's title is 'The Call,' which doesn't sound like a simple wish-fulfillment story. But I have a feeling that what this episode will discuss might be even more pointed than Obik."
The live stream had already surpassed one million viewers, with countless viewers eagerly awaiting Gu Nan's feeding.
"Alright, time's up, let's go!"
Old Tang clicked play.
The screen went black, and the opening theme song, "Miracle Again," began to play.
As the song ended, the episode title appeared:
Episode 28: The Call.
Followed by.
The scene is devoid of any build-up or everyday events; it's straight to a battlefield filled with the sounds of gunfire.
It was a desolate mountainous area.
A monster with a design resembling a biological weapon—the Armored Beast Joberia—stands in the valley.
Its entire body was covered in thick, silvery-gray armor, and its head resembled a giant bull's head. It had no expression, but exuded a cold, despairing sense of oppression.
Boom boom boom!
The explosions were deafening; it was TPC ground forces carrying out a saturation attack.
The victorious team's attack was more ferocious than ever before.
The combination of special effects and live-action shooting made the opening scene captivating enough.
On the ground, tank units lined up in a row, their artillery roaring; in the sky, the Flying Swallow-1 was conducting a dive bombing raid.
There is no process of "investigating first, then communicating, and finally retaliating".
From the outset, it was a fight to the death, a war of annihilation.
Wow! Such a big start!
[Battle! So exhilarating!]
[Speaking of which, although the world is at peace, the level of military strength is still quite high.]
[Isn't this firepower enough to kill the monster?]
……
"Brothers, watch out!"
Old Tang pressed the pause button, pointed at the screen, and said, "In previous episodes, even when the GUTS team was fighting monsters, they always adopted a 'defensive counterattack' strategy. But this time, look at the GUTS team's situation."
"Even regular troops have been mobilized; the killing intent is overwhelming."
Old Tang analyzed, "This shows that this monster, or rather the enemy we're talking about in this episode, has a deep-seated hatred for the GUTS team, or rather, for humanity. And have you noticed that TPC has deployed a frighteningly large number of troops this time? This is a completely legitimate war."
The story continues.
Despite the relentless bombardment, Jobelia remained completely unmoved. Its thick carapace was like a turtle's shell; conventional human weapons couldn't even leave a mark on it.
It simply watched all of this coldly, as if mocking humanity's powerlessness.
"Commander! Launch a concentrated attack from high altitude!"
"It's stopped moving now!"
"Don't rush, now is not the time."
Although Vice Captain Munakata was also anxious, he had to suppress his anger as he looked at the data on the monitor. "The Atdis and Victory Flying Swallow 2 are on standby due to the Lightning Man War. The personnel and strength of Unit 1 alone are not enough..."
Let me think about it some more.
Zong Fang frowned. "Our current firepower simply can't penetrate its armor."
This dialogue is extremely informative.
The comments section immediately began to analyze:
[Blitzkrieg? What the hell?]
[This sounds like a two-front war!]
[The Atlas is on standby? That's a configuration for fighting the final boss!]
The story then shifts to a flashback, with a narrator explaining the reasons behind everything.
It turns out that humanity's plan to exterminate the Lightning People has begun.
The subtitles appeared: [One week ago, TPC Command Room].
The atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.
Although it was a meeting of all members, the camera used an overhead angle, making it impossible to see the team members' expressions, only conveying a sense of impending doom.
Captain Megumi stood at the head of the table, her face grave, and announced a combat plan that had just been approved by the staff meeting—"Lightning Man Annihilation Operation".
The moment those three words were uttered, the live stream chat exploded.
[Lightning Man? Holy crap, is that the Lightning Man who conjured Gazort?]
[I remember now! It was those creatures who killed Mayumi's boyfriend, Takuma!]
[Extermination warfare? Is it that ruthless? Outright genocide?]
[Is Gu Nan trying to stir up trouble? He's directly bringing racial tensions to the forefront?]
Old Tang took a deep breath: "Here it comes. Gu Nan is going to completely tear off the fig leaf of 'anthropocentrism' and show it to us. This is definitely a plot about social ethics!"
In the video, the New City team member was the first to stand up, his face beaming with undisguised joy: "Great! Lightning Man, just you wait and see!"
"Yeah, who knows where they are in the world now," Horii chimed in.
At this moment, the sentimental Lina poured cold water on things.
"Listen to me."
Her face was serious. "The Lightning People were originally creatures of Earth. The reason they turned into monsters is because of the large amount of electromagnetic waves created by humans."
Xincheng frowned: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Daigo immediately understood what Rena meant.
He continued, "In other words, if we don't fundamentally solve the problem of electromagnetic waves and instead try to eliminate the Lightning People, that's not a solution."
"I've thought about that too."
Horii's tone was heavy. "Because we haven't taken any countermeasures, this incident keeps happening again and again. My conclusion is—"
He paused.
"I've decided to stop thinking about it."
The moment those words were spoken, viewers across the internet were stunned.
[Holy crap? Did Horii really say that?]
[Are you no longer considering it? Is this a sign of giving up?]
No, this is reality. Because there's no solution, the only option is to avoid thinking about it; otherwise, the mission simply cannot be carried out.
Horii gave a wry smile: "Why? It's unfortunate to say, but modern society can't stop using electromagnetic waves. Of course, stopping or reducing their use is easy to say, but the question is, could humanity survive without them?"
"Once humans get used to using convenient things, it's very difficult to go back," Lina said, lowering her head. "If that's really the case, humanity should feel ashamed."
Megumi whispered, "That's right, I really hope that humans can become a little more intelligent."
This conversation struck like a heavy blow to the heart of every modern person.
Without electromagnetic waves, cell phones, the internet, navigation systems, medical equipment... everything would come to a standstill.
Human civilization will regress by a century.
In order to maintain this convenience, humans must squeeze the living space of the Lightning People, and even drive them into monsters.
This is an unsolvable deadlock.
Zongfang's words regarding the dispute between the two sides were more rational, or rather, more ruthless.
"What Daigo and Rena said makes a lot of sense, and I can understand it," Munakata said, arms crossed. "But we should face the reality of our current situation. These are extraordinary times. Since our mission is to protect humanity from external enemies, we should fight to the very end."
However, at that moment, Ye Rui, who had been sitting in front of the computer, suddenly exploded.
"Lina, you're so naive!"
Ye Rui stood up, pushed up his glasses, and spoke with an arrogance and radicalism that belied his age.
"The commander and the well digger are right! Only by eliminating the threatening enemy can humanity survive!"
"That's why the Victory Team and TPC need to become stronger! We need stronger weapons and more firepower!"
Ye Rui's words undoubtedly stung Lina's sensitive heart.
"Yorui, what did you say? What are you talking about?"
Lina stared in disbelief at her usually well-behaved younger brother.
Ultimately, unable to understand the other party, Lina stormed out of the command room, and Daigo immediately followed her out.
Gu Nan handled this scene with great tension.
In the corridor, Lina leaned against the wall, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Daigo, are we really right?"
"Does protecting humanity justify arbitrarily depriving other creatures of their right to exist? What if the monsters are victims, not invaders?"
Daigo fell silent.
As someone who is both light and human, he feels this contradictory pain more than anyone else.
Then, Lina asked that resounding question:
"By the way... why does Ultraman Tiga help us humans?"
"Helping such naive people like us... Ultraman Tiga, why do you protect such naive humans?"
Daigo stood there, stunned.
This question exploded in his mind like a thunderclap.
Yes, Tiga is light, the representative of divinity. Humanity, on the other hand, is selfish, greedy, and willing to destroy other species for its own convenience. Are such humans worth Tiga's desperate efforts to protect?
Perhaps even now, Daigo himself hasn't found the answer in his heart: what is he fighting for?
This dialogue scene sparked heated discussion among viewers in the live chat.
This is too profound... This is really not for children.
[Lina, that's a good question. If this problem isn't solved, Tiga will just be humanity's henchman, not the Giant of Light.]
[Ye Rui is a bit obsessed; he has typical hawkish thinking and is obsessed with firepower.]
[How can this be considered obsession? I am human, and of course I care about the future of humanity. The Lightning Man is an extremely unstable being and poses a great threat to human life.]
[Faced with the lightning-wielding Rena, they are idealists; Nori and Horii are realists; Daigo remains neutral. Ideals are beautiful, but reality is cruel. In fact, this episode also illustrates what natural selection and survival of the fittest mean, a law that has remained unchanged for hundreds of millions of years of Earth's evolution.]
The old saying still holds true: those who love war will perish, and those who forget war will be in danger.
Looking at the comments and the plot development, Lao Tang shook his head.
"This is a typical 'keyboard warrior mentality.' Ye Rui has always sat in the command room, facing cold, hard data. He has never seen a monster shed tears, nor has he experienced the weight of life. In his eyes, war is just a video game, and as long as the numbers are high enough, you can win. This kind of 'ignorant cruelty' is more terrifying than Shinjo's revenge."
……
Shortly afterward, Captain Megumi announced the battle plan.
Lina, Horii, and Shinjo pilot the Atdis, equipped with the most powerful firepower, to high altitudes to carry out the Lightning Man annihilation operation.
Zongfang then led Daigo and Nozue to the ground to deal with the armored beast Jobelie that was blocking their way.
On their way there, Shinjo encountered his younger sister, Mayumi. She, as a medic, would also be going to the battle against Giovanni.
The two met in the corridor, but the atmosphere was not as warm as usual.
"Are you going to fight?" Mayumi looked at her fully armed brother with a complicated expression.
"Yes, let's go and subdue the demons." Shin-joo feigned nonchalance.
"Peace...is there peace now?"
Mayumi suddenly asked, "If you brothers could stop fighting, God wouldn't release the monsters."
Xincheng was stunned when he heard this.
But Mayumi didn't wait for his reply and simply said something.
"goodbye."
After saying that, she turned and left, leaving Xincheng standing there in a daze.
Mayumi's words undoubtedly left the belligerent Shinjo bewildered.
Those who have never experienced war may never understand the cruelty behind it. If you keep backing down, it will only encourage the enemy to take advantage of you.
But as a family member of a victim, Mayumi's pain is so real.
Takuma's passing is something she still struggles to cope with...
Should we fight?
At least for now, the TPC believes it is necessary to fight the enemy for its own survival.
……
The scene shifts to the battlefield.
When the young Ye Rui was on the battlefield for the first time, he looked at the tanks and fighter jets covering the mountains and the mighty cannons. Instead of being afraid, he felt a strange excitement.
"That's amazing..."
Nori's eyes lit up. "This is the power of humanity! With these weapons, we can destroy any monster!"
At this moment, he was full of confidence for the upcoming battle. He believed in the data, in the firepower, and in the fact that as long as he pressed the button, the enemy would disappear like an NPC in a game.
Meanwhile, Lina and the others also headed up into the sky, preparing for their final battle against Lightning Man.
[New City's sister is dreaming too much! It's not that simple!]
It wasn't the idyllic picture she imagined; she had suffered greatly, and she always remembered how Takuma had died.
However, this argument is naive; the appearance of monsters is not determined by individual will.
[I have a feeling that the captain might have decided to let Ye Rui experience real warfare after hearing what Ye Rui said earlier.]
……
Battle is imminent.
Munakata's side initiated the battle against Jobelie.
"Yorui! Signal flare!"
"yes!"
With the launch of the signal flare, the TPC ground forces unleashed a barrage of firepower at the distant Choberie.
"Attention all personnel, commence shelling!"
Rumble—!
Flames shot into the sky, making the entire valley seem to have been leveled.
Seeing this, Ye Rui's lips curled into a smile: "We've got this in the bag!"
But after the smoke cleared, a scene of utter despair unfolded.
Jobelia was completely unharmed!
It slowly turned its head, its emotionless compound eyes staring at the swarm of ants.
Immediately afterwards, the antennae on its head began to flash, and terrifying bolts of lightning fell like divine punishment!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Tanks were overturned, and fighter jets were shot down.
The once-mighty human army was instantly reduced to scrap metal.
"Aaaaaah!"
"Help!"
Screams filled the radio.
In an instant, the entire battlefield situation was reversed by Choberia's powerful offensive.
Seeing the heavy casualties among his troops, Zongfang had no choice but to grit his teeth and order: "Retreat! Everyone retreat!"
……
That night, at the battlefield camp.
Nori sat dejectedly in the chair, while Mayumi bandaged his wounds.
The brutal scene during the day completely shattered his worldview.
His prized data and weapons proved utterly ineffective against the monster.
But he was stubborn and refused to admit his mistake.
"Friend, aren't you afraid of death?"
Mayumi asked while bandaging the wound.
However, the word "friend" sounded a bit sarcastic coming from Mayumi's mouth.
"I'm not a friend, my name is Ye Rui."
Ye Rui turned her head away, like a sulking child.
"It doesn't matter what you're called, aren't you afraid of dying?"
"As long as it helps maintain peace... because this job is inherently dangerous."
Ye Rui forced himself to speak, trying to maintain his dignity as a member of the winning team.
Mayumi stopped what she was doing and looked at the boy who was even younger than herself.
Do you have someone you like?
"What are you talking about?" Ye Rui blushed, somewhat flustered.
"If you die, you'll never see the person you love again."
Mayumi's voice was soft, yet it carried a heartbreaking power.
Takuma's face appeared in her mind.
Ye Rui grew anxious: "These are extraordinary times. Shouldn't we postpone discussing matters between men and women until peacetime?"
"Anyway, you only follow other people's instructions, you're no different from a child."
Mayumi was a little angry.
"If everyone could try throwing away their weapons, maybe the monster wouldn't come out."
"What? The problem isn't that simple!"
Ye Rui retorted loudly, "If we didn't have weapons, we would have been eaten by the monsters long ago!"
"You're the one who talks like a child!"
The two parted unhappily.
In this scene, Gu Nan gave Mayumi a close-up shot.
Since Takuma's death, this girl who used to love to laugh has become stronger and has come to understand the weight of life more deeply.
This dialogue vividly demonstrates two completely different viewpoints.
Perhaps Mayumi's thinking was indeed too simplistic. If laying down one's weapons could stop the fighting, then the sacrifices made in the past would seem meaningless at this moment.
But Ye Rui's "weapon-only theory" seems so pale when faced with real death.
Mayumi is an idealist; her idea of "the world would be a better place if everyone obeyed the law" is an empty and unrealistic notion.
This is a clash of two ideas.
Mayumi and Nozue are both under 20, right? They're just young people; their experiences and perspectives differ.
Even completely opposing viewpoints can be transformed into a good solution through rational discussion.
Both of them have gone to extremes; they are both "children" holding opposing views. This is related to their identities: one is someone who takes up arms to protect humanity, while the other is simply a medical worker. From the perspective of humanity's survival, Mayumi's ideas are even more naive than Nozomi's.
Mayumi meant that "both sides" should lay down their arms, that is, complete mutual respect and trust, but that's impossible.
"This dialogue scene is really good."
Old Tang rubbed his chin. "Although it's a conflict and confrontation, it not only shapes Nori's growth but also makes Mayumi's character truly stand out. However, Nori also shows that technology is not wrong, but if those who control technology lose their sense of awe, it will be a disaster."
……
Late at night, Ye Rui sat alone beside an armored vehicle, watching the distant flames.
"If you die, you'll never see the person you love again..."
Mayumi's words echoed in his ears.
"Am I going to die? Am I going to die?"
Ye Rui looked at his hands, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
That was the instinctive fear of death.
He finally understood that war is not a game; there are no save files to start over. If you die, you lose everything.
"Vice-captain..."
Nozue walked up to Munakata, who was wiping his weapons.
"How is the monster?"
"It's not making any noise right now," Zong Fang said without looking up.
"That's not what I'm asking. I mean... why did it appear? And what is its purpose?"
Zongfang stopped what he was doing and looked at Ye Rui in surprise: "What's wrong with you?"
Ye Rui lowered his head, his voice a little hoarse: "I've been thinking about this for a long time. What exactly does the monster want to do that led to its appearance?"
He started to think.
He transformed from a "keyboard warrior" who only looked at data into a soldier who began to think about the essence of war.
Just then, the earth shook violently.
Boom—!
The monster Jobelie's entire body finally emerged from the mountain, letting out a deafening roar as it launched its final charge against the human defenses.
TPC ground forces immediately launched a counterattack against the monster in front of them, but it was clearly just a drop in the ocean.
The firelight illuminated Ye Rui's young face.
He recalled Mayumi's words, "If you die, you'll never see the person you love again."
"Am I going to die? Am I going to die? How could I not be afraid of death?"
Ye Rui's mutterings gradually turned into shouts, tears welling up in his eyes.
But the next second, he grabbed his weapon, his eyes becoming more determined than ever before.
"But... if we don't fight, we'll all die!"
Seeing the horrific scene before him, Ye Rui, young and passionate, roared and charged headlong toward the front lines.
"Yorui! Come back!"
Munakata and Daigo were unable to stop him.
Mencius said: "If I find myself guilty, even if there are thousands or millions of people against me, I will go."
This is the story of Gongsun Chou asking about courage.
Despite being terrified and with his legs trembling, he still chose to charge forward to protect those behind him.
That's true courage!
At this moment, the background music for the recurring miracle also started playing simultaneously!
(♪Like sunlight, piercing through the darkness♫)
Watching Nori's retreating figure, Daigo was deeply shocked.
At that moment, he finally heard the voice of his heart.
He took out his magic light stick.
"Ultraman Tiga..."
Daigo stared blankly at the light stick in his hand.
"Why fight? What are we fighting for?"
In the original series, this is the only time Daigo calls out Tiga's name during his transformation, as if he is calling out to Tiga and asking for an answer.
no answer.
There were only the monster's roar and his teammates' shouts.
Daigo closed his eyes.
He remembered Lina's tears, Mayumi's sorrow, and Nozomi's defiant figure, standing against all odds.
"Never mind!"
"Right now, all I want is... to protect them!"
Daigo suddenly raised his Spark Lens.
"Tiga!!!"
At that moment, his roar even cracked slightly.
At the same time, the background music reached its climax!
♪A new storm has arrived! ♫
None of the previous transformation battle cries have ever had the imposing presence they possess now.
At this moment, the meaning of the battle is to protect the people in front of you.
Daigo stopped pondering those grand philosophical questions. His instinctive reaction made him shout, and he transformed into a dazzling light, appearing before the monster!