HPDBC Chapter 369 Born in the morning, dying at dusk: The incredible riddle of the Sphinx!
Chapter 369 Born in the morning, dying at dusk: The incredible riddle of the Sphinx!
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
On Friday night at 8 PM, the sixth episode of "Ultraman Cosmos," directed by Gu Nan, which is also the 12th episode of the original series, was released on major video platforms.
The title of this episode is: "The Radiance of Life"
The screen lit up, and the scene shifted to the command room of the elite youth team, filled with the atmosphere of everyday life.
The tech expert, Tsuchikage, suddenly stood up and moved closer to Musashi, who was organizing documents.
"Hey, you know what?" Tsuchikage raised his eyebrows mysteriously.
Musashi didn't even look up. "I don't know, I'm busy right now."
"Listen, listen!" Tsuchikage showed no sign of giving up, instead throwing out a riddle with even greater enthusiasm: "It has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening. What is that?"
Feng Chui stopped what she was doing, rolled her eyes at him, and said, "There's no such animal."
"I know! This is the mystery of the Sphinx!" Vice-Captain Mizuha was about to reveal the answer.
Tu Jing immediately interrupted, "Vice-Captain, don't give the answer!"
[What an old-fashioned riddle!]
[Four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, three legs in the evening... Isn't this the classic riddle of the Sphinx?]
The answer is a person; I've seen it countless times in riddle books since I was a child.
[Starting with such a riddle? It must be related to the monster in this episode!]
Just as the atmosphere in the command room was becoming lively because of this riddle, the alarm sounded.
Captain Qingguang immediately wiped the smile off his face, his expression turning extremely serious: "A massive biological reaction has occurred underground in area T-3!"
On the large screen, red dots representing unknown creatures are flashing wildly.
"Upgrade to Yellow Level!" Captain Qingguang decisively issued the order, "Youth Elite Team, all members, move out!"
"clear!"
Everyone responded in unison and immediately donned their gear and rushed to the fighter jet.
The camera cuts to the bustling T-3 area, following the roar of fighter jets.
On the outskirts of the city, a strangely shaped monster bursts out of the ground amidst a cluster of buildings.
Its appearance combines features of various insects such as cicadas and dragonflies, with translucent wings on its back and a body that has a texture that is somewhere between a living organism and a carapace.
However, the monster's behavior surprised everyone.
It actually emitted a series of soft, clear cries, much like those of a human baby.
It lay on the ground, crawling on all fours through the buildings, its movements appearing clumsy and curious.
"He's practically a baby monster," Musashi commented over the communicator.
Although it moves like a baby, its enormous size gives it unparalleled destructive power.
It curiously hugged a building, like a child playing with building blocks, and then suddenly pulled hard.
"Boom—!"
The sturdy building was instantly cracked by its immense force, and then collapsed with a roar, turning into ruins and dust.
"Team Leader Reina, what's the situation at the evacuation site in area T-3?" Captain Haruka asked, her eyes glued to the screen in the command center.
"The evacuation of residents has been completed."
"Check if there are any records of similar creatures."
"clear!"
Looking down at the monsters still knocking down buildings like building blocks, Feng Chui, piloting the Tek Thunder, frowned: "The monsters' operating principles and purposes are completely unclear."
"Captain, should we capture it?"
"Vice Captain Mizuha asked."
Captain Qingguang took a deep breath and gave the order: "Use the shock ray to control its movements and minimize damage as much as possible. Operation commence!"
"clear!"
In the sky, the two fighter jets immediately split up and prepared to suppress the mischievous "baby monster" with firepower.
A sudden jerk of the control stick sent the fighter jet tracing a graceful arc through the air, locking onto the monster still frolicking below. His thumb hovered over the launch button: "Alright, the mischief's over!"
However, just as Feng Chui was about to press the button, a clear and innocent girl's voice echoed in the depths of his mind without warning.
"stop--!"
Feng Chui suddenly froze, his fingers hanging in mid-air.
"Musashi, what did you just say?" Fubuki asked, turning around in confusion.
Inside the fighter jet, Haru Musashi looked completely bewildered: "No, I didn't say anything."
Feng Chui gritted his teeth, thinking it was just his imagination.
He looked down at the monster continuing its rampage, his eyes hardening once more: "Even if you object, I'm doing it! We can't let the damage expand any further!"
He prepared to aim again.
"Don't kill it... Stop... Don't kill Evemera..."
The girl's voice rang out again, this time filled with pleading and sorrow.
The wind made his pupils suddenly contract, and he sat in the cockpit in a daze, as if he had been struck by lightning.
That voice...
The image of the girl in the white dress instantly filled his mind.
That was the deepest corner of his memory.
In those few short seconds when he was distracted...
The monster below seemed to have noticed the fighter jet in the sky. It casually grabbed a huge piece of building rubble and, like throwing a ball, hurled it at the fighter jet, which was being blown by the wind!
"Danger!" Haru Musashi shouted.
"Bang--!"
The boulder struck the wing of the Tek Thunder precisely, causing the fighter jet to lose balance instantly, belching thick black smoke as it plummeted toward the open ground below.
[Daily Plane Crashes!]
[Dare to ride on the same plane as Musashi? The last person to ride on a plane with a human host was Shinjo.]
Whose voice was that? It could actually speak inside someone's head, even as the wind blew through it?
[Suddenly a girl's voice came through, that's terrifying!]
Fortunately, as a specially designed fighter jet for the defense force, it has excellent defensive capabilities.
After a violent turbulence, the fighter jet managed to make an emergency landing at an uninhabited construction site.
"Kazefuki! Musashi!"
"This is Musashi. We have made a safe emergency landing." Musashi climbed out of the fighter jet and breathed a sigh of relief.
He turned his head and saw that the monster not far away, after shooting down the fighter jet, was happily waving its short upper limbs and making cheerful baby cries, as if it was clapping and cheering for itself.
"Is it happy?" Musashi was stunned.
Feng Chui pushed open the hatch, jumped down covered in dust, and glared at the monster with gritted teeth: "It just wanted to play! That wretched creature..."
Seeing the immense destruction caused by the monster, Musashi knew he couldn't let it run rampant any longer.
He ran to a scaffold and pulled out a Gaussian sapphire from his pocket.
"Gauss!"
Musashi raised the Shining Stone high, assumed the flowing Tai Chi starting stance, shouted Ultraman's name, and waited for that familiar light to envelop him.
A second passed.
Two seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
The pyroxene was dull and lifeless, and all around was quiet except for the distant roar of monsters toppling buildings.
Musashi awkwardly lowered his hand, looked at the stone in his grasp, and was somewhat incredulous. He took a deep breath, adopted an even more imposing posture, and shouted again, "Gauss!!"
A gust of wind blew by, stirring up a few fallen leaves on the ground.
There was still no response.
Ultraman Cosmos refused to transform!
Musashi stood there dumbfounded, his face full of astonishment: "Why... Ultraman Cosmos?"
【？？？？？】
[Asuka: 666, yet another person has been rejected by the light]
[Master Gao: It's the weekend today, no overtime!]
Is this the first time Cosmos has explicitly refused to transform? Why?
Master Gauss never hits monsters that don't cause harm. This monster was just a baby playing with building blocks; Gauss probably felt it shouldn't be hit.
Just when Musashi was completely baffled, the plot took another wonderful turn.
Before we knew it, it was noon.
The monster, which was originally leaping around the city and demolishing everything, suddenly became like a toy that had run out of power, and its movements became increasingly sluggish.
It yawned several times, then lay down in the middle of a large area of ruins, closed its eyes, and fell asleep.
"Captain, the monster has stopped its destructive activities," Vice-Captain Mizuha immediately reported. "It seems to have started taking a nap."
In the command room, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tek Thunder 2 will remain on site to monitor the situation," Captain Qingguang ordered.
"clear."
At that moment, Reina, the intelligence communications officer, walked quickly to the captain with a stack of printed documents in her hand: "Captain, take a look at this."
On the large screen, two yellowed images of ancient books appeared.
"This is the Ming Dynasty five hundred years ago, the Northern Song Dynasty about a thousand years ago, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties fifteen hundred years ago."
Reina pointed to the text on the screen and explained, "During these periods, there are records of strange giant monsters appearing for a day and then mysteriously disappearing. The records state that the giant monsters shocked the capital, but after a night, they suddenly vanished without a trace."
Reina pulled up a scan of the monster and compared it with the monster in the ancient scroll: "This is the monster. Their physical characteristics match perfectly. It's a monster that only appears once every five hundred years."
……
On the other side, in the medical room.
"Evemera".
Suddenly, the unconscious Feng Chui uttered this word.
His tone was filled with indescribable complex emotions. "The monster's name is Evemera."
Soon after, the wind blew me awake.
In the base's medical room, Feng Chui, who had just received basic first aid, insisted on putting on his team uniform despite the medical staff's objections.
"It's really unreasonable of you to ask someone to do something they don't want to do. Kazebuki is really something else." Musashi shook his head helplessly and could only follow him out of the base.
The two got into the patrol car.
"Where are we going?" Musashi asked from the driver's seat.
"Hotaru Village." The wind blows as he looks out the window, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
[Hotaru Village? Isn't that the location from the episode with the firefly monster?]
Ah, the place where childhood memories are carried by the wind.
[It seems the voice in the wind's head is someone he knew from Hotaru Village.]
The patrol car drove out of the bustling city and arrived at the scenic, tranquil and peaceful village of Yingcun.
It was the height of summer, and the woods outside the village were lush and green, with the melodious chirping of cicadas echoing through the trees.
Sunlight filters through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground.
The two followed the forest path and arrived at an old house.
The environment here is exceptionally quiet.
On the shelf next to it, many wooden plaques filled with wishes were hanging.
A gentle breeze blew by, and the wooden signs clattered together, making a crisp sound.
Next to it, there were several colorful little windmills, spinning continuously in the wind.
Standing before this Shinto-style shrine, watching the turning windmills, the wind finally spoke slowly.
"During the battle just now, seeing that monster knock down buildings like they were toys... reminded me of my little sister playing with building blocks."
The wind blew and her eyes became somewhat hazy, as if she had transcended the barriers of time.
"I once saw my sister grow up right here."
The sound of the wind trembled slightly, "That... younger sister who should have died when she was three years old."
Musashi listened quietly without interrupting him.
Feng turned her head to look at Musashi, her eyes filled with a complex mix of confusion and certainty: "Everyone said it was my hallucination. But what happened? That...that definitely wasn't a hallucination!"
Then, a flashback appeared on the screen.
A series of light footsteps approached.
"Gotcha! Gotcha!"
It was the young wind blowing!
He was carrying a cage in his hand, inside which was a mayfly that had been captured.
Suddenly, he saw his younger sister blocking his way.
Under the dappled sunlight, there stood a girl in a long white dress.
Her face was delicate and pretty, exuding an innocence untouched by the world.
"Look! I caught it!"
The girl looked at the wind and whispered, "Don't kill Evemera..."
"Evemella?"
Young Fengchui paused for a moment, then held up the cage in his hand. "You mean this?"
The girl didn't answer directly, but looked at the insect in her hand as the wind blew, her eyes gentle: "Please... mayflies only live for one day, at least let them bloom for one day."
The girl's words were exactly the same as they were back then, like an echo that transcended time and space, striking heavily on Feng Chui's heart.
A gentle breeze swept by, and the wooden sign on the shelf shook violently.
Suddenly, in the hazy white glow, the girl's figure reappeared!
She was smiling at the two of them.
Musashi was also taken aback.
As Feng Chui looked at the girl who was both strange and familiar, a tear slid down his cheek...
When the wind blew and Musashi blinked again, the girl in the white dress had already vanished without a trace, like a phantom.
"Thanks……"
The wind blew, looking at the spot where the girl had disappeared, and murmured to itself.
He abruptly turned to look at Musashi: "You saw it too, didn't you?!"
Musashi took a deep breath and nodded vigorously. "Yes, I saw it. But why do you think she's your sister?"
"I don't know... I just sensed it..."
Feng Chui shook his head, but his eyes became incredibly firm.
[A ghost story in broad daylight?!]
[Musashi can see it too, which means it's not an illusion caused by the wind!]
Mayflies only live for a day, born in the morning and dying at dusk! Evemera means mayfly!
[Good heavens! It was said earlier that it appears once every five hundred years, and only for one day each time. So, this monster's entire life is just a fleeting day!]
[Combined with the Sphinx's riddle at the beginning! Four legs in the morning, two legs at noon... the monster is a four-legged crawling baby in the morning!]
Just as the two were resolving their misunderstanding in front of the shrine, the captain's voice came through the communicator.
"Wind blows, Musashi! Evemera is awake! We're coming to her aid right away!"
The scene instantly switched back to the T-3 area.
The midday sun gradually shifted westward. Evemera, the monster that had been sleeping amidst the ruins, finally yawned and stood up again.
But this time, the situation has changed dramatically.
Evemera, who originally crawled on all fours, has started trying to stand on her two hind legs!
"Look, it's trying to stand up!"
To everyone's astonishment, Evemera's massive body swayed unsteadily before finally standing firmly on her two legs.
Its body appeared more slender than in the morning.
"That guy has grown up."
The wind blew through the communicator.
"Come on...you're almost there! Keep going!"
Even Tsuchikage couldn't help but cheer for the monster.
"It's a success!"
However, as Evemera stood up, her gaze locked onto a chemical plant not far ahead.
"Captain, Evemera is closing in on the factory!"
Reina immediately reported to the commander, "Please advise, should we use shock rays to control its movements?"
"Captain, please wait a moment!" Feng Chui shouted urgently, "Please give me a little more time!"
"What's wrong? Is it the wind?" Captain Qingguang frowned.
"That guy... Evemera won't mess around anymore." The wind blew with exceptional certainty.
"What does this mean?"
"Please look at this."
The camera followed the wind's movement, zooming in on Evemera.
The monster, which had already learned to walk upright on two legs, did not attempt to destroy the chemical plant.
Instead, it bent down and carefully picked up the rubble of buildings and reinforced concrete that it had knocked down that morning, piece by piece.
It piled up these waste materials, seemingly building something.
"What is it doing?"
The captain asked, puzzled.
"It wants to rebuild the warehouse it destroyed."
The wind whispered, its eyes gleaming, "The baby... has grown up. It knows it did something wrong and is trying to make amends."
Everyone in the command room fell silent as they watched the massive figure on the screen clumsily trying to repair the city.
This monster is experiencing growth and responsibility at an incredible speed.
However, this brief period of peace did not last long.
"Beep beep beep—!"
The highest-level emergency red communication forcefully cut into the youth elite team's channel.
On the big screen appeared a man with a cold expression, dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking general.
Behind him was a solemn and imposing military command center, exuding an undeniable aura of strength.
"He's the commander of the Integrated Defense Force!"
Vice Captain Mizuha gasped.
The commander glared at Captain Haruka in front of the screen and demanded bluntly, "Captain Haruka, why aren't you attacking? Immediately order a switch to red-level status!"
Captain Seiko replied calmly and confidently, "We are currently observing the monster's behavior, and it has not shown any further intention to attack."
"absurd!"
The defense commander slammed his fist on the table. "There's a government computer central management facility nearby! If it's destroyed, the entire government's functions will be paralyzed! I order you to attack immediately and destroy it!"
"We will limit the scope of the damage to the T-3 area, and the Youth Elite Team will take full responsibility!" Captain Qingguang argued forcefully.
Faced with Captain Qingguang's resistance, the commander's eyes turned icy cold, and he issued an ultimatum.
"Operation related to the monster Evemera has been transferred to the Integrated Defense Force. Your subordinates on site are ordered to evacuate immediately. We will launch the latest heat-sensing missiles to completely destroy it!"