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Chapter 208: The Willfulness of Teleportation
The warship's commander was now beginning to realize he might have been a bit reckless.
If heaven could grant him another chance, he thought he would almost certainly choose to play dead quietly, to be a turtle in its shell, the kind that would rather die than stick its head out.
Whoever stuck their head out was a fool.
Are you kidding me? If he had known there was this kind of monster in the Solar System, who the hell would want to be on duty here? How much money was worth risking your life like this?
The warship's stealth system was already disengaged—he had no idea what happened, but in front of that glowing giant, the stealth was completely useless. It seemed like it had never been effective in the other's eyes from the very beginning.
By now, all of the ship's combat units had been deployed. Combat shuttles swarmed out, rapidly forming a battle formation. A dense rain of laser fire poured down, creating a tight web of light beams in space.
Then, he witnessed a scene that made him question his own existence.
That giant, radiating a brilliant glow and arcs of electricity, actually charged head-first into the dense network of firepower!
As the saying goes, among all the world's martial arts, only speed is unbreakable. The most powerful weapon is meaningless if it can't hit its target.
At a speed that shattered the commander's understanding, the blurry afterimage seemed to dance gracefully amidst the screen-filling barrage that was practically light pollution. Not a single weapon could graze him. The layer of light covering his body left a winding trail as he moved with superspeed.
And his method of counterattack was, surprisingly, the simplest, crudest, most primitive method—physical collision!
Facing the screen full of magnificent 'boom boom boom' explosions outside the warship window, the commander was dumbfounded.
Honestly, before accepting the mission to the Solar System, the commander had held a contemptuous attitude. The current Solar System didn't even have a single fleet capable of interstellar travel. He couldn't imagine how they could possibly fail so spectacularly in such a backward place.
Yet, he never would have imagined that he would one day be so utterly defeated in an interstellar battle... taken down by a single Phase Charge!
This was a form of interstellar warfare he could never have conceived of even in his dreams. There were no over-the-horizon strikes, no planet-evaporating cannons, no exchanges of anti-matter weapons, and certainly no high-level civilization equipment that warped the rules.
The enemy's strategy was just one word: ram.
The glowing afterimage rampaged through his fleet, so fast that even the shipboard AI couldn't predict its movements or get a lock. It easily weaved around the intersecting lasers that filled the sky, using its body to shoot through enemy units like a cannonball, then immediately locking onto the next target and turning in mid-air.
In a matter of moments, their shuttle formation was completely wiped out, leaving only the final warship, all alone.
The commander swore that in his entire life, he had never experienced—no, he had never even heard of—such an absurd battle in this world.
It had dismantled his entire formation relying solely on speed and brute toughness.
Even the legendary Green Lanterns, the universe's strongest individual combat units, probably weren't this overpowered, right?
Even a Green Lantern could never move fast enough to dance within this level of firepower, and their protective force field shouldn't be nearly this durable. Besides, a Lantern also has to rely on energy projection and weapon constructs to fight, not to mention their power ring has the power to resist and nullify the common rule-warping weapons found in most known civilizations.
The final target. The afterimage shot straight forward, slamming violently into the warship.
A huge impact. A tremor like an earthquake could be felt throughout the entire warship. But it surprisingly withstood the blow. An invisible, transparent ripple spread out from the front of the warship, and a fleeting crack quickly restored itself.
It was the warship's force field.
The shield of a planet-class warship was quite formidable, designed to withstand the main cannon of an equally-specced warship at full power. The brilliant afterimage slammed into the shield once. Failing to break through, it used the recoil to accelerate away, nimbly dodging the counterattack from the warship's automated turrets.
The resilience of the shield put the commander somewhat at ease. He bellowed, “Release the gravity field, reduce his speed! Charge the particle cannon!”
All the operators were on edge, rapidly responding to the command and performing their actions.
“Target lost! The auto-tracking system is tracking an energy signal!” an operator shouted.
“That's impossible!” someone said. “Recalibrate!”
Although the warship's auto-aim system couldn't keep up with the target from the start, constantly chasing its high-speed afterimage, it could at least still try to aim by tracking the signal.
But now, as if in a single second, the thing just vanished.
How is that possible?
Sweat beaded on the operator's forehead.
Could it be that they were facing some kind of interstellar ghost?
Suddenly, the control panel pinged, and a notification popped up: Identification signal detected.
The operator was thrilled. “Found it! Target is back online, calibrating position. Its coordinates are... at... at...”
He stared at the coordinate lock on the screen and froze for a moment.
“...on our warship?”
As he said this, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.
He sluggishly raised his head.
He came face-to-face with a pair of round, glowing eyes.
At some unknown time, that strange red-and-silver creature had appeared on their bridge, shrunk to human size, and was now meeting his gaze.
The gaze seemed to ask, "Who are you trying to aim at?"
“Aaahhh!!!” the operator shrieked.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
“The warship has been infiltrated!”
The entire room instantly erupted into chaos.
These aliens probably couldn't figure out how the enemy had gotten in even if they scratched their heads raw. The shield was perfectly intact, and there were no warnings of any security vulnerability on the warship.
But as if in a single second, *pop*, he was standing right in the middle of the bridge.
A similar thought ran through the minds of all the aliens.
This is impossible, it's a nightmare!
This thing really is a ghost—no, a god-like being! Something that transcends scientific understanding, something inexplicable!
But Orin Vale was very calm and indicated that this was just a basic move.
Just teleportation, nothing to make a fuss about.
It's a very standard skill in Ultraman. It's a classic move, used as far back as the first Showa-era star, the Original Ultraman. The Heisei-era's Tiga used it too. The New Generation's Ultraman Ginga was even more ridiculous, teleporting all over the world while fighting within a three-minute battle.
It's just that, aside from a few overpowered individuals, teleportation is a top-tier energy drain for the vast majority of Ultramen. In the TV shows, many predecessors would use teleportation once and their timer would immediately start flashing its red light, drastically reducing their combat power. According to the narration in the early shows, it would even “shorten one's lifespan.”
This was also why Orin Vale had never used it before.
But things were different now. With the link to the Light of Hope, unique to the DC Universe, his energy reserves were practically bottomless, so he could be completely willful about using his skills. He could basically teleport whenever he wanted, with no restrictions.
And that's what led to this scene.
“Get him! Get...”
An alien shouted at the top of his lungs while trying to draw his gun.
But before the gun could even be drawn, Orin Vale's body swayed. His figure seemed to flicker imperceptibly, yet it also seemed as if he had been standing in the same spot all along, never having moved at all.
But in the next second, all the aliens on the bridge were already lying scattered on the floor.
Orin Vale smiled. “Who was it you said you were going to 'get'?”
(end of chapter)
The warship's commander was now beginning to realize he might have been a bit reckless.
If heaven could grant him another chance, he thought he would almost certainly choose to play dead quietly, to be a turtle in its shell, the kind that would rather die than stick its head out.
Whoever stuck their head out was a fool.
Are you kidding me? If he had known there was this kind of monster in the Solar System, who the hell would want to be on duty here? How much money was worth risking your life like this?
The warship's stealth system was already disengaged—he had no idea what happened, but in front of that glowing giant, the stealth was completely useless. It seemed like it had never been effective in the other's eyes from the very beginning.
By now, all of the ship's combat units had been deployed. Combat shuttles swarmed out, rapidly forming a battle formation. A dense rain of laser fire poured down, creating a tight web of light beams in space.
Then, he witnessed a scene that made him question his own existence.
That giant, radiating a brilliant glow and arcs of electricity, actually charged head-first into the dense network of firepower!
As the saying goes, among all the world's martial arts, only speed is unbreakable. The most powerful weapon is meaningless if it can't hit its target.
At a speed that shattered the commander's understanding, the blurry afterimage seemed to dance gracefully amidst the screen-filling barrage that was practically light pollution. Not a single weapon could graze him. The layer of light covering his body left a winding trail as he moved with superspeed.
And his method of counterattack was, surprisingly, the simplest, crudest, most primitive method—physical collision!
Facing the screen full of magnificent 'boom boom boom' explosions outside the warship window, the commander was dumbfounded.
Honestly, before accepting the mission to the Solar System, the commander had held a contemptuous attitude. The current Solar System didn't even have a single fleet capable of interstellar travel. He couldn't imagine how they could possibly fail so spectacularly in such a backward place.
Yet, he never would have imagined that he would one day be so utterly defeated in an interstellar battle... taken down by a single Phase Charge!
This was a form of interstellar warfare he could never have conceived of even in his dreams. There were no over-the-horizon strikes, no planet-evaporating cannons, no exchanges of anti-matter weapons, and certainly no high-level civilization equipment that warped the rules.
The enemy's strategy was just one word: ram.
The glowing afterimage rampaged through his fleet, so fast that even the shipboard AI couldn't predict its movements or get a lock. It easily weaved around the intersecting lasers that filled the sky, using its body to shoot through enemy units like a cannonball, then immediately locking onto the next target and turning in mid-air.
In a matter of moments, their shuttle formation was completely wiped out, leaving only the final warship, all alone.
The commander swore that in his entire life, he had never experienced—no, he had never even heard of—such an absurd battle in this world.
It had dismantled his entire formation relying solely on speed and brute toughness.
Even the legendary Green Lanterns, the universe's strongest individual combat units, probably weren't this overpowered, right?
Even a Green Lantern could never move fast enough to dance within this level of firepower, and their protective force field shouldn't be nearly this durable. Besides, a Lantern also has to rely on energy projection and weapon constructs to fight, not to mention their power ring has the power to resist and nullify the common rule-warping weapons found in most known civilizations.
The final target. The afterimage shot straight forward, slamming violently into the warship.
A huge impact. A tremor like an earthquake could be felt throughout the entire warship. But it surprisingly withstood the blow. An invisible, transparent ripple spread out from the front of the warship, and a fleeting crack quickly restored itself.
It was the warship's force field.
The shield of a planet-class warship was quite formidable, designed to withstand the main cannon of an equally-specced warship at full power. The brilliant afterimage slammed into the shield once. Failing to break through, it used the recoil to accelerate away, nimbly dodging the counterattack from the warship's automated turrets.
The resilience of the shield put the commander somewhat at ease. He bellowed, “Release the gravity field, reduce his speed! Charge the particle cannon!”
All the operators were on edge, rapidly responding to the command and performing their actions.
“Target lost! The auto-tracking system is tracking an energy signal!” an operator shouted.
“That's impossible!” someone said. “Recalibrate!”
Although the warship's auto-aim system couldn't keep up with the target from the start, constantly chasing its high-speed afterimage, it could at least still try to aim by tracking the signal.
But now, as if in a single second, the thing just vanished.
How is that possible?
Sweat beaded on the operator's forehead.
Could it be that they were facing some kind of interstellar ghost?
Suddenly, the control panel pinged, and a notification popped up: Identification signal detected.
The operator was thrilled. “Found it! Target is back online, calibrating position. Its coordinates are... at... at...”
He stared at the coordinate lock on the screen and froze for a moment.
“...on our warship?”
As he said this, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.
He sluggishly raised his head.
He came face-to-face with a pair of round, glowing eyes.
At some unknown time, that strange red-and-silver creature had appeared on their bridge, shrunk to human size, and was now meeting his gaze.
The gaze seemed to ask, "Who are you trying to aim at?"
“Aaahhh!!!” the operator shrieked.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
“The warship has been infiltrated!”
The entire room instantly erupted into chaos.
These aliens probably couldn't figure out how the enemy had gotten in even if they scratched their heads raw. The shield was perfectly intact, and there were no warnings of any security vulnerability on the warship.
But as if in a single second, *pop*, he was standing right in the middle of the bridge.
A similar thought ran through the minds of all the aliens.
This is impossible, it's a nightmare!
This thing really is a ghost—no, a god-like being! Something that transcends scientific understanding, something inexplicable!
But Orin Vale was very calm and indicated that this was just a basic move.
Just teleportation, nothing to make a fuss about.
It's a very standard skill in Ultraman. It's a classic move, used as far back as the first Showa-era star, the Original Ultraman. The Heisei-era's Tiga used it too. The New Generation's Ultraman Ginga was even more ridiculous, teleporting all over the world while fighting within a three-minute battle.
It's just that, aside from a few overpowered individuals, teleportation is a top-tier energy drain for the vast majority of Ultramen. In the TV shows, many predecessors would use teleportation once and their timer would immediately start flashing its red light, drastically reducing their combat power. According to the narration in the early shows, it would even “shorten one's lifespan.”
This was also why Orin Vale had never used it before.
But things were different now. With the link to the Light of Hope, unique to the DC Universe, his energy reserves were practically bottomless, so he could be completely willful about using his skills. He could basically teleport whenever he wanted, with no restrictions.
And that's what led to this scene.
“Get him! Get...”
An alien shouted at the top of his lungs while trying to draw his gun.
But before the gun could even be drawn, Orin Vale's body swayed. His figure seemed to flicker imperceptibly, yet it also seemed as if he had been standing in the same spot all along, never having moved at all.
But in the next second, all the aliens on the bridge were already lying scattered on the floor.
Orin Vale smiled. “Who was it you said you were going to 'get'?”
(end of chapter)
