booktalesy Chapter 411 A Call Across the Stars, A Resonance Between Two Lonely Boys
Chapter 411 A Call Across the Stars, A Resonance Between Two Lonely Boys
(Thanks to [Selfless Yashamaru] for the "Master Certification".)
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
It's 8 PM on Friday, Xia time.
The pages on major video platforms refreshed on time, and the 20th episode of "Ultraman Cosmos" officially premiered!
Under Gu Nan's rearrangement, this episode corresponds to episode 42 in the original timeline.
The storyline of Gauss has progressed to the mid-to-late stages, and the upcoming episodes will only retain the main plot and memorable episodes.
However, apart from the combined storyline, the other episodes to be broadcast have also been expanded and lengthened in terms of dialogue and action scenes, ensuring that they can fill 40 minutes.
Countless tokusatsu fans who had just finished get off work or school, or were resting in bed, were already waiting in front of their screens.
With each tap of the finger, a dense barrage of comments flooded the playback page like a tidal wave.
The progress bar starts jumping, and the main feature screen lights up.
Accompanied by a slightly melancholic and peaceful background music, the camera focuses on a school located in the countryside.
On the playground after school, the setting sun cast long shadows of the students.
A boy named Juecun was walking home alone, carrying his schoolbag, head down, and expressionless.
His gloomy demeanor stood out starkly against the cheerful laughter of his classmates.
Jue Village made a brief stop.
A lively female classmate noticed him and immediately ran over enthusiastically, blocking his way.
"Juecun-kun!"
The girl smiled sincerely. "Hey, see our rocket? I heard you were in the science department at your school in another city, right? And you even won the junior robotics competition, right?"
Juecun looked at the enthusiastic girl in front of him, his expression completely unchanged, and simply gave a curt "Hmm": "Yeah."
"Then why don't you join our group!" the girl excitedly invited.
"group?"
"That's right! Our group, Rocket Boys and Girls!"
The girl pointed to the group of classmates behind her who were fiddling with water rockets, her eyes sparkling. "It's so much fun studying rockets together!"
However, Juecun remained indifferent to his classmates' enthusiasm.
He couldn't even be bothered to glance at those rudimentary water rockets.
"Good luck to you guys, goodbye."
Juecun coldly uttered those words, turned and left without a second thought, leaving the girl standing there awkwardly.
Seeing this from a distance, the students sighed helplessly: "Alright, Yoko, he doesn't want to talk to us again. It's really a headache. This genius boy looks down on us country bumpkins."
【Jiahao?】
[I've got a great deal to live on, bro.]
【Genius Jiahao's Dual Nature】
[This episode starts with a classic tokusatsu drama theme featuring a reclusive young man; judging from the title, it will definitely focus on this boy's friendships.]
The scene shifts to the command center of the elite youth team.
Unlike the tranquility of Jue Village, the command room was in complete chaos.
The phone rang incessantly, turning the entire base into what seemed like a large customer service center.
"Ah...is this a phone consultation?"
The usually hot-tempered ace pilot, Feng Chui, was now helplessly wearing his communication headset, patiently explaining into the microphone: "Will the comet collide with Earth? Um, that... please wait a moment."
Feng Chui rubbed his throbbing temples and turned to the other team members to complain, "Because we're getting so many questions, the intelligence department couldn't handle it and transferred the outside leads to us. Normally, outside leads aren't even under our jurisdiction!"
Despite his complaints, he still had to reassure the panicked citizens on the other end of the phone: "I was just about to explain, to tell everyone not to worry. We've already started investigating, and there's nothing serious, really!"
Sitting in front of the computer, Tu Jing watched the constantly changing orbital data of the celestial bodies on the screen and reported loudly to his superior, "At this rate, this giant comet will be closest to Earth in three days. I don't think it will have a direct impact on Earth. We've never encountered data on a comet like this before."
"But thankfully it's a relief."
The captain looked at the screen and breathed a sigh of relief. "Earth wasn't in its impact trajectory. This incredible comet just brushed past us."
[The wind has blown me into becoming a customer service representative!]
Earthlings are so easily panicked; a single comet can overwhelm the defense forces' hotlines.
[In line with the worldview of tokusatsu (special effects) films.]
Is this comet a monster?
Just as the command center breathed a slight sigh of relief, a communication request suddenly popped up on the main screen.
It is Haru Musashi, who is currently on a mission at the Space Development Center.
"Captain, this is Musashi. Communication is from the Space Development Center." Musashi's image appeared on the screen.
Captain Haruka immediately sat up straight: "Thank you for your hard work, Musashi. Have the investigation results come out yet? What's the Space Development Center's opinion?"
However, the image on Musashi's end suddenly began to flicker violently, accompanied by a piercing "buzzing" sound of electricity.
"What? I can't hear you clearly!" Musashi shouted from the other end. "What's wrong? It's all noise!"
"It's strange here too, the noise suddenly became very loud!" Captain Qingguang frowned.
As soon as he finished speaking, the alarm lights in the entire command room suddenly started flashing.
"Strange! What's wrong? This is very strange!"
Rena frantically typed on the keyboard, "There's absolutely no way to communicate! All loops are broken!"
"Is there something wrong with the ionosphere?" Vice Captain Mizuha asked immediately.
"No! Not only the wireless, but the wired circuit is also malfunctioning!"
Looking at the screen full of gibberish, Tsuchikage wondered, "Is it due to the comet's influence?!"
Although this global communication disruption lasted only a short time, communications within the Earth quickly returned to normal.
However, when Rena tried to connect to the outer space signal again, she found that communication outside the atmosphere was still cut off and there was no sign of recovery.
"The special fundamental particles released by the comet are the root cause of this malfunction."
Tu Jing quickly analyzed the results and gave a timeframe: "If the communication disruption was indeed caused by that comet, it will take at least five days to restore communication with the outer atmosphere!"
Five days.
This means that Earth will completely lose its monitoring of space for the next five days, becoming an information island.
"This is a real headache..."
Vice-Captain Mizuha frowned, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Weren't you quite concerned about that UFO just now?"
"Unidentified flying object? What is that?" Musashi immediately became alert.
The captain explained, "We received this footage from the exoplanet exploration rocket just before the communication failure. I played it back immediately."
On the big screen, a video shot from an extremely long distance appeared.
Although the image quality is somewhat blurry due to interference, a rather large red object can be vaguely seen moving through space at an astonishing speed.
"This is an image captured from an extremely long distance before the communication was interrupted."
The captain explained, "Although we can't see the whole picture, the system detected a strong life response in it!"
"Could it be a living thing?" Feng Chui gasped.
"Perhaps. And its size is enormous."
The captain nodded.
"And it's flying towards Earth!"
[The comet is just a decoy; the real threat is this red monster?]
[After five days without internet, the monster strikes now – a decisive blow!]
[Physically cut the network cable, then point the camera at your face!]
Is it some kind of incredibly powerful monster again?
The story unfolds along two parallel timelines.
The camera then cuts back to the countryside.
As night fell, Juecun sat in front of his computer in his room, wearing headphones, having a video chat with Yihong, a friend from his old school.
"Speaking of which, this place is totally rural."
Juecun leaned back in his chair, looking impatient. "There's really nothing here. There's really nothing fun to do."
The friend on the other end of the video call smiled.
"Moreover, I can't make any friends at all. Or rather, I don't want to."
Jue Cun pursed his lips. "I think the students at this school are too immature. Today, that girl even asked me if I wanted to make friends. I said, why does everyone have to act like they're really close?"
"But you can't just keep ignoring them, can you?" a friend advised.
"It's alright. Being able to chat with you guys like this makes it all worthwhile, even if I don't make any new friends," Juecun said stubbornly.
However, the instant those words were spoken, the television in Juecun's room suddenly started flickering with static, and the video on the computer screen began to freeze erratically.
"What's wrong?"
Juecun frowned. "The communication status is strange. Is it an ionospheric anomaly?"
"Sizzle—sizzle—"
A piercing noise echoed in the room. Just when Jue Cun thought it was just a normal network malfunction, a broken, mechanical, unfamiliar voice suddenly came from the computer speakers.
"Can anyone... hear me?"
Juecun was stunned.
He looked at the frozen screen and confirmed that it wasn't Yihong's voice.
"What's going on? Can you hear me?" Juecun asked tentatively.
The unfamiliar voice rang out again, this time slightly clearer, but carrying an indescribable sense of loneliness: "I am... Thor of Putival. Can anyone hear me?"
Juecun gasped.
Putival?
Thor? That's not the name of any country on Earth.
"Please answer if you hear me..." the voice continued to call out.
Juecun hesitated for a moment, then finally pressed the microphone's call button: "Who is it? I heard you!"
"It's connected! It's finally connected! Can you understand what I'm saying? Is there a proper translator now?"
"Does 'translation' mean using translation software?"
Juecun found it incredible: "It sounds so natural, I thought you were a foreigner."
"Country? I don't know what 'country' means."
Thor's voice held a hint of confusion. "The place I am in is a small planet called Putival."
"Putiva, the planet? From outer space?" Juecun's eyes widened. "You're kidding!"
"Putiva is a distant satellite that cannot be found on any constellation chart or cosmological map."
Thor patiently explained, his voice gradually becoming low and sorrowful, "My name is Thor. Now, I am a person."
"one person?"
"That's right. Because... my father was killed by Drugoran."
[Holy crap! We're directly connecting with alien netizens?!]
A single internet cable allows you to chat across the stars and the sea.
[The odds of this being even lower than winning the lottery jackpot are probably lower than receiving alien signals directly.]
This translation software is hundreds of years ahead of its time.
【Drugorang? That giant cosmic monster?】
[Good heavens, I suddenly remember what that alien monster looked like! Bemstar!]
As the conversation deepened, Thor told the Earth boy, whom he had never met before, a heartbreaking story from his past.
It turns out that Drugorang is a migratory monster that is accustomed to traveling to various planets in the universe.
Thor's father was a biologist, and in order to study this monster, the father and son followed in Drugoran's footsteps, traveling to various planets in the universe.
Over time, Thor had come to regard Drugoran as his only friend.
"Drugolang was originally a docile monster."
Thor's voice trembled with a sob, "But then... it seemed possessed by something, suddenly becoming incredibly ferocious. It destroyed our spaceship. My father was killed by it while protecting me..."
Thor was left all alone on the desolate, unmanned satellite Putival, accompanied only by endless loneliness and long nights.
After hearing the story of the alien boy Thor, Juecun's previously closed-off heart was greatly shaken.
Two equally lonely souls resonated deeply during this communication that spanned light-years.
Juecun immediately saved this precious recording and quickly sent it to the elite youth team that specializes in handling such incidents.
The next morning.
Inside the command center of the elite youth team, audio data sent by Juecun was playing on a large screen.
"This is the language that the boy named Thor has just started speaking."
Tu Jing typed away on the keyboard, providing a professional analysis: "This is definitely not fabricated. It has a complete linguistic structure and is not a language from any country on Earth. It doesn't seem like the prank of a fourteen-year-old at all."
"Perhaps this is a little miracle caused by the comet interfering with the magnetic field?"
Musashi stood up, his expression grave: "There's something that's bothering me. The recording mentioned that the monster seemed to be possessed by something, and suddenly became very ferocious."
"You mean the Chaos virus?" Everyone immediately realized.
"I think, maybe Drugoran was affected by the Chaos virus."
Musashi's eyes sharpened. "The conversation just now also mentioned that after Drugoran killed someone, it flew off to a certain planet. If it really was possessed by the Chaos virus..."
"Could it be that the huge red unidentified object we discovered earlier, flying towards Earth, is that monster?!"
The air in the command room froze the moment Captain Qingguang uttered those words.
"Very likely." Musashi said solemnly, volunteering, "Captain, should we go to that boy's house to take a look? I want to go directly to find out more."
"Alright, Musashi, it's up to you now."
Captain Qingguang nodded, then turned to look at the big screen. "If Drugoran really comes to Earth, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Mizuha Vice-Captain proposed:
"If I pilot the Tektronix into space, I should be able to detect unidentified objects outside the atmosphere and attempt to intercept them in space."
"But we can't communicate with Earth right now!"
Captain Qingguang said worriedly, "Once you leave the atmosphere, you'll be completely isolated and helpless. The risk is too great!"
"But this is the only way."
The plot unfolds with suspense, and a crisis is imminent.
Humanity not only faces the panic of losing communication, but also the arrival of a raging alien behemoth infected by a chaos virus.
And all of this seems to hinge on the friendship between the two lonely teenagers that transcends the stars.