After Yu Zhou transmitted the command to the ship's AI to set a course for Earth in the Milky Way, the vessel accelerated toward its destination.
Yu Zhou couldn't help but think, 'This ship's AI is actually more reliable than Dack.'
"Head for the M78 Nebula."
The thought struck him suddenly, and he gave the command aloud.
Charija: "???"
"You want to go to the Land of Light?"
Charija's face went pale. "What is this, the kindergarten bus? I want off right now!"
As a monster dealer, he had always been at odds with the Ultras of the Land of Light. Ever since he began his trade, countless monsters under his control had been slain by those giants of light. Even his beloved Yanakargie had been destroyed by Ultraman Tiga and the original Ultraman fighting together.
He cast Yu Zhou a complicated look. True, his Yanakargie had been slain by Tiga, but Yu Zhou had also gifted him two Zoiger eggs, which more or less balanced the debt.
Still—if Yu Zhou wanted to head to M78 now, Charija had no intention of going along. The last time he'd gone near the M78 Nebula had been to reach the Monster Graveyard. This time was different. If he showed up in the Land of Light, his monsters would likely be exterminated in an instant.
"You're not getting off today. I welded the door shut!" Yu Zhou grinned slyly.
He knew Charija disliked the Ultras, but he hadn't expected his reaction to be this dramatic.
"M78 Nebula?" Dack blinked. He had never even heard of the place. "Is that the world you mentioned before? The one filled with countless giants of light?"
"That's right," Yu Zhou nodded. "Strange though… I would've thought Dais Star people would know about it."
"Error. Unable to locate M78 Nebula."
The ship's AI cut in, leaving Yu Zhou dumbfounded.
"What? You can't find it?"
For a ship with such advanced technology, built by a civilization with such long history, not even knowing where M78 was? That was unexpected.
Then again, when Yu Zhou had once asked Eli about the Plasma Spark, she hadn't known anything either. If their civilization didn't even know that, then it made sense they wouldn't know the location of the Land of Light.
Charija let out a long breath of relief. If the ship had located M78, he would have jumped ship on the spot.
"What are you relieved about?!" Yu Zhou slapped his forehead. "A ship this advanced can't even find M78?"
He turned to Charija. "Do you know where it is?"
By logic, Charija ought to know. After all, he had once taken Yu Zhou to the Land of Light before—even if it had been in a parallel world.
"I don't know." Charija shook his head violently. If he admitted he knew the coordinates, Yu Zhou would definitely steer them straight there.
"Be honest. Tell me, and I'll give you another Zoiger egg."
"I don't need it." Charija shook his head again. "I already have four."
Yu Zhou sighed. The Zoiger eggs had been his only bargaining chip, but Charija was already raising his own Zoigers—he didn't care anymore.
"Then I'll give you a whole box of Happy Water when we get back to Earth."
Charija faltered, tempted—but still shook his head.
"Two boxes!"
"No."
"Three boxes!"
"No!"
Yu Zhou finally compromised. "Fine. I won't go to the Land of Light now. Just input the coordinates so the AI has them for later, and I'll head there myself next time."
"It's not that I don't want to give them," Charija explained quickly. "It's just… the Land of Light isn't easy to find."
"Not easy to find?" Yu Zhou frowned. "Didn't you go before?"
"That was a parallel world's Land of Light," Charija admitted. "I fiddled with the coordinates for ages before I managed to stumble on them."
"So, you do have the coordinates."
"That's the problem." Charija sighed. "The first time I ended up there, I saw you lying on the ground after Belial crushed you. It was a complete accident. The next time, I used the same coordinates, but they shifted. After that, the location kept getting unstable. Once I even tried for M78 and wound up in the Dack Zos Galaxy instead."
Yu Zhou raised his brows. "Wait. Dack Zos Galaxy? Where's that?"
He remembered seeing mention of it once in old records—supposedly home to a group of Gatanozoa. If that was true… terrifying.
But Yu Zhou knew there was more than one Gatanozoa. In Ultraman Orb's world, there had even been a card of the Demon Beast of Darkness, Gatanozoa.
"Maybe it was sealed by another Tiga in another universe?" Yu Zhou muttered. The possibility existed. Or perhaps it had been one of Tiga's fragments.
"Anyway, the coordinates are too unstable. If you really want to go, you'd best use the suitcase. I did promise you two uses."
"But you won't come along?"
"Not a chance," Charija said firmly. "You can go, but I'm not risking my monsters."
Yu Zhou sighed. The Land of Light's coordinates were annoyingly elusive. Still, he wasn't in a hurry. For now, Earth came first.
He turned to Dack. "Dack, do you still want to come with me to Earth? Now that I've got this ship, you don't really need to play navigator anymore."
Dack thought for a moment, then nodded. "I'll go. I don't want to return to Dais Star. My daughter is gone… and on Earth, there's a girl named Yuka. She's just like her. I promised I'd raise her."
Yu Zhou nodded with understanding. "I get it."
When the ship reached Earth, it immediately entered TPC's defence grid. Super GUTS scrambled their fighters, and even the old Victory Team's Falcon deployed.
Yu Zhou quickly contacted them to explain that this was his newly purchased ship from another planet. After confirming, the teams stopped their approach and escorted him safely down.
"Yu Zhou-senpai, this is amazing!"
The moment the hatch opened, Shin Asuka ran up, eyes wide in excitement.
"Asuka, how have things been? Any difficult battles?" Yu Zhou asked.
"I'm fine, senpai!" Asuka grasped his hand, eyes sparkling. "This ship—you bought it off-world? That's incredible!"
"Of course." Yu Zhou chuckled.
Asuka, ever the pilot, was thrilled. "Can I take it for a spin?"
"Sure. Just one lap."
Yu Zhou then pulled another surprise from his storage bracelet—a sleek alien flyer.
"This one's for you."
Asuka nearly shouted in delight. "For me?!"
The young pilot leapt onto the machine at once, testing it eagerly as it lifted into the air. His joy was obvious.
The rest of Super GUTS watched enviously.
"Senpai, that's so unfair! Why only Asuka?" Mai pouted.
Yu Zhou laughed. "Don't worry. I got one for each of you."
With a sweep of his hand, several more alien flyers materialized on the ground.
The whole team gasped.
"Senpai… these must cost a fortune…" Captain Hibiki muttered, examining one.
"Don't worry about it. Just pocket change," Yu Zhou said casually.
Soon, the Super GUTS members were soaring through the air on their new gifts, laughing like children with toys.
Even Ryo, usually composed, couldn't hide his excitement.
"Thank you, Yu Zhou-senpai!"
Their cheers rang across the base.