"No problem."
With so many members of the Ice Castle Base present, and Yu Zhou himself leading, Daigo naturally felt there would be no issue.
Yu Zhou, however, was wary of Sufume attempting a sneak attack. That was why he insisted Daigo remain behind at the floating base above the Antarctic seas.
And as the command hub of the Antarctic, the base naturally had more than one submarine.
Yu Zhou boarded one with Asuka and Ryo, while Kōda, Soriya, and Nakajima took the other. The two submarines departed together from the floating base, heading down into the depths toward the Ice Castle Base.
The Ice Castle Base had been constructed by TPC to cool the Antarctic waters. Without it, global warming would accelerate the melting of the polar glaciers, raising sea levels at a catastrophic rate.
…
Still, Yu Zhou felt he really shouldn't have chosen this particular submarine.
Ryo and Asuka were sitting together, all smiles—meanwhile, he was the third wheel choking on their "dog food." Not the most pleasant of rides.
Thankfully, it didn't last long. Soon, both subs arrived at the Ice Castle Base, and the teams disembarked.
"Why are the lights out?"
Ryo frowned at the darkened corridors of the facility.
"Because something's already gone wrong here," Yu Zhou said, drawing his Victory Hyper Gun from his storage bracelet. "Everyone, be careful."
"Understood!"
Weapons at the ready, the others scanned the shadows with wary eyes.
By Yu Zhou's reckoning, Sufume had already unleashed its half-fish soldiers—the Digon—to overrun the base. With its systems compromised, the Ice Castle Base was under enemy control, and its power grid had been cut. No wonder the lights were dead.
Yu Zhou pulled out two high-powered flashlights from his bracelet, handing one to Nakajima and the other to Ryo.
The base was vast; a single group wouldn't be able to search it efficiently. After a quick discussion with Kōda, they decided to split into two teams of three and search separately.
"Wait," Yu Zhou reconsidered. "Ryo, you should go with Kōda's team. Asuka and I can handle ourselves."
There were two reasons for this: first, if he needed to transform, it would be inconvenient with Ryo at his side; second, a four-person group would be safer overall.
The Digon weren't particularly strong—any well-aimed shot from their weapons could take one down. And for trained Super Victory Team members, that wasn't much of a challenge.
Although Ryo seemed puzzled, he agreed and joined Kōda's group, forming a four-person squad. Asuka, realizing Yu Zhou's intention, said nothing.
Taking out another flashlight, Yu Zhou set off with Asuka down one corridor, while the others headed into another.
The tunnels were shrouded in gloom, but Yu Zhou's flashlight illuminated the way clearly.
"Yu Zhou-senpai," Asuka asked after a while, unable to hold back, "what exactly happened here at the Ice Castle Base?"
Asuka knew Yu Zhou's insight bordered on precognition. Given the situation, there had to be more to it.
"You know the Crow People, right?" Yu Zhou asked instead of answering directly.
"I know them," Asuka nodded. "An alien race that came to capture humans as slaves. Victory Team and Ultraman Tiga defeated them together."
"The enemy we're facing this time is similar," Yu Zhou explained. "Another race—a half-fish people."
"Half-fish? What kind of half-fish?" Asuka tilted his head curiously.
"They're not really 'half' in the usual sense," Yu Zhou said, thinking aloud. "They walk upright like humans, with arms, legs, and heads, but all their features resemble those of fish."
"Are they green all over?"
Suddenly, Asuka halted, staring ahead.
"Yes."
"And do they look slimy… disgusting?"
"Exactly. How did you—?"
"Because there's one right in front of us!" Asuka shouted, raising his weapon and firing.
A searing laser shot down the hall. Yu Zhou quickly followed with a blast of his own.
The beams struck the fish-man soldier dead-on, dropping it instantly.
"They go down pretty easy," Asuka remarked, surprised.
"They're weak, yes," Yu Zhou admitted, narrowing his eyes at the corner ahead. "But there are a lot of them."
As if on cue, a horde of Digon surged around the corner, their guttural roars echoing through the corridor.
Spotting Yu Zhou and Asuka, they charged headlong, one after another, without hesitation.
Zap! Zap! Zap!
The two opened fire, beams ripping through the attackers. Each shot dropped a Digon, but there were too many, and the two of them alone couldn't stem the tide.
"Fall back, Asuka!" Yu Zhou shouted.
"The real fight starts now!"
But Asuka was already pulling out the Flash Sword. He pressed the trigger—ready to transform.
Yu Zhou: "…"
"Fine. Let's charge together, then."
With a helpless shrug, Yu Zhou holstered his gun and flashlight, pulling the Sparklence from his chest.
Twin beams of light blazed forth, illuminating the corridor. Moments later, Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Tiga stood tall before the advancing Digon horde.
The fish-men froze for a split second—stunned that their human prey had suddenly transformed into giants of light. But momentum carried them forward, and they kept rushing in.
Yu Zhou thrust his hands toward his Colour Timer, then swept them outward. A luminous blade of energy shot forth from his arms, cleaving into the swarm.
Beside him, Dyna unleashed a flurry of energy strikes, battering the monsters.
The combined onslaught tore through the Digon. Yu Zhou's radiant blade sliced them clean in half, while Dyna's light arrows finished the job, reducing the bisected creatures to ash before they could react.
"Bloody, maybe," Yu Zhou remarked, satisfied, "but this Light Blade is damn effective."
He remembered—this was the very technique Daigo had once used to decapitate the monstrous Sukuna Oni.