Chapter 137: Which Spacetime Is This, After All?

With the bandages on the rest of his body already removed, Yue Longze dragged his left arm, still encased in a heavy plaster cast, out of the Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital with a surge of excitement.

Walking along the bustling streets, Yue Longze surveyed the thriving city of Tokyo, crowded with people and overflowing with traffic. The clamor of the crowd, the cheers, the shouts—how long had it been since he heard these sounds, so strange yet so familiar?

Yue Longze felt a wave of emotion. During his long stay in the Land of Light’s spacetime, he had seen no other humans, interacting only with various monsters, Darklops, and Ultra Warriors. He had almost forgotten that he, too, was a human from Earth. Now, standing on this blue planet, he finally felt human again.

"The air on Earth is truly the best!" Yue Longze wore a gentle smile, gazing at the blue sky layered with thick white clouds. Even with his arm in a cast, his heart and body felt remarkably light.

"I’ll explore Tokyo properly first, then contact Daigo and the others! Finally, I'll go see the most important person to me—Ike Harumi Mika!" This was his plan.

Although both Ultraman Tiga spacetimes featured a Tokyo and both were prosperous, there were many differences in their development. In Mika’s spacetime, he had never visited Tokyo; taking this opportunity to enjoy it felt like a good idea. As the capital of Japan, Tokyo was incredibly vibrant, and after walking for a long time, Yue Longze had taken in the full scope of its prosperity.

The fiery red sunset ignited the distant horizon, dazzling and warm. Watching the soft glow of the setting sun, Yue Longze composed himself, preparing to contact Daigo and his crew. He had long memorized the phone number for the GUTS command center. He intended to borrow a phone from a passerby to make the call and then wait for Daigo and the others to come pick him up. After all, he was so broke now that he had nothing left but his Dark Spark Lens.

But as soon as he thought of the Dark Spark Lens, Yue Longze’s brow furrowed, and he sighed inwardly. The energy within the Dark Spark Lens had faded significantly, reaching an all-time low. It was as if the energy had been scattered. He had already pondered the cause while still in the hospital: it must have been that violent blow from Juda that caused his current predicament.

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Yue Longze’s mouth. He had lost so much power. His Light form's power was gone, and he didn't know when he would be able to reclaim it. Now, his Dark form had also lost the majority of its strength. Combined with a body that hadn't fully recovered, he found it difficult even to transform.

"Sigh..." Yue Longze sighed heavily, the joy of reuniting with Daigo and the others dampened significantly. Yet, he quickly gathered his composure. Lost strength could be regained, but if one lost the people they cherished, they would only meet again in the afterlife. One must treasure those in the present.

Adjusting his mindset and preparing a script, he cheekily approached a trendy-looking young woman passing by to borrow her phone. He rattled off a long explanation, deliberately gesturing to the heavy cast on his left arm, hoping that she would take pity on a wounded man and let him make a call.

To his dismay, the trendy young woman just rolled her eyes at him. "Give me a break, try a better excuse if you want to hit on someone!" She tightened the strap of her stylish bag and walked away, leaving behind only the scent of pungent perfume.

"Damn it..." Yue Longze was left both amused and frustrated. He really just wanted to make a phone call!

He chose another target, this time an older, honest-looking man. After a breathless explanation, the slightly balding man blinked in confusion, took his phone from his pocket, and handed it to Yue Longze. With the phone in his hand, Yue Longze felt a rush of excitement; his fingers trembled slightly as he pressed the buttons. Having been away from this spacetime for so long, he was finally going to see his partners and his lover again!

He dialed the number and held the phone to his right ear, his heart racing. He imagined the excitement of Daigo and the others when they suddenly received his call. Daigo would surely give a silly grin, wouldn't he? Shinjo and Horii would probably start bickering happily again, right? And Captain Iruma would definitely be glad to hear from him, too.

"I am sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service..." A cold yet emotive female voice responded.

Yue Longze froze, then shook his head. He must have been too excited and dialed the wrong number. Carefully and meticulously, he punched in the digits again, checking them multiple times to be certain before dialing once more.

"Beep."
"I am sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service..."
"What is going on... how could the number for the command center be changed?"

Yue Longze furrowed his brows. He couldn't have misremembered the number. He tried a few more times, refusing to give up, but the result remained the same.

"I’ll just call Mika directly then!" He carefully entered Mika’s phone number and dialed.

"Hello! Who is this? I’m busy!" A rough, middle-aged female voice answered.
Yue Longze was taken aback. "Um, I’m looking for Ms. Ike Harumi Mika!"
"You're wasting my time! You've got the wrong number!" The woman on the other end hung up abruptly.

"Beep... beep... beep..." The dial tone echoed in Yue Longze’s mind. His brows were knit so tightly they formed a deep furrow. He absentmindedly returned the phone to the middle-aged man who had been waiting patiently, then forced a smile and thanked him politely.

"What on earth is going on..." Yue Longze crouched down, feeling helpless and looking utterly dejected. In the sunset, his lonely shadow stretched out long and thin.

"Could it be... that this isn't the spacetime where Mika belongs..." Having experienced two other parallel spacetimes, this thought crossed his mind. He remembered that in the spacetime tunnel, Juda’s energy had been ravaging the barriers of the tunnel... It was highly possible that the tunnel had been distorted, causing him to drift into a different spacetime entirely, or perhaps even be annihilated in a spacetime rift.

Yue Longze shuddered. The concept of a "spacetime rift" was something Zoffy had told him about after he had returned to the Land of Light. Looking at it this way, he was truly fortunate not to have been cast into a rift and wiped out of existence.