Chapter 18: Hoodwinking Gone Awry (Please Keep Reading)

The AI in the special training ground was practically an artificial idiot, utterly incapable of adaptation. Without any foundational knowledge and unable to comprehend the principles behind the Specium Ray, Qiao Zhe naturally saw no point in continuing his training there.

After listening to Qiao Zhe’s complaints, Noah felt a bit guilty—he had indeed overlooked something. Immediately, he transferred some basic knowledge into Qiao Zhe’s mind through a beam of light. “I’ll rework the training ground,” he said.

It was, after all, something hastily cobbled together, so its rough quality was understandable. The old mystic felt somewhat embarrassed. Seeing Qiao Zhe absorbed in digesting the new knowledge, he began modifying the training ground.

Facing an Ultraman like Cain was too much for Qiao Zhe at his current level. However, perhaps he could remove the muting restriction; if he summoned more Ultramen, these warriors could offer Qiao Zhe their guidance. As for the evil aliens, Noah decided after some thought to place no limitations on them. After all, a fledgling eagle must learn to fly on its own. If it went astray, he could always correct it physically.

By the time Qiao Zhe had finished assimilating the basic knowledge, he found that the old mystic had already slipped back into slumber.

“He fell asleep that quickly? I hope there aren’t more traps this time.” Muttering to himself, Qiao Zhe glanced at the nearby portal, his suspicions unresolved.

But now wasn’t the time to test it. He had entered the subspace mainly because Noah had awakened.

Opening his eyes and returning to reality, he heard the bus chime its next stop. Qiao Zhe looked up at the route progress and saw it was exactly his intended destination.

He stood and exited through the rear door of the bus.

His gaze swept over the surrounding environment, matching the vague scenes in his memory.

“It should be around here,” he murmured.

After these days of investigation, he had finally pinpointed the address of the Wumeng family.

The XIG aerial base floated above in the sky. Although Qiao Zhe could go there at any time, he would certainly be discovered if he did. The detection systems were simply too advanced.

Lacking Fujimiya’s technical prowess, Qiao Zhe couldn’t fool the XIG systems, so he had no choice but to wait for Wumeng to come to him.

He proceeded along the coastline, occasionally observing the nearby buildings.

Eventually, he stopped beside a courtyard, catching sight of the characters “Gao Shan” on the wall by the gate.

He stepped forward and knocked.

It wasn’t long before a young-looking lady opened the door just a crack.

“And you are?”

Gazing at the unfamiliar young man before her, Mrs. Gao Shan was both puzzled and wary.

Qiao Zhe flashed a radiant smile, the very image of a sunny youth. “Hello, I’m a friend of Wumeng’s. I heard he’s taken a leave from school…”

This was the benefit of knowing the story. As Qiao Zhe spoke, Mrs. Gao Shan gradually let down her guard.

“So that’s it. My, that Wumeng… Thank you for your trouble.” Then she realized Qiao Zhe was still standing at the door. It would be rude to keep a guest waiting outside, so she invited him in. “Don’t just stand out there, come on in.”

“Thank you for having me,” Qiao Zhe replied, following her into the house without hesitation.

Perhaps it was his good looks, but Mrs. Gao Shan felt sure Qiao Zhe wasn’t a bad person.

At the moment, she was alone at home; her husband had gone into the mountains to visit elderly villagers living by themselves.

...

Far above at XIG, Wumeng was still unaware that Qiao Zhe had found his home.

He was currently at the aerial base, engrossed in an arcade game—a fighter jet simulator.

After nearly being discovered by Director Di last time, Wumeng realized he needed a jet of his own; otherwise, transforming would be difficult.

He’d long coveted the EX fighter parked with the logistics department since joining XIG.

Watching Lightning Team soar in their fighters made his heart race—he too wanted to pilot a jet across the sky.

Mainly, Oogawara and Kitada kept crashing their planes in training. Wumeng believed he could do better himself.

Recently, he’d been tinkering with artificial intelligence, waiting for the chance to modify the EX once he could pilot it.

So, he often came to practice on the simulator after returning to base.

But this time, he hadn’t played long before Commander Ishimuro summoned him.

“Commander,” Wumeng greeted, stepping into the commander’s office, feeling somewhat nervous. His gaze fell upon a photograph on the desk—a woman and child, likely Ishimuro’s family.

“Wumeng,” Ishimuro began, his expression grave as he approached. “Have you told your parents about your activities here?”

Mrs. Gao Shan had learned Wumeng had taken a leave of absence to join XIG. Though worried, she didn’t object.

This was mainly because Qiao Zhe had said there was something important he needed to discuss with Wumeng, prompting her to contact XIG.

Under Ishimuro’s intense scrutiny, Wumeng felt enormous pressure and admitted sheepishly, “Not yet…but my family is very open-minded!”

Ishimuro’s brows furrowed. His voice was quiet but brooked no argument. “You’ll fly home now and speak to your family clearly.”

“Yes, sir…” Wumeng lowered his head in resignation.

Leaving Ishimuro’s office, Wumeng was visibly downcast, but he still went to board his flight home.

Qiao Zhe’s plan to lure Wumeng had succeeded perfectly. Meanwhile, elsewhere—

Fujimiya sat, eyes ringed with fatigue, bloodshot from sleepless nights.

“No… How can there be nothing?!”

“How is it possible that there’s not even a clue or scrap of data to be found?!”

Unable to help himself, Fujimiya scratched his head in frustration.

In his quest to investigate JOJO Ultraman, he had dug into the XIG database as if it were his own backyard, extracting all available voice recordings.

After comparing them with everyone from the Alchemy Star team, he still found no match.

In Fujimiya’s view, anyone who could wield the Light of Earth had to be a genius—surely one of the prodigies from Alchemy Star.

But night after night of investigation had yielded nothing.

“Damn it! Who is this guy, anyway? Did he appear out of thin air?” Fujimiya’s expression froze as a new possibility struck him.

What if this person wasn’t even from Earth?

“No, if he’s not from Earth, why would the power of the sky choose him?” Fujimiya frowned deeply, unable to accept such a wild conjecture.

Yet, when every other possibility was eliminated, however unbelievable the remaining option, it just might be the truth.

As this thought took shape, his expression shifted.

He immediately opened the photonic quantum computer, Crysis, for a final check.

Consulting an insider would only get him so far.

“Light, disguise, darkness, origin.”

That was the cryptic response Crysis provided, leaving Fujimiya to interpret the meaning on his own.

People are always most convinced by answers they deduce for themselves.

Sure enough, the more Fujimiya considered it, the darker his expression became. His fists clenched. “To think someone would dare steal the power of Earth. I won’t let you get away with it!”

Back at the Wumeng residence, Qiao Zhe—blissfully unaware—had already been “tagged” by Fujimiya.