Chapter 15: S

Shen You was pleased that he managed to reason with the Cross Gang in the end. A large group of them had come in with great momentum and left with their tails between their legs, bruised and battered, looking quite pathetic and even a bit comical.

Many neighbors, hearing the commotion, gathered at a distance to watch, taking pleasure in the downfall of these usually domineering thugs. Shen You also vaguely anticipated that after today, the strange tales about the café owner might gain another chapter.

No matter. After all, the group had fought among themselves, beaten up their own members. Shen You was just an innocent and law-abiding businessman; it had nothing to do with him.

The community's order was restored once again, and the neighbors could sleep peacefully at night. The energy of the bracelet also continued its slow but steady rise, all good things.

Lately, Shen You spent most of his time developing the battle armor.

Assembling a basic exoskeleton using Ultra technology was as easy as building with LEGO. The slightly more complex part was the energy problem. Just like Iron Man's suit, the core of the high-tech suit lay in the chest reactor.

From the armor's output, mobility, and speed to the power, temperature, and destructive capability of its weapons, the limits of all these basic attributes were determined by the energy system.

This is also what distinguishes the "Mobile Ultraman" armor from regular exoskeletons. The name is not just about its Ultraman-like design; its energy system fundamentally relies on Ultraman's light and can synthesize and release Spacium energy as its ultimate weapon.

Thus, the armor is essentially a human-sized, weakened version of a miniature Ultra Warrior, which can be modified for strength, speed, or stealth based on the mission's needs, making it very convenient.

To assist the armor system, Shen You also wrote a simple dedicated AI program. As a trainee in the Ultra Technology Bureau, this was a basic skill for him.

He named the AI "Pal," the same name as the AI assistant that Gaia's predecessor Fujimiya wrote for his fighter jet.

There was no particular reason, just for good luck.

Everyone knows the protagonists of the Heisei trilogy were notorious for being plane crashers.

There's no need to mention Daigo, for whom the TPC's Feiyan No.1 was basically a launcher for him to transform into Ultraman Tiga. Its primary use was to facilitate his crash-landing transformations. Asuka was even more ridiculous; his ride often didn't even have the chance to crash smoothly but exploded in mid-air, serving mainly to help him practice transforming into Ultraman Dyna at high speed while driving the TPC's finance department crazy.

In contrast, Fujimiya as Gaia, survived the entire TV series with very few crashes, forming a stark contrast to his two spendthrift predecessors. His AI copilot, Pal, was definitely indispensable.

With all tests passed, it was finally time for the actual testing phase.

Pal remotely controlled the mechanical arms to assemble the armor piece by piece onto Shen You. Gears meshed, circuits intertwined, and in just a moment, Shen You was fully covered from head to toe.

The blue core on his chest, resembling a color timer, lit up, the helmet snapped into place with a click, and the eyes glowed with a golden light.

"Pal, system check."

"Running diagnostics, please wait, sir."

The progress bar completed, and the armor opened up all over for checks before folding back into its normal form.

"System check 100%, all systems operational."

"Good, let's go for a flight."

"Understood, sir. Anti-radar system activated, entering stealth mode."

Like a shooting star, the armor soared into the sky, trailing a blue flame and performing two flips before flying into the horizon.

The armor incorporated N-metal, allowing for hover flight. However, the N-metal provided by the old wizard was limited, resulting in low-purity materials. So while it could fly, Shen You wasn't entirely satisfied with the speed, thus incorporating a propulsion system similar to Iron Man's.

Main thrusters were installed in the boots, with multiple auxiliary thrusters on the waist and back for short bursts and directional adjustments. The energy outlets in the palms could serve as both main weapons and directional thrusters.

While the thrusters facilitated acceleration and control, the N-metal's effect ensured that even if propulsion failed or the armor lost power entirely, it could still hover and fly.

For the ultimate move, the classic cross-handed pose activated, with positive and negative electrodes on the wrists channeling maximum Spacium energy in an instant for a devastating blast—a refined version of the Spacium Energy Cannon.

Shen You, already capable of flight with three thousand years of experience, quickly adapted to the suit. But after a few joyous laps, Pal soon chimed in with a prompt.

"Sir, the bracelet is reacting."

"Huh?"

The specific reaction was already displayed on the UI in front of him. The bracelet's information was marked on the helmet's HUD.

"Anomalous spatial fluctuation detected… Again?"

Last time, the anomaly was the entrance to the Rock of Eternity, a portal to a magical sanctuary. So, what's it this time?

He couldn't help but think how pitiful the space in the DC world was. It allowed big shots to come and go at will, with no say in the matter, silently enduring the humiliation. Oh, come to think of it, I'm one of them too.

Never mind then.

"Change course and mark the coordinates on my HUD," Shen You instructed.

"No problem, sir."

The Ultra armor changed direction mid-air, drawing a graceful arc of flames toward the anomalous coordinates.

Soon, he located the source of the reaction.

In Gotham's desolate outskirts, a long trench was plowed into the ground, the deep scar reminiscent of… the trail left by Daigo's Feiyan No.1 when it crash-landed with its tail on fire.

At the end of this trench was, unsurprisingly, an aircraft-like object.

The white streamlined shell had a sharp, rounded front resembling a gleaming diamond. The fuselage narrowed into an elongated oval, with slightly upturned wings giving it a nimble appearance.

The tail design was even more intricate, featuring a cone-shaped exhaust with multiple thrusters. The overall surface was made of a white metal, gleaming with a soft silver luster, gentle and pleasing to the eye.

It didn't look like Earth technology at all.

The cockpit was already open, the single-seat inside empty.

But what caught Shen You's attention most was the unmistakable emblem on the front of the ship.

A large "S" was emblazoned on it.