A person in Ultraman receives a gift from the will of Earth at the start.

Chapter 337 Golza? How is that possible!

Just as the GUTS team was diligently investigating "Project Moonshadow," the storm of public opinion did not subside. Instead, a detailed technical report from the TPC's publicity department sparked even greater debate. While the report garnered understanding from many rational members of the public and the scientific community, it also emboldened media outlets like the "Tokyo Daily Review," which took the report out of context and questioned whether the TPC was covering up deeper "mistakes" or even a "conspiracy."

A few days later, in the command room.

“Captain, the preliminary analysis report on ‘Moon Shadow’ is complete.” Ye Rui’s voice was hoarse from staying up all night, but his eyes were bright. “The source of that energy disturbance signal cannot be precisely located, but it seems to be related to a kind of… discontinuous subspace warping. The signal does not come from fixed coordinates, but is intermittently emitted along a ‘movement path’ between the far side of the moon and the Earth’s Lagrange point L2 region.”

“Movement path?” Megumi stared at the flickering dotted line on the screen, composed of countless tiny dots of light. “Like some kind of…patrol trajectory? Or scanning path?”

“It’s more like a sustaining ‘energy anchor’ or ‘signal relay’,” Horii added, pointing to the simulation analysis diagram. “Look here, whenever there’s a slight fluctuation in the shielding field strength near the ruins area, the corresponding point on this path experiences energy compensation. This requires an extremely advanced intelligent system to regulate it in real time. Moreover, based on the energy decay model, this shielding technology has been operating for at least… decades, or even longer.”

“Decades…” Lina repeated softly, feeling a chill run down her spine. “Between Earth and the Moon, there’s an invisible system that we’re completely unaware of, operating for all these years?”

Deputy Captain Zong Fang's face turned ashen: "Its purpose is to hide the Royal Valley? Is an ancient ruin worth going to such lengths?"

Lin Yeming pondered, "Perhaps it's not just about the hidden ruins themselves. It might be about the hidden ruins being in a state of 'not being activated' or 'not being triggered by specific conditions.' Remember when Golza and Melba appeared? The manifestation of ancient ruins always seems to be related to some... 'awakening factors.'"

Daigo suddenly looked at Lin Yeming, his heart pounding. The awakening factor... the discovery of the Pyramid of Light almost simultaneously with his unexpected entry into the pyramid. Could this "sudden" discovery of the Royal Valley also signify the imminent "awakening" of some being?

Megumi Kijima made a decisive decision: "Yorui, cross-reference the 'Moon Shadow' intelligence with databases of anomalous phenomena around the world, especially all records suspected of being related to ancient civilizations. Horii, attempt reverse simulation to predict the next energy node or weak point that this shielding system may experience. Shinjo, Lina, the reconnaissance plan for the Flying Swallow remains the same, but with a focus on scanning this 'movement path' using the latest phase shift detection technology, and be sure to remain absolutely concealed."

"understand!"

“Also,” Megumi looked at Lin Yeming and Daigo, “Yeming, Daigo, you two get ready. Form an advance team under the guise of geological survey and preliminary environmental assessment of the ruins, and depart on the next shuttle heading to the Carlo base. Your mission is to conduct on-site reconnaissance of the outer perimeter of the Royal Valley ruins, collecting firsthand environmental data, especially any abnormal energy residue or signs of unnatural structures. Daigo, as a member of the police force, will be responsible for security and on-site coordination.” Her gaze was deep. “My intuition tells me that’s the key. You need to be extra careful.”

Lin Yeming's heart stirred; this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

He calmly accepted the order: "Understood, Captain."

Daigo immediately replied, "Yes!"

The journey to the moon was spent in silence.

The shuttle traversed the deep universe, the azure Earth gradually transforming into a beautiful arc of light hanging behind us, while the gray-white surface of the moon ahead became increasingly clear, carrying an ancient and unchanging desolation and mystery.

The Carlo base is a colossal, silvery-white structure half-buried in the lunar soil, its metallic sheen gleaming coldly against the silent starry sky.

But for them, this is home, home in the universe after leaving Earth.

After a short rest and equipment check, Lin Yeming and Da Gu boarded a reinforced lunar exploration vehicle and, accompanied by a guide from the Carlo base, headed towards the Royal Valley.

The wheels left long tracks on the fine lunar dust, and the shadows of the distant crater resembled a crouching beast.

"It's just ahead." This guide was none other than Shinjo's good friend, Shirosaki Shiro.

He pointed to the topographic map on the communicator, "The newly discovered entrance is under the rock wall in the center of the valley, with complex surrounding terrain and abnormal radar echoes."

The exploration vehicle slowly approached.

The Valley of the Kings is not the magnificent scene of treasures one might imagine, but rather a shattered zone torn apart by the impact of a massive meteorite and ancient geological activity, with jagged rocks and crisscrossing cracks.

However, from a certain angle, under sunlight, one can vaguely see some extremely regular geometric patterns on the rock face that are by no means naturally formed, but most of them are covered by dust and time.

Because it is similar to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, it is named the Valley of the Kings.

Suddenly, the detection instruments inside the car emitted a rapid but deep hum.

“Energy readings are rising!” Jin Shirosaki stared nervously at the screen. “It’s very faint, but the frequency… is similar to the fluctuations in the base records when the ruins were first discovered.”

Lin Yeming and Daigu exchanged a glance.

Lin Yeming said in a low voice, "Get out of the car, approach on foot, and keep communication open."

The uniforms of the Victory Team and the Space Development Agency can be used as spacesuits, so the three of them checked them and arrived at the entrance to the Royal Valley.

The three trudged cautiously through the soft lunar dust in the low-gravity environment. On their helmet-mounted displays, energy readings flickered rhythmically like a heartbeat, increasing in frequency as they approached the entrance to the rock face. The exposed geometric patterns, revealed under the close-up searchlight, displayed an astonishing precision—far beyond the capabilities of Stone Age humans.

“These patterns… remind me of the symbols on the surface of the pyramids in the Land of Ultra,” Daigo said in a low voice over the internal channel, his voice slightly dry with tension.

Lin Yeming didn't answer. He reached out and ran his hand over a deep engraving through his spacesuit glove. An extremely subtle vibration came from his fingertips—not a mechanical vibration, but more like… the resonance of energy flowing through some medium. He looked up at the deep entrance; the darkness was almost tangible, swallowing even most of the searchlight.

“There’s something ‘breathing’ inside,” he suddenly said.

Jin Shirosaki adjusted the handheld scanner: "Vital signs? Impossible, there's no organic matter reacting here..."

“Not life. It’s a system. Part of that shielding system that’s been maintained for decades.” Lin Yeming turned to Daigo. “Remember the ‘energy anchor point’ the captain mentioned? I suspect one of them is right here.”

Just as they were preparing to go deeper, Jin's instruments suddenly emitted a series of sharp alarms!

"A moonquake! A shallow moonquake! The epicenter is just below the valley, at a depth... too shallow, this is not normal!" As soon as he finished speaking, the ground beneath his feet trembled violently!

It wasn't the continuous shaking of an earthquake, but a violent, upward impact! It felt as if some enormous thing was turning over underground!

"Back off!" Daigo shouted.

The moment the three staggered backward, the ground a hundred meters ahead exploded! Lunar dust shot into the sky like a silver-gray fountain, forming a strange, slowly spreading dust cloud in the near-vacuum environment. A massive figure covered in dark red keratinous material burst through the rock layers, roaring as it emerged from the lunar surface! Its eyes were like burning lava, and the curved horns on its head gleamed coldly in the starlight.

“Golza?! How is this possible?!” Jin Shirosaki exclaimed in shock.

"Isn't he a monster from Earth?" Daigo asked, frowning.

But the monster before them was slightly different from those that appeared on Earth.

Its body surface has a thicker stratum corneum, which is dark red, and the jagged protrusions on its back shimmer with ominous purple energy patterns, making it appear more ancient and... hostile.

However, Lin Yeming did not sense any life energy. He looked at the detector and checked it.

"wrong!"

"This is an illusion, similar to a mirage."

Lin Yeming pointed to the latest version of the life detector.

Based on these two factors, Lin Yeming was quite certain, unless, of course, the monster was a special being.

"An illusion?" Jin Shirosaki stared incredulously at the ferocious, roaring, dark red behemoth before him, whose every step stirred up the moon dust. "But... but the vibrations and energy reactions are real!"

“The energy reaction is real, but it may not be a physical entity, or it might be a kind of… energy projection!” Lin Yeming quickly operated the multi-functional detector on his wrist, a model that Horii had specially upgraded before they set off. “Looking at the energy spectrum, it is highly coupled with the underlying frequency of the relic defense system, but it lacks continuous life heat sources and biofield characteristics. It’s more like a pre-programmed ‘program’!”

As if to confirm his words, Golza's phantom suddenly froze unnaturally when it approached to within about fifty meters of them, flickering like a holographic image with a poor signal. Its lava-like eyes seemed to be locked not on the three of them, but on the glowing geometric patterns on the rock wall behind them.

"Its target has always been the ruins' defense system!" Daigo realized as well. "We just happened to be blocking the way... or rather, our approach triggered the activation of this 'defense program'!"

The phantom of Golza roared silently once more, its giant claws slashing at the light barrier on the rock wall. The vibrations and energy surges from the impact were still palpable, but upon closer inspection, subtle energy dissipation and recombination were observed at the point where its body made contact with the light barrier, unlike a physical collision.

“Since it’s a program, it must have a control source or energy core!” Lin Yeming’s mind raced. “Ye Rui’s report mentioned that the shielding system has moving ‘energy anchor points.’ This phantom attack program is very likely a manifestation of one of these anchor points being activated! Mr. Shirosaki, can you trace the precise energy burst points when the moonquake and the monster appeared just now?”

“I’ll give it a try!” Jin Shirosaki immediately pulled up the data transmitted remotely from the exploration vehicle and used his handheld instrument to perform triangulation. “The epicenter is very shallow... there’s more than one energy burst point! In a fan-shaped area with a radius of 300 meters centered on the entrance, there are three high-energy pulse points, distributed in an equilateral triangle! One of them is right to our left front, below that black boulder!”

“A triangle…a typical energy stability and amplification structure.” Lin Yeming’s eyes sharpened. “This illusion likely requires all three points to supply energy simultaneously to maintain itself and produce sufficiently realistic physical interference. Destroying one of them might interfere with or even shut it down!”

"I'll go!" Daigo immediately said. "Advisor Lin, you and Mr. Shirosaki stay here to monitor and distract it! I'll go destroy that energy point!" What he didn't say was that he could transform at any time if necessary. But for now, perhaps a human method could solve the problem.

"Be careful! Although it may be an illusion, the energy impact of its attack is real!" Lin Yeming warned, while simultaneously raising his gun and firing repeatedly at the head of the Golza illusion to further attract its "hatred".

Taking advantage of the low gravity, Daigo used several agile jumps and rolls to avoid the monster phantom's tail that it inadvertently swept towards, and quickly approached the black giant rock that Jin Kinosaki had indicated.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed a faint glow of energy emanating from the lunar soil at the base of the giant rock. He carefully used his shovel to pry away the surface layer of lunar soil, revealing a circular metal plate, about the size of a washbasin, embedded in the bedrock. The plate was etched with intricate patterns that shared the same origin as the ruins' rock walls, and it was now pulsating with a pale purple light.

"Energy node found!" Daigo reported. "How do we destroy it? Forceful demolition might trigger an energy backlash!"

Inside the command center, Nozue, who had witnessed this scene through Daigo's helmet camera, suddenly shouted, "Daigo! Try to interfere with it using the reverse frequency of the phase shift detector! It's that silver disc device on the right side of your equipment bag! Switch to the third frequency band and aim it at the core pattern!"

Daigo immediately did as instructed. He attached the disc device to the center of the metal plate and adjusted the frequency. After a faint hum, the light on the metal plate began to flicker and become disordered.

At the same time, the phantom of Golza, which was attacking the light barrier, suddenly stiffened. Then, a third of its body became transparent and unstable, and its attack movements became noticeably sluggish.

"It works!" Jin Shirosaki exclaimed in delight.

"The other two nodes!" Lin Yeming looked in the other two directions. Although the Golza Phantom was damaged, it had not disappeared and was still stubbornly attacking the light barrier, only with greatly reduced power.

"There's no time to destroy all three at once!" Daigo shouted. The light from the metal plate in front of him was unstable, but it hadn't gone out.

Just then, a calm female voice suddenly came through the communication channel inside Lin Yeming's helmet: "This is Jujian. Lina, Xincheng, did you hear that? Execute Plan B."

"Understood, Captain!" Lina and Shinjo's voices came through the public channel.

Almost immediately, two streamlined black shadows swept silently across the sky above the Valley of the Kings at an extremely fast speed. They were Flying Swallow No. 1 and No. 2! Instead of attacking the monster phantom, they precisely dropped two non-explosive shockwave generators at the locations of the other two energy nodes detected by Jin Shirosaki.

"Low-frequency shockwave, directional impact, initiate!" Xincheng's voice carried a hint of excitement.

hum!

The invisible shockwaves penetrated the lunar soil and struck the energy nodes buried deep underground.

The remaining two body parts of the Golza illusion flickered violently for a moment, the entire massive body twisting and tearing like a faulty image, before finally dissolving into countless purple specks of light in a silent energy collapse, rapidly dissolving into the vacuum. The light from the three energy nodes also dimmed simultaneously, returning to calm.

The desolate lunar surface fell silent once more, with only the golden patterns of the defensive light barrier on the rock walls still flowing quietly, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Did...it work?" Jin Shirosaki leaned against a rock, feeling utterly exhausted.

Daigo returned from behind the giant rock and met up with Lin Yeming. Both of them looked at the entrance to the ruins, which still emitted a faint golden light.

“The phantoms have disappeared, but the defense system is still there,” Lin Yeming said in a deep voice. “This means that the ‘Phantom Guardians’ are just the outer layer of this shielding-defense system. The real core is still inside.”

Megumi's voice rang out again, carrying an undeniable decisiveness: "All units, take note. Daigo, Yoru, and Kinosaki, return to the exploration vehicle immediately and establish a temporary safe zone. The Flying Swallow will maintain alert over the valley. Carlo Base, prepare to dispatch an engineering support team to establish an outpost and a more comprehensive shielding and detection network outside the entrance to the ruins."

She paused, her voice growing increasingly grave: "'Project Moonshadow' has entered its second phase. What we're facing may not be a stumbled discovery of ruins, but a meticulously crafted 'mechanism' waiting to be triggered for dozens, or even longer... We absolutely cannot venture deeper until we fully understand its purpose and mechanics."

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison.

Daigo gazed at the deep entrance, his hand unconsciously resting on his chest. The Aura Sphere lay quietly in his arms. The danger had passed, but his unease grew stronger.

Illusions can be created, but what about the real thing? What exactly is buried in the Royal Valley beneath the moon that requires such complex and long-term concealment and protection?

Lin Yeming frowned; this was different from the story.

Could it be that things changed because I arrived early?