Entertainment: You're asked to make a graduation project, but you're asked to film Ultrama

Chapter 82 The Pineapple Bread Promise

Jinghai City, Chasing Light Cinema.

Before the effects of last week's success had even worn off, Gu Nan immediately unleashed a new "nuclear bomb."

This episode is episode 17 of the second season of Ultraman Tiga, and also episode 41 of the original manga.

It can be described as a cruel elegy filled with the blood and tears of men.

Without much buildup, the scene transitions to the familiar opening theme of "Miracle Again".

In the vast universe, a spaceship named "Rometz" is returning to its origin.

Inside the cockpit, two astronauts—Qian Qingdeng (original author Qian Qingdeng) and Cheng Qiren (original author Shirosaki Jin)—are excitedly watching the blue planet getting closer and closer.

In the footage, they are communicating with the new city of the Victory team.

It turns out they were classmates and close friends from Xincheng's time as an astronaut trainee.

Later, Shinjo was discovered and joined the Victory Team because of his outstanding driving and shooting skills.

These two men became astronauts and hold the record for the farthest space voyage.

"Cheng Qiren, look, we're finally home."

Qian Qingdeng pointed out the window, his face beaming with undisguised joy, "We'll be there in another hour."

The viewers in front of the screen also relaxed.

[This opening looks so heartwarming, is it another space exploration theme?]

[Finally home! This feeling of returning home after such a long journey is so touching, it brings tears to my eyes.]

I have a feeling these two are definitely connected to the Victory Team.

Sure enough, the scene shifts to the Victory Team's command center, where Shinjo is excitedly communicating with the spaceship.

"Same as always, hahaha!"

The laughter from Xincheng was hearty, a relaxed feeling that only comes when seeing old friends.

Although Shin-chan was so excited that he was somewhat incoherent, the audience quickly realized that the three were best friends from the astronaut training class.

The three even sang old songs from that world over the radio.

Everything seemed so wonderful.

However, Gu Nan's scripts never keep people laughing for long.

Just as the atmosphere was at its most intense, the spacecraft signal suddenly dropped, followed by the terrified screams of the two astronauts.

"Ah—! Something's come in!"

"Help! Ah—!"

Communication abruptly stopped.

Holy crap! That scared me!

[I knew it! How could that old scoundrel Gu let anyone go home so easily!]

[I was just laughing, and this turn of events was so sudden!]

Ye Rui immediately reported to the commander: "Abnormal life forms have been detected on the spacecraft! It's highly likely that extraterrestrial life forms have launched an attack on the Romz!"

The spaceship went out of control and turned into a fireball as it plunged into the atmosphere.

Xincheng, like a madman, piloted the plane toward the crash site.

Even when Deputy Captain Zongfang shouted to stop him over the communication channel, he showed no sign of slowing down.

Because his best brother was there.

The spaceship wreckage was a scene of utter devastation.

Xincheng rushed into the smoke, searching anxiously.

"New City..."

A familiar voice rang out from the communicator in the new city.

"Wait! New Town! New Town! Are you there?"

Suddenly, a voice reached my ears.

Following the sound, Xincheng saw the bushes rustle, and then an Ilud jumped out!

"Quick! Take it out with one shot!"

The Ilud man's body had strange markings.

Without hesitation, Xincheng immediately raised his gun and fired at the alien in front of him, killing him instantly.

"Bang!"

Smoke billowed from the muzzle of the gun.

Inside the wrecked cabin of the crashed spaceship, Shinjo finds his old friend, Ah-Chin, lying there.

The good news is, he's still alive!

But Cheng Qiren has disappeared without a trace.

Misfortune never comes singly.

While the GUTS team was heading to the crash site, the TPC mainframe was attacked.

Then, a huge shadow fell over the scene. A strangely shaped tower, resembling a giant creature, descended from the sky.

A tower of unknown origin descended from the sky. Qian Qingdeng looked at the tower as if he knew something about it.

The tower's owner—the Ilud—uttered that highly seductive voice.

"We are Iluds, we have no intention of attacking."

"We came to this planet in search of creatures that could live with us."

"We have a very advanced civilization. There is no sorrow, no pain, no unease or panic in that place."

"Everyone is completely equal and has the same happy life."

"There's no competition, and no one's trying to outdo each other. It's like a dream."

These words, accompanied by that sacred and ethereal background music, not only made the crowd in the play stop in their tracks, but also sent a shiver down the spines of countless modern viewers tormented by the weight of life in front of the screen.

[No sadness, no pain, no cutthroat competition... To be honest, I'm a little tempted.]

If this is true, it's like heaven.

[Wake up, upstairs! Does it look like it's here to give away freebies?]

This thing might be able to seduce me in the real world, but in the Ultraman Tiga world... hehe~

The plot continues to unfold.

Xincheng negotiated with Qian Qingdeng, a survivor, at the crash site.

But the atmosphere at that moment was so oppressive it was suffocating.

Horii's investigation revealed that the Ilud man shot by Shinjo was wearing Cheng Qiren's watch on his wrist.

"New City..."

Horii hesitated for a moment, then said, "The one you killed... was Cheng Qiren."

Xincheng had his back to everyone, his body trembling slightly.

"I know."

"I know I shot him with my own hands..."

At this moment, Qian Qingdeng walked over.

He was acting very strangely; his face was pale, but he still grabbed Xincheng by the collar and roared:

"Is your job just to sit here and cry?!"

"Do you even know why Cheng Qiren wanted to return to Earth?!"

"I was the one who shot and killed Cheng Qiren! Not you!!"

This inexplicable statement left everyone bewildered.

It wasn't until Horii analyzed Naruki Hitoshi's body in the laboratory that the truth was revealed in a bloody way.

It turns out that Cheng Qiren had already been parasitized the moment the spaceship was attacked.

But with his amazing willpower, he managed to prevent his body from completely mutating.

He desperately returned to Earth, not to survive, but to send this "alien specimen" back to TPC for research, so that humanity could find a way to defeat the Iluds.

He ordered Shinjo to shoot because he knew he was beyond saving. Rather than become a monster and harm humans, he preferred to die at the hands of his best brother.

This was his last shred of dignity, and also his last act of tenderness.

[I'm so moved, brothers... What kind of amazing friendship is this?]

[So that phrase "Shoot him out" was a distress signal, a plea for release!]

[New City is having a really tough time. He actually knows everything, which is probably why he fired the gun.]

However, an even bigger crisis was yet to come.

The Ilud broadcast continued: "Those who wish to seek peace, gather at this tower at noon."

A segment of the population, overwhelmed by life and yearning to escape reality, began to gather at that tower.

Xincheng rushed over to block them.

"Go back! That's a trap! They'll turn you into monsters!"

In the crowd, a young man with dyed blond hair disdainfully shoved Xincheng:

"So what? It doesn't matter if I become an Illustrious!"

"As long as there's no pain, as long as I can be happy, what does it matter if I stop being human?!"

"If what the Iluds say is true, then I'd rather be an Ilud!"

These lines were like a sharp knife, piercing the hearts of countless viewers.

Under the heavy pressure of reality, how many people have had thoughts like "I don't want to work hard anymore" or "I don't want to be human anymore"?

This plot point directly sparked a debate about "real-world responsibility" versus "emotional value."

[This guy spoke my mind. If there were no pain, who would want to work 996 every day?]

But then you lose yourself! That's mental rape!

Without pain, there is no joy; is that stagnant, lifeless tranquility truly happiness?

Just as Xincheng was powerless to stop him, Qian Qingdeng rushed forward.

He snatched the Hyper gun from Xincheng and pointed it directly at the group of people.

"You guys give it a try!"

"If you become Illudans, I will shoot! For every one of you who becomes an Illudan, I will kill!"

The crowd was frightened away by this madman.

Qian Qingdeng collapsed to his knees in agony, his body beginning to twitch strangely.

"There is no sadness...no pain..." he muttered to himself, and began repeating the Irudian brainwashing words.

To Xincheng's horror, he discovered that a blue light, which had been parasitized, had also appeared on Qian Qingdeng's neck!

"Qian Qingdeng! You too..."

Qian Qingdeng suddenly raised his head, his eyes struggling between clarity and confusion.

"New City... code."

"What?"

"The code is 'pineapple bread'."

Qian Qingdeng was covered in sweat, gripping Xincheng's arm tightly. "You're the pineapple, and I'm the bread."

"If I can't answer, it means I've become an Ilud."

"If I had a gun, it wouldn't be your turn to shoot... but I don't."

"I am a pineapple, and you are bread."

At this critical juncture, in the face of this cosmic crisis, the secret code agreed upon by these two grown men turned out to be something so childish and full of life: "pineapple bread."

The term "pineapple bread" originated from a shared memory among the three.

Those were their favorite snacks from their student days, representing their youth that they can never return to.

What a simple code!

[Waaaaah, pineapple bread... This isn't a code, it's a knife!]

[This is too cruel. He was afraid of losing control, so he gave Shin-cheng the power to execute him prematurely.]

[Xincheng will probably have a lifelong phobia of pineapple bread.]

It was noon.

The Ilud's tower bared its fangs.

It no longer disguised itself, but directly extended its tentacles and forcibly captured the surrounding crowd.

The so-called "voluntary assembly" is nothing more than a hunt.

Xincheng and Qian Qingdeng risked their lives to save people.

"Pineapple!" New Town shouted.

"Bread!" Qian Qingdeng responded.

"Pineapple!"

"bread!"

These two simple words have become the only bond connecting humanity.

However, as the battle intensified, Qian Qingdeng's body grew increasingly sluggish. Finally, when faced with Xincheng's final "pineapple" attack, he did not respond.

He knelt on the ground, clutching his head in anguish.

The collective will of the Iluds is devouring his brain.

The new city was also captured by the Ilud's tower.

Daigo transforms into Ultraman Tiga and makes his appearance!

But this time, even Tiga was helpless.

Because the tower held a large number of hostages, the giant Ilud took advantage of this and launched a frenzied attack on Tiga, who dared not fight back.

Just when all hope seemed lost, the PDI (Planning, Inspection, and Dining) system in the new town rang.

It was a message from Qian Qingdeng.

In the scene, half of Qian Qingdeng's face is covered by the carapace of an alien creature, but he still manages to convey the battle plan with the last shred of his sanity.

"New City, listen up. The Iluds are beings who share a single brain."

"They cannot understand human lies."

"Do as I say... repeat..."

"We...want to live among the Iluds!"

Looking at his unrecognizable friend on the screen, Xincheng's eyes welled up with tears, but he still shouted:

"Listen up, everyone! Shout after me!"

"We want to live with the Iluks!"

The hostages trapped inside the tower, though confused, also shouted out of trust in the Victory Team.

"Assimilate us into Iluds!"

"No sadness! No pain!"

The deafening shouts traveled through Qian Qingdeng's brainwaves and directly impacted the Ilud's main brain.

This collective being, which lacked the ability to think independently, was instantly thrown into chaos.

Unable to distinguish between truth and lies, they assumed humanity had truly yielded, thus lowering their guard and revealing their core weaknesses.

Xincheng seized the opportunity, raised his Hyper gun, and scored with a single, deadly shot!

At the same time, the Victory Swallow EX also reflected the light, and the freezing rays and high-temperature rays together shattered the tower.

"Now! Ultraman Tiga!"

Tiga seized this fleeting opportunity and unleashed a Zepelion Ray, precisely shattering the core of the Illid!

With a tremendous explosion, the Iluds were reduced to ashes.

The hostages in the tower have been rescued.

Tiga and Victory Swallow EX flew side by side away from the battlefield.

Qian Qingdeng collapsed to the ground, the mutated tissue on his body gradually falling off due to the death of the mastermind.

Horii rushed over immediately and injected him with the emergency-developed serum.

As the sun set, Xincheng held the weakened Qian Qingdeng in his arms.

"Cheer up, Qian Qingdeng!"

Who went to the farthest planet? Answer me!

Qian Qingdeng slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze finally returned to clarity.

"It's...it's the astronauts...Qian Qingdeng...and...Cheng Qiren..."

At this point, the two men embraced and wept bitterly.

Cheng Qiren is not coming back.

The man who was willing to become a specimen and die by his brother's gun for the future of humanity will forever remain in the starry sky he loved most.

At the end of the film, Xincheng and Qian Qingdeng stand in front of the tombstone.

Qian Qingdeng looked at the sky, clutching Cheng Qiren's watch tightly in his hand.

"From now on, I have to fly alone."

He spoke softly, his tone filled with endless loneliness, yet unwavering determination.

"Yes, you fly alone."

Xincheng patted him on the shoulder, "But we'll be watching you."

The camera zooms out, focusing on the two figures gazing at the starry sky from behind.

Just like the title of this episode—"A Friend Returned from Space".

This refers not only to the return of Qian Qingdeng and Cheng Qiren, but also to the friendship that transcends the stars and transcends life and death.

As the end credits rolled, a long review instantly rose to the top of the trending comments:

"At first, I thought Xincheng was a reckless fool, but later I came to understand his gentleness. A true hero isn't fearless, but like Cheng Qiren, who knew he would die but still turned back; like Xincheng, who endured excruciating pain to pull the trigger; like Qian Qingdeng, who, even if he was the only one left, would carry on with his friends' dreams. There's nothing more to say, this episode is still legendary!"

"This is the real Ultraman Tiga."

"It's not just about light and monsters, it's also about these flesh-and-blood people."