“So..hungry..”
A low voice came from the end of the street, sounding like a rusted iron gate being forced open.
The gravel on the ground vibrated slightly at the sound.
A massive figure swayed out from between the buildings.
It was a full five meters tall, with a bloated body and decaying grey-green skin.
Every step it took left a shallow crater in the asphalt road.
Reaching out casually, it grabbed a wandering zombie nearby, tossed it into its mouth like a snack, chewed twice, and spat it back out.
“Doesn’t..taste good..”
The giant zombie wandered aimlessly down the street, each step sending a dull echo through the ground.
Then, it stopped.
Its head snapped in one direction, its rotting nostrils flaring a few times.
The scent of a living human.
Not far away, in front of a small Villa, dozens of zombies were gathered, some clawing at the door, others pulling at the windows, their throats letting out incoherent murmurs.
…
Jina huddled in the innermost corner of the room, her back pressed against the wall, clutching a kitchen knife in her hand.
The hilt was already slick with sweat, and she had to use both hands to hold it steady.
The sounds from outside seeped through the walls the windows rattling, the door shaking, along with the hoarse, incoherent voices of the zombies.
“Smell meat.” “Open the door.” “Want to eat..”
“If only I had prepared some weapons..” Jina gripped the kitchen knife even tighter, her knuckles turning white.
Jina had stockpiled so many supplies compressed biscuits, bottled water, medical kits but she hadn’t stockpiled a single weapon.
She thought zombies would only appear in Saeko’s World, and that she was stockpiling supplies for Saeko.
She had never imagined that she would need them herself.
The door banged loudly as it was pounded on.
She pressed her shoulder firmly against the cabinet, every impact making her teeth chatter.
…
Outside the Villa, a zombie was grabbing the iron bars of the window with both hands, pulling them outward one yank at a time.
Its movements were mechanical and stubborn, its mouth constantly muttering, “I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat.”
The screws of the iron bars made a grating screech, but they hadn’t been pulled out yet.
A hand tapped its shoulder.
The zombie ignored it, continuing to pull the iron bars and mutter.
Finally growing impatient, the zombie let go of the iron bars, opened its mouth full of rotten teeth, and spun around sharply, wanting to see which blind fellow zombie was interrupting its meal.
Then, it saw a smile.
It was very gentle, with slightly upturned lips and a square jawline, belonging to a tall man wearing a blue-and-red bodysuit.
The red’S’ emblem on his chest reflected the soft light of the sun.
Before the zombie could react, frost spread from the soles of its feet, covering its entire body in an instant.
It froze in place, still clawing and baring its fangs, its mouth wide open, but it could no longer make a sound.
Ultraman withdrew his gaze and swept his eyes over the other zombies surrounding the Villa.
With the combination of Super Speed and Freeze Breath, within a single second, all the zombies surrounding the Villa were turned into ice sculptures.
Mami Tomoe had also finished her transformation.
The golden Soul Stone shimmered on her chest, and her Magical Girl uniform gleamed in the sunlight.
Holding Lego Batman in one hand, she kept her other hand in a ready-to-attack stance, only to realize there were no targets left to attack.
“So fast…” Mami stared at the yard full of zombie ice sculptures, momentarily dazed.
Before she could even react, the battle was already over.
Lego Batman squatted in Mami’s palm, his white lenses staring unblinkingly at Ultraman.
At some point, Lego Batman had slipped a hand into his utility belt pouch behind him, feeling a small, square box.
The box opened, and inside lay a green, Lego-shaped piece of Kryptonite.
Lego Batman looked down at the Kryptonite, then up at Ultraman, and closed the box again though his hand remained on it.
Ultraman noticed the box green and square in Lego Batman’s hand.
Ultraman’s body indeed felt a familiar sensation; his cells wanted to absorb it, wanted to gain energy…
However, it was impossible to snatch it right now.
It seemed that in the future, playing the act of “becoming weak upon touching Kryptonite” in front of Lego Batman was probably unavoidable…
“These zombies are just like the ones I observed before.” Ultraman activated his X-ray Vision to scan the insides of the ice sculptures, his brow furrowing slightly.
“Even though their entire bodily structure is in a state of Death, they can still move.”
Mami Tomoe looked up, gazing at the purple energy shield in the sky.
It resembled an upside-down glass bowl, trapping the entire neighborhood inside, its edges glowing with an ominous fluorescence.
“So what on earth happened here?”
“This energy shield appeared in our line of sight, isolating the entire area. My hearing can only cover the range within this neighborhood.”
Ultraman slowly withdrew his gaze.
“That’s why I could only distinguish one girl’s voice, right inside this house it should be Miss Jina.”
Hearing this, Mami turned her head to look at Ultraman.
Hearing the sounds of the entire neighborhood.
Ultraman slowly turned around, looking at the young girl in the Magical Girl uniform before him.
“Actually, I didn’t want you, as a child, to participate in the battle.”
Mami Tomoe looked up and met those blue eyes.
What she read in them was not disdain, but genuine concern, yet she shook her head.
“I know, thank you, Mr. Superman.”
Mami Tomoe gripped her Soul Stone, her tone not that of a student, but of a Guardian who had walked this path for far too long.
“But in my World, as a Magical Girl, I also want to protect more people.”
Ultraman looked at the girl before him, falling silent for a second.
This girl was deeply trapped in a system woven with countless lies without realizing it.
Her kindness was being precisely exploited by an alien creature, and every battle she fought pushed her one step further into the abyss.
But even so her kind heart was undeniable.
“I understand…”
On the street, more zombies were gathering toward them.
They poured out from various alleyways, attracted by the noise and commotion just now, dragging their feet as they closed in on the Villa.
Their numbers were several times larger than the previous batch, a dense black mass, their murmurs coalescing into a scalp-tingling hum.
“They died long ago; only their bodies are still moving.” Ultraman slowly floated into the air, his red cape billowing behind him.
“If you have any reservations in your heart, leave the rest to me.”
Mami Tomoe did not answer.
She gently placed Lego Batman on the ground and spread her hands.
A golden light glowed around her, and a ring of flintlock musket appeared out of thin air, hovering in mid-air with their muzzles pointing in different directions.
Lego Batman did not participate in this conversation.
After landing, without a word, he pulled a small hammer from his belt and struck the ground.
The ground shattered at the impact not cracking like in normal real life, of course, but breaking into square Lego bricks.
Lego Batman squatted down and rapidly assembled the pieces, his tiny plastic hands moving so fast they left afterimages.
A black cannon, taller than Lego Batman himself, gradually took shape.
Its muzzle was aimed at the slowly approaching zombies, and then he pressed a button.
Blue flames erupted from the muzzle, carrying not just cannonballs, but music.
A highly rhythmic piece of electronic music suddenly blasted across the street, so loud that the nearby ice sculptures vibrated.
Standing beside the cannon, Lego Batman crossed his arms over his chest and said in a deep voice, “This World still needs Batman.”
Lego Batman paused, then added, “Though, I didn’t play this song; it comes with the cannon barrel I haven’t had time to figure out how to turn this feature off yet.”