Chapter 23: A Tool-Man Ultraman?

“Hey, alien! Hurry up and show your true form!”

Several teenage boys dumped mud over the head of a child buried in a pit, spewing shameless words while committing acts no child of their age should ever engage in.

Burying someone alive? Even if they hadn’t killed him, such an act being carried out by children—how cruel could it be?

The pleasure they derived from bullying had twisted into something grotesque.

“Hey, stop it! He’s already pitiful enough—don’t make things harder for him!”

Jirō, who had been standing by and watching, could no longer stay silent and stepped forward to intervene. He was a kind child by nature, and the teachings of Hyō Shūki and the Sakata family had raised him well. He never bullied the weak. Now that he knew part of the story, he naturally felt compelled to stop these bullies from continuing their cruelty.

As it turned out, the buried child was an outsider. His suspicious behaviour and constant digging had drawn the attention of the local kids. Failing to get any answers from him, they barged into the little wooden hut where the child lived. Whatever they saw inside frightened them into fleeing, and in their shame and anger, they buried him.

“Get lost! This guy’s an alien—do you want him to kill us all?”

The boy leading the group shouted in rage. He was clearly familiar with Jirō and the others. He had already recognised that they weren’t the kind of people one could bully at will. Otherwise, they would’ve targeted Jirō too.

The bullied child kept his eyes shut, saying nothing as he silently endured the abuse.

Jirō wanted to intervene, but his small arms and legs left him powerless.

“Come on, all of you! If this guy wakes up, he’ll kill us for sure!”

The leader of the group didn’t wait for a response. He jumped on his bicycle and rode straight over the buried child’s head.

Just as Jirō closed his eyes, too afraid to watch, a figure swiftly appeared from the side. With a powerful kick, the bicycle and its rider were sent flying.

“Brother Muyang!”

Jirō gasped softly, a trace of joy appearing on his face. Could Brother Muyang change what was happening?

Muyang gave a slight nod. He glanced at the boy he had kicked away, then looked at the buried child, and finally turned his gaze toward the dazed crowd watching from the side.

Sometimes, spectators were no less guilty than the perpetrators.

“Ahem… Who are you? An accomplice of the alien?”

The boy Muyang had kicked struggled to his feet, clearly injured.

“Alien? He’s not an alien. And even if he were, does that justify your violence? Isn’t Ultraman also an alien? What—do you all want to kill Ultraman too?”

Muyang could somewhat understand the hatred this era’s humans held toward aliens.

Ever since the original Ultraman, followed by Seven and now Jack, Earth had been repeatedly invaded by aliens. The people had never seen a friendly alien, so their first instinct upon encountering one was fear of invasion.

But these thugs—especially the one he had kicked—clearly had motives far beyond mere fear of aliens. They themselves knew the buried boy wasn’t an alien. If he were, they’d have gone straight to the police or the MAT team.

How could they possibly handle it themselves? They were simply doing this for their own twisted amusement.

This kind of person filled Muyang with rage.

“Ultraman is an alien! Isn’t it his job to protect us? If it weren’t for them, would the aliens even be coming to Earth?”

The delinquent shouted, still defiant.

The others fell silent. It was hard to deny: Ultraman had protected them. But the aliens and monsters he fought had, in a sense, been brought to Earth by him. That idea held weight in many minds.

Of course, plenty of high-level authorities promoted Ultraman’s “justice,” portraying him as humanity’s friend.

Muyang smiled bitterly. He was Ultraman. He was also human. In a way, he was the most qualified to comment on both sides.

When he thought about those salaryman Ultramen from the Land of Light, and compared them to the people of Earth, Muyang’s heart was filled with both anger and sorrow.

The aliens and monsters on Earth weren’t drawn here by Ultramen. It was Earth’s exposed location and its entry into a period of frequent monster activity that had triggered the chaos. The Ultramen had discovered this and rushed over to help.

“Aliens and monsters weren’t brought here by the Ultramen. Hasn’t the official explanation already said Earth has entered a period of frequent monster outbreaks?

Many of the monsters appearing here have been recorded in history—some even existed on Earth billions of years ago!”

Muyang said with a cold laugh.

“Besides, Ultramen aren’t some kind of disposable tools. They have emotions too. If they knew what you were thinking, imagine how tragic that would be for them!”

Muyang turned to the boy with the bicycle, his eyes sharp.

“You knew he was human, but still oppressed him just for your own pleasure—building your joy on another’s suffering. People like you don’t even deserve to be called human.”