Toriko: Gourmet Chat Group

Ding-dong, ding-dong—

Tiga's Color Timer on his chest turned red and began to flash, the frequency increasing rapidly. If he couldn't find this "Space Needle" soon, he would have to ask Hikari for another energy flask. The energy drain inside Greeza was even faster than on Earth.

"Found it! That must be the Space Needle!"

Tiga saw a ray of light in the void. If it weren't for the energy flask Hikari had given him to replenish his light energy, he would have reached his limit long ago. Tiga reached his hand toward the light, as if grasping the future. Answering the call, the light flew towards Tiga and landed on his right wrist.

Swoosh!

A blade of black light extended from Tiga's right wrist, forming a sword. A palpable, sharp aura radiated from it, seeming as if it could sever even nothingness itself.

(Tiga didn't need any fancy weapons; he just had the Space Needle transform into a lightsaber form.)

"Sugoi! So this is the Space Needle?" Daigo marveled. He felt that with this lightsaber, he could cut through anything. It could definitely defeat Greeza.

But... why is it black? Tiga looked at the lightsaber in his hand, completely puzzled. Aren't I a Giant of Light?

Oh well, this will definitely work!

[Crash-Test Pilot]: @Star Forger Kenji, you guys can stand down! I've got the Space Needle!

[Star Forger]: We know.

Kenji nodded to Apollo. Apollo withdrew his stellar energy, and the giant star dissipated, revealing the spiked sphere once again in the vacuum of space. The extreme heat of the star hadn't even been able to turn Greeza to ash. Apollo returned to his own world without lingering. When there was trouble, he really showed up.

Schwing!

A cut appeared on the sphere, and through the opening, the void within could be seen.

Schwatch!

Tiga flew out from the cut. Kenji looked at the lightsaber on Tiga's wrist. It seemed Tiga could change his class now. But, Tiga-san, is that lightsaber of yours legit? Why is it glowing with black light?

Swordsman Tiga.

The form of the Space Needle wasn't fixed. The one Zett used was only that shape because it had absorbed the Belial Factor. Tiga using a lightsaber felt very fitting.

"Tiga, are you going to finish off this Greeza now?"

After Tiga emerged, the spiked ball transformed back into Greeza. Its bizarre, unsettling cackle echoed through space. There was an unhealed cut on its chest, left by the Space Needle.

Ding-dong, ding-dong—

Tiga looked down at his Color Timer, nodded, and, transforming into a swordsman, launched a series of slashes at Greeza. Before, he couldn't even touch it, but now, every slash was a critical hit. This was a direct counter. The properties of the Space Needle could deal with an existence like Greeza.

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

After a few slashes, Greeza simply vanished from space.

Daigo was still a bit shaken. Thank goodness he had good friends; otherwise, if he had encountered a monster like this on his own, there would have been nothing he could do.

"Alright! Tiga won!"

The members of the GUTS team cheered, letting out a collective sigh of relief. Greeza had been absurdly powerful. That giant robot must have been a friend of Tiga's, who had come to help pin Greeza down. If Tiga had lost, they didn't know what humanity could have possibly done to deal with Greeza.

"So tired... It's the first time I've transformed for so long." Daigo lay exhausted on the beach.

Kenji sat beside him. Controlling the stars had also taken a considerable toll on him. "Greeza's mechanics are too tricky. There are only a few ways to deal with it." Greeza was the final boss from Ultraman X, after all. Tiga was now experiencing the difficulty of a Triga-level instance. The two monsters he had encountered so far were both extremely high-difficulty.

"Ah, crap! A call from the Captain!" Daigo's face changed as he saw the incoming call from HQ. He quickly dialed back.

"Captain, sorry. I was so tired from training that I fell asleep and didn't see the call." Daigo was now a natural at making up excuses; the words just flowed out.

[Is that so? You've worked hard, Officer Daigo. Return to base after you've rested.]

Captain Iruma thought of Daigo being chased by the Jeep, and her mouth twitched. It was a miracle he hadn't died. She had heard that the Jeep's brakes were faulty. The person who came up with that training method must have had an expert guiding them at home.

Daigo breathed a sigh of relief, then noticed Kenji's strange look. He was a bit confused. "What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just that the honest Daigo has become a lot smoother now."

Daigo's face was covered in black lines. He didn't want to expose his identity. "Although I trust my teammates, revealing my identity could cause trouble."

Kenji wanted to say, Your backer is Director Sawai.

"Daigo, now that you have a weapon like a lightsaber, you can consider learning some cool swordsmanship."

"That's not a bad idea. I'll find someone to learn from later," Daigo nodded thoughtfully.

"Hey, just learn from the group members."

There were quite a few people in the group who used swords, and none of them were weak.

[Star Forger]: @Lifts-Bemstar-With-One-Hand Hikari, I remember you're pretty good with a lightsaber. Daigo just got his own lightsaber, Space Needle edition.

[Lifts-Bemstar-With-One-Hand]: That was so many years ago. My swordsmanship is mediocre, nothing special.

Kenji's mouth twitched when he heard Hikari's words. You're so humble. "Don't have that kind of power," my foot. His "mediocre" swordsmanship was enough to injure Emperor. Before Hikari, the only one who had managed to harm Emperor was a young Father of Ultra wielding the "Ultimate Emperor Blade."

[Martial Arts Maniac Fox]: I actually know a little bit of swordsmanship too.

[Miss Pink Elf♪]: Unfortunately, I use a bow ♪.

[Monkey D. Kizaru]: If it's a lightsaber, my Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi should also count as one.

Kizaru stroked his chin. He did have some basic swordsmanship skills.

[Star Forger]: If it's a lightsaber, it would be better for Daigo to learn from Hikari.

[Stank]: Are all scientists this awesome? They can even master combat skills?

Tony didn't get it. His combat power was mainly dependent on his Iron Man armor. Bare-fisted, he couldn't even go fifty-fifty with Captain America.

[Star Forger]: Isn't it common knowledge that scientists are powerful? Right, @Dian Mei Ruan Ruan Mei?

[Dian Mei Ruan]: The members of the Genius Club are all a little bit stronger than ordinary people.

[Stank]: Alright, it seems I'm the one who's not a normal scientist.

Tony was speechless. Back to developing stronger armors, then. Anti-Kenji armor, anti-Herrscher armor, anti-Ultraman armor...

[Gudako]: Gasp... @Star Forger Kenji, help...

[Star Forger]: What's wrong with you?

Kenji was taken aback. For Gudako to be asking him for help, had something happened?

Oh well, I'll go take a look first.

[Kenji has requested to enter Ritsuka Fujimaru's world.]