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

Chapter 285 A Heatwave Strikes! The Natural Control Machine "Flame Mountain" Awakens

A full week has passed since the last episode aired, featuring the breathtaking "ultimate consecutive falls" scene.

As the calendar pages turned, the 28th episode of "Ultraman Gaia" was released on time.

Countless viewers who had been waiting in front of their screens eagerly clicked the play button the moment the page refreshed.

The progress bar slowly began to move forward, and after the familiar opening theme ended, the main feature slowly lit up.

The episode opens with a mountain range.

After a sudden, earth-shattering event, red light burst forth from the shattered rocks.

The camera then panned to a residential area.

Passersby complained about the strange weather, saying it was unbearably hot.

Even the corridor felt stuffy. Lun Wen, a reporter from the TV station, was standing in front of a tightly closed door, knocking on it while sweating profusely.

"Hello……"

As Lunwen rang the doorbell, he couldn't help but tug at his collar, complaining about the unusually high temperature around him.

A weak, lifeless female voice came from inside the room: "May I ask who this is?"

It was Jing Ling's voice.

"It's me, Lunwen."

He called out loudly from outside the door, his tone tinged with anxiety and worry, "Jingling, it's time to go to work. There's been some unusual weather lately. Tian Duan said it's probably another case of 'destruction bringing good fortune to the body.' He's already gone to the site, so let's hurry and meet him."

There was a long silence inside the room before Jing Ling's somewhat resistant reply came through: "I'm sorry, I don't want to work yet."

As the camera zooms in, viewers can feel the profound sense of despair inside the door.

Since the final battle between Agul and Gaia in the previous season, Fujimiya handed the spotlight to Gamu, and then disappeared completely as if he had vanished into thin air.

The unknown fate of Fujimiya dealt an unimaginable blow to Irene.

Because she couldn't face this cruel reality, she had locked herself in her house for several days and refused to come out.

Lunwen sighed outside the door. He knew that persuasion was futile, so he could only silently take out a thick stack of letters from his bag and secretly slip them through the crack in the door and into the mailbox.

"These are all letters sent by viewers across the country to encourage you."

Lunwen's voice came through the door, carrying a hint of warmth, "This is only a small part. The station receives mountains of letters every day. Jingling, but I... I still... I know you're very sad, but it's not a good idea to always lock yourself in your room like this."

The comments section was sparse at this moment, and the audience's reaction was relatively calm.

[Such a bland start; this episode will probably just be a transitional one.]

[Jing Ling is really pitiful. She finally fell in love with a man, but she doesn't even know if she'll survive in order to save the world.]

Is Fujimiya really dead? I have a feeling he might come back.

The scene shifts to the oilfield area on the outskirts of the island city.

The color scheme here is deliberately rendered as a scorching, dim yellow, and you can feel the sweltering heat even through the screen.

A middle-aged man in a township office uniform was struggling to ride an old bicycle along a rugged mountain road. He was soaked in sweat and panting heavily.

Keen-eyed viewers immediately recognized the man as Mr. Takayama, the father of Takaga Yume.

Mr. Takayama pushed his bicycle to a dilapidated house deep in the mountains, wiped the sweat from his brow, and called out, "Mr. Tokuzo! I am Takayama."

An elderly man, gaunt and living alone, came out of the house. After seeing Gao Shan, he exchanged pleasantries with him for a while.

The two went inside, but the temperature inside was not much lower than outside; it was like a giant steamer.

"It's so hot, like a sauna, it's unbearably hot," the old man complained, fanning himself with a tattered palm-leaf fan.

"As the saying goes, a calm mind brings coolness. Relax, relax."

Mr. Gao handed over the letters and supplies he had brought, saying softly, "Thank you for your trouble. Don't say that. By the way, your son's death anniversary is coming up soon, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Old Man Dezao paused slightly in his hand, which was waving a palm-leaf fan. His eyes dimmed, and he sighed, "That unfilial son... he actually left us even earlier than his father."

A brief conversation immediately revealed the old man's background. He was a lonely old man who had lost his only son and lived a somewhat self-destructive life in this remote mountain area.

Old Man Dezao looked up at the towering mountain before him and asked, "I remember you have a son, don't you? Is he still in school?"

When Mr. Gao heard others mention his son, his face, which had been somewhat tired from the heat, immediately lit up with an undisguised pride and joy. However, he still pretended to be modest and said, "No, he stopped reading halfway through."

"Is he working now?"

"I'm working for the Earth," Mr. Takayama replied earnestly, his eyes shining with determination.

This touching scene slightly lifted the spirits of the viewers in the live chat.

"Working for the Earth," my dream truly represented the Earth.

Mr. Takayama must have been very proud of his son.

[This episode has been building up a lot of tension, haven't we gotten to the main point yet? And what's the reason for the high temperature?]

At this moment, the XIG team is closely monitoring the unusually high temperatures in the Qingdao oilfield area.

"As expected, the areas hit by the heatwave spread outwards from the oilfield mountain as the center." The analysis report came through the communication channel.

The scene cuts back to the ground, where Gao Ga Meng is following the survey team to conduct on-site surveys near the oilfield mountain.

The surrounding temperature was ridiculously high, and the readings on the instruments kept soaring.

The staff member accompanying him glanced at Imu and patted him on the shoulder, asking, "Are you worried? After all, this is your hometown, isn't it?"

Holding the detector in my hand, I stared intently ahead, and answered calmly and earnestly, "It's no different from any other mission, because our duty is to protect the Earth and all of humanity."

This seemingly simple sentence sparked a considerable discussion in the live chat.

He used to only talk about protecting humanity, but now he's added protecting the Earth!

After what happened with Fujimiya, Gamu's thinking has clearly changed.

He now carries Agul's share of power, which means he's shouldering the burden of both Earth and humanity.

This shows the male protagonist's growth; he's no longer the naive scientist he once was.

"No unusual heat sources were found inside the oilfield mountain." I Meng looked down at the data on the detector, her brows furrowed.

Just then, Georgie Leland, far away at the air base, noticed something amiss on the satellite monitoring screen.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she immediately reported, "I'm switching to the main screen and zooming in on the mountainside!"

As the main screen zoomed in, a chilling scene unfolded before everyone through a perspective view of the rocks on the mountain's surface.

Hidden inside what appears to be an ordinary mountainside is a massive machine.

Moreover, the machine's casing is covered with ancient and mysterious script.

Upon seeing this, Shi Shi's pupils constricted sharply: "This...is this also seal script?"

"Yanshan".

As the information synchronized, I stared at those two characters in my dream, muttering to myself, "The 'Yan' in 'hot,' the 'Shan' in 'hill.' Does it mean 'Mountain of Flames'?!"

After a brief moment of shock, Meng's brain began to work at lightning speed. He immediately connected it to a previous incident and blurted out, "Could this be... Yes, it's very similar to the celestial realm that appeared before!"

A grave voice came from one of the investigators accompanying them: "So, you're saying it's trying to create a machine that can control nature?"

I nodded, my expression grave. "The surface is probably made of an insulating material that even radar can't detect. I'll go and warn the residents to evacuate. The Celestial Realm's goal is to purify Earth's atmosphere, but what is this monster's purpose?"

The comments section also became active at this point, with people analyzing the plot along with the main storyline.

[Holy crap! The Natural Control Machine series is back?!]

[I knew this episode wasn't that simple! The previous celestial realm was for purifying the atmosphere, so what's the purpose of this Flame Mountain?]

[Its name is Yanshan, so it must be related to temperature, right? Like, warming up the Earth?]

Just how many of these machines have been buried underground by the "Destruction-Inducing Entity"?

Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe it wasn't destruction that brought about the formation of the Heavenly Realm? The previous Celestial Realm was shrouded in mystery.

As the energy of Yanshan gradually awakens, the surface temperature begins to rise at an alarming rate.

Mr. Takayama had just finished his external affairs and was riding his bicycle back home.

But he was just an ordinary middle-aged man, and under such extreme heat and high-intensity work, his body finally reached its limit.

A strong wave of dizziness hit him, and Mr. Gaoshan and his bicycle crashed heavily onto the scorching mountain road, losing consciousness completely.

Fortunately, the TV station's interview vehicle happened to be passing by.

Lunwen and the photographer quickly got out of the car and hurriedly helped the unconscious Mr. Gaoshan up.

"Are you alright? Are you okay? Come on, let me help you up."

After a brief period of treatment, Mr. Gao regained consciousness and was taken back to his home in town.

My mother looked at her weak husband with heartache and repeatedly thanked Lunwen, saying, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you to bring him back."

Lunwen wiped his sweat and waved his hand, "It's nothing. But are you really sure it's okay not to take him to the hospital?"

"He just got heatstroke outside in this hot weather, he's still very conscious. Besides, he said he's fine," my mother said helplessly.

Looking at the simple surroundings, Lunwen couldn't help but sigh, "I see. But it must be really hard work, this kind of rural outreach work. Excuse me, but I'd like to ask, how many staff members in a small town like this are there to liaise with the outside world?"

"It's just my husband." My mother sighed, her voice tinged with sadness. "He never has a day off, whether it's a weekend or a holiday."

However, at this moment, Lunwen saw the photos on the cabinet.

Wasn't that my dream?

Following Lunwen's gaze, Imouto's mother looked at the photo of Imouto when he first entered university, her eyes filled with longing. She explained, "He was our only son. This photo was taken when he first entered university. However... he dropped out later."

At this tender moment, the earth suddenly began to tremble violently without warning!

The camera abruptly cuts back to the oilfield mountain.

With a deafening roar, the entire mountain seemed to be torn apart from the inside.

Countless huge rocks tumbled down, and amidst the billowing dust, the enormous natural control machine, confirmed to be "Flame Mountain," finally couldn't hold back any longer and burst out of the mountain through the cracks in the rocks!

A massive heatwave, carrying the scent of flames, instantly engulfed the entire screen.

[Wow, her clothes just ripped off!]

[That monster's entrance was pretty cool, like a physical volcanic eruption.]

Has such a gigantic monster been sleeping inside that mountain all along?

[At this temperature, an ordinary person would be cooked instantly if they got too close.]

The scene shifts back to the XIG command center. The heatwave has severely distorted the air.

"It's so hot!" One of the team members was so hot he was almost collapsing.

Commander Ishimura's voice came through the communicator: "I dream, the temperature is rising. I dream, do you have a plan?"

I frowned, staring at the enormous object radiating terrifying heat in the distance, and quickly analyzed, "We don't know the monster's internal structure yet, so it's best not to use firearms to attack it. Using liquid nitrogen to cool it might be effective. However, stimulating its heat source could cause it to release even more intense heat. In short, for now, guiding the evacuation of the public is more important!"

Under XIG's emergency command, air raid sirens immediately sounded in towns near the oilfield. Large numbers of people began to evacuate under guidance.

Amidst the chaos of the evacuation, Mr. Gao, supported by his wife, stumbled along with the group.

Although he was still weak, he had to grit his teeth and persevere.

"Honey, come on, hurry up and catch up," his wife urged anxiously.

Mr. Gao Shan, panting heavily, took out his phone to try and make a call, only to find that there was no signal on the screen: "It's so hot that I can't even make a phone call."

Suddenly, he stopped abruptly.

The image of the lonely old man Dezao in the deep mountains flashed through his mind when he delivered the letter.

"Near the oilfield mountain, there lives an elderly woman with limited mobility." Mr. Gaoshan turned to look at his wife, his eyes becoming unusually firm.

Upon hearing this, his wife immediately panicked and grabbed his arm tightly: "Honey, your body can't take it!"

"He's an elderly man living alone, and he's a bit self-destructive. I can't just leave him like this."

Mr. Gao broke free from his wife's hand without the slightest hesitation.

For an ordinary grassroots civil servant, this sense of responsibility is almost ingrained in their bones.

Just as he was preparing to hike back up the mountain, Lunwen, a TV reporter who was assisting with the evacuation, overheard their conversation.

Without hesitation, Lunwen tossed the car keys over: "Take my car!"

Mr. Takayama took the keys and nodded solemnly: "Is it really alright to trouble you?"

As Mr. Gao drove against the flow of people toward the oil field mountain that could erupt with deadly heat at any moment, the atmosphere in the live chat gradually became heavy.

My dream dad is truly a hero.

Knowing full well that his health was failing and that his life was in danger, he still went back without hesitation.

This is what makes ordinary people so great.

[With such a sense of responsibility, it's no wonder she raised a son like my dream.]

Meanwhile, the Lightning team had already arrived above the scene in their fighter jets.

"Captain Wei Weike!" came the team member's call over the communication channel.

Wei Weike stared at the fighter jet's lock-on radar and reported to the air base: "A luminous object has been detected in the central part of Yanshan. It looks exactly like an energy tank. If it were ignited there, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Meanwhile, the investigators on the ground continued their analysis with me.

The celestial realm that appeared earlier was created for the purpose of purifying the atmosphere.

So what is the true purpose of this Yanshan?

Analysts at the base quickly came up with a bold hypothesis: "I suspect this Flame Mountain might have been built to prevent a drop in global temperatures, to avoid an ice age..."

Upon hearing this speculation, both the characters in the drama and the viewers in front of the screen fell into a brief silence.

[To prevent ice ages? So it's actually protecting the Earth?]

It protects the Earth from an ice age, but the temperature would kill all of humanity!

[It's still about protecting the Earth; what does humanity have to do with me?]

However, for Ultraman, who represents Earth, it's another trolley problem with no standard answer.

Is it about saving the Earth, or saving humanity?

The perspective shifts back to Mr. Gaoshan.

He drove the TV station's interview vehicle at breakneck speed along the rugged mountain roads, finally picking up the unconscious Dezao's father.

He settled the elderly man in the back seat of the car and immediately stepped on the gas to prepare to go down the mountain.

However, the powerful earthquake triggered landslides.

When the car reached the middle of the mountain, a huge tree blocked the road, completely cutting off the only way back.

"Are there any other routes?"

Lunwen gripped the steering wheel tightly, sweat pouring down his face: "This is the only road we have. These trees are so big, even a car can't move them..."

If they were trapped here, they would definitely be roasted alive by the intense heat of Yanshan.

Mr. Gao took a deep breath, opened the car door and got out. Looking at the huge tree trunk, his eyes showed no sign of backing down: "We absolutely cannot give up, we must hold on. As long as people can get across, that's all that matters."

Looking at the steadfast mountain, Lunwen couldn't help but sigh:

"Uncle, you and your son really do look alike..."

He used his bare hands to clear a narrow path, barely wide enough for a person to pass, next to the tree trunk.

At this moment, another strange change occurred in the center of the distant oilfield.

Originally just a giant machine, Yan Shan's energy slots suddenly glowed bright red.

With a sickening metallic creaking sound, Yanshan's shell began to deform, and it actually grew thick legs, transforming from a static control machine into a giant monster that could move freely!

Its overall shape resembles a steel stag beetle magnified countless times, with huge and sharp horns on its head, and dark red light constantly flowing through the gaps in its metal armor, as if there is an active volcano erupting inside its body.

[This design is kind of cool, like a mechanical insect style?]

The air itself is distorted; this monster must have a very high energy level!

[The temperature looks scorching even through the screen.]

[Still a unique Gaia-style monster]

"It's transformed into a monster!"

A terrified scream came through the communicator, "After transforming into a monster, the energy emitted by Yanshan is even more intense!"

Director Di Cheng immediately issued a strict order: "Do not allow Yanshan to approach the city!"

Captain Wei Weike slammed the control stick: "Understood! Lightning Team, begin attack! Concentrate your attacks on the target's feet and halt its movement!"

Fighter jets roared past, and missiles rained down on the foot of Yanshan Mountain, exploding into bursts of brilliant sparks.