The swarm of Zoiger was trapped within the dark purple mist of energy, frozen in midair as though time itself had stopped.
Everyone looked on in awe, waiting for Yu Zhou's next move.
The dark energy slowly began pulling the Zoiger flock toward the Giga Battlenizer in Yu Zhou's hand, inch by inch, as if they were about to be absorbed.
But suddenly, a surge of black mist erupted from the Island of Darkness, shooting straight into the sky and violently scattering Yu Zhou's purple energy apart.
The Zoiger, now freed from the pull, immediately regained their senses. Yu Zhou lowered the Giga Battlenizer, staring cautiously at the black mist that had interrupted his capture.
"What was that?"
In the Earth Defence Force's command ship, Yuzare and her team had witnessed the anomaly as well, readying themselves for a counterattack.
"Is Tiga alright?" Camearra cried out, her voice tight with worry. She was terrified that Yu Zhou might have been hurt in the clash.
The black mist didn't dissipate—it lunged toward Yu Zhou instead.
Hovering in midair, Yu Zhou bent slightly, swinging the Giga Battlenizer back with one arm and then slamming it forward toward the oncoming mist.
A surge of dark power flowed through his arm into the device, bursting into violet lightning arcs that struck head-on against the black mist.
The collision triggered a violent explosion—flames erupted between them and rippled through the sky.
"Retreat! Pull back!" Yuzare shouted to her team.
Even though her order came fast, the explosion spread faster. Several ships were caught in the blast and vanished in fiery bursts across the sea.
Meanwhile, Yu Zhou's ship—equipped with artificial intelligence—detected the danger and immediately took evasive action, shooting off at full speed with Camearra aboard.
"I guess being a coward is one of this AI's useful features," Yu Zhou muttered dryly. He had turned to check on Camearra, wanting to shield her from the explosion—only to see the ship already fleeing far away.
When the smoke and flames cleared, Yu Zhou stood unharmed. The Giga Battlenizer in his hand was completely intact—having shielded him from the full force of the blast.
As expected of the artifact that once endured the combined attacks of countless Ultras from the Land of Light.
The black mist, however, had been completely obliterated—vanished without a trace.
Below, the Zoiger were in disarray—many dead or wounded, some falling into the sea where the Earth Defense ships swiftly finished them off.
"Let's try this again," Yu Zhou said, raising the Giga Battlenizer once more.
He released another wave of dark purple energy, ready to recapture the remaining Zoiger—
—but once again, a streak of black mist shot out from the Island of Darkness.
"How annoying."
Yu Zhou dispersed his energy and lowered the device, watching closely.
To his surprise, as soon as he lowered it, the black mist retreated back into the island.
"Huh?"
He frowned. "Does this mist... have a mind of its own?"
He raised the device again.
The black mist immediately burst out of the island.
He lowered it.
The mist went back in.
He raised it again—the mist came out. Lowered it—it went back.
Yu Zhou's eyes twitched. "…You're picking a fight with me, huh?"
He kept testing—raising, lowering, raising, lowering—and the black mist kept coming out and retreating in perfect rhythm.
Everyone else was stunned silent.
"What… what are they even doing?" someone murmured.
Yu Zhou grinned slyly. "Alright, now…"
He suddenly froze mid-motion, holding the Giga Battlenizer high as if he were about to lower it—but didn't.
The black mist, expecting the usual pattern, immediately shrank back into the island on its own.
"Got you!"
In that instant, Yu Zhou unleashed another wave of dark purple energy, enveloping the Zoiger swarm and pulling them all into the Giga Battlenizer in one go.
When the black mist surged back out and saw the Zoiger gone, it hesitated—hovering in the sky, as though confused.
After a few seconds, it simply… floated back down into the island again.
"This black mist… it's not simple," Yu Zhou muttered.
An independent dark energy with its own will—this was no ordinary phenomenon.
But with the Zoiger threat resolved, Yu Zhou decided to continue onward. Remaining in his giant form, he transformed into a streak of dark light and sped off toward the direction his ship had fled.
Soon, he spotted it hovering safely over the ocean. Dissolving into black particles, Yu Zhou reappeared inside the cabin.
"I'm back."
The dark energy dispersed, and Yu Zhou's human form solidified.
"Are you hurt?" Camearra rushed forward, grabbing his hand as she anxiously looked him over.
"I'm fine," Yu Zhou said with a smile, waving his hand dismissively.
Though honestly, having his body examined like this in front of others was a bit awkward.
Understanding the situation, Hudra and Darramb quietly whistled and slipped away to their rooms, leaving the two alone.
Camearra's pale hands brushed over Yu Zhou's body from head to toe, meticulously checking for injuries.
Even with Yu Zhou's thick skin, his face reddened slightly.
He wasn't sure if Camearra was doing it intentionally or not—but it was definitely testing his self-control.
"Hmm? What's this hard thing?" Camearra suddenly asked, pressing her hand against Yu Zhou's chest and feeling something solid beneath his clothes.
"Oh no…" Yu Zhou froze internally.
He had hidden his Transformation Badge beneath his shirt to avoid drawing attention—and now Camearra had found it.
"It's… a badge," Yu Zhou said quickly, forcing a laugh. "I, uh, got it back home for doing some good deeds. The village committee gave it to me."
Inside, though, he was sweating bullets.
In truth, Yu Zhou wanted to stay as himself when with Camearra—but there were two reasons he couldn't.
First, in the future, Camearra wouldn't recognize his real appearance. She once said that Tiga and Daigo looked alike—so if she saw his true face now, it could create a time paradox… possibly erasing the future.
Second, when he came to the ancient era, his hair and eyebrows had been completely burned off by that fire creature on Volcano Star. They still hadn't fully grown back.
Going around with no eyebrows was not exactly a good look.
So, he had to remain in this form for now—just until the right time came.