newbobooks Chapter 108 The Story Behind the Victory Team
Chapter 108 The Story Behind the Victory Team
Inside the live stream, the background music had been changed to a piece of instrumental music with a slightly epic and desolate feel.
Old Tang's fingers gently traced the gold-embossed subheading: "[Earth Chronicles: The Dawn of the Defense Force]".
The viewers in front of the screen didn't even dare to breathe. The shock brought by "Dark Tiga" hadn't dissipated yet, and now everyone was even more eager to know how humanity survived in this perilous universe in the beginning, without the protection of Ultraman.
"Brothers, we always complain that TPC's defense force is 'incompetent,' complain about their plane crashes, and complain that all they do is shout 'That's weird.'"
Old Tang's voice was deep and serious, with an unprecedented air of solemnity: "But after reading this history, I want to bow to all the members of TPC."
He turned the pages of the book, and his voice began to rise with passion.
"It's clearly written in the book. TPC, the Earth Peace Alliance, wasn't established as a game; it was humanity's only lifeline when pushed to the brink!"
"The story goes back to the late 1990s. At that time, although the Cold War had ended, the planet was not peaceful. Major powers were still maintaining nuclear deterrence, the so-called 'balance of terror'."
"but!"
Old Tang suddenly raised his voice, "Humanity soon discovered that this amount of nuclear weapons is nothing compared to a real threat!"
"Since the 1980s, UFOs, or unconfirmed aerial phenomena, have been appearing like crazy all over the world! In the book, there are unidentified objects falling in the Kunlun Mountains, the Valrena incident in Brazil... Aliens have been here for a long time! Moreover, humanity's proud strategic nuclear weapons are often rendered ineffective by unknown means when facing these extraterrestrial civilizations!"
The screen was instantly flooded with comments like "This is terrifying to think about."
"At this moment, a great man stepped forward—our Director Sawai!"
Old Tang pointed to the illustration of a kind-faced but resolute old man on the page.
"He astutely realized that if humanity continued its internal strife, it would be sending itself to the aliens! In 2000, he launched Project FOREN 2000, aiming to integrate the world's military forces. Initially, no one paid attention to him; both the United States and Russia opposed it. Until… a base in Asia was directly destroyed by an alien civilization!"
"That was a massacre. Humanity finally awoke. In 2005, the United Nations was reorganized, and the TPC was officially established! The original defense agencies and national armies were all disbanded and reorganized into the TPC Defence Force!"
"Brothers, can you imagine how many detours humanity has taken and how much blood has been shed for this step?"
Old Tang took a sip of water, his eyes filled with admiration: "This is the cornerstone of the Ultraman Tiga worldview—before the giants appeared, humanity was already prepared to face the darkness alone."
"And in this torrent, a team was born, the true 'elite of the elite,' which is the team we know well—GUTS, the winning team."
At this point, Old Tang's expression became somewhat complicated, as if he had seen some words that broke his heart.
"Next, I'm going to talk about the people in this team. Especially... our Captain Megumi Kijima."
The live stream chat instantly fell silent. Everyone remembered the female captain who was always calm and collected, sometimes even overly rational.
"Have you always thought that Captain Megumi is an 'Iron Lady'? That she's sometimes too much of a dove and too reluctant to use force?"
Old Tang sighed and turned to the chapter about "Megumi Kijima: Wings Broken by the Wind".
"In fact, her gentleness was earned at the cost of the greatest tragedy of her life."
"The story begins in Tanegashima in 1982. That year, Megumi Iruma was a little girl who loved gazing at the stars. There, she met a boy named Katsuhito Miura. He was a space enthusiast who dreamed of flying into space..."
Old Tang briefly recounted their story...
"...Two souls drawn together by their dreams met again more than a decade later, fell in love, and got married. Puker became the best pilot, while Izumi became a key member of the defense force."
"At that time, they shared a common dream—to develop the 'WING System' that would allow humans to soar freely through the skies, which later became the prototype of the Victory Swallow..."
Old Tang's voice began to tremble, as if he had witnessed that tragic afternoon firsthand.
"In 1996, a few years before the TV series began, Puker piloted an experimental aircraft equipped with the WING system and conducted a test flight in the waters near Chiba Prefecture."
"The weather was beautiful that day, and Megumi Kijima was watching him from the ground command center. But..."
Old Tang paused for a moment and took a deep breath.
"At an altitude of 8,000 meters, the test aircraft suddenly experienced an unexplained malfunction and disintegrated in mid-air."
"Even though the ejection system was activated, the human body is fragile under such rapid disintegration."
"Megumi watched the dot on the radar disappear. One second, her husband was telling her on the radio that she was 'feeling good,' and the next second, there was deathly silence."
"Later, the maritime patrol team recovered the body of the Puk people. At the funeral, Megumi Kiyama held her newborn son, Pu Chishu, without shedding a single tear. Because her heart had shattered along with that plane at that moment."
In the live stream, countless viewers broke down in tears.
[Holy crap...don't kill me!]
[So that's why Chiki doesn't have a father?]
No wonder the captain has always opposed radical military expansion, no wonder she was so cautious about testing the Flying Swallow... she's afraid of a repeat of the tragedy!
[You old scoundrel Gu! You have no heart! Why hide this kind of background setting in the book! Show it in the film!]
Old Tang rubbed his reddened eyes and continued, "Although her husband sacrificed himself, humanity's progress cannot stop. Under immense pressure, Megumi took over Project WING. She wants to turn the data her husband obtained with his life into wings to protect humanity."
"That's why she's the captain of the GUTS team. She's more qualified than anyone else, and she understands the weight of the word 'protect' better than anyone else."
After speaking about the intermediary, Lao Tang adjusted his mood and made the atmosphere a little more lively.
"Of course, besides the captain, our protagonist Daigo wasn't a freebie either."
"The book reveals the truth behind Daigo's joining the team."
"Everyone knows Daigo used to work in the transportation department, driving trucks. Many people say he was lucky, that he was noticed by Director Sawai and got into GUTS through connections. But let me tell you, that's completely wrong!"
Old Tang pointed to the section in the book titled "Daiko En: The Eve of the Awakening of the Successor of Light".
"That was when the TPC headquarters was still under construction. One day, Director Sawai went to inspect a mysterious crop circle—which was later confirmed as an 'alien landmark'."
"As a result, alien UFOs suddenly appeared and launched an attack! Their target was clear: to assassinate Sawai, the symbol of human unity!"
At this point, Lao Tang casually found a recollection of this plot from the episode "Southern Straits" and showed it to the audience.
"At that time, Sawai's supervisor's car was pulled into the air by the UFO's traction beam, and all the guards were thrown away. It looked like Sawai was about to be captured or fall to his death."
"At that critical moment! A beat-up little truck from the transportation department came charging at us like a madman!"
Old Tang gestured wildly, pointing to the name: "The one driving was Daigo! That kid was only 20 years old back then, and he actually drove the car, using the terrain to his advantage, and crashed into the director's car. Then he jumped into the car himself and rescued Sawai!"
"An ordinary person would be terrified by an alien disc. But this guy dared to drive a truck into a UFO! What do you call that? That's called courage!"
"Director Sawai valued his fearless spirit and the way he would do anything to protect others, which is why he overruled objections and transferred him to the GUTS team."
"So brothers, stop saying Daigo got his success through luck. He was already a hero before he became light!"
The comments section was filled with "666" and "Daigo is awesome".
[Daigo was this fierce? A truck crashed into a UFO?]
Wow! So Sawai had his eye on this kid back then!
[I knew it! The Giants of Light have certain requirements for selecting members!]
[After Sawai becomes Hikaru: You didn't expect that, did you! Ultraman Tiga is my henchman!]
[This setup is so perfectly complete; every character's behavior follows a closed loop.]
Old Tang became more and more excited as he talked, completely forgetting the passage of time.
"And there's more! There's also the story of Vice Captain Munakata here!"
"Everyone calls him 'Commander' and thinks he's a serious old man. But did you know that when Megumi was trapped during a defense force exercise, it was Munakata who risked his life to carry her out? His relationship with Megumi wasn't just that of superior and subordinate, but also one of absolute loyalty and... cough cough, you know, that kind of chivalry buried deep in his heart."
"And then there's Lina! The book says she was an ace pilot, but the reason her relationship with her father, Captain Yanagi (Nanase in the original work), was so strained was because Captain Yanagi abandoned her family when she was young in order to carry out a space mission, which led to Lina's mother dying alone."
"Horie! Don't let his constant inventions fool you; before he even joined TPC, he hand-built a prototype of a 'language translator' in the lab! A true genius!"
"Yerui! The 16-year-old hacker prodigy! He was exceptionally admitted to TPC!"
Old Tang finished recounting the backgrounds of all the team members in one breath, then closed the book and patted the black cover heavily.
"Brothers, now you understand why Gu Nan published this book, right?"
"This isn't just about ripping people off... I mean, it's not just about merchandise."
"It's the soul-completing project for Ultraman Tiga!"
"Gu Nan is telling us that each of the seven members of the Victory Team is a flesh-and-blood individual. They have a past, pain, and regrets. But it is precisely because of this that their bond is so precious when they come together to fight for the protection of Earth!"
"By combining this book with a second or third viewing of the TV series, you'll discover that every line and every glance takes on a completely new meaning!"
"For example, in episode 7, why was Lina so angry at that alien robot? Because it was her way of venting her anger at her father for abandoning his wife and children!"
"For example, why does Daigo always work so hard? Because he knows that he's standing here because of the opportunity given to him by Director Sawai, and even more so because it's a destiny entrusted to him!"
"This book adds a rigorous and logically consistent background to 'Ultraman Ultraman Tiga,' making it not just an excellent tokusatsu series!"
After saying that, Old Tang picked up the flat Coke on the table and drank it all in one gulp.
"Cool!"
"This is the most awesome concept art I've ever seen! Bar none!"
The live stream was now at its peak, with the gift effects almost completely obscuring Lao Tang's face.
【Buy it! I'll buy it, okay?!】
[Old Tang, stop reading and click the link! My wallet is starving!]
[I'm placing the order right now! Anyone who tries to stop me will have to deal with me!]
If this book goes out of stock, I'm going to bomb Gu Nan's studio!
Seeing the screen filled with comments asking for links, Lao Tang chuckled and revealed his signature smug expression.
"Want to buy it? Hehe, I have some bad news for you."
"This book... has no link."
The live chat exploded instantly: 【???】【Are you kidding me?】【Old Tang, do you believe I'll go down the internet cable and chop you up?】
"Don't rush, don't rush!" Old Tang quickly waved his hand, "It's not that I don't want to give it to you, it's just that this book is too precious."
Just then, Lao Tang's phone suddenly vibrated.
This is a special attention prompt sound.
Old Tang picked up his phone and his eyes widened instantly. He then slammed his hand on the table, the noise startling even the sleeping cat.
"Holy crap! Guys! Gu Laozei posted on Weibo!"
"Breaking news! Huge breaking news!"
Old Tang frantically projected his phone screen onto the live stream.
Just one minute ago, the official account of "Chasing Light Pictures" posted a long pinned article.
The accompanying image is from this black and gold art book, "To Those Who Shine," with a group photo of the entire GUTS team on the deck in the background.
The text is as follows:
Thank you all for your support and love for Ultraman Tiga this past year. We appreciate everyone's enthusiasm regarding the art book that Lao Tang (@毒舌老唐) has.
First of all, it should be noted that this book is a "compilation of internal setting materials" that we specially produced to commemorate the completion of "Ultraman Tiga". It contains more than 200,000 words and more than 500 illustrations, covering core secrets such as world history, mecha settings, monster encyclopedia and scrapped scripts.
To ensure quality and collectible value, this book is bound entirely by hand with leather, and each copy has a unique gold-stamped serial number.
Due to the complexity of the process and the extremely high cost, we are unable to mass-produce and sell it on a large scale.
This collector's edition of "In Tribute to Those Who Shine" is a limited edition of 5000 copies worldwide.
Upon reading this, Old Tang gasped in shock.
"5000 copies? Worldwide? Gu Nan, you're really daring! That's harder than robbing a bottle of Moutai!"
He continued reading.
The allocation plan for these 5000 copies is as follows:
* Gifts of Appreciation (Items 0001-1000):
We will give these 1,000 copies free of charge to the content creators, media professionals, illustrators, fan artists, and all the staff involved in the production of Ultraman Tiga who have provided help and voiced their support over the past year.
It is your shouts that have allowed the light to travel further. The NO.0001 in Old Tang's hand is just a small token of our appreciation.
* Fan Feedback (Numbers 1001-5000):
For the remaining 4,000 copies, we will launch a "Light Lottery" event in the official Bilibili account's feed.
All viewers who follow Light Chaser Animation and share this post will have a chance to win for free!
Even if you're a freeloader, as long as you love Ultraman Tiga, you have a chance!
At this point, the chat in the live stream went wild.
[Free?!]
Holy crap! Gu Nan's vision is amazing! He's really got a broad perspective!
[Four thousand copies in a lottery? The odds are low, but it's much more generous than buying them in bulk!]
I've prepared several hundred dollars, and you're telling me it's free?
This is why I don't like watching other companies, but only Light Chaser Animation! They truly treat their fans like human beings!
But it's not over yet.
Old Tang scrolled to the last paragraph of the copy, his voice becoming somewhat choked up.
Of course, we know that 5000 books are a drop in the ocean for the vast number of Heirs of Light. We don't want anyone who wants to understand this world to be turned away.
Therefore, although the physical book is limited in quantity, but—
Knowledge is shared, and light is equal.
Starting today, the full high-definition digital version (PDF/EPUB format) of "To Those Who Shine" has been uploaded to the official website of Light Chaser Animation.
It is available for free download and reading by everyone.
Whether you didn't win a prize or are a student on a tight budget, you can access all the contents of this book immediately.
Thank you again, everyone. Let us pay tribute to those who have achieved greatness.
—Gu Nan & All Colleagues at Chasing Light Pictures
silence.
After a deathly silence came an explosive barrage of comments.
Even Old Tang, a seasoned veteran who's seen it all, couldn't help but give a thumbs up to the screen, his eyes red-rimmed.
"Awesome."
"That's really awesome."
Old Tang took off his sunglasses and vigorously rubbed his eyes.
"Brothers, I've never been subservient to anyone in my life. I used to think that capitalists were all vampires, and they wanted to break down their personalities into eight pieces and sell them for money."
"But Gu Nan... this kid, he really wants to tell this story well, he really loves this audience."
"The physical books are limited in quantity for their collectible value, while the digital versions are free so that everyone can see them."
"That's what you call—having a broad perspective!"
Old Tang took a deep breath and shouted into the camera, "Brothers! What are you waiting for? Go download it from the official website! Let's overwhelm the servers!"
"Also, don't forget to retweet for the giveaway! What if you win? It'll be a family heirloom!"
That night, the internet in Xia Kingdom once again boiled over because of Ultraman Tiga.
Light Chaser Animation's official website crashed three times in just ten minutes, but each time it was restored, the number of downloads surged by hundreds of thousands.
Bilibili's trending topics instantly topped the list:
#GuNan's Grandeur#
#Download the official Tiga artbook for free#
#Old Tang No. 0001#
#TPC Assembly History#