"Brother Hikari, here is the report on the Trial Tower, the expenses to be reimbursed, and the future maintenance and upgrade plans. And now, I'm going to take a break." Early in the morning, Arnot handed over the documents related to the construction of the Trial Tower to Hikari, making it clear that he needed rest.
Dammit! Who knew what kind of life he had lived through these past three years? Overtime! Overtime! Overtime! If it didn't kill you, you worked yourself to death! Why on earth were there Hikari's documents mixed in with his own paperwork?! Damn it!!
"Young man, you must be full of passion and drive! The future of the Land of Light rests entirely on your shoulders!" Hikari forcibly pried open Arnot's mouth and shoved a dose of spiritual chicken soup down his throat. After all, the brat in front of him was his hand-picked successor; no matter what, he had to make him drink this "chicken soup"—even if he had to pour it down by force!
"Please, I may be young, but I'm not stupid!" Arnot made it explicitly clear that he had zero interest in this so-called "chicken soup."
"Don't think I didn't notice that you actually snuck your own folders into my workload!" Arnot's eye lamps flashed as he ground his teeth and exposed him.
"Ahem... Er, you actually found out!" Hikari's eyes darted away, betraying a trace of a guilty conscience. He subconsciously reached up to touch his nose—as if Ultras even had noses!!
"Haha, this was just a test for you! Look at you, not even six thousand years old yet and you've already successfully entered the Science Technology Bureau and developed the Trial Tower. Your future is simply radiant!"
Faced with Hikari's excuse, Arnot stared at him intently, the light flashing in his eye lamps seeming to say: "Go ahead, keep making things up. I'd love to see what other excuses you can possibly dream up."
Suddenly, an Ultra Sign from Zoffy appeared in the air: *Report to the Plasma Spark Tower immediately.* Seeing Zoffy's Ultra Sign, the two Ultras instantly launched themselves straight out the window.
"A dark shadow just flashed past! It was so fast!" An Ultra couldn't help stopping in his tracks, raising his head to look up at the sky in confusion, but that dark shadow had already vanished without a trace.
"No idea, probably a meteorite from space. Never mind that, let's hurry up or we're going to be late!" another Ultra urged.
"Oh, right, coming!" the urged Ultra hurriedly replied, then quickened his pace to catch up with the group. Their destination was the Ultra Square, the central hub of the Land of Light and the place where major announcements were made.
Finally, they arrived at the Ultra Square. At this moment, many Ultras were already waiting there, all looking extremely excited and expectant.
***
Plasma Spark Tower
"What's going on? What happened?" Seeing the Father of Ultra, the Mother of Ultra, Zoffy, Zoffy again, and Jack all present at once, Arnot felt a sudden surge of panic. In addition, his assistant, Roga, was standing quietly in the corner.
Right now, the Ultra Square outside was packed with a surging crowd of Ultras. This sudden and grand display left Arnot feeling thoroughly confused and uneasy.
"It's nothing, don't be nervous. It'll be over in a second," Zoffy consoled. Listening to Zoffy's utterly unhelpful words of comfort only made Arnot panic even more.
The group of Ultras stepped out onto the platform outside the Plasma Spark Tower.
"Brave warriors of the Land of Light from all walks! To more effectively combat the dark forces lurking in the universe, our Science Technology Bureau has achieved a major breakthrough. Ultra Arnot and Ultra Roga have joined forces to co-develop the Trial Tower! It will become the key to elevating everyone's strength!
Now, allow me, in the name of the Father of Ultra, to personally confer upon the two of them the highest-honor Scientific Research Medals!"
Accompanied by the powerful Ultra Telekinesis of the Father of Ultra, the entire Land of Light could feel this joy and glory. He waved his arm gently, and the medals symbolizing wisdom and courage glided down like shooting stars, landing accurately and squarely on the chests of both Arnot and Roga.
Instantly, a warm cheer erupted across the Ultra Square. A multitude of Ultras had gathered here, the vast majority of whom were ordinary Ultras with relatively low combat power. Although the Ultra Academy taught them combat techniques and various skills, the damage dealt in actual combat was always limited. With the Trial Tower as a brand-new training facility, they finally had the opportunity to deeply explore unique skills suited to themselves that could yield higher damage outputs.
Although the Ultra Arena was also open to all Ultras, it was more often frequented by members of the Space Garrison and the Security Department for challenges and training. For ordinary Ultras, the Trial Tower undoubtedly provided a much more suitable environment, allowing them to fully unleash their potential and pursue their own path of growth.
***
Science Technology Bureau
"Arnot, oh hehe! A scientific research medal, hey!" Roga had been grinning stupidly ever since the medal ceremony ended.
"Tch!" Unable to bear the sight of Roga's foolish expression any longer, Arnot opened a light screen, picked a relatively difficult project topic, and sent it to Roga. "If you're not busy, write up a report on this and draft a project budget."
"Huh? Building a network communication system? Arnot, can I pick a different one?" Roga said, half-smiling through his tears; building this thing was going to be another massive project.
"Oh? Then how about this plasma defense system? I'm planning to upgrade the defense system of the Land of Light next." Arnot pulled out an even harder topic.
"No."
"Then pick one yourself." Arnot's temper flared. Still suppressing his anger, he pulled up his own list of project topics and pushed it over to Roga, signaling him to choose whatever he liked.
Faced with the dense mass of light screens before him, Roga began to carefully sift through them. After some picking and choosing, his gaze finally lingered on one particular topic.
"Let's go with this one!" Roga nodded in satisfaction, indicating he had made his decision.
Arnot followed the direction of Roga's finger, and when he saw the chosen topic, he froze in astonishment. The screen clearly displayed the bold characters: "Breeding and Rearing of Monsters."
"Are you sure you want this one?" Arnot widened his eyes and asked in disbelief. Which bastard managed to slip this topic into his file? When he found out who it was, he'd better strip a layer of skin off him!
On the other side, Ska suddenly let out a roar of despair: "Where did my 'Breeding and Rearing of Monsters' go?!"
***
In the Ultra Academy, the young Ultras currently in class were staring fixedly at the live broadcast playing on the big screen, where a grand award ceremony was taking place.
"Whoa! That's amazing!" a young Ultra exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's Tregear's uncle!" another young Ultra chimed in.
"I really hope I can win a medal like that in the future!" yet another young Ultra said, full of longing.
Hearing his classmates' praise and envy, Tregear couldn't have felt more proud. He puffed out his little chest, his face beaming with pride. For the protagonist on the screen was none other than his uncle—Ultra Arnot—who was currently standing atop the Plasma Spark Tower to receive the scientific research medal symbolizing honor and achievement.
The head teacher, Linna, walked in. With a sharp *thwack*, she placed a stack of test papers on the podium and smiled at the students. "Classmates, did you see that? Today, the Land of Light has produced two more great genius scientists. Therefore, you all need to study hard as well!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a chorus of wails instantly erupted in the classroom.
"No, please..."
"Not tests again..."
However, Linna ignored the complaints of these little students and began handing out the test papers. Reluctantly, the young Ultras picked up their pens and began answering the questions earnestly. After all, they all knew that only through unremitting effort could they realize their dreams and become outstanding Ultras like Ultra Arnot.
Meanwhile, Tregear secretly made up his mind to take his uncle as his role model and swore that he would one day win glory of his own.