Is It Too Late for a Cheat Skill to Arrive After the Golden Chapter?

Night fell.

While Daigo was still puzzled as to why Tiga had chosen him, despite his piloting being inferior to Rena, his intellect to Horii, his combat skills to Shinjo, his computer skills to Nozomi, and his command to Munakata.

Zhou Hong began his daily special training.

He immersed his mind into the Ultra Heart, though he was not transforming into an Ultra Warrior.

The darkness behind his closed eyes was gradually covered by a brilliant, pure white light.

The space was pure white, with no distinction between up and down, and no place that looked like solid ground; it was a space purely for combat.

At this moment, Zhou Hong had already transformed into an Ultra Warrior, standing face-to-face with an Ultra Warrior of nearly equal height.

That Ultra Warrior possessed powerful muscles; his biceps were so massive they could run horses across them, and even his art style differed from the average Ultra Warrior—he was clearly a powerhouse.

With a crimson body and a pure white head, his color scheme was simple, and a brilliant, deep green pentagonal gem on his forehead shimmered with light.

He was the strongest warrior of U40—Joneus.

If one were to categorize Ultra King, Legend, and Noa as S-rank, then Joneus would rank at A++, standing as a top-tier warrior just below the absolute peak.

Father of Ultra, without activating his Great Horned Bull form, would certainly be no match for Joneus.

Or perhaps, even with the Great Horned Bull form activated, Father of Ultra might not necessarily be a match for Joneus.

After all, Father of Ultra had participated in several cosmic wars and carried permanent, unrecoverable injuries.

Everyone knew about the wounds on Father of Ultra, and they would target those very spots, causing him to suffer defeat year after year.

Joneus, however, was the type to show off his muscles and make others suffer defeat.

"A beautiful throw; these days of training have finally shown some results."

Recalling the months of being hammered by Joneus every night after returning home from his day job, Zhou Hong almost shed tears, though unfortunately, in his Ultra Warrior form, he had no tears to shed.

"But your own strength is still insufficient; to let a newly awakened monster escape—that is simply unacceptable."

Joneus crossed his arms over his chest, further emphasizing his hulking physique. "It seems your training is still lacking, both in hand-to-hand combat and physical conditioning."

"Now is not the time for you to be complacent."

Unlike the Ultra Warriors of Nebula M78, whose heights seem fixed, the Ultra Warriors of U40 change their physical size as their power grows.

Zhou Hong could transform into a giant up to seventy meters tall, while Joneus was currently exerting great control to maintain his own height at seventy meters.

Joneus had already explained this point to Zhou Hong long ago.

"I know."

"As long as you know, then let us begin!"

The crimson fist suddenly expanded within his vision; even with Joneus's warning, his speed was too terrifying. In just an instant, the fist was already pressing against his face.

Having been beaten for months, Zhou Hong reacted quickly, crossing his arms to block in front of him.

"Boom!"

The collision of flesh and blood produced a harsh, metallic screech, and the heavy force transmitted through his arms made Zhou Hong unable to stop himself from stumbling backward.

Joneus had increased his strength by more than fifty percent!

Just as this thought surfaced in his mind, several red streaks of light followed in quick succession.

The onslaught was like a raging tide, relentless. When they were human-sized, he had grown accustomed to Joneus's attacks, but now, Zhou Hong felt his parries becoming sluggish.

As he grew stronger, Joneus was also gradually unleashing more of his own power.

When an individual enemy's strength is completely superior to yours, their combat experience is countless times greater, and you cannot utilize your beam techniques, there is only one way to defeat them.

Defend strictly, wait for the moment the enemy becomes negligent, and stake everything on a single strike.

Leaning his upper body forward, he endured the bone-crushing pain in his left hand to parry Joneus's arms, throwing his entire body weight toward him.

His right fist, hidden at his side, lunged fiercely toward Joneus's waist.

"Not bad!"

Joneus's steady voice rang out as the distance between them widened.

It was not that Joneus had dodged the attack; it was that Zhou Hong had already been hammered to the ground.

"If it were a conventional warrior, they would likely have been defeated by you by now."

Joneus remained calm and composed. "Even within U40, you could barely be called a qualified warrior."

"But you are still far too green."

Zhou Hong lay amidst the light, breathing heavily; if not for his Ultra Warrior form, he felt he would have coughed up blood by now.

"Ah, I know."

Training is training, and combat is combat. This pure white space is a dedicated combat zone where he can unleash his power without consequence.

However, monsters usually appear in cities, which means he must exercise even greater restraint over his power.

Through these months of interaction, Joneus had come to understand what kind of man this inheritor of the Ultra Heart truly was.

Teachings regarding the heart were useless to him, for his heart had already been thoroughly set. Joneus felt quite gratified that the Ultra Heart had not chosen the wrong person.

Although he leaned more toward the human side compared to other Ultra Warriors, there was no doubt that even with all his various flaws, the light remained brilliant.

"You need greater power—power that can protect yourself and allow you to choose your battlefield freely."

Under the healing of the light, Zhou Hong gradually rose to his feet and once again assumed a fighting stance. "Again!"

As dawn approached, Zhou Hong was hammered into the ground by Joneus once more.

"Joneus, come to think of it, what is the name of this Ultra Warrior form of mine?"

He asked abruptly, looking out at the pure white world.

"I do not know."

"Huh? What do you mean? Isn't this the light you bestowed upon me?"

Joneus placed his hands on his hips. "The initial light was indeed bestowed by me, but after that, the light that transforms into an Ultra Warrior has become your own."

"If we were to use human terms, you could be considered my child."

"Well? Do you need me to give you a name?"

Ah, this.

"When it comes to naming things, I admit I'm a total failure, so I'll leave it to you."

Joneus stroked his chin, struggling to think of a name rich with meaning.

"Then I shall take from the beginning and the end of my own name."

"Jostar is a bit too monotonous on its own."

"In the future, there is a junior whose physical defense even I have to praise. I shall take a character from his name to complete yours."

"How about Jostar?"

I felt like I had countless things I wanted to retort.

But looking into Joneus's clear, sincere eyes, Zhou Hong still nodded with difficulty.