That night.
While Daigo was still wondering why Tiga had chosen him, when his piloting skills were no match for Rena's, his brains were no match for Hori's, his fighting skills were no match for Shinjoh's, his computer skills were no match for Yazumi's, and his leadership skills were no match for Munakata's.
Zhou Hong began his daily training.
His mind sank into the Ultra Heart, but he didn't transform into an Ultra Warrior.
The darkness behind his tightly shut eyes was gradually covered by a brilliant, pure white light.
The space was pure white, with no up or down and nothing that seemed suitable to stand on. It was a place made purely for battle.
Zhou Hong had already transformed into an Ultra Warrior, facing another Ultra Warrior who was almost exactly his height.
That warrior had powerful muscles, with biceps so massive a horse could race around them. Even his art style differed from that of ordinary Ultra Warriors. He was clearly drawn as a powerhouse.
His body was crimson, his head pure white, a simple color scheme. A brilliant, emerald-green five-pointed star jewel atop his head glimmered with light.
He was U40's strongest warrior—Joneus.
If Ultraman King, Ultraman Legend, and Noa were S-class, then Joneus ranked at A++, making him one of the finest warriors just below the very peak.
Father of Ultra, without entering his giant-horned bull form, definitely wouldn't be a match for Joneus.
Or rather, even in his giant-horned bull form, Father of Ultra might still not be a match for Joneus.
After all, Father of Ultra had taken part in several cosmic wars and suffered injuries that could never heal.
Anyone could tell where Father of Ultra was injured. Just aim for those wounds, and he'd keep taking a beating.
Joneus, on the other hand, always showed off his muscles and made others take a beating.
"Nice throw. Your training these past few days has paid off."
Thinking back to the months of hauling bricks home every day, only to get pummeled by Joneus at night, Zhou Hong nearly burst into tears. Unfortunately, he was in his Ultra Warrior form and had no tears to shed.
"But you still lack strength. You let a monster that had only just awakened get away."
Joneus folded his arms across his chest, making his brawny physique stand out even more. "It seems your training still isn't enough, both in combat and physical conditioning."
"You're not in a position to get complacent yet."
Unlike the Ultra Warriors of Nebula M78, whose height seemed fixed forever, the warriors of U40 could change their size when they transformed as their power grew stronger.
Zhou Hong could transform into a giant up to seventy meters tall, while Joneus was deliberately keeping his power in check to maintain a height of seventy meters.
Joneus had explained this to Zhou Hong long ago.
"I know."
"Good. Then let's begin!"
A crimson fist suddenly loomed larger in his eyes. Even though Joneus had warned him, his speed was still terrifying. In an instant, the fist was right in front of him.
After months of getting beaten black and blue, Zhou Hong reacted quickly, crossing his arms in front of himself to block.
"Thud!"
The impact of flesh against flesh rang out with a piercing clang like steel. The heavy force in his arms sent Zhou Hong staggering backward.
Joneus's strength had increased by more than fifty percent!
That thought had barely surfaced when several red streaks of attacks followed in quick succession.
The relentless assault crashed down like a raging tide. When they were human-sized, Zhou Hong had already gotten used to Joneus's attacks, but now he felt exhausted just trying to defend himself.
As Zhou Hong grew stronger, Joneus gradually released more of his own power.
When your opponent's strength is far beyond yours, their battle experience is countless times greater than yours, and you can't use your beam attacks, there's only one way to win.
Hold your ground and defend until your opponent lets their guard down, then stake everything on a single strike.
Leaning forward, Zhou Hong endured the pain in his left arm, as if his bones were breaking, and knocked Joneus's arms aside. He threw his whole body toward Joneus.
His right fist, hidden at his side, suddenly shot toward Joneus's waist.
"Not bad!"
By the time Joneus's steady voice rang out, they had already been separated.
It wasn't that Joneus had dodged the attack. Zhou Hong had already been knocked flat.
"If you were fighting an ordinary warrior, you'd probably have taken him down by now."
Joneus remained completely unruffled. "Even among the warriors of U40, you can just about be called a qualified warrior."
"But you're still far too inexperienced."
Zhou Hong lay in the light, breathing heavily. If he weren't in his Ultra Warrior form, he was sure he'd be coughing up blood by now.
"Yeah, I know."
Training was training, and battle was battle. This pure white space was made purely for combat; no matter how much power he unleashed, nothing would happen.
But monsters usually appeared in cities, which meant he had to keep his power under even tighter control.
After spending these past few months together, Joneus had gotten a pretty good idea of what kind of man the inheritor of the Ultra Heart was.
Guidance in matters of the heart was useless for him. His heart was already set. Joneus was quite relieved that the Ultra Heart hadn't chosen the wrong person.
Although he leaned more toward the human side than the Ultra Warrior side, there was no doubt that, despite all his flaws, his light still shone brilliantly.
"You need even greater power—power to protect yourself and to choose where you fight."
As the light healed him, Zhou Hong slowly got to his feet and took up his fighting stance once more. "Again!"
Dawn was almost here, and Zhou Hong was knocked to the ground by Joneus once again.
"Joneus, come to think of it, what's my name as an Ultra Warrior again?"
He looked at the pure white world and asked out of the blue.
"I don't know."
"Huh? What do you mean? Wasn't this your light?"
Joneus put his hands on his hips. "I gave you the original light, but after that, the light that transformed you into an Ultra Warrior became your own."
"By human standards, you could be considered my child."
"So, do you want me to give you a name?"
Oh, boy.
"I admit I'm terrible at coming up with names, so I'll leave it to you."
Joneus rubbed his chin, doing his best to think of a meaningful name.
"Then let's use the names I bore at the beginning and the end."
"'Joss' would be a little too plain."
"There's a junior in the future whose physical defenses are so impressive that even I have to praise him. Let's take one character from his name and combine it with mine to make yours."
"How about Jostar?"
I had so many comebacks I wanted to make.
But looking into Joneus's clear eyes, Zhou Hong still managed to nod.
Before you continue