"Bring it on!"
Darramb pounded his chest and shouted at Yu Zhou.
Although Yu Zhou now seemed stronger, Darramb had always been a warrior of brute strength—there was no way he would back down.
"Here it comes!"
Yu Zhou, reminding Darramb that this was just a sparring match, wanted to prevent any serious injury.
Feeling the power in his arms, Yu Zhou clenched his fists, leapt from the ground, and swung a punch down at a forty-five-degree angle toward Darramb.
Having endured Yu Zhou's punch earlier, Darramb took this one seriously. As Yu Zhou leapt, Darramb clenched his fists and projected a five-layer red energy shield, hoping to block the blow.
Yu Zhou hadn't expected Darramb to have this skill, but with the punch already in motion, he struck the shield directly.
Crack! One layer of the shield shattered immediately.
"I suppose I can still block this punch," Darramb said confidently—until all five layers suddenly shattered, scattering into red light particles across the ground.
Yu Zhou's fist collided with Darramb's, sending a massive force through Darramb's arms. He was flung back, crashing into the ground with a thud.
"You okay?" Yu Zhou stepped forward and helped him up.
"I'm fine," Darramb exhaled. "Your power… it's terrifying."
He had thought five layers of shield would stop the punch—yet all five were shattered. The strength of Power Type was beyond expectation.
"Brute force at its finest," Yu Zhou thought. No wonder Daigo loved using the Brawler form—sometimes a single punch could solve everything; if not, then two punches.
"Actually, your energy shield is still useful," Yu Zhou said to Darramb—not just to console him. "If you could form one more layer, I probably couldn't break it."
Darramb nodded. His shields were strong, and one more layer might have made Yu Zhou's punch much harder to counter.
The two then de-transformed and stepped outside the arena.
"Camearra, what are you doing here?" Yu Zhou was surprised—he hadn't noticed her during the fight.
"This is the Crystal Palace. Would it be strange for me to be here?" she said with a smile.
"Not at all," Yu Zhou scratched his head.
"By the way, Masaki wants to see you. He's waiting inside the palace."
"Masaki?" Yu Zhou nodded and ran toward the palace, curious what the scientist had in mind.
"Yu Zhou, come with me!"
Masaki's face lit up with excitement as soon as he saw Yu Zhou.
"Uh?" Yu Zhou was confused.
"I've developed a second-generation artificial sun!" Masaki explained quickly when Yu Zhou froze.
"A second-generation artificial sun?!" Yu Zhou was surprised. Masaki had apparently made another breakthrough. "What can this second-generation one do?"
"Wait until you see it," Masaki said, pulling Yu Zhou along.
"Alright," Yu Zhou said, intrigued by what this physics genius might have created—after all, he was the one who had dared to replicate a light giant statue.
Soon, they arrived at Masaki's laboratory in R'lyeh. It was spacious and well-equipped.
Yu Zhou's eyes immediately went to the centre: a crystal tower topped with a transparent crystal orb.
"This is it!" Masaki said, activating the tower's switch.
A brilliant light poured from the crystal orb, and Yu Zhou felt a faint warmth as well.
"This second-generation artificial sun uses the new Magus Power System as its energy source," Masaki explained. "But to create a true plasma spark like in the Land of Light, this system alone isn't enough."
"This is already impressive," Yu Zhou said, sensing the faint light energy in the air, though weak.
He recalled that in the original Diga storyline, Masaki had used the Magus Power System to revive Diga from stone—if not for Gatanjuer's interference, Diga might have already been restored.
"Even though it's not as powerful as the first, this is still very good," Yu Zhou encouraged Masaki. "I can feel the subtle light energy in the air."
"Yes," Masaki nodded. "It's made from the materials you brought from the Land of Light."
Without Masaki's explanation, Yu Zhou had already realized the crystal material was the same he had used to build R'lyeh. He hadn't expected it to serve this purpose.
"Would the crystals I sold have any light radiation?" Yu Zhou paused. He had sold many crystals for funding—if they emitted radiation, there could be unintended consequences.
"Could prolonged exposure to this light cause mutations?" Yu Zhou asked, cautious despite his ignorance in physics.
"Don't worry," Masaki replied. "The light energy in these crystals is minimal, like a glow stone at night. It won't harm humans."
"That's a relief," Yu Zhou said.
Masaki hadn't used the second-generation artificial sun yet—he wanted to continue experimenting. Even a small breakthrough was a promising start.
"Maybe one day we can make something like a plasma spark," Yu Zhou thought.
"Or we could try capturing a Baltan Alien to test it," he mused.
Masaki, examining the device, asked, "Yu Zhou, what if we replace the energy source with compressed solar power?"