Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

Repairing wasn't Tomat's forte, so he spent most of his time on the Rhodes Island main ship.

About a week after the Obsidian Festival, Tomat was found by the Doctor while looking out from the deck at the gradually cleared coastline.

Seeing the doctor's serious opening remarks, Thomas immediately understood that the doctor had some kind of request.

Some of the commissions were ones that "only Tomat could handle."

"Rembit's engineering team will arrive in Siesta today, which means they will take over the work from now on."

The doctor didn't directly state the purpose of his visit, but instead leaned on the railing and spoke to Tomat in a relaxed manner.

"Has the sea breeze been blowing for too long? It's time to get some fresh air."

"I think it's alright, but Bardak seems a bit tired of it. He said it's too boring and he doesn't want to drive around in the desert like before."

Thomas continued, getting straight to the point:

"Alright, just say what's on your mind. I've been quite busy this holiday, but I should help you out sometimes."

The professor pulled his hood up against the sea breeze, paused for a moment, and then said in a muffled voice:

"Thanks to Dr. Kal'tsit's guidance, I have a general understanding of the underlying causes of what happened earlier..."

The doctor also tried to analyze the relationship between Tomat and the giant ape by referring to Kal'tsit's analysis—but could only come up with a result that was similar to hers but far from the truth.

However, the doctor's visit this time was not about the giant ape.

Among those who considered the idea that "the giant ape resolved the impact of the Siesta catastrophe" was the Doctor.

Due to the discrepancy in external intelligence and the unusual nature of the giant ape's actions, he anticipated that other forces would subsequently take action.

Those people's targets might be Siesta, Lungmen, or Rhodes Island.

However, the former two are city-states that Rhodes Island cannot compare to in size.

It's not their place to worry too much right now.

The only thing the Doctor is worried about is Rhodes Island itself.

As someone who clearly understands Tomat's position on Rhodes Island, the Doctor is convinced that the time has finally come to "stop relying on Tomat's personal strength" and instead try to make Rhodes Island itself stronger.

"Can you help everyone on Rhodes Island become stronger?"

[Main Text] Terra's World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament. Training Chapter: Chapter One: Rhodes Island's Chief Quality Inspector

Time: Mid-April, 1097 in the Terra calendar.

Location: Rhodes Island Main Ship - Training Ground 0 [For Experimental Use]

In a spotless, pure white room, two people stood facing each other.

The man with the brown tail stepped forward with his left foot in a lunge position, while extending his right hand, his upper arm parallel to his body, his ring and little fingers clenched into a fist, and the remaining three fingers forming a claw shape. He stared straight ahead, his brows furrowed.

The man with the scar on his face stood steadily, merely holding one fist to his chest, making no other stance, his eyes looking at his opponent with a slightly amused expression.

The two were Tomat and Badak.

At this moment, they are not only engaged in combat, but also conducting strength tests on new infrastructure materials.

However, none of the detection devices that were normally placed indoors were visible at this time. Instead, a very small number of Rhodes Island members were observing from outside the explosion-proof glass that was tens of centimeters thick.

Needless to say, the core personnel, including PhDs, are also included in this group, as are some collaborators who participated in the materials research and development.

"Before that, we had already passed a series of tests: temperature differences, corrosion, sonic embrittlement, disintegration of Originium Arts structures, bombardment with military-grade Originium explosives, and even physical damage from elite operators and Agor operators..."

The Vaiva woman, arms crossed, looked through the glass at the battle that had not yet begun inside and recounted the intensity test she had personally participated in.

This person is none other than Seria, who has a background as a researcher at Rhine Lab and the head of the defense department.

"Current research results are sufficient to maintain its high stability, and its strength far exceeds that of commonly used carbon materials. Without reservation, even Rhine Lab, which claims to be at the forefront of Terra's technological research, does not have such a high-strength artificial material."

Although she is now tantamount to severing all ties with Rhine Life, she is still certain of the superiority of the materials used to construct the training room in terms of materials science.

"Can't you give me a little more time... You know, this intensity is far less than the sample size."

Mel, with dark circles under her eyes, yawned.

For months, she had been focusing her research on the composition of combat suits, and she hadn't even gone out once during her Obsidian Festival vacation.

If it weren't for Kroos occasionally visiting and bringing her some food, she might have actually died suddenly in the research lab.

"It's good to have routine 'quality control' checks every time there's progress... but the way they're checking is by watching matches..."

The current research progress has already left many people speechless.

The material is almost perfectly isolated from various physical, chemical, and magical influences. Once mass production methods are mastered and it is applied to various fields, it will bring about a revolution in all aspects and an overwhelming protective advantage to the holder.

Even after undergoing so many tests, which would have allowed ordinary materials to pass the tests long ago, these materials still have to face the final hurdle.

That was a battle between two "Saiyans".

According to Thomas, not wearing it on his body for testing was already a huge "perfunctory" approach.

While researchers were focusing on materials-related matters, instructors at Rhode Island noticed something else entirely.

"Speaking of which... does Operator Thomas rarely put on any 'stances'?"

Dubin, as the head instructor, could tell at a glance that Tomat's current posture was not a battlefield fighting move trained for team combat, but rather a fighting stance specifically trained for one-on-one combat.

It has very low versatility, and the specific effects vary from person to person.

From the looks of it, he is more like a "martial artist" than a soldier.

"Indeed, he is different from other members of his race or the Abyssal operators. He can fully control his power if he wants to, which is why he can have some daily sparring with other operators, or why he doesn't smash the training facilities like he did at the beginning."

Lin Guang, drawing on Tomat's usual training demeanor, commented on his unusual attitude towards dealing with the situation.

"But when he fights, he never puts on any 'stance'. Rather, the current Mr. Bardock is how he usually fights."

"...It was the same during the operator test. He was given an excellent rating because it took into account his basic strength, speed, and reflexes. He didn't show too many skills either. Now it seems that he just didn't need to use them."

Vanguard instructor Grace and Thomas didn't have much interaction, but as an instructor, he was naturally aware of this special character among the people who participated in training as operators.

Once those words were spoken, everyone realized what these instructors, all renowned for their martial arts prowess on Rhodes Island, were emphasizing.

Everyone knows how powerful Tomat is. For those living around him, this is not something that can be laughed off or ignored as mere rumors or boasts.

Even such a powerful person has now adopted a "fighting stance".

"test..."

The doctor was responsible for announcing the start of the test.

However, at this distance, even with the protection of the explosion-proof glass, the doctor's hand, which was tightly gripping the communicator, was trembling slightly.

"...start!!"

Most people who have seen footage of Tomat's battles think the camera quality is very poor.

Because the camera couldn't capture him moving at high speed.

If it were an earlier recorded practice session with a regular operator, it would be fine, because he didn't need to move at all.

However, after Bardock arrived at Rhodes Island, the "combat videos" he and Thomas occasionally trained in the wild contained almost no trace of human figures, except for smoke and fire.

And now, the operators who are observing with their naked eyes at close range realized this reality the instant the Doctor finished speaking.

A space of about 200 square meters is spacious enough as a combat training ground.

Even if it moves at high speed, some of its figure can still be caught by the naked eye, not to mention there are no extra obstacles in the room.

Tomat and Bardock also agreed not to use air blasts for attacks, and to fight with fists and feet instead.

All people saw were the figures of the two people who disappeared from sight before the echo of the last word had faded from their ears.

The next moment, the walls of the room began to deform, as if the interior was filled with a large amount of gas and was expanding outwards.

The smooth walls and the bulging, arc-shaped explosion-proof glass made it seem as if it were about to explode.

The tremor reached everyone's feet and swept through their entire bodies, as if they were on the surface of a drum being pounded wildly.

The shockwave that pierced through the barrier reached people's ears; it sounded like a single, resounding boom, yet felt like a thousand roars.

However, everything came to an abrupt halt before the doctor could send out a notice asking those around him to evacuate.

People were also surprised to find that two people could be seen again in the testing room.

However, by then, Tomat was already lying on the ground, covered in wounds.

Bardock stood unharmed before him.

The best news is that the wall, which was cracked so badly it looked like it was about to collapse, is still standing.

[Main Text] Terra's World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament. Training Chapter: Chapter Two - A Brief Recap

Rhodes Island has been away from Siesta for almost a month.

They say time heals all wounds, but clearly that time hasn't been long enough, or perhaps what happened there is unforgettable.

—This applies to both Rhodes Island and outsiders.

The various unexpected events that occurred during their time in Siesta clearly garnered Rhodes Island more attention than when they captured Talulah in Chernobog.

Cooperation requests, trade agreements, talent recruitment, fan letters, headhunting, covert infiltration, or overt threats.

This brought about many changes to Rhodes Island, and the core personnel also had to make some adjustments in various aspects.

Of particular note is that Mayor Siesta sent his daughter to Rhodes Island for a short-term study program, and at the same time, "Black," the private security captain who had ended his employment relationship with the mayor, also signed a cooperation agreement with Rhodes Island.

They are reportedly working together at Rhode Island as colleagues.

However, it seems that the well-known broadcast incident has not yet been clarified, which often leads to the two being out of sync and creating many funny situations when they are together.

In addition, all Rhodes Island staff received the "Honorary Siesta City Resident" medal, which will allow operators to enter various tourist facilities in Siesta for free during the festival. This excited many operators, especially those who had the opportunity to perform with their favorite musicians in the last event. They are looking forward to the next Obsidian Festival.

This also symbolizes the goodwill between Siesta and Rhodes Island in a sense.

However, with good things come bad things. Rhodes Island's positive performance in this incident has attracted a lot of attention, but the previously announced claim of "possessing intelligence sources on the Giant Ape" has been contradicted by the actual situation, leading to the spread of some negative rumors.

There are even rumors that Rhodes Island's departments specializing in dealing with infiltration and sabotage have already quietly begun operations.

Of course, if these actions were kept undercover, they would be manageable. Many agents from the gray area have plenty of experience in playing games in secret.

It is foreseeable that the malicious sabotage will eventually be brought to the forefront.