Chapter 1344
Hikari: I upgraded my weapon again!
"Old Cui! Old Cui! I upgraded my weapon!"
Hikari's voice boomed from the other end of the corridor, filled with barely suppressed elation and an eagerness to claim credit, approaching from afar like a cannonball with a trail of flames hurtling straight at you.
Upon hearing Hikari's voice, Choi Myung's heart and lungs stopped for a moment.
He was leaning against the window of the command room, holding a thermos, when the howl nearly made him drop the thermos. Cui Ming took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and his gaze fell on the figure who had rushed in excitedly. His lips twitched involuntarily.
Cui Ming thought that Hikari was a good guy in every way, it was just a pity that he was alive.
To put it bluntly...
A dead Hikari is safer than a living Hikari.
At least the corpse wouldn't suddenly pull a modified bomb without a safety valve from its pocket, nor would it kick open your door in the middle of the night, holding up a sparking test tube and shouting, "I succeeded!" The uncontrollability brought about by that pure scientific fanaticism was fully embodied in Hikari; every second he was alive was breeding new disasters.
Hey……
Ultraman Hikari is pretty good, but he has one flaw...
He doesn't insure the stuff he makes!!!
Cui Ming stared at the humming metal box in Hikari's hand, its surface riddled with unidentified interfaces. A dangerous blue light emanated from the box's gaps, occasionally punctuated by tiny arcs of electricity. It looked like some kind of energy amplifier, but it lacked even an emergency stop button, let alone any safety locks or bolts. In Hikari's research philosophy, power always came first; as for the user's life or death? That was the user's own concern.
Just like some of the scientists at TM's EDF!
Cui Ming recalled his past experiences serving in the EDF. Those lunatics in white coats were willing to send any outrageous weapon to the battlefield to fight alien invaders. The heavy missiles they built did indeed have astonishing warhead power, capable of leveling half a city block with a single shot, but the most crucial page was always missing from the operating manual—the safe distance.
TM's heavy-firepower missiles don't even have a safe distance setting!
During one frontline operation, Cui Ming witnessed an EDF scientist excitedly press the launch button, shouting, "This thing can blow up a mountain!" The missile did indeed explode, destroying a mountain, but because no safety distance was set, the blast radius engulfed the launch site as well. The scientist, along with the launch pad, was thrown into the air by the blast wave, tumbling a dozen times before finally hanging from a crooked tree, still muttering, "The data is perfect."
He blew himself away again! Damn it!
Choi Myung closed his eyes, trying to banish the horrific image from his mind. He opened his eyes again and looked at Hikari, who was holding a metal box and whose face seemed to say "Praise me!" He felt his temples throbbing.
"...Put it down." Cui Ming squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth.
Hikari paused, his smile froze: "Huh? Isn't this a weapon upgrade? I quadrupled the output power and streamlined the cooling system..."
"Put it down, then take ten steps back." Cui Ming put down the thermos, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Take one more step forward, and I'll stuff you into the fighting device and let Gomora play with you for three days."
Hikari blinked, looked down at the box still crackling with electricity in his hand, and finally realized what was happening. He carefully placed it on the ground and then obediently took ten steps back.
The metal box emitted an ominous hum on the floor, and the blue light grew stronger.
Cui Ming sighed, pulled a specially made pistol from his waist, aimed it at the box, and pulled the trigger. A restraining beam shot out, enveloping the entire box and compressing it into a fist-sized metal block. The buzzing sound stopped abruptly.
“From now on, your inventions will have to pass my inspection first, then get insurance, and only then can they be tested.” Cui Ming kicked the compressed metal block into the corner, looking at Hikari expressionlessly. “If I find out again that you’re not insuring your inventions… I’ll personally insure them for you, permanently.” Hikari shrank back and chuckled dryly, “…Okay, okay.”
Hikari knew his problem, but there was nothing he could do about it...
He shrank back, watching Cui Ming kick the metal block, compressed to the size of a fist, into the corner, a complex expression on his face a mixture of grievance and helplessness. Of course, he knew how dangerous those inventions were, and he knew that not insuring them was absurd, but whenever inspiration struck, whenever those data and formulas spun wildly in his mind, he couldn't care less about anything else.
This is how research gets exciting...
Hikari sighed, scratching the back of his head, the hem of his white lab coat swaying gently with the movement. He recalled his days in the Land of Light's laboratory, the shiver that shot up his spine each time a new project started, the ecstatic feeling as if the whole world was unfolding before him, waiting to be disassembled and reassembled. In that state, what were safety protocols? What were safety latches? Those were shackles hindering inspiration, trivial details that only mediocre people would care about. He only wanted to turn the perfect idea in his mind into reality; as for the consequences… the consequences could be fixed later.
Hikari was unaware that his name was famous throughout the Land of Light and even the universe.
In the research department of the Land of Light, mentioning Hikari's name will elicit expressions of admiration from all the researchers, who will give him a thumbs-up in praise of his genius—then their expressions will change drastically, and they will lower their voices to add, "But whatever you do, don't let him touch your project." His papers are considered classics, his inventions are included in textbooks, and his name is repeatedly mentioned at academic conferences, but along with these are the terrifying stories that circulate in the break room and the corners of the corridors.
Everyone gave his invention a thumbs up, but regarding its safety, everyone felt that this thing would eventually be eliminated by the Land of Light...
"Hikari has made another breakthrough? That's impressive! Wait... how many labs did he blow up this time?"
"Three of them. I heard it even affected the training ground next door, knocking over a row of Taro's students."
"Tsk tsk, this level of security... they'll be internally executed sooner or later, won't they?"
Such conversations have become almost a daily occurrence in the Land of Light. The higher-ups rely on his research abilities while simultaneously fretting over his troublemaking skills. Every time Hikari's budget request is discussed in a meeting, the atmosphere becomes strange and tense. If they approve it, they fear he'll cause some earth-shattering chaos again; if they don't approve it, they're reluctant to lose his mind, which can drive technological progress.
Actually, many aliens wished for Hikari's death...
Those interstellar races affected by his inventions, those civilizations that lost fleets, bases, or outer facilities of their home planet in one of his "successful experiments," grit their teeth at the mention of Hikari. One cosmic merchant, whose space city had half its inhabitants destroyed, once offered an exorbitant bounty on the interstellar black market, hoping someone could kidnap Hikari to a remote planet and ensure he never touched any experimental equipment again. Another race, forced to migrate due to one of Hikari's energy leaks, plastered his image on the cursed wall of their temple and spat at it daily.
Hikari is causing chaos throughout the universe!
He was like an uncontrolled comet, dragging a long, burning tail, rampaging through the realm of cosmic scientific research. Every brilliance was accompanied by an explosion, every breakthrough by disaster. The Land of Light grew stronger because of his inventions, and the universe was thrown into chaos by his existence. This contradictory, absurd, and both lovable and hateful influence was something only Hikari could achieve.
Looking at Hikari's aggrieved expression, Cui Ming expressionlessly picked up his thermos, took a sip of tea, and then said calmly, "Since you know, then learn your lesson. Here, you blew up my base, so I'll put you in the combat device and let Gomora and Red King take turns training with you."
Hikari froze, the ferocious images of the two monsters flashing through his mind. He nodded frantically, "...I remember! Really! This time, it'll definitely be insured! Definitely!"
Cui Ming put down his cup, staring sharply at him, clearly not believing a single word. (End of Chapter)