The governor nodded her head, and moved to Scarlett, she turned around and picked up another box, and handed it to Scarlett.
"Congratulations, you’ve won two Legendary-stage Beast’s eggs, ten breakthrough pills, 100 high-stage beast food, and your Academy and country have gained ten free passes to request resources from me." She smiled, her words shocking Scarlett into dumbfounded silence.
"Thank... Thank you," Scarlett finally stammered.
The governor nodded. "I’ll ask you the same thing I asked him: what do you think?"
"I will stay behind and help," Scarlett said, clutching the eggs, food, and pills tightly.
"Thank you." The governor nodded again, then moved to Stella.
"I’m impressed by your team, especially you and your teammate." She glanced at Addison, then back to Stella.
Stella stared as the Governor turned and retrieved two more boxes from two women. Addison quickly stepped forward to help Stella carry one as the Governor handed them over.
"Congratulations," the Governor announced, "you’ve won one Mythical-stage Beast’s egg, 25 breakthrough pills, 200 high-stage beast food, a ticket to join the international competition with one member from your Academy—only members who participated in this competition are eligible. You also won 1,000,000 dollars, and an elite-stage armor. That’s not all... Your Academy and country have gained 50 free passes to request resources from me."
The entire audience gasped in shock.
"Wow... The governor of Baltimore Continent is generous!" someone exclaimed.
"What an honor to receive something from her."
Students and citizens murmured to themselves as Stella and Addison nodded.
"If the top three is this good, what about the top one and two?" someone asked aloud.
"Let’s wait and see," another added.
"Hahaha! This will be good!"
Everyone was enthusiastic.
"You don’t have to ask, I will stay behind," Addison declared, turning to Christopher. "This is Master Christopher’s country, and as his friend, I can’t leave." She smiled.
"Same," Stella added.
The governor gazed at the two with a grateful expression before moving to Tony.
"Your powers and skills are truly amazing, really... You truly gave your all in this competition." She continued, "Congratulations, you’ve won two Mythical-stage Beast’s eggs, 55 breakthrough pills, 300 high-stage beast food, a ticket to join the international competition with one member from your Academy—only participants are eligible. You also won 5,000,000 dollars, and a legendary-stage armor. Your Academy and country have gained 100 free passes to request resources from me."
The rewards drew gasps of shock and surprise from everyone.
"Isn’t this too much?" Monica asked, turning to her father.
Howard chuckled. "The rewards are different from last year’s, even better... I think the governor is going all out." He then turned to Sunny.
"Sir Sunny is also here, which means he’s part of this new set of rewards."
"This is good... If a team’s rewards are this good, I can’t imagine how good individual rewards will be." Maxim commented, while the four on the platform nodded.
"Thank you." Tony, with Zack and Hank’s help, collected all the rewards and the cheque. Tony added:
"Cordelia is our home, so my sister and I will stay behind and help the military."
The governor nodded and turned to Zack and Hank.
"I am sorry, but I won’t be staying," Zack said, his words surprising the governor for only two seconds before she nodded, turning to Hank, who also refused. She nodded with a smile and moved to Christopher.
"Master Christopher... You truly shocked the whole arena, almost giving each one of us a heart attack." She turned her head to the golden dragon on Christopher’s shoulder.
Everyone watched as she turned and waved the men and women forward. Five of them stepped forward, placing boxes on the ground before Christopher. Another brought a huge cheque, which she handed to him.
"Congratulations, you’ve won one Divine-stage Beast’s egg, 100 breakthrough pills, 500 high-stage beast food, four tickets to join the international competition with four members from your Academy... only members who participated in this competition are allowed, meaning the four of you..." She smiled and continued, "You also won 10,000,000 dollars, and a divine-stage armor. Your Academy and country have gained 500 free passes to request resources from me."
Everyone was speechless.
"Wow!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!" Howard, despite his age, jumped up in joy.
"Congratulations, Dean Howard," the other two deans said with smiles.
They understood Howard’s feelings. For more than ten years, Vitality Academy had never secured the second position, not since the last time, but now... they held the number one position. That was an honor beyond honors.
"Congratulations, Dad," Monica said with a smile.
"Hahahaha!! This is all thanks to Christopher! He is truly a godsend!! From now onwards, the Valhalla family doesn’t have to pay any fees in the academy!! He and his siblings will school for free! And they must have the best of the best resources!!"
"Even more than your disciple?" Monica asked in surprise.
"Yes!! The four will have the same resources as my disciple!!" he declared.
"What about the others?" Monica inquired.
"How can I forget them!! Of course, they participated!! All their tuition fees are waived!! They won’t pay for five years!! While Christopher’s will be for a lifetime!! Wait, he deserves a statue in the academy square!!" he exclaimed.
The other deans were stunned.
"Slow down, Dad, I think we can work something out—" Monica’s words were cut short as the General’s voice boomed through the arena.
"Congratulations, Master Christopher, you gain the title of national scorer, and also the strongest younger generation in Cordelia."
Now Monica was stunned.
"See that?! Who else deserves a statue if not him?!" Howard asked.
Monica gave up. "Okay, Dad, I’ll go with your plan."
"Wow!! Those two titles can take him far!! No one will mess with the Valhalla family from now onwards!!"
"Yes! Having such a son is beyond blessing!! The Valhalla family is truly blessed!!"
"Wow! A title that hasn’t been given for 20 years now, was given to Christopher! The son of the first and last titleholder in Cordelia."
"Yes! Like mother, like son!"
The old men and women in the audience muttered with smiles.
"That’s my son," Ethan said with a smile.
"My son," Amara corrected.
"Our son," Ethan added. The two stared at one another and chuckled happily, proud.
"That’s my brother!!! The national scorer is my elder brother!!" Adonis yelled, standing on his seat, drawing envious gazes from the surrounding students.
’Two months ago, he was just trash to my and everyone’s eyes... Now...’ Chloe thought in confusion.
’Can someone change so much? Someone who’s scared of beasts is now leading a Sky-stage beast!!! How is that possible?’ She turned to Katherine, who was also on her feet, cheering for her brother.
Christopher watched as Sunny, the governor, Zenith, and the General walked to every single participant in the top three, giving them medals and personal rewards of high-stage herbs and 500,000 dollars each, while those who made it to the last round took 1,000,000 dollars as personal reward.
Sunny stood before him and looked at Christopher with so much respect that it confused Advika, who stood beside him.
"Mast... I mean, Master Christopher... I know this is nothing, but here." He held the medal, unsure what to do.
The number one beast king, not knowing what to do before Christopher.
"Don’t be so nervous," Christopher whispered, lowering his head.
Sunny nodded and placed the gold medal on Christopher, who then stood upright. Sunny extended the cheque, which Christopher took and passed to Advika.
Advika and everyone nearby were stunned.
’Hmm... It seems the Boss values her,’ Sunny thought.
"1,000,000 means nothing to me, you have it," Christopher said.
"But I already have mine," Advika whispered.
"I know, just have it." Advika stared at the cheque in his hand and, with some hesitation, slowly took it from him.
Christopher nodded with a smile and said, turning to the general and governor:
"We accept to help the military, but my team will be beside me; none of us will follow the General’s rules... We are students, not soldiers. Don’t worry, we won’t do anything that will hurt the city." His voice reverberated all over the arena.
[Golden Organization’s Experiment Base.]
The dark figure, who sat before the glass tubes, slowly raised its head towards the thousands of tubes.
The figure smirked, seeing the cracks widening, and the next moment:
Leon’s, and the Golden Organization’s masters’ and guardians’ tubes shattered, and the ten individuals jumped out, landing on the ground, instantly creating cracks on it.
"Finally," the figure muttered.
The ten examined their bodies and hands, feeling the dense amount of life force around them. They looked up at the figure, and the masters and guardians quickly went down on a knee... While Leon stood still.
"You are still standing?" the figure asked, its tone flat.
"Where is my uncle?" Leon asked, gazing around the place.
"I am your new ruler, so kneel," the figure stated.
Leon clenched his fist as red lights enveloped his hand.
The masters and guardians frowned, but before they could move, the figure raised one hand, stopping them.
"What can you do?!" the figure provoked.
Leon shot forward, appearing before the dark figure and sending a punch, only to freeze in midair.
Electric shocks coursed through him, and he let out a painful scream, dropping to the ground on his knees.
The figure stood up and walked towards him, placing its leg on Leon’s shoulder.
"I am now your ruler! You can only obey me, or you die... I give you life, I can also take it back."
Leon gritted his teeth and nodded. "Yes... Ruler," he said.
"Good... From now onwards, you will be known as Extinction... And you will become the fifth Master," the Figure declared.