Chapter 34

As far as the eye could see, countless insect corpses were neatly arranged from smallest to largest across a space spanning several thousand square meters.

He didn't know how the corpses had been preserved, but even from a distance, they looked lifelike.

Though none of the insects had their weight marked, they were clearly what everyone in Class 6 would be lifting.

What kind of weightlifting equipment involved lifting bizarre, hideous insect corpses instead of barbells and dumbbells?

Weightlifting meant touching whatever you lifted, which meant he would soon have to get up close and personal with the insects' bodies.

Qin Su: "..."

They were all dead, so they posed little danger, but the visual impact and the fact that he had to touch them while lifting put immense pressure on him.

Did interstellar people with glands always go this hard? Were they going to leave a native-born Earthling like him any way to survive?

Qin Su went numb.

Apparently, weightlifting as he understood it was a whole lot different from weightlifting in the Comic World.

To make matters worse, He Muzhi seemed to have lost his mind. During the time Qin Su had been desperately searching for an "opponent" to gain experience using K-110, He Muzhi had kept looking at him.

And he wasn't even looking openly. He would glance at Qin Su a few times, then quickly look away, as if afraid their eyes might meet.

It was downright weird.

Thanks to the sneaky looks He Muzhi occasionally threw his way, Qin Su stayed on edge and paid strict attention to managing his "expressions and bearing."

So when the weightlifting area opened and he saw the "bizarre and shocking" sight before him, he didn't look stunned like the other students. Even though he was shocked inside and his pupils were "quaking," he didn't dare let them so much as widen or contract.

He didn't show the slightest sign of being "uncultured."

That was why Instructor Kaixier, unable to spot anything unusual on his face, withdrew her gaze in disappointment.

"Everyone, are you satisfied with what you see?"

Kaixier, who had used her instructor privileges to open the weightlifting area, smiled at the dumbstruck students before finally settling her gaze on Qin Su at the back of the class.

She believed that, after Qin Su's string of outstanding performances, everyone had to be curious whether he would excel at weightlifting as usual.

The other students showed varying degrees of surprise at what they would be lifting. Some even broke out in goosebumps, wrapping their hands around their arms and necks with expressions of resistance. Qin Su, however, remained calm throughout.

Kaixier thought that Qin Su, who had most likely encountered different insects before, wouldn't be emotionally affected by insects that looked frightening but were actually harmless.

"..."

Everyone was silent.

[Sorry, I take back what I said earlier. There's nothing "mere" about this.]

[So the question is, which one can Su Bao lift?]

[Compared to these, urgh... puke... I'd rather lift a barbell.]

[The traditional gyms in our human world suddenly look pretty appealing. Sure enough, you don't know how good you have it until you compare.]

[Even Qin Su can probably only lift an insect two or three times his own size at most.]

[He Muzhi has been looking at Qin Su for days on end, and Qin Su hasn't given He Muzhi a single glance. What a thoroughly one-sided display of attention from He Muzhi.]

[...There are oceans of people watching our Boss 1. Wouldn't responding to every one of their looks work our Boss 1 to death?]

[No, Qin Su was the one who treated our Mu Bao differently first, but now he's back to giving him the cold shoulder. Doesn't that make him look like an irresponsible scumbag who flirts and runs?]

[Stop making up drama, OK? Our Baby 1 treats everyone equally coldly.]

Qin Su glanced at the comments mentioning him. "..."

With no weights marked, he had no idea what size of insect he could lift.

Giving someone the cold shoulder and being a scumbag... utterly ridiculous.

When no one spoke, Kaixier recalled Qin Su's performance in the simulated combat exercise and Duan Lin's proud expression when she showed them the video. She looked at Qin Su expectantly. "Student Qin Su, do you have anything to say?"

Would she have the honor of getting a highlight reel of Qin Su today, like Instructor Duan's?

Qin Su, who had been silently preparing himself mentally and examining the insect corpses for a less disgusting place to grab, was suddenly called on. He forcibly suppressed his jumbled emotions, flattened his tone, and put on an indifferent expression.

"...No."

He didn't dare speak carelessly.

What if the instructor made him go first?

As a big shot with absolutely overwhelming strength in everyone's eyes, he couldn't try the insects one by one from smallest to largest until he found out how big an insect he could ultimately lift.

That would make him look like he had "no idea of his own abilities."

Qin Su's gaze fell on He Muzhi, his eyes dark.

Unless the strongest person in Class 6 went before him and showed him how it was done.

That way, aside from himself, all he had to do was lift the insect after the one the strongest person in Class 6 could lift. He would still be the strongest in Class 6 and could maintain his "powerful big shot" persona.

And among the students in Class 6, He Muzhi was the only one he had ever interacted with up close.

Earlier, in order to defeat He Muzhi in the simulated combat exercise, he had devoted all his attention during their brief exchange to observing He Muzhi's every move on the Simulated Battlefield.

Of course, using He Muzhi alone as a reference gave him too little sample data.

Fortunately, during the earlier run, he had carefully observed almost every student in Class 6 to find out what happened when their pheromones leaked. Based on what he observed during the long run, he had mentally assessed what their bodies could handle.

There were nineteen people in Class 6, He Muzhi included, whom he needed to watch out for and who posed a potential threat to him.

Those nineteen would be his main subjects of observation during this weightlifting exercise.

There was a good chance he could lift whatever they could.

The insects were arranged from smallest to largest by body size. If he held back and used their weightlifting results as a reference, then gritted his teeth and put in a little more effort beyond their limits, he should be able to lift the insect after the one they couldn't lift.

That way, he wouldn't need to waste K-110 on insect corpses for which he had absolutely no "combat" data to use as a reference.

He hadn't forgotten that his parents said K-110 was made using material extracted from the Zombie King.

It was a Zombie King, so it had to be extremely difficult to deal with and capture. Even if using it wouldn't cause him to die and turn into a Zombie, once he used it all up, his parents and their companions in the apocalypse would have to risk their lives capturing the Zombie King again.

If anything happened to any of them along the way, it would be a price he could never repay.

The K-110 in his possession was effectively a limited supply that would never be replenished. Every vial he used was one less he had.

He had to treasure every vial of K-110 and would never use one lightly unless absolutely necessary.

In just a few seconds, Qin Su had made up his mind.

At that moment, Kaixier's ringing voice sounded from the front:

"I'm sure you can all see that, in order for you to know exactly how capable you are of fighting insects of various sizes on the battlefield when your weapons are unusable, whether because they're lost or out of energy, and you have no Mecha to protect you, the weightlifting portion of basic physical training uses the corpses of various insects instead of the ordinary weightlifting equipment commonly used on different planets."

"The insect corpses here are not only the largest members of their respective species we could capture, but they also belong to species humans can fight with their own strength."

Other Zerg, such as those that moved too quickly or attacked in overly bizarre ways, including those that circled in the air or burrowed deep underground, were outside the range of what could be fought in "hand-to-hand combat" and naturally weren't included in weightlifting training.

"Through weightlifting, you can understand what size of insect you can fight to the death 'barehanded,' and also better understand what size of insect you need to turn and flee from immediately when you've lost your weapons."

As long as they could lift an opponent, there was a possibility they could "flip it over." At the very least, they would know where they stood.

"You can also use this opportunity to get up close to different insects and reduce the fear you feel when facing the Zerg."

[...Can I be honest? No matter how little an insect weighs, the sight of one makes my scalp tingle. Can I just run without fighting?]

[Wouldn't that make you a deserter? No wonder they're soldiers and you aren't.]

[It's precisely because they're afraid that they need close contact. Two birds with one stone. No matter the world, there are always people shouldering the burden so we can enjoy a good life. Besides, anyone at a military academy can choose to drop out if they can't take it.]

"To make sure you all know the weight of insect you can handle at your limit," Kaixier said, raising a hand to point at a machine at the side of the area, "you may use pheromones while lifting."

"Before you decide you need to use pheromones, please remember to scan your Identity ID and collect a pheromone isolation shield to avoid affecting the other students."

When their lives were in danger, who would care about something as minor as whether leaking pheromones would affect others? They would use their gland pheromones and, in a state of heightened explosive power—

"...?"

Huh? Qin Su, who had been silently analyzing the situation and had finished making his plan, was caught off guard. It was as though the instructor had stabbed him through the chest, leaving him cold to the core.

Aside from Betas, Omegas and Alphas—especially Alphas—using pheromones... was equivalent to using a cheat.

That meant the overall physical abilities of the people he had marked for close observation had to be raised several times over.

It fell squarely into the blind spot of an Earthling like him, who had no pheromones at all.

It was highly likely that he wouldn't be able to lift the insects his sample classmates could.

His defenses had crumbled, just like that.

To keep the "desire to give up on life" from showing in his eyes, Qin Su lowered his eyelids slightly the moment he heard her, concealing his true feelings.

[What's Su Bao doing? Why did he suddenly lower his eyes?]

[One look at our Baby 1 tells me he's bored with weightlifting.]

[Celebrating before it happens? Careful, you might end up eating your words.]

[Judging by the simulated combat exercise and Boss 1's knowledge of the Zerg, you can tell he finds the course boring because he knows too much about the Zerg.]

The netizens, who were practically studying Qin Su's every move with a magnifying glass, immediately noticed him lowering his eyelids and began speculating.

Qin Su: "..."

What?

General anesthesia, please.

If his samples used pheromones, he would have to use K-110 to maintain his persona.

Opportunity really did favor the prepared. Qin Su was glad that, during this period, he had strapped K-110 to his hand every time he went out, whether he thought he would need it or not, just in case.

The good news was that he could use K-110 and gain experience with it.

The bad news was that he wouldn't be using it on the person he had expected, but on the insects' body weight.

Qin Su: "..."

Plans couldn't keep up with plans. In life, you were either planning for nothing or on your way to planning for nothing.

If he had even a little bit of a gland, he wouldn't be completely without pheromones and forced to adjust his original plan slightly, wasting K-110 on dead insects.

Qin Su secretly lamented the K-110 he was about to lose.

"This is free weightlifting. You may try lifting any insect, whether or not you can lift it. Each time you do the weightlifting exercise, the last insect you lift will be recorded automatically."

"Everyone, begin."

"If you need help or have any questions, you can ask me."

With that, Kaixier walked over and sat on a chair at the edge of the area, watching the students' performance in the weightlifting exercise.

The physical fitness assessments for Alphas, Omegas, and Betas were all different.

She needed to mark students who truly couldn't adapt to the harsh life on the battlefield based on their physical condition. If those students still hadn't improved by the end of the semester, the school would advise them to withdraw and attend other ordinary schools instead. This was also for their safety.

Clearly, Qin Su, an Alpha whose pheromone rank remained a mystery but whose excellence was unquestionably impossible to conceal, wasn't among those she needed to assess.

Yet while assessing the other students, Kaixier found herself watching Qin Su's movements.

She couldn't help it. He was so dazzling that he became the center of attention wherever he went.

Most importantly...

She was really curious whether Qin Su would use pheromones to challenge his own limits.

The students of Class 6 looked at one another. Before long, their gazes fell on Qin Su in unison, as if by agreement.

Everything Qin Su had done since entering the academy had not only convinced them, but won their admiration.

In their admiration for strength, they subconsciously felt that if Qin Su didn't move, they weren't qualified to move either.

"..."

Stop looking. Looking won't help; I'm not going to "move."

Qin Su ignored the burning gazes around him, his expression icy, with no intention of moving at all.

[Is he going to use pheromones? I can't wait to see how terrifying Su Bao's explosive power will be when he does!]

[Lift them all! Every last one!]

[Uh... anyone who thinks about it knows that's impossible. Just look at those insects; they're all like mountains of different sizes. Even with the explosive boost from pheromones, he couldn't lift so much as a small mountain, right?]

[The Fourth Military Academy's record is number 35, and there are another hundred or so giant insects after that. Even the soles of your feet could tell you he can't lift them all. They were just hyping things up, so why did someone take it seriously? Beating the number 35 record would already be incredibly impressive.]

Qin Su: "..."

Stop hyping me up. I'm scared.

Under the expectant gazes of his classmates and the scrolling comments, Qin Su turned around expressionlessly, walked to the rest area, and sat down facing the class.

Without samples to use as a reference, he wasn't going to act rashly. He didn't want to make his next weightlifting exercise harder for himself; he only needed to beat the strongest person in Class 6 besides himself. Thanks to the successful promotion of his persona, he trusted that no one would dare urge him to "move" now.

Besides, the instructor had only said the lifts would be recorded. She hadn't said students were required to lift from beginning to end, which wasn't realistic anyway. His behavior wasn't against the rules, and there was nothing the instructor or his classmates could do even if they were curious about how much he could lift. After all, it wasn't that he wouldn't lift; it was just a question of "when."

After observing what his samples lifted while using pheromones in a state of explosive power, he could move then. Big shots always went last, so that would count as his grand finale.

Qin Su: "..."

Thinking of it that way, he really was putting on an act.

Fortunately, he was doing it in front of a group of complete strangers. None of them knew his real past.

Otherwise, if he ever strutted in front of someone he knew...

At the thought of someone he saw every day discovering his scenes in the Comic World, Qin Su felt the embarrassment of an acquaintance stumbling across his "luxury-finished life" online when the reality was "bare and unfinished."

His roommate Jiang Lu and the students in his class and at his school in the real world didn't know his actual situation. Without evidence, they wouldn't think the person in the Comic World was really him; at most, they would think someone had used him as a reference.

But his family knew his situation. If he actually told them which comic he was in, they would recognize at a glance that the one acting strong in it was him.

"..."

Was he being two-faced? Feeling suffocated, Qin Su decided that when he lifted weights later, he would take a "photo together" with an insect, just so his parents would have a rough idea that he was in a world "with giant insects."

Everyone: "..."

Qin Su's unexpected action left the viewers both inside and outside the screen muddled and a little confused.

Kaixier: "..."

What's going on?

He Muzhi: "..."

Although he was very curious about the size of insect Qin Su could lift, Qin Su had shown no intention of demonstrating so far, and he couldn't force him.

Feeling regretful, He Muzhi walked over to the machine to collect a pheromone shield.

He could accept having lost to Qin Su in such a sorry state during the last simulated combat exercise. After all, his opponent was Qin Su.

But Raymond had said that when Qin Su passed his "corpse," he had looked down at him with a cold, uncaring gaze. That had continued to bother him.

Perhaps it was just as well that Qin Su didn't intend to lift for now. That way... he might see He Muzhi's performance?

The thought made He Muzhi's spirits soar.

[...Huh??? He's not lifting anymore?]

[The big shot always saves his entrance for last.]

[That's right, good things are worth waiting for, and so is our precious Baby 1!]

[Just don't wait and wait for nothing, only to get a result that makes everyone laugh their teeth out.]

[I've noticed something. Ever since the last simulated combat exercise, every time our precious Baby 1 appears, there are loads of snide comments mixed in. No way, no way, are He Muzhi's fans really getting so upset? It's been so long, and they're still holding a grudge. How petty.]

[Not to be mean, but this pheromone shield... is just a tiny bit too ugly. It looks like the clear ball-shaped cover I bought online to put over my kitty's head so I could trim her claws. I can't imagine what big shot No. 1 would look like wearing it.]

[How high a number can our precious Mu Bao lift?]

Although the bugs' weights weren't marked, they were numbered in order from smallest to largest, starting at one.

[Number 34, I'd say.]

[Seriously, you've got some nerve to aim that high. The bugs here are enormous. Among the Class of 25 military academy students, only one SSS-rank Alpha named Huo Maoshan, who was 2.1 meters tall and as strong as an ox, lifted number 35. No one has broken that record to this day.]

[So what? Friendly reminder: don't forget that our Mu Bao is the undisputed protagonist of this comic, and his pheromone rank is double S. Is there a problem with the protagonist breaking a senior's record? None at all.]

[Tsk, going by what you Mu fans say, why does it have to be the protagonist who breaks the record? Don't forget, our Baby 1 sent your precious Mu Bao flying with overwhelming force before. If you ask me, if anyone in the Class of 26 can break the number 35 record, it'll definitely be our big shot Boss 1.]

[No matter how many times I see these things, they still creep me out. Good thing we Earthlings don't have to touch them. Those poor people in the interstellar era.]

Qin "Earthling" Su: "..."

He was triggered.

And the pheromone shield "fresh off the press" in He Muzhi's hands really was... uncool.

Qin Su hadn't expected that one benefit of having no pheromones would be not having to wear a pheromone shield.

Rounding things up, wouldn't that mean that, in front of everyone later, he'd be "lifting weights without pheromones that other Alphas could only lift with pheromones"?

Qin Su: "..."

That made him look like even more of a show-off. He couldn't let his family see this comic, even if it killed him.

But... number 35?

Based on the information from the comments, Qin Su's gaze landed on the Spiral Leech coiled up in the distance. Watermelon-like stripes evenly covered its smooth, grayish-brown skin from head to tail.

"..."

It inevitably reminded Qin Su of the... sticky, nauseating sensation of being at the mercy of leeches during an adventure in a tropical rainforest.

Compared to No. 35, even No. 36, a Lizard Viper with cracked skin, a triangular head dotted with two red eyes, four legs, and a huge, multicolored body, began to look pretty.

Qin Su silently cleansed his eyes by looking at No. 36.

The moment Qin Su, who had everyone's attention, fixed his gaze on No. 37, the Lizard Viper, everyone else's eyes followed.

That went without saying for He Muzhi, who had been harboring an "inner demon" because of Qin Su all along.

"..."

After getting a clear look at No. 36's enormous body, He Muzhi drew a sharp breath inwardly.

The record set by a senior from the previous class, whose pheromones were SS-rank, was number 35.

As expected of Qin Su. Without so much as a glance at the bugs in front, he had gone straight for breaking the previous class's senior's record.

[I knew it!!!]

[While everyone else is still agonizing over the bugs before No. 35, our Baby 1 is already looking at No. 36!]

[Bold claim: are we sure No. 36 is Qin Su's limit? I don't think so!]

Having cleansed his eyes and temporarily driven the nausea caused by the Spiral Leech from his mind, Qin Su saw the comments and forcefully suppressed the urge to twitch the corner of his mouth.

"..."

He really was just using the Lizard Viper's pretty, vibrant colors to cleanse his eyes. He hadn't decided on a target yet; that would depend on the maximum weight his observation samples could lift.

The Lizard Viper... looked far heavier than any record-breaking weight an Earthling could lift. Even if he used K-110, it would be his first time and he had no experience, so he didn't know whether he could lift it.

After estimating No. 36's weight, Qin Su saw He Muzhi place the pheromone shield over his head and fasten it. With a solemn expression, he strode resolutely toward No. 36, the Lizard Viper.