"Clang, clang." Gu Xiechen repeatedly lifted and lowered a two-ton barbell while lying on his back.
Without using Innate Qi, Gu Xiechen was purely training his physical strength. His muscles swelled and contracted, pale blue veins pulsed beneath his skin, and sweat gathered into little streams before sliding down his smooth skin and dripping onto the floor.
"Nine hundred ninety-nine... one thousand..."
After bench-pressing the barbell a thousand times, Gu Xiechen set it back onto the rack and slowly swung his heated arms as he sat upright.
"Still not quite there. What exactly is wrong? How can I trigger the 'realm' I obtained?"
He threw an irritated jab forward. The air before his fist gave a sharp crack, and a hazy white barrier flashed before his fist and vanished.
Ever since merging with that Cristo Crystal Person's crystal ball, Gu Xiechen's physical abilities had improved enormously. He could now casually throw supersonic punches, something he could not accomplish even when using Innate Qi in the past. Yet this improvement did not make him happy for long. A new problem had continued to weigh on his mind.
He had successfully merged with the crystal ball and sensed some wondrous change in an elusive, intangible place within his body. Yet he could not trigger the power of the "realm" created by the fusion, nor could he possess the strength a true Realm Master should have. It was so close, yet like a reflection in water or a flower in a mirror, impossible to touch. His frustration was obvious.
"According to Gu Group's top-secret intelligence, the Federation's most famous Realm Master, the Thunder Emperor, merged with a yellow Cristo Crystal Ball and was struck by lightning in a hurricane, thereby triggering his Thunder Domain."
"The Federation's most destructive fighter, the Fire God, merged with a green crystal ball. Later, his car was attacked, and magnesium-aluminum incendiaries burned away nearly half his body. Only then did he trigger his Fire Domain."
"As for the Federation's biggest joke, the King of Food, he merged with a rare azure crystal ball, yet triggered his Kitchen Domain while cooking French lamb chops for his lover. The poor man lost all his combat ability from then on, but invested in and ran the Federation's finest chain restaurants. Heh, every cloud has a silver lining!"
Gu Xiechen scratched his scalp in distress and muttered, "Do I have to try every possible method? Hmm, touch high-voltage wires every day, use gasoline*, or poison myself? Uh, God, whichever religion's god you may be, if I unfortunately trigger my realm while fondling some contraband, then..."
Goosebumps erupted across Gu Xiechen's body. He suddenly recalled how, seven days ago, the beautiful doctor Maria had cruelly injected him with a massive dose of aphrodisiacs. Fortunately, he had slowly dispelled the medicine's effects with his supreme mystical art, though not without suffering greatly. If he had triggered his "realm" then, what would his ability have been? A Love Domain that made every living creature nearby go into heat whenever he used it?
"Damn it! Why are Cristo Crystal Person crystal balls so hard to control?"
Gu Xiechen's brows twisted into a knot just as the gym doors were kicked open. Maha strode into the gym with murder in his eyes, licked his lips, and grinned at Gu Xiechen. "Evil Dragon, Bearded Commander wants you in his office! Heh, heh heh, there's an easy job for you. High pay, low risk. Damn it, all the good things fall into your lap!"
"A good thing?" Gu Xiechen rolled his eyes at Maha and sneered. "Don't you know what Bearded Commander's attitude toward me is right now?"
He lazily rose to his feet and dragged himself toward the Bearded Commander's office.
Maha looked at Gu Xiechen pityingly. He shrugged and gave a dry laugh. "The great, all-knowing Buddha will bless you! Uh, once you owe Bearded Commander a debt, you couldn't escape even if you fled Earth. Poor Evil Dragon, just keep paying it back slowly. Once you've earned Bearded Commander ten first-class warships, he'll let you go!"
"Fuck!" Gu Xiechen flipped Maha the middle finger. If he did not need the Hell Angels Mercenary Group's strength, he truly would have wanted to walk away. Bearded Commander had charged half the value of that black Cristo Crystal Person to the mercenary group's account. In other words, Gu Xiechen now owed the mercenary group half a black Cristo Crystal Ball! That was an astronomical debt! Even squeezing Gu Xiechen dry would not be enough to repay it.
"Life really is full of troubles!"
Muttering at the entrance to Bearded Commander's office, Gu Xiechen smashed his fist against the doorbell.
The office's automatic doors immediately opened, and Bearded Commander's hearty laughter came from within. "Evil Dragon? Get in here, quickly. I have a good job for you."
Gu Xiechen strode into the office and gave Bearded Commander a less-than-standard military salute. Standing before his desk, he asked solemnly, "What's the mission?"
Bearded Commander spat out a tea leaf, grabbed a document from in front of him, and tossed it to Gu Xiechen.
"A descendant of an old London family has recently run into a small business problem. His investments have suffered repeated losses, and his cash flow is a little tight. Hmm, according to our investigation, he doesn't have a very good relationship with several of the Federation's major banks, and he has no way to borrow any money. This information has been confirmed. So, he plans to auction off part of his family's treasures."
Bearded Commander lifted the large teacup before him and took a gulp of strong tea. "Of course, this client is a man of status, so he intends to hold a small, secret auction. However, some of these family treasures are astonishingly valuable, so he has commissioned our mercenary group to provide full security for the secret auction."
Gu Xiechen flipped through the documents in his hand. Hmm, things were indeed just as Bearded Commander had said. The client's family history could be traced back to the era of Queen Victoria of old England. He was a typical representative of the aristocratic class that would rather suffer than lose face. Of the more than seventy family treasures he was putting up for auction, over half were national-treasure-class rarities. It was clearly necessary to hire Hell Angels Mercenary Group mercenaries to provide security throughout the auction.
After pondering for a while, Gu Xiechen looked at the stern-faced Bearded Commander and frowned. "I smell a strong conspiracy here. Either tell me the truth, or I refuse the mission."
"Uh!"
Bearded Commander smacked his lips in surprise, then immediately confessed. "Fine. You're an Innate-level fighter, so under normal circumstances, you'll have no trouble protecting yourself. We've learned that the Sacred Unicorn is planning retaliation against us. I intend to use you as bait to draw them out, then give them a hard lesson! And open up the London market while we're at it!"
After taking several gulps of strong tea, Bearded Commander wiped the droplets from the corner of his mouth and chuckled awkwardly. "You're a new face. Sacred Unicorn's people don't know you or how strong you are, so they won't be too wary of you."
Gu Xiechen shrugged and tossed the document back onto the desk. He sneered, "So I get to play the pig to eat the tiger and cooperate with you to wipe them all out, right?"
Bearded Commander nodded forcefully and smiled. "How does that sound?"
Gu Xiechen briskly rubbed his fingers together. "What's the pay?"
Bearded Commander's face darkened. He glared at Gu Xiechen and roared in a muffled voice, "You just sent half a Cristo Crystal Ball of mine flying! And it was a rare, top-grade black one!"
"For that crystal ball, the Holsom Family of the Roman people definitely won't let this go! Our mercenary group has not only suffered a huge financial loss, but also made a powerful enemy in the Holsom Family! All of this was for you! And you still have the nerve to ask me about payment? Huh? Payment? Payment? You still want payment?"
Gu Xiechen shook his head helplessly and turned toward the door. As he walked, he shook his head and sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll take this mission."
Bearded Commander narrowed his eyes. He watched Gu Xiechen's retreating back and lightly tapped the desk, though no one knew what he was thinking.
Just as Gu Xiechen reached the door, Bearded Commander suddenly shouted in a booming voice, "Evil Dragon!"
"Hm?" Gu Xiechen turned around.
"Zakla Energy Crystals!" Bearded Commander said in a muffled voice. "A large quantity of Zakla Energy Crystals may allow you to truly complete the fusion."
"Energy, it's all because of energy!" Bearded Commander looked earnestly at Gu Xiechen. "Your fusion may not have failed. If you have enough Zakla Energy Crystals, you might become a lofty Realm Master! Consider signing a lifetime contract with our mercenary group. I'll give you one cubic meter of Zakra Crystals to try absorbing!"
"Uh?" Gu Xiechen's heart stirred slightly. He nodded. "I'll consider it."
The automatic doors stood open, and Gu Xiechen strode out.
Comrades, Pighead suffered a little tragedy... Yesterday, my phone ran out of battery, and my beloved phone could never be turned on again...
There's nothing else to say. A whole lot of useful numbers in the SIM card, like the number for bottled water delivery and the number for takeout wontons, are all gone...
To comfort Pighead, comrades, please throw in more recommendation votes...
Sigh, recommendation votes, recommendation votes. Only lots of recommendation votes can comfort Pighead's slightly wounded heart. (To be continued)
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