A little after six in the morning, Qin Mu bought a batch of ordinary pork, settled the Worker Bug in, and hurried to the Limit Martial Arts School for a strength test.
"Punching force: 910 kg. Speed: 27.1 m/s."
Qin Mu was overjoyed. The feedback from the larva evolving into a Worker Bug was even better than he had expected.
A warrior's physical requirements were a punching force of at least 900 kg and a speed of 25 m/s. He had already passed both thresholds.
His speed in particular was far above the qualifying line.
"My strength and speed are enough. Now it depends on my neural reaction speed."
Qin Mu walked to the door of a relatively small room in the training hall. He took a deep breath and calmed the excitement in his heart.
The warrior assessment was divided into strength, speed, and neural reaction speed.
What Qin Mu worried about most was neural reaction speed, because it was a comprehensive test of footwork, strength, speed, and more.
Pushing open the door, he saw a tall, expensive machine positioned on the floor.
The front of the machine resembled a six-barreled Gatling gun, with one metal barrel after another. However, it had far more barrels than a Gatling gun—several dozen in total.
The neural reaction test required one to dodge the rubber bullets and red beams fired by the machine within a circle 3.6 meters in diameter.
One could not leave the circle. Touching the red beams or getting hit by bullets would deduct points. An insufficient score meant failure.
"Click!"
Qin Mu switched on the machine and stepped into the red circle.
At once, hazy red light shot upward from the edge of the 3.6-meter circle.
"Beep—beep—"
The huge muzzle of the neural reaction testing machine began to rotate. Dozens of gunports within it almost instantly burst out with streaks of red light. Their speeds varied, and even their flight paths crisscrossed chaotically.
Qin Mu fixed his gaze ahead, his body darting forward, back, left, and right as he slipped through gaps between the incoming red bullets.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
He was hit several times in succession.
Fortunately, the bullets had rubber tips and carried little force, so they did not hurt much when they struck the body.
"Hiss—"
After several consecutive bursts of movement and evasions, Qin Mu's body suddenly stiffened, and a wave of sharp pain spread through him.
"I've aggravated my injuries."
Qin Mu's face darkened. The instant stiffness in his body caused him to be hit repeatedly.
A minute later, the testing machine's muzzle automatically slowed and stopped rotating. Test data appeared on the central screen.
"Within 60 seconds: hit 89 times, touched red beams five times. Failed!"
"Just as I expected. The relatively simple punching force and speed tests were fine, but once footwork was involved, I couldn't manage it."
"The injuries in my body are a huge problem."
Looking at the result, Qin Mu's expression was unpleasant. This score was far too far from passing the assessment.
After the larva had transformed into a Worker Bug that morning, some of his injuries had been repaired. But whenever he exerted himself continuously, his body would ache and stiffen.
There was nothing else Qin Mu could do about these hidden injuries. He could only let the Worker Bug keep feeding and slowly repair them.
After testing several more times and getting unsatisfactory results each time, Qin Mu stopped to train for a while.
"I wonder how long it will take for these injuries to heal completely. If they still aren't healed when the assessment begins, that'll be troublesome."
Qin Mu thought with a headache.
"It's not just the injuries. My footwork and neural reaction speed really are poor too. I need much more practice. For this period, I'll focus mainly on training my footwork and neural reaction speed."
Having recognized his shortcomings and weaknesses, Qin Mu began targeted training.
Only while resting did he occasionally use the soul link to sense the Worker Bug at home.
After evolving from a larva into a Worker Bug, its feeding speed had clearly become much faster.
Unfortunately, since the Worker Bug's strength could no longer increase, its feedback to Qin Mu could no longer improve his strength beyond healing his injuries.
Qin Mu was not disappointed by this. It was only a Worker Bug, after all. The fact that it had allowed him to reach the Pre-warrior level was already excellent, not to mention that it could continue repairing his injuries.
As long as he became a warrior and brought it into the Wilderness Zone to hatch it into a Mother Nest, his strength would surely undergo a major increase then.
For now, he needed to focus on preparing for the Pre-warrior assessment.
He had to pass the Pre-warrior neural reaction speed assessment before the end of the month.
Qin Mu threw all his energy into training, and time passed quickly amid the high-intensity regimen.
Still, he remained far from meeting even the minimum neural reaction speed requirement.
At this pace, he would likely struggle to reach his goal before the end of the month. Qin Mu had no choice but to consider what he would do if he failed the assessment.
June 23rd, evening.
After finishing a day of training, Qin Mu returned home utterly exhausted.
After washing up briefly, he collapsed onto the sofa and turned on the television to watch the news.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Hearing the knock, Qin Mu got up and walked to the door, peering through the peephole.
Qin Mu quickly opened the door and ushered in a one-armed, middle-aged man with a square face.
"Uncle Qing."
Wang Qing nodded and walked inside, carrying a bag in his one arm.
"Huh? Why does it smell so fragrant in here?"
The moment Wang Qing entered, he caught a strong scent.
"I was cleaning these past couple of days and bought a bottle of air freshener. I sprayed some around. I probably used a little too much."
Qin Mu answered with a calm expression and a smile.
In truth, Qin Mu had deliberately sprayed a large amount of air freshener because he was worried someone might notice the scent emitted by the Worker Bug.
Before opening the door, he had already told the Worker Bug to conceal its aura and hide in his room.
"I see. Look, I brought you something good."
As Wang Qing spoke, a smile appeared on his face. He pulled out a carefully wrapped package from his clothes.
After opening the wrapping, he revealed an ordinary-looking box. The words "Human Cell Repair Agent" were written on it.
"What is this?"
Qin Mu did not react at first.
"Human Cell Repair Agent. It's something good I got through an old comrade in the military.
It's a byproduct of Gene Potion research.
It isn't very useful to warriors, but for people below the warrior level—especially those with hidden injuries caused by training and the like—it has excellent healing effects. It can also slightly improve physical fitness.
It's simple to use. Just inject it directly."
Seeing Qin Mu staring blankly, Wang Qing explained with a smile.
"Don't tell anyone else about this. It's good stuff only available in the military, and very little of it makes it onto the market."
Qin Mu actually knew about the Human Cell Repair Agent, because it was an extremely effective healing medicine. After the original owner had been injured, he had always wanted to buy it but could never get his hands on it.
Though its listed price was two hundred thousand, it circulated only within the military and was not sold on the market at all. Even at several times the price, it was impossible to buy.
"Haha, after you were injured, I asked quite a few old comrades to help purchase it, but there was never any way to get it.
Luckily, one of my comrades-in-arms who had faced life and death with me earned a merit award some time ago. He got it as a military reward, and that was how I managed to obtain it."
Wang Qing spoke with relief in his voice and smiled.
"Uncle Qing, I can't accept this! It's far too valuable!"
Qin Mu instinctively tried to refuse.
It truly was too valuable. Though the listed price was two hundred thousand, people would fight to buy it for a million on the black market.
That was no small sum.
Qin Mu knew Wang Qing's family circumstances. He worked in an arms factory and earned only five thousand a month.
Even if an old comrade helped him buy it, even if he got it at the original price, it still cost two hundred thousand!
Two hundred thousand—if Uncle Qing neither ate nor drank, it would still take him three and a half years to save that much!
"If you don't take it, who will? I bought it specifically for you! I waited more than half a year to get it, all so your injuries could recover."
Wang Qing's face sank as he scolded him.
"Hurry up, open it and use it! I know you've been spending every day training at the Limit Martial Arts School again lately. Your body already has hidden injuries. If you keep training like this, your body will break down before you become a warrior."
Qin Mu fell silent. To be honest, he had never expected someone to treat him this way.
Normally, after transmigrating, as an orphan, shouldn't there be people trying to bully him and all sorts of crises falling upon him?
Qin Mu's heart was filled with emotion as he looked at Uncle Qing's tired yet still bright eyes.
After a long while, a smile appeared on his face, and he no longer hesitated.
"Alright. I'll use it."
Opening the package, Qin Mu took out a metal injector. Following the instructions, he pressed it to his arm and pushed the transparent liquid inside into his body.