Am I Really This Strong?

The three papers published in the Journal of Chemical Physics had attracted hardly any foreign readers, and there had been no response regarding the fourth paper sent to Physical Review B. None of this satisfied Du Ke.

His electron flow theory had failed to make a splash.

"Forget it. They're only some simple preliminary theoretical ideas. Once my follow-up papers are published one after another, I'll make a name for myself sooner or later." Du Ke was not discouraged. With an entire Fantasy World at his disposal, his inner wealth was beyond anyone's comparison.

For the next two days, he did not leave the house, instead carefully organizing his materials at home.

During his seven-day trip to the Fantasy World, he had recorded a huge amount of video footage. What he remembered most clearly was the Bald Monkeys that had forced him to flee the Fantasy World. Only through the footage did he see clearly that they merely had monkey-like builds. Their bald heads were entirely red, while their fur was grayish-yellow, making them look exceptionally ugly together. Thus, "Red-headed Bald Monkey" became their scientific name.

"These monkeys are hard to deal with. Ordinary high-explosive grenades and the Vulcan Cannon can't handle them anymore. Either I use shells, or I ambush them with a sniper rifle." Du Ke was filled with resentment toward the Red-headed Bald Monkeys.

All he had wanted was a taste of fermented rice wine, yet he had been chased all the way by that troop of monkeys. If not for the Mind Armor, he would have been beaten to death long ago.

Aside from the Red-headed Bald Monkeys, the South Lake Plesiosaur and the dragon he had only glimpsed briefly were both subjects he desperately wanted to study. One was the ruler of the waters, while the other was undoubtedly the ruler of the skies.

"A dragon!"

"This really is a dragon!"

The video was currently playing footage of the dragon he had captured. The high-definition camera had already recorded its details.

However, because the camera had been facing the sunlight at the time, the colors were somewhat distorted. Even so, its textures could still be seen clearly. It had a streamlined body, and a pair of wings that blotted out the sky. It possessed powerful limbs and could clearly run on land, so its wings might not have evolved from forelimbs. It was obviously not the same type as bats or birds, since bats and birds had forelimbs that evolved into wings.

It was not the same type as the ancient pterosaurs either. Pterosaurs had also evolved wings from their forelimbs and had once ruled Earth's skies, but even the largest were only a dozen or so meters long.

This dragon, however, was comparable to a Boeing 747, with a fifty-meter wingspan and a sixty-meter body length.

This size had clearly surpassed Earth's largest known creature—the Blue Whale. The longest Blue Whale could reach thirty-three meters, obviously only half the length of a Fantasy World dragon. However, a Blue Whale could weigh 181 tons, its enormous body composed almost entirely of muscle and fat. Though the dragon was massive and muscular, it was overall much slimmer and more slender than a Blue Whale, so it probably did not weigh more than one.

"The Blue Whale became Earth's largest creature because it relied on the buoyancy of the ocean to keep growing. Land animals on Earth were not so fortunate. Even in the oxygen-rich Dinosaur Era, the largest Seismosaurus only weighed thirty or forty tons." As Du Ke organized the video and clipped out high-definition stable footage, he pondered this question.

"Then..."

He wrote in his notes document, "What do the creatures of the Fantasy World rely on to grow so large? Its gravity is comparable to Earth's, and while its oxygen content is high, it should not surpass that of the Dinosaur Era. So how exactly did this dragon, comparable to a Boeing 747, grow so large? Could it be... that all of this is related to the Magic Elements contained within the Fantasy World?"

At this point—

He could not help taking out the "local specialty" he had brought back from the Fantasy World—Spore Powder.

Back in the Fantasy World, he had strongly suspected that Spore Powder was rich in Magic Elements. Otherwise, it could not have allowed the flower fairy Shawa Shawa to advance so easily. After consuming it for several days, he had clearly felt changes in his body. His physique had grown stronger and stronger.

"Should I give myself a physical test?"

The moment he thought of it, he acted.

He immediately began measuring basic data, starting with his height. Du Ke had originally been 173 centimeters tall—not tall, but not short either. Born in 1998, he was now twenty-three years old in 2021, and his height had stopped growing five years ago. Yet this measurement gave him a fright. The steel tape measure clearly showed that he had reached 176 centimeters, having grown a full three centimeters.

"My God, is this real? Could there be something wrong with the steel tape measure I manifested?" But on second thought, that seemed impossible. His Mind Armor could replicate things perfectly, even chips, much less a simple steel tape measure.

"So I really did grow three centimeters taller!"

"Holy shit!"

"This feels amazing!"

Being 173 centimeters tall had not caused Du Ke much negative impact, but who would not want to be an 180-something tall, long-legged heartthrob? Seeing that he had truly grown three centimeters taller, Du Ke was extremely excited.

He quickly began measuring his weight as well. He should originally have weighed sixty-four kilograms, but now the measurement came out to sixty-eight kilograms, an increase of four kilograms.

"I spent a week in the Fantasy World and grew three centimeters taller and gained four kilograms... My God, is Spore Powder really this powerful? No, the monster meat must have contributed too. If I go back next time and stay longer, can I keep growing taller and gaining weight? When I was little, my dream was to be a tall guy who was 186 centimeters. Could that really come true?"

But then he suddenly frowned. "If I suddenly grow to 186 centimeters, wouldn't that be too conspicuous? Even men in their twenties or thirties can still shoot up a little, but this would be shooting up way too much."

Keeping a low profile had always been his principle.

"So I need to stop growing once I reach 183 centimeters... But then again, can I really control my height and make it stop at exactly 183 centimeters? What if I keep growing and turn into a two-meter giant?" At that thought, Du Ke immediately became wary. Even the Spore Powder before him no longer seemed quite so appealing. Too much of anything was no good.

After worrying for several minutes, he suddenly thought, "It can't keep growing forever, can it? If it could, wouldn't gigantic creatures be everywhere in the Fantasy World? How could there still be such tiny little creatures?"

"I'm worrying over nothing. Worrying over nothing."

"It must be that the food from the Fantasy World stimulated me and made me shoot up in a short time. My growth plates should already be closed. Maybe I don't even have any hope of reaching 180 centimeters, so there's no need to worry too much."

After measuring his height and weight, he manifested a grip strengthener to see whether his strength had increased as well.

Du Ke had not trained much before. His best record had been using a 45-kilogram grip strengthener for thirty repetitions in one go. Of course, that was definitely not his true limit; with more practice, he could certainly manage a higher number. Now, he manifested a 45-kilogram grip strengthener and found that bending it took no effort at all. Without realizing it, he had surpassed thirty repetitions. He could barely feel any exertion, as if he were playing with a child's toy.

"Not bad. I really did get stronger. Let's see how a 60-kilogram one feels."

A little while later.

His eyes shone. "Am I really this strong? I don't get tired even doing continuous repetitions with 60 kilograms? I might as well see how many times I can bend a 100-kilogram one." The result was astonishing. He actually managed thirty repetitions with the 100-kilogram grip strengthener before his face flushed and the veins in his neck bulged.