Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract

The hydraulic metal column instantly depressurized and slowly rose.

He collapsed onto his backside, gasping for breath. Thick black smoke billowed from his mechanical left leg; it had shut down completely.

At the same time, the hydraulic column above Jiang Yue received its shutdown command and shot upward with a roar.

The instant that crushing weight vanished, Jiang Yue swayed.

He opened his eyes. The muscles in his legs spasmed violently from the strain, but he did not kneel.

Jiang Yue braced his hands on his knees, his knuckles white. His chest heaved as he forced himself to stand straight.

"I won..."

The entire arena fell silent.

Inside the abandoned hangar, only the fading echoes of heavy metal music and the steady drip of oil from the veteran's prosthetic could be heard.

The hundreds of gamblers who had been screaming themselves hoarse moments ago were now speechless.

They stared at the recruit standing in a pool of blood, drenched from head to toe yet still the last one standing. Unconcealed shock filled their eyes.

Two fights back-to-back, and he had held out against a veteran with a prosthetic limb far beyond his level.

Not only had he endured, he had outlasted the veteran's prosthetic until it broke down!

"Is... is he even fucking human?" A veteran from the Supervision Team swallowed, a chill running down his spine.

Up on the platform.

Butcher Zhang's lone eye stayed fixed on Jiang Yue.

After a long moment, his tense mechanical left arm slowly relaxed, and he let out an unsettling chuckle.

"What a tough bastard. What incredible Force Unloading."

Butcher Zhang's voice echoed through the silent hangar. He showed no anger at losing as the bookie. Instead, his voice held the fervor of a man looking at a superb weapon of slaughter.

He swiped sharply across the Data Terminal.

"The veteran forfeits. Recruit Jiang Yue wins!"

"Five-to-one payout."

Butcher Zhang looked at Jiang Yue. "Your thirty-point stake pays out five times that: one hundred and fifty points. There was plenty riding on this match, so you get the maximum appearance fee: twenty points."

"That's one hundred and seventy points total. It's been transferred. Buy yourself some good medicine, and don't die in tomorrow's drills."

Ding.

The terminal on Jiang Yue's wrist chimed with a deposit notification.

[Current balance: 175 Points.]

Jiang Yue said nothing and ignored the looks around him, a mix of shock, envy, and awe.

He lifted his legs, heavy as lead, and made his way down from the metal platform with slow but determined steps.

Xu Bo snapped out of his daze and rushed in from beyond the railing, catching Jiang Yue before he could fall.

"You won... You really won!" Xu Bo's voice trembled.

Jiang Yue leaned against Xu Bo's shoulder, letting the blood spilling from his mouth and nose drip onto his collar.

At last, a glint of cold satisfaction flashed through his bloodshot eyes.

One hundred and seventy-five Points.

The fortune that would drive any recruit mad was finally his.

They left the abandoned hangar, its heavy metal music and uproar muffled behind thick isolation barriers.

The moment they entered the cold metal corridor of the Recruit Camp, Jiang Yue stopped dead.

Muscle fibers had torn across much of his body, and hairline fractures were spreading through his bones.

Jiang Yue lurched and pitched straight forward.

"Jiang Yue!"

Xu Bo reacted quickly and caught him by the arm.

The moment he took Jiang Yue's weight, Xu Bo grunted.

He was too heavy.

Jiang Yue did not look particularly broad, but Xu Bo felt as if he had caught a solid block of iron.

It was the transformation in the density of his flesh and bones brought about by Tough Skin and the past few days of grueling conditioning.

"Carry me."

Jiang Yue's voice was extremely weak, his throat thick with the taste of blood. Even opening his eyes seemed to take enormous effort. "To logistics... I need to redeem something."

As he was now, he no longer had the strength to walk back to the barracks.

If he did not use high-grade medicine to stabilize his injuries, he would not be able to get out of bed tomorrow, let alone continue training.

"Madman. You're a fucking madman."

Gritting his teeth, Xu Bo stuffed the Data Terminal into his pocket and struggled to hoist Jiang Yue onto his back.

Xu Bo's physique was average to begin with. Carrying Jiang Yue, who weighed far more than a normal person, left his legs trembling with every step and his breath coming in ragged gasps.

The Recruit Camp was deathly quiet in the early hours of the morning.

With Jiang Yue on his back, Xu Bo struggled along for more than ten minutes before finally reaching the logistics exchange area, lit by harsh white lights.

Several massive military exchange terminals were embedded in the wall, their metal surfaces gleaming coldly.

Xu Bo propped Jiang Yue against the metal wall.

Jiang Yue forced his eyes open and raised his left hand, still smeared with half-dried blood, pressing his personal wristband against the terminal's scanner.

"Beep—identity confirmed: Recruit Jiang Yue. Current balance: 175 Points."

The screen lit up, and a dazzling list of military-controlled resources scrolled down like a waterfall.

Jiang Yue did not hesitate. His finger tapped rapidly across the screen.

[Type C Deep Cell Repair Fluid]: 50 Points per dose. Highly effective at rejoining muscle fibers and mending broken bones. Rapidly clears internal bruising and lingering injuries.

[Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract]: 100 Points per vial. Contains an extremely high concentration of violent cosmic energy. Intended to replenish those depleted of Blood Energy. Use with caution.

Jiang Yue selected both and confirmed.

"Beep. 150 Points deducted. Transaction complete."

The balance on his wristband instantly dropped back to two digits, leaving a pitiful 25 Points.

The fortune that would have driven an ordinary recruit wild had not lasted ten minutes in Jiang Yue's hands.

Click.

The storage compartment beneath the terminal popped open.

A metal syringe glowing faint blue and a glass vial filled with thick crimson liquid lay side by side in the tray.

"You spent all of it?!"

Xu Bo's eyes widened as he stared at the two items, and he sucked in a breath. "That's 150 Points! If you'd saved even half to spend on high-energy meat, you could've eaten well for two weeks."

"That Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract is too potent. If you swallow it with your body this badly injured, it'll burn right through your organs!"

Jiang Yue had no strength to explain.

He grabbed the faintly blue Type C Deep Cell Repair Fluid, pulled off the safety cap, and drove the syringe hard into the muscle of his outer thigh.

Propelled by pressure, the cool medicine shot into his body.

A powerful numbness accompanied by searing pain raced through his veins and spread across his body.

Jiang Yue convulsed involuntarily, but his tightly furrowed brow eased a little.

He could use this repair fluid more than once, though the cost would add up. He still did not know how effective it would be.

The medicine began to take effect.

At the edge of his vision, Tough Skin responded to the high-grade medicine and surged into action, absorbing its vast restorative power with unprecedented efficiency.

The torn muscle fibers tingled faintly as the medicine enveloped them.

Jiang Yue pulled out the empty syringe and tossed it into the recycling slot, then tucked the crimson vial of Exotic Beast Blood Essence Extract into an inner pocket of his training uniform.

"Let's go."

Jiang Yue leaned against the wall. His face was still pale as paper, but his breathing had grown much steadier. "I can finally move. Back to the barracks."

Xu Bo looked into Jiang Yue's eyes, still cold and clear despite his utter exhaustion, and shook his head helplessly.