Testing

Reke stretched out his right hand, just about to give them a demonstration.

The leader saw Reke move and jumped in fright. He turned and scolded Fourth, then bent over and addressed Reke respectfully. "May I ask what we can do for you, sir? We'll do everything we can to cooperate."

He could tell Reke wasn't lying. Besides, with Reke's strength, there was no need for him to lie to them.

Reke glanced around, then finally looked the leader in the eye.

The corner of his mouth twitched. What a bunch of oddballs. Some had four eyes, others had long legs and short arms, and still others had wings like birds.

He didn't seem to realize that he had a monkey tail himself. By his standards, he was an oddball too.

"It's nothing important. I just wanted to ask where your city is. Can you take me there?"

"And don't call me sir. My name is Reke. Just call me that."

Reke waved his little hand, looking completely at ease.

"Reke, how about we find somewhere to stay first, then talk?" the leader asked cautiously.

Reke glanced at their injuries, nodded indifferently, and followed him.

The others were confused. They couldn't understand why their leader was treating a child with such respect.

They looked at their leader, their eyes full of questions.

The leader gave them a slight shake of his head, not daring to say anything.

Reke noticed their little exchange, but couldn't be bothered to pay it any attention.

It took the group more than half an hour to get back to where they were staying.

It was a corner of a canyon. They had dug a cave into the mountainside, where they kept several tents and an Energy Detector.

They were already near the edge of the grassland. In other words, they had run more than a hundred miles back and hadn't encountered a single beast.

They all found it unbelievable. The only thing that was different from before was that they had Reke with them now.

This time, they understood what their leader had been thinking. He must have realized there was something unusual about Reke.

While the others got dinner ready, Reke wandered around the Energy Detector.

"Four-Eyes, what's this?" Reke asked, tilting his head.

The leader was startled at first, then realized Reke was talking to him.

He walked over to the device and began explaining.

"Reke, this is an Energy Detector. It can detect energy readings within a thousand miles."

"Damn, isn't this basically the same thing as a Scouter?" Reke said, looking delighted.

"?"

"Reke, I don't know what your Scouter is like, so I can't answer that." Four-Eyes replied honestly.

"Let me put it this way. Does this thing give you a numerical reading? What's yours?"

Four-Eyes answered without hesitation. "It can give a numerical reading. Mine is 900."

After hearing that, Reke quietly sensed his energy and realized the device really was quite similar to a Scouter. By his calculations, Four-Eyes's battle power was around 900 too.

He hurriedly asked, "Does this thing have an upper limit? What's the highest reading it can detect?"

Four-Eyes had never really thought about that. They simply had no need to.

He looked over at Fourteen, who was the exact opposite of Thirteen.

Thirteen had long legs and short arms, while Fourteen had short legs and long arms.

His arms hung down to the bottoms of his calves. He was under five foot one, and had an average build.

"Fourteen, you know more about this. Explain it to Reke."

Fourteen put down what he was holding, walked over to the device, and said, "This thing's upper limit is 20,000."

Reke's face fell. A limit of only 20,000 was no use to him at all.

Unwilling to give up, he continued, "Why is it only 20,000? Can the upper limit be set higher?"

Fourteen thought for a moment before replying, "The limit is 20,000 because that much energy is already enough to destroy a planet. There's no need to set it any higher. The highest reading we've detected so far is only 10,000."

"As for raising the upper limit, that's possible. But since we've never tested it, we don't know how much the device can withstand."

Reke's mood rose and fell with Fourteen's explanation.

He suggested, "Remove the upper limit and tell me how to operate it. I'll test how much it can withstand."

"This..." Fourteen hesitated. The thing wasn't cheap. Their team had spent most of its funds to buy two of them. If Reke broke it, Fourteen would be heartbroken.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Reke saw that something was off and asked amiably.

"There's no problem. Fourteen, just do as Reke says."

As their leader, Four-Eyes could guess what Fourteen was thinking, so he made the decision on the spot.

"All right." With the leader's order, Fourteen stopped hesitating. He picked up his tools and started adjusting the device. After explaining how to operate it to Reke, he went to help prepare dinner.

Reke carried the device through the air to a distant spot. After switching it on, he stared at the display and began powering up.

"8,000, 12,000, 30,000, 50,000—boom!"

The device in front of Reke exploded. It couldn't withstand the strain once he used half his ki. Fortunately, Reke had seen the reading of 50,000 just before it blew up.

Once the Budaso Adventure Team learned what Reke was about to do, they all rushed to the cave entrance.

They watched Reke's test from a distance. Aside from their leader, Four-Eyes, none of them could see clearly, but they were there for the excitement.

The moment the device exploded, they all jumped in fright. They had no idea whether Reke was hurt.

When Four-Eyes saw the reading of 50,000, his legs gave way. He dropped to the ground, and a stream of liquid ran down his trousers. He sat there in a daze.

"Boss, what's wrong? Did you see the reading?"

"Boss, are you all right?"

"Boss, is one of your old injuries acting up?"

"Huh? Boss, you wet yourself."

"Damn, so that's what they mean by being scared shitless?"

Only Seventh said nothing. He quietly walked over to his leader and helped him up off the ground.

Four-Eyes finally came to his senses. He ignored his younger siblings' teasing.

He glanced at his trousers and said with a bitter smile, "Damn, I've really made a fool of myself this time."

Seventh's hoarse voice rang out. "Boss, what reading did you see just now?"

Four-Eyes held up five fingers, his face full of terror. "50,000. And that wasn't even his limit—it was the device's."

Even Seventh couldn't keep a calm expression. He stared at his leader with wide eyes, wondering if he'd misheard.

At last, he understood why his usually bold leader had been scared shitless.

None of them felt like joking anymore. Their minds were in complete disarray.

By the time Reke flew back to the cave, they were still standing there. He rubbed his stomach and asked, "Why are you all standing here? Is dinner ready?"

"If it's ready, hurry up and eat. I'm starving."

"I'm sorry!"

The moment Reke spoke, the whole group bowed to him and apologized in unison.

Reke was completely baffled. He had no idea what they were up to.