“What did you say?” Bai Feifei asked back in her mind, sounding somewhat dazed.
In her current state of pushing past her limits, she was completely oblivious to the outside world, seeing only the ground beneath her and every step she took.
She wasn't even aware of what was happening just a few meters behind her.
“Nothing, don't worry about it. Just keep walking,” Xu Mo said dismissively. He switched to a third-person perspective, watching the juiced-up guy with interest.
Although he had often seen people inject themselves with drugs in the game before, this was the first time he had seen what the drug actually looked like.
Could this be a local specialty of Dawn City?
The liquid in the syringe wasn't transparent; it glowed with an unnatural, fluorescent green that made one’s eyes ache under the lights.
Upon injection, the man's facial muscles immediately twitched, his head appeared even more pointed than before, and his entire body seemed to go into spasms.
“Heh... hehe... Hahaha!”
A few dry chuckles squeezed out of his throat, the laughter growing louder until it turned into an unnatural, manic roar.
Then he took a step and lunged forward!
Every step looked like he was pulling his legs out of a mire; his knees trembled, and his ankles twisted at terrifying angles, making him look like a zombie.
But he didn't stop, forcing himself forward another ten meters and finally overtaking Bai Feifei once again.
His body suddenly swayed violently, his legs looking as if the bones had been removed. He pitched forward onto the track, his face hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
Then, he turned back with a hideous expression, staring at Bai Feifei, whom he had just surpassed.
Standing on the high platform, Liu Yun watched the scene, her calm face rare for showing a trace of displeasure.
She coldly scanned the remaining pointed-headed testers. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried across the entire testing field:
“The rest of you.”
“For this test, no one is allowed to inject stimulants without authorization. Otherwise...”
The faces of the other juiced-up testers turned pale. None of them dared to talk back; they all lowered their heads, not daring to meet Liu Yun's eyes.
This sudden interlude was unexpected for everyone present, and the field immediately buzzed with whispers.
While everyone knew what was being tested, giving oneself an injection in public was still a poor sight.
Some recorders hurriedly noted down the data, while Li Menglong of the Li family also looked rather grim.
—The man who had suddenly lost his mind and injected the drug was one of his Li family members!
Slowly, the noisy discussions around the field fell silent again.
Because at this very moment, on this pressure-filled track, a single slender figure had not stopped!
Bai Feifei was still moving forward!
It was as if she hadn't even seen the crazed figure that had lunged past her; she simply kept her head down and continued onward.
At her chest, the faint white glow had changed from a flickering shimmer to a clearly visible aura.
Between seventy and eighty meters, every step she took was breaking her physical limits.
The observers and recorders on the sidelines were utterly stunned. No one spoke; every eye was fixed on the slender figure that continued to advance.
Finally, at the eighty-meter mark, she could no longer hold on.
Her body slowly leaned forward, and she dropped to one knee, unable to take another step.
“Alright, that's enough. Let's stop here for now,” Xu Mo said in her mind at the right moment.
Extremes breed reversals. He was worried that pushing her body any further might cause damage; being able to tap into this level of the heart's power was already an unexpected windfall.
The entire field was silent.
Dozens of gazes fell on the kneeling figure on the track, yet no one was the first to speak.
“My god...”
“Eighty meters... with that vitality, she's definitely at the level of a Rank 5 Scavenger.”
“In fact, in terms of pure physical strength, she's already surpassed them. The others here for the test are all Rank 5 Scavengers...”
In addition to shock, Liu Yun's eyes now held a touch of approval.
Although this girl had a temper and seemed mentally unstable, Liu Yun admired the relentless determination in her eyes as she moved forward.
Well... as long as she didn't open her mouth, she was actually quite impressive.
On the spectator stand, Li Menglong's aged voice suddenly rang out:
“All testers, take three steps back and rest for five minutes. We will begin the combat capability assessment immediately.”
Li Menglong stood on the platform with a businesslike air; this was the procedure agreed upon before the test.
However, as he looked at her figure, a trace of malice flashed in the depths of his eyes.
The girl had indeed forced herself to walk that far; her stamina was now at its limit, and she could barely stand steady.
A five-minute rest?
In her current state, how much could she recover in five minutes?
Furthermore, she had made it this far by sheer will, forcibly breaking her physical limits. This caused significant damage to the body and could even leave irreversible side effects.
Liked to show off, didn't she?
If she had to fight now, perhaps...
Liu Yun glanced at him from the platform but didn't voice any objections at that moment.
Five minutes was a very short time. She spoke softly:
【I once dreamed of a million-strong army!】
The Word Soul was released, and the entire field shook violently. Golden light rippled across the floor like waves, and illusory figures began to emerge from the ground.
“The phantoms' combat level is close to your current level,” Liu Yun said calmly. “Everyone, please begin.”
The several pointed-headed testers struggled to their feet, throwing punches and kicks to fend off the sudden attacks.
Meanwhile, Bai Feifei performed a kip-up and bounded off the ground!
The testers and recorders who had been staring at her were all taken aback.
How did she recover so quickly?!
Even Bai Feifei hadn't expected her recovery to be so rapid.
After sitting cross-legged for a few breaths, the white energy from her heart surged through her entire body, making the previous feeling of exhaustion seem like a mere hallucination.
She actually felt even better than when she was in peak condition.
Ever since joining the Scavengers, she had been fighting aberrations. She wasn't academy-trained; she was a combatant with a style even more wild than that of the Rangers.
At this moment, she didn't even need to think; she could continue fighting entirely on instinct.
Her figure turned into a blur on the field. Wherever her fists landed, the phantoms exploded.
With the support of the Killing Machine Medal, her movements were precise and methodical, completely different from the life-and-death struggle the others were facing.
Countless eyes in the arena followed the humanoid dragon, growing more alarmed the more they watched.
Is this the same woman who could barely walk a moment ago?
What the hell happened in those five minutes?!
Was that exhausted look earlier just an act?
The recorders and observers were dumbstruck, their pens hovering over their boards, completely unsure of how to record this.
Originally, this test had nothing to do with her; she was just being tested as an aside. But now, the girl in the center had become the protagonist!
“This is too exaggerated... What kind of combat experience is this?”
“Has she been killing things since the day she was born?”
“She's clearly at the level of a Rank 5 Scavenger! But even a Rank 5 wouldn't find it this easy...”
Amidst the whispers of the crowd, someone suddenly said, “She’s a once-in-a-century genius...”
Everyone immediately fell silent, their eyes glancing toward Liu Yun, who stood with her hands behind her back on the high platform.
Because the last person to be called a “once-in-a-century genius of Dawn City”...
Was Liu Yun’s disciple, Wan Qianhong!
Rate on N.U.
