Chapter Sixty-Seven: Perseverance

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"An acceleration of 20g and all it does is speed up his blood circulation a little—this is unbelievable. Is he even human?" Wang Mo exclaimed in shock.

"He's not human," Xu Xingxing retorted, unable to help himself. He, too, thought Li Daoran was simply going too far.

At that moment, Li Daoran only felt a slight tightness in his chest, nothing more; he experienced no other adverse reactions, which puzzled him as well. He was aware that his physical foundation now far exceeded that of ordinary people, but he never expected he could endure 20g of acceleration with barely any effect, and most remarkably, his mind remained perfectly clear.

"For your soul, you can even traverse between two worlds. Compared to your physical abilities, it's your soul that's truly otherworldly," David remarked.

Li Daoran couldn't be bothered to respond to this charlatan; here came the soul theory again. Wasn't it said before that his brainwaves differed from ordinary people, which allowed him to resonate completely with beings from another dimension? Now it was about souls again—changing stories every day. Not a word from David could be trusted. He kept claiming that Daoran World's technology was inferior to Water Blue Star's, but just looking at this laboratory proved otherwise. And he was always boasting that if he had an energy block, he could pull off miracles too. Let him brag all he wanted.

With his experiences now, Li Daoran saw through many things. He understood that much of what David and the others had said back then was merely to comfort him or to reassure the people of Water Blue Star. After all, ordinary people like them could not grasp cutting-edge technology; only true scientists, those at the forefront, understood how vast the gap really was, which was why they became so obsessed with the knowledge from Daoran World.

Yet the knowledge Li Daoran was learning was all applied sciences, not the fundamentals. The scientists could only yearn desperately for the real secrets, piecing together scraps of information they managed to obtain. But just knowing 1+1 doesn't mean you understand how the universe operates, how people live, or even how steel is forged. While these stem from basic knowledge, having bricks doesn't mean you can build a house. But given the times, all they could do was wait, gathering quietly, plotting something big.

A minute soon passed, and Li Daoran’s readings remained steady. Wang Mo shut down the machine and submitted a flawless data report.

Having discovered a top-tier talent, Wang Mo would receive a substantial reward. He patted his round belly with one hand, polished his shiny bald head with the other, and grinned from ear to ear. This "deadbeat" had given him a great gift. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Xu Xingxing, thinking perhaps there was a double windfall here—after all, the two had come together, so this one couldn’t be much worse.

Xu Xingxing felt a chill run down his spine and quickly protested, "Don’t lump me in with that freak. He’s not human. I’m still a normal person."

Wang Mo nodded; he knew there wouldn’t be many like Li Daoran, but he still held high hopes for Xu Xingxing. He hurried Xu Xingxing inside, removed the devices from Li Daoran, and attached them to Xu Xingxing instead.

He then led Li Daoran out, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover, nor measure the sea with a bucket. You, young man—so unassuming, yet so formidable—barely seem human. Much better than that deadbeat who brought you here in the first place."

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The so-called deadbeat protested, "Once, I too—"

Wang Mo slung an arm around Li Daoran’s shoulders and said, "Ignore him. He’s just all talk. Other than being a little smarter than the rest of us, he’s basically useless. He’d last maybe thirty seconds in there at best. Back when he joined the War Tiger—"

Suddenly remembering something, Wang Mo’s words cut off. War Tiger was gone now. Bringing up old times felt strangely unspeakable.

After a moment of awkward silence, the deadbeat forced a self-deprecating smile. "It’s fine—nothing that can’t be said. Back then, I shamelessly squeezed in, always dragging everyone down. Luckily, you all put up with me. Now they’re gone, just me left. You’re right, Old Wang—if I were any good, I wouldn’t be the only one left behind."

Wang Mo said nothing more, just gave him a hug and patted his back. Wang Mo was nearly three times as wide as the deadbeat, who pushed him away with a look of disdain.

"Look at the grease on you, rubbing it all over me. Enough with the sentimentality. I’ll make those people pay in blood. I may be skinny, but I’ve got a hard spine—at the very least, I’ll break one of their teeth."

Wang Mo nodded and turned back to operate the machinery.

Li Daoran remained silent. He couldn’t fully grasp the death wish hidden in the deadbeat’s tone; to him, these two men seemed almost comically greasy.

Even Chen Ming and David, though they could understand, found it hard to truly empathize. On Water Blue Star, the powers behind them were all great nations, and real sacrifices of comrades-in-arms were rare.

It was the old soldiers watching the live broadcast who broke down in tears, their pain insurmountable, longing to pick up their guns and fight once more.

Xu Xingxing's test went smoothly, but the results were mediocre—at least compared to Li Daoran. Among new recruits, he was considered excellent: he could stay conscious under 5g acceleration and last twenty-eight seconds at 20g—Li Daoran had only lasted as long as was possible without causing irreversible harm.

Even as Xu Xingxing’s consciousness blurred and all his readings turned red, Wang Mo did not halt the test. Only when Xu Xingxing completely lost consciousness did he stop the machine. Now, Xu Xingxing looked like a boiled Arctic prawn, his whole body flushed and curled up. Wang Mo didn’t move him, instead operating the equipment to seal him in a medical pod, then left him alone.

On the data panel, Xu Xingxing’s readings began to recover. His life was saved, but whether there would be aftereffects remained to be seen. With their current level of medical technology, he’d likely be fine physically, but most people, after such a brush with death, were left with deep psychological scars, losing all confidence in themselves.

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Li Daoran asked anxiously, "Will Xu Xingxing be alright?"

The deadbeat pulled Li Daoran away. Li Daoran looked back with every step, still worried. In truth, Xu Xingxing was his only real friend in Daoran World, even if he liked to play the fool.

"Don’t worry, he’ll be fine," the deadbeat said. "As long as he gets through this, it’ll be much easier next time. Not everyone’s a monster like you. What happened to him is perfectly normal—if this could kill someone, it wouldn’t be a test, it’d be murder."

"Really?" Li Daoran looked doubtfully at Wang Mo. Seeing Xu Xingxing’s miserable state, he thought calling this place a killing machine wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Wang Mo nodded. "He’ll be fine. As long as the mind pulls through, physical trauma like this is nothing—a few hours and he’ll be recovered."

Li Daoran relaxed and asked, "Why push so hard? Couldn’t you have stopped two seconds earlier?"

The deadbeat snorted. "A freakish genius like you could never understand an ordinary man’s worries."

"Once, someone reached his physical limit, so I shut off the machine. But his mind was still clear, and he thought he could keep going. He staggered out, worse off than Xu Xingxing, nearly dead, and tried to kill me—just so he could add two more seconds to his record." Wang Mo led the two outside, found a secluded shadow to stand in, handed the deadbeat a cigarette, and after lighting up, shared this story with a sigh.