The Green Shadow Sanctuary had been bustling for the past few days, with Awakeners continuously arriving from other places.
mbers of the Patrol Team, dressed in black Combat Uniforms, were dispersed at various corners of the Sanctuary, eyes vigilant, watching every Awakener that passed by, particularly the more powerful ones, who warranted extra caution.
Over this period, Luo Zhe had trained them day and night, extracting each person's potential. The Patrol Team mbers made rapid progress in their skills, and many had broken through to the third layer of Awakening; their combat power was at least one level higher than those of the sa tier.
In addition to the cold weapons they wore at their waists, they also carried a long, rifle-like firearm on their backs. This was a standardized rune rifle, newly developed by the Equipnt Departnt, renowned for its penetration capabilities. Even when faced with a troublemaker who had broken through to the sixth layer of Awakening, the Patrol Team mbers could take down such high-level experts with their equipnt and skilled cooperation.
At the entrance to the vacation resort, the registration desk, affiliated with the Municipal Departnt, was so busy that the staff hardly had a chance to catch their breath, yet observant individuals noticed that Wang Zhou, the person in charge of the registration desk, was nowhere to be found.
Could that guy be slacking off?
Patrol Team mbers stationed around pondered Wang Zhou's plump face and felt the possibility was quite high.
"Could Wang Zhou and his group really be slacking off?"
"Huh?" A registrar, busy to the point of dizziness, looked up, "Old Wang… I an Brother Wang, just saw him with a flushed face, looking very uncomfortable, and he said, what did he say… he's about to make a breakthrough."
"A breakthrough?!!"
Wang Zhou's face was so red it seed as if he urgently needed the restroom, but all stalls were occupied.
It was a rather embarrassing situation.
And he was exactly in that position.
As the first guinea pig, a common man attempting to beco an Awakener, Director Tang had provided him with plenty of materials, of course, at a cost.
Wang Zhou clearly rembered those words.
"If you can break through within three days, all potion materials will be fully reimbursed. If it's within five days, you'll pay only ten percent of all expenses. If within a week, twenty percent, but if it goes beyond a month, you will pay the full amount."
The full amount...
Thinking of the Body Tempering Liquids he had used, along with so supplentary materials, and the official internal prices of those potion ingredients, although cheaper than what the Adventurer's Guild offered, it was still an astronomical number for him.
"With my salary, if I have to pay the full amount, that would take..."
His limited mathematical knowledge couldn't calculate whether it would take months or years, but Wang Zhou understood one thing, if he incurred massive debt, while others dined on boiled fish, Kung Pao chicken, salt and pepper ribs, hot and spicy soup, sour and spicy noodles, and sizzling steak, he would have to settle for watery porridge with vegetables.
Actually, watery porridge with vegetables isn't bad... Half a month ago, he couldn't even afford vegetables, but often, the pain doesn't stem from one's own hardship but how well others live in comparison, making it particularly heartbreaking.
Wang Zhou, looking mournful, quickly tried to shake off these negative thoughts.
The first three-day deadline had already passed, and now the second deadline was looming.
To avoid being buried in debt, Wang Zhou seized every opportunity to train at the camp, even putting his belly on the line. Now, whenever he saw anything resembling a black circular target, he couldn't help but throw a punch at it. Walking on the street, he felt as if he was floating, an effect of spending too much ti in the Gravity Room.
Reflecting on his experiences these past days, his pupils still showed a hint of fear.
He rembered bragging that to beco strong, one must perform 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and as many pull-ups daily… but he had done far more than a hundred! Think about the tis he had to squat in the restroom, the inertia made his legs involuntarily push him back up.
He almost went mad!
"Fortunately, I'm about to break through. Those nightmarish days will soon be behind . Once I succeed, I must find Director Tang to report my achievent and have a great al..."
"Just one more step now, to break through that bottleneck."
He had used Body Tempering Liquid, auxiliary materials, and even practiced a Cultivation Skill provided by Director Tang, gradually exhausting his potential. Just this morning, he took a new type of potion designed to improve his muscles, and his body's potential had finally been drained.
Wang Zhou sprinted straight into the training camp and unleashed a barrage of punches on a specially designed punching bag.
Bang bang bang bang—
The punching bag shook violently, the sound echoing far and wide.
Other people still at the first level of the training camp looked over.
"What's up with Old Wang?"
"Could it be that he was cuckolded and is now furiously venting? But that doesn't make sense, being cuckolded requires a premise, and clearly, Old Wang doesn't have it."
Wang Zhou felt the surging energy within his body, residuals from using various potions, now fully erupting.
Yet, that bottleneck remained unbroken.
This was an instinctual feeling, he could clearly sense that he was just a bit away, just a tiny bit away from reaching a new world. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't make contact.
I need more pressure!
Wang Zhou thought to himself and suddenly pulled out two small round spheres from his body and threw them out.
The two round, basic warrior Puppets landed, which were provided to him as the person in charge of the registry for security and defense purposes.
And now...
Wang Zhou commanded the two Puppets to drop their weapons, "Co, attack ! Fire at !"
Bang, bang, the Puppets stomped on the solid, thick floor, their arms clicking and clacking as they swung a heavy punch at Wang Zhou.
The others around were sowhat shocked.
They couldn't figure out what Wang Zhou was doing. Could it be that he was actually a masochist?
Just then, a few Awakeners arrived at the training camp, and they revealed the truth, "Wang Zhou is probably about to break through, from an ordinary person to an Awakener!"
...
The Sanctuary wasn't big, and Wang Zhou was a well-known figure. For most survivors who had just arrived at Green Shadow, he was the first person they ca into contact with.
Many people rushed to the training camp, wanting to witness this miracle firsthand... The revenue from ticket sales for the first layer of the training camp imdiately multiplied several tis.
Even so rcenaries from Lindong, seeing that many people were gathered here, fully embraced the spectator ntality and followed suit.
However, they were utterly baffled as they listened to the conversations among the Green Shadow Awakeners.
"Doesn't an ordinary person just need to drink a tube of Awakening Potion to beco an Awakener?"
"There's a prerequisite for that, the individual must have sufficient aptitude to possibly awaken."
"I certainly know there's a prerequisite, wait, does that an Wang Zhou is one of those who can't awaken?" A rcenary from Lindong revealed a look of disbelief, "How can the lowest aptitude ordinary person possibly break through to beco an Awakener!"
"Why not?"
This was said by Zhao Ming, a mber of the Patrol Team; now that more Awakeners were gathering here, this place had beco a focus for the Patrol Team.
He crossed his arms, staring intently at Wang Zhou in the distance, "Each of these two Puppets is no worse than an ordinary Awakener, and Wang Zhou has been able to hold out this long. In terms of strength, he has already surpassed so Awakeners."
The more he spoke, the more guilty he felt, recalling his own assessnt in the Patrol Team, where he almost got flattened by a warrior Puppet.
Looking at Wang Zhou now, although he was at a disadvantage, barely hanging on, his performance was still far more impressive than his own had been.
A rcenary from Lindong pondered deeply, "Right, he doesn't have any aura of an Awakener, but how can he have such strong power and speed? This isn't scientific, he hasn't even awakened!"
"Of course, it's because of Director Tang," Zhao Ming casually said, "You must have seen the Body Tempering Liquid at the adventurer guild, that kind of potion can temper the body and increase its strength, and the Body Tempering Liquid is an invention of Director Tang."
"Director Tang is also a pharmacist?" The rcenary from Lindong propped his chin and thought for a mont, feeling that sothing was amiss. "Isn't Director Tang an expert in Rune Studies? I've even seen Director Tang and Dean Sun from our Lindong have a deep exchange, and I heard that even Dean Sun holds imnse admiration for Director Tang. If I had known about Director Tang's identity back then, I would have co to Green Shadow much earlier."
At this mont, Wang Zhou was being suppressed by the two Puppets, retreating step by step.
The first layer wasn't ant for much fighting space to begin with; he must have been crazy to throw the Puppets here. Now, in order to avoid damaging the surrounding equipnt, his moving space was even more limited, and he had already been grazed by the Puppets' fists several tis, his face swelling up.
Wang Zhou gritted his teeth, a glance out of the corner of his eye revealed only a wall behind him.
No room to retreat.
But he had his pride; having started with such ferocity, calling off the Puppets now would be too cowardly.
He chose to confront them head-on!
The Puppet's punch, laden with imnse force, ca thundering down; this ti, Wang Zhou couldn't dodge and blocked with his hands, getting smashed back repeatedly until he hit the wall.
The other Puppet struck, and Wang Zhou's eyes widened.
Boom!
The punch smashed into his face, buzzing his head and causing blood to spurt from his nostrils.
Wang Zhou didn't have ti to cry out in pain; suddenly, it was as if so barrier had shattered.
Every cell in his body was leaping for joy; in an instant, everything around him had changed.
Even the punch that hit his face didn't hurt anymore.
A wave of an Awakener's aura began to emanate from him.
The surrounding Awakeners, whether they had heard about Wang Zhou's imminent breakthrough or were just clueless spectators, turned their heads at that mont, staring intently at Wang Zhou with indescribable expressions.
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