Using the MC system to pretend spiritual revival

Chapter 265 Desert Anomalies
thump -- thump -- thump --

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the corridors of the laboratory building.

Having removed his full power armor, Li Gang climbed the steps and followed the specially heightened corridor staircase to the top floor of the experimental building.

There are only four rooms here, which are rest areas specially prepared for those who participated in the Extreme Warrior experiments.

"drop--"

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As the metal door closed again, Li Gang, who had successfully transformed into a half-zombie, was finally able to enjoy a long-awaited break from the pain all over his body.

Strolling through the specially designed lounge to accommodate his increased height, he walked directly to the deepest part of the room.

He deftly pulled out the chair and plopped down in it.

Then he relaxed his body, slumped back in the specially made alloy backrest, tilted his head slightly, and looked at a "small window" that had been specially opened to the side.

He usually does this between surgeries and training sessions to relax and temporarily numb the fatigue from the repeated surgeries and training. But today is completely different.

There were no bloodshot eyes or fatigue, no stinging pain from numerous needle marks or the dull throbbing of the heart and lungs.

At this moment, he felt completely refreshed, with every bone and every inch of flesh filled with power.

Having been frozen at his peak by the zombie modification surgery, he was left with only a body that could be described as the pinnacle after all the burdens were removed.

Slowly clench your fist and then release it, feeling the endless flow of energy and stamina within your body.

He had been walking very quietly the whole way, afraid of accidentally hurting or damaging anything.

We really have to be careful.

Before the experimenter removed the armor, he adjusted the power armor's assist ratio to less than 1% in order to test the new body.

Even so, she still managed to run around the lab with ease.

With just his physical strength, he moved freely while carrying a power armor weighing over three tons. Even Li Gang, the owner of this body, couldn't help but be secretly amazed.

This is really beyond common sense.

Even though I've witnessed all sorts of extraordinary things and phenomena that defy scientific understanding these days, nothing compares to the shock I feel right now.

He could understand the previous series of drug enhancements and surgeries, at least he could grasp the general principles.

After all, in terms of individual soldier enhancement in various countries, there have been various drug enhancements and special training to create super soldiers more than a decade ago.

In his view, everything that had happened before was simply a more exaggerated and powerful manifestation of technological progress.

Regardless of the circumstances, it still aligns with common sense about the body.

A larger body brings greater strength, but also higher energy consumption and lower endurance.

No matter how fast you go, you can't dodge a barrage of bullets; no matter how hard your bones are, you can't withstand the impact of an explosion.

Even the largest blue whale on Earth can be killed by a handgun if it finds the right angle.

This is the limit that living things can reach.

But what is he feeling now?
It is by sheer muscle strength that one can render three tons of steel as nothing.

He had been conducting tests all along, holding his breath for nearly half an hour without experiencing any discomfort.

Although he hadn't tried it, he was quite certain.

I could just rip the backpack off that power armor and run around in that metal suit all day.

It can tear steel apart with its bare hands; it possesses immense strength and never tires.

This goes beyond what can be described as a mere experiment on individual soldier enhancement.

Perhaps we should do as Academician Chen said…

"...This is a giant leap forward, reaching the pinnacle of achievement."

The reinforced body is fundamental, while the power frame, which combines various technologies and steel, is merely an auxiliary component.

It was only at this moment that Li Gang suddenly realized that what the other party had been saying in a rambling manner was actually the truth.

Even without the power armor, he still has to be careful when walking, sitting, or lying down to avoid accidentally injuring others.

Fortunately, his sudden improvement in physical fitness did not simultaneously reduce his original control over himself.

Despite being careful, I returned safely to my own space.

Here, the ceilings, walls, and even the furniture are all made of high-strength alloy and enlarged proportionally, allowing for greater freedom of movement.

As military soldiers who actively participate in the experiment, this space also has corresponding privacy.

Sitting in this familiar recliner, the feelings of surprise and shock gradually subsided.

Having shed the tension and seriousness of the previous laboratory atmosphere, Li Gang was finally able to calm down and let his thoughts wander, and he was finally able to understand.

Why do so many stories, legends, and even in reality today, lead people to relentlessly pursue martial arts, cultivation, and supernatural abilities, even at the cost of everything?

This is something that is different from power, money, and status, and goes straight to the essence.

It seems to subtly echo the subconscious recorded in human genes, an absolute attraction that is constantly growing stronger and progressing.

Just like money and power in real life.

Unless you avoid contact altogether, even the slightest contact will awaken a deep-seated desire within your soul to continue striving upwards.

However, both the pursuit of material wealth and the pursuit of power have their limits.

In today's world, where spiritual energy has revived, something has emerged that people of all classes and levels can pursue together—a satisfaction that far surpasses that brought by money and power.

Throughout history, countless high-ranking officials and emperors—those who stood at the pinnacle of money and power—could not resist such things.

Great power returns to oneself, enabling one to fly through the sky and disappear into the earth, move mountains and fill seas, traverse the heavens and earth, and live forever.

As spiritual energy revived, countless roads leading straight to the sky appeared silently.

He couldn't judge whether all these changes were good or bad.

He was just a soldier who had just been freed from the shackles of his many illnesses. It was enough that he could figure these things out through casual conversations and news reports.

His nearly 10 years of military service also cultivated his ability to collect information, summarize and reflect, but he also developed a straightforward thinking habit.

Extraordinary danger amplifies human desires, driving people to pursue more at all costs.

But swords and guns, things that have been in human hands since ancient times, are equally dangerous. Some roam the world with their swords, upholding justice, while others rob and murder for money. Good or bad depends on the person. But his thoughts have never been that complicated. As a soldier, and one of the elite among the elite in the army, he naturally pursued self-improvement.

The reason I signed up for this dangerous experiment a few months ago was simply to make a contribution. If I could successfully enhance myself and become one of the first super soldiers, I would have a better chance of rushing to the front line of a battle.

Just like his childhood dream—to lead the troops through thorns and brambles, to conquer the enemy stronghold, and to secure peace and defend the country.

Li Gang didn't know what those highly skilled cultivators and powerful immortals thought, or whether they would scoff at these ideas.

But for him, a soldier who has just come off the operating table, this is his current goal, and also his ultimate pursuit since leaving his hometown and joining the army.

As for whether, as I just thought, I will turn to the path of cultivation after achieving this goal, that's still too far off and remains to be seen.

As various thoughts swirled in my mind, time quietly slipped away.

When Li Gang came to his senses, he found that the sky outside the window was already faintly tinged with golden red, and the sun had already set behind the mountains.

After months filled with various experiments and physical training, he was somewhat unaccustomed to this sudden vacation.

After a moment of stunned silence, he relaxed and smiled again, picked up the remote control on the table, and turned on the television located not far away.

As the screen lights up, some entertainment programs appear.

With a series of clicking sounds as he switched buttons, Li Gang stopped what he was doing a short while later, and the screen froze on a news interview program.

A reporter dressed in the uniform of Xingguo TV was facing the screen, looking up and introducing the scene. On the screen he was pointing to, a small, scattered island adjacent to Xingguo was prominently displayed.

After listening carefully for a while, he understood what was being said, which reminded him of the Xingguo voyage and the strange celestial phenomena he had heard about a few days ago when he was chatting with researchers in the laboratory.

Shaking his head, Li Gang looked at the news on the screen, where the names had been erased and the background color had been changed to a white island chain without sovereignty. His words were tinged with regret, and his eyes were filled with sighs.

"...It's a pity. I originally thought that once the surgery was successful, I could be a vanguard or something."

After watching for a while, he seemed to suddenly remember something, raised his hand to rub his chin, and muttered to himself.

"Hiss—Eh~ I seem to remember someone saying before that the immortal left behind some tokens that allowed entry into the barrier..."

"I'll try my best; maybe I'll still have a chance to go and visit. That would fulfill my dream of riding a horse through cherry blossoms, hehe~"

As he finished speaking, a smile crept onto his lips. Then, with a powerful push from his feet, he used his formidable muscle strength to pull himself up from his semi-reclining position.

He raised his arms and stretched his body amidst a tooth-grinding sound of bones grinding together.

The sunlight outside the window reflected off the muscles that were as tough as steel, bulging and clenching with exertion, and the nearly three-meter-tall body cast a large shadow on the ground.

Li Gang stretched, loosening his body from sitting for so long, and then, full of interest, went to the news broadcast that was still playing. Looking at the description of Sakura Island, his eyes gleamed with eager anticipation…

……

A gust of wind rose, carrying fine yellow sand that gave shape to the commotion. Under this sky, a team of ten people, led by two individuals, trekked through the rolling sand dunes, having walked for an unknown amount of time.

The short, thin man, his face wrapped in a wet towel with only half of his sunglasses showing, walked with a hunched back for a while before finally looking up from the phone screen he had been clutching tightly in his arms.

"Japan is gone! Has things gotten this bad at sea?! What do you think, Brother Niu?"

As he spoke, the man directly shoved the screen in his hand into the face of a tall, muscular man next to him who was about the same height but noticeably more muscular.

The tall, muscular figure known as Old Niu peeked out and saw a news clip playing on the screen, accompanied by a familiar long map as background information.

Speechless, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

However, it soon bowed its head in the sandstorm.

"Did you just get internet access? This news is so outdated, you don't even read the bureau's intranet?"

The short, thin man wasn't annoyed by the scolding; he simply put his phone away somewhat sullenly and awkwardly scratched his head.

"Haha~ I haven't found the time yet, and there are so many good things on the data website, and the points price is so high. It's frustrating to see things that I can't afford."

The short, thin man said something as if to explain, but just as he shifted his gaze to look at the sky beyond the yellow sand in the distance, he seemed to suddenly remember something and slapped his forehead.

"Hey, wait a minute! Brother Niu! We need to hurry, the sun's about to set, and if we don't get to the next camp soon, we're in for a rough time. The temperature in the desert can drop to below -20 degrees Celsius at night..."

Upon hearing this, Niu Lei, who had initially wanted to ignore him because of his noise, suddenly stopped walking through the gravel.

His eyes, which had been slightly narrowed, suddenly widened, and he turned his head to grab his short, thin teammate, who was only up to his chest.

"What did you say?! Minus 20 degrees Celsius?! Do you know it's almost 50 degrees Celsius now?!"

Interrupted by his sudden action, the short, thin team member was stunned.

Seeing that he had no reaction, Niu Lei, who had been shouting, took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking again.

"Is the temperature difference in this desert really that great? Why wasn't this mentioned before?"

Upon hearing this, the team member, who had only just come to his senses after being lifted up, spoke hesitantly.

"Normally we should have taken a plane directly, but we ran into a sandstorm. The sand and dust slowed us down. Actually, according to the predictions before we set off, we should have arrived much earlier..."

"...Captain, you're a northern bull...you shouldn't be afraid of the cold...right?"

Facing Niu Lei's square face in front of him, he watched as the face gradually enlarged to the size of a copper bell, with faint bull horns protruding from the sides of the forehead, and the face elongated into a huge bull's face.

A hot breath hit his face, causing his words to gradually fade until he finally fell silent.

Enraged to the point of being half-demon, Niu Lei threw the short, thin teammate in his hand to the back of the team, turned around and looked at the team members behind him, all shrouded in sandstorm masks and sunglasses, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Alright, let's not conserve our magic power and get on the road in demon form, otherwise we'll really have to travel in the night at minus 20 degrees Celsius."

As he spoke, Niu Lei took the lead in turning around and lunging forward, his entire body rapidly expanding, accompanied by several sounds of clothes tearing.

A giant black and white cow, over two meters long and as tall as a person, appeared under the swirling yellow sand.

With a resounding moo, it took off galloping towards the boundless depths of the desert ahead.

Behind him, team members trudging through the wind and sand also jumped up or crouched down.

As their bodies twisted and changed, they transformed into a flock of birds and beasts, which swarmed after them.

The short and thin team member who was left behind pulled himself out of the sand with a flip, then turned and leaped into the air.

With a twist, four transparent oval wings stretched out.

In the blink of an eye, a huge, round, yellow and black bee, resembling a QQ sausage, appeared in the swirling yellow sand and quickly chased after it, flapping its wings.

"Wait for me! I can't fly fast!"

(End of this chapter)