Chapter Seven: Crisis

"No, no, please, no!!!!"
The piercing scream was deafening as Li Daoran watched in horror while the enormous needle plunged into his body, injecting him with a double dose of the drug.

Liu Meng squinted, cheerfully pulling the needle out, and then blew on its tip with an air of satisfaction.

"Alright, go back to running. I’m sure you’ll be seeing me again soon. Bear Mountain isn’t one to let things go easily, and you made him look bad today. Heh heh heh."

Her sinister laughter gave Li Daoran a sense of foreboding.

Yet beneath it all, he was secretly pleased; his objective was accomplished. He’d received another dose of the previous injection, and now he could see if it still worked.

Last time, he'd acted out of line, so he put on a pitiful act to placate Liu Meng.

He asked cautiously, "What did you give me? Does it have any side effects?"

Liu Meng glanced at him, seeing straight through his dramatic performance—though she quite enjoyed it nonetheless. Deciding to be generous, she said, "It’s a gene serum. Your body has some issues, and I hope it’s not a waste of my medicine. It’s very precious. If you hadn’t run into me, well, let’s just say things would be different."

"Gene serum? What’s that?"

"It’s a new drug, just developed, and first being used in the military. No one knows if there are side effects yet. It’s expensive. Normally, after a year of intensive training, a person would fully absorb the energy from the serum, and in that time, it would gradually improve their physical condition. My job here is to collect data, and you’re a special case. I applied for special permission to experiment on you."

"Special?" Li Daoran mused.

"Yes, very special. The serum has issues with absorption rate, conversion rate, and an upper limit. Your absorption rate is extremely high. Not even a day has passed, and there’s no residue left in your body. But your conversion rate is abysmally low.

I’m gambling that your upper limit is more than twice the average person’s. If not, people like you will be written off in the future—‘drug dregs,’ too low a cost-benefit. In fact, you’re the first with this condition, so I applied to use you as a test case. Let’s see how it goes.

That’s all I have to say. If you don’t return now, Bear Mountain will get impatient. You’ll have it worse. Heh heh heh." Liu Meng giggled maniacally. Did you think playing the victim would let you off so easily? Too naïve, little brother. Big sister is just getting started, ha ha ha.

Li Daoran scratched his head, puzzled as he watched Liu Meng amuse herself. He thought he’d fooled her with his performance and that she was relishing her revenge, so he said nothing more and walked out.

As he stepped out of the hospital, he saw Bear Mountain standing there, stern-faced and as immovable as a mountain.

He instinctively turned to retreat back inside.

"Li Daoran, I heard your screams from downstairs. Still full of energy, aren’t you? Doesn’t look like someone who just fainted. Get over here!" The furious, booming voice seemed to ring right beside him. Li Daoran’s head buzzed, his ears ringing, but instinct for survival made him hurry over and stand at attention.

"Slacking off? Faking a faint? Now, immediately, start over—run two laps, thirty kilometers, not a step less." Bear Mountain’s commanding presence made sure everyone could hear.

"Yes, sir!" Li Daoran didn’t dare argue and started running at once.

Almost immediately, he noticed something was off. He’d only rested ten minutes after fainting—he should’ve been too exhausted to go on, let alone run thirty kilometers. Yet every time he felt he couldn’t go any further, a fresh surge of energy rose from within, driving him on.

Is this the gene serum? Li Daoran wondered silently. Then where did the strength from the first shot go? To Aquamarine Star?

He found the longer he ran, the easier it became. At last, beneath the high, cold moon, he finished the thirty kilometers. Everyone else was long gone; only he and Bear Mountain remained on the vast training field.

His watch beeped: "New directive: thirty-kilometer run completed. Please return to room 417 for rest." It displayed the route back.

Bear Mountain, hands behind his back and brows furrowed, looked at the gasping Li Daoran and said, "Take off your watch."

Li Daoran obeyed, handing it over. Bear Mountain also removed his own watch and set both on the ground.

"Rest a bit. Now, let’s have some exercise, just you and me."

With that, he began flexing his wrists and ankles, then launched into high knees—no, more like lightning-fast high knees. He moved so quickly Li Daoran’s eyes couldn’t keep up.

Panicking, Li Daoran asked cautiously, "What do you mean by exercise?"

Without missing a beat, Bear Mountain replied, "Exactly what you think. I won’t take advantage of you—I’ll make sure I’m just as exhausted as you are. You can wait a minute."

"Why? Just because I fainted? I wasn’t faking, Nurse Liu can vouch for me. I’m not in good health," Li Daoran protested, aggrieved.

At his words, Bear Mountain’s movements grew even faster, his breath turning uneven. Still, he said, "Miss Liu said you might surpass the human limit by twice as much. Ha! I want to see for myself. I’ll show her that pure physical prowess means nothing."

Li Daoran couldn’t make sense of Bear Mountain’s logic, but judging by his seriousness, he knew this fight was inevitable. He rubbed his aching forehead—what if he got hurt? Worried, he quickly thought of returning to Aquamarine Star.

As he opened his eyes again, he leaped up and shouted, "Chen Ming! Chen Ming!"

Chen Ming opened the door. "What’s wrong, you look frantic."

Li Daoran remembered that only he could see the images, and the others had no idea what had happened. Not wanting to alarm anyone, he said, "It’s nothing, I got another shot. Check if there’s any effect. Also, I really need the bathroom—where is it?"

Chen Ming pointed the way. "It’s almost done, the tests are running. So far, no changes. Now that you’re back, maybe that’ll change."

Li Daoran ended the broadcast, his face anxious. "Bear Mountain wants to spar with me—what should I do?"

Chen Ming’s usual laid-back grin vanished. From what he’d seen on the broadcast, he could pretty much guess what was about to happen. This was exactly what he’d been worried about. Seeing Li Daoran end the broadcast before discussing it, he let out a silent sigh of relief.

"Don’t panic, we’ll figure something out. First, tell me everything you’ve learned this time. I’ll see who we need to call in," Chen Ming said.

But Li Daoran was still worried. "I can’t beat him. If it were just me getting hurt, I wouldn’t care. But what if people here on Aquamarine Star get hurt too? I have to prepare. If not, maybe I’ll just run. Or I could just not sleep—you must have a way to keep me awake, right? Stimulants or something, I don’t care."

Chen Ming pressed him down onto the couch, soothing him. "Calm down. Don’t panic.

Remember, behind you stands all of humanity. It’s not just a responsibility, it’s strength—we’re your support, not a burden.

If a mere instructor is enough to shake you, what does that say about us? Just explain everything, and you’ll see how great your strength truly is."