Chapter 11: The Bet

"Ha ha ha ha..."

"That kid Tian Xiao, he's something."

"I thought he was going to find Su Cheng on the first floor... Ha ha... Could it be that he's still a virgin?"

Laughter erupted around the table.

Someone couldn't help but slap the table.

Luo Fei and Chen Wuling, who had both acknowledged Tian Xiao's character, didn't expect him to release his drunken energy in such a way.

Most people, after a few bottles of hard liquor, wouldn't even be able to walk straight. But this kid, Tian Xiao, was still walking straight even while strapped into a high-intensity training device with a heavy load.

After laughing and joking around for a while, Old Lu immediately opened a bet:

"Alright, alright, let's start the betting!"

"I bet Tian Xiao will last no more than three minutes before collapsing."

Old Lu threw down a thousand-yuan note.

Immediately, others responded!

"Three minutes? That kid's a virgin, like a young calf, right? I bet five minutes."

"I bet he'll collapse within two minutes."

The bets started pouring in, with most betting around five minutes.

At this point, Chen Wuling spoke up:

"I bet ten minutes! Two thousand!"

Everyone, including Old Lu, turned to look at him in surprise.

"Ten minutes?"

"This kid's veins are already popping out. He's going to crash any moment now, and you still dare to bet ten minutes?"

"Old Lu, you're going to make money today."

"Haha, thank you, Brother Wuling, for your generous sponsorship!" Old Lu chuckled as he started counting the money.

Eight people, seven bets.

"Boss Luo? Not going to place a bet?"

Old Lu turned his eyes toward Luo Fei, trying to provoke him into joining the fun.

Luo Fei, however, wasn't paying attention to Old Lu. His eyes were fixed on the screen, watching Tian Xiao running with a 50-kilogram harness, moving as if he were a machine. At first, Luo Fei had only seen it as a joke, but now, his gaze became increasingly uncertain.

Running with a weighted harness was an extremely energy-draining exercise. Even someone with 12 points of muscle strength and muscle adaptability wouldn't last long.

Tian Xiao was an ordinary person, and yet he had already endured for over two minutes.

The blood and flesh of the Rift Wolf contained nutrients that helped enhance physical conditioning, so it wasn't surprising that Tian Xiao could push through two minutes under the influence of alcohol.

Tian Xiao was using both his hands and feet. His veins were visibly bulging, showing that his body was at its limit, and he could collapse at any moment.

But Luo Fei noticed something others missed.

As the head of the security team, he had encountered Earth's military soldiers before, and he had learned to recognize that particular determination, that fierce look in their eyes.

Right now, Tian Xiao's eyes were exactly like those soldiers'.

Focused!

Sharp!

Full of blood and passion! The edge of a blade was clear!

What struck Luo Fei even more was that despite Tian Xiao's body being pushed to the extreme, he managed to hold on for another minute. His movements didn't falter; instead, the counter beside him displayed slight changes.

The machine recording the harness's weight and the user's running speed also tracked the muscle strength and adaptability.

Luo Fei noticed that Tian Xiao's muscle strength had increased from 9.8 to 9.9, while his muscle adaptability jumped from 9.4 to 9.5.

Luo Fei couldn't sit still anymore.

He ignored the ongoing bets and stared at the data on the screen, his eyes wide, his focus growing intense.

Around him, sighs of defeat could be heard.

Those who had bet on two or three minutes were already out.

Old Lu was laughing as he took their money.

But soon, his laughter died down.

Five minutes passed.

Old Lu had to stop.

"This kid... is tough."

Running at high intensity for five minutes was equivalent to running a thousand meters with a 50-kilogram load. With Old Lu's current physique, he would've been surpassed long ago.

But Tian Xiao was still going.

Six people lost.

Only Chen Wuling remained.

Chen Wuling laughed loudly and started gathering the winnings from the table.

According to their rules, all the money in the pot now belonged to him.

A total of six thousand.

But then, he noticed that Luo Fei was still staring at the screen, his gaze growing more intense.

"Boss, this new guy is a great find. He has a lot of potential."

"Mhm."

Luo Fei nodded but didn't look away from the screen.

There was something left unsaid.

Tian Xiao's potential had already surpassed that of Chen Wuling.

Although Chen Wuling was at H5 and could easily carry 50 kilograms for over ten minutes, Tian Xiao's muscle strength was only at 9.9.

At that moment, the numbers on the screen shifted again.

10.0!

Muscle strength had reached 10.0!

Muscle adaptability jumped to 9.6.

"…"

Luo Fei felt his eyelid twitch involuntarily.

D*mn.

In less than ten minutes, his body speed had increased by three units.

This had to be military training!

Luo Fei didn't realize that he had slightly leaned forward, his breathing now heavier and more intense.

Everyone else noticed his unusual behavior.

"Wuling."

"You've already won."

"Turn it off."

Luo Fei didn't give them a chance to argue.

Tian Xiao's potential had already surpassed Chen Wuling, and now, he was exceeding the abilities of the entire security team.

He had to lock down this information.

He couldn't let Wu Hao know about Tian Xiao.

"Got it."

Chen Wuling didn't understand why Luo Fei ended the topic so abruptly, but as Luo Fei's right-hand man, he followed the orders without question.

"Take a batch of raw minerals from my private warehouse and complete the transfer with Tian Xiao. Let him join the security team early."

Two hundred thousand yuan would take an average miner a year to save.

Luo Fei had originally wanted to observe Tian Xiao's character more, but after seeing his enormous potential, he knew he couldn't delay any longer.

The longer he waited, the more risks there were.

He needed to bring Tian Xiao into the security team quickly. Soon, he would become his right-hand man, just like Chen Wuling, and help him consolidate the security team.

Investing an additional two hundred thousand… wasn't a big deal.

The others exchanged looks, surprised that the boss was willing to pay out of his own pocket.

Although they didn't know what had happened, they seemed to have no objection.

Perhaps it was out of sympathy.

Perhaps it was Tian Xiao's perseverance during the weighted run.

Or maybe it was because of those few bottles of liquor…

And so, the matter was settled.

At that moment, Tian Xiao was still on the fifteenth floor of the training center, enduring the weighted run.

The pancreas of the Rift Wolf was continuously releasing heat, and the mutated substances stored within it further stimulated Tian Xiao's body.

At the high-intensity run, his muscles were burning through his energy at maximum speed, allowing his body to absorb those substances and rapidly change his physique.

Ten minutes!

The system reminded him that his muscle strength had reached 10.1, and his muscle adaptability had increased to 9.8.

The physical load was enormous, requiring rest.

Tian Xiao didn't stop.

This was because Qing Long, who was currently only at the H2 level, was protecting him.

If he had an H3 chip, he would understand: breakthroughs only occurred under extreme stress.