32: Chapter 32 One punch, 30,000 damage, all thanks to radio calisthenics

Saturday night, in the underground black market of Tianhai City.

The air was thick with a mixture of engine oil, cheap tobacco, and a certain moldy stench.

Zhang Wei walked in front with his neck hunched, glancing back every now and then at the teenager behind him who wore a black face mask and a cap pulled down low.

"Brother Qi, this place is a bit creepy," Zhang Wei whispered.

"That employer goes by the nickname 'Madman Chen.' He used to work at a legitimate research institute but got kicked out because of unauthorized experiments.

Several strong, power-type guys took the job before, but they all got chewed out by him."

Lin Qi had his hands in his pockets, his pace unhurried.

"As long as the pay is enough, it's fine."

The two turned into a waterlogged alley and pushed open a rusty iron door.

Inside, there was a whole new world.

The hundreds of square meters of the basement had been converted into a laboratory, filled with exposed cables and flickering instrument panels everywhere.

In the center sat a massive hydraulic press, with several pitch-black metal plates standing beside it.

A middle-aged man in a lab coat, his hair looking like a bird's nest, was furiously typing away at a computer screen.

"You're here?"

The man didn't even turn his head, his tone impatient.

"Hurry up and get over here, don't dawdle. I'm still short three sets of data for today's test metrics."

Zhang Wei went up to him with a fawning smile: "Dr. Chen, I've brought the person. This is my Brother Qi, he is quite..."

"Stop."

Dr. Chen turned around and pushed up the glasses on his nose, which were as thick as beer bottle bottoms.

He looked Lin Qi up and down, his brows knitting together.

"Fatty, is your brain filled with paste?"

Dr. Chen pointed at Lin Qi's not-so-burly frame.

"I need pure power-type subject matter! Preferably some brute whose muscles have grown into their brain! What are you doing bringing me a high schooler? To do calisthenics?"

Just as Zhang Wei wanted to explain, Lin Qi reached out to stop him.

Lin Qi walked up to Dr. Chen and looked at him calmly.

"What does the test entail?"

Dr. Chen sneered and pointed to the black metal plate under the hydraulic press.

"It's 'Black Gold-3' composite Materials, and I want to test its physical resistance limit. The requirement is simple: hit it with your maximum force.

Remember, no Qi, no magic power, not even skill amplification. I want pure physical kinetic energy."

Having said this, Dr. Chen rolled his eyes.

"Those idiots who came before either secretly cheated using Qi or their power was scattered like a pancake.

This Materials has extremely high requirements for the point of impact; you must concentrate your power and explode it at a single point. Do you understand what I mean? You skinny runt."

Lin Qi ignored the name-calling and simply walked up to the metal plate.

The surface of the plate had a cold, matte sheen; it looked tough just by glancing at it.

"Do I have to pay if I break it?" Lin Qi suddenly asked.

Dr. Chen froze for a moment, then acted as if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Pay? Kid, this thing is used to build mecha armor!

Even a Level 10 power-type Source Beast might not be able to deform it. If you can leave a mark the size of a fingernail on it, I'll eat this hydraulic press!"

"Alright."

Lin Qi nodded.

He stood in front of the metal plate, his feet spread in a balanced stance.

He didn't yell to build up his Qi, nor did he have any exaggerated muscle expansion.

He just took a light breath, his chest rising and falling almost imperceptibly.

Dr. Chen curled his lip and was just about to turn around to get the recording board.

Thud!

An extremely dull, loud sound exploded in the basement.

It wasn't the crisp clanging of metal on metal, but rather like a heavy hammer striking a thick cowhide drum, causing even the concrete floor beneath their feet to tremble twice.

The recording board in Dr. Chen's hand almost fell to the ground.

He whipped his head around.

Lin Qi had already retracted his fist and was shaking out his wrist, looking completely calm.

"A bit hard," Lin Qi commented.

Dr. Chen didn't have time to pay attention to him and scrambled toward the instrument.

The data on the screen was jumping frantically, finally settling on a red peak value.

"This... is this instrument broken?"

Dr. Chen's eyes widened, his eyeballs almost sticking to the screen.

"Force distribution uniformity 99%? Power loss rate less than 1%? Penetration index... off the charts?"

He snapped his head around to look at the metal plate.

The surface was as smooth as before, without any dents.

"I knew you were just here to cause trouble!" Just as Dr. Chen was about to get angry, he suddenly noticed something wrong.

With trembling hands, he pressed the detection button on the back of the metal plate.

Click.

That supposedly indestructible "Black Gold-3" suddenly cracked from the inside, shattering like a crispy biscuit into dozens of fingernail-sized fragments that clattered all over the floor.

The whole place went quiet.

Zhang Wei's mouth hung open, his jaw almost dislocated.

This was an alloy that even bullets couldn't pierce!

Dr. Chen stared blankly at the fragments on the ground, then looked at Lin Qi's unremarkable right hand.

"Strike through an obstacle to hit the target? Hidden energy? Penetrating Force?"

Dr. Chen spat out a string of technical terms, his gaze shifting from the previous disdain to fanaticism—the look of a scientist who had found the perfect lab rat.

He grabbed Lin Qi's arm, using surprisingly great strength.

"How did you do it? This kind of force application structure completely violates ergonomics! What is your muscle fiber density? Did your bone strength mutate? Quick! Let me draw some blood to test it!"

Lin Qi frowned and gave his wrist a light flick.

A clever force pushed Dr. Chen back two steps.

"Pay up," Lin Qi said, extending his hand.

Dr. Chen finally snapped back to reality, hurriedly pulling a thick stack of cash from his pocket and slapping it into Lin Qi's hand without even looking at it.

"This is the deposit! Thirty thousand! If it's not enough, I'll go get more!"

Dr. Chen was flushed with excitement, turning around to grab a few bottles of glowing blue potion from the cabinet.

"This is military-grade high-energy nutrient solution; you can't buy it on the market! It's all yours! As long as you agree to come back once a week for data collection!"

Lin Qi took the money and the potion, glancing at them.

The money was real, and the potion was good stuff too.

"We'll see how I feel."

Lin Qi stuffed the items into his pockets and turned to leave.

"Hey! Leave some contact information!" Dr. Chen shouted from behind.

"Ask Fatty."

Lin Qi waved his hand without looking back and walked out, pulling the iron door open.

Once out of the basement, the cold wind blew, and Zhang Wei shivered, coming back to his senses.

"Brother Qi... that punch just now, you really didn't use any skills?"

Zhang Wei swallowed hard, looking at Lin Qi as if he were looking at a monster.

"I did," Lin Qi said.

"I knew it!" Zhang Wei let out a sigh of relief. "What skill is so fierce?"

"Calisthenics," Lin Qi said, deadpan.

Zhang Wei: "..."

Lin Qi touched the thick stack of cash in his pocket.

Thirty thousand, plus those few bottles of high-energy nutrient solution; the money for the "Tiger Bone Grass," the most expensive part of the Flesh Refining stage, was now secured.

"Let's go to the herb market," Lin Qi said.