94: Chapter 94 Weighted Squats? Gravity seems to have stopped working.

The training hall's ceiling was high, rows of hanging overhead lights dazzling to the eyes.

The air carried a cold, hard scent of iron, mixed with the sun-baked heat of evaporated sweat. Equipment weighing dozens of tons crashed onto the floor with loud bangs, while a group of muscular giants let out constipated-sounding roars.

"Let me hear you scream!!"

Iron Man stood at the center of the hall, holding a thick, spiked club, pointing at the new recruits doing bench presses. "Didn't you eat? Put some muscle into it! Give it everything you've got! What are muscles? Muscles are a man's medals!!"

All the new recruits' faces were flushed a dark purple.

Only the scene in the corner stood out abruptly, like an episode of Tom and Jerry spliced into an action movie.

Gu Fan stood under the squat rack, a white towel draped around his neck. Holding a thermos cup, he was leisurely blowing on the steam rising from its rim.

Before him was an iron mountain.

A real mountain.

On both ends of a specially made black-and-gold barbell bar, the weight plates were stacked to the top, with two large stone blocks additionally chained on.

"One ton."

Iron Man walked over, his footsteps heavy like a tank rolling over concrete. He patted the pile of iron, the dull thud making one's heart uneasy.

"Gu Fan, my Genius, this is my 'love' for you."

Iron Man's large face was full of fanatical anticipation. "Ordinary weights are an insult to your 'Shrinking the Earth to an Inch' level of physique! Only this rock-crushing weight can Awaken your dormant muscle cells!!"

Xiao Fan beside him gulped and shrank back.

One ton?

This wasn't a squat; this was a hydraulic press execution scene. With that barbell coming down, wouldn't the President be flattened into a two-dimensional photo?

"Uh, Instructor..."

Gu Fan put down his thermos cup, glanced at the precariously stacked weight plates. "Aren't we being a bit too radical here? My back, I slept on a soft bed yesterday and twisted it. The doctor said I shouldn't bear heavy loads."

"Excuses!!"

Iron Man's spit sprayed all over Gu Fan's face. "A strong man's back is made of titanium alloy! No more nonsense, lift it! Let me see where your limit lies!!"

Gu Fan sighed.

These days, no one believes the truth.

Helplessly, he ducked under the barbell bar, shoulders settling into the cold spot.

"Lift!!" Iron Man roared, ready to rescue him at any moment.

Gu Fan didn't move.

He was waiting for the System's reaction.

Sure enough, the familiar mechanical voice in his mind arrived, albeit a bit late.

[Ding! Detected S-grade 'Mountain Crush' malice from 'Iron Man.']

[Judgment: Attempting physical bullying with a one-ton weight exceeding the host's limit, may cause spinal compression fractures, hindering growth.]

[Retribution Activated: All Things Refuse to Bear Load (Physical Law Alteration Edition).]

[Effect: This pile of iron suddenly gained sentience. It feels it's too heavy, unworthy of pressing on the host's noble shoulders, and decides to overcome gravity on its own, even wanting to fly away.]

*Hum—*

Gu Fan only felt a sudden lightness on his shoulders.

No, not lightness.

It was a massive upward buoyant force, an invisible giant hand grabbing the barbell and pulling it up.

This one-ton pile of iron had now become a hydrogen-filled balloon. Gu Fan didn't want to move at all, but the thing insistently dragged him upward.

"What the... heck?"

Gu Fan reacted swiftly, gripping the barbell bar with both hands. Not to lift it, but to hang onto it, preventing the thing from flying up and smashing the ceiling lights.

But to outsiders, this looked terrifying.

They saw Gu Fan suddenly stand up straight with a *whoosh*.

So fast it stirred up a gust of wind.

Not only did he stand straight, he was even up on his tiptoes, both hands desperately 'pressing' down on that barbell, his expression looking 'agonized'.

"Oof... heavy... so heavy..."

Gu Fan yelled while desperately pulling the barbell that wanted to fly away downward. "Instructor! I can't hold it! This is way too heavy! So heavy I can barely keep it down!!"

The entire hall fell silent.

Dozens of pairs of eyes widened larger than cowbells.

Iron Man's club clattered to the floor, hitting his own toes without him even reacting.

What was he seeing?

Gu Fan had lifted one ton, and judging by his posture... he was playing with the barbell like a balloon?!

What was going on? Why was the barbell so light in his hands? No, looking at his sweaty forehead (actually from the steam), he was clearly struggling!

"Could it be..."

Iron Man's thought process short-circuited wonderfully again. "Could this be the legendary 'Lifting Heavy as if Light'?! Transforming a thousand-jun burden into a goose feather?! This is the manifestation of controlling strength down to the molecular level!!"

"Too... too strong!!"

Iron Man trembled with excitement. "Look at his movements! To prevent the barbell from going out of control, he's actually using reverse force to suppress the weight! What Versailles! What a strong man's demeanor!!"

"Instructor! Can I put it down now?!"

Gu Fan was genuinely tired.

This damn barbell seemed possessed, with tremendous force, constantly trying to shoot upward. He had to use all his strength to pull it down to keep it from flying away. This was more exhausting than actually squatting.

"Put it down! Put it down now!!"

Iron Man rushed over, wanting to help Gu Fan take it.

Gu Fan let go.

Without Gu Fan's contact, the Karmic law of

All Things Refuse to Bear Load

vanished.

Gravity returned.

*BOOM!!!*

A dull, thunderous sound. The specially made shock-absorbing floor directly shattered, rubble flew, and the entire training hall shook three times.

Iron Man's outstretched hand froze mid-air. Had he retracted it half a second later, he'd probably be waiting for a prosthetic by now.

*Hiss—*

A collective intake of breath sounded around them.

This commotion, this destructive power... it was genuinely heavy!

But when Gu Fan was holding it just now, why was it like playing with foam plastic?

Xiao Fan, watching from the side, felt his blood boiling, his brain overheating, thinking he could do it too.

"I'll do it too!!"

Xiao Fan roared, rushing to a nearby five-hundred-kilogram barbell. "If the President can lift heavy as if light, as the Vice President, lifting half a ton as if light isn't too much to ask!!"

Imitating Gu Fan, he focused his Qi into his Dantian, forcefully thrusting his shoulders under it.

"Lift!!"

*Crack.*

A sickeningly crisp sound came from his bones.

"OWWW————!!"

Xiao Fan instantly collapsed, his face plastered to the floor, his whole body flattened into a standard frog shape.

"He-help... my back... my back is broken..."

Lin Xue silently covered her face in the corner.

Too painful to watch.

She glanced at Gu Fan rubbing his wrist nearby, then at Xiao Fan being carried away on a stretcher, her doubts deepening.

She was a special agent; she believed in science.

But just now, she distinctly saw the barbell's shadow separated from the floor.

Meaning, that thing was indeed suspended earlier.

Was Gu Fan... also a gravity-type ability user?

No, not just gravity.

Lin Xue looked at Gu Fan's harmless face, recalling the top-tier assassin who crushed her slippers last night.

Everything happening around this man mocked Newton, mocked common sense, mocked all the logic in the world.

"Gu Fan!"

Iron Man snapped out of his shock, looking at Gu Fan not as uncut jade anymore, but as a divine miracle.

"Excellent! Truly excellent!!"

"Strength training is child's play for you now! Your physique has surpassed Mortal limits!!"

Iron Man waved his large hand, his face revealing an excited yet savage smile.

"Then, onto the next item! A true strong man needs not just power, but also practical combat skills!!"

"Tomorrow morning! Assemble on the field!!"

"I'll personally be your sparring partner! Don't hold back, even if you kill me, it would be my honor!!"

Gu Fan, who was drinking water, almost spat it out.

"What? Fight you?"

Gu Fan looked Iron Man up and down, taking in his granite-like muscles, then looked at his own slender arms and legs.

"Instructor, even insurance scams aren't this blatant. My delicate frame is fragile goods; any bump or scratch requires compensation."

"Enough nonsense!!"

Iron Man wouldn't listen. "That's an order! If you don't give me a satisfactory performance, the whole class does extra training with you!!"

With that, Iron Man hoisted his club and strode away with a 'I-don't-give-a-damn-about-anyone' gait.

He left behind a group of new recruits looking at Gu Fan with pleading, resentful eyes that said, 'Please, boss, don't hold back.'

Gu Fan sighed.

"What a calamity."

He handed his thermos cup to the young man named Xiao Hei beside him.

"Xiao Hei, tell me, does this guy have a screw loose? Actively looking for a beating?"

Xiao Hei expressionlessly took the cup, used a thermometer gun he carried to check the water temperature, then screwed the lid on with extreme professionalism.

"Boss."

Xiao Hei's voice was icy. "In my experience, some people live just to court death. That kind of demand usually costs a lot on the black market. You're helping him realize his dream for free; you're a great philanthropist."

Gu Fan was stunned for a moment, then chuckled.

"Not bad, Xiao Hei, learning to flatter? I'll add a chicken leg to your dinner tonight."

"No need."

Xiao Hei pointed at the rubble on the floor. "That's from when the floor exploded just now. I need to piece it back together. Missing even one piece, my OCD will keep me up all night."

With that, this former S-class assassin squatted down, pulled out a pair of tweezers, and began playing a jigsaw puzzle game in the debris.

Gu Fan shook his head, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out.

Tomorrow...

Since the instructor so desperately wants to experience 'excitement,' I'll give him something he'll remember for a lifetime.

After all, it's also about fulfilling his dream.