336: Chapter 336 Grandmaster-level Pull-up, Special Effect: "Absolute Control"

Chen Chen paced back, returned to that leather executive chair, and slowly sat down.

"I will faithfully provide the specific abilities and hiding location of Scorpion to that assassin gentleman, as agreed."

He slightly knitted his brows, tapping his index finger on the expensive mahogany tabletop, making a "da da" sound.

"Consider it as testing the true caliber of this 'expert' for us on behalf of financial-grade 8 cadre of the Noah Organization."

"If he lacks skill and dies there, then it's his bad luck, and we will just pretend nothing ever happened."

"But if..."

Chen Chen changed the subject, a sharp glint suddenly bursting from his eyes.

"He manages to succeed smoothly and walks out alive from Scorpion's lair..."

"That would be enough to prove that he is very likely the real culprit behind the port warehouse massacre, or even the murderer who wiped out the entire team of pursuers from Noah!"

"If he possesses this kind of strength, he is fully qualified to sit at the same poker table with us and discuss a bigger business deal!"

Hearing this, Secretary Liu's gaze behind his lenses brightened, and his tense nerves relaxed slightly.

Then he sighed with sincere admiration:

"Brilliant, Chairman! This plan achieves two birds with one stone—no, three birds with one stone!"

After the flattery, he resumed his habitual caution and suggested:

"Then we had better secretly prepare some countermeasures, just in case things develop beyond our expectations, so we can withdraw in time without being implicated."

"Leave this matter to you to handle."

Chen Chen waved his hand, appearing very calm.

"Yes."

Secretary Liu bowed to accept the order and quietly exited the office.

The heavy soundproof door was closed once again, leaving only Chen Chen alone in the huge office.

He slowly turned the executive chair beneath him, facing the financial center district outside the window that symbolized wealth and power.

Yet his gaze became incomparably profound.

He was not a double-crossing lackey who thought of betraying his master by nature.

It was those high-and-mighty bastards from Noah who forced him to rebel!

Most importantly, a while ago through a certain secret channel, Chen Chen learned of a heaven-shaking piece of news that kept him awake and was enough for him to make up his mind.

The human experimentation project of the Noah Organization seemed to involve a higher-level game, and the risks hidden within far exceeded his previous imagination.

Especially those secret projects carried out in the Xia Kingdom region, some of which had already been exposed by the Special Investigation Team.

Once the wrath from above descended, he, the leader of the Red Tiger Gang who was responsible for peripheral odd jobs and had even lost an important specimen, would definitely be pushed out as a scapegoat at the first instance.

He knew Noah's style of doing things all too well.

Without utilization value, they would discard someone without hesitation, eating people without spitting out the bones.

Hanging out with Noah sooner or later meant being treated like a dirty rag and thrown away casually.

Just like the "Lianqing Gang", which had a resounding reputation in the underworld many years ago.

Back then, they were also infinitely glorious, suppressing numerous veteran societies so they could barely breathe, and doing countless dirty jobs for Noah.

Even several times stronger than the current Red Tiger Gang.

And in the end?

Wasn't it still uprooted overnight because it touched a certain taboo, with the gang leader and core members vanishing into thin air as if they had never existed?

He, Chen Chen, did not want to become the leader of the next Lianqing Gang.

What he wanted was to truly gain a foothold in high society and firmly grasp his destiny in his own hands.

And that mysterious expert was the first lever he had painstakingly searched for to pry open the wheel of destiny!

Last time, Chen Chen specially visited the local veteran noble family, the Lu family, seeking to defect to them, but ended up being shut out.

That seemingly imposing Lu family was actually on the verge of collapse with internal problems, completely incapable of accepting someone like him, a mafia overlord with a sensitive identity.

Chen Chen could only look for another way out.

And just a few days ago, he found out that the Dongdu Branch had suffered heavy losses executing an operation code-named "Demon Hunt".

During that period, dozens of members were arrested, and multiple Advanced cadres died on the spot.

And the target of the operation was precisely the murderer who created those two massacre cases at the pier warehouse and the garbage processing plant.

This "mysterious expert" who repeatedly made Noah suffer setbacks was undoubtedly a highly attractive cooperative partner.

Because they had common interests, a common enemy, and could provide each other with the value they needed.

Chen Chen was a deeply astute person full of scheming intentions.

Back when Wu Shihao's branch was destroyed and the experimental subjects were lost, he deliberately ignored and concealed many minute details of the whole affair.

For example, that seemingly inconspicuous double-crossing lackey named Xiaosa might actually have some kind of connection with the murderer.

Chen Chen suspected that the man who wiped out the powder-making factory together with Ma Donghe was actually that elusive mysterious assassin.

At the very least, they should also be members coming from the same organization or faction.

Therefore, this time finding Xiaosa to negotiate cooperation, the most direct purpose was to probe the other party's background and verify his own guess.

After all, that was a super expert who wiped out Noah's entire elite-level pursuer team!

If he could win over such a strong reinforcement, or even further contact the forces behind him and hug a thicker thigh,

when a dangerous moment arrived in the future, he would have one more trump card to save his life.

Even shaking off Noah's control was just around the corner.

Chen Chen cast his gaze outside the floor-to-ceiling window, sitting for a long time and gazing at the city view.

The sun gradually rose, brightly shining upon this steel forest.

The glass curtain walls of countless skyscrapers reflected dazzling light, setting off the entire sky to be brilliantly dazzling.

The traffic flow below converged into rivers that never stopped, silently displaying the prosperity and vitality of this city.

Yet Chen Chen's gaze grew increasingly gloomy.

Having struggled for so many years, he finally climbed to his current position today.

How could he possibly be willing to become a chess piece discarded at will by others and lose everything just like that?

...

Two days later, just past six in the morning.

The sky was still dim, barely able to roughly outline the contours of the indoor furnishings.

In the newly decorated room, the air was filled with a faint smell of latex paint.

Light blue walls and sports flooring surrounded the entire space, creating a peaceful atmosphere like being in the deep sea.

It seemed to form a subtle contrast with the dim, gradually awakening city scene outside the window.

Beside the floor-to-ceiling window, a red-and-black tumbler upright punching bag stood quietly, like a silent sparring partner.

Several dumbbells of different weights were casually piled near the wall, along with a stack of iron blocks of the same shape.

In the faint morning light, they gleamed with a cold metallic luster.

"Creak... Creak..."

A rhythmic and heavy metal friction sound rang out in the living room, breaking the peace.

Beneath the ceiling, steel beams and iron racks crisscrossed, hanging a huge black punching bag.

The sound came from beside the punching bag.

That Pull-up bar, which had been installed for only a few days, was currently enduring astonishing ravaging.

A muscular, bare-chested figure was suspended on it, performing jaw-dropping weighted Pull-ups.

Around his waist was tied a thick waist guard belt.

At the lower end of the waist guard belt, using special load-bearing chains, densely stacked ten pure steel baked-paint barbell plates were hung.

Every single barbell plate was clearly marked with the words "25KG".

Adding ten of them together, it was a terrifying weight of two hundred and fifty kilograms, which was five hundred catties.

The man's Physique was extremely robust.

His latissimus dorsi bulged and rose like mountain ranges, his shoulder deltoids were like two hard rocks, and the biceps and forearm muscle groups on his arms were bulging to the point of bursting.

Relying solely on the strength of a single arm, he pulled himself together with the heavy weight upward until his chin surpassed the bar.

When descending, he controlled his speed, letting his body sink slowly, seemingly focusing on feeling the traction and stretching of every single muscle fiber.

The several barbell plates suspended around his waist swayed gently with his movements, making a "clang" metal collision sound.

This added a rhythm full of a sense of power to this repetitive and monotonous morning exercise.

Sweat beads rolled down his well-defined cheeks, dripping down along his resolute jawline.

On the light blue sports flooring, a small dark wet patch had already appeared.

But his expression remained calm, his breathing was even and deep, and his movements were standard and smooth, showing not the slightest trace of exertion.

"Hoo—"

Along with a long exhale, the figure jumped down from the Pull-up bar carrying the heavy barbell plates.

Both feet stepped steadily onto the PVC sports flooring.

The huge impact brought by the stepping and pressing of the soles even caused the flooring to sink slightly, making a dull thud.

"Unknowingly, it's already past 6..."

Fang Cheng twisted his neck and glanced at the mobile phone screen display tossed aside.

Muttering to himself in a low voice, he felt the faint soreness coming from the muscle groups in his arms and shoulders and back.

Then he raised his hand and casually wiped his sweaty face.

This was already the fifth set he had completed, and also the 500th single-arm weighted two hundred and fifty kilograms Pull-up.

Coupled with the other five fitness skill exercises of similar intensity completed previously,

this kind of workout intensity, even for him, could be said to be unprecedented.

Fang Cheng's mind stirred, and the panel quietly emerged before his eyes.

[Pull-up lv2 (449 / 500)]

The experience value in the skill column always stayed at 449 points, failing for a long time to break through the final Bottleneck.

It seemed that some kind of invisible shackle existed.

Speaking of which, Fang Cheng's current physical constitution had reached a rather terrifying height.

Physique had broken through the 50-point mark, and his strength attribute was also close to 50 points.

Wanting to make routine physical training continue to produce obvious effects, the effort and sweat required were naturally far beyond before.

Fang Cheng pondered slightly and did not untie the weighted barbell plates around his waist.

Instead, he raised his head and cast his gaze at a pair of gymnastics rings hanging on the iron rack beside him.

The next moment, his legs exerted sudden force, and his entire person instantly rose from the ground.

In mid-air, his right hand reached out precisely, and using just a single index finger, he firmly hooked one of the rings.

Then, after a brief pause, his entire body was steadily pulled upward by that seemingly fragile finger.

The ten barbell plates suspended on his body also swayed slightly accordingly, making a crashing sound.

Then, the "clang" and "clang" exercise beats sounded once again.

Single-finger, weighted two hundred and fifty kilograms, Pull-up!

His obsessive-compulsive disorder acting up, Fang Cheng decided to use this even more perverted, nearly self-abasing training method to break through the final shackles in one go.

"1."

His index finger joints bore a tearing-like pressure, but his movements were still standard, and his body was steadily pulled up until his lower jaw passed the ring.

"2."

Sweat seeped from his temples once again, winding and sliding down along the tense muscle lines.

"3."

"4."

"..."

Fang Cheng counted silently in his heart, his breathing deep and long.

Exerting force with a single arm, he continuously pulled his body upward and lowered it down.

Feeling the roar issued by the muscle groups from his fingers to his wrists, to his shoulders, and even his entire spine under extreme oppression.

This kind of physical constitution that could be called monster-level was enough to make any so-called fitness expert deeply doubt life upon seeing it.

Right at this moment, the first ray of true sunlight finally broke free from the shackles of the horizon.

A glowing red morning sun was striving to leap up from the sea level.

It first paved a dazzling golden light path on the sparkling distant sea surface.

Soon, the light crossed the low breakwater and spread across the sleeping beach resort.

Finally, this morning glow pierced through the narrow gaps between the tall buildings of the city and finally found this huge floor-to-ceiling window.

In an instant, the golden sunlight poured in like a thawed waterfall.

Exactly completely enshrouding the sweating figure on the rings, gilding him with a sacred and masculine halo.

"16."

"17..."

When Fang Cheng consecutively did the seventeenth one,

suddenly, the panel before his eyes bloomed with a light even more dazzling and eye-catching than the rising morning sun outside the window.

An abundant warm current rose from his tailbone, instantly running through his spine, injecting into his arms, and finally reaching his fingertips.

The fitness skill Pull-up, under the nearly extreme physical squeezing, finally broke through its original upper limit and successfully achieved a Breakthrough.

Fang Cheng did not stop immediately; he still gritted his teeth and completed three more movements, making up a whole number of twenty.

Only then did he jump down from the rings again.

Raising his hand to wipe away the sweat continuously flowing down his face, Fang Cheng fixed his gaze on the glowing attribute panel.

With a trace of anticipation in his eyes, he looked at the prompt information brought by the skill upgrade.

[Congratulations, through effort and persistence far exceeding ordinary people, your skill has successfully broken through and reached the Grandmaster level]

[Pull-up lv3 (0 / 1000)]

[Obtained enhancement reward, skill special effect "Absolute Control"]

Gazing at the glowing panel, an indescribable sense of gratification and satisfaction surged deeply from the bottom of Fang Cheng's heart.

Instantly dispelling the fatigue and soreness of his body muscles caused by extreme exercise.

Afterwards, he focused his attention on the specific description of the skill special effect "Absolute Control".

[Absolute Control: Your control over the muscle strength of your hands, shoulders, and back has reached an unimaginable degree. Without any preparation movements, you can explosively increase your grip strength by 150% in an instant.]

[Your climbing ability is specialized, and the friction per unit area of contact between your fingertips and objects is increased by 1000%]

[Therefore, you do not need a grip point in the usual sense. Any tiny protrusion, even if it is only a few millimeters, can be used by you as a support point. The smooth exterior walls of skyscrapers and vertical, steep cliffs are as flat as walking on ground to you.]

[Note: When your strength attribute breaks through 70 points, this skill will undergo new changes and unlock a hidden special effect.] (End of chapter)