500: Chapter 500: Give Me Time, and I Can Create Miracles

Chapter 500: As Long As You Give Me Time, I Can Create Miracles

In the darkness before dawn, a pale blue light screen quietly emerged and slowly unfolded.

Fang Cheng gazed at the various data on the panel, pondering silently in his heart.

Over the past week or so, he had experienced several high-intensity life-and-death battles.

From destroying the spiritual Secret Realm of Xuanzhen and killing that villain, to resisting the possessed consciousness of the leader of Utopia and preventing his true body from descending.

Super thoughtful.

Afterwards, he cleared obstacles for Second Young Master Chen Xuan and redrew the power map of Tiannan Province, repeatedly making Moves to help him eliminate hostile targets.

This series of battles caused the experience points of multiple combat skills such as "Boxing", "Sanda", "Muay Thai", and "Palm Technique" to skyrocket.

Furthermore, after his body was injured, "Qigong" achieved Breakthrough progress due to a fortuitous Opportunity where he was broken and then rebuilt.

In sharp contrast to this was the slow upgrade progress of fitness-related skills.

Because he was entangled in various matters and restricted by the environment, lacking systematic daily exercise, the experience bar had almost stagnated.

For his current self, compared to the refinement of combat skills, enhancing his Physique and tempering his Physical Body Foundation was actually much more urgent.

The former was "technique", while the latter was the "Dao" that carried all power.

After all, skill could use four ounces to Move a thousand catties, but the premise was that he had the capital of those "four ounces" to leverage a thousand catties.

If one's own body was as fragile as thin paper, no matter how exquisite the Moves and skill special effects were, they were just castles in the air that would collapse at the slightest touch.

Just like the tragic performance of executing "Qilin Arm" and "Infinite Combo" in previous battles.

If the physical quality was not tough enough, no matter how ferocious the attacks thrown out were, the terrifying recoil would destroy himself first.

Fang Cheng's line of sight swept across rows of skill columns, ultimately fixing on the attribute interface.

Right now, the Physique attribute had been stacked to 76 points, a value that could be called exaggerated, but this was still far from his expectations.

Having witnessed the near-divine Aura and unfathomable strength of the leader of "Utopia", Fang Cheng increasingly and soberly recognized his own shortcomings.

Facing that kind of monster who had lived for an unknown number of years, relying solely on his current physical strength, he was afraid he couldn't even take a single Move from the other party.

To have the qualifications for a head-on duel with the top masters of this world, he must first temper a stronger, tougher Physique that surpassed the limits of human beings.

This required him to invest more time and energy to hone his Physical Body, preparing well for battles that might erupt in the future.

Admittedly, after skills advanced to the Grandmaster level or even higher levels, the difficulty of acquiring experience would rise geometrically, and every tiny progress required paying double the sweat.

But this was precisely the fairness of martial arts.

Muscles had memory, and sweat would never deceive you.

On this path leading to the limits of human beings, there were never any shortcuts to take.

Only through day-after-day boring repetition, only by persisting for one more second every time he was exhausted, could the Mortal Physical Body be forged bit by bit into an indestructible golden body comparable to gods and demons.

This process of accumulating sand into a tower and water piercing stone was in itself a high-level cultivation.

Ordinary people, because they could not see the specific degree of progress, often found it difficult to persist through the long-term boredom.

But he was different.

With the assistance of the System, every heartbeat and every drop of sweat could be transformed into clearly visible data growth.

This certainty that "effort will definitely be rewarded" was his greatest source of confidence when facing powerful enemies.

"As long as you give me time, I can create miracles..."

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng's gaze instantly became firm and fervent.

Since Tai Chi had already broken through to the Great Master level, the focus of his subsequent exercise should return to the most unpretentious physical training.

The line of sight moved down, locking onto one of the lines of data:

[Running lv1 (239/250)]

From leveling up, it was only short of the last 11 points of experience.

"Starting today, the morning exercise plan is officially restarted!"

Fang Cheng muttered to himself in a low voice, then turned off the panel and turned to walk towards the coat rack.

Today's schedule was very full.

Besides morning exercises, he had also made an appointment with Lin Chuqiao and the professor in the morning to conduct field inspections of those two predetermined "Illuminati" bases.

Since that was the case, he had to seize the time even more.

He neatly changed into a breathable blue sportswear, walked into the bathroom, and splashed his face fiercely with cold water.

The icy water droplets slid down his cheeks, taking away the last trace of laziness.

The young man in the mirror had a sharp gaze, and his spirit and energy had already been adjusted to the Peak state.

A few minutes later, a slight door-locking sound rang out in the courtyard.

A vigorous figure passed through the morning mist, ran into the antique streets of Wanghu Town, and ran at a constant speed toward the Ring Lake Road in the distance.

Time slowly moved on, and the night curtain quietly receded.

The eastern horizon first revealed a trace of fish-belly white, then slowly spread out, gradually dyed into a golden red.

A round red sun broke free of the horizon and rose vividly.

Ten thousand hectares of rippling light on the lake surface were mashed into gold, and the sleeping city woke up accordingly.

The traffic flow on the streets began to increase, breakfast stalls emitted billowing hot air, and hurried office workers packed the subways and buses.

The sunlight became increasingly bright and brilliant, and the time was close to nine o'clock in the morning.

At the other end of the city, the Jinshui Fish Market in Linggang District.

This place was already a bustling scene.

Voices were boiling in the narrow alleys, with shouting and whistle sounds rising one after another.

The air was filled with a unique breath mixed with the smell of fishy and engine oil.

Tricycles full of seafood rampaged, and bargaining vendors flew spit, forming a worldly picture full of fireworks yet slightly chaotic.

Fang Cheng stood at the street corner, accompanied by Lin Chuqiao and Professor Ye Zhiren.

After today's morning exercise ended, he, who was completely satisfied, took a comfortable shower and washed away the hot sweat all over his body.

Then after finishing the breakfast prepared by his mother, he drove to the urban area under the pretext of club business.

Picking up the two people who had been waiting for a long time at the agreed location, they galloped all the way here.

The three of them were neatly dressed and extraordinary in demeanor, looking somewhat out of place with the greasy and noisy environment around them, yet they were as firmly rooted in this hustle and bustle like a boulder.

After a short while, a young man wearing a brand-new suit and with hair combed slick and glossy walked over quickly.

Although he tried his best to hold a serious "elite face", his slightly exaggerated walking posture and the sense of stealth hidden in his eyes still exposed his original true colors.

The person who came was none other than Xiaosa, who was arranged by Fang Cheng to stay in Dongdu to handle matters.

"Chairman!"

Xiaosa hurried two steps from a distance, rushed in front of Fang Cheng, and respectfully bowed ninety degrees, causing passers-by to look sideways.

"You are finally back, these days I have been looking forward to it every day, just waiting for you to return smoothly to preside over the overall situation."

"Mm."

Fang Cheng nodded slightly, turned to look at Lin Chuqiao and Professor Ye Zhiren beside him, and introduced:

"This is Xiao Chu, who will be responsible for the organization's logistics and finance in the future, and is our chief steward."

"This is the professor, specially responsible for intelligence analysis and strategic planning, and is our strategist."

Subsequently, he raised his finger to point at Xiaosa, and said in a solemn tone:

"This is Xiaosa, a capable general I excavated in Dongdu, and also the first official member of this organization. This base site selection was all handled by him single-handedly."

Hearing the words "capable general" and "first official member", Xiaosa blushed with excitement, and his waist straightened even more.

He turned to look at Lin Chuqiao and Professor Ye Zhiren, and said in a loud voice:

"Hello, two leaders! I am Xiaosa. In the future, if there are any dirty or tiring jobs that need help, just command."

Although he didn't know the specific identities of the two, looking at their demeanor, he knew they were definitely not Mortals.

He stretched out his hand imitating the appearance in the movies, but then retracted it somewhat nervously.

In the end, he had no choice but to cup his fists and bow, looking somewhat nondescript.

Lin Chuqiao smiled slightly, gently nodded back to him and replied:

"Hello, Xiaosa."

Professor Ye Zhiren pushed his glasses, a trace of appreciation flashing in his eyes.

During the wait just now, he had already heard Fang Cheng roughly recount this person's background and family situation.

He knew very well in his heart that this kind of young man who came from the bottom, knew how to repay kindness, and had a ruthless streak, if used well, would be a sharp knife.

"Alright, lead the way."

Seeing that both sides were already familiar, Fang Cheng timely interrupted the pleasantries.

"Yes, Chairman, this way please."

Xiaosa immediately responded and turned around, walking quickly to lead the way in front.

A group of people avoided the noisy main street, passed through several intricate alleys, and finally stopped in front of a six-story old building.

The outer wall of this building was somewhat mottled, covered with dark green moss and Boston ivy.

It didn't look very grand, but its geographical location was extremely subtle.

It was situated in an inconspicuous dead end, easy to defend and difficult to attack from the front, and closely adjacent to a hidden water channel leading to the port at the back.

Surrounded by dense residential houses, if one was not familiar with the terrain, they couldn't find this place at all.

"Chairman, this is the place."

Xiaosa pointed at the building in front of him and introduced methodically:

"This building used to be an office building of a seafood freezing plant. Later, the boss ran away with the money, and it has been idle ever since."

"Don't look at the appearance being a bit dilapidated, the architectural structure is solidly sturdy, and the materials used are also authentic. Because it originally belonged to the office point of the Port Authority Inspectorate, it adopts quasi-military facility standards."

Speaking of this, he lowered his voice, a trace of cunning flashing in the depths of his eyes:

"And... there is another advantage here. The basement connects to that water channel which was used to smuggle goods in the past, hehe, you all understand."

While speaking, Xiaosa took out a large bunch of keys and opened the padlock on the rolling shutter door.

As the rolling shutter was pushed up with a rattle, an old musty smell suddenly hit their faces.

Fang Cheng glanced around and took the lead to step inside.

The first floor was a high-ceilinged hall, and the space was quite open.

Some abandoned office desks, chairs, and filing cabinets were piled up in the corner.

Sunlight spilled in through the dirty floor-to-ceiling windows, forming beams of light in the air, with countless dust dancing within them.

Although it had been idle for a long time, the ground was covered with thick dust, the original grandeur could still be seen.

"Not bad."

Professor Ye Zhiren looked around and gave a pertinent evaluation:

"The space inside the building is much wider than it looks outside, and the layout is square and upright, making it very suitable as an intelligence transfer station and daily office point."

"It's just that the lighting is a bit too good; one can see the scenery inside at a glance from the outside, and the privacy is not enough."

"This is easy to handle."

Lin Chuqiao stepped in high heels, lightly avoiding the debris on the ground, walked to the window and gestured:

"At that time, we'll install one-way perspective glass, and then attach a layer of frosted film. From the outside, it will just be an ordinary company facade."

"This place is spacious, just right for a front desk reception area, make it look decent, specifically used to deceive people."

"Right, right, that's what I thought too."

Xiaosa echoed on the side:

"I was also pondering, putting some green plants and GG signs in the hall would make it look even more like the real deal."

Fang Cheng nodded slightly, quite satisfied with this, and then spoke:

"Let's go upstairs to take a look first."

The crowd climbed up the stairs covered with some dust, their footsteps echoing softly in the empty hallway.

The second and third floors were the office area of the original seafood company, partitioned into cramped cubicles with inferior gypsum boards.

The light was dim, and a sense of oppression hit their faces.

Fang Cheng frowned, reached out to push open a crumbling office door:

"This place is made too messy; it doesn't look like a company, but more like a maze."

Xiaosa then smiled awkwardly and explained:

"The boss before was a skinflint; doing the seafood business, he wished he could squeeze all employees into sardine cans."

Hearing this, Lin Chuqiao couldn't help covering her lips and chuckling.

"The layout is no good; if we buy this place, we must make major changes."

Professor Ye Zhiren shook his head, reached out and knocked on the partition wall, and the gypsum board made a hollow "thud-thud" sound.

"All these messy partitions must be torn down."

"After opening it up, the second floor can be used as an administrative office area, and the third floor can be changed into several large conference rooms and independent offices."

"Although we are a secret organization, we must also have a proper place to hold meetings; we can't possibly go to hotels and teahouses to meet in the future, right?"

"Alright."

Xiaosa immediately stated: "I'll find a construction team later, and tear it all clean within three days."

The crowd continued to walk up, coming to the fourth and fifth floors.

The painting style here changed abruptly, as it seemed to have originally been used as a warehouse.

There were no windows, and the four walls were pasted with thick insulation boards, appearing exceptionally cold and claustrophobic, and even speaking had an echo.

The musty smell in the air mixed with the residual fishy smell accumulated over the years, several times heavier than downstairs.

Lin Chuqiao covered her nose with some disgust and coughed lightly a few times:

"The smell is too unpleasant, weren't they ventilating it before?"

Fang Cheng instead showed a satisfied look.

He walked a couple of steps in the empty floor, listened carefully to the footsteps, and then stomped his feet hard.

"I think it's very good."

Fang Cheng turned to look at Professor Ye Zhiren and Lin Chuqiao, asking for their opinions:

"This kind of enclosed environment is very suitable for installing high-specification security Systems."

"The fourth floor can perhaps be used as an intelligence room and server computer room, and the fifth floor as an equipment room and a temporary rest area for core members."

"As long as the ventilation and monitoring Systems are modified well, this place will be an excellent safe house."

Professor Ye Zhiren nodded in agreement:

"Indeed, the opaque design is conducive to confidentiality, and later adding a few layers of lead plates can even shield electronic signals, eliminating the risk of being wiretapped."

The four of them checked the surrounding environment while discussing the specific decoration plan.

After discussing for a moment, they finally pushed open the rusted iron door and climbed onto the top-floor terrace of the sixth floor.

A salty and humid sea breeze instantly filled their clothes, and their vision suddenly felt broad and clear.