94: Chapter 94 Superpowers Can Cause Rheumatism

Inside the shop, Barnes walked to the corner, squatted down, and checked the Hedgehog guy's carotid artery with his fingers. Finding his pulse steady and breathing normal, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It was just that he was still unconsciously muttering something.

Leaning in to listen, it sounded like Korean. Translated, it was roughly: "Give me another chance, I definitely won't be careless again."

Barnes stood up and commanded the soldiers: "Send him out and hand him over to the medical team outside."

"Watch his face; spikes might suddenly pop out, so don't get scratched. Also, tell the Medical Team Leader that this is currently the only confirmed sample of a real Esper. Give me a full set of tests, and keep drawing blood until the lab says it's enough."

"If he wakes up, notify me immediately."

Two soldiers helped the Hedgehog guy up, supporting him by his arms as they walked out.

The young man's head drooped, his toes dragging two long white marks on the ground.

The people at the door made way for him, everyone watching with the same complex gaze as this hedgehog man was dragged away.

After dealing with the hedgehog man, Barnes looked at Kara. "Give me another thousand doses of the potion. Put it on the government's tab."

"A thousand doses?" Kara repeated, a bit surprised.

"Wait a moment." Kara raised both hands. "That's a lot of stock; we need to prepare."

After saying that, she pulled Karl into the back, and the other Planet Wuhu people took over their positions.

Karl asked in confusion, "Kara, we still have over four thousand bottles of fake potions. Just give them those. Why did you pull me to the back?"

Kara looked up at Karl with a look as if she were looking at an idiot. "The quantity isn't the problem; I know we have enough. But if they drink a thousand bottles and still haven't Awakened any Special Abilities, it'll look too fake."

"In a bit, quickly sell the real potions mixed in there. I want to see more than five 'Awakened' in the shortest time possible to keep them guessing the pattern."

"After that, I'll separately mix a dose for that group of soldiers. Close the shop immediately after selling out."

Five minutes later, ten silver metal boxes were neatly stacked on the counter. Each box was opened to reveal a hundred bottles of potion firmly held in foam slots. The deep blue liquid shimmered slightly in the glass bottles, looking like ten boxes of compressed liquid starlight under the lights.

Barnes stood before the counter and waved to the soldiers behind him.

The soldiers swarmed forward, each picking up a bottle, unscrewing the cap, and chugging it down.

The scene was such that anyone who didn't know better would think the Marines were having a team-building event, competing to see who could finish a bottle faster.

A bearded Sergeant took the lead, finishing one in a single gulp. After drinking, he even shook the bottle upside down, his expression actually carrying a hint of aftertaste.

Kara stood behind the counter, watching the soldiers unscrew the potions with fluid motions and chug them down. She wondered if she should make the potions taste worse.

If this stuff was as bitter as Chinese medicine, they wouldn't be able to drink it so fast.

Barnes unscrewed a second bottle and downed it in one go. The Black soldier next to him even started competing in speed by chugging two bottles at once.

Seeing them drink so happily, Kara silently pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

Forget it.

The target customers are, after all, the general public.

If it really tasted too bad, these sweet-toothed people from the United States wouldn't come back to buy it a second time.

By the time Barnes reached the nineteenth bottle, he suddenly stopped.

He looked down at the bottle in his hand. This bottle looked no different from the previous eighteen—same glass body, same deep blue liquid, same blueberry flavor.

But the moment it entered his mouth, he noticed a difference: this bottle wasn't particularly sweet.

The first eighteen bottles were all distinctly sweet, like the faint fructose sweetness of blueberry jam diluted with water.

But this bottle wasn't very sweet; it was crisp and refreshing, somewhat like Alien Electrolyte Water. As the liquid slid down his throat, he even felt a hint of coolness.

He placed the empty bottle on the counter, about to call the next soldier to start chugging the next one.

But just as his finger touched the glass surface of the new bottle, his whole body froze.

He looked down at his right hand gripping the bottle. The glass body in his hand was slightly fogging up. When he let go, a clear white frost fingerprint remained on the bottle.

Barnes stared at his right hand, seeing the skin color was normal—no bruising, no discoloration—and the joints moved freely.

He clenched his fist; his sense of strength was normal, and his sense of touch was also normal.

He picked up the bottle of potion again and held it for ten seconds.

After letting go, the bottle was covered in white mist, and a thin layer of ice crystals even floated on the surface of the liquid inside.

He beckoned to the Black soldier next to him.

"Come here."

The Black soldier put down the bottle in his hand and walked over.

Barnes slapped his entire right palm onto the soldier's neck.

"Hiss!"

The Black soldier jumped back three paces as if he'd been electrocuted, clutching his neck with one hand, his eyes bulging like two boiled eggs.

His body instinctively shuddered: "Commander! Why is your palm so cold!"

Several soldiers nearby put down their bottles at the same time.

Barnes looked down at his right hand, then raised his left hand.

He closed his eyes as if sensing something, then placed his right hand on his own neck.

The temperature of his right hand was likely below zero degrees.

He placed his left hand in the same spot.

This time it was normal body temperature.

He switched back and forth a few times, gradually understanding his Special Ability: his right hand could lower the temperature of objects, roughly equivalent to a small refrigerator.

The surrounding soldiers all crowded around.

"Sir, what does it feel like?"

"Has the Special Ability really Awakened?"

"Can your palm chill a Coke? I happen to have a can right here."

He was just about to speak.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Three crisp claps rang out, interrupting him.

Everyone looked toward the sound.

Kara stood behind the counter, her hands still pressed together in a clapping gesture. "Dear customers, we are about to close! Those who haven't bought stock, please come back tomorrow!"

Everyone in the shop looked enviously at the few lucky ones. While Barnes was drinking, several others had also Awakened Special Abilities; one person's ability could even briefly change their facial features.

This made many people extremely envious, and they secretly vowed to bring more money tomorrow.

——————

Meanwhile, on the plaza outside.

A dozen temporary tents were set up next to a military field medical vehicle. Doctors in white coats were performing full physical exams on the 'Awakened' waiting in line.

The first person to finish having blood drawn, a programmer in a plaid shirt, sat on a stool with a vacant expression, clutching a freshly printed medical report in his hand.

He stared at the paper, his lips trembling.

"Test result: Mild bone hyperplasia in the left patella; recommended to reduce mountain climbing activities..."

"I signed up for a Special Ability awakening test, and he found I have arthritis?"

Just then, the sound of engines came from the distance. The Medical Team Leader looked up and saw a row of olive-green trucks slowly driving toward them, the carriages filled with a large group of elderly men and women.

One old lady pressed her face against the window glass, waving and shouting to the doctors: "Doctor! My shoulder has hurt for twenty years! Quick, help me see if this is a muscle enhancement Special Ability that has Awakened!"

The Medical Team Leader lowered his head and looked at the clipboard in his hand.

In the column for the total number of physical exam samples today, he slowly wrote down a number.

Then he added a remark below: [Serious Warning: In today's test data, over sixty percent of the samples suffer from varying degrees of rheumatism, arthritis, and lumbar disc herniation.]

[Recommendation: The data analysis center should process the test results in a separate category. It is suspected that the vast majority of Awakened have obvious physiological reactions when the weather changes.]

He thought for a moment and added another sentence: [Note: Today, four hundred examinees over the age of sixty-five insisted they had Awakened a bone hardening Special Ability.]

[Upon examination, the bones are full of bone spurs. Recommended for focused analysis.]

——————

In the conference room, the President looked at this report and fell into deep thought!"}],