Chapter 20: The First Enhancement

Li Gang stood rooted to the spot for a long time, unmoving. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and his heart surged with joy—he even burst out laughing. Moments ago, he had clearly seen, through his binoculars, the flag painted on the fighter jet. It was the national flag of Huaxia, unmistakable.

What did this mean? It meant that among the surviving contestants from Huaxia, there was at least one soldier, and not just any ordinary soldier—only an elite could pilot a fighter jet. This Huaxia soldier must be among the most elite, trained under the strictest military standards.

With such a contestant, the odds of Huaxia winning in this decade-long game were far from slim. Moreover, this soldier would almost certainly choose the first reward in the end. If it had been a foreign soldier, Li Gang would have been wary and fearful, but Huaxia’s own—especially one of its finest—would possess the highest integrity and military discipline, unwavering loyalty to country and people.

The more Li Gang considered it, the more excitement welled up within him. This was, since the apocalypse and the start of the game, the most exhilarated and hopeful he had ever felt. Judging by the direction in which the fighter jet disappeared, it seemed to be heading north, though its final destination was unclear.

Li Gang immediately marked the jet pilot as a target using the tracking function, allowing him to monitor the exact location at any time. He even felt a strong urge to leave at once and pledge allegiance to this person, to follow wherever they went.

It took a full quarter of an hour before Li Gang gradually calmed, his excitement settling. He exhaled deeply, then opened his personal status panel to inspect his attributes.

His stamina had increased by seven, reaching 112. His strength rose by seven, now at 102. His mental acuity increased by three, now at 81. His speed increased by two, now at 82. His combat power also increased by two, reaching 82, which, compared to last time, had actually widened the gap from the normal benchmark.

Compared to four days prior, all four of Li Gang’s basic attributes now exceeded the average for adult men on Earth. Without hesitation, he used his first enhancement opportunity on stamina. Li Gang wasn’t sure whether his choice was correct, nor if stamina was truly his greatest natural strength, nor could he determine if this was the right way to grow stronger, but he had no better alternatives. The AI assistant, Xiaobai, offered no advice regarding enhancements. Alone, with no one to consult, this was his only path.

As for the notion of saving the enhancement and continuing to train, waiting until danger struck before using it, he felt there was no need. Besides, if the post-enhancement training yielded even faster results, wouldn’t it be a huge waste not to do so now?

He also considered another factor: he would need time to adjust to his enhanced body—a sudden, drastic increase in power would prevent him from utilizing his full potential immediately.

The moment Li Gang used his first enhancement, his status panel changed instantly. His stamina doubled from 112 to 224, though surprisingly, the other three stats remained unchanged. His combat power, however, rose to 102.

He carefully examined how he felt before and after the enhancement. There was little discernible difference—if not for the numbers on the panel, he might have believed nothing had happened at all. He recalled Xiaobai’s explanation of stamina: it determines how far you can travel, and governs endurance, resilience, recovery rate, and bodily toughness. The higher the stamina, the less easily fatigue sets in.

With this in mind, it was only natural that he didn’t feel much different after the boost. Still, he needed to test the effectiveness. Acting on this thought, Li Gang began doing one-armed push-ups on the spot, quickly surpassing his previous limits without a trace of fatigue. When he reached twice his former maximum, he stopped.

He sensed he could continue even further, but that wasn’t his aim—he simply wanted to verify the effects of the enhancement. Standing up, breathing lightly, he noticed that his fatigue, particularly in his arms, faded far faster than ever before. His recovery rate had clearly improved.

“So this is what it feels like to have stamina beyond an ordinary man,” Li Gang mused, swinging his arms. A stamina value over 200 was more than double the average for an adult male—already beyond what normal people could achieve. In other words, his endurance, resilience, recovery, and toughness had all surpassed the limits attainable by ordinary men, and by a wide margin.

He was very pleased with the results of his test, though slightly disappointed that the other stats hadn’t improved alongside the massive increase in stamina. After all, after every training session, all four stats would show some progress.

He spent the entire morning training, but regular conditioning now had little visible effect on his vastly improved stamina.

At the city zoo of WF County, Li Gang stood at the entrance. So far, he had used only one enhancement, with six left, plus two opportunities for full recovery and healing.

After a morning of thought, he decided to test the effects of the full recovery treatment, but on second thought, it seemed wasteful to use it carelessly. So he came here, intending to challenge some fierce beasts: if injured, he could use the full recovery, while also honing his combat skills and courage.

But upon entering, he realized how naïve this idea was. The zoo had gone a month without human care—the animals were mostly dead, and those still alive were barely clinging on.

After a brief tour, Li Gang returned to the entrance. He pondered—he would have to use a full recovery once, if only to experience its effects firsthand and to help decide the best balance between enhancements and recoveries in the future. After all, conflicts with other contestants would only become more frequent, and injuries in battle would be inevitable; at that point, full recovery would be crucial.

Ten minutes later, Li Gang arrived at the entrance of a residential complex. The buildings inside were all over twenty stories tall. His purpose was simple: to jump from different floors, testing the limits of what his body could withstand. Once he was seriously injured, he would use the full recovery.

He started by jumping from the third floor—about six meters. If he was fine, he’d go up one floor at a time. In this way, he progressed floor by floor, soon reaching the sixth, about fourteen meters up. The impact with the cement below was noticeably harsh; his legs struggled to absorb the force, a sharp, tearing pain in his muscles. Yet the pain faded quickly.

After a short rest, feeling no major issues, he moved on to the seventh floor—a full seventeen meters. Looking down, even he felt a twinge of fear, but recalling he had the full recovery to rely on, he took a deep breath and jumped.

Bang!

“Aagh!” Li Gang cried out in agony as he landed. A wave of pain shot through his legs and feet, nearly making him faint. In that instant, he felt the unmistakable sensation of bones breaking under the strain. Not just his legs and feet—other parts of his body were also damaged, and his internal organs may have ruptured, as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Without hesitation, he activated the full recovery. In the next instant, all pain vanished.

Li Gang stood up as if nothing had happened, walking around easily. Never before had he felt so utterly rejuvenated—his energy, spirit, and vigor all at their peak.