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"S-sorry." Jessica lowered her head, cheeks as red as a tomato.
"I... I spaced out."
"No worries." Anthony patted her shoulder magnanimously.
"I know—my charisma can be distracting."
"Let's try again."
Anthony stepped close once more.
"This time we'll practice 'push hands'."
They faced each other.
Palms pressed together.
"Feel my force... here it comes."
Anthony's palm rotated and coiled around hers.
It was an extremely intimate move.
They were less than ten centimeters apart.
Their breaths mingled.
Jessica could even count Anthony's long lashes.
Watching this man, the sturdy walls in her heart began to crumble, bit by bit.
So this... is what it feels like to be surrounded by a strong aura?
So this... is the so-called sense of security?
She no longer resisted; she even unconsciously coordinated with Anthony's movements.
At this instant, the training floor turned into a dance floor...
"Beep—!"
The training-arena doors slid open at the worst possible moment.
"Sir! From the lab—"
Ashley rushed in, her heels clacking.
Then she froze.
She glanced at Jessica, flushed and glistening with sweat, then at Anthony—who still gripped Jessica's wrist, their faces ten centimeters apart—and her expression turned spectacular.
"Uh... did I come at a bad time?" Ashley adjusted her glasses, embarrassed.
"I can come back in ten minutes."
"No, you're right on time." Anthony released Jessica and wiped his forehead with a towel—though not a single drop of sweat was there.
"Training's over. Jessica, go take a shower. You smell like a hobo."
"fuck you, Starr." Jessica snatched the towel and shot him a glare, but the usual sharpness was missing from her tone.
"T-tomorrow, same time!" She tossed the words over her shoulder at the doorway, not daring to look back.
"Ding! Special popularity +3,000!"
Listening to the sweet system chime, Anthony smiled in satisfaction.
Once Jessica vanished into the locker-room entrance, he turned to Ashley.
"Speak. What's up?"
Ashley instantly reverted to professional mode, lowering her voice, expression grave.
"Sir, it's Dr. Connor. The lab... has results."
Anthony's towel-stroking hand stilled.
It was the "Compound No. 5" he'd pulled from a Lottery box; he'd sent it to Starr Group's lab.
Anthony tossed the towel aside.
"Take me to the lab."
...Starr Group, Life Sciences Division, Underground Core.
It was Starr Group's most secret area, its security level surpassing that of Vought Headquarters.
Without fingerprint, iris, gait and DNA clearance, not even a fly could enter.
Anthony changed into a white coat and walked into the climate-controlled lab.
A gray-haired old man with thick glasses sat amid a cluster of complex instruments, his look both frenzied and exhausted.
Dr. John Connor.
A veteran of Starr Group, college classmate of Anthony's father, a top biologist and geneticist—and the elder who'd watched Anthony grow up.
"Anthony, you're here."
"Doctor." Anthony stepped forward, respect rare in his tone.
"Looks like you pulled an all-nighter."
"Worth it, kid. Absolutely worth it."
Dr. Connor pointed at the blue liquid under the microscope—the original "Lottery-box" fluid Anthony had given him.
"This stuff... it's a masterpiece of God." Connor's voice trembled.
"This molecular structure, this energy density—it defies everything we know about biology. It can rewrite DNA and give cells virtually limitless power."
"Can you replicate it?" Anthony cut to the chase.
Connor's eyes dimmed.
"No."
He shook his head and sighed.
"Too perfect. Its fabrication process is beyond our current scientific grasp. Several catalyst elements don't exist on Earth... I even suspect it wasn't made under the physical laws of this Universe."
As expected.
If something from the system could be cracked by Earth tech so easily, that would be the real bug.
Anthony wasn't disappointed; he simply asked, "So, bad news?"
"No, that's just fact." Dr. Connor suddenly shifted, eyes gleaming.
"We can't copy the perfect original, but... through reverse engineering we've deciphered part of its mechanism."
He pressed a button.
A robotic arm glided over with a metal tray.
Neat rows of glass vials lay on it.
Inside was not pure sapphire, but a fluorescent, jade-green liquid.
"What's this?" Anthony lifted one.
"We call it... T-Vex," Dr. Connor explained.
"We can't stabilize the permanent genetic rewrite. The original's energy is too strong; replicating it would make a test subject explode within three seconds."
"So we diluted it and added an inhibitor, turning it into a 'temporary' state."
Anthony studied the green vial, pupils flickering.
"Effects?"
"Stunning." Dr. Connor pulled up data.
"Post-injection, a normal human gains superhuman physique within ten seconds—strength up 20-50 times, skin stops 9 mm rounds, pain dulled, adrenaline spiking. Some even spark a tiny special ability: a flame from the palm or a brief high-voltage discharge."
"Duration?"
"Ten minutes." Connor spread his palms.
"After ten minutes the effect plummets and the user crashes into extreme fatigue and hunger."
"Side effects?" Anthony hit the key point.
Dr. Connor's expression turned grave.
"That's the biggest problem, Anthony."
"This energy is toxic to humans. The inhibitor only slows it; the body still has to metabolize it."
"Within 24 hours, one shot has no real impact. Two shots in a row halve the boost and heavily burden the organs."
"If someone takes three in a row..." Connor adjusted his glasses, "the immune system builds permanent antibodies. From then on, it's like drinking plain water—zero effect. In severe cases, the gene strand collapses."
"And production is brutal. We have to isolate specific isotopes. Running our classified line at full tilt, daily output is... a hundred vials."
"A hundred vials..."
Anthony rolled the green tube between his fingers.
Ten minutes of Superman on credit.
Low yield, drug resistance, side effects.
Sounds like a defective product.
But in Anthony's eyes, nothing is useless; from another angle, this is... the perfect product.