Chapter 046: Prime Warrior
Rico stared blankly at Mason's physical data, even forgetting to transmit it to him.
A thin chip had somehow appeared over one of Rico's eyes, displaying data that was invisible to outsiders.
"Rico, what's going on? Why are you making such a big deal?"
A shirtless, bald young man, wiping a thin layer of sweat from his body, asked with a hint of pride on his face, but subtle disdain in his gaze.
"Nothing much, just that this member's physical abilities surprised me." Rico glanced at the young man but didn't elaborate, clearly aware of the need to protect privacy.
"I thought it was something serious. You're really making a mountain out of a molehill." The young man sized Mason up and down. "Does a prodigy really exist in a dump like the Lower City?"
"What, does his physical ability allow him to directly unlock the energy threshold and reach the first Prime level?" Mason didn't quite understand the young man's words, but he didn't ask further.
Seeing Mason's confusion, the young man's expression grew even more arrogant. "You've never seen anything like it, Rico. Instead of wasting your time on this useless crap, why don't you convince your old man to teach me some real techniques!"
"You know my time is valuable—I'm not here to spend it hitting those broken wooden dummies with you!"
It seemed this young man had some kind of arrangement with the gym, but it appeared his demands hadn't been met, leaving him resentful. He was deliberately picking a fight with Rico, and Mason was just caught in the crossfire.
Getting caught in the crossfire twice in one day—Mason was truly at a loss for words.
At the mention of Rico's father, his face became agitated. "My father's arrangements naturally have their reasons, Donovan. Your foundation is unstable—you've used too many shortcuts to reach your current level."
"If you don't build it properly, even if you force yourself to reach the critical threshold, there's no chance of breaking the energy lock!"
"Besides, this guy's physical attributes, while not as high as yours, are still close to two points. He's a natural human, without taking any bio-enhancers!"
"He might even have a better shot than you at becoming a Prime Warrior in the future!"
Seemingly touched on a sore spot, the young man named Donovan's face flushed red. "My physical attributes are a full 2.84! I'm only a little bit away from the 3.0 critical threshold. If your father hadn't wasted my time, I might have already advanced!"
Rico sneered. "Donovan, don't you know how you got those physical attributes? And let me tell you, this guy not only has outstanding physical attributes, but his mental endurance is terrifying. His mental endurance has exceeded two points, even reaching the minimum requirement to break the energy lock!"
"What does this mean? No one knows better than you."
"It means this guy's capabilities have reached a critical point. As long as he undergoes proper augmentation, he can easily break through the threshold and become a Prime Warrior!"
At this moment, Rico's anger surged, and he didn't care about anything else, deliberately crushing Donovan's ego.
"That's impossible!"
"How could there be such a prodigy in a place like the Lower City? Everyone living here is a genetic dead-end." Donovan spoke recklessly, and even though he didn't name names, the onlookers frowned slightly.
"Hey, kid, watch your mouth. You keep talking about the Lower City. What, you're not from the Lower City? Then get out of here and go back to your cushy penthouse!" A burly man with a scarred face couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up.
Donovan glanced at the burly man with a grim expression but remained silent. Instead, he stared at Rico. "I don't believe this guy's two stats are both above 2.0. You must be lying to me!"
"Show me his test report!"
"Sorry, that's a member's privacy," Rico replied coldly.
"Fine, real nice!"
"You guys are real slick. We'll see about this!" Donovan's eyes flashed with malice as he glared at the two men before turning and leaving.
"Bah!"
"What a piece of work!" The scarred burly man spat in Donovan's direction, his face full of contempt.
"I hate that arrogant attitude more than anything!"
Rico's expression was far from relaxed. "Olek, be careful. Donovan is strong and has connections in the Central District. Don't let him cause you trouble."
The burly man named Olek didn't care. "Even if he's physically strong, can he be stronger than bullets? My skills are all in my gun. If he dares to come looking for me, I don't care where he's from—I'll blow him away!"
"Brother, I'm sorry you got dragged into this." After everyone left, Rico turned around and apologized to Mason.
"What exactly is going on? Can you explain it to me?"
"It's a long story. I'll send you your test report first, but honestly, your data is truly amazing!" A glint flashed in Rico's cybernetic eye, and Mason received a message on his wristwatch.
He opened the message, and a transparent screen appeared before him, densely covered with various information.
The two most prominent lines were "Physical Attributes and Mental Endurance."
"Could you explain these two data points to me?" Mason asked.
"Now I'm starting to believe you're a purely natural human," Rico said, pointing to the information on Mason's screen.
"Physical attributes, as the name suggests, are the composite values generated by a combination of factors such as your physique, strength, agility, cell activity, etc., representing a person's most basic level of capability."
"Of course, because of different focuses, even with the same physical attributes data, there will be significant differences in the details. You understand what I'm saying, right?"
Mason nodded, signaling Rico to continue.
"What's displayed above is just a composite value, a reference baseline, so it's displayed together. You can see the detailed information after you click on it." Following Rico's instructions, Mason clicked on the screen, and sure enough, detailed values for each category appeared.
The Super Soldier Serum enhanced him quite comprehensively—his strength, agility, recovery, and other values were relatively balanced. He was slightly more agile, but not by much.
"Regarding mental endurance, this value is rather special, involving a person's willpower, focus, concentration, and so on."
"But most importantly, it affects the extent to which a person's body can undergo augmentation and the degree to which they can be equipped with external armor."
"The higher this value, the more parts can be augmented, and it also affects the intensity of localized modifications. Generally speaking, most people have one outstanding value in either physical attributes or mental endurance—those like you, who reach high levels in both, are extremely rare."
Mason nodded. This reminded him of building PCs in his previous life. To create the most powerful machine, you not only need a powerful CPU, graphics card, and other components, but also a compatible motherboard.
Here, the human body is that motherboard.
"Then what are those Prime Warriors you mentioned earlier?"
"Prime Warriors..."
Rico's face showed a hint of longing.
"They are the most powerful beings in the entire galaxy!"
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