Chapter 315 - 32: Superpower Team Leader, Lu Chao

Lu Chao nodded, taking in all the instructions.

The man’s voice echoed in his mind long after he left.

’The Tan family...’

He silently got into the back seat of the jeep.

Lu Chao glanced back at the Storm Club, a glint in his eyes.

Most of Ge Hongfeng’s briefing had been about the Tan family.

According to him, the Hunter Guild had originally planned to build on their past goodwill by continuing to sponsor him—or rather, supply him with more resources—and hire him as a guild consultant.

However, due to the Tan family’s influence, there was significant internal opposition, and the idea was quietly dropped.

At this thought, Lu Chao shook his head, his gaze growing calm.

’Some things can’t be rushed. When you do it, you have to do it thoroughly.’

In the end, it all came down to one thing: strength.

As he mulled this over, he opened the metal box he had received earlier.

Inside wasn’t a nutritional resource, but a special, silver, U-drive-shaped device.

It was square, with an unusually conspicuous circular Fist Seal pattern.

’A storage device from the Golden Defense Group?’

Recognizing its origin at a glance, Lu Chao plugged it into his wrist-watch.

Soon, the watch’s light screen flashed as it read the data, and conspicuous lines of text appeared before him.

[Biological Organism Research], [Theory of Decomposing Advanced Medicinal Herbs], [Method for Controlling Negative Drug Side Effects]... A full four volumes of advanced knowledge on Superpower Potions, completing the final theoretical requirements for him to become a Senior Alchemist.

’How thoughtful.’

Lu Chao nodded to himself. He could tell that a lot of effort had gone into this, and it had also indirectly saved him a large number of contribution points.

Even after becoming a Superpower Level Martial Artist, he had no intention of abandoning the path of an Alchemist. In fact, he was looking forward to using it to fill his energy void and awaken a new talent even faster.

With this in mind, he turned his gaze to the small silver briefcase inside the car.

The three vials of energy mineral essence from the Tan family were inside, along with his monthly benefit from the Superpower Bureau: five portions of Advanced Nutritional Resources.

By his calculations, this should be enough for him to improve significantly in a short period of time.

VMMMM!!

The black jeep sped through the night.

Neon lights flickered along the streets, where figures with cybernetic prosthetics moved about endlessly.

Lu Chao withdrew his gaze.

His mind was consumed by a single thought: he had to keep getting stronger.

...

...

「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」

It seemed like a short time, but the Alliance Country’s calendar had turned a new page.

It was now the fifty-second year of the Alliance—a new year had begun.

The weather in Red Maple was gradually warming in January. The coldest part of winter was passing, and there were already hints of early spring.

On the bustling streets, an endless stream of traffic flowed. The sounds of car horns mixed with the low hum of trams, while hover cars occasionally zipped past overhead, kicking up a gust of air.

Passersby were still bundled up in thick cotton jackets, down coats, and windbreakers, but the wind on the streets was no longer so biting, and the white puffs of their breath were starting to fade.

"Brother Liang, you got a new prosthetic on your leg?"

"Of course. It’s a fourth-generation civilian model I snagged from [Steel-Fusion Mechanics]. It’s second-hand, but it’s still in good shape. It can generate three hundred kilograms of force. The only downside is that I had to get my kidney and a few blood vessels replaced with bionic organs."

"Tsk, tsk, a fourth-gen... Totally worth it, Brother Liang. If you ask me, it won’t be long before you’re the Vice Hall Master of our Copper Pattern Gang. You’ll probably be able to pay off that welfare loan in no time..."

At a public phone booth in the district square, two or three tattooed gang members stood off to the side, smoking and laughing. They crowded around a young leader, showering him with envious praise.

A few other subordinates were nearby, handing out flyers for the gang’s loan company.

Their voices, neither loud nor soft, caused a young man with a buzz cut, sitting on a public bench to the side in a gray hoodie, to lower his magazine and look over.

’A welfare loan...’

A flicker in his eyes, Lu Chao suddenly realized that term felt like a distant memory.

He had paid it off long ago when he broke through to the Elite Level, freeing himself from that pressure.

And now...

He retracted his gaze and looked at the panel before his eyes.

[Life Energy: 102 → 108!]

[Potential Progress: 31%]

In the past month, he had consumed all three vials of energy mineral essence.

Combined with the grueling training of the [Ten Thousand Spirits Martial Arts Skill] and various other Martial Skills, he had relentlessly pushed his physical limits time and again.

Although he had suffered some negative effects from building up a resistance to the potions, the replenishment from numerous nutritional resources still allowed him to gain a full six points of Life Energy.

Thinking of this, Lu Chao casually took a transparent, silver, unmarked vial from the pocket of his gray hoodie.

He twisted off the cap and drank its contents.

GULP... GULP...

This was the last Senior-Level Nutritional Potion from his monthly benefits.

The abundant medicinal power was drawn into his body, seeping into his limbs, flesh, blood, and cells, transforming into nutritional energy.

His [Devour and Grow] talent activated at full power, quickly absorbing it all.

However, Lu Chao looked at the panel and saw no significant change in his Life Energy. Only his Potential Progress had increased by another point.

’Just as I thought.’

A glint appeared in his eyes, but Lu Chao wasn’t surprised.

He had already built up considerable resistance to Senior-Level Nutritional Potions back when he was at the Elite Level. Not to mention, the difficulty of increasing Life Energy at the Superpower Level was several times greater than before.

Even with the boost from [Devour and Grow], it would take at least five or six portions to raise his Life Energy by a single point, and the effects would only diminish further from there.

In other words, if he wanted to maintain this rapid pace of improvement, he would have to rely more on energy mineral essence or other elementary-grade nutritional resources.