The Heretical Husband Is Too Good at Acting! - Chapter 5

“A hundred times gravity environment?” Chen Mo couldn’t help but ask. “Is it exactly what I think it means?”

“If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then yes.” Shocked by the scene before him, Zhang Tao couldn’t help but recall the humiliation of being pressed into the ground by a tenfold gravity environment not long ago, unable to even crawl. He murmured, “A hundred times gravity… it’s simply unimaginable, yet the Captain looks so relaxed…”

If it were any ordinary human, entering such an environment would cause their bones to collapse instantly, their internal organs would be crushed to pulp, and blood would be unable to circulate through the body. It could be said that under a hundred times gravity, normal life simply cannot be sustained; one would lose consciousness and die in an instant.

In fact, even the strongest materials and structures on Earth would collapse in such an environment.

And yet, Shen Junyao was able to slay monsters with a composed expression and agile movements.

Back when Chen Mo was abroad, he had undergone training in a twofold gravity environment for a period of time.

For an ordinary person, a twofold gravity environment was already an extremely harsh training condition. While not so extreme as to make movement impossible, it caused very obvious effects on all aspects of the body. Under such conditions, physical performance and training results were, of course, starkly different from ordinary training.

In a twofold gravity environment, a human’s body weight doubles. For instance, a person weighing 70kg would feel as if they weighed 140kg. Walking, standing, or even simple movements like lifting a hand became more laborious. Breathing would become slightly difficult, cardiovascular pressure would increase, and the burden on muscles and joints would intensify. Actions like running, jumping, and fighting naturally became more taxing and sluggish; any rapid movement consumed significantly more strength.

If one could overcome these difficulties, the training results would, of course, be far more substantial.

After Chen Mo awakened his superpowers, training in a normal environment felt too easy, and the improvement effects weren’t very obvious. However, he had found some surprises during his training in the twofold gravity environment.

During that time, his muscle strength increased significantly, his explosive power improved quite a bit, and his endurance, balance, coordination, and even willpower were effectively honed.

Unfortunately, the time that training facility was open to the general public was very limited; its members were primarily internal personnel from special organizations, such as mercenaries and soldiers. Originally, Chen Mo had intended to pick a relevant organization to join during this trip abroad to gain the opportunity for long-term training at that venue.

Now it seemed he might not need to go so far afield.

Moreover, he remembered that the maximum gravity value at that training base was five times. It was said that the human limit of endurance was five times gravity; ordinary people might not even be able to stand normally in such an environment, let alone walk or train.

But then again, he wasn’t an ordinary person, was he?

Perhaps he truly needed professional training tailored for super-powered individuals, rather than continuing to be a “frog in a well” among ordinary people, thinking he was impressive.

Looking at the man fighting effortlessly inside the training room, a sense of yearning for the strong involuntarily arose in Chen Mo’s heart. He asked Zhang Tao, “What is Captain Shen’s rank?”

This wasn’t some secret, and Zhang Tao quickly replied, “S-rank. However…”

He thought for a moment and added, “The reason the Captain is only S-rank is because S-rank is currently the highest rating for super-powered individuals. I believe other S-rankers aren’t even on the same level compared to him.”

This guy is a total fanboy of his captain, Chen Mo thought.

He then asked, “And you? What’s your rank?”

Zhang Tao scratched his head sheepishly and said, “I’m only A-rank.”

Only A-rank.

He sounded quite lacking in confidence.

Yet, his assessment of Chen Mo yesterday had been B+.

What, was he that confident in defeating him?

At that thought, Chen Mo’s gaze toward Zhang Tao took on a hint of scrutiny.

Zhang Tao understood the competitive streak in his eyes and hurried to explain, “There were a lot of people yesterday, so I didn’t want to sound too hyperbolic. I think a B+ assessment is a bit conservative for you. Besides, you haven’t undergone any relevant special training yet. To an extent, the evolution speed of a super-powered individual is positively correlated with their training situation. As long as you join our Hunting Group and receive professional training, your evolution speed will accelerate greatly.”

Mentioning this, he asked casually, “By the way, when did you awaken your superpower, and how many times have you broken through so far?”

Chen Mo asked, “What does ‘breakthrough’ mean?”

“It’s…” Zhang Tao organized his words. “When your strength, after a period of stagnation and reaching a bottleneck, suddenly experiences a rapid leap in improvement?”

Chen Mo thought about it; the fever he had when he returned to the country should have been it.

Since Zhang Tao had shared so much with him, he no longer hid his situation and replied truthfully, “I awakened my superpower for the first time four years ago, and I evolved once last week.”

“Only once?” Zhang Tao looked at him in shock.

“Is there something wrong?” Chen Mo looked back, puzzled.

“Awakened for four years?! One breakthrough?! You’re not joking, are you?”

Chen Mo’s heart gave a thump. “What? Is once very little?”

Zhang Tao shut his mouth; he had to think about how to put this tactfully.

After a long pause, he said haltingly, “Let’s put it this way: for the members of our First Team, if they haven’t broken through for more than six months, their missions will be suspended. They’ll be required to focus solely on training until they break through before they’re allowed back on the team.”

Chen Mo: “…”

Zhang Tao urged him earnestly, “Student Chen, why don’t you just join us! Your current choice is a massive waste of your superpower and talent.”

Chen Mo: “…”

Stop scolding me, I’ve learned my lesson.

At the slowest, they broke through once every six months, with each time bringing a qualitative leap in superpower.

Meanwhile, he had wasted three and a half years.

However, no matter how anxious Chen Mo felt inside, he kept his face composed.

He didn’t give Zhang Tao an answer immediately, but instead changed the subject: “How about we go and test my rank first?”

Zhang Tao also really wanted to know his exact strength and readily agreed.

Just as the two were about to leave, the movements of Shen Junyao swinging his blade inside the gravity training room came to a halt. The training session had seemingly reached a temporary conclusion.

He walked to the control panel, adjusted the gravity to the normal multiplier, and raised his arms to stretch, loosening his tightened muscles slightly. He looked up and saw the two people outside the door.

With a somewhat surprised gaze landing on Chen Mo, Shen Junyao gave a slight nod of acknowledgment, walked out, and asked Zhang Tao, “Taking the newcomer for a tour?”

Zhang Tao glanced at Chen Mo and said, “Yeah, but Student Chen hasn’t agreed to join the group yet. I’m doing my best to win him over.”

Shen Junyao looked at Chen Mo and said calmly, “The benefits at our Bureau of Heterodox Affairs are top-tier among all superpower organizations in the country—whether it’s salary and welfare, evolution methods, weapons and equipment, or training facilities. The Hunting Group has a heavy workload and a high risk factor, so various resources are even more skewed in our favor. If you’re not afraid of hardship and exhaustion, you can come and try.”

Chen Mo’s eyes flickered slightly. He bit his lip and nodded forcefully, indicating he would consider it.

Shen Junyao asked Zhang Tao again, “Where are you going next?”

Zhang Tao smiled and said, “I plan to take him to test his superpower rank.”

Shen Junyao nodded, took a bottle of water from the drink rack, and twisted it open to take a sip.

His posture was casual as he tilted his head back slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his perfectly shaped thin lips stained with a layer of water.

“You guys go ahead then. I’ll come over and take a look in a bit,” he said.

Chen Mo wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that this Captain Shen’s gaze lingered on him for a bit too long.

Shen Junyao drank half the bottle, placed it back on the rack casually, and turned to walk toward the showers.

Only after he had walked far away did Chen Mo breathe a sigh of relief inconspicuously.

Zhang Tao looked at Chen Mo with a smile, looking like he understood everything. “The Captain has a strong aura, doesn’t he? But you don’t need to be so nervous. Once you’ve spent time with him, you’ll realize he’s actually a very good person.”

“Mm-hmm,” Chen Mo responded casually, though it wasn’t actually because of nervousness.

Shen Junyao was very tall and exceptionally handsome, with a high bridge to his nose, thin lips, and eyes that were long, narrow, and sharp. Because he had just finished training, his short hair was slightly damp. Stepping close, one could feel the warm heat radiating from him and a faint scent of sweat—it wasn’t unpleasant; on the contrary, it was strangely alluring.

Standing next to him like that was simply overwhelming.

Chen Mo suddenly forgot everything else and only remembered the basic fact that he was male and liked males.

The air seemed to have been sucked out by the other man, making it impossible for him to breathe.

Chen Mo secretly reminded himself to maintain his sense of propriety. If he decided to join the group later, this would be his future direct superior.

Even if not, he was a powerhouse who could slaughter monsters in a hundredfold gravity room.

Not someone he could provoke at will.

It would be safer to keep his orientation strictly hidden.

Zhang Tao led him toward the superpower testing area, saying as they walked, “I feel like the Captain likes you quite a bit.”

Chen Mo looked at him in shock. “Huh?”

How did he reach that conclusion?

Zhang Tao explained, “He usually doesn’t talk much. He said such a long paragraph just now; isn’t that because he hopes you’ll join the group? But every word the Captain said is a fact. Although the nature of our work at the Bureau of Heterodox Affairs is dangerous, the benefits are truly great.”

What he didn’t know was that Chen Mo’s mindset had completely shifted.

It had changed from “I’m here to inspect whether this broken temple is worthy of a great Buddha like me” to “They are so incredibly powerful, does a little piece of trash like me even deserve to be here?”

He even began to feel a faint sense of anticipation for the upcoming superpower test.

His rank had to be at least somewhat high, right? That way, he’d have some confidence when he said he wanted to join.

The superpower testing area was located at the end of the corridor.

Compared to the open design of the other training rooms with their transparent glass walls, the testing area was relatively enclosed, perhaps for privacy protection or other reasons.

Chen Mo noticed that on the sign by the door of the testing ground they were entering, the word “Type I” was written. He asked Zhang Tao, “What does that mean?”

Zhang Tao pushed open the metal door and led him into the interior of the testing ground. The space inside was very vast, divided into different zones, each equipped with one or more pieces of instrumentation.

Chen Mo looked at these instruments with curiosity as he listened to Zhang Tao’s introduction: “There are many different types of powers that awakened individuals possess. Currently, the more common ones are Attack-type abilities, such as energy manipulation, elemental manipulation, physical enhancement, and so on; Control-type abilities, such as mental control, mind reading, etc.; Auxiliary-type abilities, such as healing, sensory enhancement, etc.; or Space-Time manipulation abilities, such as time suspension, reversal, spatial distortion, teleportation, and so on. Considering the uniqueness of different abilities, we cannot use the same standards for ranking. We set different evaluation standards based on the nature of the superpower. This evaluation room is for Attack-type abilities, which we internally refer to as ‘Type I’ superpowers. It primarily tests a super-powered individual’s strength, speed, endurance, neural reaction time, and so on.”

“The final rank assessment isn’t based on a single piece of data, but a comprehensive evaluation of overall capabilities.”

Zhang Tao brought Chen Mo to a piece of equipment and asked him, “So, shall we start with the strength test first?”

Chen Mo took a deep breath, steadied his mind, and agreed, “Alright.”