Luo Di stumbled to his feet, his clothes soaked with sweat, leaving a human-shaped imprint on the sofa.
He grabbed the ice bucket next to him, which contained a bucket of ice he had prepared earlier, now melted into ice water.
"Splash—"
Without hesitation, he poured it over his head.
The cold stimulated Luo Di's entire body, making him shiver violently, and his consciousness quickly cleared!
"Phew… that feels good!"
Luo Di let out a long breath, bounced in place, and felt his physical quality surge again!
One bounce almost sent his head crashing into the ceiling.
Strength!
He was filled with strength; no wonder so many people enjoyed fitness. This visible improvement was simply captivating.
He casually wiped his face and found a towel to dry his soaking wet hair.
His extremely high physical quality meant Luo Di didn't have to worry about catching a cold or similar ailments.
So, next up!
Time to start today's training plan...
...
Chapter 39: Perseverance Leads to Success!
Temporary Base
Several portable camping lights illuminated the Underground Room.
It was about fifty to sixty square meters.
It was barely enough for practicing blade techniques and mental power, but just passable for movement techniques.
He shook off the water droplets from his hair.
Luo Di took off his shirt, revealing his strong, well-defined muscles and perfect physique!
If he wanted to, he could take off his shirt and walk around a bar; he would have as many girls as he desired throwing themselves at him.
Especially now that the trend from the Korean entertainment industry was starting to influence the Western market.
Handsome, with delicate, fair skin, and a perfect physique.
Nights of revelry would be no problem.
After all, pre-relationship "tryouts" were common practice in the West.
Aside from his still somewhat youthful face, no one could tell that Luo Di had previously been a frail high school student.
He effortlessly lifted the sofa with one hand, then tossed it aside.
Luo Di lowered the installed projector and carefully took out the USB drive Devouring Luo Di had given him, plugging it in.
It contained various insights for improvement, as well as blade techniques, sword techniques, and so on, including the Ninefold Thunder Blade!
This blade technique could unleash up to ten layers of hidden force, achieving 7 times the attack power.
With his current punch force of around 2000-3000kg, even if he was just beginning to practice the first layer, through special force exertion methods, he could already increase his strength by 30%-40%.
The Devouring World itself was a huge treasure trove. The current Earth alone, with its technology, military power, civilian technology, body potential development training, and various combat skills, was enough to benefit Luo Di immensely.
Five hundred push-ups, five hundred blade swings, five hundred overhand pull-ups.
After completing his warm-up, Luo Di's condition had reached its peak; his breathing was even, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Then let's begin training..."
Picking up a Blood Shadow Battleblade nearby, Luo Di began to learn the basic blade techniques step by step according to the instructions.
Streaks of light flashed through the Underground Room!
..
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; a great river is formed by many small streams.
The road is long and arduous, but perseverance leads to success...
...
First Day of School
About a week later,
The school was finally cleaned up. Before leaving home, Luo Di's cheap mom told him to wear a black formal suit, as required by the school.
On the first day, the school would organize a collective memorial for the deceased students and teachers.
It was said that the school alone had removed over two hundred bodies, with a large number of students dying from stampedes or being crushed by collapsing buildings.
Originally, given the U.S. school system's emphasis on safety education, such heavy casualties should not have occurred.
But unfortunately, the Chitauri were not those hot-headed fools who would rush into a school with guns, shooting wildly after their brains were fried by drugs.
Nor were they unlucky kids who committed crimes on a whim.
These students who committed crimes of passion often couldn't kill many people and were always lone wolves, making it easy for the remaining students to hide.
But the Chitauri! They were efficient killing machines.
...
Midtown School of Science and Technology
The school entrance was filled with white flowers and grieving parents. Regardless of the country, a parent's love for their child remains constant.
Luo Di sighed silently. From now on, the lives of ordinary people, especially New York City residents, would likely get worse day by day.
...
At the same time, Luo Di also learned some news that made him feel a bit helpless.
Because his transformed 'Sentinel' had rescued nearly a thousand trapped teachers and students, the school specifically planned to erect a statue of him at the entrance.
This was to thank this Super Hero for his great contribution.
Luo Di was indifferent to this.
But when he arrived at the school entrance by car and saw the hastily erected statue,
His indifference turned into something else...
As soon as the car door opened, Luo Di didn't bother to respond to his cheap mom's nagging instructions.
He froze in place, and a mission box appeared before his eyes again, with the Firefly Kid constantly appearing within it.
—
[World Mission Series Two: Public Display of Power!]
[Mission Type: Long-term Mission]
[Mission Description: After the New York World War I, your name has begun to spread in a small area. Some people like you, admire you, revere you, and some people hate you, are hostile to you, and detest you!]
[But none of this is important. What's important is that you have publicized your name. Although your identity remains mysterious, you have gained recognition.]
[Continue to spread your name, whether good or bad, benevolent or evil, and let more people know of your existence!]
[Mission Reward: Among those who have one of the following emotions towards you (Admiration, Appreciation, Affection, Dislike, Hostility, Aversion)]
[Every hundred ordinary people: Points +10 (Maximum gain limit 100,000 points)]
[Every Super Hero or Super Villain: Points +100 (Note: Cannot be obtained repeatedly) (Calculated from the mission release date. Conditions met before release are not included in the statistics and will be compensated with 1000 points.)]
[Current Points: 8510]
[Branch Mission: Spread your prestige throughout the five major districts of New York City (achieve over 80% recognition): Points +10000]
[Branch Mission: When 30% (50%, 80%, 100%) of residents in each state/country know of your existence, you can receive a certain amount of points. (Specifics based on the points awarded.)]
...
Luo Di had originally been worried about not having enough points.
Now that he had finally received a mission, and a long-term one at that, he breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, no matter how much he saved, points would eventually run out. Just exchanging some things from the Devouring World's Earth had cost over two thousand, and future expenses would surely be unimaginable!
Being able to generate more income was definitely for the best.
And this mission required him to become famous, but it didn't seem to specify that he had to reveal his Zhenren (Immortal) identity.
So, using an alias was also acceptable?
Luo Di was very satisfied. Since that was the case, even for the sake of points, he would have to make more public appearances.
...
Walking into the school,
Before Luo Di could even reach his classroom, he heard an excited call from behind him.
Turning around, he saw...
It was Peter, his head still bandaged, leaning on a crutch, walking excitedly towards Luo Di.
'No... what's wrong with this guy? Did I accidentally hit him with a brick when I was in a demonic trance?'
Luo Di was full of questions.
He remembered checking Peter before he left, making sure he wasn't hurt before departing.
But before Gao Yu could speak, Peter curiously asked first, "Luo, you look different from before."
Different... definitely different.
Luo Di's height had suddenly shot up from 1.7 meters to 1.8 meters, almost as tall as Peter, and his physique was much more muscular. Fortunately, he was the type who looked muscular without a shirt but not bulky with one, so it wasn't too noticeable in general.
"Maybe it's because I've been volunteering and working out these past few days."
Luo Di casually made up an excuse. He had told his parents the same thing: that he was volunteering to help others.
"Is that so? But... can volunteering make you grow taller?" Peter was clearly a bit suspicious but didn't ask further. Instead, he patted his chest and sighed:
"Anyway, it's good that you're alright. You don't know, when I woke up and found you weren't there, I almost had a heart attack. Then I asked other people, and no one had seen you either..."
"I wanted to call you, but then I realized I didn't even have your phone number, buddy. That's no good."
Seeing Peter glance at him sideways, Luo Di smiled and teased.
"You don't participate in extracurricular activities, and neither do I. We're both good students, so what's the point of exchanging contact information? Come on, you're not a beautiful girl."
"Alright, alright." Peter thought about it and realized it made sense. He shrugged helplessly, but then, leaning on his crutch, he hopped to catch up with Luo Di.
"But you still haven't told me where you went at the time?"
...
Chapter 40: Stupid Gorilla
Midtown School of Science and Technology
Today was the first day of school after the New York World War I.
But the students clearly hadn't emerged from the shadow of the war.
Everyone wore solemn formal attire, the kind specifically used for funerals.
Walking through the school building, one could occasionally hear someone quietly sobbing. Couples who used to kiss daily now had only one person left, standing haggardly by a locker filled with memories.
Recalling sweet times, tears flowed endlessly.
A few seats were empty in every class...
Peter had originally wanted to press Luo Di about his whereabouts.
But this was not a good time to ask questions. Peter stopped talking and silently followed behind Luo Di.
Being kind-hearted, he couldn't bear to see such things and involuntarily clenched his fists.