He saw rows of glowing plants. Centennial blood-ginseng.
Frost-fire lotus. Bone-marrow roots. Every herb radiated intense, high-grade energy.
A single stalk could buy a city in the outside world.
He looked up.
Cecilia smirked.
"Eat them," she commanded. "Nourish your body today."
She shifted her weight. The chair creaked.
"Because tomorrow, and every day after... you will come here. You will serve me."
She moved her right leg.
She placed her bare foot directly over his lap.
The silk robe tented upward, completely rigid.
The physical reaction to his 800% stat boost and her S-Rank aura refused to subside.
She pressed down. Her toes traced the hard shape beneath the silk. She applied deliberate weight.
Rustle.
Chen Shi gasped. His core tightened.
The contrast between her cold skin and his boiling blood spiked his heart rate.
Cecilia laughed. A low sound echoed in the mist.
"Make sure you have the stamina to back this up, little cutie."
Viper stared through the gap in the mist.
He saw Chen Shi sit up. He saw the silver storage ring in Chen Shi's hand.
He saw the flushed, perfectly healthy skin.
He saw the satisfied smile on the S-Rank Boss's face.
Viper's mind snapped. The reality was too absurd. It broke his sanity.
Lady Cecilia stood up.
Clack.
She slid her pale feet back into her metal stilettos.
She straightened her dress. The scent of blooming roses lingered in the air.
"I have matters to attend to," she said. Her voice lacked its previous heat.
It returned to cold authority. "You are free to move."
She snapped her fingers.
Crash.
The black mist shattered like glass. The red lights of the gym flooded the space again.
Lady Cecilia turned and walked out the iron double doors. Her heavy footsteps faded down the hall.
Chen Shi stood.
Power hummed in his veins. The 800% stat multiplier made his body feel light as a feather.
He looked toward Rack 1.
Viper and HeavyTank were stuck on their final rep. Their arms shook violently.
Blood pooled under their faces.
Chen Shi narrowed his eyes. He triggered his Misfortune aura. Maximum output.
A wave of grey, invisible energy shot across the room. It locked onto the two foreign players.
Chen Shi walked over. His footsteps echoed on the rubber mats.
Tap. Tap.
He stopped directly in front of their bleeding faces. He looked down. He smiled. He waved his hand.
"Hello," Chen Shi said.
Viper glared up at him. Hate burned in his eyes.
"Elena told me your histories," Chen Shi continued. His tone dropped. The smile vanished.
"Traitors. Spies. Backstabbers. You sold out your own teams to clear previous instances."
Chen Shi crouched. He looked them in the eyes.
"Any last words?"
The threat broke through their pain. The Misfortune aura amplified their terror.
Viper's pride dissolved. Tears mixed with the blood on his face.
"Please!" Viper sobbed. Snot ran down his nose.
"I will change! I swear to God! Let us live!"
Tank cried out. He spat out broken teeth.
"We surrender! Have mercy! We will work for you!"
Before Chen Shi answered, a shadow moved.
"Iron Wall" Marcus stepped forward. He belonged to the Foreign Alliance.
His heavy boots hit the mat. Three players flanked him.
Marcus raised his hands. He wore a patronizing smile.
"Easy now, kid," Marcus said. His voice was smooth and dripping with unearned authority.
"Let's dial it back a notch. You proved your point. You won. Now, be the bigger man.
Show a little grace. We are all humans here."
Chen Shi turned his head. His eyes looked like dark glass.
"Grace?" Chen Shi asked. His voice cut through the silence.
"Did you ask Viper for grace when he tried to snap my spine during squat?"
"Did you preach about humanity when Scar tried to kill me in dinning hall?"
Chen Shi scoffed.
"You watched them try to kill me. Now that they are dying, you demand grace? Go to hell."
Marcus's smile vanished. His jaw clenched. The mask of civility shattered completely.
"Listen to me, you arrogant little prick," Marcus sneered.
He pointed a thick finger at Chen Shi's chest.
"You got lucky with the Boss. That does not make you untouchable. Outside this game, reality still exists."
Marcus took a step forward. He tried to use his size to intimidate.
"You kill Alliance VIPs, and you pull the trigger on your entire country.
The major powers will sanction you into the dirt.
You are gambling with the lives of a billion people.
Do you really think you have the authority to start World War III over a personal grudge?
Know your place."
The gym fell silent. The ghosts groaned in the background. The air felt heavy.
Chen Shi stood perfectly still. He looked at the dying men. Then, he looked at Marcus.
"You are wrong," Chen Shi stated.
"The war did not start today. The war started ten years ago when you began slaughtering our players."
He raised his chin. His voice rang out loud and absolute.
"Today, I represent Dragon Country."
"And I declare war on you."
He turned his back on Marcus. He looked down at Viper and Tank.
"You do not know you are wrong," Chen Shi told the two men on the floor.
"You only know that you are going to die."
He triggered his Misfortune aura. Maximum output.
The bad luck took physical form instantly.
Viper's sweaty palm slipped. Tank's fractured wrist bone shifted a millimeter.
The bone fragment sliced directly through his own tendon.
Snap.
Their arms gave out. They collapsed flat onto the floor.
The ghosts did not hesitate. The System rules were absolute.
The Lead Skeleton dropped its full 150kg weight.
The jagged metal pelvis drove straight through Viper's lumbar spine.
Shuck.
Metal pierced his heart. Viper's eyes rolled back.
Beside him, the Spectral Gorilla raised both massive fists. It slammed them down onto Tank's skull.
Crunch.
Bone caved in. The screaming stopped instantly.
The rubber mats tore apart. The wooden floorboards split open beneath the two corpses.
Rows of jagged, splintered wooden teeth emerged from the dark gaps.
The floor dragged the bodies down.
Slurp. Crunch.
The wood closed. The floorboards smoothed over. No bodies remained.
Only two pools of fresh blood.
Marcus stared at the red puddles. The muscles in his neck bunched. His jaw locked.
Grind.
"You actually killed them," Marcus whispered.
His voice lacked its previous volume. It sounded hollow. Dead.
He looked up from the blood. He locked eyes with Chen Shi.
The red emergency lights cast long, sharp shadows over Marcus's face.
"You signed your own death warrant."
Marcus crossed his arms. The thick leather of his combat vest creaked.
"You think you won a war today. You think you are a hero. But you are just a single spark."
He tilted his heavy head.
"A spark cannot burn down an ocean.
The global powers control the points.
They control the Awakened armies.
They control reality outside horror games."
Marcus spat on the floorboards.
"You will regret this, kid. Mark my words.
One anomaly cannot shift the global balance of power.
The world is not something you can change."
Chen Shi did not blink. He stood still. He breathed in the cold, damp air of the gym.
He swept his gaze over Marcus.
Then, he looked at the other foreign IPs watching from the edges of the room.
He looked at the hidden enemies gripping their weapons in the dark.
"I hope everyone weighs themselves carefully before making a move,"
Chen Shi said.
"Dragon country has stood up."
He turned his back on Marcus. He walked calmly back to his spot.
The screen froze.
Then, text exploded.
[Dragon Country Live Stream Chat]
[He said it. He actually said it.]
[Dragon Country is no longer weak.]
Tears fell. Drops of water hit keyboards and phone screens across the nation. Tap. Tap.
[Ten years. We swallowed humiliation for ten years.]
[Every time a genius appeared, the Foreign Alliance killed them.
They assassinated Lin in the tutorial. They poisoned Wang in the Safe Zone. They strangled our future in the cradle.]
[We had no one. We had to bow our heads. We had to watch them laugh at our dead.]
[Not anymore.]
[Brother Chen didn't just survive. He executed their VIPs. He claimed the Boss.]
[Hero. He is a national hero!]
Suddenly, a golden banner covered the global broadcast.
The System Voice echoed. It rang in the gym. It rang from televisions and military radios worldwide.
[Global Announcement.]
[Player Chen Shi (Dragon Country) has eliminated two Level 1 Awakened Players.]
[Calculating National Rewards...]
[Dragon Country Destiny +50%.]
[Dragon Country Technological Foundation +50%.]
[National Lifespan Blessing: All Citizens +20 Years.]
The rewards materialized instantly.
In Beijing hospitals, heart monitors flatlined. Then, they beeped. Beep. Beep.
Dying patients opened their eyes. Gray hair turned black. Wrinkles smoothed out.
In underground laboratories, monitors flashed. Complex fusion equations solved themselves.
Blueprints for quantum engines compiled on screens.
Scientists stared, dropping their coffee cups. Crash.
A 50% boost to Destiny altered probability itself. Crop yields spiked. Fault lines stabilized.
The physical reality of the nation leveled up.
[Dragon Country: Strategic Command Center]
The air conditioning hummed. The room fell dead silent.
General Li stood at the center table. He stared at the golden text on the monitor.
His chest heaved.
A tear slipped from his eye. It rolled down his scarred cheek. It hit the metal desk.
Tap.
He did not wipe it away.
Beside him, an intelligence officer removed his glasses. He covered his face with his hands.
A female technician choked back a sob. Then, another wept. Sobs filled the war room.
For years, these commanders watched their chosen players die.
They attended secret funerals. They swallowed anger.
They smiled at foreign diplomats while their hearts bled.
The humiliation acted like a physical weight on their spines. It crushed them.
Now, the weight vanished.
General Li raised his fist. He brought it down onto the metal desk.
BANG.
The sound snapped everyone to attention.
"Record this day." General Li roared. His voice cracked.
"Send the order to all borders. Raise the flags."
He looked at the screen. He watched Chen Shi turn his back on the hostile foreign players and walk to his spot.
Tears streamed freely down the General's face. Pride blazed in his eyes.
"Dragon Country..."
General Li saluted the screen.
"Dragon Country has stood up!"