Chapter Eleven: The Terrifying Training and Final Preparations

Chapter Eleven: Terrifying Training and Preparations Complete

“Training, is it? I have a rather effective method—want to give it a try?” Schuster seemed to recall something, the corners of his mouth lifting into a wide smile that appeared before everyone. Though a flawless smile, in their eyes it was the grin of a devil.

They followed him to the basement of Zhang Jie’s room. Before their eyes stretched a vast square, the size of a football field, split into several zones: a shooting range, a long-distance running track, obstacle courses, and a fighting platform. Zhang Jie had constructed nearly every kind of physical training facility imaginable.

“Pretty thorough—shooting range, archery field, wooden dummies, a clutter room for high-speed evasion practice… Well, it’s just right for me. Are you ready for some hellish training?” Schuster said as he walked, his last words pressing down on the group with an intimidating force.

“Don’t worry, I have plenty of points. These are healing potions I exchanged—guaranteed you won’t die,” Schuster’s background seemed to darken ominously as he stowed away his intimidating aura.

“What was that just now? What did you do?” Zheng Zhe asked, sweat streaming down his body. The others, except for Zhang Jie, were on their knees.

“Intimidation! You actually know how to use intimidation?” Zhang Jie said, astonished.

Schuster ignored Zhang Jie’s question and looked at Zheng Zhe. “Not bad. You managed not to buckle under my intimidation. You have great potential. But this aggravating aura… You exchanged for vampire blood? Useless lineage. From now on, you’re entering death training. There are seven here—excluding Lolita and me, the rest of you must undergo training. Sister Jingchen, you have no objections, I assume?” Schuster’s words, though phrased as a question, brooked no disagreement.

“Of course not. I won’t be the one dragging you down.” Jingchen answered immediately, though her “you” referred only to Schuster and Lolita.

“All right, your training is simple… Shadow Clone Technique!” Five clones appeared, each standing before one of the group.

“Ninja arts? Does everything the legendary AB wrote really exist?” Li Xiaoyi climbed up from the ground, face alight with excitement.

“I don’t know about ‘everything,’ but I can use Chidori and Raikiri as well. They’re close-combat only, though, and drain a lot of magic power. Rather than show off, I’d rather cut someone down in one stroke.” As Schuster spoke, he gathered magic in his hand, forming a Raikiri.

“So cool!” Li Xiaoyi’s eyes sparkled like stars.

“Well, I know your stats, more or less. I’ll have each clone limit its strength to match yours. Your task is simply to defeat me.” Schuster snapped his fingers, and a membrane of lightning covered the five.

“What’s this? Wow, the hardness…” “Bang!” Zheng Zhe tapped the membrane with his finger. Its flexibility and toughness were astonishing, but a sudden gunshot startled him, followed by pain in his chest.

“This membrane is highly defensive—take care to protect yourselves. Now, what you need to do is…” Schuster looked at Zheng Zhe, who was unharmed except for the pain in his chest, and addressed the stunned group.

“Defeat us…” ×5, the five clones stepped forward.

The scene that followed was too brutal to describe, so let us skip ahead.

“Brother, why did you teach Gun-Kata to Sister Jingchen?” Lolita asked, flipping through “The Hall of Seven Luminaries” while sitting beside Schuster.

“Sister Jingchen won’t be among our main fighters in the future, so there’s no need for her to fully adapt to combat. Besides, the bloodline I plan to exchange will ensure her safety. She only needs to handle ordinary enemies.” Schuster glanced at Jingchen, who was gradually acclimating to the rhythm of battle.

The clone fighting Jingchen had its strength lowered even below hers, and Schuster had imparted Gun-Kata and various combat skills—Round Table Dancer, Magic Manifestation, Energy Conversion, Memory Copying. Jingchen’s abilities wouldn’t be low, but she still needed some time to adapt.

“Sister Jingchen, my strength is lower than yours now, and you’re using your own weapons… If you can’t defeat me quickly… well, I think your combat talent isn’t very high.” The clone fighting Jingchen dodged and attacked as it spoke.

“I know that… It’s my first fight, but… you’ve walked into a trap. Take this!” Jingchen dodged a lightning slash from Schuster’s clone, then returned fire.

“What?” The clone was surprised, then felt its foot slip on a bullet casing. It was a shell from Paradise Spark—tough enough that an ordinary step could crush it, though the clone quickly regained balance. However…

“Bang!” The clone’s head was blown off, finished instantly.

“Well done, Sister Jingchen! You kept your fastest speed in reserve from the start!” Schuster applauded from the side.

“The victor is always the one who holds something back, isn’t it?” Jingchen brushed dust from her clothes and handed Paradise Spark back to Schuster.

“Heh, true, but…” Schuster’s words were interrupted.

“Bang!” The clone fighting Zheng Zhe was destroyed.

“Whew, finally won.” Zheng Zhe panted, exhausted.

“Nice job.” Schuster observed that Zheng Zhe, after just three hours of being beaten, had turned the tables and was now beating his clone. Schuster marveled at Zheng Zhe’s terrifying potential.

“Keep working hard. Zheng Zhe, your potential is immense—reflect carefully on your past combat experiences. In a few days, a fierce battle awaits.” Schuster patted Zheng Zhe’s shoulder, dispelled the lightning armor, and spoke earnestly.

After several hours, Zhang Jie had managed to defeat Schuster’s clone after much effort, while the other two had not, though their progress was substantial.

All afternoon, the five of them trained desperately in the facility. By evening, they feasted at Zhang Jie’s house, after which Zheng Zhe left hand-in-hand with Lori. Along the way, he pondered the afternoon’s training. He had essentially figured out the effects of internal energy—not only could it quickly alleviate pain, but when spread throughout his body, his speed and strength could double for a moment. That was how he managed to defeat Schuster’s clone; in the face of overwhelming power, Schuster had no time to resist, and all technique proved useless. Unfortunately, after using this state once, he was left weak and powerless for over ten minutes. Clearly, this technique could only be used in critical moments.

A series of annoyed snorts pulled Zheng Zhe from his reverie. Standing before him was Lori, her cheeks flushed, clearly upset. When she saw Zheng Zhe finally looking at her, she put her hands on her hips and said, “Walking with me and still daydreaming? You must be regretting not wooing some other beauty. Are you smitten with those five sisters? Look at me—I’m just a fresh little fruit, not as alluring as a mature woman. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”

“Pfft!” Schuster, sipping tea, was caught off guard and sprayed it everywhere.

“Cough, cough!” Lolita quickly patted Schuster’s back.

“Uh, didn’t I tell you before that Schuster is a man?” Zheng Zhe apologized to Lolita, then explained to Lori, “I was just thinking about the afternoon training. If you want to know, I’ll tell you everything honestly. You should have more confidence in yourself. Back at school, there were dozens, even hundreds of boys wanting to pursue you. You know I’ve always liked you—how could I ever think of anyone else?”

Watching Zheng Zhe fumble for words, the others smiled knowingly. Life, it seemed, was quite interesting.

Happy times always pass quickly. The reincarnators trained day and night for several days, achieving remarkable results.

Zheng Zhe could now match Schuster’s clone without resorting to explosive power.

Zhang Jie could fight Schuster’s clone without ever being defeated.

Zhan Lan occasionally managed to touch the clone’s clothes.

As for Li Xiaoyi… forget him, just another expendable character doomed in the next chapter.

“So, here’s the plan: everyone carries three grenades, one bottle of emergency blood-stopping spray, one bottle of oral antidote, a roll of high-efficiency bandage, one healing potion, and a disposable evil-warding talisman. Haha, thanks to Schuster and Zheng Zhe, we’re stocked up. That’s over a hundred reward points—we’d never manage it on our own.”

At the center of the square, Zheng Zhe used his remaining reward points to exchange for a dozen disposable grenades, along with potions and bandages. He also exchanged several disposable evil-warding talismans, which burn as a warning during attacks by evil spirits, preventing harm until the talisman is consumed. Schuster gave everyone a healing potion.

Zhang Jie said, “When the time comes, the ‘Lord God’ will descend twenty pillars of light. You just need to stand in one. Each trip to a horror movie happens around this time.”

After about ten more minutes, the orb of light—the ‘Lord God’—grew ever more dazzling, its glow blazing like the sun. Then, twenty pillars of light shot down onto the square, and all four heard the same voice in their heads.

“Enter the pillar of light within thirty seconds. Target locked. Predator 1, transmission initiating…”

PS: Many may not have seen Predator 1, but surely everyone has heard of it.