Chapter 48 (1/2)

Having died over 10,000 times and suffered severe, crippling injuries tens of thousands of times enabled Zhang Heng to accumulate combat experience that would quite literally scare the sh*t out of all those so-called hardened top-notch combatants and fighters out there. All that hellish training that he had undergone honed his reflexes considerably. His current reflex speed had even reached 0.02 seconds.

Some would wonder what 0.02 seconds would mean in this case.

Reflex speeds of regular people were estimated to be somewhere between 0.2 to 0.4 seconds. The speed of handgun bullets was usually somewhere between 300 to 400 meters per second, making it so that there was no way regular people could track bullet trajectories. However, since Zhang Heng’s reflexes were 10 times that of regular people, handgun bullets would look like they were traveling at speeds of around 30 meters per second to him. Such a reflex would be more than enough for him to see and evade bullets as they leave the muzzle.

Not only was he able to hone his reflexes in that virtual space, but he was also able to hone his will. At present, pain from having his bones broken and shattered was no longer sufficient to deter him. It had even gotten to the point that he would only frown seeing his chest being cut open.

Zhang Heng didn’t slack in his training in reality as well. His T-Virus-enhanced body held massive potential. He was able to raise his jogging speeds by running every day, and his sprinting speed had gotten from 100 meters in nine seconds to only eight seconds. Such speeds had vastly surpassed that of the human limit.

Intelligent life-forms like humans had inherent lazy tendencies. Individuals could have performed better but were held back a lot of times from reaching their fullest potential, due to exhaustion, fear, and many other reasons.

Things were different with Zhang Heng, as he had the strictest and most precise coach in the world training him who was able to use severe pain and death to motivate him. As such, Zhang Heng had no choice but to muster all of his innate potentials to reach where he was at the moment.

With that said, there was simply no way his training could be replicated elsewhere.

Zhang Heng took a break for several days after clearing his first class, before entering the second stage of his training.

The second class that Corona designed was to develop his familiarity with all kinds of firearms. Due to Zhang Heng’s frightening speed and power, his effectiveness in combat armed with a bayonet would almost surpass that with firearms, but the fact that guns were the most effective way of killing his enemies nonetheless remained. Proficient use of firearms would allow him to take out his opponents without having to exert himself.

The training consisted of having him familiarize himself with all models of handguns, automatic rifles, and machine guns and how to use them. The training was a lot simpler compared to his combat training. Due to foundations laid by that insane combat training, his reflexes had gotten equally insane. He took less than three days to completely pass Corona’s requirements for clearing gun training.

His next phase of training would be to prepare himself to take on the Alien plane.

…

He heard someone knocking on his door one day when he was just about to get ready for the third stage of his training.

He was about to open the door without thinking much about it before hearing a warning from Corona in his mind all of a sudden. “Commander, two men are standing outside the door, and they are hostile.”

He paused just when he grabbed hold of the handle and frowned. “Hostile? Who are they? Could you read their most recent memories?”

“Memories read. Both of them are Japanese nationals. One of them is named Miyamoto Tahara and the other, Endo Shino. Both of them are base members of the Aioukai serving under the Yamaguchi-Gumi assigned to Haizhou. They are suspected to be armed. Threat level: Mild.” Corona had the innate ability to read human memories and create hallucinations; therefore, it was a common thing for her to do so. Due to having gained the highest access, Zhang Heng had made use of Corona’s abilities as he fancied.

Zhang Heng had gotten more curious after hearing Corona’s report. He didn’t recall having run into the Japanese Yakuza before. But then again, he simply took a deep breath and prepared himself for what was to come.

The heartbeats of three humans were clearly picked up by his very sensitive ears, with one coming from himself and the other two from the uninvited guests standing outside his door.

The enhancement that the T-Virus brought about to his body was comprehensive, which naturally included enhanced hearing. He was able to hear the heartbeats of the two standing outside being very steady, which was an indication that they had no intentions to fight him at once. So he simply turned the knob and pulled the door of his room open.

Two middle-aged men, wearing black suits and ties, stood outside of his door. The one who looked to be the older of the two flashed a friendly smile seeing Zhang Heng opening the door, before speaking in impeccable standard Mandarin, “Good day, sir. Are you Mr. Zhang Heng, the legal person representing Stellar Biotech?”

“I am.” Zhang Heng nodded. If it hadn’t been for him having known the identities of the two men from Corona reading their memories, there was simply no way he would have been able to tell that the two, who were capable of speaking such fluent standard Mandarin without foreign accents, would have been Japanese. “How may I help the two of you?”

“Sorry to bother you, sir. We are from the Huaguang Finance Company, and our boss would like to talk to you about business. Do you have a moment to spare?” That man took out a business card from his wallet and handed it to Zhang Heng with both hands as he lowered himself.

“I’m sorry but I don’t remember having made any appointments with your boss.” Zhang Heng shook his head and refused to take the business card. “Please leave if you have no other business with me.”

The two of them didn’t seem surprised hearing what Zhang Heng said. They shot a look at each other, and the older man continued with a gentlemanly smile, “I take it that you aren’t clear about what is going on at the moment, Mr. Zhang. Have you heard of the Huaguang Finance Company, sir?”

“A branch company in Haizhou set up by the Japanese Aioukai. You guys are as famous as it gets.” Zhang Heng cut them off and continued plainly, “But I truly do not remember having had any connections with your organizations. This is Huaxia, not your turf back in Japan.”