Travel through time, and then establish an anomaly management bureau!

Page 38

"Bang!" A muffled sound, and the solid ceiling was right in front of me!

Zhang Su instinctively wanted to ram his head into the ceiling, but in the end he switched to his fist and slammed it hard into the more than five-meter-high dome of the office!

It made a muffled thud.

"Hiss..." Zhang Su felt pain for the ceiling.

The Stand landed lightly, feeling the surging, immense power within its body—a power capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks—and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! This power amplification... it's outrageous! It feels like I could dismantle a Gundam with my bare hands!"

He then ordered, "Foundation! Generate several stones of different weights! Let me test the limits of the Stand's power under the 'Steel Bone' charm!"

The cornerstone responded immediately.

In the open space in the center of the office, gray concrete core material rose from the ground, solidified, and shaped like a living thing.

Soon, five stones of different sizes and shapes were neatly arranged on the ground.

At the same time, a simple five-panel comic strip appeared in Zhang Su's mind:

First section: A relatively regular square stone, about half a person's height. Next to it is a label: 200 kilograms.

Second section: A larger, more angular boulder. Weight: 500 kg.

Third panel: A nearly spherical boulder with a rough surface. Note: 1 ton.

Fourth panel: A giant rock, two meters high and one meter wide. Note: 3 tons.

Fifth panel: A gigantic, vertically rectangular rock, as large as an elephant, its sheer weight is palpable. Note: 6 tons, average weight of an adult male Asian elephant.

"Wow! Foundation, you really think highly of me. You've gone straight for the elephant for the last one?" Zhang Su manipulated his stunt double to stretch his shoulders and walked to the first 200-kilogram square stone.

He grabbed a protrusion on the edge of the rock with one hand and applied a little force.

"Up!" The stone lifted off the ground with a snap, easily raised overhead as if it were an empty cardboard box. "Easy! Warm-up complete!"

The second 500-kilogram boulder.

This time, he used both hands to hug the relatively flat side. He engaged his waist and legs, tightening his core!

"Drink!" With a low shout, the boulder lifted off the ground and was held firmly in his arms. "It's got some weight to it, but it's alright!"

The third 1-ton spherical boulder was difficult to balance.

Zhang Su steadied himself in a horse stance, wrapping his arms around the sphere from below, as if he were embracing a giant stone egg.

"Hmm—!" With a muffled groan, the heavy sphere was slowly lifted half a meter off the ground. "Phew... This is starting to get tough, it feels like lifting a small car!"

The fourth "small mountain" weighs 3 tons. It is so large that there is almost no easy place to grip it.

Zhang Su could only squat down, using his shoulders to brace against the relatively flat area at the bottom of the boulder, his arms gripping the edges of the stone tightly, his back and leg muscles clenching like steel bars.

"Get up...!!!"

With immense force, the 3-ton boulder was finally slowly hoisted onto his shoulder!

The immense pressure caused the Stand's feet to sink slightly into the ground.

"Hiss... It's so heavy! I can feel the bones in my Stand vibrating! Is three tons the limit?"

His gaze fell on the last massive object marked 6 tons.

The massive rectangular stone block stood like a silent fortress, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Can I... lift this up?" Zhang Su's heart pounded.

With the power of Sequence 9, could he really lift the weight of an elephant? He manipulated his Stand to walk to the boulder, looked up at it, and took a deep breath.

Although a Stand doesn't need to breathe, it's a habitual action.

He abandoned the lifting or carrying posture and chose the most primitive and most effective way to exert full body strength: the "bear hug".

The Stand's entire body was almost pressed against the cold surface of the boulder, its arms wrapped tightly around the middle of the boulder like iron hoops, its legs spread to their limit and rooted deeply to the ground, and its core burst forth with all its power!

The light of the "Steel Bone" talisman flickered wildly at the heart location, continuously transforming spiritual energy into terrifying physical power!

The Stand's body emitted a slight "creaking" sound, like metal being squeezed to its limit.

"Ughh ...

Rumble…

The bottom of the incredibly heavy boulder finally... left the ground!

Although it's only a few centimeters, those few centimeters feel like crossing an insurmountable chasm!

Zhang Su felt his consciousness controlling the Stand trembling. It wasn't just the Stand's body that was bearing that six-ton ​​weight, but also his own spirit!

The stunt double's feet were deeply embedded in the "ground," with his lower legs almost completely buried.

The muscles in the arms, shoulders, and back twisted and swelled unnaturally under extreme force, as if they were about to burst at any moment.

On the matte black combat suit, one could even see fine energy patterns flickering under the influence of runes, resisting disintegration.

One, two, three… Zhang Su counted silently in his mind. Every second felt incredibly long.

He could clearly "feel" that the substance that made up the Stand was groaning and overworking itself.

IV, V, VI...

Seven seconds! A strong sense of collapse, like porcelain about to shatter, emanated from the core of the Stand! Zhang Su made a decisive move and immediately relaxed his power!

boom--! ! !

The six-ton ​​boulder crashed heavily to the ground with a deep, thunderous thud, and the entire director's office seemed to shake.

The stunt double almost immediately collapsed, sitting down heavily on the ground.

Although there was no real pain or fatigue, the immense mental exhaustion and simulated feeling of "exhaustion" were exceptionally clear.

Zhang Su looked down at the stand-in's feet—the soles and calves had undergone obvious deformation due to the extreme pressure, like soft mud crushed by a heavy object, with the edges even becoming somewhat blurred and flattened.

However, just as the foundation endows it with these properties, the deformed parts are slowly creeping, coalescing, and restoring their original shape at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Yuan Shu!" Zhang Su, controlling his Stand, sat on the ground, his voice hoarse with excitement and exhaustion. "See that? Six tons! The weight of an elephant! My Stand can lift it! That's its limit! It's too strong!"

At this moment, Yuan Shu said: "If it's a 'lifting' posture, six tons is the absolute limit of weight that the current carrier can withstand under the blessing of the 'Steel Bone' talisman."

However, different postures result in significant differences in the exertion of power and the limits of load-bearing capacity. The Stand's maximum strength can be even greater, as analyzed below:

Lifting: It mainly relies on the strength of the arms, chest, back and core, and the force is concentrated, which puts great pressure on the joints and local muscles, and the load-bearing capacity is relatively the lowest.

Shoulder carrying/back carrying: The weight is distributed to the stronger shoulders, back and legs, the core pressure is relatively reduced, and the load-bearing capacity is significantly higher than that of carrying, with an estimated maximum of about 7.5 tons.

Deadlifts/bar presses (using leverage): Power is distributed through the lever arms, relying primarily on explosive force from the legs and lower back. They require high levels of overall coordination. Theoretically, if a suitable point of leverage and a sturdy lever can be found, the load capacity can exceed 8 tons or even higher, but this is limited by the lever's strength and technique.

"Wow, it can even improve the score! That's incredible!" Zhang Su made a thumbs-up gesture with his Stand. "This Stand is practically a human crane!"

Then, he turned to Keystone and asked, "By the way, Keystone, is the Stand's healing ability unlimited? Or is there a critical point where it can't be repaired if the injury is too severe?"

Cornerstone immediately responded with a cartoon:

First panel: The Stand's arm was slashed by an ordinary steel knife, leaving a deep wound that revealed the "bone" (the black substance inside).

Second section: The black substance at the wound site wriggles and coalesces like a living thing, and the wound heals quickly as before.

Third panel: The Stand was struck in the chest by a blazing beam of annihilation energy.

Fourth section: The area on the chest hit by the beam instantly vaporized and disappeared, leaving a bowl-sized hole with charred edges.

Fifth level: The black substance around the cavity wriggles and fills it, but at the cost of the body shrinking.

The meaning is clear: the self-healing ability is based on the "slime aggregation" characteristic of the Black Tai Sui itself, and it is highly effective against general physical injuries, such as cuts, blunt force trauma, and compression deformation. However, if the attack contains special energy, such as high temperature, annihilation, strong acid, or regular erasure, it needs to be filled by other parts. Once the damage is too great, the Black Tai Sui's own mass is insufficient to fill the gap, and the self-healing will fail.

"Understood. It seems I'll have to be more careful with this substitute in the future. I can't rely on its self-healing ability to withstand damage." Zhang Su nodded. "It's a rare and valuable helper, so we can't let it go to waste so easily."

[Director, there's one more thing I need to remind you of.] Genshu's voice rang out at the right moment. [The Black Tai Sui itself is polluting. Even though it was molded into a Stand by the Foundation Stone, its inherent polluting nature hasn't disappeared; it's merely suppressed by the power of the containment protocol. Given your current mental strength and pollution resistance, I suggest that you don't operate this Stand for more than fifty minutes each day.]

Once the safe time limit is exceeded, the contamination will begin to erode your mental link, leading to mental confusion, auditory hallucinations, emotional instability, and possibly even attracting the faint attention of the 'Blood Ancestor'. Please strictly control the usage time.

"Understood, I'll manage the time well!" Zhang Su replied immediately. "Fifty minutes is enough to get a lot done."

Feeling that the test was almost complete, Zhang Su severed the mental link with his stand-in.

As consciousness fully returned to its physical form, a strong sense of mental exhaustion, like that after intense mental work, instantly overwhelmed me.

He slumped into the large director's chair, rubbed his throbbing temples, and let out a long sigh.

"Phew... It felt good, but it was a bit tiring." He muttered to himself, slumped in his chair for a while, and then thought, "I should go back now."

Then, with another thought, he returned to reality.

The scene shifts, the luxurious concrete core office is replaced by walnut paneling and velvet curtains reminiscent of first-class cabins.

Zhang Su's real body was still slumped on the leather sofa.

He sat up, stretched lazily, and his bones cracked softly.

My gaze swept over the brass-rimmed marine clock hanging on the wall—the hands pointed to 3:15 p.m.

"There's still some time before dinner..." he muttered to himself, walked to the bedside, lay down on the soft pillow, and pulled a thin blanket over himself. "I'll take a nap and rest for a while. I'll go eat when it's time for dinner."

The Hailongji sailed smoothly, with only the low rumble of the engines and the gentle lapping of the waves outside the portholes, lulling one to sleep.

Zhang Su closed his eyes, and his consciousness quickly sank into a light sleep, accumulating energy for the night to come.

At that moment, he was immersed in a brief moment of relaxation and had no idea that just three hours later, at dinner time, an 'abnormal event' would occur on this seemingly peaceful ship.

Volume 1: Chapter 36: The Extrasensory One

At 10:50 PM, Zhang Su's biological clock pulled him awake from his sleep.

The exhaustion caused by excessive mental exertion in the foundation space was replaced by stronger physiological needs—hunger protested like a burning stomach.

He quickly splashed cold water on his face to dispel the last trace of sleepiness, put on the expensive suit that still made him feel restricted, and pushed open the door to go out.

In the corridor, the ship's public address system came on, and a gentle but clear female voice began to announce:

"Dear passengers, dinner time has arrived. First-class passengers, please proceed to the 'Starry Sea Hall' restaurant for your dinner. Second-class passengers, please proceed to the 'Seascape Hall'. Passengers in other cabins may also dine in their respective restaurants; please inquire with the staff for pricing information. Enjoy your meal."

The broadcast was still echoing when Zhang Su's stomach rumbled loudly.

He rubbed his stomach, no longer caring about the formalities of the upper class, only wanting to fill his empty stomach with food as soon as possible, feeling that if he waited another second, he would starve to death.

As the saying goes, if you're not enthusiastic about eating, there's something wrong with your thinking!

He decisively quickened his pace.

However, just as they turned a corner covered with a thick carpet, there were those two familiar figures again—the gloomy young man who seemed to carry the whole world on his shoulders, and his ever-present and vigilant butler, Charles.

They were walking towards the restaurant at a leisurely pace befitting their status.

Previously, Zhang Su might have subconsciously slowed down and put on "shadow-stealing gloves" to observe from a distance.

But at that moment, the overwhelming hunger overwhelmed all vigilance.

"Who cares! Let them doubt me if they want!" Zhang Su thought without a care in the world. "What's wrong with observing you? Come and hit me if you dare."

He didn't stop walking, even deliberately making the sound of his leather shoes on the carpet louder, with an air of "I'm starving, don't block my way," and walked directly past the master and servant towards the Starry Sea Hall of the first-class restaurant.

Charles tensed up almost imperceptibly the moment Zhang Su brushed past him.

His sharp eyes were fixed on Zhang Su's rapidly receding figure, his brows furrowing even deeper. He tilted his head slightly, his voice extremely low, and said with concern:

“Young Master Elion, look, it’s that man again. The frequency and manner in which he appears, from the deck to the corridor and then to the dining room, is no coincidence.”

The young man, known as Elion, looked even more bloodless under the corridor wall lamps, his face pale.

He kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, his gaze vacant, seemingly indifferent to everything around him. He simply replied, "Charles, I saw it. But on a small, isolated island like the 'Seadragon's Ridge,' it's perfectly normal for passengers' routes to overlap. There are only a few paths from the cabins to the restaurant. We can't assume someone has ulterior motives just because a stranger took the same route we all took. You're being too tense."

Charles opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed back the words, "At times like these, any coincidence is a cause for concern."

He knew all too well his young master's current state and stubbornness.

He nodded slightly: "Yes, young master."

Even so, his gaze toward the direction Zhang Su disappeared became even more profound and wary, like a lion guarding its cubs, silently raising the level of danger of that "chance encounter" in his mind to another notch.

Zhang Su, who was walking quickly ahead, used his enhanced hearing to catch every word of the brief conversation between the master and servant.

He curled his lips into a nonchalant smile: "Young Master Elion? That's quite a noble name. As for Brother Charles, doubt me all you want. I'm starving right now and all I want to do is eat! Forget everything else."

Pushing open the heavy, carved wooden door, a scent mingled with the aromas of food, cigar smoke, and fine perfume wafts out.

The "Starry Sea Hall" lives up to its name—the dome is not made of exposed steel, but covered with deep blue velvet and inlaid with countless tiny crystal chandeliers, simulating a dazzling starry sky.

Outside the window, the twilight deepens and the boundless deep blue sea stretches out.