Chapter Sixty-Nine: "Am I Not Human?"

(Second update today!!)

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Am I Not Human?

“Testing. Strength test, level one, begin!”

Old Tian held a device resembling a controller in his hand, standing two meters away from Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao took a deep breath. His upper body was bare, the rugged physique now showing no trace of previous wounds—the cell repair serum truly worked wonders. With a nod to Old Tian, he watched as the man pressed a button on the controller...

Bang!

Suddenly, a skylight in the ceiling slid open, and a wooden table from the coffee shop dropped straight down. Chen Xiao raised his arms and caught it.

“Phew...” He set the table down gently, forcing a smile. “Why drop something like this?”

“Budget constraints,” Old Tian sighed. “A professional superhuman weight tester is far too expensive. It’s not easy for us old bones to earn a bit for our retirement. Hmm...” He glanced at a chart by his side. “That table weighs about thirty kilograms. Let’s proceed to the next step.”

Chen Xiao flexed his arms, stretching and invigorating himself. “Again!”

“Ready! Strength test, level two... begin!”

Boom!

A white object fell from the ceiling—it was a freezer from the coffee shop!

With a loud crash, Chen Xiao nearly got flattened, forced to grit his teeth and catch it, his feet wobbling from the impact. If not for a quick twist of his waist to stabilize himself, he would’ve been crushed.

He set the freezer down and wiped the sweat from his brow, breathing heavily. “Old Tian... this... freezer...”

Old Tian’s smile didn’t falter. “Ha ha, budget issues, you know.” He frowned, consulting the chart. “The freezer, with contents, weighs about ninety kilograms.” He looked worried. “Chen Xiao, can you keep going?”

Chen Xiao frowned, studying his arm. “It seems... my strength is weaker than before.”

“Let’s try again,” Old Tian said, rallying. He pressed the last button. “Strength test, level three!”

This time, nearly half the ceiling opened up.

With a thunderous crash, a massive object plummeted down—it was the nearly meter-long marble counter from the coffee shop’s main hall upstairs!

Though Chen Xiao struggled to spread his arms, the counter smashed him to the floor as soon as it landed. Fortunately, Old Tian reacted swiftly, darting over and delivering a light tap with his toe against the counter—making the entire marble block fly sideways and crash into the wall of the sealed chamber.

Dust billowed, and the counter shattered instantly.

Chen Xiao stood there, shaken, his arms nearly dislocated.

“There’s definitely a problem,” Old Tian said, rubbing his temples. “Chen Xiao, your previous strength level was tested at grade B—beyond ordinary human limits. You could handle up to ten tons. But now... your strength has declined drastically.”

Chen Xiao’s brows knitted. “What’s happening to me?”

Old Tian shook his head. “I don’t know. I already tested you with the detector. Your strength level has dropped to grade C. I wondered if the detector was malfunctioning, but clearly, it’s your body.”

“Have there ever been cases of power regression among superhumans?” Chen Xiao asked.

“Very rarely... almost never,” Old Tian said grimly. “Let’s set that aside and test other things.”

He drew a small blood sample from Chen Xiao, placed it in a test tube, and loaded it into the chamber’s bench-top analyzer. Soon, data appeared on the screen.

Old Tian read the results, forcing a smile. “Your blood is indeed toxic. You’ve become a superhuman similar to Alice. However... your toxin ability is much weaker than hers.”

He explained:

Chen Xiao’s blood now contained a substance akin to ‘biochemical phosphate’—something absent in normal human blood. This biochemical phosphate fused with ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the mitochondria, triggering a chemical reaction and producing a new substance called AQP (adenosine tetraphosphate). AQP acts as a special venom-like component, known to cause unconsciousness, paralysis, muscle rigidity, and in severe cases, death.

These findings were based on data from Alice herself. Judging from Chen Xiao’s condition, his AQP content was about one-fifth that of Alice—the toxin’s potency was thus much lower.

“With your current toxin levels, you could at most render someone unconscious or paralyzed—not kill,” Old Tian mused. “Still, from past encounters with Alice, and intelligence gathered by the agency, we know her blood toxin’s potency can accumulate. So, even if your AQP is weaker, with sufficient quantity, you could make up for quality.”

“So, if Alice can kill with one milliliter of blood, I’d need five?” Chen Xiao said ruefully.

“Count yourself lucky, kid,” Old Tian snorted. “If your blood is diluted, your saliva’s toxin is even weaker—almost negligible. So, at your age, if you turned into a venomous man... heh, you look like a pretty boy—if your whole body’s toxic, how will you ever get close to a girl? One kiss and you’d knock her out. And don’t forget, a certain other bodily fluid is also...”

Chen Xiao’s face turned crimson at Old Tian’s shameless words.

Next, Old Tian had Chen Xiao demonstrate his simulation ability, acquired from Alice.

In the world of superhumans, this is officially called “Mimic Mastery.”

At lower levels, it only allows partial physical changes—very limited. Some even liken it to popular tricks like Indian yoga or joint manipulation; these, too, could be considered low-level mimicry, altering one’s physical form or appearance.

It’s said that at advanced levels, a Master Mimic’s muscles can learn and copy on their own. For example, see a gymnast or acrobat perform a difficult move on TV—after watching once, your body could replicate it perfectly!

“The crux of a Master Mimic is that your body’s learning isn’t limited by your brain. The two main headaches when facing such a superhuman: one, their appearance can change endlessly—even men can become women. Even completely nude, you might not spot the disguise. Two, they’re often formidable fighters, mastering combat techniques after just one demonstration.”

Chen Xiao followed Old Tian’s instructions, displaying his mimicry. The result: he could change his facial features to resemble others, but only within the area of his face. Full-body transformation was impossible—when he impersonated Xu Ershao to fool Qiu Yun, it was only the face that changed, as their body types were already similar.

“From our data, Alice’s mimicry is barely at grade B—she can only disguise her whole body’s shape, but not reach the terrifying level of full physical mimicry. Your ability is weaker still. You can maintain a changed face for about ten minutes—that’s your limit. I’d estimate your mimicry is just scraping grade C.”

Old Tian scratched his head, studying the chart. “Strength, mimicry, toxins... Kid, you really are an oddball. In the international superhuman world, ninety percent have only one power. Those with two are famous figures. More than two—first-class! Yet you have so many... but each at a low level.”

He pondered. “My guess is your total superhuman energy is fixed. You began with just one power—pure strength. As you gained more, your overall energy didn’t increase, just got spread thinner among all your abilities, weakening each.”

He sighed. “Let’s try the power you got from Qiu Yun—metal molecular explosion! Now this is a rare one. Qiu Yun made his name with this alone.”

With that, he produced a handful of metal objects from his pocket.

Chen Xiao saw they were all from the coffee shop—metal cups, saucers, a coffee pot, even two tiny screws!

“Try them one by one,” Old Tian said, suddenly producing a police-style riot shield and stepping back two paces. “Start with the coffee pot.”

Chen Xiao complied, gripping the pot and focusing intently.

Ten seconds passed—nothing.

Old Tian sighed. “Try something smaller—the cup.”

Again, ten seconds—no reaction.

“Try something smaller—the spoon!”

Still nothing.

“Screw...” Old Tian sounded discouraged.

Chen Xiao pinched a screw, eyes fixed.

At last, a strange sensation arose—it felt as if the screw was not an object, but an extension of his own body, connected by flesh and blood, a new limb sprouting from his fingers. He felt a surge of control, an urge to reshape the screw at will.

“Explode!”

He roared inwardly.

Pop!

The screw did explode—just barely. The noise was no louder than a firecracker, a tiny flash of sparks, followed by a spray of metal filings that spattered Chen Xiao’s face.

Old Tian gave a dry chuckle, lowering the riot shield and jotting a note: “Metal Explosion—Entry Level.” Barely above beginner.

To define Chen Xiao’s current state: “Jack of all trades, master of none” was the most accurate description.

“That’s why I say you’re in trouble,” Old Tian said gravely.

Chen Xiao just smiled faintly. “I’m not bothered. Whether I have powers or not doesn’t matter to me.”

“That’s not the point,” Old Tian sighed. He hesitated, then said, “Kid, according to current studies, it’s widely agreed in the international superhuman community that all our powers stem from genes—certain extraordinary variations in our DNA. But genetic research is still at a high level; even among superhumans, our understanding is limited. Still, there’s a saying in the international scene.”

“What’s that?”

“The more you have, the more of a freak you are,” Old Tian said with a wry smile.

Chen Xiao shook his head. “I don’t get it—surely having more powers is a good thing?”

“The more you have, the further your genes are from normal humans! The problem is, our knowledge is so limited... You know the basics—men and women differ by just one chromosome, yet that creates such a gulf. Chimpanzees and humans differ by less than three-tenths of a percent in their DNA!”

Old Tian’s expression grew stranger. “As a superhuman, the more abilities you collect, the greater the genetic gap from humanity. Think about it—if a chimpanzee is less than three-tenths percent different, how big is your gap? If it’s too large... who knows if you’re even still human? From a genetic standpoint, a chimpanzee might be closer to humans than you!”

“So... I’m not human anymore?” Chen Xiao pointed to his own nose.

“That’s not the main issue,” Old Tian sighed. “The real concern is... we don’t know what excessive mutations might do to you. When your genes are altered too much, who knows what abnormalities could appear. For all we know, you could wake up tomorrow with horns on your head, or gills on your face... nothing is impossible.”

Meanwhile, in the coffee shop hall, Fatty wore a waiter’s apron, broom in one hand and rag in the other, a look of utter despair on his plump face.

“I quit! I quit! I’m done!” he wailed. “How is anyone supposed to live like this? I sweep, wipe tables, mop the floors, pour tea, and serve water—and that’s not enough... Is this any place for people? I wipe a table, and a hole opens in the floor—the table drops straight into it! I clean the freezer, and another hole appears—the freezer drops in! Now the counter’s gone too—if I weren’t so quick on my feet, I’d have fallen in myself... Boohoo! This is too much! Too much bullying!!”

(We’re just a hundred votes from first place! Brothers, keep those monthly votes coming, full firepower ahead!)