This is really not mechanical ascension

"Ding"

The 65th floor had been reached; it appeared to be a training area. Busy people filled the various rooms, with virtual projections and large screens everywhere quantifying body data to find the best training methods.

There were several special training rooms with scenes inside invisible from the outside.

Their group's impressive presence attracted the attention of many, with acquaintances approaching to ask what had happened. After learning the details, they couldn't help but look at Li Ming with a bit of schadenfreude.

"Zhao Xiong and Yang Peng have had a longstanding grudge; this kid really walked into the line of fire."

"…"

"This is it." Zhao Xiong led Li Ming to an empty training room equipped with a long treadmill and a punching machine.

"To join the City Guard, you need a minimum energy level of 0.5G," Zhao Xiong looked around, pleased by the audience they had gathered.

Once this was over, within half a day, everyone in the City Guard would know about it.

"0.5G?" Li Ming slightly furrowed his brow. Was this a unit of measurement? His predecessor genuinely had no memory of this.

"Ha..." Seeing his reaction, the few people behind Zhao Xiong immediately burst into laughter.

"It's the standardized measure of a Life Form's energy level, commonly used across the Interstellar Alliance," Li Ning quickly came over and whispered, "Try to stall for time. A few of these people are on good terms with us; they've probably already notified Leader Yang."

"Energy level measuring method..." Li Ming nodded thoughtfully. With a calm demeanor, he said, "I'm sorry; I was bullied at school, so I applied to study from home and no one taught me systematically."

The entire training room fell silent again; the people exchanged looks. Now, no one dared to laugh—it was another extremely sensitive and tricky subject.

Who would dare? They might as well pack their bags for tomorrow!

Li Ning stood beside him, dumbfounded. Where on earth did those sly old-timers get their information?

Was this supposed to be timidness? Each reason was more sensitive than the last—lethal at a single stroke.

The place was now quieter than an Interstellar Minister's meeting!

Zhao Xiong's mouth twitched slightly, and though he wanted to say something, he ultimately just said, "Let's start."

"Leader Zhao, since I was bullied at home and haven't encountered this kind of equipment before, I'd like to familiarize myself with it first. That's okay, right?" Li Ming inquired with a probing look.

No way, big brother, did someone really dare to bully you? The onlookers had peculiar looks in their eyes. Weren't you the one bullying us?

Zhao Xiong took a deep breath. Whether Li Ming was telling the truth or not, at least he couldn't refuse him now.

"Alright."

Li Ming walked up to the punching machine and after pondering for a moment, he casually threw a punch.

Bang!

"Ding"

A huge number—0.3G—flashed on the large screen above the punching machine.

"Pretty much what you'd expect. For a kid of his age with no systematic training, that's about the strength he'd have," murmurs arose all around, as people quietly discussed.

No one was surprised, except for Zhao Xiong, whose eyes conveyed a hint of doubt. The way this kid moved when he threw the punch didn't look like someone who had never trained.

"0.3 isn't bad. With some training, he should be able to reach 0.5 within two months..." Li Ning mused subconsciously, thinking that as long as they could bluff their way through today, there would be time to make up for it.

"Are you done testing?" Zhao Xiong's voice had become much heavier, his eyes filled with coercion.

"Leader Zhao... Li Ming, he..." Li Ning began to speak, still trying to buy time, but then heard a muffled sound from behind.

Bang!

"Ding!"

Li Ning suddenly realized that the surroundings had gone silent once more, and within everyone's gaze lay surprise and shock, while Zhao Xiong's already sinister eyes now looked even more foreboding.

Li Ning subconsciously turned around, his pupils abruptly constricting, only to see on the screen above the punching machine, another number had appeared--0.6G.

.......

"Captain Yang, this time Zhao Xiong has grasped the opportunity, and it might be a bit troublesome. The inspection team from the interstellar alliance along with Blue Star's accompanying personnel are about to arrive, and it's a sensitive moment, this kind of rule violation will be magnified."

Yang Peng hurriedly entered the city defense department's gate, his face as dark as water, while the person beside him chattered nonstop.

"There's still time, you should quickly contact the chief to remove that kid's name, at most it'll be a system error."

"Old Dao, since Zhao Xiong has stumbled upon it, it won't be so simple. There are so many people in the training room, even if we remove it, it's no use." Yang Peng shook his head, knowing that this matter was not going to be so easily settled.

"However, wasn't Li Ming supposed to come this morning? I had it all figured out, Zhao Xiong had a mission in the morning, how could he stumble upon it in the afternoon?"

"I don't know, Li Ning's work is still a bit rough." Old Dao sighed, straightened up, and the two had already boarded the elevator.

"Zhao Xiong!" As soon as the elevator doors opened, Yang Peng's stern shout echoed throughout the entire training room, causing people to unconsciously turn their heads to look.

However, to Yang Peng's surprise, he did not see mockery and schadenfreude in the eyes of those present. Instead, there was an indescribable expression.

Hmm?

Zhao Xiong walked straight over, his face ugly, coldly staring at Yang Peng, "Your timing is really good, Yang Peng, I underestimated you."

Confused, Yang Peng turned to Old Dao, whose Adam's apple bobbed, hesitating, "Captain Yang, look."

Following Old Dao's indicated direction, Yang Peng looked over to see the transparent glass room, where the conspicuous 0.6g on the punching machine was clearly visible.

Standing in front of the punching machine was the somewhat skinny Li Ming, with Li Ning grinning broadly beside him.

How is this possible!?

Yang Peng instinctively couldn't believe it—he knew everything about Li Ming, let alone 0.6, even 0.3 would be a struggle, since he never had systematic training from a young age.

But soon he reacted, and sneered, "Zhao Xiong, you've overstepped your bounds this time, haven't you? What business is our team's rookie of yours?"

"I just wanted to save you some trouble, Captain Yang." Zhao Xiong scoffed.

"Whether that's the case, the chief will judge." Yang Peng faced him squarely, their gazes locking. Zhao Xiong soon averted his eyes, taking his men and leaving.

"Is this... Captain Yang pulling one over on Captain Zhao?"

"Isn't it obvious? Captain Yang looked like he was violating the rules, intentionally letting Captain Zhao find out, and now it turns out there's no issue, doesn't Captain Zhao become the clown?"

"Just wait, this matter will quickly spread throughout the entire city defense department..."

So, I'm that amazing?

Yang Peng muttered to himself and walked straight towards Li Ming and Li Ning.

"Captain Yang..." Li Ning was very excited and came up, only to be met with a barrage of fierce scolding, "What's the matter, weren't the procedures supposed to be done this morning? How could Zhao Xiong catch on!?"

"Captain Yang, it was because I got held up with something this morning." Li Ming volunteered, giving Li Ning a sigh of relief.

Everyone around smirked, act, keep acting, is it a complete act? Still saying you didn't intentionally let Zhao Xiong catch on?

"Be careful next time." Yang Peng scolded, then looked at the punching machine, "Is this your strength?"

"Hmm, I gave it my all to land that." Li Ming explained.

"When did you start training?" Yang Peng asked casually.

"It's been a while, my dad forced me to start." Li Ming explained, pinning everything on Li Changhai.

"Hmm." Yang Peng didn't show whether he believed it or not, and without lingering, they went to the 223rd floor.