Chapter 160: Initial Superpower Speculations
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Two days later, Chen Chen returned to the underground laboratory with a vast amount of experiment devices.
The first thing Chen Chen did upon returning to the laboratory was removing the SD card from the experiment recorder and inserting it into the computer. He proceeded to review the footage from two days ago.
In the footage, Chen Chen was sitting in front of the camera with his eyes closed. Positioned in front of him was a black marker pen spinning in the air.
“Influenced by the line of sight? No, probably not...
“This is the power at work. Is it able to trans.m.u.te some form of energy in the mind into direct kinetic energy used to manipulate objects?
“Looks like the ability is only able to extend about one meter outward. The range of control appears to decrease as the distance increases.
“Nearing my limit...”
As the video began to show Chen Chen having nosebleeds, the footage ended.
Two days ago, while Cheng Cao was taking Chen Chen back to the cruise ship, he felt like he could not take it anymore. As he sat in the moving car, he could feel his mind fluttering about absently. It was like the feeling you get when you start another game in the morning after cramming out an all-nighter in the internet café.
This was the first time he had experienced such symptoms ever since taking the NZT-48. It could be seen that the effects of radiation were more than they may appear.
Upon returning to the Symphony of the Seas, Chen Chen barely mustered the strength to lock the door of the power distribution room and plug the USB drive back into the charging port before he fell into a deep slumber.
Chen Chen slept from noon until the morning of the next day.
The next morning, Chen Chen was woken up by his starving belly.
A maddening hunger took over his body and mind as if he had been starving for three to four days. He only regained his strength after devouring half a kilogram of chocolate and six steaks.
This phenomenon should be a result of some form of changes happening inside his body. If Chen Chen’s estimation was correct, the crystalline had probably configured parts of his DNA structure.
This was not the sort of transformation that would take place over the span of merely a day.
Chen Chen took several large sacks of energy bars from the research center. These energy bars were originally meant for the consumption of B.S.S. members during their tasks. The calories contained in an energy bar should last a regular adult through the day.
After reviewing the footage from the other day, Chen Chen set the recorder in front of him once again. He then took out a load cell and placed it on the table.
A load cell resembled a disc-shaped electronic scale, except it measured force such as tension and pressure instead of weight. Chen Chen planned to measure the current strength of his ability this way.
Following the commencement of the experiment, Chen Chen placed the load cell on the table and supported himself on the table with his arms crossed. He fixed his gaze intently on the load cell.
Immediately after, Chen Chen felt invisible filaments appearing in his mind, they spread out and began touching the load cell!
The electronic display on the side displayed 3.4, the unit measurement following it was mN.
Chen Chen frowned, obviously not very content with the result. He tapped the load cell by applying a smaller amount of pressure.
.5mN.
Chen Chen repeated this sequence more than a hundred times. He got as low as 0.3mN and as high as 4mN. Barring the highest and lowest reading obtained, the average was 1mN.
Chen Chen tilted his head and appeared to be in deep thought.
mN was equivalent to 0.001N. According to Newton’s second law F=ma, he should be able to simulate an acceleration of 1m/s2 in an object weighing one gram.
This was the current concentration level of the energy inside Chen Chen’s mind.
This was a pretty terrible level. To be fair, Chen Chen was not familiar with the ability yet. There should be an improvement as he began practicing.
After that, Chen Chen tried to attack the load cell with the highest amount of force he could muster. He heard a clear “dong” from the load cell as if it had just been hit by an invisible force and the electronic display showed 036N!
That was right, N. This meant that Chen Chen managed to evoke a force of almost 0.3N using his mind.
Chen Chen gave it several more shots after that and obtained the same results each time.
After completing the strength benchmark, Chen Chen took out a container the size of a loaf of bread.
Upon opening the box, it was revealed that its content was a box of standard experiment-use weights.
The international standard categorization for weights was E1, E2, F1, F2, M1, and M2. E2 was the most precise among the collection, able to pinpoint down to the milligrams.
“JF-1 non-magnetic stainless steel weight. Cylindrical. Weight grade: E1.”
Chen Chen muttered to the recorder feed as he strapped on a pair of disposable gloves. Using a pair of tweezers that came with the box, he gently lifted that smallest 1mg weight and set it on the table.
The 1mg weight was shaped like a tiny metal sheet. It was so tiny that it may be easily blown away by a gust of wind.
Chen Chen tried to lift it. He was able to suspend the 1-milligram weight in the air without expending too much effort.
In that case, Chen Chen decided he was just going to skip the milligram weight and took the one gram weight.
Chen Chen still found it relatively easy to lift the weight. He was even able to effortlessly make the weight circle around his head.
After that, Chen Chen experimented with the 5-gram and 10-gram weights. By the time he got to the 50-gram weight, his expression changed.
He could distinctly feel that a larger amount of concentration was required to control the 50-gram weight with his mind. It was nowhere close to the effort required for the 10-gram weight whether in terms of speed and agility.
With that, Chen Chen decided it was time to pause the experiment. He went to the side to grab several energy bars and chocolate and proceeded to eat them. After he had finished eating, he returned to the experiment table and tried his luck with the 100-gram weight.
At this weight, Chen Chen could barely lift it, if at all. It was like getting a baby to swing a hammer, the resulting movements were very slow and clumsy.
Chen Chen took note of all the data acc.u.mulated so far and turned his attention to the largest weight.
The largest weight was roughly the size of half a fist, the label on it displayed 500 grams.
Chen Chen went ahead and set the weight in front of him and squinted his eyes while visualizing the weight being suspended in the air.
Suddenly, the giant weight began to tremble as if something was attempting to lift it but could not muster enough strength to do so.
Amid its hectic rumbling, Chen Chen suddenly groaned. “Rise!”
In a split instant, the weight produced a “whoosh” sound and moved for a brief moment before slamming back on the table with a “bang”.
“Phew!”
Chen Chen appeared to have exhausted all the energy in him as his vision turned black as he felt yet another warm sensation in his nose. When he reached and touched his nose, blood came gushing out again.
“As suspected, overexerting the ability over a certain threshold causes nosebleed. Is this caused by the brain being overworked which ruptures the nasal capillaries?”
Chen Chen continued speculating as he went to the sink to stop the bleeding.
After stopping the bleeding for good, Chen Chen did not risk continuing the experiment anymore. If he were to continue bleeding like this regularly, he would get anemia eventually and weaken his body.
This explained why Andrew, the protagonist of the movie always appeared pale and sickly while his cousin did not display similar symptoms. Perhaps it was because he had overworked himself with training?
Chen Chen became speechless and shook his head, his mind suddenly went back to the fundamental question —
To sum it up, what was this power he had acquired supposed to be?
Amplified mental prowess? Telekinesis? Or was it something else?
The purpose of the last few experiments conducted was all to find out the underlying principle behind his abilities. If he could figure out the gist of his abilities and the scientific theories behind it, he should be able to incorporate specific, targeted methods to make something out of them.