Chapter 60

"Get up!"

Without any warning, a sudden tremor shook the earth. When Chen Fei opened his eyes, he found himself standing by the bed.

...

What’s going on?

Wait, let me think this through. Shouldn’t I be in bed right now?

Chen Fei saw the old face of Balute, covered in bloody tattoos, and his shiny bald head.

Seeing this the moment he opened his eyes was truly terrifying.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The rookie was flustered.

Balute smiled and said, "Exercise!"

"What?"

Chen Fei was utterly confused.

What kind of exercise?

Can you be more specific, old man?

"Hehe, nothing much, just to increase your chances of survival."

The Neanderthal old man sized up Chen Fei, as if he had found an interesting new toy. He stretched out his large hand, moved it back and forth a few times, and muttered to himself, "Average bones, just barely trainable."

"I don’t need it!"

Chen Fei immediately shook his head.

I’m not a fighter. I stay inside the base, either learning to repair planes, helping in the kitchen, or guarding the energy tower. I don’t go out, and I occasionally help with the base’s waste disposal.

How could any of these jobs be life-threatening?

"Hehe, it’s been almost a month, how many times have you almost died?"

The Neanderthal old man sneered.

"..."

You don’t hit someone in the face, but why do you keep targeting the young?

Chen Fei’s expression turned extremely ugly, and he said sheepishly, "Twice!"

I had only been on the job for less than 24 hours when I ran into a crazed golden dragon. A dragon-killing bomb took you out and almost took me out too.

Connecting the school’s network for Teacher Shen Fei, I was only online for two minutes before being hijacked by armed personnel, followed by a suicidal shootout. I got shot multiple times and would have been dead if I hadn’t mysteriously awakened a bullet-eating ability.

Why do you say "again"...

This is really frustrating!

Balute was speechless at the sight of this unlucky kid.

He waved his hand and said, "Exercise with me, show me a horse stance."

Despite his age, he was still strong enough to handle a weak young man easily.

In a few moments, Chen Fei was positioned in the stance the old man wanted.

"Very good, hold it, for an hour."

Balute looked at Chen Fei, nodded, and walked to the side, picking up a breakfast he had brought and leisurely enjoying it.

Chen Fei’s face was smiling, but he was cursing in his heart, obediently holding the squatting position, no, the horse stance.

One minute passed.

Five minutes passed.

I can’t do it anymore...

Sweat beads the size of soybeans started to appear on his forehead, his calves trembled involuntarily, and his whole body swayed.

Hold a horse stance for an hour?

This is inhuman!

Even a donkey from the production team couldn’t do it.

"Chirp chirp!"

After gorging itself on berries in the bushes, little Chirp finally flew back, landed on the table, tilted its head, and curiously looked at the motionless Chen Fei.

The table was clean, with the leftovers from last night cleared away, and another breakfast was left for Chen Fei.

The little bird fluffed its feathers, stretched its wings, and happily flew towards its dad.

Oh no!

Chen Fei grimaced, feeling the unbearable lightness. He had barely lasted ten minutes and was already about to give up.

For others, it’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back, but for him, it’s the last little bird that breaks the man.

The moment little Chirp landed on Chen Fei’s head, he felt the weight of life’s unbearable lightness. His swaying body could no longer hold on, and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Only eleven minutes, not good, stand up!"

The Neanderthal old man didn’t give him a chance to argue, picking him up like a chicken and patting him all over, making Chen Fei’s whole body numb.

"Chirp chirp!"

The little bird hopped on its dad’s head, curiously watching Balute’s hands waving back and forth.

One, two, three, four, again.

"Wait, wait, let me rest, rest a bit!"

Chen Fei couldn’t withstand the rapid and intense patting, losing all feeling in his body.

He was only standing because of the force of Balute’s patting.

"Stand still, straighten your back!"

The Neanderthal old man ignored Chen Fei’s plea, continuing to pat him vigorously, his blood-patterned arms moving so fast they almost left afterimages.

After a full half-hour, Balute finally stopped, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and supporting his lower back, he shook his head and panted, "Old, old, really old."

The intense patting seemed to have greatly drained his energy.

"Grandpa Balute, did the chief mechanic ask you to do this?"

At that moment, Chen Fei felt unexpectedly wonderful, his whole body tingling and relaxed, as if he had just taken a hot spring bath. The fatigue and exhaustion were gone, and he felt incredibly refreshed.

The blood circulation had been thoroughly stimulated, and the muscle soreness and fatigue from standing in the horse stance were gone.

"Xiao Ming? You don’t think he asked this old man to train you, do you? Hahaha..."

Balute shook his head, the pride of the Neanderthal civilization still lingering, and he pointed at Chen Fei, laughing.

"No, not him?"

Chen Fei’s mouth dropped open.

He had been dragged out of bed early to exercise, thinking it was because Chief Xiao had asked, as there was a hint of that in his words yesterday.

He hoped Chen Fei would learn to protect himself, probably by improving his combat skills.

If it were Chekov the bear, a single disabling bullet would have been enough to drag him away and hang him in a cave, to be beaten with a belt.

Balute lifted his chin proudly and said, "Unless I’m willing, no one can get the Neanderthal body training secret from me!"

Chen Fei was speechless, "Body training secret?"

He lifted his hand, seeing the bruises from the patting, and looked at the old man’s blood-patterned tattoos, shivering involuntarily, "Maybe not?"

Turning himself into a monster that even his parents wouldn’t recognize was worse than being used as a target for ten minutes.

"Chirp!"

Little Chirp flapped its wings and landed on Chen Fei’s finger, curiously examining the bruise.

It suddenly let out a short, strange chirp, its beak slightly open, and a faint light glowed, as if holding a bright light bead, moving towards Chen Fei’s hand.

A warm sensation spread, and the bruise, which covered half of his hand, quickly shrank and faded, the skin returning to its original color.

"This, this, this... Grandpa Balute, did you see that!"

Chen Fei’s mouth was wide open, almost big enough to swallow an egg.

Is this the same little bird he had hatched?

It’s performing a miracle.

"Seen it, seen it, it’s a Purifying Light Sparrow, a magical beast, nothing to be surprised about."

Balute rolled his eyes, finding Chen Fei’s reaction to something he had never seen before quite ridiculous. Having seen much and experienced a lot, he naturally knew more than a young man.

Magical beasts are called magical beasts because they have a natural affinity for magical elements and can release magic.

The Purifying Light Sparrow, though not a powerful magical beast, can use light element magic, which is not surprising.

"Is the Purifying Light Sparrow that powerful?"

Because he had never paid attention to little Chirp’s magical beast identity, Chen Fei hadn’t bothered to learn about the Purifying Light Sparrow.

But after seeing the bruise on his hand disappear, he felt he shouldn’t ignore it anymore.

"Chirp!"

Little Chirp hopped to Chen Fei’s other hand, continuing to use its light to heal another bruise, and then tried to crawl under his collar, which Chen Fei quickly stopped.

Chen Fei played with the lively little bird and said, "With this little guy, I can save a lot of band-aids."

-