Chapter 71: Chapter 64: Li Wei (Bulletproof Version)

Listening to the thunderous snores coming from Don Quixote’s room downstairs, Li Wei locked his door and pulled the curtains shut.

He turned on his computer and played some music at a low volume. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Then, he stripped off all his clothes and walked, completely naked, into his bathroom.

Li Wei turned on the faucet for the never-before-used bathtub. He sat quietly in front of it, and once the tub was full, he slid in, letting the cold water envelop his body until only his head remained above the surface.

’Evolve.’

At his mental command, a surge of energy exploded within his body.

’It’s so itchy.’

Li Wei heard a deep rumbling coming from inside his own body and simultaneously felt a profound itch deep within.

The sensation was hard to describe, like a soft quill gently brushing the back of his hand.

Then came the cold.

Although bones have no nerve endings and theoretically shouldn’t be able to feel anything, Li Wei felt as if a sliver of ice-cold Mithril had been injected deep into his marrow. The chill shot up his spine, spreading rapidly throughout his body.

For a fleeting moment, Li Wei felt as if the water in the tub suddenly flashed.

Just then, Li Wei felt the air around him seem to solidify.

HUMMM—!

Ripples spread out from him, one after another. He could feel a layer of some indescribable force field clinging tightly to his skin; even his eyeballs, internal organs, and other vulnerable areas were perfectly encased by it.

[Evolution Complete]

[Single-Attribute Evolution: Physique]

[Knight: Bronze Body (Extraordinary)] -> [Knight: Silver Body (Extraordinary) 1/4]

[Slightly increases the body’s durability, providing good resistance to weapons, diseases, and plagues.] -> [Moderately increases body resistance, providing good resistance to weapons, low-powered firearms, plagues, and diseases.]

[Body Control: You have taken your first steps in contacting Extraordinary power and are attempting to master it. You can control this power, adjusting it as needed within a numerical range of 1.5 to 3. Your body will adjust in sync with the value you select.]

So many notifications popped up at once that Li Wei had to take a moment to digest them and figure out what the main upgrades were.

First, his Bronze Body had evolved into a 1/4 Silver Body. It seemed like each attribute corresponded to a fraction of the whole. He probably needed to get all his attributes to 3.0 before he could complete the Silver Body evolution.

His body’s durability had increased from "slight" to "moderate," and he was now resistant to low-powered firearms.

And now, he could control his body. Li Wei was thrilled.

As his physical stats continued to rise, he had two main worries.

The first, of course, was the issue of medical check-ups and physical exams at the hospital.

The second was what would happen if he couldn’t control his strength while in bed with someone.

’The pelvic floor muscles that control ejaculation are still muscles...’

’It’s fine for now, but what if I can’t control it in the future...’

Li Wei had seen the Superman memes online before, but he never thought he’d one day have to consider the same problem himself.

Fortunately, his new Body Control ability allowed him to freely adjust his physical condition, so he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.

After allocating his remaining 0.2 attribute points to Agility, Li Wei’s Agility score increased from 1.8 to 2.0.

’A few more missions, and maybe I can get my Agility up to 3.0, too.’

The next morning, Don Quixote mentioned that for some reason he’d had a very strange dream the night before.

"Tell me about it?" Li Wei said nonchalantly while scrolling on his phone. "What kind of dream?"

"I dreamed I was in a pitch-black jungle, wielding a longsword and dueling a jet-black elf—damn, that elf was ugly, not at all like the elves in the Knight novels," Don Quixote said, rubbing his sore arm. "Then, of all things, the police showed up and said I was disturbing the peace and tried to arrest me."

"And then?" Li Wei asked, using his phone to buy a ballistic plate on Amazon. "Did you resist?"

"I don’t really remember," Don Quixote said, plopping down and rubbing his own shoulder. "Fuck! Why is my arm so sore? Did I sleep on it funny?"

’It’s probably because you were swinging an iron rod and gave a black man a concussion yesterday.’

"The head of the homeowners’ association, Maurice Stanford, has something to discuss with you," Li Wei said, grabbing two slices of bread and putting them in his mouth. "Remember to find time to see him today. I’m off to school."

"He’s looking for me? I don’t even know him," Don Quixote said, both surprised and delighted. "What could he possibly want with me..."

Last night, Mr. Stanford had decided that even though Don Quixote had a peculiar habit of sleepwalking, his nocturnal activities had genuinely made a significant contribution to the community’s safety. Thus, he had decided to invite him to join the Bell Ridge homeowners’ association.

In the United States of America, being accepted into a community association wasn’t just about being able to offer suggestions for the community’s construction and development; more importantly, it was a sign of recognition and acceptance.

This meant Don Quixote would now be able to build connections and open channels of communication with the local doctors, lawyers, and retired police officers who were also on the committee.

For someone trying to rebuild their social standing, this was an incredibly good thing.

He, however, was still puzzled as to why such good fortune had fallen into his lap.

...

Amazon was incredibly efficient. Two days later, on Thursday morning, a heavy package was waiting right on time at the front door.

Li Wei tore open the package. Inside were two standard Level IV ballistic plates, which claimed to be able to stop .30 caliber armor-piercing rounds.

Li Wei hefted them. They weighed about six pounds each and felt cold and solid.

He needed a frame of reference.

Although his evolved body had good resistance against low-powered firearms, Li Wei wasn’t stupid enough to shoot himself just to test it.

The system said what it said, but "low-powered firearms" was a vague term. Both .22 caliber and 9mm rounds were pistol ammunition, but compared to a 12.7mm round, even 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds could be considered "low-powered."

Li Wei needed peace of mind. He had to know exactly what his body was capable of.

He went to a private shooting club in Brooklyn and explained his purpose to the owner: "I’m a tech blogger, and I want to test the performance of a ceramic ballistic plate against different calibers."

The owner, a stubble-faced veteran, helped Li Wei secure the ballistic plate. After setting up the firearms, he began shooting at the plate from ten meters away.

First up was a .22LR. This small-caliber pistol round was relatively quiet and low-powered. It could injure someone at close range, but unless it hit a vital organ, it was rarely immediately fatal. Most deaths from .22 caliber rounds occurred hours or even days later, usually from internal bleeding and infection.

The bullets only left shallow little pits on the plate’s surface.

"Looks like you bought the real deal," the owner said. "You didn’t get scammed on TEMU."

Next came 9mm rounds from a Glock 17. When these hit the plate, the nylon cover on the surface began to split, and obvious spiderweb cracks appeared in the ceramic layer.

The 9mm caliber offered sufficient stopping power and lethality. In New York, it was the mainstream choice for everyone from the police to gangsters and street criminals.

They then moved to the rifle range. A 5.56mm round from an AR-15 caused a bulge on the back of the plate, while a 7.62mm round from an M14 chipped a piece of it away.

"That’s about its limit, buddy," the owner shrugged. "The 5.56 and 7.62 didn’t penetrate, but if you were actually wearing this, the sheer impact would still break your bones, cause internal bleeding, and stop your breathing."

Li Wei took the battle-damaged plate home.

Late that night, Li Wei took out the other, brand-new plate. In his hand, he held an alloy screwdriver he had bought at the same time.

[Frenzy] activated.

Li Wei controlled the strength in his right hand. Skipping the .22, he mimicked the kinetic energy of the 9mm impact from earlier that day and stabbed fiercely at the new plate, attempting to replicate the equivalent impact stress.

After one attempt, he tried a second time. The screwdriver struck with precision, creating a crater almost identical in depth to the one left by the 9mm round.

’This is the right amount of force...’ Li Wei thought. He then turned and pressed the tip of the screwdriver against his own forearm.

HUMMM—

The tip of the screwdriver pressed against his skin. The force, which had been enough to cause significant damage to the ceramic plate, felt like it was hitting solid, unyielding rubber the moment it touched Li Wei’s body. His skin only indented about three millimeters before it completely absorbed all the kinetic energy.

Li Wei pulled the screwdriver away. There was only a faint red dot on his skin; the surface wasn’t even broken.

’Conclusion: at a range of ten meters, firearms at the level of .22 and 9mm caliber cannot cause me any significant harm, even with a direct, undefended hit.’

Li Wei looked at his reflection in the mirror, at a body that was as perfect as a god’s, and the last vestiges of his anxiety vanished.

He didn’t try to test his resistance to the force of a 5.56mm round or higher. For one, the duration of [Frenzy] was limited. For another, he already had a good idea of that level of power, and his intuition told him he couldn’t yet withstand the immense kinetic energy of a rifle bullet.

He put on his pajamas, and listening to Don Quixote’s thunderous snores from downstairs, he lay back down calmly on his bed.