The proprietress turned her head and glanced over. “That’s right.” Then she looked down at her watch, checked the time, and said with certainty, “That’s right.”

Is it really right? Worried that he might have misread it, Henry Clark simply squinted and asked directly, “So what time is it now?”

The proprietress checked her watch and said, “Seven o’clock, almost seven forty.”

“…Oh.”

Henry Clark replied woodenly, paying no attention at all to the proprietress’s disappointment and resentment, and rode off again.

But this time, he rode a bit slower, and his mind was wandering.

“I left home at six thirty, that’s right, I checked the wall clock. And when I left the village entrance, the village broadcast had just started playing music…

“So that means, today I got here in just an hour and ten minutes? That’s at least half an hour faster than usual?

“Even if I was distracted today and unconsciously rode especially fast, even if I was extremely, extremely fast, there’s no way I could be this much faster! And I don’t even feel tired right now.”

He went ahead and checked the time at a few more places, but the result was still the same.

Things were really getting strange. Henry Clark thought for a moment, then carefully felt his own body, and finally just found a quiet stretch of road, parked his bike by the roadside, and climbed into the woods, looking for a small clearing.

Running, jumping, throwing punches.

Running, jumping, throwing punches.

……

After more than ten minutes, Henry Clark stopped, standing there with a blank expression. He was now quite certain that his physical abilities had improved compared to before. Not by a huge amount, but the improvement was still obvious enough to notice through comparison.

And compared to speed, strength, and jumping—these explosive power tests—his endurance had probably improved even more.

“I…” If he hadn’t witnessed so many unbelievable things last night, Henry Clark would probably just be confused right now. But he had seen them… so now, he could try to reason it out for himself.

“It seems the only explanation is that missing source energy block… Otherwise, it just doesn’t make sense. I didn’t even carry their metal box.” He recalled how James Lane and the others ran through the mountains, faster than Olympic champions, and how much they valued the source energy block. “Did I… absorb it?”

The next second, a sense of caution surged up. “If they find out, they’ll definitely kill me, right?!”

In Henry Clark’s eyes, James Lane and his group were by no means good people—they had almost killed him yesterday just to keep their secret.

Recalling the scene at the time, Henry Clark kept reminding himself in his heart that this matter had to be buried deep, never to be spoken of.

Then, he quickly became alert to another detail: at the time, James Lane’s subordinates were searching for the source energy block in the pit with their bare hands—bare hands!

“So, what’s going on with me?! If my reasoning is correct… why was I able to absorb it in such a short time?!”

This point was beyond Henry Clark’s ability to reason out—he just couldn’t figure it out, and it was also something he absolutely couldn’t ask about.

In the end, Henry Clark got nowhere with his thoughts, so he simply stopped dwelling on it, just adding another warning in his heart, telling himself to absolutely keep this secret until there was a clear and reasonable explanation.

Then, he unbuttoned his shirt, carefully looking down at the strange “bruise” on his chest.

After just a few hours, Henry Clark found that it had already faded a lot, as if a piece of food had been swallowed and was being continuously absorbed and digested. Now, it looked just like a faint birthmark.

It seemed to be fading at a speed beyond normal understanding—maybe it would disappear soon.

“I… digested the source energy block?” Uneasy, anxious, confused… calm… excited.

Henry Clark stood in the woods, head down and silent, but inside his heart was surging. Unconsciously, he clenched his fists tightly, as if he had once again grasped something he thought he had already lost—something vitally important.

It felt as if he had already walked into a dark corridor leading to certain death—gloomy, cold, with no direction, and no way to turn back. But at this moment, he suddenly looked up and saw: ahead, there was light.

He saw something—something that could be called hope, the hope of life. It was also the edge of fate… and now, once again, it was touched by his fingertips.

“This thing can make my body stronger. If I get stronger, I’ll have a better chance of surviving, and maybe one day I won’t have to let others control my fate… And they have this thing.”

Chapter 7 Enlisting

The sun came out during the latter part of the journey. The midsummer sun was scorching even in the morning, and the road and air dried quickly, as if flipping a switch.

Henry Clark was still carrying his big black umbrella on his back, but he deliberately slowed down his cycling speed.

He figured as long as he arrived before nine thirty, it would be enough. The reason he set out so early before was because he was afraid he’d get to the county too late, and maybe Kevin West would have gone to the city to see his dad. As for now, there was plenty of time. Henry Clark knew that even if he had to go to the city, that guy would never get up so early on his day off—he was often late even when he was in school.