Chapter 21: The Power of the Porter

The middle school Zhang Wei attends has a large proportion of students who are children of local celebrities, or at the very least from middle-class backgrounds, so their information channels are extremely well-connected.

Less than a day after the incident occurred, they not only dug up the entire ins and outs of this fire, but even found out that Zhang Wei was at the scene and had escaped death by a hair's breadth.

In the WeChat group, the chat is in full swing.

"That demon rabbit's corpse, does anyone have the ability to fish it out? We might be able to dig up some secrets."

"Exactly, there's probably a demon core or something similar; if a person eats it, they could achieve Awakening."

"Wake up, even if it were really that miraculous, it wouldn't be our turn to get it."

"Is Zhang Wei there? Tell us what happened at the time."

"Probably still at the police station... Come to think of it, this guy really got lucky; he was only an inch away from kicking the bucket."

"Luck won't favor him forever. Mortals are destined to die; that is the sorrow of being unable to achieve Awakening."

Zhang Wei felt a bit unwell seeing this; the way they were talking, you'd think they had already become gods themselves.

He continued scrolling down through the chat history; the content below was basically related to him. It seemed he had never been the topic of everyone's conversation like this before.

"Do you guys think the demon rabbit's inner core was eaten by Zhang Wei? After all, he was closest to the scene."

"Don't be ridiculous. With his physique, he can't even throw a shot put two meters; wouldn't eating an inner core just burst his body?"

"That was a true brush with death. With that level of intensity, Zhang Wei still didn't achieve Awakening? Is he the legendary cultivation loser?"

"These things depend on Opportunity, okay? Some people don't have that kind of fortune in their entire lives. Just be content being a mortal."

"Alright, enough of that. I'm announcing something now..."

"Our Youth League secretary is speaking, haha, what is it?"

"Just yesterday, I achieved Awakening!!"

Immediately following this, the boy named Zhao Yuanjia sent a video. The scene appeared to be behind the school, and Zhao Yuanjia was standing next to a tree as thick as a bowl. He gripped the trunk with both hands, and upon hearing a shout of "Hah!", the tree was actually uprooted.

The group fell into silence, a brief moment of speechlessness. Although people on the internet were talking about Awakening here and there, having it happen right beside them made it feel somewhat hard to accept.

At this moment, another boy spoke up: "Since the secretary has already announced it, I won't hide it anymore either. Everyone, watch closely."

In the next video, this boy was also standing next to a tree, only this tree was much thicker than the one Zhao Yuanjia had. He just held it with both hands and started shaking it with all his might. The large tree began to sway at a visible amplitude, and the leaves fell one after another like dancing butterflies; the mood was quite aesthetic.

Finally, the tree crashed to the ground amidst violent shaking.

Some observant people noticed that Zhao Yuanjia and this boy named Lin Ruizhe were filming in the same place; it was obvious the two had coordinated beforehand.

At this point, the people in the group realized what was happening, and a wave of exclamations and flattery followed.

"Secretary is V5, Ruizhe is awesome!!!"

"Wow, two great gods have appeared in our class! Please accept this humble one's kowtow!!"

"A thigh! Definitely a thigh to cling to! Let me be the first to hug it!!"

"Dear great gods!! Please teach me how to achieve Awakening??"

"If you get rich, don't forget me; please help me out!!"

The messages in the group were refreshing at a dizzying speed. If it were the old Zhang Wei seeing his classmates walking down this path one by one, he would inevitably have felt restless and impatient, but at this moment, his heart was unusually calm.

Ever since he swallowed that black and white bead, he had never felt anxious about Awakening again. It was as if an invisible foundation was silently supporting him, just like a rich man who has lost his memory wouldn't feel envious seeing others driving BMWs or Mercedes.

After the classmates' enthusiasm subsided slightly and the refresh rate of the group messages began to slow down, Zhang Wei typed unhurriedly:

"Destroying forests and greenery, already reported, don't mention it."

Absorbed Zhao Yuanjia's Resentment, +144

Absorbed Lin Ruizhe's Resentment, +166

Both of them felt a bit annoyed. Can you focus, damn it? Do you know about Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow tree? Didn't you see the earth-shattering thing we just did?

Zhang Wei thought for a moment and sent another message: "But that much strength is indeed worth a like!!"

Huh, this guy rarely praises people.

Zhao Yuanjia: "Hehe, thanks."

Lin Ruizhe: "Just a small trick, not worth mentioning, hehe."

The two thought that was fair enough, but they didn't expect this eccentric character Zhang Wei to send another sentence:

"With such thick strength, you will surely be excellent 'bang-bang' porters in the future. Congratulations! The heavy responsibility of revitalizing the soon-to-disappear traditional industry of Greater SC, taking it out of China and towards the world, is now in your hands! I believe you can carry it!"

Finally, Zhang Wei added two more words, still feeling unsatisfied: "Rise up, Bang-bang Army!" "Go for it"

The two classmates behind their screens almost dug their nails into their phones. Rise up your sister! With our family backgrounds, do we need to be porters? Then a strange thought crossed their minds: it seems that with our conditions, this strength really doesn't have much use...

Absorbed Zhao Yuanjia's Resentment, +566

Absorbed Lin Ruizhe's Resentment, +499

Absorbed Han Mei's Resentment, +999

Seeing the last notification, Zhang Wei was instantly dumbfounded.

What is going on...

Oh my god, it seems I accidentally bombed out a lurking shark! Oh no, I offended this girl again...

As someone who had been a proud daughter of heaven since she was young, Han Mei did not fall behind in this Great Awakening Era. A few days ago, she woke up and discovered she was different.

However, she did not recklessly reveal her secret, nor did she act like those boys who wished the whole world knew. She just carefully kept it to herself, not even telling her parents.

As the initial confusion passed and she learned more online, she began to realize this was an extraordinary matter. Regarding the understanding of Awakening, there are now generally two opposing arguments on the internet—the re-evolution of humanity VS the return to ancestral bloodlines.

Whether it is evolution or a return to the source, Han Mei does not care; she is only proud that she is once again standing at the top of her peers.

At the same time, regarding her choice to end this initial budding romance with Zhang Wei, she felt she had done a very rational thing—a girl who can exert hundreds of pounds of force with a wave of her hand, and a skinny boy who barely has the strength to truss a chicken? Han Mei did not want to imagine that picture.

Although sometimes she would miss the relaxed feeling of being with him, this emotion would soon end with the end of high school. In this aspect, Han Mei and Zhang Wei belong to the same type of person.

Very rational.

What makes her angry is that she was caught in the crossfire and couldn't even go to settle the score. Thinking about it carefully, it actually makes a lot of sense. In this society, what can you do with a bit of strength besides preventing petty thieves? With her family background, she couldn't think of any use for it.

Among the Awakened already discovered, these people all share one common trait: great physical strength.

Strength comes in many forms. For modern society, science and knowledge are strength, and bullets and nuclear bombs are also strength!

Reasonably speaking, the strength derived from the physical body is the most primitive and also the most useful kind of strength; even if it lacks the enormity of a bear or elephant, or the agility of a tiger or leopard, and even if it can only be reduced to a helper for wisdom, without this strength, humanity could not survive, let alone develop to the point of utilizing nature.

And for law-abiding Awakened, excessive physical strength seems to be nothing more than an added bonus that can make life more interesting... beyond that, one really cannot find any other use for it.

As for what other kinds of strength Awakened can obtain beyond physical strength, and whether physical strength stops there... on this point, perhaps someone has already discovered a bit of the mystery, and will soon present it before the eyes of the world, and tell them...

What true strength is!