Chapter 2132: Ultimate New World (11)_1

When pulling 200 kilograms, Bruce felt nothing unusual and completed a very standard deadlift.

At 250 kilograms, Bruce began to feel something was not quite right. He wondered why it seemed so easy this time?

However, when the big guy next to him loaded up 300 kilograms on the barbell, Bruce felt backed into a corner. He couldn't admit that he had never successfully lifted 300 kilograms before, could he?

So he decided, even if he couldn't, he had to try. If he lost face, so be it; it wasn't the first or second time anyway.

With those thoughts in mind, Bruce gripped the bar, braced his back, tensed his core, and the moment he exerted his force, the barbell easily left the ground.

Bruce's eyes widened slightly with disbelief. He had so much spare mental capacity that he hesitated for two seconds before completing the standard deadlift movement.

"Ha, look at this lad, he's showing off his muscles." The big guy next to him said with a smile: "Looks like we need to up the difficulty for him."

The barbell was directly increased to 350 kilograms. Bruce felt a bit hesitant when gripping the bar. This weight was well beyond his deadlift max, and he did not wish to be rushed away with a ruptured cerebral blood vessel at the scene.

He decided to give it his best shot, and if he felt it was truly beyond his limits, then he would simply give up. After all, for someone of his weight to be able to lift 300 kilograms was already impressive. Everyone else was at a similar level, so he wouldn't be ridiculed.

He braced his core once more, his muscles swelling all over. Bruce didn't even have time to react; the barbell was off the ground again, another perfect deadlift.

Cheers immediately erupted around him. The big guy who had previously deadlifted 320 kilograms seemed to be a little unconvinced. He stepped forward and waved at Bruce, indicating that he wanted to try 350 kilograms too.

Unsurprisingly, he lifted 350 kilograms too, but it was with obvious effort. His veins bulged, his face turned red, and it was clear that he had reached his limit.

The crowd wanted more excitement, so the big guy in charge of managing the barbell plates added 30 kilograms. Now the barbell weighed a terrifying 380 kilograms, a weight that could appear in weightlifting competitions. For amateur athletes, just looking at the thick barbell plate was intimidating enough.

Yet, another big guy stepped out of the crowd at this time. This guy was far beyond the level of everyone before him. Standing close to two meters tall with similar width, he'd fit right in at a strongman competition amongst the Bear man race if he switched his clothes.

This big guy walked up and easily lifted 380 kilograms – even doing two reps.

Bruce sighed inwardly, thinking to himself, I'm only 170 pounds. What honor merits my competing on the same stage as these experts?

The strongest big guy waved to the side, and soon the barbell was loaded up to 400 kilograms. Bruce looked at the stack of barbell plates with a headache.

The second guy who stepped up was the first to challenge. Bruce saw him turn completely red, like a boiled shrimp. He used all his strength to pull up, but the barbell barely left the ground; he was obviously not successful.

The strongest strongman stepped up again, executed a standard deadlift, then it was Bruce's turn. A series of boos emerged from below.

It wasn't targeted at Bruce, but rather because the competition seemed too unfair. With such a drastic difference in weight class between the two, it seemed inhumane to have Bruce try to deadlift 400 kilograms. Why not ask an ant to lift an elephant while they were at it?

Bruce didn't care though. Essentially from the time he'd become aware, he'd never had complete success in anything he did. It was either a total failure or a partial one; he was well acquainted with failure.

Bruce decided to just go through the motions, so he gripped the bar in the standard position again. As he began to exert force, he had only one thought in his mind - why does this thing feel so light?

Bruce's reaction was a little slow; he had already lifted the barbell. The surroundings fell silent, not out of celebration but because everyone was stunned.

Most people have a fairly accurate estimation of body weight. Weighing 170 pounds and deadlifting 900 pounds, that's more than five times his own weight. If he had that skill, why was he testing here at this level when he could be going for a world championship?

Even the dull-witted Bruce realized something was wrong. So, in the next matchup, he assertively admitted that he genuinely couldn't lift anymore.

The crowd watching understood that Bruce probably had just pushed past his limit, which usually comes with a price to pay. It would be normal if he couldn't lift anything else afterward.

But the big guy who was his opponent seemed a little unsatisfied. Bruce could see that this guy was likely a professional and had noticed that Bruce hadn't given his all just now.

What's going on? Bruce wondered, puzzled. Does swapping universes also increase one's strength?

Suddenly, it clicked for Bruce. Actually, he wasn't the only one who was abnormal. The previously deadlifting guys had displayed strength far beyond their expected levels. Some of them couldn't even keep their backs straight or tense their cores, yet they were able to lift professional-level weights which was even stranger.

Taking into account Bruce's previous hypothesis, it was likely a result brought about by the instigator's poisoning. Even though he had been here for a short time, in order to save money, he had also consumed local tap water. Could it be that the mysterious toxin had affected him too?

Next, he went to do a reaction ability test, Blink. This is a commonly applied method in the military to test people's comprehensive reaction abilities.

The way the test works is that there are three laser emitters in front, blinking at different frequencies. The test subject stands in the middle and can block the lasers on the left and right sides by extending both arms.

The subjects needed to block the steady laser beam as quickly as possible after it finished flickering, using their arms to shield themselves on both sides, standing still in the middle, without moving during this time.

When Bruce went up, the laser immediately started blinking, and he could faintly see some people controlling devices on the other side.

Bruce was lost in thought when suddenly a thought flashed through his mind. He instinctively raised his right arm, and a red laser spot swiftly hit his open palm.

"Please refrain from guessing and prematurely raising your arm, sir," came a prompt from the speakers. "This test measures your reflexes, not your luck."

Bruce thought it was probably because he had been distracted that he inexplicably wanted to raise his arm early, so this time he focused intently on the three machines in front of him, ready to block the laser the moment it stopped blinking.

Surprisingly, for some unknown reason, a second before the flickering stopped, Bruce took a step to the right, perfectly evading the laser beam aimed at his chest.

A sigh came from the speaker and Bruce said, "Sorry, I was a bit distracted."

"Never mind, sir, you are probably not well-suited for this test. Please proceed to the next one."

Since they were urging him to move on, Bruce couldn't stay put, even though what just happened seemed odd, but he had no more chances to continue testing.

The flexibility test was next, which was straightforward. It required him to follow instructions and perform a few movements, and then his sit-and-reach performance was measured.

Even though this was a simple high school physical fitness test, it was proving to be challenging for many other big guys. Bruce was taken aback when he saw their backs were as rigid as if filled with concrete and wouldn't bend no matter what.

This was a clear indication that these people were poorly adapted to their newly acquired muscles. Being flexible wasn't just about hard pressure; the way muscles exerted force was also crucial.

Additionally, gym workouts weren't just about building muscles, stretching was an indispensable part. People who had been working out for years couldn't possibly be less flexible than those who didn't exercise at all.

When it was Bruce's turn, his performance wasn't particularly outstanding, but he was definitely among the more flexible ones. Some people couldn't even touch their own calves when they tried to stretch down, and they were desperately competitive, groaning and moaning while trying.

The final round was body function and endurance testing. This involved about 20 minutes of jogging on a treadmill, after which basic metrics such as heart rate and blood pressure were measured to evaluate one's endurance.

Bruce didn't know the specifics, but he did feel like he recovered immediately when the treadmill slowed down, with no sign of fatigue or even breathlessness.

When he went for the data measurement, the physician looked at him with some surprise, and Bruce could only explain, "I'm a racewalking enthusiast who has participated in several competitions."

The doctor nodded and seemed to believe his explanation. With that, the day's testing came to an end.

But as far as Bruce was concerned, it was not nearly over. The anomalies during the day made him realize that his strength was growing at a frightening rate. But what was the limit?

After lunch, most people were exhausted from the morning's strength tests and went back to rest. Bruce returned to the strength testing location, intending to find out his limits.

Bruce didn't take any unnecessary risks, but he tried lifting 400 kg again. It was effortless. Then, he went up to 500 kg, that was already the world record for deadlifting.

As soon as Bruce exerted his strength, he thought, is this it? That's the world record?

Suspecting the weights might be wrong, Bruce took one to a weighing scale and found its weight to be very accurate. He insisted on checking all the weights, and they did indeed add up to 500 kg.

What's more, carrying these weights back and forth several times, he didn't feel tired at all. He had deadlifted 300 kg in the morning followed by 400 kg, and then 400 kg followed by 500 kg in the afternoon. No world record holder could withstand this continuous exertion. Still, Bruce felt no fatigue.

Unbelieving, Bruce added to 600 kg, and that felt the same. At 700 kg, he started to feel something. At 800 kg, it barely felt like a warm-up. Finally, using up all the weights, he lifted 900 kg, and it was still effortlessness.

If deadlifting couldn't measure the strength limit, he would try clean and jerks. This was more professional, something hardly anyone would practice at the gym, but Bruce was interested and knew the basic movements.

Based on his body weight, a clean and jerk of 150-160 kg would be considered excellent, especially considering that the world record was just over 200 kg.

Bruce first tried lifting a 150 kg barbell. He was about to use both hands when he realized he could probably lift it with one hand.

Bruce hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath, grabbed the middle of the barbell with one hand, and lifted it directly. He then slowly turned the barbell upright, like a dumbbell, and lifted it beyond his shoulder with that one hand.

The staffer who just walked to the door was stunned.

Bruce himself was stunned.