Watching the couple begin to envision their bright future, Hao Yun felt deeply gratified: "Liu Erwa, you must not disappoint your parents in the future. Be sure to honor them well and enjoy this life's happiness with them!"

With this thought, Hao Yun used the system in his consciousness to deactivate the final function of the tracker hidden in Xiao Yong's coat. Then, Hao Yun pressed down his hat brim, turned, and quietly walked out of the hospital without leaving a trace, keeping his achievements and identity hidden.

Upon returning home, Hao Yun found that the elderly couple had not yet come back. He decided to call Dao Lao through the system chat channel to check on their progress. However, after waiting for a while, he only received a delayed reply. Dao Lao mumbled a few vague sentences before hastily ending the connection. Despite this, Hao Yun couldn't help but hear the noisy background and Master Gu's ecstatic exclamations praising the beauty of Reba and Nazha.

"Damn, those two old folks must have gone to the internet-famous street again! From the looks of it, they won’t come back until they’ve spent all their cash," Hao Yun thought, shaking his head in resignation. "Oh well, let them be. At least I get some peace and quiet."

However, Hao Yun did not remain idle. He knew that soon he would be part of the operation to capture the soul guide priestess named Elienna. From what he had learned, Elienna might be connected to the plague energy and was not to be underestimated. This gave Hao Yun a strong sense of urgency. Following Dao Lao's instructions, he opened the portal set at the staircase and entered the spatial base to train and refine his new skills.

Naturally, Hao Yun wanted to improve his ability to endure 10G overload the most. From previous training, he had learned how to coordinate his enhanced body with the movement assistance functions. However, as Dao Lao had pointed out, Hao Yun's mental strength was too weak. Even though he could theoretically endure 10G overload for five seconds, he couldn't actually sustain it for that long. Each attempt left him with severe dizziness, making it impossible to resume 10G overload movement after the 30-second recovery period.

"Ugh! I still can't last the full five seconds." Sitting on the ground in frustration, Hao Yun lamented the five-second threshold that separated true men. It was his sixth failed attempt to endure the 10G overload for five seconds.

Feeling as if he had a hangover, Hao Yun's head spun. But thanks to the spatial base's life support system, he knew he would recover soon and be ready for another round of training. As the blue rays from the life support system scanned his body, Hao Yun found himself in an intense inner debate over whether to try again.

The feeling of blacking out and foaming at the mouth from reaching his limit was far from pleasant. Yet, without pushing his limits, how could he grow stronger and prepare to face the powerful enemies tied to the plague energy? Summoning his courage, Hao Yun activated his full potential and, with the aid of the movement assistance functions, began another attempt at high-speed movement under 10G overload.

With a grunt, Hao Yun collapsed again just before reaching the five-second mark. After being revived by the life support system for the eighth time, he sat cross-legged on the ground, feeling dejected. "That’s the seventh time I’ve failed, and I was so close to lasting the full five seconds!"

Clearly, Hao Yun was not one to give up in the face of failure. After another round of recovery, he re-entered the high-speed 10G overload state.

"Just a bit more! If I can hold on for five seconds, I’ll meet the baseline for overloading exercises! Come on! Hold on—" Hao Yun kept encouraging himself as he dashed around. But just as the five-second mark approached, his mental strength reached its limit, causing him to collapse for the eighth time.

After the eighth rescue, Hao Yun regained consciousness. But as he opened his eyes, he saw a large female orc with flaming red lips leaning in to kiss him.

"Whoa, what the—!" Hao Yun let out a horrified scream, his body twisting in an impossible manner to roll away.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With a nimble move, Hao Yun flipped up and assumed a defensive stance, shouting, "Someone’s assaulting—no, an intruder! There’s an intruder! Base! System! Prepare for battle!"

Seeing no response from the spatial base and no alarm for the female orc's intrusion, Hao Yun angrily cursed, "Damn it! I should have known this base isn't secure! The enemy's already here, and it does nothing!"

Quickly, Hao Yun activated his plague energy capture system and sent an SOS to Dao Lao: "Hey! Dao Lao! There’s an enemy in the base! A female orc has infiltrated! She... she tried to assault me! Requesting backup! Requesting backup! Come save me!"

Hao Yun's abrupt and frantic reaction startled the female orc. Scratching her head, she looked at the frantic human in bewilderment, not understanding why he woke up and started thrashing around and yelling nonsense.

Just then, a familiar voice echoed in the base: "Oh? Cuì Huā, you’ve arrived?"

In the next moment, the figures of Dao Lao and Master Gu appeared in the base.

"Oh, finally you're back! Quick! It’s that female orc! She's the intruder!" Hao Yun, too anxious to hear what Master Gu said, bolted behind the two elders and pointed at the female orc, shouting.

Dao Lao and Master Gu exchanged puzzled looks, first at Hao Yun, who was clinging tightly to Dao Lao's leg, and then at the female orc who remained standing in place. Master Gu then asked, "Cuì Huā, what's going on here? How did you scare Brother Hao so badly?"

The female orc named Cuì Huā shrugged, indicating she was equally clueless. She then positioned herself with one knee bent in a half-kneeling gesture and responded in a deep, smoky voice, "Greetings, Great Steward. Uh—I'm not sure why Lord Hao is so startled. Perhaps, perhaps his brain got overheated after he fainted?"

"Your brain must be fried! You tried to sneak attack me! No, you tried to molest me while I was unconscious!" Hao Yun retorted. With Dao Lao and Master Gu present, Hao Yun's voice gained some confidence, though his continued clutching at Dao Lao's leg suggested otherwise.

"Oh, Lord Hao, you misunderstand me!" Cuì Huā hurriedly explained, "I'm Master Gu's personal maid. Heh heh! My name is Cuì Cūn Huā Zi, but you can just call me Cuì Huā. I came here specifically because I received Master Gu's orders. When I arrived and saw Lord Hao convulsing on the ground, it frightened me. So, I wanted to perform CPR to save you. I meant no harm; I just wanted to save your life. Heh heh heh! Heh heh heh!"

Cuì Huā's deep, smoky laughter sounded anything but friendly to Hao Yun's ears.

"Oh, I see! Then the misunderstanding is resolved. I knew it! This base is so secure, there's no way an intruder could get in," Dao Lao said, kicking Hao Yun off his leg.

Since the female orc was Master Gu's maid and not an intruder, Hao Yun finally felt relieved. However, the vivid image of Cuì Huā leaning in for a kiss would take some time to fade from his mind.

Despite his lingering unease, Hao Yun, mindful of etiquette, greeted Cuì Huā politely. He couldn't help but examine her appearance more closely.

Cuì Huā's rough, fanged face was painted with heavy eye shadow, exaggerated blush, and bright red lipstick. Her slick orange dreadlocks were parted in the middle and tied into two thick braids with large flower-patterned hair ties, standing prominently on each side of her greenish head. Two large, perfectly white orc fangs jutted from her lower lip, each adorned with a ring.

The ring on her left tooth was made of valuable jade, and the one on her right tooth was a gold ring inlaid with a multicolored gem. These rings complemented her festive qipao, which featured vibrant floral patterns. Of course, one had to overlook Cuì Huā's broad, muscular physique, accentuated by the tight qipao.

After taking in Cuì Huā's incongruous yet somehow elegant attire, Hao Yun felt obliged to offer a compliment, even if he didn't quite understand fashion. He decided to praise her name instead.

"Cuì Huā, your name sounds so pure and beautiful! I see you have flowers on your braids and your qipao is adorned with floral patterns. I guess you must love flowers, and maybe that’s why you’re called Cuì Huā?" Hao Yun said, choosing his words carefully.

"Yes, that’s part of it," Master Gu replied with a meaningful smile. "Actually, Cuì Huā's name comes from a dish called ‘Boiled Pork Slices.’ She learned the recipe from a soul who was about to reincarnate and mastered it, making it her signature dish. To honor that soul, she registered his name as her stage name."

As expected, Cuì Huā's name had a rather absurd origin.

Cuì Huā nodded enthusiastically at Master Gu's explanation and added, "My real name is quite long and inconvenient. It's Blumenthal Gordon Ferran Adria Housefly—"

Hao Yun quickly interrupted, saying that Cuì Huā was a perfectly lovely name, and he didn't need to know her full name.

After introducing Cuì Huā, Hao Yun asked Dao Lao and Master Gu about their shop inspection, subtly hinting for Dao Lao to return any leftover funds.

Master Gu quickly covered for Dao Lao, saying, "Uh—we've visited all your milk tea shops. Although business is currently slow, we believe they can still be revived."

Hao Yun’s eyes lit up, momentarily forgetting about the funds as he eagerly asked Master Gu, "Oh? What’s your suggestion? I’m all ears!"