Perhaps it was because of a scolding from Chen Gu, or perhaps because of the effect exerted by Gong Shuxu, but Shi Chenghua and Fei Ji both became "more normal" the next day, focusing intently on their training and no longer fixating on Chu Zheng.

Chu Zheng herself found it strange that no matter how she trained, what potions she used, or how much she ate, her body remained stubbornly unchanged, the same flat figure without a hint of transformation.

Two days flew by, and from four in the morning, the first group was already starting to prepare in earnest. By eight o'clock, Chen Gu had arranged the day's training tasks for his group members and then excused himself to rush to the generator on the lowest level.

Everything was ready there; they were just waiting for Song Zheng to arrive.

The second volunteer from the first group, Basler, was a sturdy man standing two meters tall with a somewhat comical little mustache and clearly defined muscles, his trapezius muscles bulging under his training suit.

He sat in the chair, appearing somewhat nervous, his left leg occasionally trembling.

Dr. Meng Ji was directing his researchers in the final checks of the instruments. Chen Gu arrived, and Dr. Meng Ji only gave him a casual wave. Twenty minutes later, at the doctor's command, "Insert all ascension materials into the generator!"

"Prepare yourself, Basler."

Gong Shuxu stepped forward, patted Basler on the shoulder, "Go ahead, remember what I told you before, there won't be any problems."

The soothing effect of the Psychological Spy was remarkable; Basler visibly calmed down as he stood up and entered the generator.

Everything proceeded in an orderly and methodical fashion.

"Close the generator!"

"Prepare the dedicated energy circuit."

"Start up!"

Following Dr. Meng Ji's command, the generator quickly lit up with the intense brightness that Chen Gu had become all too familiar with.

The light soon peaked, blinding everyone so that they could only see a piercing white light, everything else obscured by its brilliance.

Then, the light slowly diminished, and Dr. Meng Ji along with several senior researchers stared intently at the various monitoring devices, but unfortunately, the data on these devices remained at a very low level.

Dr. Meng Ji, with arms crossed, shook his head helplessly; these were not the readings of a Professional. Without a doubt, this experiment had failed as well.

Suddenly, a series of urgent alarms blared, and the piercing red lights around the generator flashed incessantly.

"Invasion from the Endless Realm detected!"

Chen Gu stepped forward, gazing at the generator.

Inside the generator, a malevolent and chilling presence began to spread.

Dr. Meng Ji, in agony, massaged his temples, "Is Basler also unable to withstand it?"

The monitoring devices kept sounding alarms, and everyone watched the generator as if facing a formidable enemy, Gong Shuxu ready to act at a moment's notice.

Yet the alarms continued to sound, while inside the generator, all remained calm. Time ticked by, unbearably slow.

Then, in an abrupt moment, the alarm, which felt as though it had been echoing in everyone's ears for hours, suddenly fell silent.

The flashing red lights around the generator went out as well.

Everyone snapped to attention, and then realized that the lights from the generator and the dedicated energy circuit had also completely faded out.

"Is it over?"

Dr. Meng Ji gestured for his researchers to take action, "Check for contamination status."

The results came out quickly, "Confirmed no contamination."

"Open the generator."

The airtight door hissed open, and Basler sat dejectedly inside, motionless, aware of his failure.

A few researchers entered, patted his shoulder, "Let's go."

Basler was extremely disappointed and listlessly let them guide him as he walked out of the generator.

Gong Shuxu stopped him, "Didn't those beings from the Endless Realm tempt you?"

Basler gave a wry smile, "No, I felt the power of the Endless Realm. Through a haze, it seemed like I saw some evil entities pointing at me from afar, but not one of them came over.

"Maybe they think... they simply disdain to tempt an ordinary person like me."

He shook his head, no longer wanting to speak, and left in dejection.

Chen Gu understood his feelings. In despair, he had suddenly glimpsed a ray of hope, but in the end, that glimmer too had been extinguished—a second bout of despair—it was tough on anyone's heart.

"This is strange..." Dr. Meng Ji muttered to himself, "The last promotion didn't succeed either, yet it attracted such a powerful demonic form. Why would the other side of the Endless Realm voluntarily give up this time?"

He couldn't understand the reason for a while and could only attribute it to the beings being too bizarre, beyond conventional reasoning.

The remaining trivial tasks of wrapping up were naturally handled by his subordinate researchers, and Dr. Meng Ji approached Chen Gu, "From now on, it all depends on you."

Chen Gu gave a bitter smile, "From the current situation, apart from Chu Zheng, the other two volunteers will need at least three more months to meet the standard."

Dr. Meng Ji gritted his teeth, "As long as Chu Zheng meets the requirements, we'll start with her."

The dual failures of the first group spread a mood of disappointment throughout the base. Everyone harbored a pessimistic attitude about whether the results they desired would be achieved this time.

Only Chu Zheng remained indifferent as ever.

Days passed, and half a month flew by in the blink of an eye. During this period, Chen Gu went out to fight in three giant beast league matches, with opponents of varying strengths, though relatively weak compared to Combat Rooster.

By this time, Chen Gu had already won five consecutive matches! Various experts and columnists finally began to take notice of this.

On the current individual competition scoreboard, the scores had not widened much. Most of the competitors had only participated in five or six matches, and there were quite a few who maintained an undefeated status. Currently, the "top rankers" included over thirty people, all with six victories.

Chen Gu, having fought one less match, was tied for second place with fourteen others with a record of five undefeated matches!

An Energy Gathering Mechanical Species making it this far caught everyone's attention, and the commentary about him began to increase.

By now, public opinion was beyond the Alliance's control. Overall, the skeptics still outnumbered the optimistic, as there had never been a successful case involving an Energy Gathering Mechanical Species before.

Chen Gu's record was more often seen as a fortunate but fleeting wonder.

Chen Gu, finding that too many were pessimistic about his prospects, decided to ignore the comments during this period and focus entirely on training his three trainees.

「Three days later,」 with the injection of a precious medicinal concoction, Chu Zheng finally reached the physical condition Chen Gu had before his employment.

Dr. Meng Ji, having waited anxiously for so long, immediately ordered the preparation of the third experiment.

This "urgency" of his only lowered his esteem in her eyes, confirming her judgment of his emotional coldness and his sole focus on experimentation.

Yet, Chen Gu was somewhat worried. On the day before the experiment, he sought Chu Zheng out and abruptly asked, "Do you want to die?"