Chương 78: Mass is Power

What? Could it be that the color of the Health Bar wasn't tied to trust levels, like he had previously guessed? Vince would rather believe his hypothesis was flawed than accept that, for some inexplicable reason, Seth trusted him more than Cody did. Although he was deeply puzzled, he didn't let any of it show, greeting them normally.

"Are Claire and Zoe awake yet?" Vince asked.

"I don't know. The door is closed. We heard the commotion and came straight down..." It was Cody who answered, as usual. Even though Seth's Health Bar was green, without the liquid courage from last night, he was back to his usual, withdrawn self.

"Alright..." Vince glanced at Seth, giving up on investigating the matter for now.

"Since you're here, go start the RV. We don't want the battery dying later." Having instructed Cody, Vince saw that the men had mostly finished setting up the equipment. He handed both a long spear and a short spear to Hank.

"Make them both solid..."

"You got it, Vince!" Ben, Zack, and the others went back to collecting supplies, leaving Hank here to work alone. It was the perfect time to have the two idle students help him out. Under Hank's direction, the two followed his envisioned process step by step. First, they sawed off the spearhead Vince had set aside. Next, they sanded down the rust on the inner wall of the steel pipe a few times, then stuffed handful after handful of welding rods inside...

Finally, Vince personally used a piece of rebar to aggressively pack the welding rods tight, freeing up space to shove in even more rods. He didn't stop until it was packed so solid that even he couldn't tamp it down any further. Tapping the outside of the steel pipe, the original crisp clang-clang had transformed into a heavy, muffled thud-thud, proving how incredibly dense it had become. Finally, they filled the remaining few centimeters of empty space at both ends with scrap steel slag.

Hank turned on the power, pulled down his welding mask, and stepped onto a stool. The arc of light that flared between the welding rod and the scrap steel slag was more blinding than the sun. Golden-red molten iron covered the slag until it completely fused with the inner wall of the pipe. After applying the same treatment to the other end and waiting for it to cool, the hollow steel pipe had been transformed into a solid steel rod weighing over 30 pounds. Vince picked it up.

Weighing it in his hands, it indeed felt much more comfortable and natural than before. Gripping it with both hands, he swung it hard. The heavy rod whipped through the air with a howling whoosh, sounding like a wailing ghost. THUD! With a dull, heavy impact, the steel rod swung back and smashed heavily into the ground, completely pulverizing a paving brick on the sidewalk.

"Good! This weight is just about right." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Cody and Seth were fine; they were already numb to it. But seeing Vince casually twirl a rod of that weight, Hank's eyes practically popped out of his skull. If he had to pick up that rod and smash someone with it, he could barely manage it. But to swing it around like that? He wouldn't even dream of it.

If he swung it and couldn't control the momentum, his lumbar discs would instantly explode. He had originally thought Vince wanted such a heavy weapon to use like a sledgehammer against zombies—a single, decisive blow. He never expected Vince to wield it exactly like the original pipe, his footwork and agility completely unaffected! He couldn't help but click his tongue in awe and quietly ask Cody beside him, "What did Vince do for a living? Was he really a vet?

He has to be a weightlifting champion or something..." Cody merely smiled politely, not saying a word in response.

"This works." Having tested it out and feeling he could fully adapt to the weight, Vince leaned it back against the RV and asked Hank, "What about the spearhead? If we cut it at an angle like my old one, the filling will spill out, right..."

"Does a rod like this even need a spearhead? One swing and any zombie is going to shatter into pieces..." Still shocked by Vince's raw strength, Hank couldn't help but sigh. But seeing his serious expression, he awkwardly shut his mouth and asked hesitantly, "What kind of spearhead do you want?" Vince thought for a moment and replied, "With this weight, any spearhead will do. It just needs to be sturdy, hard to deform, and have a point..." That wasn't a difficult request.

Hank thought it over carefully and answered, "For a steel pillar this heavy, the tip can't just be a simple iron sheet. Let's just weld on a block of square steel and grind it down into a triangular pyramid..."

"Perfect, let's go with that..." Vince clapped his hands, finalizing the design. He then instructed Cody and Seth to stay and help, while he headed back upstairs to see how Claire was doing. He had been busy all morning, but that [105] Health Bar was still lingering on his mind... Opening the apartment door, he saw that Claire was already up. Wearing a casual loungewear dress, she was busy cooking in the kitchen. Seeing Vince return, she hurriedly greeted him: "Vince, where did you go so early in the morning?

You scared me to death when I woke up and saw you were gone. If Zoe wasn't still sleeping in the living room, I would've thought something terrible happened..." Seeing her, Vince wiped his hands on his clothes, chuckled slyly, and hugged her from behind. His hands roaming restlessly, he said:"I got woken up by the walkie-talkie this morning. Took a spin outside with Ben and his crew and brought back some good stuff. I'll have them make a few weapons for you guys later...

By the way, Claire, when you woke up this morning, did your body feel any different than before?" Hearing Vince's question, Claire thought for a moment in confusion, muttering to herself, "Any different?"

"I do feel a bit more energetic today than usual. Probably just because I got some good rest last night..." She suddenly blinked playfully. Her pretty face flushing crimson, she leaned in close to Vince's ear and whispered in a sultry, dramatic tone:"And also... right now, my body isn't just mine anymore. It's yours too..."

"..." Hearing that spine-tinglingly numb voice whispering in his ear, Vince was hit with hard crowd-control once again... Seeing this, Claire gave a cunning smile, gently stroked the side of Vince's face, and turned back to the stove... This Claire is getting more and more unruly! How can a real man stand to be kept under someone's thumb for so long?! Vince made a firm resolve in his heart: he absolutely had to punish her severely! Vince walked up behind her and reached out to turn off the stove...

"Claire, let's do an experiment..."

"Hey, don't, my noodles..."

"Mmm..." A messy chorus of heavy breathing and muffled moans drifted from the kitchen into the living room. Immediately after, the harsh, continuous SCREEECH— of the angle grinder outside pierced through the window. Caught in the crossfire of these two distinct noises, the still-slumbering Zoe squeezed her eyes shut, furrowed her brow, and buried her head between two sofa cushions... Occasionally letting out a soft groan, god knows what kind of nightmare she was having...

Bathed in a steamy, rosy afterglow, Claire leaned against the kitchen counter. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her hair completely disheveled, as she glared at Vince with profound resentment. Vince, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow, leaned close to her ear, and asked softly, "Still want to act naughty...?" However, his attention was completely laser-focused on the Health Bar floating above Claire's head. [105/105] No change whatsoever...

Vince had genuinely been thinking that if he could actually increase her Max HP by 5 points every time, then even if he exhausted himself to the point of coughing up blood, for the sake of humanity's future, he was absolutely going to buff Claire to 10, 000 Health Points!