Reece Fisk, efficient despite his massive frame, quickly hustled over to the little corner separated by the staircase. It was a makeshift administrative nook with a desk, computer, and printer, currently open to the entire training hall.
Reece mentally noted the urgent need to hire someone to build a proper, locked cubicle here. Confidentiality and security were necessary, especially given the diverse—and often shady—clientele now passing through the Hall.
He soon returned with a freshly printed contract. It was a simple employment agreement: Logan, the new combat supervisor and sparring partner, was contracted for a generous salary of $5,000 per month, plus full room and board.
That salary was significant. It matched the high-end intern pay Rhys and Zhong Qiang received, which, considering Reece was the son of Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) and already had access to infinite assets, indicated that Huang Wen valued Logan highly—or rather, the tasks Logan generated highly.
Logan glanced over the document, his sharp eyes scanning the terms. He nodded in grudging satisfaction. The compensation was more than fair for what amounted to watching students practice and occasionally giving a few pointers. Low effort, high reward. He quickly scrawled a signature that looked like it was carved with a claw.
A triumphant, private smile touched Huang Wen's lips as Logan signed. He had secured the asset. Logan wasn't just a sparring partner; he was the key to an endless supply of high-level draws. After the success of the Slow Motion Glasses and the Steamed Bun Grenade—two utterly game-changing powers—Huang Wen was already plotting the next set of missions.
However, he needed to make a quick tactical withdrawal to test his new volatile ability before embarking on the next task.
"Alright, I'm heading out for a bit," Huang Wen announced, adopting a casual, hands-off air. "I leave the Hall in your capable hands. You all practice diligently, especially you, Xiao Qiang! Practice like your life depends on it! When you're tired, eat. If you still haven't gained any weight by next month, I'm personally sending you back to that all-you-can-eat hot pot place until you break that cursed light physique!"
"No way, Brother Wen!" Zhong Qiang wailed, his face instantly sour. "It's not my fault! I eat like a starving bear, but I just can't put on the bulk. Is that fair?" He felt unfairly targeted, having been an innocent spectator during the challenge.
"Uncle Wolf," Huang Wen said, ignoring Zhong Qiang's complaints, "keep a close eye on this slacker. Don't let him cut corners."
With a final wave, Huang Wen turned and briskly left the Wing Chun Hall. The remaining occupants glanced at each other, then quickly returned to their practice under Logan's fierce, scrutinizing gaze. No one wanted to be the first to attract the wrath of the new, terrifyingly strong instructor.
Once outside, Huang Wen headed straight for the closest Chinese supermarket, a small, bustling store tucked away in a side street near Chinatown. He browsed the snack aisle, his mind racing through the physics of the "Steamed Bun Grenade" skill.
Volume is key, but so is safety.
"Should I buy chewing gum or sunflower seeds?" he muttered, weighing the options.
Chewing gum is elastic, sticky, and easy to deploy. It would be a great sticky bomb, but even a normal steamed bun had the explosive power of a standard grenade. A whole pack of chewing gum might be too much, and I can't risk collateral damage to innocents, or the inevitable law enforcement scrutiny.
But the sunflower seed shells... they are too tiny. Would the resulting explosion be useful at all? Or would it be a pathetic spark?
"I'll buy both, and one very large piece of fruit. I need to calibrate the power scale," he decided.
Huang Wen emerged from the market with a bag of roasted sunflower seeds, a pack of bubblegum, and a truly enormous, perfectly round apple—almost the size of his head—tucked under his arm.
He quickly slipped into an empty alley, summoned his Magical Tuxedo, and activated the invisibility mode. Now a ghost flitting across the New York skyline, he traversed rooftops with his "Snow-Treading Without a Trace" lightness skill. If he had possessed a web-shooter, the legend of a new, exceptionally stealthy Spider-Man would have been born instantly.
After a long search, he found a truly remote, derelict construction site, littered with rubble and deep trenches. Seeing no signs of life, Huang Wen finally stopped.
He took out the chewing gum he had been idly masticating during the journey, rolled it into a neat ball, and tossed it about ten meters away, focusing his mind on the detonation sequence.
Control.
BOOM!
The sound was shockingly loud. The chewing gum exploded, tearing a crater roughly three meters in diameter into the rubble-strewn ground. The blast wave, though significantly dampened by the Tuxedo's shock-absorption ability, still jostled Huang Wen slightly.
He walked over to the resulting pit. There was no trace of the gum, only scorched earth.
"Hmm. Is that powerful, or weak?" He pondered. "It's definitely less powerful than a military grenade, but a three-meter blast radius is still too wide for discreet use. The noise is too much, and the debris field is too risky for urban environments."
He decided to test the lower limit. He cracked a single sunflower seed, carefully spit the tiny, rigid shell onto the ground near a large, cracked boulder, and focused his intent.
Explode.
Bang!
The sound was sharp but muffled. The sunflower seed shell detonated with the force of a small firecracker, sending dust flying and the large boulder shuddering, cracking it further. The blast radius was minimal—less than half a meter—contained almost entirely within the space the boulder occupied.
"Perfect," Huang Wen muttered, examining the shattered rock. "The power scales precisely with the small volume. The tiny seed shell provides sufficient kinetic energy to act as a discreet, high-velocity projectile or a precision detonator."
He now turned his attention to the behemoth apple. This fruit was easily six times the volume of a standard steamed bun.
"I need to know the upper limit of the everyday food item," he mused. "Since I can't exactly bite into a watermelon with the rind, this apple is the largest, intact food item I can manage for now."
Taking a deep breath, Huang Wen lifted the massive apple. He focused his Qi and bit into the firm flesh near the center—a significant, messy chomp. He tossed the apple far away, sprinted backward with his lightness skill, and barely managed to shield his head before issuing the mental command.
MAXIMUM DETONATION!
KABOOOOOM!
A thunderous, earth-shaking detonation ripped through the desolate site. A searing, powerful blast wave—easily ten times stronger than the chewing gum blast—swept over Huang Wen, forcing the Tuxedo's absorption capabilities into overdrive.
When he looked back, the smoke clearing revealed a massive, inverted bowl in the earth—a crater roughly thirty meters in diameter.
"Gulp." Huang Wen swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking out on his brow. The power of the apple bomb was terrifying. He was certain that if he had been standing five meters closer, even his enhanced Essence might not have saved him from being disintegrated.
"Sunflower seed shells are the only safe option for targeted urban intervention," he concluded, his voice trembling slightly. "The Steamed Bun Grenade is a nuclear option, not a precision tool."
Shaken but satisfied with his testing, Huang Wen activated his invisibility and lightness skill again, traversing the rooftops back toward Chinatown. He had his plan for Chief Inspector Yves, but first, he needed to wait for the cover of darkness.
He slipped back into the Wing Chun Hall just as the sun began to set.
"Brother Wen! You're finally back! You have no idea what I've been through…" Zhong Qiang, utterly drenched in sweat and looking completely exhausted, saw Huang Wen and immediately rushed over as if spotting a savior. He had endured Logan and Reece Fisk's combined, non-stop training regiment—a hellish combination of Wing Chun conditioning and brutal, feral conditioning.
"Alright, alright, stop wailing. It was just a little extra conditioning," Huang Wen said, trying to sound annoyed but secretly delighting in his suffering.
"Go home and eat your dinner. Come back after you've had time to digest. And let me remind you again: if you don't put on ten pounds of solid mass in a month, you can expect double the current workload. And I mean double the current amount, not double the original!"
"Double it again? That's double the already doubled amount! No! Brother Wen, have mercy!" Zhong Qiang's mournful cries echoed through the emptying Hall.