Arlan slowly opened his eyes and found out that he was inside the bathroom. The floor was already flooded with water since he didn't have the chance to turn off the shower before he passed out.
"Dammit! That was a strong drug!" He muttered as he grabbed his aching head. He then turned off the shower and stood in front of the mirror. He noticed that his muscles had become more ripped and toned. His jawline became sharper and more prominent. His eight packs were now more visible.
"This..." He was stunned by the massive changes in his body. If he looked like a trained athlete before. Now, he looked like someone who had trained in calisthenics for over ten years!
Arlan clenched his fists and did shadowboxing to test his strength and speed. His punches became faster and stronger as he grew more accustomed to the changes in his body. "I should head to the gym to test out my current strength." He muttered as he went out of the bathroom.
After changing into his training clothes, Arlan headed straight to the hotel's gym.
Before injecting the Body Enhancing Serum, his maximum deadlift was around 610.6 pounds (277 kilograms). As for his squat record, it was 440 pounds (199.5 kilograms).
Arlan adjusted the weight of the barbell to 277 kilograms. This was his previous record. When he lifted the barbell, he found out that he was no longer having any difficulty lifting it. He added more weights to the barbell and adjusted it to 290 kilograms. This time, it took him more time to lift the barbell. He increased the weight from time to time and when the barbell reached a weight of 320 kilograms, he finally started to struggle. In the end, he discovered that his maximum deadlift was now 350 kilograms (771.6 pounds)! As for his new squat record, it was a shocking 267 kilograms (588.6 pounds)!
The people watching him were stunned when they saw him lifting such heavy weights. Some muscular guys even volunteered to spot him.
"You're so strong, bro! Can you tell us how you did it?"
"Just what kind of food do you eat bro!?"
Arlan perfunctorily answered everyone before he left the gym. He took a cold shower to remove all the sweat and dirt on his body. He then took a mirror picture of himself with just a bath towel tied to his waist. He then posted it on his Instagram and added a short caption, "Feeling good after working out."
"I wonder how my friends would react after seeing the new me." He chuckled as he changed into a comfortable set of clothes.
***
The next day, Arlan woke up feeling refreshed. The residual effects of the Body Enhancing Serum have already been absorbed by his body. He felt energized and filled with power.
[Congratulations! You claimed $10,000,000!]
Arlan smiled when he saw the reward. It was in dollars so the money he got was a lot when converted to the local currency. The value of Maharlika's peso was always fluctuating because of the inflation problem. Now, the value of 1 dollar is about 56 Maharlika Peso. That means he claimed a total of 560,000,000 pesos!
"Not bad!" If it was before, he would have been shocked by this amount of money.
Today, he would meet the arms dealer that Karl introduced to him yesterday. He had to look presentable when facing such an individual.
Arlan checked the time.
8:01 a.m.
He still had over fifty minutes to prepare. He went to the bathroom and took a hot shower. He then changed into a set of semi-formal clothes. After looking at himself in the mirror, he muttered. "I think I look more handsome now."
At exactly 9 a.m., Arlan and Khalon entered a coffee shop that was inside the hotel. They saw Karl and a pot-bellied middle-aged man chatting at a corner table.
"Thank you for your patience. I am Arlan Dominic Roa. It's a pleasure to meet you." Arlan smiled as he shook hands with the man.
"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Roa. My name is Ben Hidalgo. You can just call me, Ben. That's also what Karl calls me." Ben laughed lightly as he sized up Arlan. His gaze then soon moved towards Khalon who was standing behind Arlan. The man was tall and there was a long snake-like wound on his face. Ben could tell that this guy was someone who had killed before from the invisible pressure he exuded.
"Please take your seat." Arlan muttered as he sat down.
Ben took his seat and observed the surroundings carefully. "Mr. Roa, I heard from Karl that you want to purchase some military-grade bulletproof vests and also some weapons. Could you tell me what kind of weapons are you looking for?" He knew that his business was borderline illegal so he had to be careful when speaking with his potential customers. He encountered a police officer back then who disguised himself as a civilian. Luckily, he was astute enough to discover the other party's identity or he would have been in jail by now. Although he trusted Karl, he still chose to be careful.
"I wonder if you have some assault rifles in your stock, Mr. Hidalgo." Arlan asked while interlocking his fingers.
The smile on Ben's face stiffened when he heard this. Selling automatic weapons is illegal in the country. "Mr. Roa, I'm a genuine businessman. I wouldn't dare sell illegal firearms in Maharlika. I only sell semi-automatic weapons and small firearms." He would face numerous charges if the government found out that he was selling automatic weapons so he always denied it whenever someone asked him this.
Arlan smiled when he heard Ben's words, but he was sneering in his heart. "You don't have to worry about this transaction, Mr. Hidalgo. I will ensure your safety throughout the whole exchange and I promise that I won't inform the police about this."
Ben smiled bitterly at his words. He also cursed Karl in his heart. 'I think I entered the lion's den... Damn, that bastard Karl!'
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l