Chapter 151: Chapter 103: Record-Breaking Spree, Media Frenzy

The taste was slightly bitter, with a strange spiciness—definitely different from ordinary black pepper sauce.

"Doesn’t seem like... it’s doing anything?" The fat cook smacked his lips. "You motherfucker, Fack! You definitely bought a fake."

"Did I really get scammed?" the assistant cook wondered. "Impossible. I bought it from an officially certified store on TEMU. Can they still sell fakes?"

However, a few minutes later, a thunderous rumble exploded from deep within their abdomens, followed by a churning, gut-wrenching pain, as if a hand were trying to rip their intestines out.

"I... I can’t take it anymore."

"Bath... bathroom."

...

Li Wei, of course, was unaware of the two assistant cooks’ fate. After finishing his meal, he, Trevor, and the others swarmed from the cafeteria to the large conference room on the second floor, where the event’s activity director stood waiting for them at a podium.

He was full of swagger, his expression severe, looking like an ostrich poised to strike.

Once the meeting started, his speech reminded Li Wei of the one his homeroom teacher gave during their first class meeting after he’d been accepted into a prestigious high school.

"You are the 100 best players in the United States of America from this year’s class, but here, you’re nobody."

"You’re a five-star recruit, he’s a five-star recruit. You’re a state champion, but who here isn’t a state champion?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Even though you’ve secured your NCAA commitments, you need to know that only 2.7% of NCAA players make it to the NFL. Your performance here will undoubtedly be a huge boost to your future NFL prospects."

"The people in the stands, the random faces in the hotel lobby—they could be media or NFL scouts (his eyes flickered toward Li Wei as he mentioned NFL scouts)."

Li Wei leaned back in his chair, his expression placid.

A warm sensation spread through his stomach. Over 4,000 calories were being rapidly broken down by his 3.0 Constitution and converted into stored energy.

[Quest: Immunity to a Hundred Poisons 5/5 Complete]

[Free Attribute Points +0.1]

With a single thought, Li Wei unhesitatingly added the attribute point to Strength.

[Strength 2.5] —> [Strength 2.6]

A subtle but distinct warm current spread through his body, and his muscle fibers felt as if they were tightening on a microscopic level. Though the 0.1 increase wasn’t physically obvious, it meant he had advanced another micrometer on the path to peak human potential.

He was now getting closer and closer to raising all four of his stats to 3.0.

’This meal was well worth it,’ Li Wei thought, feeling not quite satisfied. ’I wonder if they’ll have another one of these spiked specials tomorrow. Maybe it could trigger another quest for me.’

Douglas went on for quite a while, and the more he spoke, the more convinced Li Wei became that he must have taken professional development courses at a high school in the Celestial Dynasty.

He concluded by thanking the various sponsors for their support, from the United States of America Army to the NBC Television Network, from the sports drink sponsor to Adidas, rattling them off for a good ten minutes before finally stopping.

"Alright, we’ll now distribute the playbooks," Douglas said succinctly. "Go back and study them carefully. The scrimmages officially start tomorrow. Give it your all."

As Li Wei and the others were leaving the conference room, they suddenly noticed a commotion at the entrance to the hotel lobby. The shrill wail of an ambulance siren pierced the night sky.

"What’s going on?"

"Who’s hurt?"

In full view of everyone, two men in chef’s uniforms were carried out on stretchers. They were already semi-conscious from severe dehydration, lying limply on the gurneys with IV lines stuck in them.

Even from a distance, Li Wei recognized them as the two chefs who had drugged his food.

Strange? He frowned. ’What happened to them?’

’They couldn’t have seen that I had no reaction, gotten suspicious, and then eaten it themselves, could they?’

’If that’s really what happened, then they’re about as smart as Travis.’

It wasn’t until Li Wei returned to his room that he spoke to his roommate for the week for the first time.

However, neither had much to talk about. After a polite, perfunctory exchange, they both went back to doing their own thing.

Lying in bed, Li Wei put on his headphones and chatted with Lily for a while. Afterward, he sent a message to Don Quixote, asking him to limit Lily’s time on her phone a bit. He didn’t want to spoil her and have her end up needing glasses at such a young age.

After peaceably accepting Lily’s effusive delight about the presidential suite, Li Wei had a video call with Anya for a bit before replying to messages from his teammates and friends.

Wen Si Scout and Coach Miller were mainly concerned about his current physical condition. They told him not to get nervous or break any rules, and that if he just played like his usual self, securing the scrimmage MVP and the All-American Bowl individual MVP, then leading the East team to the championship, would be in the bag.

Elizabeth told him a few amusing stories about the White House Christmas ball and also subtly expressed her personal opinion on the new president—he was simply too old and would sometimes zone out, not seeming like a president capable of shouldering the future of the United States of America.

However, she also said this was a good thing for them. Regardless of whether the president—whose election results were about to be announced—was truly senile from old age or just playing dumb to protect himself, it meant that the power of the Old Qian Families like hers could welcome a new round of expansion.

Craig focused on the on-site atmosphere and procedures of a major competition like this, picking Li Wei’s brain as someone who had been through it before. He ended with his congratulations and best wishes for Li Wei.

Travis, that big dumbass, only cared about the hotel food. He swore up and down to Li Wei that the event organizers would definitely give them new drugs to test their effects on their bodies.