They loaded every plate they had left. The bar looked comical now, concrete stacked thick on both sides, the steel bowing like a drawn bowstring under the pressure.
I approached it. The crowd had gone quiet again, just watching, breathing heavy in the humid air.
I grabbed the bar. The weight was substantial now. Real. I could feel it in my hands, my core, my legs. This was the kind of load that demanded everything.
I set my feet. Took a deep breath. Pulled.
The bar came off the ground. Slow. Grinding. The steel bent like it was trying to snap. I locked it out at the top, held it for five full seconds while the crowd lost their minds—screams, cheers, phones flashing like strobe lights. Then I dropped it.
The crash echoed across the beach like a thunderclap.
"HOLY SHIT!" Dex was jumping, screaming, fists pumping the air. "SIX-FIFTEEN! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"
Jaxon stood frozen, staring at the bar, then at me, then back at the bar. "That's… that's not human."
