Chapter 2:
Chapter 2: Disaster Academy.
"Where am I?"
Everything spun around, and Chen Mo felt as if he had fallen asleep and had a long dream.
As he gradually woke up he instinctively thought it was time for morning self-stud, but when he opened his eyes he was astonished to find that this was not the school dormitory.
The room was dimly lit with two skylights and the sky outside was gloomy.
After struggling to get up from the stone bed covered with animal skins Chen Mo hesitantly stepped outside the room.
He stood there dumbfounded for a long time, unable to believe what he saw. The sky was completely grey without the sun, moon, or stars.
On the desolate land which seemed to be covered with volcanic ash occasional black rocks were exposed. Not far away, a black river flowed swiftly with countless white bones scattered along the riverbank.
As far as the eye could see it was barren and lifeless. And behind him, the so-called house was actually an incredibly huge skull with the two skylights being its eye sockets.
Chen Mo's legs went weak and he sat dazedly on the ground.
With hunger gnawing at his stomach memories that did not belong to him surged in his mind overwhelming him and he passed out.
It was unknown how long had passed before Chen Mo woke up again.
Although the sky was still gloomy, it was much brighter than before. According to the memory of 'Stone,' it should be time for his morning exercise.
"I actually crossed over..."
Chen Mo stared blankly at everything before him, finally accepting the fact that he had crossed over.
This was a world without the sun, moon, or stars, a world devoid of vitality, known as the Disaster World.
Because there was no vegetation, the humans in the Disaster World could not cultivate or farm. To survive, they could only become what was known as 'Natural Disasters' relying on plundering resources from other worlds to sustain themselves.
This also shaped the cruel competitive law of the Disaster World, where only the strong survived.
This was a cruel world that worshipped the strong.
The body's original owner whom Chen Mo had crossed over into, was named 'Stone.'
According to Stone's memory, the area he was in was located near the wilderness of the Disaster World's Eye of Malice region, near a place called the Gathering Grounds of the River of Sorrows.
The reason why Chen Mo crossed over here was because Stone's mother had become completely disappointed in him and chose to abandon him.
Stone did not know who his father was. Not only Stone, but many people in this world did not know who their fathers were.
In the Disaster World, generally mothers would raise their children to adulthood before sending them to the Disaster Academy to become a Natural Disaster.
As for the abandoned, it was equivalent to the family declaring to the world that this was a warrior with innate deficiencies. In this world that worshipped the strong, no one would sympathize with a waste. This was similar to the rules of selecting Spartan warriors, where parents would gradually eliminate those inferior warriors from infancy.
As for the fate of the abandoned, 90% of them would not manage to go to the Gathering Grounds of the Disaster Academy to have the opportunity to become a Natural Disaster.
Another 9% of the lucky abandoned would die during the trial of the Starving Ghosts at the Disaster Academy.
Then, of the remaining 1% of the abandoned, 0.9% would become the bottom warriors of this world, known as the parasites and less than 0.1% of the abandoned would live a normal life.
According to Stone's vague memory, the reason why his mother abandoned him was because his basic skills had always been difficult to improve.
Starting from a few years ago, his mother had been scolding him as a fool. From Stone's memory his mind was indeed not very sharp and the happiest thing for him every day was to play with monkey and honey letting the two of them tease him without getting angry.
It wasn't until a week ago when his mother checked his progress in basic skills again that she became completely despairing.
"Although you have the talent of stone skin, you are ultimately a fool with no hope of improvement."
His mother finally abandoned him ignoring his crying and pleading and left the skull house where he had been raised.
Even Monkey and Honey no longer played with him.
Stone was desperate. He wanted to go to the Gathering Grounds of the River of Sorrows but because he was timid and he dared not go out at all, until two days ago when he ate the last bit of food in the house.
On the brink of starvation, Stone made a wish in bed.
"Pray to the great Evil God of the Eye of Malice, make me smarter and bring back my mother."
At that moment, Stone was just a child longing for maternal love.
However, Stone did not become smarter and his mother did not return, it was Chen Mo who accidentally crossed over.
Sitting in front of the door of the skull room Chen Mo digested Stone's memories. At this moment Chen Mo had no fear as a transmigrator. Instead, he found a strange sense of belonging in Stone.
"We are all the same, abandoned children by our parents."
Chen Mo looked down at his arm skin.
Touching this layer of skin which was covered with a layer of keratin was very hard, he realised this was Stone's talent of stone skin and also the origin of his name.
"You are not worthless! With your body and my mind we can definitely live well in this world."
Gurgle.
Chen Mo's stomach growled.
The last bit of food here had been eaten by Stone two days ago. He felt dizzy from hunger and knew that if he didn't want to starve to death, he had only one choice, to go to the Gathering Grounds of the River of Sorrows immediately and find the Disaster Academy that Stone feared in his memory and try to pass the academy's assessment to become a true Natural Disaster. According to his memory the gathering place is quite far from here, at least a three-day walk.
Chen Mo estimated that it was about a hundred kilometers.
"Survive!"
There was nothing valuable in the room, and Chen Mo had no attachment to this place. Because he knew that he had better hurry to the Disaster Academy before he ran out of strength, he set off immediatly.
Fortunately, because there was no sun, the weather was not too hot. But the memory of Stone told Chen Mo that the nights here would be very cold so he took a fur blanket and a water bag, which was his entire fortune.
He came to the river and filled the water bag. Looking at his reflection in the river, his image seemed to have changed slightly. It seemed to overlap with the stone, his skin became whiter and more tender, and his face became more mature than his impression of himself.
No more hesitation.
After taking a last look at the huge skull house standing in the desolate land Chen Mo left in large strides in the direction of his memory.
The ground was more like ash than soil, covered with black gray gravel making creaking sounds when stepped on.
"Stone brother..."
"Ha ha, stinky stone!"
Not long after he left, he heard two voices nearby, one male and one female.
Chen Mo turned to look, and it turned out to be his playmates, Honey and Monkey.
The two were also the only two neighbours within a few kilometers.
Honey was still as beautiful and lovely as she was in the sSone's memory with snow-white skin and single eyelids. She used to like calling him Stone brother, but now she seemed hesitant bowing her head and not daring to look at him.
Monkey, on the other hand had an undisguised look of disdain making a mocking face and mocking him. He knew that from now on Stone would no longer be on the same level as him.
Feeling the indifference of the people in the disaster world Chen Mo didn't say much. He continued to walk forward but he was a little puzzled. It seemed that they had not noticed the change in his appearance. Could it be that this world or this universe was trying to reconcile the impact of his crossing?
Gradually, the view of the river receded.
In the desolate land apart from ash and rocks there were only bones left.
Some of these bones were large and some were small. The large ones were as huge as small mountains, making it hard to imagine what kind of giant creatures they were when they were alive.
As the sky gradually darkened, Chen Mo unwittingly walked a day's journey.
The night in the disaster world was indeed as cold as it was in the Stone's memory.
Chen Mo stopped, wrapped himself in the fur blanket and tried to bury himself in the ash, but he still couldn't help shivering. He imagined the buns in the school cafeteria, drooling and endured the night.
The next day.
Chen Mo drank some water to relieve his hunger and continued on his way.
As the sky gradually became brighter Chen Mo's steps became heavier.
The ash on the ground continued to devour Chen Mo's strength and hunger tormented him. He knew that he didn't have much time left. Perhaps soon he would also become one of the countless skeletons in this desolate land. But before he died he had to keep moving forward. This was his only chance.
Just as Chen Mo was about to collapse from exhaustion.
Rumble, rumble.
Suddenly, there was a roar from the horizon.
"Is it a beast? Unfortunately, I don't have the strength to escape."
Weak and faint, Chen Mo regained consciousness and self-deprecatingly said, "What beasts could there be in this environment?"
As Chen Mo focused his attention, accompanied by some confusion from Stone's memory his despair was replaced by astonishment.
Because the thing making the rumbling noise turned out to be a four-wheel off-road vehicle!
In Stone's memory, such vehicles were rare items that only high-level natural disasters possessed.
Like finding a lifeline, Chen Mo desperately waved his animal skin blanket and shouted for help. As the wheels kicked up dust the off-road vehicle actually turned around and with a drift, stylishly stopped in front of Chen Mo.
The middle-aged man driving the vehicle was strong and muscular, but his expression was calm. His eyes assessed Chen Mo as if waiting for him to speak first.
"Hello."
Weakly leaning against the car door, Chen Mo pleaded, "I have no strength left. Could you take me to Disaster Academy?"
Chen Mo had never begged anyone so sincerely, at least not in the nearly twenty years he had lived on Earth. Though he didn't have a mirror, he knew he must look very dishevelled right now. He held onto the car door tightly, knowing that if the man hit the gas, he would undoubtedly die.
"Get in."
Like a celestial voice when the man’s voice came to his ear, the image of this man in Chen Mo's eyes suddenly became extremely tall.
"Thank you!"
He used all his strength to open the car door and climb in.
Rumble.
The off-road vehicle sped very fast, and the dust behind it took a long time to settle. The two of them soon covered the distance that Chen Mo could not have walked in a day.
As the sandy dust gradually lessened and the rocks increased, some building traces appeared at the end of the horizon. Chen Mo knew he was saved.
Gua gua.
A huge bird flew overhead, spreading its wings for tens of meters with someone sitting on top. Under the terrifying shadow, Chen Mo couldn't help but watch for a long time until the giant bird disappeared at the end of the sky, contrasting sharply with the slow and cumbersome airship on the other side.
The ground gradually flattened, and the sandy dust was replaced by bluestone pavement.
People came and went on the bustling streets, with various giant skeleton decorations filling the scene. In the distance, there was even a towering light tower.
Under normal circumstances, these strange and fantastical sights would have amazed Chen Mo. But now, tormented by hunger, Chen Mo wanted to ask this man for food several times. However, what came out of his mouth was, "Thank you. May I ask for your name? If I survive, I will repay you."
"Tian Qi."
The off-road vehicle stopped in front of a gate.
The man pointed to a huge building in the distance and said, "That's the Disaster Academy."
Tian Qi didn't seem indifferent, just not good with words.
Although the overall attribute of the disaster world tended towards evil and order, due to the frequent need to cooperate in defeating certain enemies during the invasion of other worlds some people still maintained a narrow sense of kindness towards their own kind.
This narrow sense of kindness however was not a universal value, but rather a partial value formed by the different growth experiences of different disaster survivors.
"Thank you."
Chen Mo nodded in thanks.
He didn't want to trouble the man in front of him any further. After deeply remembering the man's face, he got out of the off-road vehicle.
With a rumbling roar, the off-road vehicle turned around and left.
He looked up at the huge building, where several blood-red characters were engraved on a large skeleton.
"Academy of Disaster of River of Sorrows."
Although belonging to the same hieroglyphic system, Tianzai characters were quite different from Chinese characters. Fortunately Stone's brain though not very bright still recognized most of the Tianzai characters.
Standing in front of the gate was a cold-looking woman with several half-grown children behind her, all looking at him.
"Another abandoned one."
"Just now, it seems he was brought here by an adult natural disaster."
"It's probably just luck, being rescued."
Ignoring the comments of the children, Chen Mo approached the woman and tentatively asked, "Hello, may I..."
"Do you want to start implanting the light brain chip and begin the enlightenment training of the starving ghost at the Disaster Academy?"
Before Chen Mo could finish speaking, the woman asked calmly.
Fortunately, Chen Mo noticed that he was not the only abandoned one here. Among the children behind the woman, there were also several who were similarly ragged and battered, obviously arriving at the academy alone and in a sorry state.
"Yes."
With Chen Mo's response, the woman led him to the side.
This was a mysterious device that resembled a magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) machine, but it looked even larger. Its appearance was full of science fiction, which clashed sharply with the rough and simple appearance of the disaster world's skeleton-covered landscape, making it seem quite out of place.
Under the woman's operation, Chen Mo was locked into the device.
"Data creates value, Tianhua Quantum Technology."
After the device started, it actually played an advertisement, which momentarily confused Chen Mo. It seemed as if he was in a modern hospital full of science fiction. Then red light beams began to rotate around Chen Mo seemingly scanning his body condition.
"Establishing a new file. What is your name?"
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Mo thought that he was no longer just himself but a combination of himself and Stone. He also thought of the previous Tian Qi, who had almost given him a second chance at life. So he replied, "Traveler."
From now on, this will be our common name!
Hmm.
A blue and white light halo gradually enveloped Chen Mo.
A mechanical arm suddenly pressed against the back of his neck. With a low-frequency humming sound, the slightly nervous Chen Mo noticed that the people outside seemed to be accustomed to this, and finally relaxed a little.
A light screen gradually appeared on the transparent glass of the device.
Name: Traveler.
Level: Starving Ghost.
Talent: Stone Skin.
Health: 140.
Defence: 6.
Speed: 6.
Strength: 8.
Physique: 14.
Mind: 23.
Energy: 10.
Basic Boxing: Lv1.
Basic Chopping: Lv1.
Basic Blocking: Lv2.
Equipment: None.
Skills: None.
"Body function data initialization completed, starting to implant the light brain chip."
With a slight tingling at the back of his neck, the mechanical arm retracted into the blue light of the device, which gradually stopped running.
Chen Mo instinctively touched the back of his neck, feeling that there was something extra inside.
(End of chapter 2)
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