Disaster Strikes - Chapter 19:

Chapter 19: Falling Apart

“Boo-hoo.”

Just as Chen Mo entered the dormitory gate, he heard Du Qingqing’s crying. Chen Mo calmly returned to his bed, while Du Fangyan continued to comfort his sister. Looking at Lu Yi, one of the members of the five adult starving ghosts group, his angry gaze was like that of a wild beast, but he never dared to say a harsh word.

Chen Mo didn’t want to get involved in these troubles, but Mu Tan, who was beside him, took the initiative to speak.

“Lu Yi said he wants Du Qingqing to follow us and not hold them back.”

With this sentence, Mu Tan wanted to pull Chen Mo into his team again. Obviously, after these two days, he realized that his plan to isolate Chen Mo had not worked, and he recognized his precarious situation. He wanted to give in and try to pull Chen Mo back into his team.

Chen Mo pretended not to understand his intentions.

“Then I’ll go out and avoid it for a while.”

Today, he had planned to rest early and prepare for tomorrow’s Starving Ghosts trial, but Du Qingqing’s crying really disturbed him. It also conveniently avoided Mu Tan. Even if Mu Tan wanted to reconcile with him, he was not a shameless person who would immediately pretend to be friendly and call the other person his brother.

“Why are you crying!”

Chen Mo was about to leave the dormitory when Lu Yi, who was discussing something in a low voice with several other adult starving ghosts, shouted impatiently. He strode over to Du Qingqing, pushing away Du Fangyan who was comforting her.

“Don’t forget who you are, a waste that even the mentor despises! If it weren’t for me teaching you, could you could not have mastered the spatial storage technique so quickly? I have done so much for you, and the starving ghosts trial is starting tomorrow. You still want to hold me back? Do you have no conscience?”

“Haha, isn’t this your little lover?”

Tian Tian leaned against the wall, smiling charmingly. “Big Brother Gao just said that if you want to bring this little lover, it’s okay, we won’t object. But after the mission, the materials and props of the team won’t include you.”

After hearing this, Lu Yi, with an impatient look, pointed at Du Qingqing fiercely, as if giving her a final warning.

He obviously had no intention of giving up the so-called benefits for Du Qingqing.

Only after Du Qingqing made an effort to stop crying did he return to the team of five, continuing the discussion, obviously preparing for tomorrow’s starving ghosts trial.

Chen Mo left the room and went to the training area.

The Academy of Disaster was like a giant machine, with a production cycle of one hundred days. The raw materials were the children of the disaster world, and the products were batches of ignorant warriors.

As long as they passed the Starving Ghosts trial, they would become qualified warriors and truly become members of the disaster world.

Therefore, under every natural disaster’s feet, there were bound to be piles of bones.

To cultivate these predator natural disasters, countless Starving Ghosts were judged as inferior warriors in infancy and abandoned in the wilderness. Some were judged as trash without potential in childhood and became abandoned. Some were killed during their time at the academy, and finally, some were eliminated in the Starving Ghosts trial.

Piles of bones piled up like mountains.

Only the most outstanding warriors could survive in this world.

Jogging slowly in the training area, Chen Mo could often hear people gasping heavily due to exhaustion. These were the new Starving Ghost students. As an old student who was about to leave the academy and undergo the trial, Chen Mo could now jog five laps continuously and then walk two laps to adjust his breath, which was a ten-kilometer long run.

Someone ran past him. This was a trivial matter, but when this person noticed Chen Mo, he stopped. Chen Mo looked at her, it was unexpectedly Han Xue. It was so late, yet she was still exercising here.

“Qing Hong mentor favours you so much, your progress must be significant, what level is your basic psychic power?”

Seeing Chen Mo not speaking, Han Xue adjusted her breath slightly and murmured, “It must be above level 5, right?”

Chen Mo still did not speak.

After all, he had heard that in the mission world, other natural disasters were equally dangerous, or even more so! Because they understood themselves better.

Once there was not enough deterrence, or when the benefits were large enough, it was almost inevitable for natural disasters to kill each other, without any psychological burden.

Although Han Xue didn’t seem to be that kind of person, Chen Mo was not willing to explain too much to her either.

“Forget it.”

Han Xue knew that Chen Mo was on guard against her and did not say much, so she continued to run forward.

Chen Mo noticed Han Xue’s steady steps and muttered to himself, “Her proficiency in basic footwork is probably level 6 or even level 7.”

After jogging for five laps, Chen Mo arrived at a deserted corner.

He took out the storage space equipment and put it on one by one. After confirming that he was fully equipped, he looked at his attribute panel again.

Name: Traveler

Level: Starving Ghost

Talent: Stone Skin

HP: 186

Defense: 13

Speed: 9

Strength: 10

Physique: 15

Spirit: 23

Energy: 12

Basic Boxing: Lv3

Basic Palm Technique: Lv1

Basic Chopping: Lv1

Basic Footwork: Lv4

Basic Jumping: Lv2

Basic Body Technique: Lv4

Basic Blocking: Lv7

Basic Psychic power: Lv7

Equipment: 1. Bronze Short Sword

2. Hemp Coarse Clothes

• 3. Baron’s Crown
• 4. Deer Skin Boots

Skills: 1. Psychic Bullet Lv1

From the attributes, Chen Mo increased a total of 36 HP and 2 Defense compared to before wearing the equipment.

These attributes may seem small, but they might save his life at a critical moment.

Then, Chen Mo waved the short sword a few times.

Unfortunately, his Strength was only 10 points, and his proficiency in Basic Chopping was only Lv1. Even with the 12 points of damage from the weapon, his close combat damage was far inferior to his basic psychic attack.

However, since the tasks to be completed were still unknown, having multiple means was better than none.

Next, Chen Mo tried to control the bronze short sword with psychic power, but after several attempts, he was unsuccessful. Obviously, the weapon was too bulky and designed in a way that was incompatible with telekinetic control, so it couldn’t be driven by telekinesis.

Thinking of this, Chen Mo gave up trying and focused on practicing psychic bullet. Five seconds per burst. After Chen Mo depleted all 12 points of energy, he stopped and began practicing basic psychic power.

Natural disasters use energy to launch combat skills. The normal attacks of natural disasters, whether psychic, elemental, weapon-based, or with fists, consume stamina, which is a hidden attribute and does not appear on the attribute panel.

Until late at night, there were very few people left in the training area when Chen Mo returned to the dormitory.

There was no longer the sound of Du Qingqing crying in the room. Everyone had fallen asleep, preparing for tomorrow’s Starving Ghosts trial. Chen Mo quickly lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

The next day, Chen Mo got up early and went straight to the cafeteria alone.

Using his only 1 natural disasters Contribution Point, he bought a regular meal, a bowl of fragrant fried rice. It was just that, but he cried while eating, wolfing it down eagerly.

Chen Mo felt overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of happiness. The scallions in the fried rice reminded him of his grandmother. Although this bowl of fried rice was still synthesized by a machine and was a soulless dish, for Chen Mo, who had suffered from nutrient meals, it was a delicacy. He didn’t leave a single grain of rice.

After eating his fill, Chen Mo walked alone to the classroom. Facing the upcoming Starving Ghosts trial, the expressions of the people in the classroom were mixed.

The Five Adult Starving Ghosts were confident. The Abyss Starving Ghosts were cautious. Lei Wu remained as aloof as ever. The Abandoned and Orphans had various expressions. Mu Tan signalled for Du Fangyan, Du Qingqing, Han Xue, and Chen Mo to gather.

“After we go in later, everyone listen to my command. As long as we unite, we should have a great chance of getting through safely. I heard someone say that the Starving Ghosts trial is not as terrifying as it seems. The creatures from other worlds are actually more fragile than us…”

“Sorry.”

Before Mu Tan could finish, Han Xue coldly interrupted, “Ku Wu has invited me to join their team, and I have agreed, so I can’t join your team.”

With that, she got up and walked towards Ku Wu and Tao Zi, leaving Du Qingqing, Du Fangyan, and a disgruntled Mu Tan behind.

But that wasn’t the end.

After Han Xue left, Tao Zi unexpectedly walked over and looked at Chen Mo.

“Join our team. This is the wiser choice. Or are you determined to stay with these few useless people?”

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and looked at Mu Tan.

“Traveler!”

Du Fangyan hurriedly stopped Chen Mo, his expression nervous. “What will the three of us do without you?”

Du Qingqing, on the side, also couldn’t help but shed tears, her face full of pleading.

“Sorry.”

Just as Chen Mo was about to leave, Mu Tan suddenly stood up angryly. “I thought you had already considered me a friend after all these days, but I didn’t expect you to be like this!”

This time, it was Tao Zi who couldn’t help but laugh.

“I heard the other day that someone was selfish and refused to lend points to the Traveler. So I wanted to show him a little bit of respect.”

Mu Tan’s face stiffened at the words.

Then he softened his tone. “I was wrong. I was confused for a moment. Traveler, don’t go.”

Chen Mo patted Mu Tan on the shoulder. “Everyone has their own choices. I’m not a saviour, just an ordinary person. I’m sorry.”

With that, he no longer hesitated and left the team with Tao Zi.

“Great.”

Seeing Tao Zi really bring Chen Mo over, Ku Wu exclaimed, “Traveler, welcome to join us.”

“Well, tell me about your plan.”

Chen Mo’s casual words made Ku Wu pause. “We don’t have a plan yet, but you should know about my relationship with the other side. We just need to be careful.”

Relative to this, Tao Zi’s emotional intelligence was obviously higher.

“Traveler, even the mentor values you greatly. You must have talents that we don’t know about, right? Ku Wu and I don’t know much about the Starving Ghosts trial, and Han Xue doesn’t have any special requirements. If you have good suggestions and plans, we can follow your lead.”

After Tao Zi said this, Chen Mo’s mood did improve quite a bit.

“In any case, after entering the trial world, the first thing is to find suitable weapons for everyone to have basic self-protection. Then we’ll take it step by step. If there’s anything, we’ll discuss it together, how about it?”

“Of course!”

Ku Wu immediately agreed, and Tao Zi and Han Xue also nodded in response.

At this moment, Lu Yi, one of the Five Adult Starving Ghosts, suddenly looked over. Sensing his gaze, Ku Wu glared back unyieldingly. Lu Yi grinned, as if declaring war silent, and made a neck-slitting gesture, making Fei Xiaojiang and Tiant Tan who was beside him chuckle softly.

Ku Wu clenched his fists tightly.

After experiencing more than three months in the academy, he knew very well that the Five-Person Group had made great progress by now, and their strength might have already surpassed his. With the advantage in numbers, his heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.

(End of chapter 19)