Disaster Strikes - Chapter 6:

Chapter 6: College Life

The next day.

Chen Mo was awakened by the sound of dripping water.

He got up and looked at the clock. It was only five-thirty. The five members of the dormitory’s adult starving ghost group had already dressed and left. When he looked at the others in the room, Lei Wu and Han Xue were nowhere to be seen.

As for the sound just now, it was the sound of Fei Xiaojiang washing up.

Seeing the others leave the room quietly, Chen Mo instinctively felt that there must be some secret here, so he quickly got up and washed up, wanting to find out what was going on.

“What time is it?”

The charcoal beside him was awakened by Chen Mo’s noise, took a sleepy look at the time, and then lay back down.

“It’s still early for class. What’s the rush?”

The cold water made Chen Mo instantly awake.

After quietly washing up, he quietly left the room, avoiding disturbing others’ rest. He was then shocked by what he saw!

In the college’s huge exercise area, there were already hundreds of people exercising in the morning.

Some were exercising in the equipment area, some were lifting weights with randomly placed stones, some were meditating in the corner, and more were running, with sweat dripping down their cheeks.

Chen Mo noticed Lu Yi not far away.

At this moment, he was making chopping and stabbing movements, looking very serious and meticulous.

“What secrets are there?”

Watching all this, Chen Mo felt a bit ashamed.

It reminded him of his days of getting up early to study and staying up half an hour to study at night.

It’s not just him who’s working hard.

Everyone with ideal goals is working hard for their ideals, even if he is a bad person, an antagonist, he also has his own persistence.

Thinking about his pitifully low speed attribute, Chen Mo took a deep breath, adjusted his mindset, and decided to join this struggle full of positive energy and motivation, starting to run with the crowd.

There were constantly people passing Chen Mo at a faster speed.

Some of them had even run several laps, while Chen Mo had only just run half a lap and was already out of breath.

In terms of strength and speed, Chen Mo before crossing and the stone were almost the same, both almost at the same level. The exercise area of the Disaster Academy was very large, about two kilometers per lap. After Chen Mo ran a lap with all his strength, he immediately knelt down on one knee, breathing heavily, sweat dripping down.

“After vigorous running, you should walk for a while to relieve the pressure on your legs.”

The voice in his ear made Chen Mo look up involuntarily. It was Mentor Qinghong passing by him, and it seemed that she had already run several laps here.

Even the mentor is exercising?

The stubbornness of not admitting defeat made Chen Mo grit his teeth and, as the mentor said, staggered forward.

The sky gradually brightened, and there were only a few people left exercising.

But Chen Mo was one of the few remaining!

His body weighed as much as a thousand catties, but he persisted and walked two laps on the playground before he walked tiredly to the dining area.

He had to finish his meal before class.

There was free survival food in the gathering place.

It seemed that because of the dataization, even the food for the disaster survivors was classified into different grades. The so-called survival food referred to inferior food, which was a world of difference compared to the high-quality food of yesterday.

As for what survival food was, although Chen Mo was mentally prepared, his face still looked quite ugly when he saw his breakfast.

With the rumbling of the machines, Chen Mo looked at the paste-like substance in his tray in disbelief.

The so-called survival food was actually just a lump of paste, made from unknown organic matter, even if the mixture behind this paste was made of various garbage, cockroaches, and earthworms, it was impossible to verify now.

There were clinking sounds everywhere in the cafeteria.

It was the sound of the starving ghosts’ metal spoons hitting the plates. Chen Mo noticed that some people had bread or something similar to noodles in their plates, but without exception, they were all purchased from the consumption window.

These people, like Lei Wu, had been given contributions from their families as soon as they accessed the data chip, so they could consume here.

And the reason why the college provided a free high-quality food for each new starving ghost was obviously for some deeper purpose.

Time was running out.

Chen Mo swallowed the paste in big mouthfuls.

Fortunately, apart from a salty taste, the survival food had no special taste. It was only used to maintain basic survival. Chen Mo tried hard to adapt to this food, not to think about it, and after eating it quickly, he walked quickly to the teaching building.

The classroom was very large.

In the silent wait of the fourteen people, Mentor Qinghong walked into the classroom.

Today, she was surprisingly wearing heavy makeup, and her flaming red lips were exceptionally beautiful, even giving Chen Mo a sense of intimacy, as if he had returned to high school life.

“Hello, before teaching you the basic skills, I want you to tell me why you want to become a natural disaster. This is very important, because only those who know why they are alive are qualified to live better.”

Mentor Qinghong’s words were calm as she stood on the platform and looked around at everyone.

“Because I want to become stronger!”

“Because I want to control my own destiny.”

“Because I want to become a great disaster Monarch.”

“Because…”

Everyone answered one by one, and Mentor Qinghong nodded continuously.

It wasn’t until the last person responded that she calmly said, “In fact, the fundamental goal of the disaster survivors is only one, and that is not to starve to death.”

Mentor Qinghong’s words immediately resonated with many people, including Chen Mo, in the audience.

To live, not to starve to death, what a simple and plain explanation.

“So we must become natural disaster survivors, only by making ourselves stronger can we gain contributions points, can we get food, can we ensure that we do not starve to death. This is also why we call level 0 natural disasters starving ghosts. Because the barren disaster world must save all unnecessary resources, forcibly eliminate those useless waste, so the disaster world believes that violence can solve everything.”

Here, some people in the class were already excited, while others looked cowardly and timid.

“We live in an endless universe, with an infinite number of worlds, each world’s living environment and laws are completely different, some worlds are rich and abundant, some worlds are extremely cold and hot, some worlds are surrounded by thunder, and some worlds have endless oceans. The rulers of different worlds have also created different cultures and civilizations.”

Pausing for a moment, she continued, “But our disaster world, the natural law is that of rootless floating weed, the sky has no sun, moon, and stars, the earth has no grass and vitality, and even no metal ores, so we cannot cultivate and mine, cannot produce. I have explored more than a dozen worlds, and even those so-called harsh and barren worlds have much better living conditions than the disaster world! Therefore, as natural disasters, we need to constantly fulfil the demands of the summoners of different worlds, satisfy their endless desires through employment relationships, and thus continuously erode these worlds shrouded in desires and hatred, in order to obtain more survival resources.”

Qinghong’s words made many people present feel oppressed.

The barrenness of the disaster world, Chen Mo had also been confirmed in Stone’s memory. The whole world was covered with rocks, sand, bones, and rivers. The people here lived as if they were on the moon. The fact that such a world could still have life was a miracle in itself.

No sun or moon in the sky, no vitality in the earth, it was not an exaggeration to say that the disaster world was like a rootless floating weed.

“However, although the disaster world has not given us a rich living environment, it has given us the convenient conditions to become stronger, that is, the power of time and space laws. Compared to the world barrierd that are difficult to cross between other worlds, our process of shuttling through different worlds is undoubtedly much easier, so the disaster world and many worlds have established close connections, appearing in various conflicts to fight, enriching our combat experience, this is the survival capital of us disaster survivors.”

As she spoke, a hint of undisguised pride appeared on Mentor Qinghong’s face.

She was proud of being a natural disaster.

“After the trial of starving ghosts, each of you will have the opportunity to apply to participate in disaster tasks once a month in the future. However, whether you cherish this opportunity or not is entirely up to you. The disaster world does not force it, and this lenient order has also given many disaster parasites the opportunity. The parasites lurk in the gathering place every day, living the most dirty and lowly life. They would rather survive on revolting food every day, even if it means selling their bodies for the necessary expenses. They rely on pleasing others to get pitiful alms and are unwilling to perform disaster tasks.”

At this point, a look of contempt and disdain appeared on Qinghong’s face.

She looked around and said, “I hope there are no such people among you.”

Not only her, but most of the people in the class also showed disdain for this.

Apart from the limited orderers in the gathering place, for the natural disasters who are directly employed by the great disaster Monarchs like Mentor Qinghong, other long-term jobs are almost considered a disgrace.

Because for disaster survivors, continuously becoming stronger and heading towards death is the ultimate mission, and monotonous and boring work is the life of a slave.

“When executing disaster tasks, natural disasters are usually passively summoned by creatures from other worlds through contracts. Natural Disasters will complete the corresponding contractual tasks in personal or team modes. While gaining fixed task rewards, we will also obtain some additional resources during the task, but this requires us to do so without violating the task contract. Or… the value of these resources has far exceeded the punishment intensity of the contract.”

At this point, Mentor Qinghong’s expression was meaningful.

Some people in the class seemed to understand, while others looked puzzled.

In other words, when the benefits are large enough, disaster survivors can betray the contract!

“Sometimes, there will also be large-scale wars between different gathering places in the disaster world due to various conflicts. At that time, all natural disasters in the gathering place will be indiscriminately arranged for war tasks. Usually, we call these tasks doomsday tasks. Of course, this is only the lowest and most common doomsday task. There are even more terrifying situations, such as the Great Disaster Monarchs launching war and looting tasks against other worlds. At that time, I can only wish you good luck.”

Qinghong looked around with a sneer, but at this time, everyone still couldn’t understand the horror of the doomsday tasks she mentioned, showing a somewhat bewildered look, looking at each other.

Mentor Qinghong did not intend to describe it in detail. She continued, “Although doomsday tasks are very dangerous, completing the tasks will also bring huge benefits. The great disaster Monarchs often give special rewards, and this is actually also when the gathering place cleans up the parasites.”

Speaking of parasites, Mentor Qinghong almost gritted her teeth, showing a look of deep disgust.

“So if you don’t want to die in the doomsday tasks, it’s best to work hard to make yourself stronger in peacetime and don’t become those parasites who just wait to die. Understand?”

“Understood!”

After warning everyone, Mentor Qinghong smiled again after receiving a satisfactory response.

After a series of explanations by Mentor Qinghong, Chen Mo finally had a preliminary understanding of the survival mode of disaster survivors.

The disaster world is divided into two parts: the period of peaceful development and the period of doomsday war.

During the period of peaceful development, disaster survivors will go to various worlds in individual or team modes to complete commissioned tasks and plunder resources to enhance their strength.

During the period of doomsday war, disaster survivors will be forcibly recruited by the disaster Monarchs of the gathering places to execute the so-called doomsday tasks.

…

Time passed by.

Four hours passed quickly.

The course of the starving ghost was only half a day, and the afternoon was free time.

Lunch was still survival food.

Facing these paste-like foods, Chen Mo tried to remain calm and, like other natural disasters, imagined them as various delicacies and gulped them down.

After the meal, Chen Mo went to the college library.

Contrary to his expectation of overcrowding, there were not many people there. Most disaster survivors seemed more inclined to practice and enhance themselves after lunch. There were still many starving ghosts gathering in the square after lunch, even Charcoal and Du Fangyan siblings joined in, exercising in various ways.

However, as a crosser, Chen Mo was more accustomed to solving theoretical problems through books and knowledge.

After entering the library, Chen Mo quickly found the information he needed.

Firstly, it was about the erosion storage space.

To obtain the ability of erosion storage space, one must first be eroded by disaster energy and become a member of this world. This is not a problem for stones that grew up in the disaster world, but it is a fantasy for creatures from other worlds.

Secondly, natural disasters need to sense the disaster energy in their bodies and control this energy to a certain extent, rather than letting it settle in their bodies like stagnant water.

Finally, imagination is also crucial.

It is to imagine oneself as a part of the disaster world. In simple terms, it is to imagine oneself as a cell of the world as a whole. Then, according to one’s own energy level, one can open storage spaces of different sizes.

Overall, for the vast majority of natural disasters, this is almost effortless. Many starving ghosts learned it naturally in their childhood, just like walking and talking.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Mo looked at another set of information.

“Evolution Direction of Spiritual Power Talents”

The level of spiritual power will affect the effects of perception, elements, and psychic powers. Therefore, spiritual power talents generally develop in these three directions.

Perception, as the name suggests, is to detect unknown areas far away or behind obstacles through spiritual power, forming a profession with super long-range attack ability, similar to sentinels, snipers with extremely powerful detection and pursuit abilities, often striking first.

Elements, on the other hand, use spiritual power to weave energy and launch various elemental magic. Lei Wu uses this as his evolution method, and his basic elemental skill level is astonishingly Lv11.

Psychic powers use spiritual power to enchant objects, such as making stones fly, bending spoons, or creating protective shields for people, etc. It cannot be created out of thin air and must be launched with materials as the carrier.

The afternoon passed unnoticed.

The library was closing at six o’clock in the afternoon, and it was time for dinner.

Chen Mo copied the collected information and was about to leave the library when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked at the middle-aged female tutor with glasses, tentatively asking, “Hello, do you need an administrator here? I think I can help you.”

“Are you sure? Do you want to work here?”

The other party seemed a little surprised.

After all, this job was considered too boring for most disaster survivors, and according to the habits of disaster survivors, they would consider it the most degrading way of life.

The library was quite large, with probably tens of thousands of books inside.

Although not many people come here every day, at most dozens of people, there should be at least one administrator. Even the substitute tutor responsible for closing was forced to work part-time here, just taking care of it slightly.

Looking at Chen Mo’s determined eyes, the middle-aged female tutor adjusted her black glasses frame.

“The working hours are from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and I can pay you 1 disaster contribution point as a reward.”

“Okay!”

As a crosser, Chen Mo did not feel that there was anything wrong with his job.

On the contrary, this job was simply one of the perfect transitional occupations for some cross-over novels to quickly adapt to life in another world.

Although the reward was only 1 point, according to the prices in the disaster world, even a low-grade ordinary black bread would require 1 point if one did not want to eat survival food. But considering the convenience of this job and the fact that it only lasted for four hours a day, Chen Mo agreed without hesitation.

(End of chapter 6)