Chapter 14

Nang Gengchen looked at Qing Chen, stunned for a moment: "Big Brother, I was thinking of asking the police uncles at the police station for help, but uncles like him can't really do much when they are taken away."

"There's nothing we can do about it," Qing Chen shook his head and asked further: "Did you encounter something very strange? What exactly happened?"

"It's nothing, nothing," Nang Gengchen remained tight-lipped.

Qing Chen said no more.

If the other party doesn't want to talk about it, then he can only pretend to be unaware.

However, he had a vague guess. Could the strange thing Nang Gengchen mentioned be the countdown appearing on his arm?

But the countdown is invisible to others, so Qing Chen could only guess.

His first countdown appeared at 6 PM yesterday. He skipped class and didn't attend evening study, and at midnight, he experienced his first穿越 (穿越 means "穿越" in Chinese, which can be translated as "crossing over" or "transmigration" in this context).

If Nang Gengchen's arm really had a countdown, when did it appear?

Qing Chen thought, Nang Gengchen is thin and frail, and it's uncertain whether he could survive in that world if he really crossed over.

They have a good relationship, not because their personalities are particularly compatible, but because both of their fathers are gamblers, which has made their family conditions poor.

After chatting about this incident, the two teenagers actually became closer.

At this moment, a classmate who was playing with his phone in the classroom suddenly exclaimed: "Holy crap!"

It wasn't time for class yet, and only about ten students were in the classroom. Everyone turned their attention to him: "What's up?"

"Quick, check the trending topics. Jacob held a press conference, saying he crossed over to a mechanical civilization world. The trending topics have the complete video of his press conference," the classmate who shouted said.

Jacob, an American, is one of the world's most famous basketball stars with many fans.

The students in the class immediately opened their phones to check the trending topics, and everyone was confused.

Only Qing Chen was stunned on the spot because he knew what the so-called crossing over and mechanical civilization meant!

However, he hadn't thought that people abroad were also experiencing crossing over and countdowns.

Nang Gengchen had already opened the video, and Qing Chen watched.

In the video, Jacob was sitting behind a table, facing all the media he had temporarily invited. The scene was filled with flashing lights, making it a bit dizzying.

But everyone who watched the video first saw Jacob's left arm, which had been completely replaced by a mechanical arm.

In the video, Jacob stood up and led everyone to the basketball court, then from the other end of the court, he easily threw the basketball into the hoop with his left hand, doing this ten times in a row.

"Is this a special effect?" Nang Gengchen murmured: "Is it a special effect from a GG movie?"

Qing Chen didn't say anything.

The video was brought back from abroad and had Chinese subtitles added.

In the video, Jacob said to the media: "I discovered a countdown on my arm last night. When the countdown ended, I found myself in a strange mechanical civilization world. It's also Earth, with a sun and a moon, but it seems to be a parallel universe, with a civilization that is completely different from ours."

Jacob raised his left arm: "When I crossed over, I gained this arm, as if I had replaced someone there and became a new me. I don't know how it works, but its strength far exceeds my imagination, and it is very flexible and precise."

"The reason I held this press conference is not to show off. That world is not as beautiful as imagined; it is abnormally dangerous. I held this press conference to avoid being secretly taken away for research. I declare here that I refuse to be a research subject. If I ever go missing, please everyone..."

Qing Chen suddenly understood. Jacob is a public figure, so he couldn't hide the mechanical limb on his body.

He also clearly knew that the technology in that world far exceeded contemporary standards, so he was afraid of being taken away for research and becoming a lab rat, hence he chose a more aggressive method.

This might not be a good method, and he might have been in a panic, leading to this hasty decision.

Qing Chen looked at Nang Gengchen, who was now sitting there in a daze.

Qing Chen was thinking that he couldn't bring the bone-removal knife over and couldn't bring the toothbrush back. It seemed that the only way to bring things from there was to modify himself or hide them in his body?

He didn't know where Jacob crossed over to, perhaps on the other side of the ocean?

At this moment, all the students in the class were in a state of shock and skepticism, finding it hard to determine whether the trending topic was real or a special effect.

However, before everyone could recover, several more strange events suddenly appeared on the trending list.

"A senior executive of a certain internet company was found dead at home, with a precise mechanical structure appearing on his body, very similar to Jacob's."

"A college student claimed that he also crossed over to another world, where there is not only a mechanical civilization but also extraordinary beings surpassing humans."

"A high school student claimed that he not only crossed over to another world but also gained awakened abilities."

Qing Chen frowned as he watched. This series of news came faster than he had imagined, and not everyone could be as cautious as he was.

More and more news was declaring to the world: This is not a special effect, not a GG story, but a real existence.

There were really people who crossed over to that unknown and fantastical world.

Moreover, the number of crossers was not small.

Nang Gengchen murmured: "Extraordinary beings, mechanical civilization... Does crossing over mean there's a chance to become an extraordinary being?"

A classmate asked: "It seems the probability of crossing over is not small. Could there be classmates in our school who have crossed over?"

"Maybe someone is already coming to school with a mechanical limb..."

"I want to cross over too..."

More and more students entered the classroom, and every time someone approached, everyone would look to see if they had a mechanical limb.

At their age of seventeen or eighteen, they were at the peak of curiosity, exploration, and vanity. Adults might consider the balance of danger and opportunity, but teenagers were more filled with anticipation.

When you watch Harry Potter, you hope you can also pass through King's Cross. When you read novels, you hope you can also be guided by a sage.

But in the real world, what usually greets you is not a sage but a scam.

So when everyone discovered that crossing over could make them different, they filtered out some dangerous information and hoped they would be one of the crossers.

Being the protagonist of the world sounds very tempting.

Qing Chen was no exception.

There was just one difference: Qing Chen had really crossed over and had really seen those legendary extraordinary beings, Lin Xiaoxiao and Li Shitong.

Ye Wan should be one too.

Gradually, Qing Chen noticed that Nang Gengchen's panic was fading, and he was becoming more and more spirited.

Qing Chen asked casually: "Was the strange thing you mentioned just now this?"

Nang Gengchen lowered his voice: "I can't tell you now, but rest assured, if I get any opportunities, I won't forget about you, my brother."

Qing Chen nodded: "Sure, sure, if I become rich, I won't forget you."