Chapter 4

"Chen'er, wait for me!"

Chen Mu smiled at the photo and then put his phone back in his pocket.

"Hey, old classmate, you're here too, what a coincidence!"

A fragrant breeze blew, and someone playfully patted his shoulder. Chen Mu instinctively shuddered, leaping up from the chair as if pricked by a needle, ready to defend himself.

But he forgot that his body was no longer the one with "immortality" and intense training. Now, he was just a weak, homebound man. This leap not only failed to lift him up but also caused his foot to hit the chair, making him fall backward. If it weren't for the chair behind him, he would have fallen to the ground.

Chen Mu realized how weak his body had become. He needed to exercise more.

Then, he looked up and saw a girl with bright eyes and a charming smile, covering her mouth and looking at him apologetically: "Chen Mu, are you okay? I didn't expect such a big reaction... I'm really sorry."

Chen Mu looked at the concerned and familiar yet distant face before him and frowned: "Who are you?"

The girl was taken aback and then huffed in annoyance: "Classmate Chen Mu, are you serious? It's been less than two months since graduation, and you've already forgotten me? You're too forgetful!"

Chen Mu was stunned, squinted his eyes, and carefully examined the beautiful face before him. The buried memories slowly resurfaced.

"Are you... Su Xuan?"

The memories flowed like water, and more of them came flooding back.

The beautiful girl before him was Su Yao, Chen Mu's college classmate. She was the most beautiful girl in the class, the dream of Chen Mu and all the other boys.

Beautiful women were many, but in this society, those who were both beautiful and virtuous were rare. Because of this, Chen Mu liked her, a kind of admiration for beauty. However, knowing his own insignificance, he never expressed his feelings until graduation.

Later, the Earth underwent a dramatic change, and Chen Mu had no time to pay attention to the fate of this class beauty. If not for the chance encounter at the bank today, he wouldn't have recalled these distant memories from over a decade ago.

The girl pouted, her face showing a hint of anger. Even so, she had a certain charm: "Do you need to think for so long? Your memory is really bad."

Su Yao waved her hand and sat down on the chair next to Chen Mu. It was hot, so she was wearing a white dress. When she sat down, her legs crossed and extended forward, revealing two white calves, which were quite attractive.

"Never mind, we're old classmates, so I'll forgive you. Are you here to withdraw money? How have you been recently?"

Su Xuan seemed very warm-hearted and asked excitedly after sitting down.

Chen Mu's face was expressionless as he replied coolly: "To withdraw money. I'm fine recently."

After the chaos, the world seemed to have returned to an era where the strong ruled, a time of cold weapons and power struggles. After enduring long periods of killing, Chen Mu had forgotten the basic social norms of a civilized society, so he didn't even manage a smile.

Su Xuan was displeased and was about to speak when the bank's number-calling system announced: "Customer number twelve, please go to window one, customer number twelve, please go to..."

Chen Mu glanced at his number, which was twelve, and immediately stood up, heading to window one and handing over his bank card.

"Withdraw all the money."

The bank clerk smiled and nodded, swiping the card: "Sir, you have a balance of 1,035.60 yuan. How much would you like to withdraw?"

"Withdraw all of it," Chen Mu replied coolly.

The bank clerk's smile faltered slightly, but she still used a sweet voice: "Sure." However, anyone could see the disdain in her eyes.

Chen Mu ignored it. When the clerk placed a stack of various colored bills on the counter, he took them and put them in his pocket, then turned and walked out.

As he reached the bank's entrance, Chen Mu seemed to remember something and turned back, approaching Su Xuan. He looked into her eyes and said: "I have a piece of advice for you."

Su Xuan was taken aback: "What?"

"You should go home and stay there."

After saying this, Chen Mu didn't wait for Su Xuan's reaction and left the bank, heading in the direction of the largest supermarket nearby.

Inside the bank, a girl with bright eyes looked puzzled, staring through the glass at Chen Mu's back as he walked away without looking back. She stomped her foot in frustration.

"What does he mean by that?"

...

Out of a sense of past affection, Chen Mu gave Su Xuan a warning.

When "Starry Sky" was activated, the entire Earth would be plunged into darkness for three days and three nights, and the continental plates would begin to move, as if God was covering human eyes to play a game.

During these three days, no monsters would appear, but the tremors caused by the movement of the continents would cause extreme panic!

It's important to note that in crowded places, a slight misstep could lead to fatal stampedes. If the world suddenly went dark in places like malls or tourist attractions, it would be easy to be trampled to death by the panicked crowd.

Even on the streets, there was a risk of being hit by drivers who were startled by the sudden darkness!

Therefore, the best and safest choice was to stay at home for these three days and not go anywhere.

Chen Mu, who had experienced this, had the authority to say so.

Especially during the moment when darkness suddenly descended, the rate of human casualties would exceed the total for an entire year!

...

When Chen Mu returned to his room, the delivery man was ringing the doorbell. Chen Mu walked over, put down the two large bags in his hands, and took out his ID: "I'm Chen Mu."

The delivery man glanced at it: "Ah, you have a package. Please sign for it."

The delivery man lifted a not-so-small box, looking a bit strained. Glancing at the delivery slip, he couldn't imagine how much toothpaste and toothbrushes Chen Mu had bought to make it so heavy.

Chen Mu scribbled his name and took the package. He then carried the two large bags into the room and closed the door behind him.

The two large bags contained a lot of canned food, cookies, dried meat, ham, and other foods. There were also some basic medicines, a compass, blades, a knife, and other items. The over a thousand yuan he had withdrawn from the bank was spent entirely, even the last few cents on candles, tissues, and matches.

After organizing these items, Chen Mu picked up a pair of scissors and opened the package. Inside, wrapped in layers of newspaper and foam, was not toothpaste and toothbrushes but a colorful crossbow!

Next to it was a white plastic bag containing ten sharp arrows and a small bag of cold, round steel balls. At the bottom of the box were accessories like a scope, an electronic sight, a wrench, and target paper.

This was what Chen Mu truly wanted to buy!

This crossbow, called the Forest Leopard, had an accurate range of 20 meters. It was extremely powerful and could penetrate double-layered color steel plates within 15 meters!

The online store that sold miscellaneous items was actually selling these government-prohibited items!

In his previous life... let's call it his previous life. After obtaining Claire's abilities, Chen Mu encountered a man with a crossbow who acted without restraint.

At that time, morality had deteriorated, and order had collapsed. With no legal constraints, the man used the crossbow to kill indiscriminately, satisfying his beastly desires. Chen Mu had a conflict with him, and it was a close call, as he only managed to subdue the man after suffering severe injuries thanks to his self-healing ability.

When he asked about the origin of the crossbow, Chen Mu learned that a small online store could hide such secrets. Various prohibited items, as long as they weren't firearms or other hot weapons, could be purchased from this Taobao store—provided one could understand the coded language.

Now, although he had successfully traveled back in time, only his consciousness had returned, not his abilities. Therefore, he needed some weapons for self-defense.

If he had more money and time, with his experience from the previous life, getting firearms would not have been impossible. However, with limited funds and time, this was the best he could do.

After arranging everything, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. It was 12:05, and the Earth's calamity was about to begin.

He turned on his computer and opened a news website. The most prominent headline was the live broadcast of the "Starry Sky" terminal's activation ceremony.

Chen Mu opened the video and saw the host enthusiastically praising the event. A few elderly men with gray hair also wore excited and joyful smiles.

In the video, the host lifted the red cloth from the center of the stage, revealing a large button.

"Now! By pressing this button, the super terminal 'Starry Sky,' built over five years by the top scientists from thirteen countries, will be activated, ushering humanity into the 10G era!"

"Now, let's count down together!"

"10, 9, 8... 6, 5, 4... 3, 2, 1!"

"Now, I announce! The pinnacle of mobile communication technology! The 10G era of humanity! A groundbreaking revolution has arrived!"

As the host's voice rose with enthusiasm, a group of scientists, along with some prominent figures from the business and political worlds, gathered around and pressed the red button on the round table.

At the same moment, Chen Mu in the room closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed:

"The calamity for humanity has arrived..."