Chapter 1

......

In the town of Green Lawn, Birmingham, Alabama, a yellow school bus slowly drove along the rural road of Highway 17. The bus was incredibly cumbersome, clearly retaining the wild spirit of early industrial times.

Inside the bus, Peyton sat quietly by the window.

In his field of vision, a page appeared.

【Name: Peyton】

【Initial Talent: Superior Constitution】

【Note: You possess a one-in-a-million good physique, robust constitution, and enhanced muscle memory by 45%...】

【Mission: Loading...】

Peyton glanced at the page visible only to him.

It had been loading for six years!

Peyton didn't know how much longer it would take to load.

Not even giving him a chance to recharge, this was an unqualified system.

Shaking his head, Peyton subconsciously ignored the system's existence and began to think about his destination—the Green Lawn Central School.

The school, divided into three districts for elementary, middle, and high school, offered a comprehensive service and had a long history, making it a well-known prestigious school in the entire state.

The school's sports culture was very strong, and its football team was a powerhouse in high school, winning the state championship multiple times.

It had produced countless outstanding athletes for the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide, one of the top college football teams in the nation.

The main reason for choosing this school was that his father, Mr. Chris, hoped his children would excel in sports.

Not just Peyton, but his older siblings also received their education here.

Compared to the industrialized city, the air and environment in Green Lawn were significantly better.

A vast, open land, far from the city's factories, with fresh air, was indeed conducive to the development of sports.

On the bus, the rows of seats around Peyton were already filled with young children.

These children were visibly excited, as this was their first time leaving their parents to go to a place called school.

Familiar children were quietly chatting and discussing non-stop.

The chatter was making Peyton somewhat annoyed.

He hated children, especially noisy ones, which was truly annoying!

Although he was a child himself, he was quiet enough, wasn't he?

Silence is a virtue!

Silence—the highest virtue of the Mafia.

Peyton suddenly felt that Vito was a respectable man, having established a rule that should be followed from childhood.

Peyton's gaze wandered over the green fields, the beautiful pastoral scenery gradually dispelling the irritability in his heart.

Gradually, Peyton's thoughts began to wander.

Peyton Chris, this was his name for this life.

In his previous life... well, let's call it his previous life, he was called Xin Tian, and he was still young, not having enjoyed the beauty of life, when he hastily began this new life.

He only remembered that day he broke up. He didn't jump off a building because he was the one who initiated the breakup.

He vaguely remembered the shock on his girlfriend's face.

Are you kidding me?

But, the sage's time, no words are false!

As for the reason?

Very simple: he couldn't accept his girlfriend having a male best friend.

This male best friend clearly had ulterior motives.

After all, not every male best friend is EJ!

As a fellow point guard, compared to Kidd's two sons and the son of the smiling assassin Thomas, EJ has done well. She is not gay; she just considers herself a girl and likes boys.

In this sense, she is a normal heterosexual and should be called a gender identity disorder.

She is a patient, and we should sympathize with her.

Ignoring his girlfriend's desperate pleas, everyone has dignity. Is begging someone to stay really done in bed?

He always believed that there is no pure friendship between men and women.

Just like how he couldn't help but have some special feelings for the few pretty female friends around him.

He would drink and pour out his heart to them, leading to a wonderful night.

The love of beauty is universal!

The women who could be his friends were all high-quality women, of this he was certain.

According to biology, reproduction is an instinct for all living beings, regardless of gender.

This is driven by instinct.

To overcome it, we need to do something simple: maintain distance.

He felt he had done a good job.

Male best friends, go to hell!

That night, he chose to watch a zombie movie to mourn his lost love. Watching the red-clad figure in the coffin and the zombie beside it, he couldn't help but admit that the female ghost's body resembled his ex-girlfriend, and the black-faced zombie resembled that damned male best friend.

Is this what they call a friendship that transcends life and death?

What a load of crap!

Xin Tian's mood was agitated, and he finally lost sleep, his sage's state of mind damaged, unable to sleep.

Thirsty!

He opened his phone, logged into P站, and stayed up until midnight, his hands tired, finally falling asleep.

Then he had a ridiculous dream, in which he became a baby...

This was not a dream, but reality.

He didn't know why he would experience a scientifically inexplicable phenomenon—suddenly becoming a baby and reversing time.

......

On August 6, 1945, at the Birmingham Central Hospital in Alabama, a male infant was born into the world.

With a cry, the Chris family welcomed a new member, and Mr. Chris named the child Peyton.

At this special moment, the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima seemed to bless Peyton's birth, making it seem almost surreal.

In the chaos, Peyton retained a brief moment of clarity, feeling a sense of expansion, wanting to release, entering a supernatural state.

Soon, a valve inside his body was opened, and the water flowed freely...

Then, Peyton felt a warm stream of water enveloping him, incredibly relaxing, like soaking in a hot spring, comfortable and refreshing.

In this comfortable feeling, he fell into a deep sleep again...

Not long after, the man holding him was in a flurry.

"Oh, little Peyton peed on my hand!" the man exclaimed.

"This is a unique baptism. This child is a born apostle," the head nurse joked.

......

Six years passed, and through words and conversations, Peyton confirmed his environment, realizing he was in the post-World War II United States.

Going back in time?

This was something many people had dreamed of, but it was a bit disappointing that this era was quite distant from his previous life.

It was a strange yet familiar time. From the newspapers, Peyton felt the historical atmosphere.

The Cold War, nuclear weapons, the new broadcast media of television...

Names and items from his previous life's textbooks now existed around him.

Accurately speaking, they belonged to the same era.

Like the federal slogan: Every day is a new day!

This was the new era after World War II, but for Peyton, it was a buried chapter of history...

Peyton's thoughts were still wandering.

The school bus, however, slowly came to a stop as the young female driver, with a crooked mouth and a cigarette in her mouth, pulled the handbrake.

Screech!

The bus door opened, the metal door's rough and heavy sound directly interrupting Peyton's thoughts.

Peyton turned his head slightly, ignoring the female driver who was exhaling secondhand smoke.

Looking at the bus door, he saw a white boy with bright eyes, hunched back, and bent waist.

He was somewhat thin and tall!

The female driver, with a cigarette in her mouth, tilted her head and looked at the boy, exhaling two streams of smoke from her nose, like two air guns breaking the air, and said coldly, "Do you want to get on the bus?"

The boy shook his head, somewhat dazed, and refused, "Mom said not to get into strangers' cars."

The female driver had never heard such a response before and was a bit stunned.

She took a drag on her cigarette to calm down, turned her head to look at the road ahead, and cleared her thoughts.

Then she tilted her head to look at the boy, with a cigarette in her mouth, and said coldly, "This is the bus to school."

The boy hesitated, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm Forrest, Forrest Gump."

The female driver, hearing this, exhaled two more streams of smoke from her nose and nodded at the boy.

"I'm Dorothy Harris!"

The boy said, "Okay, now we're not strangers."

Not strangers, so he could get on the bus.

What a clever kid.

Hearing the boy's words, the female driver's lips curled into a mischievous smile, the cigarette in her mouth and the smoke from her nose giving her a unique charm.

It had to be said that although this lady was unaware of the harm of secondhand smoke, she still had a gentle heart.

This simple exchange, but in Peyton's eyes, everything was different!

In his field of vision, there was a dramatic change.

【Mission: Loading 69%... 78%... 89%...】

The numbers were rapidly increasing, much faster than Peyton had expected.

Looking at the boy, Peyton's gaze focused.

Forrest Gump, a familiar name.

Could it be...

The change in the mission bar and this name created a strange chemical reaction.

Peyton didn't think this was a coincidence.

The boy walked up with a peculiar gait, and in an instant, Peyton precisely captured the unique "shoes," more accurately, the leg braces.

Peyton's suspicions were confirmed.

Finally, the mission in his field of vision was officially activated.

【Name: Peyton Chris】

【Mission: Dance with Gump, influence and change Gump's life trajectory in a positive direction.】

【Note: The reward is based on the completion rate!】

"Mission, change Gump's life?"

Looking at this mission, various speculations appeared in Peyton's mind.

If I give him a bullet now, would that count as a change?

Forrest Gump, age 6—deceased!

Absolutely a fundamental change.

However, the completion rate would likely be low. As a seasoned gamer, Peyton immediately understood the key.

The mission wasn't difficult and had no real danger, but the completion rate was crucial for the final reward.

A nearly risk-free mission should aim for the highest completion rate.

The mission was to dance with Gump, intertwining their futures, and thus influencing and changing each other.

If Peyton gave Gump a bullet now, it would certainly be a significant change from Gump's original fate, but it would be exploiting a loophole, resulting in a low completion rate and a low reward.

Peyton had plenty of time and didn't need to exploit loopholes.

Dance with Gump, influence him, and shape a Gump different from the original story.

This would yield the best reward.