Chapter 21: Practice Makes Perfect

The problem of food has been temporarily resolved.

Just now, after everyone was fed with a meal of rice cakes, only less than half of the rice grains were used.

What's even more gratifying is that once there is a heating condition, the water problem is also half-solved. There's no need to rely on bottled water anymore; even ordinary tap water can be boiled and drunk.

At present, the biggest threat to all nine students in Class 4 of Grade 3 comes from disasters that may strike from the outside at any time.

Rats, spiders, centipedes, snakes, ants...

Any animal capable of squeezing through the gaps in the doors is the number one enemy for Chen Mu and the others.

Unfortunately, there is currently no good way to defend against them.

...

They spent the night in such a perilous situation.

Fortunately, it hasn't been long since humanity lost control of the world, so the usual sanitation work within the entire school is still acceptable, and there won't be an immediate outbreak of pests.

However, it can be foreseen that without the original human population, the number of various wild animals will increase dramatically.

No more urban expansion;

No more reckless logging;

No more large-scale hunting.

By that time, the remaining humans will face even greater threats.

...

Early in the morning.

Chen Mu gets up from bed.

After stretching lazily, he slowly climbs down from the makeshift bed.

Then he walks slowly to the farthest corner of the storage room.

In that corner, there are nine holes covered with metal plates, and on the side facing where everyone sleeps, there is a wall made of stainless steel chopsticks, blocking the line of sight.

This is currently the toilet.

Since what happened to Gu Ping, no one dares to go to the outside alone to use the restroom anymore.

But living humans can't be suffocated by excrement and urine.

In the end, it was Chen Mu who took the initiative to dig several squatting pits on the ground for everyone.

Ordinary silicate cement hardens to only about half the density of iron, so this work is not too difficult for Chen Mu.

The only trouble is that these squatting pits are just pits.

There's no way to dispose of the waste.

So, in the end, they could only add a board on top of each pit to somewhat prevent the smell.

Of course, this was just a temporary measure.

But until they find a better solution, they could only make do with this for now.

The chopstick wall was Wei Dalei's masterpiece.

The T-shaped chopstick wall not only blocked the view outside but also divided the nine squatting pits into two groups: five for boys and four for girls.

Chen Mu went to his designated spot, finished his business, and walked out feeling relieved.

This place was, after all, quite unpleasant in terms of smell.

No one wanted to linger there.

At this time, it was around six in the morning. For Chen Mu, who was accustomed to waking up early, getting up was not a problem. However, after experiencing these days of torment, the others craved sleep even more.

Chen Mu had a reason for waking up early.

His mental power would significantly increase after a good night's sleep.

So, the morning was the most exciting moment of his day.

It allowed him to verify his progress every day.

His original paperclip was completely useless now; he had forgotten which squatting pit he used it as a lid for.

The weapon he was holding now was a piece separated from a stainless steel spoon, slightly heavier than the original paperclip.

As his mental power grew, he could control objects with increasing weight.

But his physical strength remained the same.

This led to a problem.

The weapon he carried with him couldn't reach his control limit.

Let's take a simple example.

He could now slowly control an object weighing half of his body weight.

But because it was too heavy, he couldn't carry it with him.

However, this wasn't too big of a problem.

After all, the manifestation of supernatural abilities is not just about controlling the weight of objects; it also involves speed and precision.

In fact, these two aspects have always been what Chen Mu has been pursuing.

...

Like the previous paperclip, the stainless steel piece is usually used as a belt around his waist. But now, when Chen Mu holds it in his hand, he slowly transforms it into a spear.

Then, he returns it to its original form.

After doing this a few times, the speed gradually increases.

In the next moment, Chen Mu fiercely thrusts the spear from his hand.

Suddenly, he hears someone behind him exclaim, "Ah!"

He turns around and sees Dong Junwei.

"Good morning, Class Monitor."

"Morning. Are you always this diligent every day?"

"I'm used to it."

"It must be interesting to witness the progress of your supernatural abilities day by day," Dong Junwei smiles.

"You can experience it too in the future."

"That's why I woke up early today." Dong Junwei seems to be in a good mood.

The two chat for a while, and Tang Jing comes over from behind.

"Aren't you afraid of encountering another centipede?"

"That's why we don't dare to go too far. We stay close to the door, so if anything happens, we can immediately escape inside," Chen Mu says with a smile.

"Are you discussing supernatural abilities?" Tang Jing asks.

"Sort of. Do you have any suggestions, Tang Jing?" Dong Junwei inquires.

Tang Jing awakened her abilities only yesterday, and after a night's rest, she now feels full of energy and wants to practice using her powers.

Not wanting to disturb the others, she took a bit of a risk and came to the door.

Little did she know that Chen Mu was there too, and Tang Jing followed him over.

Tang Jing shrugged, "I don't have any constructive suggestions. I haven't awakened my abilities yet. But from what I see, practicing more definitely won't be wrong. Chen Mu's abilities have improved a lot compared to the first day, haven't they?"

Dong Junwei agreed, "Indeed, that last spear thrust startled me. If it were a real battle, that move could be deadly."

Chen Mu's last spear thrust wasn't a simple stab. It was a transformation. The stainless steel loop he held suddenly changed into a spear, and the tip of the spear thrust forward. Due to the small range of motion of his body, it would be almost impossible for the opponent to dodge this thrust if they were not prepared in advance.

This was also why Chen Mu had been emphasizing "speed." At this stage, his abilities were finally starting to have some combat effectiveness.

Tang Jing asked Chen Mu to demonstrate the move again, and after watching, she praised, "Once you become proficient with this move, it indeed becomes hard to defend against. However, at this speed, can you ensure the sharpness of the spear tip?"

Chen Mu nodded involuntarily. Tang Jing's words always hit the mark.

He nodded and said, "Under normal circumstances, it's indeed challenging, but I have noticed one advantage of my abilities."

"Oh?"

"That is, when transforming something that I've transformed before, the difficulty is significantly reduced."

"Practice makes perfect?" Dong Junwei asked curiously.

"Sort of," Chen Mu smiled. "For example, to make the spear tip sharp during the first thrust, I had to go slowly. But once I succeed once, the difficulty decreases for each subsequent attempt, and the speed can gradually increase."

"So it's practice makes perfect," Dong Junwei nodded, pondering the idea.