Chapter 3: Awakening

The classroom floor was just an ordinary concrete floor. Its quality was not excellent, but it wasn't so weak that a punch could create a hole.

However, the loud sound just now was quite extreme.

Since when did Wei Dalei become this strong?

Chen Mu was also quite surprised. If this guy had always been so powerful, Chen Mu wouldn't have been able to compete with him in the past.

"I... I... I didn't mean to do it. Huh, why did this happen...?" Wei Dalei stammered as he looked at his fist.

Everyone fell silent, as if they were thinking, "You don't know, so how would we know?"

Chen Mu asked, "Old Wei, how's your hand feeling?"

Wei Dalei shook his head, "It doesn't hurt much."

Chen Mu said, "Then try another punch."

"Alright!" Wei Dalei trusted Chen Mu and directly threw another punch at the floor, putting even more force into it.

"Boom!"

This time it was even louder, and the fist mark was deeper.

Everyone was shocked.

"You... you've mutated?" Gu Ping asked, astonished and fearful.

"Nonsense, it's you who's mutated!" Wei Dalei retorted.

Chen Mu sighed, "Old Wei, you might have really mutated."

Wei Dalei wore a bitter expression, "Boss, why are you saying this too?"

Chen Mu smiled, "Having endless strength after mutating isn't a bad thing. And, if I guess correctly, maybe all of us have mutated."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed.

Tang Jing said, "Because of the headache?"

"What do you think?" Chen Mu admired Tang Jing's intelligence and was eager to hear her judgment.

"I think similarly to you. If there's some unknown force affecting us, maybe this is compensation for our bodies shrinking," Tang Jing said.

"I'll give it a try!" Another boy got excited and, like Wei Dalei, punched the ground.

"Bang!"

"Ah!"

With a muffled groan, the boy held his hand, hopping and crying out in pain.

Tang Jing and Chen Mu exchanged glances.

Dong Junwei nodded thoughtfully, "It seems like everyone's mutation is different."

The boy with tears in his eyes said, "Why didn't you tell us earlier..."

Tang Jing suggested, "Everyone, check yourselves to see if any changes have occurred."

Everyone became interested and started exploring their bodies, making the scene a bit chaotic...

Chen Mu calmed down and carefully felt himself.

But after a while, he hadn't noticed anything.

"Hey, look at this! Do I have something growing on my head?" Suddenly, someone shouted.

Everyone's gaze gathered, and they saw that a horn about the size of a palm had actually grown on the boy's head. It was dark and shiny, swaying with his movements, like a unicorn.

"Wow, a monster! I'll beat you with my staff!" someone joked.

"Don't hit me, I can retract it." Although they knew it was just a joke, the boy promptly retracted the horn.

Surprisingly, he could control it like that.

Everyone was speechless.

Zhao Xiaoyan seemed a bit hesitant and said, "I feel like my nose is somehow different."

Before anyone could react, Wei Dalei sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, "What's wrong? Is your nose uncomfortable?"

Zhao Xiaoyan's attitude towards him had improved, at least she responded to his concern, "No, it's just that my sense of smell seems sharper. Du Jiajia, is the cake you brought today apple-flavored?"

Du Jiajia was a bit surprised, "How did you know?"

Zhao Xiaoyan felt a bit embarrassed, "I smelled it..."

Everyone: "..."

Wei Dalei burst into laughter, "That's a cool ability! We won't have to worry about finding food anymore."

Zhao Xiaoyan rolled her eyes at him, "I'm not a dog, you know."

Wei Dalei chuckled and scratched his head.

"Wow, I can fly! I can fly!" Suddenly, another voice rang out.

They saw another boy with a face full of joy, his feet slowly leaving the ground, his whole body floating in the air, rising steadily.

Flying!

It's the oldest dream of humankind.

Everyone stared at him in envy.

"Luo Hui, great job! See if you can fly up to the height of the table and get the cake," Dong Junwei quickly seized the opportunity and shouted to the boy who was already hovering in mid-air.

"Hahaha, I can fly, this is amazing..."

The boy named Luo Hui was clearly overwhelmed with joy, still flying around in the air, ascending higher and higher. It seemed like he couldn't even hear Dong Junwei's shout.

Just then, a colossal shadow darted towards Luo Hui, who had flown out of the classroom window.

Chen Mu was shocked and exclaimed, "Luo Hui, come back quickly!"

Luo Hui seemed to sense the danger, but it was too late. His newly awakened ability to fly was still unskilled, and he couldn't change direction while airborne, flapping and kicking futilely.

The shadow swiftly passed by and directly snatched Luo Hui, carrying him far away in an instant.

"Ah!"

Everyone was stunned and shocked.

"What was that just now?"

Chen Mu said solemnly, "It was a swallow."

"A swallow? Since when do swallows get so big?!" someone exclaimed.

In their eyes, it clearly looked like a fighter jet!

"In a swallow's eyes, a human right now is no different from a worm," Tang Jing said.

"So... Luo Hui is dead? Eaten by the swallow?" someone asked, trembling.

The answer was obvious.

Having grown up in a peaceful era with no worries about food and clothing, suddenly facing this cruel post-apocalyptic world, even Chen Mu found it hard to accept, let alone these students who had been sheltered in their little world.

Dong Junwei shouted loudly, "From now on, no one should wander off alone. We're no longer at the top of the food chain like we used to be. We might become someone else's meal at any time."

In critical moments, someone had to step forward and take the lead.

Due to Luo Hui's death, everyone huddled together, too afraid to do anything, their minds still replaying the horrifying scene. It took more than half an hour before they finally regained their composure.

Chen Mu suddenly sensed something and felt warmth in his palm.

He raised his right hand, which was still holding the thumbtack, and focused his mind on his palm.

A seemingly intangible energy seemed to be passing between his palm and the thumbtack.

Could this be his special ability?

He concentrated and held his breath. Surprisingly, the thumbtack in his hand began to change shape, gradually turning into a round iron ball!

"Wow, Boss, what ability is this?" Wei Dalei was the first to exclaim.

What ability?

Chen Mu himself didn't know.

Could it be telekinesis?

But after trying several times, he still couldn't really control the iron ball.

Chen Mu's ability manifested in a somewhat unusual manner, not as straightforward as the others. This caught everyone's attention, and they gathered around, watching him intently.

"Maybe it's the ability to change the shape of objects?" Tang Jing proposed a new idea.

Chen Mu had a flash of inspiration and imagined a cube in his mind.

Sure enough, the iron ball slowly transformed into a cube.

"It seems like it's really like that!" Chen Mu murmured.

He then proceeded to change several shapes in succession, and the iron pieces in his hand were very obedient.

"Let's try something different." Dong Junwei picked up a stone from the ground and placed it in Chen Mu's hand.

Following the same process, Chen Mu made the stone change into various shapes with his thoughts.

"This ability..." everyone didn't know how to comment. It felt a bit comical, like someone making balloon animals on the side of the street.

Tang Jing then said, "Chen Mu, can you try something more complex?"

"Hmm..."