Chapter 14: 14. If fortune comes, do not forget each other.

Nan Gengchen looked at Qing Chen, startled for a moment, “Big brother, I wanted to ask the police uncle at the police station for help, but like Uncle Li being captured, that’s not going to help much.”

“Then there’s nothing we can do,” Qing Chen shook his head and asked further, “Have you encountered something very strange? What exactly happened?”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing,” Nan Gengchen clammed up about it.

Qing Chen stopped talking.

If the other party didn’t want to talk about it, he could only pretend to be unaware.

However, he had a vague guess in his heart: the ‘strange thing’ Nan Gengchen mentioned… could it be that a countdown also appeared on his arm?

But the countdown wasn’t visible to others, so Qing Chen could only guess.

His own first transmigration countdown appeared last night at 6 o’clock. He skipped class immediately and didn’t attend the evening self-study. At 12 o’clock at night, he went through his first transmigration.

If Nan Gengchen really had a countdown appear on his arm, when would it have appeared?

Qing Chen thought that Nan Gengchen, being thin and small, looked fragile, and wondered if he could survive if he really transmigrated to that world.

Their relationship was quite good, not because their personalities meshed so well, but because both of their fathers gambled, resulting in both of their families not being very well-off.

They became closer after talking about this matter by chance.

Just then, a classmate who was playing with their phone suddenly exclaimed, “Holy shit!”

It wasn’t time for class yet, and there were only about a dozen students in the classroom of high school second grade class 3. Everyone turned their attention to the student, “What happened?”

“Guys, check out the trending search. Jacob held a press conference, saying he traveled to a Mechanical Civilization World. The complete video of his press conference is on the hot search,” the shouting student explained.

Jacob, an American citizen, was one of the world’s most famous basketball stars, with many fans.

Hearing this, the classmates immediately turned on their phones to check the trending searches, all of them baffled.

Only Qing Chen was stunned on the spot, because he knew what this so-called transmigration and Mechanical Civilization was about!

But he hadn’t really thought before that people abroad were also experiencing transmigration and countdowns like this.

Nan Gengchen had already opened the video, and Qing Chen looked over.

In the video, Jacob sat behind a table facing all the media he had called for at short notice. The scene was filled with flashing cameras, which were slightly dazzling.

But everyone watching the video noticed Jacob’s left arm first, because that arm had been completely replaced with a Mechanical Arm.

In the video, Jacob stood up and took everyone to the basketball court. Then, across the entire court, he effortlessly threw basketballs into the hoop with his left hand, making ten in a row just like that.

“Is this special effects?” Nan Gengchen murmured, “Is it an advertisement they filmed with special effects?”

Qing Chen did not respond.

The video was transferred from abroad and even had Chinese subtitles provided.

In the video, Jacob told the media, “Last night, I accidentally discovered a countdown on my arm, and when the countdown ended, I was unexpectedly transported to a strange Mechanical Civilization World. It is also Earth, with the sun and moon, but it appeared to be a Parallel Universe with a civilization vastly different from our world.”

Jacob raised his left arm, “I gained this arm when I transmigrated, as if I had replaced someone over there, becoming a new version of myself. I don’t understand the principle behind it, but its strength far exceeds my imagination, and it’s incredibly flexible and precise.”

“The reason I’m holding this press conference isn’t to show off to everyone. That world isn’t as wonderful as one imagines but is instead extremely dangerous. I am holding this press conference here to avoid being secretly taken away for research. I hereby declare that I refuse to be a research subject, and if one day I disappear, please everyone…”

Qing Chen had a sudden realization as he watched this. Jacob was a public figure, so he couldn’t keep a Mechanical limb a secret.

The other party was also well aware that the technology of that world was far beyond ours, so he was very afraid of being taken away for research and becoming a guinea pig. That’s why he chose a more radical method.

This might not be a good approach, and perhaps the other party panicked, which is why they made such a hasty decision.

Qing Chen looked at Nan Gengchen, whose skinny, small figure was now frozen like a petrified chicken.

And Qing Chen thought, since he had neither managed to bring the Boning Knife over nor the toothbrush back, it seemed the only way to bring something from there was to modify himself, or to hide it inside his body?

He also didn’t know where Jacob had appeared when he crossed over: perhaps across the ocean?

At this moment, all the students in the class were in a state of shock and skepticism, finding it hard to tell if this trending topic was real or the result of special effects.

However, before everyone had a chance to regain their composure, a few more bizarre incidents rushed up the trending charts.

“An internet executive was found dead at home with precise mechanical structures suddenly appearing on his body, eerily similar to Jacob’s.”

“Some college student claims he also traveled to another world, where there not only exists a Mechanical Civilization but also Transcendents who surpass ordinary humans.”

“Some high school student claims he not only crossed over to another world but also acquired an Awakening Ability.”

Qing Chen frowned looking at these, as the series of news arrived faster than he imagined, and not everyone was as cautious as him.

More and more news was telling the world: This was not special effects, not ad copy, it was real.

There were indeed people who had crossed over to that unknown and fascinating world.

And the transmigrators were not in a small number.

Next to him, Nan Gengchen muttered, “Transcendents, Mechanical Civilization… does crossing over mean one has the chance to become a Transcendent?”

A classmate asked, “The chances of crossing over don’t seem low, right? Could there also be students from our school who have crossed over?”

“Maybe someone will come to school with a mechanical limb…”

“I also want to cross over…”

With each passing moment, more classmates gathered, and whenever someone approached the classroom, all eyes would turn to see if the newcomer had any mechanical limbs.

You see, at the age of seventeen or eighteen, when curiosity, the thirst for exploration, and vanity are at their strongest, adults might consider whether risks and opportunities are equal, but younger people have more anticipation.

When you watch Harry Potter, you hope you could cross through King’s Cross Station, and when you read a novel, you wish you could be whisked away by a celestial guide.

But in the real world, under normal circumstances, what welcomes you isn’t a celestial being, but a celestial trap.

So when everyone found out that crossing over would make them extraordinary, they would filter out some of the dangers, and then hope they were one of the transmigrators.

The role of the protagonist of the world is inherently alluring.

Qing Chen found it hard to be an exception.

The difference was, Qing Chen had truly crossed over and had also seen those legendary people who were extraordinary and transcendent, Lin Xiaoxiao and Uncle Li Dong.

And probably Ye Wan as well.

Gradually, Qing Chen noticed that the panicky look on Nan Gengchen’s face had faded, and he began to perk up.

Qing Chen asked casually, “Is that the weird thing you were talking about just now?”

Nan Gengchen lowered his voice, “I can’t tell you right now, but rest assured, if I get any opportunity, I’ll definitely not forget you, brother.”

Qing Chen nodded, “Hmm, let’s not forget each other at the peak of wealth and honor.”