87: Chapter 87 Chu Ge Awakens

Time slowly ticked by to 6:00 PM.

Chu Ge's fingers twitched slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Where is this? Am I, am I not awake yet?"

Chu Ge found himself standing in the middle of ruins, surrounded by desolation. Nearby dilapidated buildings were covered in plants. He wanted to carefully identify the text information on the buildings, but it was blurry and he couldn't see it clearly. Chu Ge was just about to rub his eyes to see better.

The sky above suddenly burst open in all directions. Chu Ge looked up to see a massive void appear in the sky, growing larger and larger. The air vortex formed by the void began to rotate slowly, its speed increasing rapidly.

The air around Chu Ge seemed to be pulled away, and gradually, everything began to gather toward that void.

Chu Ge instinctively wanted to run, but even though he felt like he was using all his might, his legs remained motionless. Chu Ge felt himself gradually lift off the ground, following everything else, flying toward the still-rotating void.

"Is, is this a black hole? How could a black hole appear here?"

Chu Ge didn't have time to think any further.

He found himself flying faster and faster. The airflow in the air gradually made him squint. Through the slits of his eyes, he saw that the center of the void was pitch black, and circles of electric currents were constantly flashing around the massive void.

Finally, he closed his eyes. The surrounding electric currents drew closer and closer; he felt himself being wrapped up, and he could even clearly hear the "buzzing" and "crackling" sounds in his ears.

After a long time, Chu Ge felt himself slowly landing back on the ground. He tested it with his feet, and it was indeed solid ground. He tried to open his eyes, but it was pitch black all around, and he hadn't adjusted yet.

Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Chu Ge discovered that this place was like a massive underground "palace," though he couldn't see the boundaries of the "palace." The air here was very murky. He tried to take a breath; it was fine, seemingly nothing unusual.

"Crack," "crack," sounds of electric currents suddenly came from behind him. Chu Ge spun around sharply; several sparks fell from high above. Watching the scene before him, Chu Ge slowly retreated.

"Is, is this an interstellar spaceship?"

A massive spaceship wreckage stood before Chu Ge. In the middle of the wreckage, a strong blue light was flickering. Chu Ge continued to retreat; he wanted to see what was emitting that blue light.

After retreating for who knows how long, Chu Ge finally saw it: it looked like a massive Energy Ball, and this Energy Ball was actually floating.

"Are you kidding me? A floating blue Energy Ball? This must be a dream."

Chu Ge muttered to himself.

The blue Energy Ball illuminated the surrounding environment as if it were a dream. Chu Ge just watched it, as if possessed. The blue Energy Ball seemed to sense Chu Ge's presence and began to pulse rings of light outward in rhythm with Chu Ge's breathing, growing brighter and traveling further.

Chu Ge's breathing began to quicken, and the rhythm of the light rings actually sped up as well. Waves of blue shockwaves constantly dispersed into the distance. Finally, at the far end, they merged together, the brightness increasing significantly, instantly lighting up the entire "palace" from far to near.

Chu Ge looked down along the light and discovered a sea of "humans" kneeling below the steps, stretching out endlessly. They had human forms, hands raised, chanting something. Chu Ge couldn't see their faces clearly, nor could he hear what they were saying.

He wanted to see more clearly, so he turned around and continued walking forward.

It seemed to have an effect; Chu Ge felt their appearance becoming clearer, and their voices becoming louder.

The kneeling "people" were wearing uniform clothing, their hands still raised to the sky, but the sound, to Chu Ge's ears, seemed to be getting more and more agitated.

Their appearance could now be vaguely discerned; they did indeed look like humans, but Chu Ge couldn't distinguish where they were from. Asian? Caucasian? African? None of them, or rather, not like them. Chu Ge was a bit confused.

Just as he wanted to take another step forward, his foot seemed to step on something. Chu Ge slipped and fell heavily backward. Chu Ge hastily took one last glance at the group of people before closing his eyes.

"This fall, it couldn't have happened at a worse time."

...

The next second, Chu Ge opened his eyes abruptly, and before him was darkness once again.

"Again?"

Just as Chu Ge was about to curse, he vaguely saw something like a "lamp." The ticking sound of a clock also reached Chu Ge's ears. He sat up and looked around, bewildered.

A familiar feeling gradually became clear; this was his dormitory. Chu Ge stood up and stumbled toward the wall. "Click," Chu Ge pressed the switch, and the electric light instantly illuminated the whole room. Chu Ge raised his hands; the blinding light made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

A few seconds later, Chu Ge tried to open his eyes.

"Ha, am I back at full health?"

Chu Ge scanned the room; that's right, it was his dormitory. He jumped up happily.

"System Big Brother, hey, wake up."

[Spit it out!]

Chu Ge was completely relieved now.

"What time is it?"

[You're asking me that too?]

"Haha, alright, I was just confirming; you're still that contrarian."

"By the way, I think I just had a dream. Did you dream it too?"

[No. What makes you feel that this system would do such a boring "thing" as dreaming?]

"Uh, no, I was just curious."

Chu Ge still wanted to continue teasing System Big Brother a bit; after all, a day apart feels like three autumns.

But his nose suddenly caught a sour smell. He lowered his head and sniffed.

"Damn, I've gone sour? What the hell?"

Chu Ge didn't even think; he rushed into the bathroom. Not caring that the water was cold, he turned on the showerhead and started scrubbing.

"La la la, I love to take a bath..."

On his leg, a scabbed-over blood clot quickly fell off, flowing into the drain with the water and slowly disappearing.

Chu Ge washed for five minutes before running out. It wasn't that he was fast; it was because his stomach started rumbling while he was washing.

Only then did Chu Ge remember that he hadn't eaten for 24 hours, so he just rinsed off quickly.

Chu Ge got dressed and went downstairs. The guards were still there, and upon seeing Chu Ge come down, they saluted one after another.

"Hi, Captain Gong, you're still here?"

"Yes, Academician Chu. Have you eaten today? If you hadn't come down, we were about to go in and drag you out. I went up once at noon and vaguely heard you sleeping, so I came back down."

"Uh, is that so? I might have been taking a nap then."

Chu Ge felt a wave of embarrassment. It was more than a nap; he had slept for a day and a night.

"By the way, Captain Gong, did anyone look for me during this time?"

"No!"

"Okay, alright, I'm going to eat first."

"Yes, Academician Chu."

Chu Ge scurried away in embarrassment. This, the plot hadn't followed his script at all.

On the way, Chu Ge tested his body and then took a deep breath.

"It feels like my lung capacity has increased a bit, but I don't feel anything else. This gene modification, did it modify nothing?"

Chu Ge shook his head.