CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42: MUTATION

Since the power’s out, there’s no need to ask anymore.

Chen Shouyi simply stepped back and returned to his room.

As soon as Chen Shouyi came back, the Shell Lady started making a fuss again, like a persistent mosquito, buzzing non-stop.

She’s really into cartoons now.

Every day, as soon as she returns to the hotel, she insists on watching, rain or shine.

Chen Shouyi was getting really annoyed; she’s becoming more and more unruly.

He didn’t want to use the glass bead to calm her down anymore, fearing she’d get too used to it. Seeing his phone still had enough battery, he irritably said:

"Watch, watch, watch! I’ll let you watch right away."

He found an episode of Peppa Pig on the video app and picked one at random.

After all, she wouldn’t care as long as she had something to watch.

He placed the phone in front of the Shell Lady.

But as soon as she glanced at it, she started making a fuss again, looking dissatisfied:

"Little Peiqi, it’s Little Peiqi, I want Big Peiqi!"

Now she’s being picky, aren’t they all the same damn thing!

Chen Shouyi was utterly frustrated, his temples throbbing:

"Watch it or go to sleep!"

Seeing the giant was getting angry, the Shell Lady immediately quieted down but pouted angrily.

However, she soon got absorbed in the cartoon, focused entirely, oblivious to her earlier irritation.

Listening to the silly, cute dialogue in the cartoon.

Chen Shouyi sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into space. For some reason, he felt a bit vexed, as if something bad was happening.

He sat quietly for more than ten minutes.

At this moment, he vaguely felt a hint of unusual sensation in his body.

It was as if a weak power was stirring within, like a seed frozen throughout winter, now slowly sprouting as the spring breeze blows.

This feeling...

His expression changed, confirming, and immediately opened the panel.

Seeing that his innate ability still showed as "Self-Healing," not changing to "Natural Healing," he breathed a sigh of relief.

But soon, he stood up abruptly.

His expression turned serious, with disbelief.

He was shocked to find that the words "Self-Healing" had turned a lot dimmer compared to the others, showing a semi-transparent trend.

At this point, the Shell Lady started yelling again:

"Peiqi, Peiqi, Peiqi!"

Hearing the Shell Lady causing a ruckus again, Chen Shouyi suddenly had a bad feeling.

He hurriedly grabbed the phone and found the signal was already gone.

Both the network signal and mobile signal had completely disappeared.

Even the phone screen was flickering slightly from time to time, as if the voltage was becoming unstable.

He tossed aside the phone and grabbed the hotel-supplied lighter from the nightstand.

He flicked it, but it didn’t ignite.

Agitated, he shook the lighter and flicked it again, finally igniting it.

Looking at the feeble flame, barely a centimeter high.

He stood still as if plunged into an ice cellar.

The lighter still had more than half of its liquid gas.

Perhaps he was born with a destructive desire; he has loved playing with fire since childhood. Although he doesn’t smoke, he often randomly flicked this lighter.

He clearly remembered that just yesterday, the flame could still reach several centimeters high.

Of course, it might be due to insufficient pressure inside, but combined with the transparent lettering of his inherent ability, there was only one possibility.

...

He sat back on the bed, feeling a bit chaotic.

The Shell Lady’s endless noise only added to his anxiety.

It seemed other hotel guests also noticed the loss of phone signal, as voices outside gradually became noisy.

Chen Shouyi felt he couldn’t sit still any longer, grabbing the noisy Shell Lady, tying her up, and packing her into his briefcase.

Staying in the room meant being shut off from information.

He decided to go out and take a look.

The hallway was crowded with people, seemingly all the guests had come out, filling the air with noisy conversations.

Most of these people were strangers, perhaps not even having seen each other before, yet at this moment, they conversed without barriers, comforting each other’s unease.

Although unexpected, everyone had experienced blackouts before.

But a power outage accompanied by no network or phone signal was far from normal.

"Young man, are you heading out?" A middle-aged man nearby, noticing that Chen Shouyi looked ready to leave with his briefcase, asked curiously.

"It’s too stuffy in the room, going out to look around, and maybe find something to eat."

"You shouldn’t go out now, it’s pitch dark," a woman with light makeup kindly advised.

"I’ll be careful, it should be fine!" Chen Shouyi said with a smile.

Joking aside, as a Martial Artist Level expert, he had nothing to fear.

Chen Shouyi quickly left the hotel.

The cars on the street were completely jammed, forming a motionless line of traffic.

Many drivers simply opened their car doors, squatting on the street, smoking cigarettes anxiously, or chatting with each other.

Not far away, a fight was happening, drawing quite a crowd.

His heart grew heavier.

He didn’t know if it was just Dongning City or the entire world.

If it’s the whole world?

He couldn’t even begin to imagine.

The Mysterious Force Field in the other world would reduce electronic activity capability, even just by reducing it a little. Chemical reactions would slow down, electrical currents would require higher voltage, and low-level electromagnetic waves would find it harder to travel through the air.

The entire human society would likely undergo drastic changes, possibly even regressing in civilization.

He looked at his phone, fortunately, it still had power, indicating the impact hadn’t yet reached a catastrophic level.

I wonder how things are at home?

At this moment, he finally couldn’t resist the wave of homesickness, pausing his steps, turning around, and deciding to visit home.

He walked quickly, and after ten minutes, he saw that all-too-familiar house.

The restaurant downstairs had long closed, its iron shutters tightly shut.

This certainly had the cautious style of Mrs. Chen.

He looked at the pitch-black windows upstairs, emotions surging, unable to restrain himself, he shouted loudly, "Dad! Mom! Little sis! Are you there?"

He shouted for quite a while before a window finally opened. Mrs. Chen poked her head out, surprised:

"Shouyi, why did you come back?"

"Have you eaten? Let me get the door for you!"

"No, no, I just came to check in. I’m leaving right away; the training camp is strict about curfews at night, and they have room checks. I’ll have to go back soon."

"You silly child, running around even with a blackout. Since you’re here, hurry back." Mrs. Chen said with concern.

Then Chen Dawei also poked his head out:

"Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. It’s no big deal if you don’t pass the Martial Arts Apprentice assessment. You’ve lost so much weight."

"Dad, I’m really strong now!" Chen Shouyi fought back an odd tone in his voice, showing off his arm.

His emotions were slightly stirred, his eyes somewhat red.

These days, he had been bearing unimaginable pressure.

Especially this intense battle today, the fear of narrowly escaping death, the fear of death itself, he could only keep it bottled up inside, like a tightly drawn bowstring, with no one to confide in.

Facing his closest family now, he finally displayed his inner vulnerability.

"Stop bragging, hurry back!" Mrs. Chen interrupted.

"Is little sister home?"

"Yes, she’s at home!"

Just as Mrs. Chen finished speaking, Chen Xingyue also poked her head out: "Brother, you’re really close to passing the Martial Arts Apprentice assessment."

"Of course, I’ve been working really hard lately, you’ll be shocked!"

ps: Behind in recommendations, asking for some recommendations!