Chapter Three: The Unpunctual Watch

Chapter Three: The Unpunctual Watch

The person walking ahead gave no response. The two of them entered the gas station’s convenience store one after the other, and then Yunyang witnessed a scene that made his heart race. His savior, the biker girl, picked up a bottle of soda from the shelf and casually tossed it behind her—gone, just like that, vanished without a trace. Yunyang was so astonished his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

At that moment, Yunyang began to piece together which world he had landed in, and guessed that his savior was most likely Du Rose—red hair, motorcycle, it all added up.

Though he had figured out a few things, he still had to feign ignorance. With a look of amazement, he asked, “How did you do that? Do you have superpowers? Where did all your things go?”

After all, as an ordinary person, he had to act surprised if he wanted to get close to a big shot. That was the only way to secure the protection of someone powerful. Clever little Yun indeed.

“And also, just now you saved me, but I didn’t ask your name. I’m Yunyang, but I don’t know what to call you yet.”

Start with some small talk; can’t let the main character group slip away.

Hearing the young man she’d saved thank her, Rose didn’t pause in her movements. With another wave of her hand, she swept a row of drinks from the shelf into a tent connected to the other end of her micro-wormhole, and responded, “No need to thank me. As a soldier of Huaxia, it’s my duty to help civilians. I’m Rose.”

With Rose’s reply, Yunyang was certain of his guess, but then a terrifying thought struck him.

He felt doomed. The Super God Academy—how could a mere mortal survive in that place? Any god passing by could blow up a planet. How could someone as ordinary as he (at least for now) possibly live?

But no matter how much he worried, what he said was more important. He hurried to say, “So you’re one of those black-armored warriors from the Heroic Soldiers? That’s amazing. I’ll be counting on you to protect me from now on.”

Clinging to a powerful figure was the first rule of survival for a transmigrator. As for a heaven-defying golden finger, well, let’s not mention that for now. The system did seem impressive—apparently, in the future he’d become some sort of Lord of Life.

But in this world, there were so many gods: Angel Queen Kaisa—a main god, Demon Queen Morgana—a main god, Death Karl—a main god, Sun Goddess Reina—main god-level power. After all, she even blew up Kaisa.

Are main gods really that strong? Here, main gods come in swarms. Besides, he was just a developing main god himself. Having just finished the first season of Black Armor, Yunyang was feeling anxious. Other protagonists could survive through foreknowledge and gathering equipment, but not him—here, there were no fortuitous encounters or treasures to be found.

“Yes, in a while, follow me to the evacuation point. You’ll be safe with the army,” Rose replied, her heart full of satisfaction, though she kept a calm expression.

As a soldier, being able to help the people and receiving their gratitude was the greatest happiness. After all, the very meaning of a soldier’s existence was to protect their country and the people behind it.

Watching Rose continue to sweep supplies into her space, Yunyang felt he had nothing much to do. Wanting to show some solidarity between the military and the people, he asked, “Rose, I saw you rode your motorcycle here. Is it out of gas? Should I go refuel it for you?”

“You’re right, the tank’s empty. My bike’s—”

Before Rose could finish, Yunyang had already strode out of the store. She muttered inwardly, “I haven’t even told him the code, how’s he going to refuel it?”

Yunyang, oblivious to her thoughts (since he didn’t have mind-reading powers), pushed the motorcycle to the pump and grabbed the fuel nozzle. Glancing at the tank, an ominous premonition crept over him—did he forget to ask for the key? How was he supposed to open the gas tank?

Lost in his worries, Yunyang was suddenly interrupted by a voice from his pocket. “Master, you don’t need to envy that woman. You can put things away too,” said Xiaoyi.

Yunyang took Xiaoyi out, puzzled. “I can? But I don’t have that ability. I can’t use micro-wormhole transport.”

“No, no, I have a system space here. When you were in the store, I tried it out and moved in a barrel of water and two boxes of instant noodles. Isn’t that amazing?” In the villa inside the system space, Xiaoyi wore an expression practically begging for praise.

Outside, Yunyang realized he’d never have to worry about food again. The protagonist’s standard-issue storage space! Others have storage rings, but his was on another level (he thought, feeling a bit smug). Although he couldn’t see Xiaoyi’s face, he glanced at her anyway.

“Wow, Xiaoyi, you’re incredible! With you, I’ll never go hungry or thirsty again. When we have time, I’ll take you to clear out a supermarket. No one’s going to want the stuff, and it’ll just expire anyway—let’s do a good deed.”

After chatting with Xiaoyi for a while, Yunyang remembered he still had a Life Point. If Xiaoyi was already so powerful, maybe he should upgrade something else.

No sooner thought than done. Rose was still in the store, so he opened the system and tapped the Life Point. Instantly, a series of faint blue plus signs appeared over the items in his view. For some reason, though, Rose’s motorcycle wasn’t among them. But this wasn’t the time to think about that. He unclasped his watch from his wrist, remembering that upgrades caused items to levitate, and he didn’t want to go flying with it.

“Upgrade this item?” Without hesitation, he chose “yes.” The watch, a gift from a friend for his birthday, slipped from his hand, floated about two meters in the air, and emitted a soft white glow.

Just as he was imagining all the new abilities his watch might have, it suddenly fell to the ground with a thud. His expression froze. Hopefully, it wasn’t damaged—he’d be upset. He hurried over to pick it up, and at that moment, the system issued a prompt: “Ding. The item does not possess the potential for Life Transcendence. Transcendence failed. Special ability acquired. Would you like to appraise it?”

“Appraise, of course appraise,” Yunyang muttered as he responded. “Who wouldn’t appraise a special ability?”

Ding, appraisal complete…

Name: The Unpunctual Watch

Special Ability: Disrupt Action

Description: Sets a space where any intelligent life within it will be unable to accomplish what they intend, once per day, lasting one minute.

This is a watch that has had enough of the tedious, punctual life. It has decided to be a breath of fresh air among watches. A minute is enough to do many things—may you use it well.

Reading the description, Yunyang realized he had acquired a divine skill. Anyone caught in the space wouldn’t be able to act as they wished—just like time stop! This could save his life. Elated, he put the watch back on. Turning around, he saw Rose standing at the convenience store entrance, head slightly raised in contemplation, as if lost in thought.

Awkwardly, Yunyang said, “Um, I couldn’t open the gas tank, so…” The rest went unsaid.

Rose looked exasperated. “You left so fast I didn’t even get to tell you the code.”

She walked over to the motorcycle, swiped her finger across the gas cap, and it popped open. The two of them stared at each other. “Don’t just stand there—hurry up and fill the tank,” Rose said, deadpan.

Yunyang was left dumbfounded. So that’s possible? What kind of black technology was this? At her prompting, he shoved the nozzle into the tank, and soon it was full.

Rose swung onto the bike. “Get on. Or do you plan to run after me all the way?” Yunyang climbed on, grabbing the rack behind him with both hands, and with a roar, the motorcycle sped off in a cloud of dust.

All that remained on the road in front of the gas station was a plume of smoke. If anyone were nearby, they’d probably comment, “Driving that fast, aren’t you afraid of crashing?” But alas, there was no one around.

As soon as the motorcycle picked up speed, Yunyang heard a chime echo in his mind.

Mission complete. Please claim your reward.

So that was it? That was pretty easy. Sitting on the back of the motorcycle, Yunyang felt quite pleased.

Who knows who was complaining about the system’s uselessness atop the gas station?

He opened the system to claim his reward and saw what he’d received: Advanced Life Transcendence Voucher x1.

Wow, a golden legend! In his hand appeared a pale gold card, roughly the size of a bank card. One side bore seven bold characters: Advanced Life Transcendence Voucher.

The other side gave its description: Allows any item to undergo advanced life transcendence. Can only be used on items that haven’t undergone life transcendence.

If Xiaoyi was already so powerful after a medium-level transcendence, what would advanced transcendence create? He needed to try it out as soon as possible!

Overjoyed, Yunyang chatted idly with Rose as they rode. After about an hour, amid the yellow wasteland, a convoy appeared on the highway: buses, armored vehicles, and rows of stern-faced soldiers marching behind the armored cars, exuding a reassuring sense of safety.

A soldier atop one of the armored vehicles shouted something. As they drew closer, Yunyang could hear the firm command: “Keep moving forward! Maintain the line! Protect the civilians behind us!”

Beyond the advancing soldiers, Yunyang saw the haggard, sorrowful faces crowding the buses, and a wave of melancholy welled up inside him.

After another hour on the barren road, Rose, focused on driving, suddenly heard Yunyang say from behind, “If I told you I’m not an ordinary person, would you believe me?” He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

Yunyang had thought this through carefully. He wanted to join the Heroic Soldiers; it was the only way to survive in this world.

“If you’re not an ordinary person, would you have been stuck on the roof of a gas station for so long? Would a little demon have thrown you up there?” Rose replied with a deadpan sneer.

“I really am not ordinary. It’s just that my ability isn’t combat-oriented…” Yunyang felt a wave of hopelessness.

He thought to himself, as expected, if you don’t want a lie to be exposed, you have to cover it with countless more lies.