Chapter 4 – Final Preparations

Chapter 4 – Final Preparations

Yu Kai and the others exchanged glances before reluctantly nodding. Although they had only lived together for less than a year, they knew each other’s temperaments well. Cheng Yang was undoubtedly stubborn; once he set his mind on something, not even eight oxen could pull him back.

Yu Kai immediately took out a card from his pocket and said, “I have over 70,000 yuan in this card. It’s the pocket money I’ve saved since I was a kid. You better use it sparingly.”

Cheng Yang and the other two weren’t surprised by Yu Kai’s wealth. In their dorm, Yu Kai was the little rich kid. Liu Hao and Niu Bing didn’t have much money, with only a little over 10,000 yuan combined.

Shen Yun took the three cards and left the dorm.

“Old Yu, Haozi, do you think we should follow him?” Niu Bing asked with a bitter smile.

Yu Kai shook his head. “Forget it. Yangzi is steady. He should be fine.”

After leaving the school, Cheng Yang took a taxi directly to the suburbs. Soon, he found a wood processing factory. After some haggling with the owner, he ordered 300 cubic meters of wood.

The 80,000 yuan he had on hand was only enough to cover a third of the payment. However, Cheng Yang wasn’t worried. He transferred the 80,000 yuan to the owner on the spot and requested that the wood be delivered to the roadside near Luofeng Slope by 5 PM the next day. He would pay the remaining balance after the delivery.

Given the large transaction, the owner didn’t mind the shipping cost. With the 80,000 yuan deposit in hand, even if Cheng Yang backed out, he wouldn’t lose much.

After handling this matter, Cheng Yang checked the time. It was already 1 PM. The time he remembered was drawing near, but neither people nor animals around him showed any signs of abnormality. Even Cheng Yang, who had already guessed that a disaster was imminent, couldn’t detect any clues.

That night, while Liu Hao and the others were asleep, Cheng Yang sat on his bed and began to cultivate. He had done this for a year in his previous life, so he was very familiar with it. In essence, cultivation was about practicing meditation techniques.

Regardless of one’s profession, each person could only cultivate for four hours a day. This rule was unbreakable.

After a night of cultivation, Cheng Yang’s progress as an intermediate magic apprentice increased by 1%. Normally, it would take him a hundred days to break through to the advanced magic apprentice level. This speed was fixed for everyone, unless someone didn’t cultivate daily.

After finishing his cultivation, Cheng Yang lay down to sleep. This might be the most peaceful night he would have for a long time.

…

The next day, Cheng Yang arrived early at the Luofeng Village base. Although he had hidden the place perfectly the day before, he was still worried that someone might discover the four statue heads. If it were just a corner of the altar, people might not suspect anything, but the four human-like heads would surely raise questions. If someone thought it was an ancient relic and attracted a crowd, it would be troublesome.

When Cheng Yang returned to the mountain, he found that everything was the same as the day before. Relieved, he decided to search for the target he hadn’t found yesterday—a portal to another dimension. In gaming terms, that dimension was like a dungeon.

As he walked along the same path as the day before, he stumbled upon something strange at the end of the trail. It wasn’t strange in appearance—it looked like an ordinary stone slab. However, as an intermediate magic apprentice, Cheng Yang could sense a faint energy fluctuation on its surface.

What was this thing? Cheng Yang didn’t know. In his previous life, he had never seen anything like it. But he was certain that it was related to the world’s transformation into a game.

Since it might be something valuable, Cheng Yang didn’t hesitate. The stone disk was only a foot in diameter and weighed about twenty pounds. With his strength, which was twice that of a normal person, lifting it was easy.

Cheng Yang carried the stone disk back to the Luofeng Village base. Although he hadn’t found the dungeon, discovering this disk was a pleasant surprise.

At noon, Cheng Yang returned to Xiangcheng City to buy a large bag of compressed biscuits and high-energy foods like chocolate, which he brought back to the base.

At 3 PM, Cheng Yang took out his phone and called Yu Kai, asking him to bring Liu Hao and Niu Bing to Luofeng Slope.

Yu Kai and the others weren’t locals, so they didn’t know where Luofeng Slope was. After Cheng Yang explained, they figured it out. However, they were puzzled as to why Cheng Yang would call them to such a desolate place at this time.

Cheng Yang didn’t explain, only saying that they would understand when they arrived.

After the call, Cheng Yang walked down the mountain and sat by the roadside. He waited patiently, enjoying the last moments of peace. He didn’t know if he would ever have the chance to sit so calmly again, free from danger.

After nearly an hour, a taxi sped over. Yu Kai and Liu Hao got out, and the car quickly drove away.

“Yangzi, what are you up to? You look so mysterious,” Liu Hao said, sitting down next to Cheng Yang. He glanced at the river below and asked in shock, “You’re not thinking of jumping into the river, are you?”

Cheng Yang rolled his eyes. “Do I look like I’ve lost my mind? If I wanted to jump into a river, I wouldn’t come four or five kilometers out of the city. There are plenty of rivers in Xiangcheng.”

“True,” Liu Hao agreed. “Then why do you look so strange?”

“Where’s Niu Bing? Didn’t he come?” Cheng Yang suddenly asked.

Yu Kai replied, “He’s been chasing after some beauty these past few days. When I called him, he was shopping and said he’d come right away. But it’ll take him some time to get here, probably half an hour.”

Cheng Yang calculated the time. Half an hour shouldn’t be a problem. But to be safe, he called Niu Bing and told him to make sure he arrived by 4:50 PM.

Niu Bing was confused, but Cheng Yang didn’t explain and hung up immediately.

Then Cheng Yang said, “Haozi, do you remember what I told you yesterday morning?”

Liu Hao was puzzled. “You said a lot of things yesterday morning. Which one are you referring to?”

Cheng Yang said, “I asked you what would happen if the real world turned into a game world.”

“I remember,” Liu Hao said firmly. “You’ve been acting so strange these past two days. Is it because of that?”

Cheng Yang replied, “It’s not because of that, but because of what’s about to happen. In a little over an hour, the world will undergo a massive change. A disaster will sweep across the entire Earth. To put it simply, the Earth will become a game world, and we will all be players in it.”

Yu Kai suddenly crouched down and touched Cheng Yang’s forehead. “You’re not running a fever, are you? Why are you talking nonsense?”

Cheng Yang swatted Yu Kai’s hand away. “I know you don’t believe me now, and I don’t expect you to. In half an hour, everything will be revealed. I’m telling you this now so you have time to warn your families to take shelter.”

Yu Kai and the others looked at Cheng Yang’s calm expression and felt a pang of unease. Liu Hao asked, “Yangzi, are you serious?”

“How is this possible?” Liu Hao still couldn’t accept Cheng Yang’s explanation.

Cheng Yang said, “I’ve said what I needed to say. If you don’t believe me, no amount of persuasion will change your minds. Whether or not you warn your families is up to you. I just hope you won’t regret it later.”

Yu Kai and the others exchanged glances, then looked at Cheng Yang, who seemed to be enjoying the scenery. Was there even any scenery to enjoy here?

“Maybe… we should tell them. It’s only half an hour. Even if it’s a lie, it won’t hurt. But if it’s true…” Yu Kai voiced his opinion. Although he didn’t finish his sentence, Liu Hao and the others understood.

Liu Hao and the others, who had been hesitant, immediately agreed with Yu Kai’s suggestion. They decided to call their families.

Cheng Yang turned around and said, “Tell them to head toward the central area of the city and find an open park to take shelter. What to do next will become clear later.”

Since they had already decided to follow Cheng Yang’s advice, they didn’t hold back. They took out their phones and called their families. After persuading them for over ten minutes, they finally convinced their families to take action and hung up.

“Yangzi, I’ve staked my entire reputation on this. If you’re messing with me, my dad will never let me live it down,” Liu Hao said with a bitter smile.

Yu Kai looked up at the sky and said, “I hope what Yangzi said doesn’t happen.”

Liu Hao said, “Why worry so much? In less than an hour, everything will be clear. If you’re lying, Yangzi, you’re in for it!”

Aside from fear, the young men felt a hint of excitement about the possible catastrophe. Of course, they still didn’t fully believe Cheng Yang, but they decided to wait an hour before confronting him.

About ten minutes later, over a dozen large trucks arrived from Xiangcheng City. Under the suspicious gazes of Yu Kai and the others, the trucks parked neatly by the roadside.

Cheng Yang checked his phone. It was almost 4:40 PM. The drivers were quite punctual.

“Old Yu, wait here for a bit. I ordered these logs. I’ll go greet them,” Cheng Yang said softly to Yu Kai and the others.

Yu Kai gave Cheng Yang a deep look. He was starting to believe Cheng Yang’s words. The cost of these logs wasn’t cheap—even the lowest quality wood would cost over 200,000 yuan. Knowing Cheng Yang, unless he had lost his mind, he wouldn’t joke about something like this. And right now, Cheng Yang seemed perfectly sane.

PS: New book seeking collections and recommendations. Dear readers, could you give me a pleasant surprise?