Chapter 2: I Am in 1911

Get up, all of you get up for me.

You bunch of trash, if you don't get up to work today, you won't get any food.

Smack!

Ah, stop hitting, stop hitting……

Shouts and cries rang in my ears.

As soon as I opened my eyes.

Su Qing saw an overseer swinging a whip at the doorway.

Without a word, he quickly got up and followed the other workers out of the house, arriving at the central square high platform of the camp and lining up.

At that moment, the sun on the horizon had not yet risen, and the morning chill enveloped everything.

He exhaled and rubbed his hands, Su Qing turned his head to look at the foreigners around him holding firearms and wearing denim clothing, falling into thought.

He is not a person of this world.

No, to be precise, he is not a person of this time period.

Half a month ago, he was still a worker in the 21st century; after discovering he had an incurable illness, and following great sorrow and enlightenment, he resolutely quit his job and began the final journey of his life.

He originally wanted to leave some beautiful memories before death.

Unfortunately, things went awry; while climbing Mount Hua, he accidentally stepped on dog feces, slipped, and fell off the cliff.

Then he fainted.

When he woke up again, he was already in this mine camp.

After a brief initial confusion, he learned from the fragmentary words of those around him that he was still on Earth, only the time and place were wrong.

Because the current time is May 1911, and the location is a mine in the suburbs of London, Dayingguo.

After understanding this, Su Qing was initially very excited and thrilled, thinking that with his foreknowledge of history, it wouldn't be long before he could, as described in web novels, become a CEO, marry a rich beautiful woman, and reach the pinnacle of life.

Unfortunately, he was too happy too soon.

A sudden intense feeling of bloating pain in his abdomen struck, pulling him back from his pleasant fantasy.

Hiss!

Su Qing rolled over on the spot, curling his waist and hugging his abdomen like a cooked shrimp, sweat beading on his forehead, his body trembling slightly from the stomach pain.

Only then did he realize he was stark naked, his clothes and phone gone, but the cancer inside him remained.

Then, this was not yet the worst.

The worst part is.

After finally enduring the illness, Su Qing realized from the accounts of fellow Chinese laborers that he had been sold.

Because after falling off the cliff and losing consciousness in the wilderness, the human trafficker who was escorting laborers to the mine to work picked him up along the way, naturally making him one of those sold to the mine.

After understanding these, Su Qing had not yet snapped out of his daze when his bitter days began.

The Chinese overseers at the mine did not regard these compatriots as humans at all; dozens of people were crammed into a small shabby house, working from six in the morning to seven at night without rest, not eating enough or staying warm, and even worse, when someone fell ill there was no doctor, they were just left to live or die on their own.

In such an environment, Su Qing lived in great pain, both mentally and physically.

Sometimes, he even thought of committing suicide to end it all.

But when the moment came, he was unwilling to die so ingloriously.

Just like that.

In the midst of suffering and contradiction, Su Qing gritted his teeth and persisted, and just when he was about to be unable to hold on, a turning point appeared.

Sky Base

As Su Qing's thoughts moved, a simple light screen visible only to him appeared.

Linked device: Wang Zhīqiū

Download task: ***(&&)3% (&&&), English (proficient) 95% (downloading)

Completed tasks: none

Installation record: none

95%.

In another hour, it should be able to finish downloading.

Frowning, he skipped past the front garbled code, Su Qing looked at the English download progress, silently calculating in his mind.

Last night, after finishing his meal and just lying down to rest, this light screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

At first he was a bit dazed, then he immediately realized this was his golden finger arriving.

After a brief excitement, he carefully studied the light curtain; the more he looked, the more familiar it became, and finally he suddenly realized, isn't this just the downloader he usually uses?

Before discovering his stomach cancer, Su Qing, in his spare time from work, liked to stay at home watching movies and playing games; for convenience, he had obtained from the internet a downloader named 'Sky Base'.

This downloader, because it can download videos and software, and its interface is clean with few ads, so he has been using it.

He didn't expect that this time, slipping and falling off the cliff, it also crossed over with him… although it was half a month late, having it is better than not having it.

Speaking of this, I don't know why.

After Sky Base crossed over, it actually underwent a tremendous change, enabling the download of others' skills.

As long as Su Qing focuses his spirit on observing a person, he can see that person's skills and their proficiency, and can choose whether to download them.

At first glance, isn't it very simple?

But it is not so.

Through Su Qing's exploration, the download function of Sky Base requires energy to run, just like a car needs gasoline to run.

As for the source of this energy, he personally experienced it; it mainly comes from his own bodily energy.

To download his coworker Wang Zhīqiū's English (proficient), just one night, his whole body became thinner.

While Su Qing was staring at the light screen, letting his thoughts wander, a fierce voice came from the high platform.

Everyone's here, hurry up and get to work, hurry up……

Upon hearing that,

The surrounding laborers quickly dispersed to the supply room to get tools and rushed toward the mine.

Su Qing blended into the crowd, his gaze furtively sweeping over the man on the high platform of the square, his expression inscrutable.

This man was called Zhang Lei, the Chinese foreman of this mine.

Zhang Lei was of medium height, wearing a small hat, a coat, and leather shoes, looking rather respectable.

At this moment, he was bowing and scraping to a foreigner in a proper Western suit, saying something, extremely obsequious.

Just wait.

He silently withdrew his gaze, Su Qing recalled the previous encounter, thinking viciously.

As a person from the 21st century, Su Qing is fair‑skinned and good‑looking; thus, on the second day after crossing over, he was taken a liking to by the foreman Zhang Lei, who has a peculiar fetish, and wanted to take him as a catamite.

As a man with normal sexual orientation, Su Qing would never agree; he refused on the spot without even thinking.

Thus he offended Zhang Lei.

Afterwards, Zhang Lei constantly gave him trouble, trying to force Su Qing to bow his head.

Even as early as yesterday morning.

Zhang Lei, having lost patience, even issued an ultimatum: if after three days he does not comply with his demand, he will use force.

Facing the threat, Su Qing, who has suffered greatly, knows there is no room for resistance; thinking that he doesn't have much life left, he plans to commit suicide to preserve his purity.

Of course, if he could drag Zhang Lei down as a backup, that would be even better.

But just as he made up his mind, that night the 'Golden Finger' arrived.

Once Su Qing understood the changes of the heavenly base, he gave up the idea of suicide and instead chose to use the heavenly base to select and download the English skill.

Just because.

The day before yesterday he heard a piece of news: the mine's steward wanted to find a Chinese translator……