Chapter 21: Practice Makes Perfect

The food problem has been temporarily resolved.

After that meal of rice cakes fed everyone, less than half of the whole grain was used.

Moreover, what is most reassuring is that once heating is available, the water problem is essentially half‑solved; from now on we don't have to rely on bottled water—even ordinary tap water can be boiled and drunk.

For now, the greatest threat to all nine students of Class 4, Senior Year 3, remains the disaster that could strike from the outside world at any unknown time.

Rats, spiders, centipedes, snakes, ants…

Any animal capable of squeezing through a door crack is the top enemy of Chen Mu and the others.

Unfortunately, there is currently no particularly good way to defend against them.

……

That night was still spent amid danger on all sides.

Fortunately, although humanity has lost control of the world, not much time has passed, so the school's ordinary sanitation is still passable and the four pests have not yet run rampant.

But it is foreseeable that, once humanity is gone, the numbers of various wild animals will increase dramatically.

There will be no more urban expansion;

no more reckless logging;

and no more large‑scale hunting.

Yet humanity at that time will face an even greater threat.

……

Dawn.

Chen Mu got up.

After stretching, he slowly climbed down from the towel.

Then he slowly walked to the farthest corner of the storeroom.

In the corner were nine pits, all covered with metal plates; on the side facing where everyone sleeps, a wall was built of stainless‑steel chopsticks to block the view.

This is the current toilet.

Since Gu Ping's incident, no one dares to go outside alone to use the toilet.

But living people cannot be held to death by their own waste.

In the end, Chen Mu stepped forward and had everyone dig several squat pits in the ground.

After ordinary silicate cement hardens, its density is less than half that of iron, so this task is not too difficult for Chen Mu.

The only trouble is that.

This squat pit is nothing but a pit.

There is no way to drain waste.

Thus, in the end we could only place a board over each pit to somewhat reduce the odor.

This is, of course, only a temporary measure.

But until a better method appears, we can only make do like this.

The chopstick wall is Wei Dalei's masterpiece.

The T‑shaped chopstick wall not only blocks the view outward, but also divides the nine pits into two groups—five for the boys and four for the girls.

Chen Mu came to his own pit, finished his business, and walked out feeling relieved.

This place, after all, has a strong smell.

Nobody wants to linger.

At this time it is about six in the morning; for Chen Mu, who is used to rising early, getting up is not difficult, whereas the others, after enduring these days of torment, now crave sleep even more.

Chen Mu also has a reason for rising early.

After a night's sleep, his mental power increases significantly.

Therefore.

Morning is the most excited moment of his day.

Because he can verify each day's progress.

His original staples are no longer used at all; he forgot which pit he had used them as a cover for.

The weapon he now holds in his hand is a piece split from a stainless‑steel spoon, somewhat heavier than his original staples.

His mental power is growing, and the weight of objects he can control is also increasing.

But his bodily strength remains unchanged.

This leads to a problem.

The weapon he carries on his person does not reach the upper limit of what he can control.

For a simple example,

He can now slowly control an object half his body weight, but it is too heavy to carry on his person.

But this is not a major problem.

After all, the manifestation of Special Ability is not only about controlling an object's weight, but also speed and precision.

In fact.

These two aspects are what Chen Mu has always pursued.

……

That piece of stainless steel, just like his former staples, is normally worn by him as a belt around his waist; now, having taken it in hand, Chen Mu slowly turns it into a spear.

Afterwards, he returns it to its original shape.

After repeating this several times, the speed gradually increased.

The next moment.

Chen Mu suddenly thrust a long spear from his hand.

Afterwards, he heard someone behind him let out an "ah".

He turned around and saw it was Dong Junwei.

"Good morning, class monitor."

"Morning, are you always this diligent every day?"

"I've gotten used to it."

"Being able to witness Special Ability progressing day by day should be quite interesting, right?" Dong Junwei said with a smile.

"You'll be able to do that too in the future."

"This is also why I got up early today." Dong Junwei was obviously in a good mood.

The two exchanged a few words, and Tang Jing came over from behind.

"Aren't you afraid another centipede will show up?"

Chen Mu said with a smile: "So I don't dare go too far; I stay by the door, and if anything happens I'll immediately flee inside."

"Are you discussing Special Ability?"

"Sort of, does Tang Jing have any suggestions?" Dong Junwei asked.

Her Special Ability, which she had just awakened yesterday, after a night's rest, now felt full of energy, so she wanted to come practice.

Because she didn't want to disturb others, she took a slight risk and came to the doorway.

Who would have thought Chen Mu was also there, and Tang Jing followed over as well.

Tang Jing spread her hands: "I don't have any constructive opinions; I haven't awakened myself yet, but looking at it now, more practice definitely won't hurt. I see Chen Mu's ability is already much stronger than the first day."

Dong Junwei echoed: "Indeed, that spear just now startled me; if it were a duel, that move would be enough to take a life."

Chen Mu's spear just now was not a simple thrust.

But rather it was transformed.

The stainless steel ring held in his hand suddenly transformed into a spear, the tip thrusting forward; because his body movement was small, if the opponent hadn't taken precautions beforehand, it would be nearly impossible to dodge this spear.

This is also why Chen Mu has been concerned about "speed".

His ability has finally reached a point where it has some combat utility.

Tang Jing had Chen Mu demonstrate the move again, and after watching she also praised it: "Once proficient, this move is indeed indefensible. However, at this speed, can you guarantee the sharpness of the spear tip?"

Chen Mu couldn't help but nod.

Tang Jing's words always hit the nail on the head.

He nodded and said: "Under normal circumstances, that's indeed difficult, but I've previously discovered that my ability has an advantage."

"Oh?"

"That is, transforming something that has been transformed before reduces the difficulty greatly."

"'Practice makes perfect'?" Dong Junwei wondered.

"Sort of." Chen Mu smiled: "For example, when I thrust this spear, the first time I need to make the tip sharp, the speed must be slow; but once I succeed once, each subsequent attempt becomes easier in difficulty, and the speed can gradually increase."

"So it's just practice makes perfect." Dong Junwei nodded, seeming thoughtful.