Chapter 6: Cake

Chen Mu lay flat, rested for a few minutes, then collected himself, stood up, turned his head, and walked toward the inside of the desk.

The cake was right beside it, and the transparent packaging bag was open at the mouth; obviously Du Jia Jia hadn't sealed it properly to make it easy to sneak a bite.

The apple-flavored cake, mixed with a little cream, had a rich aroma. Most exciting was that the whole cake was ridiculously large, like a building, too big for dozens of people to encircle.

Chen Mu didn't stand on ceremony, grabbed two handfuls and shoved them into his mouth.

Since yesterday noon, they hadn't eaten anything.

Teenagers in their early teens can't withstand hunger.

The texture was a bit rough, but the sweet taste instantly aroused Chen Mu's appetite. Yet he exercised great restraint, stopping after just a little to ease his hunger.

He still had to climb down later; eating too full would be harmful.

After resting a bit more, he spread his arms, pulled a large chunk from the whole cake with force, holding this half‑person‑sized piece, and walked to the edge of the desk.

Looking down, the crowd had become extremely small.

Chen Mu poked his head out and made a few gestures.

The distance was too great; shouting was useless.

Tang Jing immediately understood his intention and said, "Everyone scatter, he's going to throw the cake down."

"Throw it down?!" someone exclaimed in surprise.

"Stupid, you can't possibly climb down holding the cake; besides, how much could you carry?" someone explained.

"Oh oh."

The crowd dispersed.

Chen Mu pushed the cake to the edge, lay flat himself, and slowly kicked outward with his feet. If he stood and pushed with his hands, he feared he'd tumble over due to inertia.

The huge cake fell from the sky.

Although it was only a small piece, to those below it was like a meteorite falling from heaven; of course the cake was soft, so it wouldn't make much of a disturbance.

Poof!

The cake landed on the ground and rolled a few times.

Smelling the fragrance, someone couldn't resist stepping forward.

Such a huge piece of cake could be eaten to one's heart's content.

Tang Jing shouted, "Wait, don't go yet."

The crowd wondered, "Why?"

Tang Jing said, "There's definitely more."

Sure enough, not long after, Chen Mu poked his head down to look, then threw another huge chunk of cake down.

Afterwards.

One after another, two then three.

A good dozen or more pieces.

Chen Mu calculated that this was enough for them to eat for several days, so he stopped.

He rested for about ten minutes.

Only then did he begin to climb down.

Seeing Chen Mu start his return, the crowd surged forward and lunged at the cake.

Although it had gotten dirty from falling on the ground, the cake was so large that after removing the dirty parts, there was still plenty for them to eat.

Only Wei Dalei, Dong Junwei, and Tang Jing stood still, unmoving.

Dong Junwei frowned slightly and barked, "No one is allowed to eat!"

Everyone was stunned.

"What are you doing?"

"Why?"

"..."

Although Dong Junwei usually had considerable authority in class, at this moment everyone was tormented by hunger and might not obey her.

Dong Junwei frowned and said, "Chen Mu risked his life to get food for everyone; now that they haven't even escaped danger, you're just thinking of yourselves first?"

The class monitor's prestige still lingered, and besides she was in the right; this sentence indeed silenced everyone.

The crowd showed looks of shame.

Zhao Xiao Yan shuffled back to Wei Dalei's side; he smiled at her, indicating he didn't mind.

Gu Ping and Wei Dalei were on bad terms, and consequently he also disliked Chen Mu; he dismissed it, thinking that even if he waited for Chen Mu it wouldn't help him, so why waste time starving? Of course, being seventeen or eighteen, he thought this but didn't say it aloud, and could only follow the crowd waiting there, his eyes constantly glancing at the nearby cake.

Truly fragrant.

Tang Jing suddenly shouted, "Everyone work together, move part of the cake to under the desk legs and lay out a mat."

Dong Junwei's eyes lit up: "Good, let's do it right away."

Wei Dalei reacted a bit, then understood, and sprang up.

His strength ability finally came in handy.

After all, there were many people below.

Soon.

The crowd then used cake crumbs to lay a thick layer under the desk legs, though along the way someone still sneakily stuffed two bites into their mouth.

The function of the cake mat is simple: to provide a cushion in case Chen Mu slips and falls.

"Chen Mu should be fine, right?" Zhao Xiao Yan raised her head and gauged the height.

A male student said, "I saw a science program saying that if humans were shrunk, fall damage would be greatly reduced. Tang Jing, is that the case?"

Tang Jing nodded and said, "When weight decreases, gravitational potential energy decreases as well; if our bone and muscle strength stays the same, falling from the same proportional height would cause much less injury—even if it looks like dozens of stories high, it might not actually kill you. But even if you don't die, being injured or crippled at this point is practically as good as dead. Besides, the human body is wonderfully strange: some people can fall three or four stories unharmed, while others can be killed by just a couple of steps… Who would dare gamble on that?"

Chen Mu wholeheartedly crawled downwards, not knowing at all what was happening below.

As the saying goes, going up the mountain is easy, coming down hard; he truly felt that. He even spent another full hour before Chen Mu returned safely.

The cake mat was not used.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Wei Dalei and the others came up to meet him.

"Boss, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just need to rest a bit." Chen Mu was ultimately exhausted; he waved his hand, panting, and laughed: "Is the cake good?"

"You didn't come down, how can we feel good eating?"

"Don't worry about me, you go first."

Seeing that he was fine, Dong Junwei and the others then felt relieved to eat the cake.

Chen Mu rested a moment, then also walked forward.

The fragrant cake, with cream sandwiched in the middle, wasn't too messy; everyone held it with both hands, continually sending it to their mouths, and someone even smeared cream on a classmate's face, making it like a birthday party.

For a while, there was laughter and chatter.

Only then did the satisfaction brought by the food slightly dispel the gloom of the apocalypse.

Chen Mu then stopped restraining himself, only stopping when he had stuffed himself full.

To be honest, eating too much cake is uncomfortable, far less satisfying than rice and vegetables; but in this situation, there's not much to be particular about—one just has to fill oneself up first, who knows where the next meal will come from.

As his strength recovered, Chen Mu felt a gradual sense of fullness in his head.

This feeling was quite strange.

His head felt swollen, yet without any discomfort—rather, it was extremely comfortable.

His thoughts raced, as if he had understood something.

The weapon in his hand suddenly turned into a long stick; he then controlled it to gradually lengthen, and as it lengthened, the shaft kept thinning. When the iron rod was about to become an iron wire, Chen Mu felt he had reached the limit, and while he could still control it, he immediately retracted it.

The original staple had undergone several changes and was now completely unrecognizable.

Chen Mu retrieved his "weapon," transforming it into a ring, which he wore around his waist like a belt for easy carrying.

It was obvious that his control and mental power had both increased.

He thought about it.

Perhaps it was due to overusing his mental power when he just climbed onto the table.

But this is not hard to understand.

Special Ability is likewise a skill; with more practice, it naturally improves. This is like running: continually testing one's limits is the surefire way to train physical ability.

It seems that when there's nothing else to do, we should also practice more.