Chapter 82: Time Sense

Using the mode of opening an umbrella to land safely was something Chen Mu thought of on the spur of the moment; if he had done that before, he would probably have died miserably, but after his body shrank, it became feasible. He and Tang Jing had discussed the physics behind it, but they never dared to try it.

To complete the umbrella-opening action at the critical moment, even he himself had no full confidence.

That was somewhat risky.

Of course, he did this not just to show off.

First, to verify whether doing this could actually land safely; second, and most importantly, Chen Mu recalled how, when facing those three strange enemies earlier, he had instinctively used a shield.

Perhaps in a crisis, people can truly unleash their Special Ability beyond the norm.

He knew perfectly well that even if he couldn't open the umbrella, he wouldn't fall to his death, but psychologically his fear of heights would not diminish much.

This indeed had a risky element, but to confirm that fact, the risk was worth it.

The fact proved that if one doesn't push oneself, one may never know one's limits.

Chen Mu's guess turned out to be correct.

At that moment.

The speed of his brain seemed to increase, his body became ever more agile, and the control of his ability operated far faster than usual—an effect far beyond what adrenaline alone could produce.

Chen Mu closed the umbrella, glanced back at that height, and felt a little frightened himself.

"When did you practice this move?" He Ying's only strength had also been surpassed; she puffed out her lips, looking displeased.

"I haven't practiced it; I just thought of it on the spot."

He Ying: "……"

While everyone else sighed in admiration, Tang Jing raised her gaze to the watchtower's position and remained silent for a long time.

Dong Junwei asked, "Is there a problem?"

Tang Jing said, "I suddenly thought of something..."

"What?"

"Do you know how long Chen Mu took when he just jumped down?"

"How long? How would we know? Anyway, it was just a swoosh... and down he went."

"Alright, I'll ask differently." Tang Jing smiled: "If an object, ignoring air resistance, undergoes free fall from a height of 80 centimeters, how long does it take to hit the ground?"

"I've done this problem before." Du Jia Jia was the first to raise her hand: "But without paper and pen, I can't work it out."

The free-fall formula, something we learned in middle school.

Tang Jing said, "I'll just tell you: it's 0.4 seconds."

"So what?"

"Don't you find that strange?"

"It seems pretty fast..."

Chen Mu was the first to realize: "It's reaction speed, right?"

"Mm."

Tang Jing nodded: "Actually, air resistance does need to be considered, but even then it definitely wouldn't exceed 0.5 seconds, which means that Chen Mu, you just completed a series of actions in 0.25 seconds."

"Your reaction is truly fast." Everyone gasped.

"No, that's not the issue." Tang Jing shook her head: "If it were just Chen Mu, that would still be understandable, but we all saw his movements clearly—don't you find that strange?"

"This..."

"Alright, let me give another example: take He Ying just now—she had no deceleration measures, relying purely on her agility to land, meaning the whole landing process took less than 0.5 seconds. Everyone should know what 0.5 seconds signifies, but the question is, did your perception just now really feel like only 0.5 seconds?"

Everyone was momentarily at a loss for words.

After a while.

Dong Junwei then said, "It seemed like there were two or three seconds."

"About right."

"Seems so."

Tang Jing said, "Two seconds and 0.5 seconds—even the dullest person wouldn't mix them up."

Dong Junwei, puzzled: "You mean our gravitational acceleration has changed?"

"Probably not." Tang Jing shook her head: "Gravitational acceleration hasn't changed; what's changed is our sense of time."

"Relativity?" Dong Junwei asked somewhat hesitantly.

"We haven't reached that point." Tang Jing chuckled: "It's just that our own perception has deviated, or rather, been corrected."

"Why say that? I think a change in gravitational acceleration would perhaps be more reasonable." Chen Mu, this time not immediately agreeing with Tang Jing's view, said: "Just as we said before, some mysterious force is affecting all humanity; altering the gravity between us and the earth wouldn't be unreasonable, would it?"

Tang Jing said, "As far as we can see, all modifications made to humanity itself are based on one principle: to let us survive. In other words, if we didn't make these changes, humanity couldn't survive. But gravitational acceleration is obviously not a necessary item."

"Hmm..." Chen Mu furrowed his brows in thought.

"Of course, if this were the only point, I wouldn't be so certain either, but looking back now, there were actually early signs of this all along—we just never noticed."

"What?"

"Do you still remember how Luo Hui was snatched away by a swallow?" Tang Jing glanced around at everyone.

"Of course."

Even to this day, Luo Hui and Gu Ping's experiences remain a shadow in everyone's hearts.

Tang Jing added: "Back then, who among you saw clearly that it was a swallow?"

"I didn't see it clearly; I just heard Chen Mu say so."

"Me too."

"It really seems so..."

"……"

Amid the chatter, Chen Mu, feeling a bit embarrassed, said: "But I really did see clearly—it was indeed a swallow."

Tang Jing said with a smile: "I certainly wasn't doubting you, but who can explain why only you saw clearly that it was a swallow? You know, at that time we all focused our attention on Luo Hui."

"This……" Chen Mu was a bit hesitant.

Tang Jing didn't delay, directly answered: "I guess, it's due to mental power."

"Mental power?"

Luo Hui flew outside the window, being snatched away by the swallow in a flash—that is to say, the opportunity we had to see the swallow was only the time it took to fly past the width of a window; under normal circumstances, it's indeed impossible to see clearly.

But Chen Mu saw it clearly.

"That's because Chen Mu's mental power has been stronger than each of ours from the start." Tang Jing said firmly.

"Really?" This made Chen Mu a bit embarrassed.

Tang Jing said with a smile: "Until now, you are the one among us with the fastest progress in Special Ability and the strongest mental power; I think this isn't without reason, talent should be a major factor."

Chen Mu rubbed his nose, thus finding it hard to respond.

Tang Jing continued: "The situation then was that each of us had already awakened Special Ability and possessed mental power, but Chen Mu was the strongest, so only he could see the swallow's appearance."

Everyone, although unable to refute for the moment, still felt something was off.

"So, does mental power give us a sense of slowed time?" Dong Junwei asked.

Not entirely; I think when we need it, the brain automatically adjusts our time perception to more accurately capture things moving too fast.

"For example, just now He Ying jumped down?"

Yes, He Ying and Chen Mu jumped down from midair, which made us instinctively focus our attention, so we could see more clearly, and our sense of time also greatly slowed.