Volume One: The Arrival Chapter Fourteen: The Airplane

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Ye Feng gradually regained consciousness, his head throbbing with sharp pains, a chaotic mess within his mind. Suddenly, a crisp mechanical female voice echoed in his brain: “Ding, Human Evolution System loading initiated, please wait.”

Before his muddled thoughts could make sense of what was happening, the mechanical voice sounded again: “Ding, system loading complete. Universal language of the Cangyue Continent’s human race synchronized. Host may now randomly select a talent or supernatural ability. Would you like to draw now?”

Ye Feng shook his head vigorously, as if trying to evenly mix the chaos in his mind, but he still couldn’t think clearly. Then the system chimed once more: “Ding, no response from host for an extended period, random selection proceeding automatically. Host has awakened the Fire Control ability. Details can be viewed on the attribute panel. Please utilize the system and ability well to contribute to the revival of the human race.”

It took a long while, but Ye Feng’s mind finally cleared enough to think. Remembering the voice he heard, as a daydreaming, chuunibyou teenager, he instinctively whispered, “System.”

The character attribute panel appeared in his mind. After carefully examining the contents and pinching himself hard to confirm he wasn’t dreaming, he couldn’t help but burst into wild laughter: “Hahaha... I, Ye Feng, truly am the Child of Dimensions. Not even a plane crash could kill me, and now I have a system and awakened fire control ability. Novels don’t lie! Surviving great calamities means great fortune! Hahaha...”

As his laughter subsided, a faint voice came: “Oh, you mean fire control ability like this?”

Startled, Ye Feng turned around and saw a young man with glasses extending his right hand, palm upwards, as a ball of fire quietly burned between his fingers.

Ye Feng’s face stiffened. Illuminated by the flames flickering at the young man’s fingertips, he noticed many others around them staring in astonishment.

At that moment, a chorus of barking dogs broke the awkward silence.

Meng Xingchen arrived at the crash site of the fireball just as dawn was breaking.

He should have come earlier, but since the rock snake’s skin was so tough—perfect for crafting a sword sheath—he spent considerable effort skinning it after extracting the magical beast core.

Standing atop a mountain ridge, Meng Xingchen gaped at what lay before him—a plane. More precisely, a crashed medium-sized passenger aircraft.

Although he was still unfamiliar with this world, having only roamed near Lijia Village, and couldn’t rule out the possibility that planes existed here, the familiar insignia and airline name convinced him this was a plane, like himself, that had crossed over from Earth, China.

Though damaged and twisted by the crash, the plane’s frame remained mostly intact, and there was no sign of fire damage on the fuselage—clearly inconsistent with the fireball he had seen last night.

Just as with his own crossing, where he fell off a cliff unharmed, it seemed some mysterious force protected this plane. The passengers were likely still alive.

At that moment, Meng Xingchen saw nearly a hundred dog-headed humanoids barking as they surrounded the wreckage. Simultaneously, a system prompt sounded in his mind: “Ding, temporary mission activated: Rescue. For details, please check the mission panel.”

Saving lives came first; there was no time to consult the mission details.

Meng Xingchen casually discarded the rock snake skin he was holding, drew his sword, took a deep breath, and soared off the mountain slope like a great roc spreading its wings.

In midair, he saw several dog-headed creatures slipping into the cabin through gaps in the wreckage, followed by piercing screams.

With a single leap, he effortlessly covered nearly ten meters, landing lightly on his toes before springing forward again.

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Seeing more dog-headed humanoids crawling into the cabin, Meng Xingchen drew the short spear on his back and threw twice, pinning two of them to the ground.

He caught up to the ones running behind, stabbing two dog-headed creatures blocking his path with swift sword strikes. Without pausing for the others nearby, he left behind a phantom image to confuse their vision and charged toward the cabin.

Ye Feng wondered where so many dogs had come from. Perhaps while searching for rescue dogs, two dog-headed creatures had already slipped into the cabin and pounced on two passengers.

Suddenly, blood sprayed forth. People who had lived their whole lives in peaceful countries had never seen such a scene, and many screamed in terror.

One passenger, no more than three meters from Ye Feng, was knocked down, and several droplets of blood splattered onto his face.

Ye Feng instinctively wiped the warm blood off his face, but the sensation chilled him to the bone.

More dog-headed humanoids slipped inside the cabin, one locking its gaze on Ye Feng.

Just as Ye Feng thought his life was over, Meng Xingchen burst into the cabin, swiftly stabbing the dog-headed creature targeting Ye Feng. In a blur of movement, he killed all the dog-headed intruders.

Watching Meng Xingchen’s ghostlike figure, Ye Feng felt awe mixed with relief, muttering to himself, “I knew it. No way you just die the moment you cross over. It’s just an opening cinematic; there’s an NPC to save the day.”

Having survived alone in this other world for over a week, Meng Xingchen felt thrilled to see so many fellow Earthlings. Hearing Ye Feng’s muttering, he playfully said in the universal human language of the Cangyue Continent, “Who are you, and how did you come here? What is this big iron box?”

Dressed like a local villager except for his hiking boots, it was no wonder they mistook him for a native.

Ye Feng was caught off guard by the question, his eyes darting nervously until they met the glasses young man’s gaze. He whispered, “What do we do? Should we just tell the NPCs we’re crossovers?”

The young man took a few steps forward and spoke in the Cangyue human language to Meng Xingchen: “Thank you for saving us. We fled here from other regions. This iron box is our means of transportation. May I ask where this place is?”

Meng Xingchen nodded inwardly. Since they all spoke the universal human language, they must have all activated the Human Evolution System.

At that moment, piercing howls came from outside the cabin. Meng Xingchen peered out and saw over a dozen gnoll-like creatures emerging from the forest. The dog-headed humanoids around the wreckage scattered in fear.

Meng Xingchen’s expression darkened. No joking now, he shouted in Chinese to those inside the cabin, “Stronger enemies have arrived. I can’t cover everyone. Those of you who have awakened offensive abilities should guard the cabin’s entrances. If you see gnolls trying to enter, use ranged skills to push them back.”

Without waiting for a response, he stepped out and charged toward the approaching gnolls.

The cabin had many openings, and gnolls were no mere dog-headed minions. If several slipped inside, their strength and speed would cause massive casualties before Meng Xingchen could kill them all.

By drawing their attention, Meng Xingchen hoped those inside could hold the gaps, repel any that tried to bypass him with ranged attacks, and buy time to eliminate them without losses.

Outside, the battlefield was more open. Meng Xingchen counted over twenty gnolls approaching—more than he had seen before.

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This was trouble.

The terrified passengers inside, already shaken by the dog-headed creatures, now faced an even fiercer enemy. Seeing the gnolls, larger, stronger, and more vicious, scatter the dog-headed creatures in panic, their courage shattered, many fled toward cabin sections without openings, abandoning the gaps.

Nonetheless, a few resisted, including Ye Feng, the glasses young man, and a middle-aged man dressed in a pilot’s uniform.

They each guarded an entrance, watching Meng Xingchen charge the gnolls outside.

Meng Xingchen snatched a short spear stuck in a dog-headed corpse and hurled it at the lead gnoll. Then, with a burst of energy, he leapt four or five meters and stood before two gnolls.

His sword flicked: one throat pierced, the other’s claw swiped away before the blade plunged into its heart.

In a flash of lightning, three gnolls that had once matched him in combat during his internal energy surge fell dead.

However, the gnolls had spread wide, and several bypassed Meng Xingchen, lunging toward the wreckage.

Leaving a phantom in place, Meng Xingchen instantly retreated six or seven meters, then sprang forward again, stabbing one gnoll in the back as it neared the cabin. Pulling another short spear from a dog-headed corpse, he pinned a gnoll’s head at the entrance.

Nearby, Ye Feng lobbed a fist-sized fireball, forcing a gnoll back.

This brief pause allowed Meng Xingchen to strike again, his sword sliding between ribs to crush another gnoll’s heart.

But further away, a gnoll slipped through an unguarded opening into the cabin.

Meng Xingchen sighed. With over a hundred passengers aboard, even a small percentage awakening offensive abilities should have meant at least a dozen fighting back. Yet only four or five guarded the gaps.

Inside came harrowing cries and screams.

Meng Xingchen saw the pilot in uniform raise a hand, unleashing a wind blade that halted a gnoll.

The gnoll paused momentarily, dodged the blade, then lunged again at the pilot.

Meng Xingchen ignored the cabin’s chaos, appearing beside the pilot and plunging his sword into the gnoll’s chest.