From Another World

Li Wei found the room assigned to him by the volunteers. It was still empty, with two bunk beds in view, each furnished with pillows and bedding.

He went to the lower bunk of the first bed on the left, spread out the bedding, lay down, and rubbed his brow as he rested.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Wei, half-asleep, heard a ding-dong sound. Before he even opened his eyes, Pulse Sensing had already spread out.

At some point, three more people had appeared in the room. The ding-dong sound came from the broadcast system installed in every room.

Li Wei opened his eyes and sat up from the lower bunk. The three roommates seated on the lower bunk to his right raised their hands to greet him when they saw he was awake.

One was white, and the other two were Chinese. They had already been in the room for over an hour, had introduced themselves to one another, and seemed to be getting along well enough.

The three greeted him, but Li Wei had no intention of getting too close to them, so he gave them a casual, perfunctory response.

The broadcast system chimed again, and a female announcer's voice came through the speaker above the door. "All passengers, please return to your assigned dormitories. Dinner will be distributed shortly, and the captain will give a speech during the meal."

The announcement repeated itself five or six times. Li Wei looked around but could not find a clock, so he turned to the three men in front of him and asked, "What time is it now?"

The three instinctively looked at their left wrists, but only the white man wore a watch, and his time was inaccurate in China.

It was not until the bespectacled man on the left pulled a phone from his pocket that they confirmed the time. "20:11. I think dinner should still be more than half an hour away."

Li Wei nodded, then got to his feet and waved to the three. "I have something to do, so I'm heading out. Don't save any food for me, thanks!"

Though the three were somewhat puzzled, they had enough social awareness not to press him with questions.

After leaving the room, Li Wei made his way through the somewhat narrow corridors toward the upper levels of the ship.

The ship still trembled slightly in the night, clearly because the storm outside had not yet ended. Every so often, the vessel would lurch violently.

The scattered survivors walking outside had to cling to the walls and move forward cautiously, staggering as they went. Li Wei alone kept striding ahead, his pace unchanged no matter how much the ground beneath his feet swayed.

The ship had only six levels open for free movement. Four of them contained dormitories, halls, and similar areas. The fifth stored supplies, while the sixth held weapons, equipment, and the civilian staff.

On his way up, Li Wei encountered two soldiers carrying a large pot, followed by several female soldiers carrying a huge stack of bowls.

He caught the scent of food in the air. It smelled like rice porridge.

As the last female soldier passed him, she stopped, turned around, and called out to him in confusion. "Hey, dinner's about to be served. Do you have something to do upstairs?"

Seeing Li Wei's distinguished bearing and suit, she took him for a civilian staff member. But with dinner about to begin, she kindly suggested, "If your work isn't urgent, I can serve you a bowl of meat porridge first. Why not eat before you go?"

"Uh... no need. I'm in kind of a hurry!" He had been mistaken for someone else, which made him slightly awkward, but Li Wei naturally declined while thanking her for her kindness.

After declining the female soldier's offer, Li Wei quickened his pace, ran up to the top level with a clatter of footsteps, and looked around for the main control room.

When he saw a middle-aged man in a suit passing by, he reached out and stopped him. "Excuse me, where is the captain?"

After giving Li Wei a startled once-over, the middle-aged man did not answer. Instead, he demanded that Li Wei show his identification badge and state his department. "Please show me your badge and report your department."

What department could Li Wei possibly have? He immediately scratched his head and looked around. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention did he say to the middle-aged man, "I have something important to discuss with the captain. Could you make an exception? It should be very important..."

The middle-aged man's face suddenly hardened. He seemed to be holding back a rebuke, but hesitated just as the words were about to leave his mouth. In the end, he said sternly, "What is it? If it is truly important, I will relay it to the captain. If not, please return. Dinner is about to begin."

There was no getting around this middle-aged man, who seemed to hold no low-ranking position, so Li Wei nodded. But after looking around again, he felt it would not be appropriate to demonstrate it here.

"Can we go somewhere without people?"

The top level was relatively spacious, with open offices and many soldiers. Numerous helicopters and fighter jets were stored there as well. With so many soldiers and people coming and going, someone might see his altered form.

So he wanted to find an empty place to show it off and discuss terms.

The middle-aged man still frowned, his gaze probing, but in the end he did not refuse. He led Li Wei to a storage room filled with various tools.

"Whatever it is, say it here."

Li Wei looked around and spotted a camera in the corner. He walked over to the middle-aged man, turned his back to the camera, and used his body to conceal his hand.

Under the middle-aged man's puzzled gaze, dark-red biomass surged over Li Wei's right hand, transforming it into an armored forearm. In a deliberately mysterious tone, he said, "I'm from a parallel universe!"

The middle-aged man, who had witnessed Li Wei's right hand changing from start to finish, stumbled back two steps as if he had seen something horrifying. Pointing at Li Wei's hand, his eyes widened like saucers. He had clearly been frightened by the utterly unexpected sight.

"Y-you... your... arm!" he stammered. Even after occupying a high position for many years, he had never seen anything that so blatantly defied scientific common sense.

The apocalypse could still be explained through science, but Li Wei's hand had suddenly turned into a thick, matte-black monstrous arm right before his eyes. That was clearly beyond what his worldview could bear.

With his back to the camera, Li Wei transformed both hands and rapidly formed seals, his tentacles constantly intertwining as he freely displayed his unusual nature to the middle-aged man.

"I'm not from your world, but I mean no harm. I just want a few small conveniences. The specifics still need to be discussed with the captain. You understand what I mean, right?"

The stunned middle-aged man did not regain his senses until Li Wei's words snapped him back. Rubbing his faintly swelling head, he finally nodded. "Your... unusual nature, I understand. Please wait here for a moment. Also, my name is Shi Dong. I'm the administrative director of the Dawn."

Well, damn!

Watching Shi Dong push open the door and leave, Li Wei had thought he was merely a civilian employee with some authority. He had not expected him to be such an important figure!

Still, that was fine. Shi Dong should pass his message on to the captain, and all Li Wei had to do was wait.

Things indeed went smoothly. Upon hearing that there was someone from another world, the mature captain thought for a moment, then decided to follow Shi Dong, who clearly was not joking. He brought several people to the storage room to meet Li Wei, who claimed to be from another world.

The automatic door opened again, and the young captain in a naval uniform, Fan Guojun, stepped into the storage room with Shi Dong and two dutiful guards.

Fan Guojun gave Li Wei a thorough once-over. He focused on Li Wei's hands and saw that they looked no different from ordinary hands, yet he showed no confusion. Instead, he stepped forward and extended his right hand. "Hello, I'm Fan Guojun, captain of the Dawn."

"Li Wei. I'm more or less a traveler from a parallel universe. I arrived in this world yesterday morning." Li Wei responded warmly, saying something that struck the two guards behind him as absurd.

A traveler from another world?

He had read too many novels!

"Oh... Li Wei." Fan Guojun also had his doubts, wondering whether Lao Shi was pulling his leg. He took half a step back and said, "Then... can you demonstrate your ability?"

Li Wei asked, "Right here?"

Fan Guojun nodded and took another step back. "Right here. No need to hold back."

"Okay!"

As soon as the words fell, dark-red flesh tendrils shrouded Li Wei's body. In less than a second, the young, strapping man vanished, replaced by a bioengineered monster that looked as though it had stepped straight out of a movie.

Looking at the four people, all now staring in stunned silence, he said modestly, "It's just a minor ability, nothing worth mentioning."