HI3: Starting from the Previous Civilization

Twilight had long passed, and the moon hung bright in the sky, accompanied by scattered stars. Some drifting clouds meandered about, faintly dimming the moonlight.

Chen Fan, upon seeing that completing 100 days of daily missions would grant him a copy of Advanced Physics, blurted out:

"Wacao!"

'Alas, I lack education, so one "Wacao" shall echo across the land.'

He'd just seen that same book in the System Shop a moment ago—worth a full 1,000,000 Crossover Coins.

"Wow, turns out my system's quite something, handing out that kind of reward."

He then noticed the system's remark below:

"[A million? Could that be the thing I'm thinking of?

Gimme 100… Haita—Explosive Fist!]"

At the thought, Chen Fan's mouth curled into a mischievous grin. The darkened computer screen cast a flickering light, creating a menacing shadow on the wall behind him, claws and fangs bared.

"Hahahaha… heh heh heh… A hundred million… Once I get that, would I even fear the Honkai? I'd just march out and punch it to smithereens!"

But after cackling for a while, Chen Fan's expression returned to calm, and he sighed helplessly.

'That's just daydreaming. It's not practical.'

"Even if I do get that book, I'd also need the power to freely manipulate my own bioelectricity."

Sure enough, the System Shop had a 'magnetic field manipulation' ability.

'But all those abilities are pricey. The cheapest one costs 100,000 Crossover Coins.'

He also saw some concept-based skills with ridiculous price tags—like "100% Chance to Catch a Blade Barehanded," "River God," etc.—so many zeroes that he felt dizzy just looking.

"Still, I might as well take advantage. The system's basically handing me freebies—no loss in trying. Let's see those Cross-World Missions."

He checked them briefly, then closed the interface. Those tasks were all well beyond him right now: purging corrupted worlds, hunting god-slayers or deities, eliminating illegal transmigrators in certain realms…

'All that can wait till the future. With a combat power of only 0.5 Goose, I'd be cannon fodder if I went now.'

"Time to set a new small goal: try to get that Advanced Physics within a year."

Rumble… grrrr…

Chen Fan's stomach gurgled loudly. He draped himself like a limp noodle over his computer desk.

"Not good—side effects are kicking in again."

With trembling fingers, he grabbed a chocolate bar beside him and wolfed it down. That eased the hunger pangs slightly. Another growl sounded from his belly.

Glancing at the dwindling pile of high-calorie snacks, Chen Fan picked up his phone. "Where's my delivery? I'm starving…"

At that moment, the "yellow-robed guy" was on his scooter, wearing a big smile. Bags of takeout dangled all over him, and the entire scooter was crammed full. He was "riding his steed" (in his words) at top speed.

"Haha, once I finish this order, I can take the whole month off. Too good to be true."

Just then, a "ding-dong" sounded from his phone mounted on the handlebar. Checking it, he realized it was a nudge from his big-tipping client.

[Yellow Robe Delivery Dude]: "Hang on just a sec, buddy. I'm on my way, riding my noble steed as fast as I can."

[Fan]: "Hurry. I'm about to starve. Get here sooner and I'll tip you extra."

[Yellow Robe Delivery Dude]: "Yes, my adoptive father… Wait for me…"

He hung up, swiped a couple of times on his phone, and started blasting some dance music. His eyes lit up with determination. Then, with a press of the red button on his speedometer, two rocket-like thrusters popped out behind the scooter. It seemed to be a nitrous boost system.

Revving the throttle, stomping on the gas, blue flames burst from the twin thrusters with a whoosh, and he shot forward like a bullet.

A nearby sports-car driver, going 200 mph, practically popped his eyes out at the sight.

"What the… Did I see that right?

What kind of scooter is that? It's insane.

No way, I gotta get me one too…"

…

Before long, the delivery guy arrived at the villa gates. Holding a towering stack of takeout boxes, he rang the doorbell. The gate slowly cracked open, revealing a pair of crimson eyes.

"Sir, your delivery," announced the unflappable courier.

A black blur whooshed by, and all the takeout bags in his arms and on his body vanished without a trace. A thick wad of cash appeared in his hand. He hopped away, whistling as he left.

Inside, Chen Fan ripped open the takeout boxes and started chomping down. He didn't even spare the bones. After devouring everything, he felt a lot better—and realized he felt a tad stronger.

He checked his system display: combat power had risen from 0.5 Goose to a full 1 Goose.

'Sure enough, Adaptive Evolution is really slow—but at least it's working.'

Chen Fan flopped onto the floor and started the daily exercise routine. A counter appeared beside him. Every time he completed a proper push-up, it ticked up by one.

After 100 push-ups, he was already sprawled out, panting for breath. If not for his combat power having reached 1 Goose, he might not have been able to finish 100 correct push-ups. Counting the sloppy ones he messed up on, he'd done almost 200 total.

Resting a bit, he tackled the squats, then the sit-ups, each in sets of 100, taking short breaks in between. Once done with all three at home, he opened the villa's front gate to complete the last step: a 10 km run.

"Time for the final stretch," he muttered as he gazed at the enormous moon overhead, surrounded by stars. A few dark clouds drifted along. He nodded in satisfaction. 'Ideal weather for a run.'

Yet something about the atmosphere felt eerily familiar, like a setting for some grisly murder scene.

"Never mind, gotta do my mission."

He set off, jogging along the villa's street toward a nearby park. On his way, he passed the estate's security patrol.

(As for the reading task—he'd already done two hours of reading earlier while resting. A shame that reading text on the internet didn't count; he had to read from paper books. Good thing his house had a study with enough volumes to last a while—or else he'd be stuck haunting the library during the day.)

He soon discovered a pleasant surprise: overachieving the daily mission resulted in extra rewards. Turned out the system had a compassionate side.

Originally, he'd planned to skip the run altogether and maybe exploit the system by reading four hours to see if that'd stack. But apparently, the counter wouldn't budge after the required two hours. So no freebies. Only option was to go out and run.

"It's just 10 coins, but hey—mosquitoes are small, yet they're still meat," he joked. Besides, training his body was crucial. If a Honkai outbreak happened, as long as he could outrun the Honkai Beasts, that was good enough.

He completed two laps around the perimeter of the park—finally reaching the 10 km mark. Leaning against his knees, he gasped for air and glanced at the system interface. It read [Combat Power: 1.1 Goose].

He quickly redeemed his daily mission rewards. His funds increased from zero to 210 Crossover Coins, and that brought him a little joy—though it was short-lived. Thinking of the items in the System Shop, 210 coins wasn't enough to buy anything good. At most, it might get him some basic weapons. Even the cheapest gene serum cost 1000 points.

'Still, if I save up for five days, I can afford it.'

Gazing up at the star-filled sky, Chen Fan's mouth curved into a hopeful smile. 'Life's looking brighter these days…'

Just then, rustling noises came from the man-made grove nearby. It sounded like a man and a woman both in pain, groaning. Moments later, they went silent. Initially, Chen Fan paid no attention, resting on a park bench. But…

He immediately sensed that something was off—it was too quiet. Keeping a careful eye on the dark thicket, he slowly backed away.

A patch of cloud slid across the sky, hiding the cold glow of the moon. In the darkness, the trees seemed extra eerie. Then, as the cloud drifted on, moonlight revealed something white hovering in midair. It had a round head and wings stained with dark-red splashes of blood.

With a quick shake, it flung off the blood. Some pinkish part glowed for a split second—like it had identified its target. Its wriggling lower half shot forward, making a beeline for Chen Fan.

(A "Charging" Honkai Beast—nicknamed "Mosquito" by many Captains. It uses high-frequency wing vibrations to launch swift strikes.)

Chen Fan's pupils contracted, his breathing grew ragged, sweat trickling nonstop. "No way… c'mon, of all people, of course I run into this."

Well, it made sense—this was the Mu Continent, the fastest-developing area of the previous civilization. Encountering a Honkai Beast here wasn't shocking.

Frantically opening the System Shop, he spent his 210 points on a grenade launcher, two magazines of ammo, and a protection talisman. Pulling them from his system backpack, he instantly felt the weight in his hands.

"So… heavy!"

No time to dwell on that, though. Clutching the talisman in one hand, he steadied the launcher with both arms, closed one eye, and peered through the sight at the incoming Charging Honkai Beast. He gently squeezed the trigger.

A standard 0.75-inch explosive round shot out from the muzzle, striking its target dead-center with a loud bang.

The Charging Honkai Beast's head burst apart in a spray, and its body crashed to the ground. After twitching twice, the purple patterning on its skin dimmed—completely devoid of life.

"Argh! Ow—man, that hurts!"

Because of the launcher's recoil, Chen Fan was blasted backward onto the ground, rolling around and clutching his chest. He felt like his ribs might have shattered. Actually, "might have" was putting it mildly—they were definitely broken.