Chapter 8: I’m Here
A towering Big Tree.
This Tree looked somewhat familiar. To be precise, it should be a Cedar Tree. Only a Cedar Tree would have a semi-retracted umbrella-like structure. Under the Big Tree, there was also an endless Forest. However, in Yun Ce’s eyes, there was only this Big Tree, because if the physics laws on Earth were still in effect, he would crash into this Tree soon.
People who often throw Stones know that a Stone just thrown out generally flies fast and straight. A Stone that has flickered past some distance will slowly decelerate and droop.
The Giant Dragon, the Stone thrown out would also follow this law. Unfortunately, the Giant Dragon is after all a Giant Dragon. Their Strength is on a completely different level from humans and not easy to compare. Thus, Yun Ce’s Body smashed straight into the huge Tree Trunk, instead of landing on the fluffy pinnate Tree Branches.
After enduring the torment of Space Travel, being thrown onto the Tree Trunk like Mud by the Giant Dragon was something Yun Ce could accept, if his Nose and Chest didn’t hurt so much. Having his Body land on something familiar was a good thing for him.
The Tree Trunk of this Tree had scales like Dragon Scales. One look at the pinnate Tree Branches made it clear that these were marks left after the Tree Branches fell off. Yun Ce didn’t move because he was already embedded in this Tree.
One moment he was suffering in Space, the next he was in a place with Trees. Yun Ce faintly felt a sense of happiness. Breathing here was very comfortable…
Yun Ce, who had just realized that breathing was comfortable, immediately froze on the Tree.
He carefully took two short breaths, then quickly closed his Eyes to sense the Changes in his Body. Half an hour later, when he couldn’t hold it anymore, he continued breathing, still in big gulps.
At this time, worrying about the air quality on the new Planet was somewhat superfluous.
1 Ever since leaving the Giant Dragon, Yun Ce had noticed that his weight had become lighter, his Body smaller, even his palms and soles smaller. Fortunately, these things had all shrunk proportionally, making him look normal.
1 Therefore, Yun Ce believed that his current age compared to before should have become smaller.
1 Yun Ce had heard the Theory that surpassing the Speed of Light would cause Time to rewind. He didn’t understand it before and thought it made sense. Now, after actually experiencing it, he found that things were probably not like that.
1 He vaguely felt that his Body hadn’t become younger, but more refined. At the same time, seeing that string of Body afterimages in the Universe was likely parts of his Body that had been stripped away.
1 There was no way to assess which part of his Body he had lost. Fortunately, just feeling his Body casually, at least his reproductive organs seemed unaffected.
1 This was very important. As a narrow-minded Earthling, if his reproductive function was stripped away, Yun Ce would consider his remaining Life worthless, like a Fruit Tree that couldn’t bear fruit, no longer having any value of existence.
1 Not everyone can be like Sima Qian, ignoring physical disabilities for a great goal.
1 For Yun Ce, arriving in the New World, whether there were Mating partners wasn’t important, but that Thing had to be there. Having it or not made a world of difference to him, extremely important.
1 His Body had become smaller, but his Strength bigger. This was a good Change. He just didn’t know if his Body, which seemed about twelve years younger, could ultimately be converted to the distance he had traveled in Space.
1 The Giant Dragon’s understanding of Strength had reached a very high level. When throwing Yun Ce, the force was controlled very precisely. It seemed to know the limit of Yun Ce’s Body strength, embedding him in the Tree without injuring him.
2 Regarding this, Yun Ce felt he couldn’t ask for more.
2 Yun Ce struggled to pull his Body out from the Tree Trunk. He wanted to go to the Treetop to take a look. After persevering in climbing for more than two hours, Yun Ce finally reached the Treetop.
2 The wind here was somewhat strong, but fortunately the air was clear, with excellent visibility. One glance took in everything within fifty li.
2 The Dragon group was long gone. Below, aside from the dense Tree crowns, nothing could be seen. Perhaps because a Dragon group had just passed, there wasn’t a single Flying Bird in the Sky here.
2 There was a burning Fireball in the Sky, similar to Earth. However, even in broad daylight, three faint satellite shadows could be seen in the Sky: one Full Moon to the Sun’s left, one Half Moon opposite the Sun, and one hook-like waning Moon to the Sun’s right. Whether there were fourth, fifth, or sixth satellites, he didn’t see them and wouldn’t comment.
2 Yun Ce sat on the Tree crown, pondered for a long time, then pressed his hand on his stomach and took out a Knife from the Dragon Pearl gifted by Ao Bing. The Knife was a gorgeous Swiss Army Knife, less than a foot long when opened, with a very sharp blade, said to stay unblunted for ten years.
2 The Knife fell on the Tree Branch. Not sure if the Knife was too sharp or the Tree’s wood too loose, he soon carved three words.
2 “I’ve arrived.”
2 Perhaps because Yun Linchuan’s Bloodline flowed in his Body, Yun Ce was insensitive to negative emotions like loneliness, even somewhat elated, feeling that this New World was all his.
2 At the same time, he had no special feelings about surviving a near-death experience.
3 Not dying in Space meant it wasn’t his time to die. Since he had survived, he needed the Courage to continue living.
3 The essence of Life lies in Persevere.
3 As long as Being Alive, one should continue Being Alive until utterly unable.
3 Even if utterly unable, one should die embracing something one Hatred, that is the ultimate teaching of that Family on the Gobi Desert. Otherwise, it is a disrespect to one’s own Life.
3 Similarly, to continue Being Alive, struggle is indispensable. Yun Ce called it struggling. For Yun Ce, who had changed to a military identity, he preferred to call this struggle the Long March.
3 Since ancient times, Chinese people have undertaken many Long Marches.
3 Some Long Marches beat distant enemies piss-shit-flowing. Some became symbols of defeat and national humiliation. Others turned into propaganda teams, ultimately achieving great success under the red flag.
3 Of course, some Long Marches dissipated into smoke before even starting.
3 Yun Ce didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of those bad Long Marches. He made a declaration on the Tree Trunk, took out his Mobile Phone to create a new work log, claiming he had completed the first step of the Long March with a good start, and the road ahead now had direction.
3 This was how Yun Ce used to do work before.
4 Don’t listen to those braggarts blowing government work as if so planned, as if everything goes according to Plan. In reality, that’s pure bullshit. National strategies can be drafted that way, but down to the grassroots, good or bad, everyone probes step by step. If a second step is possible without great cost, take it, then look for the third footing.
4 That is the Foundation and origin of what Earthlings often say: ‘Blind messing, can promote; wild messing, can go provincial.’
4 Some work, once the first step is taken, the next hundred or so steps are clear, like stepping onto a broad avenue. That’s the best outcome. Of course, people who can do such big things are no ordinary, few in the world.
4 Most fail after not even taking the first step.
4 As for after Yun Ce took the first step today, he discovered countless points behind this first step for the second.
4 Because too many things needed to start immediately.
4 If like on Earth, with people under his command, he would have enough trial-and-error capital. Now, his capital is only his own life, really can’t afford losses.
4 The Sun overhead, after four hours, seemed not to have moved, making it hard for Yun Ce to judge sunset time. Or rather, a day here, the Planet’s self-rotation period, was far longer than Earth’s.
4 If ignoring rotation speed, does that mean this Planet is much larger than Earth?
4 These are great questions. Yun Ce has no qualification to think about them yet. Hearing the terrifying Animal howls from the Forest, he didn’t think those howls were welcoming him.
5 When Ao Bing’s mom threw him out like a ball, it showed they had fulfilled the promise. What to do next was his business, unrelated to the Dragon Clan.
5 Just as Ao Bing told him not long ago, the Dragon Clan is a Big Tree, humans mere small grass. The Big Tree doesn’t care about the Life and Death of small grass, even if that small grass carries an important mission from other small grass.
5 Looking up again at the scorching Sun, Yun Ce decided to dig a Tree Hollow in the Tree Trunk to live in.
5 Naturally couldn’t dig a hole at the Treetop, so he climbed down over an hour, stopping at two-thirds up this Big Tree. Here was a thick, flat-lying Tree Branch, perfect for building a Treehouse.
5 The Swiss Army Knife stabbed into the Tree Trunk, instantly burying the entire blade. With a wrist twist, this Knife carved a bowl-sized gap in the Tree Trunk. A few more angled cuts, and a bowl-sized hole appeared.
5 Looking at the gouged wood chips, Yun Ce rubbed some with his hand, and the relatively intact ones turned to powder.
5 Just earlier wondering how a Tree with loose wood grew so tall, now he understood: it wasn’t the Tree’s wood that was loose, but his Strength had become greater.
5 “In life, relativity is truly everywhere.”
5 Yun Ce diligently cut the Tree Trunk with the Knife. Since an opening was made, the remaining cutting speed was much faster. After continuously cutting for two hours, he had dug a hole in the Tree Trunk over one person tall and three feet deep.
5 He habitually paused, not because tired, but habit.
6 No Hunger, no thirst, no need to stop.
6 The Sun had moved a bit in the Sky, or perhaps not visibly to the naked eye. Yun Ce sighed softly and continued digging diligently.
6 After getting used to his great Strength, his digging speed became faster. Wood chips rustled down from the Tree Trunk, kicked out by his feet, falling in the air for a while before landing on the Ground. This was the first trace Yun Ce left on this Ground.
6 When Yun Ce felt tired, he had already dug a nice House in the Tree Trunk, even taking time to bind a door with Tree Branches and Tree Bark.
6 When dangling his legs, sitting at his home’s Gate reviewing the World before him, he realized this World was extremely similar to Earth.
6 Of course, this similarity referred to the Flying Birds in the Sky.
