Chapter 001: I Am the Commander
Taking turns to travel through worlds—this year, it’s my family’s turn.
Tang Mubai never imagined that after simply falling asleep, he would wake up in another world.
The world he found himself in was nothing short of extraordinary.
Though it was still called Earth, its surface area exceeded 1.5 billion square kilometers—three times the size of the original!
The country he lived in had changed from the Great China to the Great Xia Federation, which had been established for over two centuries and boasted over ten thousand years of recorded history.
Here, humanity was no longer the dominant force.
Countless terrifying and ferocious non-human life forms occupied vast territories, vying for control of the planet.
Only martial artists could stand against these non-human entities!
After millennia of exploration and research, martial strength was divided by the level of vital energy—amateur and professional.
If one’s vital energy ranged from 1 to 9 k, they were considered amateurs.
Thanks to government initiatives in every nation, nearly everyone in this new world was an amateur martial artist, making up ninety percent of the population.
Only those whose vital energy reached 10 k or above, and who passed the Martial Arts Association’s examination, could be called professional martial artists!
Tang Mubai was an amateur, with a mere 3 k in vital energy.
His martial aptitude was abysmal.
As if that weren’t enough, his academic performance was shameful—barely scraping through high school before becoming unemployed at home.
A month ago, that would have been nothing unusual.
Though Tang Mubai had crossed over, the people around him had remained the same.
Yet their identities had undergone a complete reversal.
For example, Tang Mubai’s father—once a small supermarket owner who died of illness half a year ago—was now the leader of a group called the Miracle Mercenary Corps!
Mercenary corps, also known as hunting teams, were officially recognized in the new world, encouraged by governments for private martial artists to form teams specializing in hunting non-human entities.
The city Tang Mubai currently resided in, Red Maple City, had a population of over six million and housed hundreds of mercenary corps of all sizes.
Miracle Mercenary Corps ranked around two hundredth, with more than seventy members.
Tang Mubai’s mother had died when he was young. As the only son of the leader, Tang Mubai could have led a carefree life as a privileged heir.
But over half a month ago, the Miracle Mercenary Corps went out to hunt—and was wiped out!
When Tang Mubai received the news, he was stunned.
The few members left behind to guard the base were equally shocked.
After coming to their senses, they decisively chose to quit the team.
Only one remained—a disabled old man in charge of logistics, not a professional martial artist—who stayed with Tang Mubai through hardship.
Neither accomplished in academia nor martial arts, with a vital energy of just 3 k, Tang Mubai thus became the new leader!
“A leader with no followers—how am I supposed to manage this?”
Tang Mubai, once his thoughts were sorted out, felt his head ache.
The Miracle Mercenary Corps was his father’s life’s work, decades in the making.
If Tang Mubai were to disband it, his father would never rest in peace!
“And then there’s Zhenzhen, I’m supposed to take care of her too.”
Tang Mubai slapped his forehead.
His cousin Lin Zhenzhen was only eight years old, still in elementary school—the daughter of Tang Mubai’s uncle.
The uncle’s family were also members of the Miracle Mercenary Corps. The couple had died alongside Tang Mubai’s father, leaving behind their eight-year-old daughter for him to care for.
“With such a tragic beginning, it would have been better not to cross over at all!”
Tang Mubai was exasperated.
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed the sky outside the window and was startled.
“Oh no, Zhenzhen is about to finish school!”
As the one responsible for picking up his young cousin these days, Tang Mubai forgot everything else, grabbed his bicycle keys, rushed out, and pedaled toward Lin Zhenzhen’s elementary school.
...
With the rampant non-human entities, electricity was scarce and oilfields few in the new world, making energy costs prohibitively high. Ordinary people rarely owned cars, most traveled by bicycle.
During rush hours, the streets were packed with bicycles.
This sea of bicycles gave Tang Mubai the illusion of returning to the eighties in his original world.
Fortunately, elementary schools let out earlier, before the rush hour.
Tang Mubai rode his bicycle, drifting gently with the flow, stopping occasionally.
As he was about to cross the street, a small truck loaded with goods, traveling down the central lane, suddenly veered—perhaps the driver pressed the wrong brake or the truck malfunctioned—roaring as it broke through the guardrail and crashed onto the bicycle lane to the side—
“Boom!”
“Clatter~”
“Ah!!”
The roar, the scraping, the screams—all erupted in succession, detonating the entire street.
Tang Mubai, instinctively braking, felt a chill run through his body—his hands and feet icy.
He was so close. Just a hair's breadth away...
[Detected loss of life force. Would you like to reclaim it?]
A prompt suddenly flashed through his mind.
Still shaken, Tang Mubai froze.
Before he could react, a white light flickered before his eyes. Among the crowd struck by the truck, two people had half-meter-long green bands of light above their bodies, each with a string of numbers rapidly decreasing.
[85, 84, 83...]
[56, 55, 54...]
...
“This... this is life force? Life force being lost?”
Tang Mubai was shocked.
He subconsciously answered, “Yes!”
Swish!
The two green light bands vanished.
At the same time, two prompts flashed through Tang Mubai’s mind.
[Life force +64]
[Life force +36]
Uh...
Tang Mubai was stunned, unable to grasp what was happening.
His life force had increased?
Swish!
A translucent attribute panel, as if sensing his thoughts, appeared floating before him.
[Name]: Tang Mubai
[Constitution]: 1 (+)
[Strength]: 1 (+)
[Agility]: 1 (+)
[Perception]: 1 (+)
[Will]: 1 (+)
[Vital Energy]: 3k (+)
[Martial Arts]: “Golden Mist Arts” (Not initiated +), “Tiger Roar Fist” (Not initiated +)
[Lifespan]: 96 years
[Followers]: 1
...
“This is... a system?”
Tang Mubai’s eyes widened.
He’d read plenty of online novels in his original world—attribute panels like this were a common trope.
He never expected to have one himself!
“A system is great, but my ‘life force’ increased, and nothing else seems to have changed?”
Tang Mubai frowned.
He took a deep breath to calm himself.
Then, suddenly struck by a thought, he looked up, scanning around to confirm that only he could see the system panel, and exhaled in relief.
Quietly, he wheeled his bicycle to a corner.
Without glancing at the tragic accident site, Tang Mubai’s gaze burned as he studied the panel’s data.
Leaving aside constitution, strength, and other attributes, just the “vital energy” display was enough to excite him uncontrollably.
3k stood for 3 cards.
The plus sign after it—did it mean he could increase his vital energy?
If vital energy reached 10k, he could take the professional martial artist exam!
Only by becoming a professional could he enjoy all the high-level privileges.
If...
“Whew~!”
Tang Mubai forced himself to remain calm.
Then, he focused his mind on the “+” next to “vital energy.”
Swish!
His vision blurred, and the “vital energy” value changed from “3k” to “4k.”
At the same time, the “lifespan” column dropped from “96 years” to “76 years.”
“So, my vital energy can really be increased—but at the cost of lifespan?”
“Twenty years of life for one card of vital energy?”
Tang Mubai gradually pieced it together, his face filled with shock.
“Twenty years for one card of vital energy—with only seventy-six years left, I could exchange for at most three more cards?”
Tang Mubai couldn’t accept it.
It was too much!
By this method, the exchange simply wasn’t worth it!
Vital energy was important, but what use was it if you lost your life?
He shook his head.
Pondering, he focused on the “+” beside “constitution.”
A scorching sensation suddenly flared within him.
Wherever it passed—skin, sinews, bones, organs, cells—it was all instantly transformed, strengthened like lightning.
The intense stimulation made Tang Mubai clench his fists and grit his teeth to avoid crying out.
After a moment, he exhaled, sweating profusely, relaxing against the wall.
It worked!
Exchanging lifespan could strengthen constitution too!
At this moment, Tang Mubai felt an indescribable comfort—a whole-body clarity.
On the system panel, his lifespan had dropped from “76 years” to “66 years.”
His “constitution” had risen from “1” to “2.”
“Ten years of life for one point of constitution... that’s way too much!”
Tang Mubai’s head throbbed.
Just as he was fretting, an ambulance arrived, its siren blaring, and began rescue operations.
After the truck crashed into the bicycle lane, it left a thirty-meter-long trail of blood.
Once the doctors had finished their assessment, they found two dead on the spot, fifteen severely injured, and over forty lightly injured, with one severely wounded individual clinging to life as doctors administered emergency care.
The crowd watched in tense silence.
Soon, the doctors stopped their attempts, shook their heads, and sighed. One said to the nurse, “Record the time of death.”
“Yes, Doctor Liu.” The nurse quickly jotted it down.
The crowd erupted into discussion.
“So tragic—wasn’t that kid just fifteen?”
“Ah, so young, gone just like that. Damn truck driver!”
“I’ve always said cars and bicycles shouldn’t share lanes!”
“...”
The crowd was inflamed.
Only Tang Mubai stared in astonishment, spotting once again a green light band floating above the deceased, the numbers rapidly decreasing.
[85, 84, 83...]
“That’s life force draining? Even after death?”
Tang Mubai hesitated a moment, then gritted his teeth and shouted inwardly.
“Yes!”
Swish!
[Life force +71]
A prompt flashed in his mind.
Tang Mubai closed his eyes, exhaling heavily.
His heart raced.
After a moment, he opened the system panel to check.
Nothing else had changed, except the “lifespan” column, now showing “73.1 years,” up from “66 years”!
“73.1 minus 66 equals 7.1.”
“Earlier, the system said ‘life force +71.’”
“In other words…”
“The life force reclaimed by the system can be converted into lifespan!?”