Chapter 1: I Want to Be a Chef
As soon as Jiang Tian walked out of the bookstore, he ran into a familiar yet unfamiliar best friend, Huang Xing.
"No way, Old Jiang, are you serious?" Huang Xing came close to Jiang Tian, looked at the chef's tool book he was holding, and screamed in surprise.
"You are so capable. Why don't you apply to Warrior University, guard the Space-Time Gate, and kill aliens to show the power of our human race? But instead, you want to be a little cook?"
Jiang Tian shook his head. "I'm not that powerful. If we really want to kill the aliens, it's not my turn yet."
After saying that, Jiang Tian held the purchased teaching materials and walked toward the training school.
---
"You're not awesome?" Huang Xing glared and hurriedly caught up with Jiang Tian. "The day before yesterday, I took you to my farm to taste fresh beef, but an accident happened. When the blood cow mutated and rushed towards me, I thought I was going to die."
"Good fellow, you rushed over, grabbed the old bull by the horns with your bare hands, and knocked it to the ground. It was so cool that I was drooling. Isn't that awesome?"
Huang Xing was dancing and shouting as he spoke.
Jiang Tian: "…"
"Prepare well for the martial arts exam. I didn't force you because I thought you were a martial arts idiot. I didn't expect you to be so good at it." Huang Xing said earnestly, "When we're in college, we'll learn a lot and serve the human race. How glorious will that be?"
Facing Huang Xing's chattering, Jiang Tian did not answer, his thoughts drifting.
To be precise, he was not from this world.
He was from Earth and was once a mercenary. He came to this parallel world, Blue Star, after dying of exhaustion.
This was a world where the level of technology was higher than his home, but it also had unique disasters.
Space-Time Disasters
The Space-Time Gates appeared out of nowhere, opening starry sky routes that connected different worlds and brought about wars between different races.
With disaster and war came spiritual energy, which flowed in from behind the gates, allowing humans to cultivate and resist alien invasions.
The resources of the new worlds beyond the gates transformed human civilization.
However, after the Space-Time Gates, the power of thermal weapons weakened or even became obsolete.
The human race fell behind in the starry sky and the myriad worlds in the path of cultivation.
The human race was declining and struggling to survive.
The current relative peace was achieved at the cost of countless human ancestors' blood.
Young people with cultivation aptitude all yearned to enter Warrior University, improve their strength, step into the starry sky behind the gates, and defeat the alien races in war to prove the power of humanity.
---
"Old Jiang, just promise me. Transferring to our elite class is just a call away from this old man." Huang Xing pulled Jiang Tian and begged bitterly. "Don't waste your talent."
Jiang Tian remained silent.
The "talent" Huang Xing spoke of was the special physique Jiang Tian had in his previous life on Earth.
He had stronger muscle fibers, higher bone density, and internal organs that functioned far beyond those of ordinary people.
He had better endurance, extraordinary willpower, and an enhanced recovery ability, which allowed him to relieve fatigue and heal wounds quickly.
Like a superhuman.
With this talent, he had given up his dreams to become a mercenary, earning money for his parents' medical treatment.
Unfortunately, his parents still didn't survive.
Heartbroken, he fought for seven days straight without sleep and died of exhaustion.
When he arrived in Blue Star, not only was he three years younger, but his parents were healthy.
Finally, he could pursue his true passion.
---
Jiang Tian looked at Huang Xing seriously: "I want to be a chef."
Huang Xing stared at Jiang Tian in astonishment, then slapped his thigh. "What a sin!"
---
At the floating bus stop, Jiang Tian stopped and looked at Huang Xing, who seemed hesitant to speak.
"Okay, don't try to persuade me. Go home early, I have to go to class."
"Sigh…" Huang Xing let out a long sigh. Looking at Jiang Tian, he wanted to say something but held back.
He decided to find another way to change Jiang Tian's mind later.
"You should go home early after class. I heard from the old man recently that things aren't going well."
Huang Xing lowered his voice and looked around before whispering, "I heard that the Starry Sky Gate gang is causing trouble…"
"Hmm…" Jiang Tian nodded.
He knew about the Starry Sky Gate.
Simply put, it was treason.
They believed in aliens and felt that submitting to them was humanity's future.
Jiang Tian never understood them.
Why choose to be a beast instead of a good person?
---
Not long after, the bus arrived.
Jiang Tian waved goodbye to Huang Xing and boarded the floating bus.
As the bus glided through the air, Jiang Tian couldn't help but admire the advanced technology of Blue Star.
But he had heard rumors that technology failed behind the Space-Time Gate.
He wasn't sure if it was true.
---
The bus arrived at the station.
Jiang Tian got off, looking around at the quiet suburban area.
Soon, he arrived at the training school where he had enrolled.
Looking up, he saw it was a renovated factory.
After entering the gate and crossing the empty courtyard, he found the teaching building.
People were moving up and down, all of them here to learn a trade for a living.
The environment was poor, but the tuition was cheap.
Jiang Tian had researched the teaching staff and found them to be highly professional.
---
Inside his classroom, there were only a few students.
One was a young man with blonde hair, while the rest were middle-aged women chatting.
The classroom was equipped with various kitchen utensils and countertops.
Seeing this, Jiang Tian's eyes lit up.
In this world, his family lived in public housing and ate in a communal canteen.
There was no kitchen at home, so he never had the chance to cook.
Seeing the tools before him, he couldn't hold back.
He opened the book he had bought, began reading, and started practicing.
---
Time passed quickly.
Jiang Tian was so immersed in his passion that he didn't notice the others growing impatient.
The middle-aged ladies gathered and complained.
---
"Teacher, why haven't they arrived yet?"
"That's right! It's already late, I have to pick up my kids!"
"Exactly! Cheap things come with bad service! I want a refund!"
---
The blonde-haired guy sighed and looked down the corridor.
"Weird… when did the front door close?"
Just as he muttered to himself, he heard noises from the next classroom.
Curious, he opened the door—
And froze in horror.
The sight of blood and the stench of death overwhelmed him.
Corpses lay scattered across the floor.
In the middle of the carnage, a man wearing a pig-head mask stood, holding a sharp knife dripping with blood.