Apocalyptic Charity Plan [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 3

Having been infuriated by the dim-witted system multiple times, Jiang Fanxing gritted his teeth and said, “I am done. Send me back.”

System: ^-^ “You can leave once you finish the mission. Good luck, Host! Goodbye forever!”

Jiang Fanxing panicked: “Mission? What mission?” He had only come here to swap for a dinosaur claw; he had never agreed to do any damn mission! “System! Come out!” But no matter how he called out, the system that made his teeth itch with hatred did not appear. It had truly left.

Jiang Fanxing felt as if his vision had darkened. He regretted trusting the system’s words. Why is there only anti-scam software for phones? Human brains need it too, or they will easily be deceived by rogue systems into working black market jobs. He clenched his jaw, swallowing his anger. The most urgent task now was to understand what that wretched mission was, finish it, and leave this hellhole.

“Intelligent System?” Jiang Fanxing tentatively called out. In the next second, a flat, monotonous electronic voice echoed in his brain: “Host, hello. This is Intelligent System 110. Do you have any questions?”

Unlike the previous Biological Replacement System, which was snarky and human-like, this 110 system was clearly rigid and unintelligent. Still, hearing 110 provided some relief. At least in this strange world, he had 110 to keep him company.

Thinking of the treacherous system that had abandoned him, Jiang Fanxing took a deep breath to calm his irritation and asked 110, “What is my mission?”

110 replied, “The host’s mission is to save the humans of this world.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Fanxing could not help but close his eyes. It felt as if his soul was leaking from the corners of his mouth, drifting toward some unknown abyss. Hello, 110? There is a system scam here!

The temperature was scorching; sweat poured out of him. Before long, Jiang Fanxing felt parched and stifled. Looking at the devastation before him, he suppressed his anxiety and scanned the area for shade. He walked quickly, asking, “110, can I replace biological structures now?”

He had anticipated danger in the rift world, but he had not expected the world to be falling apart the moment he arrived, compounded by a severe drought. Droughts inevitably brought a shortage of food and water, along with heat high enough to evaporate the human body’s moisture. This place was a heartless, scorched world designed to harvest lives.

His backpack contained a Swiss army knife, a small stun baton, a length of hemp rope, a sleeping bag not much larger than an umbrella, and food and water. The survivors here likely had no combat strength, so his weapons were useless. To lighten his load, he had only brought a single pack of compressed biscuits and 2.5 liters of water. He was not a survival expert, and even if he were, it would not help much here. Relying solely on these supplies, he would soon be parched, starved, or dehydrated just like the locals.

Fortunately, 110 provided a decent answer: “Ding! Calculations complete. Having performed numerous good deeds in the real world, you have 235 Merit Points in your account. Congratulations, you have successfully activated Level 1 of the system—Organelle Level. Please click to view available items. Reminder: At Level 1, you can only replace one type of organelle, with a quantity of one.”

For the first time, Jiang Fanxing was grateful for his occasional flashes of charity. Otherwise, he might have died without ever activating the system. He impatiently opened the replacement page, where a shop window filled with various organisms appeared in his mind. He saw his beloved dinosaurs—Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus—and his eyes burned with excitement. Every inch of skin and every tooth of these magnificent creatures was perfect.

After admiring them for a few seconds, Jiang Fanxing reluctantly looked away. Saving his own life was more important than any dinosaur. For him, the greatest crises in this world were the extreme heat and the lack of food and water. Relying on a single organelle to solve all three problems was a fantasy, but his eyes landed on some drought-resistant green plants.

He clicked on a cactus and saw various organelles—mitochondria, chloroplasts, ribosomes, and the endoplasmic reticulum. He tapped on the green “chloroplast” and found the information he needed:

“Cactus Chloroplast: Basic Function: Absorbs light, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of moisture to synthesize organic compounds and oxygen, providing self-sufficiency. Advanced Function: Absorbs moisture from the air and condenses it into drinkable water externally. An expert at transporting nature’s water. Side Effect: Chloroplasts are naturally fond of green; those who attempt to replace them must be prepared to turn green themselves.”

The last line was so small he did not notice it, leaving him overjoyed by the two primary functions. One solved his hunger and thirst, and the other allowed him to produce water to clean himself. It was the perfect solution. He checked other plants, but since the functions were similar, he decisively swapped for the cactus chloroplast, spending 100 Merit Points.

Looking at the transaction page, Jiang Fanxing fell into thought. He had helped at least twenty to thirty people in the real world. That many people, and they only provided 235 points? It was pitifully low. He had asked the system about the standard for earning points, but it had never answered. A tiny chloroplast cost 100 points, and the dinosaur claw was a Level 6 limb structure; it must require a staggering amount. A sense of urgency gripped him. He had to perform good deeds as soon as possible to get that dinosaur claw.

As for the system’s mission, he could not care less. Since his own world was also undergoing an apocalypse, one place was as good as another to live in. As long as he saved people, he would eventually earn enough for the dinosaur claw.

Jiang Fanxing wanted to test the chloroplast’s advanced ability. He took off his left glove and curled his hand into a bowl shape. He lowered his head and froze. After paying the points, the chloroplasts had already entered his body, though he had not felt anything. If he had known the chloroplasts would cause this change, he would rather have died than swap for them!

He, a cosplayer obsessed with perfection and presenting his best state, had turned into a little green man! Jiang Fanxing’s eyes widened in disbelief as he twisted his left hand. His palm, the back of his hand, his nails, and even his arms were green! He grabbed his hair in a panic, painfully pulling out a few strands to inspect them. He almost fell apart. They were green—tender, light green! He could not imagine how ugly he must look: wearing a white T-shirt and black trousers, a white fox mask on his face, but with a head of tender green hair and green skin!

Were his eyebrows, eyelashes, eyes, and lips also green?

Ah!

When he was napping earlier, why had a rift not opened on his building and crushed him to death? He would rather be dead than this ugly! Suffering a massive blow, Jiang Fanxing stood there dumbly, hands raised, drained of all strength. He did not care about saving people anymore; if someone appeared and killed him right now, he would be grateful.

“System! System!” You have ruined me!

If he had been angry at being tricked into this world before, he was now desperate to tear the system to shreds. Anything that made him ugly or imperfect deserved to be destroyed!

“110, why did I turn into this? Give me an explanation.” His voice choked. Green had become a forbidden word to him.

110 came online immediately: “Respected Host, both the precautions and the replacement page mentioned the side effect. Please review them.”

The precautions he had read earlier and the chloroplast introduction page appeared in his mind. 110 helpfully circled the side effect and enlarged the text. Seeing the glaring warning, Jiang Fanxing almost burst into tears. You damn system, why do you not just die? You have the nerve to write out the side effect but shrink the text smaller than a period!

No matter how Jiang Fanxing roared internally, the damage was done. He had no choice but to wait 24 hours to pass and never swap for chloroplasts again.

The relatively cool morning passed in the blink of an eye, and the scorching noon arrived. Jiang Fanxing, hiding in a collapsed cement building, was sweltering. The air temperature was at least 50 degrees Celsius, and the cement floor was a staggering 65 degrees. And this was not even the hottest time yet.

Jiang Fanxing could clearly feel his soles becoming sticky; the soles of his sneakers were already melting into the hot concrete. Even his plastic mask was deforming from the heat, burning his face. To prevent real disfigurement, he took off the mask and shoved it into his backpack. He would not need it now, but once the temperature dropped at night, it would be useful again.

He took a silk scarf from his pack and tied it over his face, covering half of it. Keeping his face hidden was his last shred of dignity. To prevent his shoes from melting entirely, he endured the heat and scrambled onto the dirt. If no fire had occurred here, the grass temperature would only be about 5 degrees higher than the air, not nearly as scorching as concrete. Unfortunately, the vegetation had been burned away, leaving only scorched earth; it was still hot, but at least his shoes would not melt.

The sun was blinding. Jiang Fanxing wanted to find cover, but everything was either charred, melted, or even hotter. He had no choice but to raise his left hand to block the sun. Just standing here, no plant, no matter how heat-resistant, could survive, let alone Jiang Fanxing, who only had one chloroplast.

He took one last look at the human ruins and corpses, then turned toward the mountains, where a few patches of vegetation remained. That was the only hope for survival for anyone still alive.

After walking for about thirty minutes, Jiang Fanxing reached a village near the mountains and finally encountered living people. They were lying under the desiccated skeletons of giant trees, gasping for breath in the almost nonexistent shade. He saw them covered in ash, their lips cracked, their expressions numb, on the brink of death. They looked pitiful, fitting the image of the weak he wanted to help.

He thought for a moment and prepared to give them his extra food and water. But after taking two steps, he noticed their gaze and froze. There was no joy or hope in their eyes, only endless terror—as if they were looking at a monster that wanted to devour them.

Jiang Fanxing fell silent for a moment, looking down at his green arms with a helpless sigh. Was he truly that scary? The people answered with their actions: those who had been too weak to stand now scrambled up from the ground, dragging their unsteady bodies to flee from this rare patch of shade.

When Jiang Fanxing looked up and saw this, his heart ached. He knew he was ugly now—look, he had scared them all away! Hiding his mockery and disappointment, he turned and walked away under their panicked, confused gazes.

Walking a few dozen meters away, Jiang Fanxing slowed his pace, wondering how to cover his appearance. It was not his fault that he had become ugly, but he could not keep scaring people. He wanted to earn Merit to get that dinosaur claw; if he kept this up, he would never be able to save anyone, and people would just run away when they saw him.

Just as he was wondering where to find a long-sleeved shirt and sunglasses, his eyes caught a pair of small, trembling feet behind a large boulder. He stopped, his attention fixed on them. Half a minute passed, but the feet did not move.

Jiang Fanxing’s face turned grave. Was that child dead? Thinking this, he walked quickly toward the rock.