Bai Bai hit the jackpot.
Literally.
As she was walking along the street, a Dayun heavy truck coming from the opposite direction crushed through the guardrail in the middle of the road.
BANG!
When Bai Bai opened her eyes, she was completely dazed.
The screams of passersby still echoed in her mind, but she was now leaning against the base of a tree, her head throbbing with pain so severe it felt like it was splitting open.
She subconsciously reached back to touch it—there was a huge bump swelling on the back of her head.
“Fuck…”
Immediately after, a flood of memories that didn’t belong to her flashed through her mind: she had gotten into a verbal altercation with a group of people, was shoved hard by them, struck her head against a tree, and then…
And then there was no “then.”
The original owner of this body died just like that, and she, bearing the exact same name, had logged in to take over the account.
As the lump on the back of her head throbbed painfully, Bai Bai looked down to see that her fingernails and hand crevices were filled with dark grime.
Before her brain could fully digest the situation, a flat, emotionless mechanical voice suddenly rang out inside her head.
【BZZZT—! Deviation detected between host’s soul and physical body compatibility.】
【Reason for deviation: Abnormal transmigration.】
【Compensation Protocol Activated: Granting talent “2x Replication”.】
【Core Rule: Can replicate any complete entity; the replica shares identical attributes with the original.】
【Replication consumes mental strength; consumption is directly proportional to the target’s “energy level”.】
【Current Replication Range: Ordinary matter (e.g., food, water).】
【Advanced Potential: Once host’s mental strength is fully restored, host can perceive and replicate “Superpower Structures”.】
【Replication Priority: Perfect replication downward, discounted replication at same level, impossible replication upward.】
【Warning: Host’s current physical and mental rating: Near-death, severe mental strength deficit. You can safely perform 2x Replication only 3 times; the 4th attempt will cause irreversible damage. It is strongly recommended to obtain Source Crystals immediately to restore mental strength.】
【Methods to Restore Mental Strength: Adequate sleep, high-nutrition food, absorbing “Source Crystals”.】
【Wishing you good luck in the new world.】
The voice vanished without a trace.
Bai Bai: “…”
“What the hell?!”
“If there was a glitch in the transmigration, just send me back!”
“What’s the point of dumping me here?!”
“Is ‘2x Replication’ really that amazing of a… cheat code?”
As she ranted, Bai Bai’s complaints suddenly trailed off.
“Replicate… Superpower Structures?”
“Replicate superpowers…”
“Holy shit!”
Bai Bai blinked, still feeling a bit incredulous.
“For real? Am I hallucinating?”
Bai Bai habitually rubbed her fingers together as she watched the pedestrians passing by on the street, quite a few of whom were superpowered individuals.
Just as her heart began to flutter with the irresistible urge to give it a test run, the heavy, dull ache from the back of her head yanked her right back to reality.
“Fuck!”
Bai Bai thumped herself lightly, extinguishing the tiny spark that had just flared up in her chest.
It wasn’t that she was accepting her fate, but rather that her body couldn’t take it—any burst of emotion triggered waves of sharp, needle-like headaches, with the swollen bump on her head joining in on the torture.
She actually wanted to stand up, but her body refused to cooperate. The fatal impact the original host suffered had carried immense force; dizzy and lightheaded, Bai Bai had no choice but to stay seated obediently on the ground to slowly catch her breath.
Bored from sitting idle, she decided to explore her cheat code.
Just as she was wondering how the 2x Replication would manifest, a spatial projection suddenly appeared in her mind.
It was a neat, square space with a volume of 1 cubic meter.
In one corner of the space, ten bags of grain were stacked neatly, next to a canteen, two rice balls wrapped in leaves, and an old wallet.
Looking at the grain, Bai Bai naturally recalled that this was the delivery cargo the original host was transporting right before getting into a fight and meeting her end.
Without dwelling on what the dispute was about, Bai Bai stared at the grain bags, subconsciously willing the 2x Replication to activate.
In an instant, an excruciating pain felt like an awl viciously stabbing through her brain. Bai Bai cried out in agony as her hands and feet went ice-cold, cold sweat broke out across her chest, and her vision even went pitch black for a few seconds.
When her sight finally returned, Bai Bai took a long, deep breath to steady her ragged breathing before taking a sneaky glance inside her spatial storage.
To her shock, the bags of grain had multiplied—from ten bags to twenty.
“Holy crap! So this is 2x Replication?!”
Bai Bai clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp, fortunate that her weakened body lacked the strength to shout aloud.
“Ten bags turned into twenty, instead of one turning into two?!”
Enduring the dizziness and headache, Bai Bai tried her best to think through the hype.
“Not bad, not bad at all! Scaling by total batch quantity is even better! As expected of a cheat code, I’m thoroughly satisfied.”
She conveniently omitted the fact that just two minutes ago, she was cursing out what a piece of crap cheat code it was.
“Wait a second! Didn’t that damned mechanical voice warn me that I only have three safe attempts right now?”
“Whatever, three is three. Used one, two left. Still fine, still fine—I’ve still got a chance to make a comeback.”
“Source Crystals, right?”
Placing one hand on the ground, Bai Bai gritted her teeth against the headache and her weak, trembling body, struggling upright to stand on her feet.
“Deliver the cargo first. I can’t abandon the original host’s social circle. On the way back, I can head to the Black Market to buy Source Crystals, restore my mental strength, and then plan my next move.”
Bai Bai gnashed her teeth.
“Just wait until I find out who screwed over the original host—sooner or later, I’m getting revenge.”
After steadying herself against the tree, Bai Bai retrieved the canteen from her spatial storage. It felt very light in her hand, less than half full.
Opening the cap, she saw a push-pull spout underneath. Taking her first sip, her brows instantly knit together, and she couldn’t help spitting it onto the ground.
“WTF, what is this weird taste?! Did the original host drink this kind of water every day?!”
Bai Bai smacked her lips in misery. Setting aside the heavy taste of crude filtration, the water carried an additional sour, astringent tang, looking like it had been polluted and improperly filtered.
After a moment’s hesitation, she still took two small sips.
Her body needed water; she couldn’t afford to be picky about the weird taste.
“If I get the chance, I need to score a bucket of clean water.”
Bai Bai put the canteen back into her spatial storage and discovered a delivery receipt with an address written on it.
The moment she looked at the address, a route automatically emerged in her mind.
This, of course, came from the original host’s memories.
Bai Bai composed herself and set off.
Her steps were extremely feeble. Even though it was a packed dirt road, she felt an uncomfortable imbalance with every step, sinking unevenly as she walked.
Bai Bai walked slowly, but her mind didn’t stop. She actively recalled the original host’s life, digging deep into the remaining memories in this body to understand what kind of world this was, passing the boring time during her trek.
The original host, also named Bai Bai, had grown up and worked normally.
Two years ago, a series of cataclysmic, world-ending earthquakes devastated the familiar world. Following the quakes, countless alien flora and fauna emerged, the terrain expanded, and once-prosperous cities were left shattered into pieces.
Countless people died during that period. The original host was the sole survivor of her family and had awakened a tiny 1-cubic-meter spatial storage.
At first, the original host was ecstatic, only to realize within a couple of days that she was merely at the bottom of the food chain—just slightly better off than unawakened ordinary people.
Those who awakened spaces measuring several cubic meters right off the bat were immediately hired by adventuring teams as permanent logistics support members.
To survive, the original host took up a job as a city delivery worker.
Because her spatial storage capacity was small, in order to make a living, she initially banded together with a group of fellow spatial-awakened individuals to accept orders as a team.
Merchants also preferred issuing orders to teams, fearing that solo workers might run off with the goods and disappear into thin air. With a team, at least the business had a fixed base of operations to hold accountable.