Earth Survival Guide

"It's only a little past three, so boring," Liuzi said, looking out the window with reluctant acceptance, "How about I take you to my girlfriend's place to hang out?"

Gu Tao sprawled on the table of the milk tea shop, looking utterly dejected. In fact, he didn't have much choice. If he were out with Xin Chen, he could at least make jokes or play the rogue, but hanging out with Liuzi, a pretty girl he wasn't very familiar with, Gu Tao was out of his depth. After all, the woman he'd had the most contact with his whole life was Mrs. Tifa, a woman much older than him who had been dead for years.

Any conversation before getting to know the other person's interests and speech patterns could lead to awkward chats, which might then be posted by some emotional bloggers on social media for all to see. Clearly, Liuzi wasn't the type to accommodate others, so Gu Tao was quite quiet around her.

"Do I really make you that listless?" Liuzi was dissatisfied with Gu Tao's attitude, "You should know that others can't wait to 'smash stones with their chests' in front of me."

"I can perform that too," Gu Tao slightly raised his head, pointing to his chest, "but it would require three months of recovery afterward."

"Is that 'smashing stones with your chest' or 'stones smashing your chest'?" Liuzi laughed and slapped Gu Tao's shoulder, "Alright, alright, I'll take you to meet my girlfriend. She's a real beauty."

"Prettier than you?"

"Well done!" Liuzi gave Gu Tao a thumbs-up, "The young man sure knows how to talk. But you're not wrong, she really is prettier than me, much prettier in fact. I was completely won over by her charm."

Oh? Is that so? That's definitely worth checking out. Most women tend to be cynical about other women's looks, especially someone like Liuzi, who's tall at over one meter seventy and who also inherited the best of her parents' features. For whatever reason, if she rated her girlfriend that highly, it meant the other girl must be even more outstanding than Liuzi, right?

As they were walking to Liuzi's girlfriend's place, the video of Gu Tao heroically rescuing someone had already started spreading online. Despite his efforts to conceal it, his speed, jumping ability, and the strange way he slowed down after catching the child were becoming the focus of much discussion.

"This has to be a superpower user! Look at his speed. I slowed down the video tenfold and he's still faster than a normal person. If that's not a superpower, what is? And consider this: he's unharmed after catching something that weighs over thirty kilos falling from the fifteenth floor. Doesn't that say it all?"

On the country's most famous superpower forum, a person by the name of Ground-Breaking Tianxing spoke authoritatively about the video of Gu Tao saving the child, "I've always believed that there are superpower users in our world, and they must be hiding among us!"

"I suspect this video is a fake, maybe edited post-production."

A contrarian with the handle 'This Patch of Sky' had been consistently clashing with Ground-Breaking Tianxing from the start of the thread. Thankfully, both displayed good manners and refrained from hurling insults about each other's family members' reproductive organs, debating instead purely on the existence of superpowers.

Both of them were moderators, so other onlookers were just watching the titans clash. Quite a few people supported Ground-Breaking Tianxing and many sided with This Patch of Sky, but so far, the two were evenly matched.

"Don't rush; I found the original video. I've also uploaded a tenfold slow-motion video. Take a look and you'll understand," said Ground-Breaking Tianxing confidently, sharing his findings in the thread for everyone to see. In the tenfold slow-motion video, his speed, much faster than normal people's, was glaringly obvious compared to the nearly stationary slow movement of others. After jumping, he reached a height of about eight meters. However, it happened so swiftly that the only clear detail was his strange deceleration in three stages around two meters from the ground.

Yes, the deceleration was very bizarre and didn't comply with the laws of physics. Ground-Breaking Tianxing even highlighted this part with a red circle. He was holding a child in his arms, but his body shook three times in succession, and each shake reduced his falling speed by thirty percent. By the time he landed, he could have caught the child steadily without needing to roll.

"This roll was entirely to prevent the child from being injured by the shock, but in reality, even without the rolling motion, there would have been no harm. Yet, he diligently completed this unnecessary action," Ground-Breaking Tianxing also explained in the post, "If you still don't believe that there are superhumans in our world after this, then there's nothing I can do."

After this series of analyses came out, even the King of Nitpickers went silent in this part of the sky, leaving only a crowd of Ground-Breaking Tianxing's fans cheering "This is a superhero hiding among us" and other such insubstantial remarks.

"I will find a way to find him," Ground-Breaking Tianxing declared, after which there was no further news.

Meanwhile, Gu Tao, unaware that he was being mysteriously watched, was standing outside a yard, looking up at a tree...

"What are you doing standing here?"

Gu Tao pointed upwards, "Persimmons."

"Ah, persimmons. What about them? Want to eat some?" Liuzi was clueless about what had gotten into Gu Tao, who stood outside, staring up at the persimmons, unwilling to move, "If you want some, I'll get you a basketful later."

Gu Tao shook his head, "I'm full, I don't want to eat. There was a time before when I had nothing to eat, and I stood here waiting for this persimmon to fall, but to this day, it still hasn't fallen."

Having said that, he adjusted his position, stood beneath that persimmon, and looked up with his mouth open...

Liuzi looked at him and blinked, "..."

However, before the persimmon could fall, Liuzi decisively climbed onto the wall in just a few moves, plucked the persimmon Gu Tao was waiting for, and stuffed it into his mouth, "Got it now? Why are you so inflexible? Just pick them yourself. There are two persimmon trees in the yard. We can never eat them all every year."

Gu Tao savored the sweet juice of the persimmon, then pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, "If it falls into my mouth, that's good luck. If I pick it myself, that's stealing, and stealing is different from good luck."

"Wow... you're that self-disciplined?" Liuzi found Gu Tao's way of thinking unimaginable, "You really are a strange one..."

"I think what's strange is your set of values," Gu Tao responded with no mercy, "Humans are the cells of human civilization. Without self-discipline and persistence, civilization cannot reach the second level. This is the education I've received since childhood. I can accept gifts and charity but not theft or plunder. That day when I had no money for food, I earned it by fixing cars. The young lady gave me fifty, which was more than the repair cost, but I also gave her a chance; I will help her whenever she needs it."

Liuliu didn't understand anything about cells of civilization, self-discipline and persistence, or levels two and three. She just felt that this odd junior brother was talking with a serious expression, and she didn't quite know how to respond, since he wasn't wrong after all. But she was a bit uncomfortable after being accused of having problematic values.

"Fine, fine. I get a lecture from Xin Chen at home, and now you're giving me one too. I really owe you brothers," Liuzi said impatiently, "Can we drop this topic, and can you give me a hand to help me down?"

"Oh..."

Gu Tao reached out his hand to Liuzi, who, propping herself on Gu Tao's shoulder, hopped down.

But what she really didn't expect was that the miraculous guy who could catch a child falling from the fifteenth floor with his bare hands couldn't withstand her leap of faith. At that moment, she felt her body sway, and then the two of them rolled onto the ground in an instant. Luckily, Liuzi didn't fall hard, but Gu Tao, cushioning her fall, was in excruciating pain.

"Ahh... my back... my back..."

He lay there howling in pain, and due to muscle damage, his watch began to beep alarmingly. Fortunately, he stopped his armor from deploying in time, but the severe pain made it impossible for him to stand up.

"Wait... I'll call an ambulance!"

Knowing that a twisted back was no minor issue, Liuzi didn't rashly try to help him up; instead, she took out her phone to call an ambulance.

However, before she could make the call, Gu Tao stopped her: "No need... don't call, I'll be fine after lying down for a while."

"Don't be a hero now!"

This wasn't being a hero. After detecting Gu Tao's injury, his portable medical robot had already started operating. The repair time was roughly ten minutes, so all he needed to do was lie there for ten minutes.

"No... not being a hero, can you get me some water? I need to consume a lot of physical energy to repair."

If the emergency button was still working, none of this would have been necessary, but for some reason, it had suddenly run out of power, and there wasn't much stock left, so Gu Tao didn't want to use a new one. Therefore, he had to rely on his own energy to repair the damage, but this process was extremely energy-consuming and would deplete a lot of water, leaving him in dire need of sustenance.

"Just wait!"

Liuzi hurried into the yard, and shortly afterward, another girl wearing a long white down coat rushed out with her, holding a bottle of mineral water in her hand.

Gu Tao, lying on the ground, watched them come out. Judging by the girl's age, she must be Liuzi's so-called girlfriend. Although dressed in casual homely down coat, not as flashy as Liuzi, those bright sparkling eyes and her serene temperament were truly striking.

How to put it, if judged purely on looks, Liuzi with her bold features was more attractive, but after being enhanced by that strong feminine charm, the entire scene underwent a dramatic change.

Gu Tao was sure, this girl had been nurtured by her family with a lot of effort, like a top courtesan from ancient times, definitely born with irresistible charm.

"Hey hey hey, you're injured, don't sneak peeks at my woman." Liuzi squatted in front of him and poked his face: "Focus your gaze on me."

Gu Tao lay there with his head tilted: "I'm telling you, I'm cold, hungry, and thirsty right now. I can't be sure if I'm hallucinating. What's wrong with looking a bit more? Just like the Little Match Girl seeing her grandmother, I'm seeing a fairy."

The girl behind Liuzi instantly blushed. She shrank back but still squatted down and unscrewed the bottle of mineral water: "I just scalded it with boiling water, so it won't be too cold. You can drink it directly. Please, have some."

"Look at her." Gu Tao sighed: "Such gentleness."

"Can you stop fussing," Liuzi rolled her eyes at Gu Tao. "You mean you didn't talk to me before because I wasn't your type, right? You've got some nerve, Gu Tao."

"It's not exactly that," Gu Tao moved slightly but winced from the piercing pain. "I just didn't expect you to be so masculine. And you actually weigh a hundred and twenty pounds."

"Enough already!" Liuzi pointed at herself: "It's just the heavy clothes I wear in winter! Are you drinking this or not?"

"Drinking, drinking, drinking."

Just as Liuzi took the water from the girl, Gu Tao suddenly closed his mouth...

"So you're not giving face, huh? Should I wash your face for you?" Liuzi rolled up her sleeves: "Open your mouth!"

"No!" Gu Tao turned his head away: "I want that miss to pour water for me, I know you'll spill it all over my face."

"Take it or leave it! Weiwei, go tie up Abai. Let Abai take a pee on his face," Liuzi sneered. "Child's urine cures all poisons."

"It's okay, Liuliu, I'll do it." The girl called Weiwei brushed back her hair and then squatting in front of Gu Tao, she asked with concern, "How did you end up like this? Are you sure you don't need a doctor?"

After gulping down an entire bottle of water, Gu Tao felt much better. He reached out and wiped his mouth: "Thanks a lot."

Liuliu was startled: "Holy crap, you can move your hand!"

Gu Tao was also puzzled: "Did I say I couldn't move it?"