Apocalypse Forecast

"I'm not eating anymore, I'm really not eating anymore..."

Ten minutes later, Huai Shi looked at the 80 kilograms on the scale, silently shed two lines of tears, and sat on the ground, wailing.

Getting this fat is just too much!

Raven looked at him with cold eyes. "Three bottles of 'Happy Water' every day, a pound of hot-dry noodles in the morning, two fried chickens for lunch, cakes and milk tea for afternoon tea, a huge amount of meat in the evening, and Mexican corn chips for a late-night snack... Have you been a bit too relaxed recently? Even Sublimators who burn calories at an unusual rate can't eat like this, right?"

Huai Shi was dumbfounded. "Is it really that much?"

"Otherwise, why do you think you've gained so much weight?" Raven replied. "Even though Sublimators transformed by Stigma already have a lot of metal and mutations in their bodies and can't be measured by normal weight standards, the transformation by Stigmata·Yin Ghost is obviously aimed at lighter weight, right? The standard weight should be two-thirds of a normal person's. So how did you manage to eat yourself into a heavyweight?"

"It happened without my realizing it..."

"That's because Old Fang spoils you too much."

Raven shook her head and tossed over a densely packed list. Huai Shi glanced at it and felt dizzy. "What's this?"

"Your weight loss plan," Raven calmly stated, "along with a subsequent strengthening plan. You're still lacking in strength."

"Me?" Huai Shi pointed to himself in disbelief. Lacking in strength?

I, Huahai Road Little Peiqi, managed to beat a Third Stage even before reaching First Stage! Where am I lacking in strength?

"You don't think that just because you've beaten a couple of second-rate fighters, everyone in the world is just like that, do you?" Raven asked back. "For example, that Li Jian Amber—can you beat her?"

"..." Huai Shi was suddenly speechless.

Indeed, Raven was right. After all, they had a history of 'fighting side by side,' even if they were both deliberately holding each other back. But he had to admit: purely in terms of martial skills, he indeed found it very difficult to best her.

"But isn't this different?" Huai Shi argued. "That's a wealthy lady armed to the teeth, a top-level 'Heart's Delight' player with 100,000 personal service reps. How am I, a non-paying player, supposed to compete?"

"Are you sure?"

Raven glanced at him. "Buddy, if we're talking money, you've already spent over 30 million. Just the cost of creating Stigmata·Yin Ghost is over 25 million, and that's just a straightforward quote. Customized tuning-type Stigmas that can only be made by a Master are priceless; you couldn't buy them even with money if you don't have the connections."

That expensive? Huai Shi was shocked, suddenly filled with the urge to sell his body...

"So rest assured, in terms of spending, you have nothing to fear from anyone at the same level."

Raven said, "Purely in terms of heritage, you're not inferior to any same-level Sublimator. In terms of skills, the techniques you've gained from the Book of Fate are enough to easily give you a significant advantage over those Sublimators who only got passing grades. But have you gotten any improvements from the Red Gloves' records recently?"

Huai Shi shook his head.

Currently, his skills were clearly listed—Dagger Combat LV8, Theravada Dual Sword Technique LV6.

And in the process of grinding The Purified People, he managed to acquire a new skill called 'Insights of Disorderly Combat', mainly focused on group battles. Unfortunately, it could only reach as high as LV4; any further improvement would be impossible.

Being able to reach this level with such fragmented and unsystematic knowledge was already the limit.

"After all, they are all rapidly produced skills. That they could help you build a strong foundation is already valuable, but to truly reach the pinnacle with just those skills alone is difficult."

Raven sighed with some frustration. "You still need to find a good teacher, but people in this field are hard to find, and those who are trustworthy are even harder—there are always those who like to hold back tricks."

There's no helping it. Without the simulations of the Book of Fate, everyone's techniques are honed from years of accumulated experience and trials of blood and death.

Buying such experience with money is difficult.

And Huai Shi obviously couldn't be expected to roam the streets with a gun, backstabbing every person he saw to get new records.

Moreover, there's a hard limit here. He's only at First Stage; getting this far is already a miracle. Expecting more is unrealistic.

"However, the silver lining is that while you might have hit a bottleneck in terms of skill improvement, you haven't even started enhancing your Stigma yet."

As she spoke, Raven took away the familiar-looking bronze box from the table, hiding it somewhere, then poured out several still-warm pieces of Liberator from the Crucible and tossed them to Huai Shi.

"One piece. Using it for daily training at this level should be enough."

Huai Shi pulled open his collar, looked down at the big hole in his chest, and couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Having to spend money before every fight makes me feel really strange."

"It's not strange. Normally you wouldn't need to spend money at all."

Raven calmly revealed something significant. "A First Stage Stigma has limits; too bulky a structure can't react nimbly, and too delicate a structure can't bear too much power. If you want to enhance one aspect, you'll inevitably weaken another."

She said, "That's the trade-off, Huai Shi."

"Wait!" Huai Shi stared, dumbfounded. "What trade-off did you make?"

"Emmm..." Raven said, "I weighed it up a bit and thought the power system wasn't really needed, so I switched it to an external module for you. Look at that hole in your chest, how imposing it looks."

Huai Shi's eyes bulged. "So you're the one who did this?"

No wonder he always felt something was off!

"You should look on the bright side."

Raven said, "I've woven all the spare parts into simulated nerves and reflex circuits for you. Now, you have more than double the speed of a Sublimator of the same level for output! How does that make you feel? Happy? Joyful?"

Happy, my ass!

Who the hell cuts their blue bars to increase DPS!

So, my own Stigma really is like a car. At the slightest disagreement, you slap an external tank on it and then shove a nitrous oxide engine into it...

Huai Shi almost spat blood. "Do you know it's illegal to drive modified cars on the road!"

"It's called 'illegal' when others do modifications. When I do it, it's called 'fan-made re-creation,' you get me?"

Raven glanced at him sideways. "Chill out, it's been years since the split of Utopia. Do you think those degenerates who fell into Hell and became the Element of Destructive·Golden Dawn would come asking you for copyright fees?"

Huai Shi covered his face. "So, can you please just tell me all at once what on earth this Stigma on me has become?"

"Don't worry, there are no hidden dangers or troubles. Sister's craftsmanship is famously good!"

Speaking of this, Raven's eyes lit up with excitement. "Although it's called modification, it's actually a complete rebuild, an exclusive customization that perfectly fits your combat style.

In addition to the Yin Soul's original strong adaptability to Hell, I've added extra speed. Next is the instantaneous explosive force provided by external fuel.

Therefore, your endurance for prolonged battles is just average. As for defense... sorry, it's the equivalent of nonexistent. Rely on your movement. After all, there's a limit to a First Stage Stigma. Even if the defense is impressive, it could only take one or two more hits, can't even block bullets, totally not cost-effective."

"So, our positioning is burst-type," Raven said excitedly. "You get it, a glass cannon assassin. My standard for character builds has always been to wipe out my teammates in a single round!

Go up, burst them, and after the burst, we run. If we can't burst them to death, look for another chance to burst. If we can backstab, we backstab; if we can be despicable, we be despicable. Combined with heart poison and Fear Aura, even those with high defense and thick health will get seriously injured if they're not fully tanked up!

But when facing types good at grappling techniques and with restraining supports present, don't engage at all. The moment your movement is restricted, it's game over."

I didn't realize I was a thief?

Huai Shi smiled bitterly but said no more.

To be fair, having so much already wasn't easy. Unless it was New Game Plus, where else in the world could you find so many well-rounded builds? And Raven's customization was indeed a high-end, specialized design focused on maximizing his strengths and minimizing his weaknesses.

What else could I say?

He sighed deeply and looked at Raven squarely. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

SMACK!

The seemingly magical wings slapped the back of his head.

"Why ask so many questions, kiddo? Just focus on leveling up," Raven asked. "Would Sister Crow ever deceive you?"

Huai Shi rolled his eyes.

Alright then.

I'm already at the point of no return; why even ask?

He sighed, tucked the Liberator into his chest.

Then, the familiar numbing cold spread with the surging darkness, and in an instant, layers of Source of fire emerged along with the burst of power.

He transformed into the Yin Soul again.

And then, with a snap, Raven's teaching rod flew up and smacked his head.

"Wrong!"

"What's wrong?" Huai Shi widened his eyes. "I haven't even done anything yet!"

"That's exactly the problem. You haven't done anything."

Raven gazed at the flames rising from his body. "You've not even tried to control them, just mindlessly venting, and that approach is totally wrong."

"What am I supposed to control?"

"Yourself, your soul, your body, your Stigma, and everything. You need to take control of it all, not let it all become your instinct."

Raven instructed, "First step, control that layer of flames around you that's nothing but light and sound effects. Pull them back, to the point where you're the same after taking this stuff as if you hadn't!"

Control? Huai Shi looked at the flames around him in astonishment. This was the excess power burst from the collision of Liberator and Apocalypse, channels seeping from his body... How to control that?

Besides, I, Huahai Road's own 'Mr. 50/50,' am not just getting a 'fix' from this...

SMACK!

Again, the teaching rod struck.

"Concentrate, focus on containment. Don't think about venting; your mind must be like still water," Raven said. "Imagine that you are a vessel that doesn't let the water in the bottle splash out."

While it sounded simple, there were no significant results.

Even as Huai Shi earnestly tried to control the explosive force, the effect was minimal.

Initially, the flames shrank with his focus, but as he concentrated on one area, he neglected another; as the flames on his head receded, those on his legs flared up.

He felt like a sieve.

Leaking from everywhere.