Apocalypse Forecast

Jinling, midnight.

In the silent office, the white-haired middle-aged man silently drank his tea as he watched the rain outside.

Hasty knocking came from outside the door. Soon, a drenched youth walked in, glaring at him. "Director Meng, what's the deal with the Philosopher's Stone recovery mission? Wasn't it agreed that I would go?"

"You don't need to worry about this matter anymore, Little Hai," Director Meng answered. "Someone else has taken over."

"Just because of that? What the hell is that KP!?"

The Sublimator named Inner Ocean widened his eyes. "The area over the Open Ocean has already shown signs of border effect! If we're not careful, the agents sent for recovery this time might be completely wiped out."

Director Meng's expression remained calm. "It's probably because the memories within the fragments have been triggered. Whenever a Fifth Stage Sublimator dies, the memories from their lifetime remain in the fragments. If handled properly, it could even be an invaluable trial for them, and some useful talents may be discovered."

"But if there's any handling to be done, it should be by me, right?" Inner Ocean widened his eyes again. "What's the meaning of handing it over to someone else? Is this a requirement from the Social Security Bureau?"

"It is a joint decision by the Social Security Bureau and the Astronomical Society."

Director Meng pondered for a moment and pointed to the chair in front of him, signaling for him to sit. "I know you must be furious for being called back halfway, and I understand your concern that something might go wrong with this mission. But I can assure you that this matter will be handled securely."

"Because of that KP?"

Inner Ocean frowned. "One of the Masters of Border·Darknet suddenly showing up in the Current Circumstances—isn't there a problem with that itself? Why would he be interested in a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Who knows?"

Director Meng spoke indifferently. "The key is that he offered a price that Shangfeng agreed to, and the Social Security Bureau had no objections. That is enough. Moreover, as far as I know, although KP has quite a few bad tastes, he can be said to be one of the most outstanding Creators in the world right now. With him sorting out the records, there will be no mistakes, and you need not worry about the emergence of new isolation zones."

"But what about those agents and Inspectors?"

"KP has made a guarantee, but some losses are inevitable in the operation."

Director Meng gazed out into the night, sighing softly. Although it's unlikely that there will be any danger to life, they will definitely be thoroughly toyed with by that fellow's bad taste, right?

.

.

Boarding the ship took some effort, as a light drizzle fell from the sky. The passengers, who had waited for a long time, ignored the sailors' calls and didn't bother to line up, pushing and shoving their way upwards.

For a while, Huai Shi was jostled about in the crowd, stumbling forward. He vaguely heard a shout and felt something odd underfoot. Looking down, he realized he had stepped on a white handkerchief, dirtying the embroidered golden 'H' on one of its corners.

He bent down to pick it up and looked around. He noticed the figure in a cloak ahead turning back to glance at him, their gaze icy cold. Through the hood and dim light, however, he could make out a delicate profile. A strand of silver hair fell beside an ear, strikingly conspicuous.

"Give it back to me."

She reached out, snatched her handkerchief from Huai Shi's hand, and walked away.

Pushed several times by the people behind him, Huai Shi lurched forward. Finally, under the sailors' guidance, he arrived at the passenger cabins. After he and a few friends picked their rooms, they agreed to meet later for dinner.

Huai Shi entered his room, closed the door, and put his luggage down. Only then did he finally open his palm to look at what the wanderer had thrust into it.

It was a coin.

The generic Rome copper coin was carved with exquisite patterns, intricately carved with the likeness of an Angel. On the back, there was a cross-shaped mark, beautifully surrounded by carved symbols of the Father, the Saint Heir, and the Holy Spirit.

It looked almost like a piece of art.

The Wanderer's Coin.

This was a trick commonly used among bankrupt merchants, wanderers, and unemployed farmers of the Industrial Age. These wanderers hoped to make the coin even more beautifully carved to extract more money from those who took pity on them.

Or, simply out of boredom.

This explanation mysteriously appeared in his mind, unsettling him.

He bent down, as if by coincidence, and just like all the other passengers in their cabins, he opened his luggage.

And then he froze in place.

Time stood still at that moment.

Import complete—

.

"OK, you've all played your roles well," KP exclaimed with delight, clapping his hands. "It seems everyone has the potential to become outstanding Investigators. Let's keep up the good work."

Ai Qing didn't speak. The intense sense of contradiction and discord grew stronger, making her feel as though she had forgotten something or overlooked something.

But KP didn't give her more time to think.

"Ah, I forgot to mention," KP said, smacking his forehead as if in sudden realization. "Our group is a secret one, you see... This means each Character Card actually holds its own secrets and objectives. If they're exposed, it could lead to terribly bad situations, you know."

With that, he took out a stack of envelopes and distributed them to all the Inspectors participating in the game.

"Based on the different choices and performances of everyone in the import module, I have arranged different identities and secrets for you all."

KP smiled cheerfully. "I hope everyone can protect their own secrets while cooperating earnestly to achieve the module objective—successfully reaching the New World."

.

In that instant, Huai Shi snapped out of his stupor with sudden enlightenment.

He saw the contents of the suitcase—dozens of bottles filled with various items, a delicate yet fierce Hand Crossbow, several Scarlet Liquid Test Tubes, two daggers, a Short Knife, and at the very top of the suitcase, a heavy weapon hung on a hook.

It was a Hand Axe with a silver-plated edge, engraved with ornate and exquisite spells, where one could vaguely discern the dim blood color that had seeped into it. Just by looking, one knew its lethality was astonishing.

But why would I, a cellist, have these things?

In that instant, he looked again at the coin in his hand. His fingers seemed to move on their own, flipping the coin continuously between them, so that the cruciform indentations and the sacred statue of the Angel on the coin appeared alternately, like the key that unlocks a seal, releasing the shackles in his mind.

In an instant, countless memories surged from the darkness, flooding into his mind.

"Find that person, follow that person closely, and then kill that person!"

An authoritative and aged voice resounded in his ears. "At any cost, Van Essen, at any cost! Let that blasphemer's creation, let that monstrosity that only defiles the grandeur of God, be shattered to pieces!"

He finally remembered.

Huai Shi was merely his disguise. His true identity was an executioner nurtured by the Stigma Genealogy.

Judge, Hunter, Impure, Judas... Many titles, both flattering and derogatory, were bestowed upon people like him. This was because they themselves were dark creatures cultivated by The Church to eliminate other dark creatures, heretics created to kill other heretics.

He was a Third Stage Stigmata·Vampire Sublimator.

—Demon Hunter·Van Essen.

For over a year, he had been carrying out a mission issued by the Bishop: to hunt down the Heretic Alchemist Paracelsus.

In search of clues, his journey had taken him almost across the entirety of Rome, following faint traces, which finally led him to this ship.

The identity of Huai Shi was nothing more than a disguise he had chosen to board the ship; that unfortunate cellist had long been discarded by him in the wilderness.

He must kill the heretic before the ship reached the New World, and then return to this place from the New World…

He instantly recalled the entire sequence of events, yet an increasing sense of absurdity filled his heart. No, something is wrong.

"I'm not Huai Shi?" he murmured softly. "I am... Van Essen?"

Am I a cellist? Am I a musician? Am I a Demon Hunter? Am I Huai Shi? Am I Van Essen?

Who am I, exactly?

In that instant, his hand subconsciously fumbled in the suitcase, seeking more things related to himself. Finally, he grasped something—something that hadn't been in the suitcase before, no, something that didn't even belong to this story.

A book?

No, it looked more like a diary.

The moment he flipped open the front page, countless flashes of lightning coursed through his mind, crisscrossing and tearing through the layers of fog and the deliberately created darkness, suddenly illuminating the entire situation.

Fragmented records finally pieced together once again, forming a complete trajectory.

"I am Huai Shi..."

Amidst the throbbing pain in his head, he let out a groan of dawning realization, as though he had finally awakened from the deepest layer of recurrent nightmares. Yet, even so, he remained trapped within one.

He could feel the part of him that belonged to Van Essen remaining within his body, bringing waves of bloodlust.

His body had now become that of a Demon Hunter, bearing the Third Stage Vampire's Mark.

The indescribable hunger and the mission seemingly engraved in the Stigma that he couldn't defy both confirmed this.

But what is going on?

Suddenly transported?

What the hell?

What on earth happened?

Why did I suddenly end up here?

A series of question marks kept surfacing in his mind, making him finally aware of the wall hidden behind his own consciousness, and a perplexed gaze looking down upon him from an unknown place.

"Ai Qing?"

In that instant, aboard the cargo ship, Ai Qing felt a sudden burst of headache.

As if in a chain reaction, with Huai Shi's awakening, the shackles on her head also loosened, fracturing open a gap.

"Oh? Has a second Inspector already noticed the effect of 'Cognitive Obstruction'?"

KP slowly turned around, revealing a helpless smile. "Having too high of an inspiration and intuition stat has its downsides, huh... No, in a way, you two make a perfect pair."

It was as if she had been isolated in another world for an instant. While KP continued to elaborate on the story and explain the rules to the others, his eyes simultaneously looked at her. It was as if another person had split from him, scrutinizing Ai Qing's puzzled expression.

Soon, that faint line of intuition sparked into a flash of insight, breaking through the blocked memories. She awakened from her confusion and obsession, realizing where she truly was.

There was no need to hesitate any longer.

In that moment, Ai Qing instinctively drew her gun and pulled the trigger.