Apocalypse Forecast

At that moment, Huai Shi heard the sound of dice continuously clinking.

It wasn't just Huai Shi; Ai Qing even saw with her own eyes the die, which seemed capable of controlling the world, leap out of KP's hand on its own and start crazily rolling and bouncing on the table.

Once, twice, three times, four times, five times, six times…

The fragmentary and noisy sounds were unceasing.

But this time, she didn't see the usual nasty smile on KP's face, but instead… a touch of confusion and astonishment.

It was as if the story had slipped beyond control.

Every leap of the die represented the judgment of some event, meaning that in an instant, countless things were being rearranged and modified.

Like drumbeats hammering on his chest, they made his head spin, and he couldn't help but sweat profusely.

No, in fact, Huai Shi really started feeling dizzy and broke out in a cold sweat.

He staggered back two steps, vomiting violently. The agonizing feeling coiling within his chest and organs grew ever more intense, as if his soul were being scorched by fire.

In an instant, even the strength to stand seemed to be leaving him.

Only cold sweat kept falling from his cheeks to the ground.

Amid his violent gasping, his vision darkened, and he felt the world spinning, nearly fainting. Even Ai Qing's voice became distant and fuzzy.

Had he been poisoned?

He reacted immediately, abandoning the corpse on the ground and turning towards the exit of the lower hold, trying to get back to his room to find an antidote. But what he feared more was what kind of toxin Yue Jun's corpse contained that it made him, a Third Stage Vampire, lose all his fighting power in an instant.

Staggering and swaying, he mustered all his strength, climbing the ladder bit by bit, emerging from the entrance of the lower hold.

Before he could even catch his breath, he felt a sudden blow to the back of his head.

It was as if he'd been struck with a club.

But he didn't feel any pain; instead, he felt nothing at all, collapsing straight to the ground with his face hitting the floor, vaguely hearing excited shouting behind him.

"I've caught him!" an excited voice said, "This kid must've found something good in the lower hold."

"Not here, take him back, take him… no, take him somewhere deserted. See what valuable things he has on him, and after that, toss him directly into the sea," another voice urged.

Huai Shi felt someone grabbing him, pulling on one of his legs, his face scraping against the deck as he was dragged forward.

Honestly, the coldness felt quite nice and refreshing.

But it was still unbearable, and he couldn't even move a finger.

Until a vaguely familiar voice arose.

"What are you… doing?"

「. . .」

"That's more like it," Raven said, nodding in satisfaction across from KP. "The plot should indeed speed up now. Always wasting words on atmosphere will get you critiqued by the audience for padding."

"You…"

KP's expression twitched. "When did you…"

"When I saw one of my kids on TV during the Darknet livestream," Raven pointed at her phone. "I'm a loyal subscriber, you know. Did you get my tips? Ten bucks every day!"

"Audience members should sit properly in their seats."

KP's expression grew dark. "You're interfering with the story."

"Ha, I'm just making some minor adjustments to your boring story," Raven whistled. "Even in documentary literature, there's no need to nitpick every detail, right? Or have you become one of those particularly rigid purists now?"

"…You're only making it more difficult for him."

"Isn't that what you hoped for?" Raven countered. "As one of the former managers of Heavenly Kingdom, and one of the three human natures created by Utopia, the Indulger in Knowledge, didn't you come here because of your doubts about Huai Shi? Why then disguise yourself with the pretense of fairness?"

"Every player is treated fairly."

"But the difficulties they face are different, right?" Raven tilted her head, looking at him. "We're all familiar with each other, so stop playing word games. Honestly… I don't oppose you making it more difficult."

"Hmm?" KP looked at her skeptically, not sure what she was up to.

"If he didn't have this talent, I wouldn't have chosen him as my Contractor, so feel free to go ahead," Raven declared decisively, telling him word by word, "No matter what scenes you've prepared, he won't lose."

"Really?"

KP watched her silently for a long while, then suddenly showed a pleased smile. "Then, I'm very much looking forward to it."

He tossed the die in his hand.

A RIPPING sound, the noise of paper tearing, rang out once again.

「. . .」

A bucket of cold water was splashed on Huai Shi's face.

Huai Shi opened his eyes from the vertigo, feeling somewhat more alert. He was breathing heavily and struggling to support his body to rise from the ground, but he kept failing, collapsing awkwardly several times.

"Bloodthirst syncope."

A detached voice asked, "How long has it been since you last fed?"

Huai Shi paused, recalling carefully. It seemed that he hadn't drunk that stuff since boarding the ship. "Uh, quite a while, I guess?"

"Ha, a vegetarian Vampire."

The girl named Hela seemed amused, watching him struggle to get up from the ground without offering a helping hand.

Not until Huai Shi turned over with difficulty, seeing the silver-haired teenage girl standing by his feet, did he ask uncertainly, "I remember, was I… clubbed unconscious?"

Hela looked indifferently at the book in her hand. "If you're referring to those two who were planning to drag you and throw you into the sea, then yes."

"Anyway, thanks."

"I just hate being disturbed." In this secluded room, the teenage girl lifted her amber eyes to him. "If you can walk, please leave as soon as possible."

"Okay, okay…"

Huai Shi gave a wry smile, struggling to stand up from the ground, leaning against the wall.

After the initial pain, like a bout of drug withdrawal, subsided, the remaining dizziness got a bit better. But it was just a temporary rebound, a fleeting revival. If he didn't replenish his plasma in time, his condition would worsen before long.

The reason Vampires are known as Vampires is that this excessively vicious dark Stigma requires the periodic drawing of life force to maintain its operation.

If he ignored it, the backlash would become more severe each time. In the end, his Stigma would start self-digestion—first exhausting his own body, and then melting itself away.

Leaving nothing behind but a dried corpse.

He had to get back to his room quickly. Regardless of whether the sky fell or the earth split open, he needed a dose first. Thinking of those little red darlings waiting for him in his room, his insides churned with an even greater thirst.

But as he leaned on the door, he didn't rush off despite his thirst. After hesitating for a moment, he turned back and said, "About what happened last night, I'm sorry."

"Hmm?"

Hela looked up at him. "Are you talking about your attack on my secondary sex characteristics?"

"Uh, yes."

Hela nodded, then asked, "What are you trying to do by saying all this now?"

"Probably… apologizing," Huai Shi gave a bitter smile. "Anyway, I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

"Forgive?"

Hela frowned, as if considering something, then suddenly flipped through the heavy book in her hand that was akin to a dictionary. "Forgive, page seven hundred and forty-one, forgive…"

The thin pages were filled with densely packed text, just like an encyclopedia.

Soon, she got to the middle section and found the entry and definition for 'forgive'.

It seemed to be written with two different colors of pen, black and red. Huai Shi tiptoed for a glance but could only see rows and rows of a packed list.

Before long, the teenage girl, buried in the pages, raised her head to look at him and said coldly, "I forgive you."

As if she had just said, 'I stepped on you just now.' Utterly nonchalant.

"Hmm?"

Huai Shi was taken aback. Could such things be decided by flipping through a book?

Then, the teenage girl suddenly frowned. "No, that's not right. Harassment of secondary sex characteristics falls into the unforgivable category. I read the wrong line—"

As the pages turned by themselves, her gaze jumped between countless entries, eventually leading to a certain branch of advice. In an instant, hostility emerged in the teenage girl's eyes.

Huai Shi's vision blurred.

A slender knife fell from her sleeve, gripped firmly in her fingers, and was quickly placed against Huai Shi's neck, precisely at the artery.

Her indifferent eyes filled with caution, Hela asked coldly, "What are you trying to do to me?"

I accidentally touched you last night, and only now you react? I mean, isn't that a bit of a delayed response?

"Wait, don't do anything rash," Huai Shi gaped. "I just wanted to… y'know…"

He grunted for a while, then sighed in resignation. "I wanted to be friends with you, okay?"

"Friends?"

Hela frowned.

The dictionary in her right hand turned its pages again, finally stopping on an earlier section. This time, they were close enough for Huai Shi to sneak a glimpse of the definition in the 'friend' entry.

—[A scapegoat to die in your place at critical moments. An object of serious caution and vigilance. Highly dangerous. Ensure cautious use when necessary.]

Wow, is it really that hardcore?

What kind of dictionary is this?

Get me one too!

Cold sweat beaded on Huai Shi's forehead. He could only try to widen his eyes, feigning sincerity amidst the awkwardness.

"No."

Hela rejected him coldly, then withdrew her knife. "Now, please leave."

Fine, fine. So I'm not even worthy of being a scapegoat for you when it matters?

With a sense of dejection from being underestimated, Huai Shi sulkily backed away and closed the door for her, stumbling along the wall all the way back to his own room. It was only after sitting in his chair that he breathed a sigh of relief.

It felt like cold sweat was GUSHING from his back like an open faucet.

He drank the plasma from the test tube in one gulp.

Experiencing the sweet relief from Van Essen and his own complex physiological revulsion, Huai Shi could no longer tell whether he found it delicious or wanted to vomit.

All he felt was the Van Essen part of him growing… slowly being assimilated by that steel-cold obsession.

Along with the revolting stench of the plasma and the spreading hunger in his gut.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between himself and the other.

After resting for a good while, he finally caught his breath and knocked on Old Xiao's door.

No one responded from behind the door.

It opened at a push.

The stench spilled out from inside.

In the silence, Huai Shi covered his face in despair.

Damn…