Apocalypse Forecast

"Hey! Enough already!"

As the table shattered, the hall briefly fell silent. The crazed crowd turned, frowning menacingly at Huai Shi, who had jumped out, ready to uphold justice.

However, almost immediately, countless bloodthirsty pairs of eyes watched as the youngster's expression of rage collapsed. It transformed into a flattering smile. "This is... far too cheap for her!"

"Hm?"

In that instant, not only the stunned onlookers but even KP outside the module widened their eyes. "What is he planning to do?"

"Well, probably... courting death?"

After pondering for a moment, Raven couldn't help but sigh. "Although I really want to praise him, it seems this kid is just extraordinarily talented at seeking death."

For some reason, her tone seemed rather proud.

KP couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

"Hey!"

Inside the restaurant, the first person to react looked at Huai Shi coldly. "What the hell are you up to, kid!"

"No, I just wanted to ask."

Huai Shi hopped off the table. Smiling, he approached the fierce-looking big man. "What are you guys planning to do?" he asked. "No, no, no, I certainly don't mean to spoil everyone's fun. I'm just asking... how do you plan to dispose of her?"

His curious words made the big man frown unhappily. "Nonsense! Kill her, of course!"

"No, I'm not asking that." Huai Shi shook his head and asked seriously, "I'm asking, how... do you plan to kill her?"

"Nonsense!" The big man's eyes bulged as he raised the Meat Cutter Knife in his hand. "Just chop her to death!"

"Skin her!" someone shouted loudly. "Skin her first!"

"My poor child! My poor child was trampled to death by their horses!" a woman screamed, eyes bloodshot. "I want to tear this little wretch apart... piece by piece! Inch by inch!"

"Blood! I want blood!"

"No, eaten by ants! Use ants!"

"Hang her!" someone roared. "Obviously, hang her!"

In an instant, the crowd became noisy. These Dark Creatures from all over the world were not short of ways to kill. For a time, they even started to argue and shove each other, each trying to convince others to adopt their own suggestions.

TSK, TSK, TSK, TSK...

Huai Shi, seemingly unable to listen any longer, shook his head and sighed. He knocked on the table again to draw everyone's attention and impatiently asked, "Is that all?"

As he spoke, his eyes couldn't help but show disdain.

Is that all you've got?

Don't you have anything new?

That subtle contempt actually struck dumb those who had just been raging. Before they could react, Huai Shi jumped onto the table. Hands behind his back, he surveyed the crowd below as if looking at a group of imbeciles and loudly questioned, "What, exactly, are you doing?"

"Have you even understood who she really is?"

Just as someone opened their mouth to speak, Huai Shi suddenly stretched out his hand, pointing to Hela, who looked astonished, behind the crowd. He thundered, "This is a spy!

A betrayer!

A 'Second fifth' who sneaked into our pure ranks trying to corrupt our morals!"

As he spoke, he raised his voice and pronounced loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a conspiracy! A Stigma Genealogy conspiracy aimed at us, the persecuted!

"And now, this conspiracy has been exposed by us! We have proven that no one can fool around in our pure organization! No one!

"And we, in this struggle, have emerged victorious!"

As Huai Shi's fervent words and waving arms stirred the crowd, those excited people began to shout. But immediately afterward, Huai Shi threw a wet blanket over them. "So what now? What is this you're doing here?

"Eat her? Chop her to death? Hang her? Tear her apart?

"Do you even think? Or are you from the Cannibal Tribe in Africa? Heh heh heh, hey you, my dark-skinned friend, sit back down, I wasn't talking about you! You damn imbeciles, is that all you have in your heads?

"Or are you really the monsters the Stigma Genealogy claims you are, beasts that only know how to devour humans?"

"So what's your grand plan?"

From the surging crowd, someone shouted unhappily, "Do you have a better method?"

"Of course!"

Huai Shi replied, standing tall with his hands behind his back.

Facing everyone's curious yet skeptical gazes, Huai Shi lifted a finger, adopting a classic pose from some reaction meme, and solemnly declared, "It is—"

"—a trial!"

"That's right! A trial!"

He raised his voice, speaking gravely, "A trial from the Dark World! A grand Sacrifice to prove our resolve to the great White Crown King!"

On the table, Huai Shi clenched his fists. He gazed at the astonished 'compatriots' below, fiercely motivated. "Unlike the miserable times of the past when we fled like dogs, we have said goodbye to those days of displacement!

"My friends, from today onwards, it's time for us to launch a counterattack against the persecution of old!"

"This is a trial by us, the sufferers! A counterstrike and revenge against the Stigma Genealogy!

"Right now, right here, on this very ship!"

A moment of dead silence followed. Ai Qing helplessly covered her face and sighed, waving her hand to pass the Skills check.

The faint sound of dice rolling echoed; the dust settled.

'Eloquence' check, 15 points, passed.

And 'Bluffing'... was that 1 point?

"A critical success?" KP leaned over the table, staring at the result with disbelief, eyes wide open. "What the hell kind of joke is this?"

"I told you so."

Raven whistled and laughed merrily. "He's exceptionally talented."

In the dining hall, there was dead silence.

In the quiet where you could hear a pin drop, everyone looked at each other in astonishment, as if they had not yet processed what had happened. But soon, fervor and excitement surfaced in their bloodthirsty eyes.

"Although I don't know what he said, it felt like he made a lot of sense!" a Dog-headed Man said excitedly to the person beside him. "Why not give it a try?"

Bloody hell, a trial? How novel!

Although many here had relatives or friends involved in trials, those were always with them on the defendant's stand. They'd be pinned to the ground by the Stigma Genealogy, condemned by thousands, and then dragged out to be burned at the stake on the Execution Pyre.

Where had there ever been such a fantastical event where the roles were reversed, judging the Stigma Genealogy?

You wouldn't even dare to think about it in your dreams, okay!

The thought of those imposing Judges sitting in the defendant's seat receiving judgment from the Dark World sounded oh so thrilling!

"Trial! Trial! Trial!"

Someone was shouting excitedly, clapping fervently. "We want a trial! Trial!"

"Trial!"

"Trial!!"

In an instant, amidst thunderous applause, the roaring voices of countless people erupted.

Huai Shi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nodded with a smile to the audience below, finally... letting out a sigh of relief.

"Someone! Tie her up and throw her in the kitchen."

He pointed to Hela and commanded loudly, "Await the justice that will be delivered shortly!"

The crowd responded with a thunderous roar.

All the while, at the entrance of the dining hall, the boy holding a cat gazed mockingly at the whole scene.

As if watching a farce played out by ants.

It is said that when people gather wood, the flames rise high.

Once the passion of these Dark Creatures was ignited, they moved with unbelievable speed. Soon, the tables and chairs were cleared to create a courtroom around the podium at the end of the dining hall.

Then, by unanimous vote, they chose Huai Shi, the one with the ideas, to take the position of prosecutor. The Dog-headed Man who was the first to cheer put on a white wig and fought with several others for the position of judge.

They even mockingly assigned a lawyer to Hela—a stammering fat man who could hardly speak coherently, but at least they had one, for what it was worth.

Huai Shi sat next to the judgment seat. He discussed the trial procedure with the Green Land Gnome who had been strung up just moments before and quickly settled on the general steps.

At the end, he asked, "Is the firewood ready? Don't let us find ourselves without firewood for the burning after the trial."

"We've got plenty! I moved all the fuel tanks over here!" the Green Land Gnome nodded excitedly, pointing at the gas tanks under the judgment seat, which made Huai Shi's heart skip a beat.

Damn, you're planning to blast the judge along with the jury sky-high.

Just a little spark could go BOOM.

Forget it, anyway, it's no concern of mine anymore.

Huai Shi nodded, indicating he'd done well, then washed his hands of the whole mess, leaving it to this crowd, under the pretext of going back to his room to change clothes.

And in the corridor, Ai Qing finally sighed in resignation.

"What on earth are you trying to do?"

"To be honest, I don't know." Huai Shi shook his head. "Your suggestion was never wrong—observing the changes is fine, but I don't want to stay passive anymore."

Ai Qing's voice became serious. "You're taking a risk, and it's pointless."

"She saved me, right?"

Huai Shi asked softly, "If it weren't for her, I might have been thrown into the sea by now."

"..." Ai Qing fell silent.

"Honestly, I still don't know what I should do, nor can I find anything to do, but I feel like I can't keep going on like this..."

Huai Shi scratched his head, looking a bit downcast. "At least, before things get worse, I must do something I want to do."

"So that's why you're saving her?"

"No, I just wanted to believe in her," Huai Shi countered. "Is it so unbelievable to trust someone who has saved your own life?"

Ai Qing didn't say anything more, only reminding him, "You don't have much time left."

"Five minutes, I can handle it. Trust me… I'm a seasoned pro when it comes to treachery and breaking the law."

Huai Shi shut his room door behind him with a flourish and rubbed his hands together. He stripped off his bothersome coat, then took out a knife and swiftly unscrewed the screws from his room's window one by one. With a pull, he ripped the entire thick, toughened glass window from the ship's bulkhead.

Gazing down at the pitch-black sea, so tranquil it seemed utterly lifeless, Huai Shi put on his mask. He took a deep breath and psyched himself up:

I can do this. I've got this.

In a flash, he leaped out!