Apocalypse Forecast

"Is there even a need to ask?" Ai Qing sneered. "It looks like my cousin is scared, isn't he? Desperate to find an ally."

Huai Shi looked at Yin Yan and asked seriously, "Why me?"

"At least you have more conscience than my cousin, not as much of a 'Second fifth' as the others. Isn't that reason enough?" Yin Yan retorted.

From the beginning, he knew Huai Shi was up to something.

Relying on his Stigma, he had cloaked himself here, witnessing the whole process. He only emerged after confirming that Huai Shi's actions were genuine.

"One of you is a Vampire, the other a Believer... Heh, whatever the Stigma Genealogy is up to on this ship has nothing to do with me, nor does my secret concern you."

Yin Yan asked, "I help you, you help me. How about it?"

"An alliance?" Huai Shi asked cautiously.

"To be honest, I trust your family's magic conch even less than I trust others," Yin Yan said coldly. "It's not so much an alliance; think of it more as extra insurance."

"Don't let him off easy," Ai Qing said, as if she could see through his aloof facade. "He's here for help. Press him to offer something in return."

Seeing Huai Shi's expression turn serious, Yin Yan quickly asked, "If I'm not mistaken, she wants you to put on a negotiating face to deal with me now, right?"

Huai Shi remained silent, feeling like he had become the platform for these siblings to spar.

"It doesn't matter. I have a piece of free information for you."

Yin Yan spoke calmly, "Last night, I hid at the entrance to the hold and personally saw Lei Feizhou and someone else behead Yue Jun—how about that? Is this news significant enough?"

As he spoke, he enjoyed Huai Shi's astonished face, a mocking smile emerging. "These years, it's not just you who has grown capable, 'sister'."

That reference always sounded profound, leaving one to wonder if it was meant affectionately or resentfully.

"What do you want?" Ai Qing asked directly.

"Help me kill Koshchey, that old man. How about that?" Yin Yan suddenly suggested.

"Can't do it," Huai Shi conveyed Ai Qing's answer, "The price you're asking is too high."

To this moment, he still hadn't recovered from the shock and couldn't figure out whether Yin Yan was laying traps or stating his true intentions, including the news he had provided, of which he was somewhat skeptical.

"It's enough to lend a hand when necessary, how about that?" Yin Yan said. "Before that, just don't get in the way."

"Do you agree?" Huai Shi asked.

"Agree, why not?" Ai Qing said indifferently. "What's the big deal? If worst comes to worst, we can always deny it when the time comes, right?"

Ew! You tacticians are all so devious!

Huai Shi nodded helplessly.

"Good." Yin Yan looked at him deeply. "I will come to you when necessary."

He stepped back, and his figure faded. All Huai Shi saw was the door open briefly and then close again.

After the last incident, he seemed to have learned his lesson, leaving no trace for Huai Shi to follow. Huai Shi didn't even know if he was still in the room.

But there wasn't much time left.

He sighed and reached out towards Hela. "Let's go. We need to leave here quickly."

Hela stared at him intently for a long time.

Just as Huai Shi was growing impatient, she took his hand.

"Let's go," she said.

Huai Shi swung his arm, tossing her into the ventilation duct.

In the brief crawl through the duct, Huai Shi suddenly heard a faint voice ahead of him, "Thank you."

"Ah, don't mention it."

He instinctively looked up, only to see a shoe sole rapidly enlarging in front of his eyes and kicking him in the face. "Don't look!"

"Alright, alright."

Huai Shi then remembered she was wearing a skirt and quickly lowered his head, pretending he hadn't seen anything, and continued to crawl forward. Soon, the ventilation duct came to an end.

Hela jumped down.

In the silence, Huai Shi sighed, wiped the shoe print from his face, and followed by jumping down.

And then, he stood there, stunned.

He saw, in front of the broken porthole, the young woman slumped against the wall, and the blood that had spread to her feet. An Orange cat sat quietly in the pool of blood, bending down slowly to lick at the corpse that had just been alive moments before.

Eating at its leisure.

Hela.

She looked as if she'd been torn apart; she shattered into several pieces before even hitting the ground.

Her pale face stared blankly at the cracks in the ceiling until the last moment, until death was upon her, her lips still bearing that smile that Huai Shi had never seen.

The smile was tender, like morning dew about to evaporate under the sun's rays.

Huai Shi averted his gaze, unable to bear looking any longer.

He looked up to find the Pharaoh from Egypt looking back at him with a smile that could have been concern or mockery.

"You looked like you were being held hostage by that woman, so I came to lend a hand. Hope you don't mind?" the Pharaoh asked.

In the long silence, Huai Shi's hand tightened then released.

After a while, he looked up, showing a grateful smile.

"Not at all," he said, bowing his head deeply. "Thank you for your assistance, Your Excellency."

"That's good. HAHA, HAHAHAHA."

The Pharaoh admired his grateful expression and laughed heartily, beckoning to the cat on the ground, "Let's go, Sphinx."

The cat reluctantly licked the blood, still warm, and then turned to leave with its master.

Only Huai Shi remained in place, maintaining the posture of a deep bow in thanks.

After a long, long while, he whispered softly, "Ai Qing, I must kill him."

When Huai Shi returned to the scene, the trial had already fizzled out.

Because it wasn't long before someone discovered that the accused had tried to escape and was then personally killed by the Pharaoh. Although a death sentence for Hela in the name of the Dark World had not been possible, no one dared to confront the Pharaoh to say his actions had been disappointing, depriving them of their fun.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, the Dark Creatures were certainly experts.

Moreover, after being besieged by the Stigma Genealogy for so many years, those with noble qualities were probably long gone. The scenario often found in novels, where the Pope is an evil figure and every Dark Creature is a Hero, was highly unlikely to occur here.

They were merely a group of startled birds, scared out of their wits, screaming for their mothers at the sight of a Believer aboard the ship.

Could this new world truly offer them a place of refuge?

Huai Shi looked deeply at the empty trial platform and then turned to leave, returning to his room.

As he opened the door, he couldn't help but hold his breath.

"Sorry, that room was a bit dirty, so I came here," said the Teenage Girl.

Sitting at the desk by the window, the girl reading a book lifted her gaze, her silver hair reflecting a metallic shimmer under the oil lamp.

It was Hela.

Huai Shi stared at her blankly, his lips opening and closing, unsure what to say.

"You... you're not..."

"Just a little Doppelgänger trick," Hela said, tilting her head as she looked at him. "Haven't you encountered one before?"

A Doppelgänger denotes two people with similar appearances and can be directly understood to mean a double or dual existence—simply put, it's the phenomenon of two identical people existing at the same time. From memory to appearance, there is no difference; they are indistinguishable. Such rumors are everywhere, from Egypt to Rome, and the terrifying legends that arise from them are countless.

For Sublimators, it's a rare skill, generally only attempted by 'Scholars', those who try to mirror their Soul into a Puppet. After all, it's rare for someone to multitask, controlling two bodies at once, and the materials that are compatible with one's Soul are often too rare and troublesome to create. Due to material and inherent limitations, it couldn't even provide enhanced combat power. It was just a convenient Vest for performing two tasks simultaneously, and there were even more convenient alternatives. Therefore, apart from a few specific Domains, few people researched such things.

Huai Shi stared at Hela in front of him, stunned. He stepped forward and cautiously touched her shoulder. "You... you're really not dead?"

Seemingly uncomfortable with such close contact, Hela frowned slightly. "If you don't mind, I can step on you again... I guarantee it will be the same shoe size as the one on your face."

"No, thanks!"

Huai Shi reflexively reached to wipe his face but, after rubbing for a while, saw no dirt or Ashes, only then noticing Hela's light smile, like a dewdrop.

He coughed a few times and sat on the edge of the bed, asking cautiously, "So... are we friends now?"

"Not really."

Hela shook her head, saying calmly, "After all, once we leave this ship, we'll be strangers. There's no need to establish such a close relationship."

She said, "It's better not to be friends at all."

Huai Shi was puzzled.

"If you become my friend, I'd have to start being wary and vigilant around you," she said, looking into Huai Shi's eyes as if imparting the Truth, "Otherwise, you'll betray me when I trust you the most."

Huai Shi didn't know who had taught her this hardcore logic and could only nod helplessly. "Alright, allies then. Is that okay?"

Anyway, having one more ally is a good thing. At least she seems more reliable than my own teammates, who all seem like a bunch of turncoats.

"Then, what is your name?" asked Hela formally. "As allies, we should at least share our names, right?"

"Uh... Huai Shi."

Huai Shi hesitated for a moment but ultimately gave his real name. "As you can see, I'm somewhat of a vegetarian Vampire."

Hela remained silent, her gaze fixed squarely on him as if to discern whether he was lying. After a while, she nodded in approval.

"Lily," she said. "Just call me Lily."

Lily.

"Isn't it Hela?" Huai Shi was astonished.

"HEL is my registration name."

Hela lifted the weighty ancient book in her hand. "A Scholar's code of conduct—when I'm operating as a Scholar, I must tell others this name. But as partners, just call me Lily."