Apocalypse Forecast

Buffeted by a foul-smelling wind, Yuan Zhao felt an instinctual malaise, followed by dizziness and blurring vision. Then, he was flung onto the ground by Huai Shi, who drew the Sword of Virtue to slice his own hand, flicking two drops of blood into Yuan Zhao's mouth.

There was no time to concoct an antidote, so using poison to fight poison it was.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yuan Zhao accidentally swallowed a drop of Huai Shi's blood, and his face turned green. But then, he felt his darkening vision gradually brighten along with the spreading taste of rust.

For a moment, his complexion changed. He wasn't ungrateful enough to complain about Huai Shi's weird method of detoxification, silently praying that the White-named face didn't have any contagious diseases...

Suddenly, he realized something and exclaimed in horror, "Damn it!"

"I see it," Huai Shi said expressionlessly as he pulled out a shotgun, loaded it, and scanned the surroundings amid the screeching of the startled Crow Flock. Finally, he abruptly swung the shotgun around and pulled the trigger at the area behind him.

BANG!

A loud explosion erupted.

A semi-transparent figure was blasted out of thin air, letting out a miserable scream as blood splattered, only to disappear without a trace soon after, as if it had become invisible.

"What the hell!"

By now, Yuan Zhao could no longer be ignorant of the enemy attack. He pulled out his gun and stabbed wildly at the air around him. But the attacker was clearly adept at stealth. With Yuan Zhao's frantic jabbing, there was no chance of hitting anything.

Now that the enemy had shed their underestimation and truly submerged into the darkness, even Huai Shi found it difficult to detect their presence through the sight of the Ravens.

"Let's go!"

Huai Shi reached into his waist pouch, grabbed a handful of metal chunks, and immediately began to melt them in his hands. The Alchemy Fire flashed, and after a mere two seconds, he released his grip.

With a blinding flash, an Apocalypse Gray Smoke Grenade exploded around them, engulfing everything in a gray fog.

Huai Shi grabbed Yuan Zhao by the collar and sprinted forward.

Then, he heard a piercing wail from the skies above.

From atop a distant high-rise, a crouching figure, following instructions in their earpiece, selected arrows from the quiver beside them. They finally drew out a slender arrow with an iron-gray feather at the end, notching it to the massive iron bow aimed skyward.

The bowstring was pulled, emitting a grating sound that set teeth on edge.

As their fingers released, the wail shot up into the sky.

A speck of iron light penetrated the clouds. But as the glow faded, soon, one point, two points, ten, then a hundred points of iron light lit up like torrential rain from the dark gray clouds, plummeting toward the ground.

The smoke-covered area was completely blanketed in their descent.

Arrows of the downpour fell from heaven in an instant.

"Let me go!"

Yuan Zhao struggled, breaking free from Huai Shi's grasp. He flipped through the air to draw a slender iron chain from his chest, fastening it to the front end of the Trident, before thrusting the Long Spear upward into the sky.

Instantly, the spear shaft began to tremble. The iron chain tightly clasped onto it lashed through the air like a whip, emitting a deep whistling sound. Under the flicking and whipping of the slender iron chain, all the arrows that plummeted like meteors were blocked from reaching the spear's blade, veering off towards other directions.

This spectacular move left Huai Shi's eyes wide with amazement.

Luo Lao had only taught him the basics of handling long weapons, but this technique clearly belonged to the secret transmissions of a martial school, honed by predecessors and not something one could just pick up on the spot.

If the place had been appropriate, Huai Shi would have grabbed Yuan Zhao right then and there to milk some tricks from him.

"Jealous, aren't you?" Yuan Zhao glanced sideways at the astounded Huai Shi, his eyebrows raised in pride. "Our Yuan Family's secret techniques, you think you can learn them?"

Alright then, let the Little Brag gloat for a moment.

However, as they continued their frenzied run, they soon encountered a Sublimator who landed from the sky, wielding a large shield, and forcefully hammered a heavy stake into the ground.

Amidst the roaring sound, two beams of light shot out from where the iron stake hit the ground, latching onto Huai Shi and Yuan Zhao.

Immediately after, their bodies jolted, feeling significantly heavier. The ethereal beams of light tugged at them, making it increasingly difficult to move the more they resisted.

This was clearly an item under the category of the Joyful Framework. While the principle behind it was unknown, once hit by the light from the iron stake, escape was impossible.

TSK.

Sensing the sudden surge of Source Fluctuation in the distance ahead, Huai Shi stopped and turned to look back.

In the dense forest behind them, under the dim, fleeting light, the outlines of about a dozen human figures slowly emerged.

"Lucky we contacted another team, or you really would have gotten away..."

The leading Sublimator, donning a ghost mask and wielding firearms, surveyed Huai Shi and Yuan Zhao next to him with cold eyes and suddenly spoke, "Hey, Little Brag, we're only after Huai Shi. Walk away now, and we won't kill you."

"I knew it was your trouble!" Yuan Zhao instantly glared back in anger. "How many people have you offended exactly? Why are so many coming after you?"

After some thought, Huai Shi shrugged helplessly. "Quite a lot actually... I used to keep count, but now it's too many to track."

"This time, I'm really screwed because of you."

Yuan Zhao grumbled irritably, took the chain off the spear blade, stuffed it into his chest, and lifted his eyes to the front. "Hey, you know we're from the Jinling Social Security Bureau and still dare to attack us?"

"How novel, thinking revealing your identity determines the outcome? Then why even hold the rookie competition?"

On the other end, another Sublimator approaching with a knife sneered, "I'm giving you the last five seconds to scram. Don't bring trouble upon yourself..."

"What, you think I, Young Master Yuan, will leave just because you told me to? What about my face?" Yuan Zhao scoffed, turning back and pointing the spear blade at the man's face. "I'll teach you a lesson today. If you want to fight me one by one and escort me back, I won't say a word, admitting defeat. I'll acknowledge my lack of skill, and we'll see each other at the Border in the future.

But if you want to gang up on me, let me remind you first. My cousin is the head of the Jinling Social Security Bureau. My cousin sister's surname is Zhu and her name is Zhu Qingyu; she is currently the second-ranking White Emperor's Son of Dongxia. My great-grandfather is a Minister in charge of the southwestern Border military affairs in the Cabinet. And my mother's surname is Li—from the Li family in Yanjing!"

Gazing at the astonished Sublimators, Yuan Zhao spat disdainfully on the ground and crooked his finger at them.

"I'm taking care of this matter today. If you scoundrels have the guts, bring it on! If I take so much as one step back, I'm not a Yuan!"