Apocalypse Forecast

After Ai Qing left, the sneaky Raven emerged from a corner.

"Ah, finally gone?"

Raven sighed. "I couldn't bear to watch. You really broke her heart."

"Did I?" Huai Shi was astonished.

"That kind of scoundrelly tone... I don't remember teaching you that."

Raven gave him a cold look. "Right now, if you'd just shown a bit of gentleness, said a few understanding words, you could have started an incredible new path."

As she spoke, she suddenly realized something. "No, wait. You didn't intentionally avoid saying those things, did you?"

"..."

Huai Shi remained silent, not because he was afraid of others finding him talking to a Raven—after all, anyone looking would only see him staring blankly while holding a book. He simply didn't know how to answer the question.

After a long pause, he finally spoke. "When I was very young, I understood one thing: the world never lacks cheap recognition and goodwill. These things, like empty promises with no guarantee of fulfillment or groundless closeness, are all meaningless and worthless.

"When you don't understand a person's pain and past, how can you make any guarantees about the problems and future she faces? Rather than adding to the pain and anger later, it's better to maintain a respectful distance from the start. Ai Qing doesn't need my pity or approval; she's much stronger than most. If I spouted worthless words now, rambling about passionate friendship and victory, it would only make her look down on me."

"So, you're playing the long game, huh?"

Raven nodded knowingly. "I take back what I just said. You, my friend, might actually get yourself killed for playing with a teenage girl's heart in the future."

"...Can't you wish me well for once? And what's this about 'playing the long game'?" Huai Shi rolled his eyes. "Did you just come here to spout nonsense?"

"Isn't this the perfect occasion?" Raven spread her wings. "Watching my own BOY teetering on the edge of friendliness and unfamiliar favorability ratings... it's quite a complex feeling, you know."

"Did you hear what she said then?"

"Yep."

"The Yin's family?" Huai Shi asked.

"It might indeed be possible," Raven nodded. "So, what will you do?"

"Yeah, what will I do?" Huai Shi mused to himself but didn't answer her question.

"Let's talk about the future later. I actually came to notify you," Raven interrupted his train of thought. "Although this prison drama is pretty good, it's a pity your jail time might not last much longer."

"Are they going to shoot me?" Huai Shi was alarmed. "That can't be right! What about the Juvenile Protection Law?"

"Sublimators aren't covered by the Juvenile Protection Law, thank you very much." Raven glanced at the hopeless guy. "What are you panicking for? Even if they were going to shoot you, it's still too early for that."

"So I'm being released?" Huai Shi's eyes lit up with hope.

"No. The Purified People are planning something big," Raven said. "Before long, you might get dragged into it, even while you're in jail. So, brace yourself. I'll also finish forging your Stigma before that happens."

"Something big?" Huai Shi was taken aback. "How big?"

"As big as Magic City!"

"I think I get what you mean, but what on earth *is* Magic City? Why does everyone talk about it like it's some terrifying version of Hell?"

"It *is* Hell, no mistake about it," Raven calmly explained. "Depth Twenty-Seven's Hell: Magic City, along with Depth Twenty-Nine's Hell: Metropolis, and Depth Thirty-One's Hell: Holy City. These three places were once a major threat to the Astronomical Society. After being sealed away at all costs, they were banished to the deepest parts of Hell. You can think of them as literal Dark Zones—inhospitable wastelands, terrifying regions where humans can barely survive."

"Is it really that exaggerated?"

"What if I told you that where Xinhai now stands, there was once a super-metropolis? Tens of millions of inhabitants, covering tens of millions of square kilometers. It was hailed as one of the world's economic centers, Dongxia's brightest jewel, and one of its most crucial seaports. What would you think then?"

"Then my family would have been incredibly awesome!" Huai Shi's eyes widened.

Raven rolled her eyes, ignoring him. "In the previous era, such a city existed right where Xinhai is now. But then something... undesirable happened. You understand?"

Huai Shi froze, a dreadful premonition gripping his heart.

"And then?"

"And then, it became what it is now. Gone, along with twenty million people." Shrugging, Raven continued, "Even its name became taboo. You can't even utter it. You have to use the alias 'Magic City' to refer to it."

Then, Raven spoke, "Its name is [**]."

Huai Shi could only hear a muffled sound. He looked down at the Book of Fate, which merely showed several asterisks. An invisible power had erased all information about it from the Current Circumstances. In the grand cosmic scheme, all intelligence regarding Magic City was obliterated.

"But... what does this have to do with The Purified People?"

"Next up is Sister Crow's exclusive intel," Raven said with a mysterious smile. "What they want to do is nothing more than reopen the path to Magic City. To be precise, they want to let Magic City rise again, to reappear in this world... And the first step is to tear a rift in the Current Circumstances' isolation, carve out a small path, then destroy Xinhai's—or some other place's—dimensional wedges to make room for Magic City... Finally, BOOM!"

As Raven spoke, she slowly spread her wings and made an explosive gesture. "In a sense, Green Day's goal is the same as The Purified People's. The Wind Disaster Beast that descended almost uprooted Xinhai's dimensional wedge... Now, do you understand how bad the situation is?"

"Doesn't this mean Xinhai is doomed?" Huai Shi exclaimed, his face draining of color.

"What are you panicking about?" Raven rolled her eyes. "It's not just Xinhai. This could throw the entire coastal region into chaos. Do you think you're the only one antsy about it?

"Even if The Purified People wanted to go head-to-head with the Astronomical Society and the Social Security Bureau, they wouldn't choose a godforsaken place like Xinhai. Stirring up trouble here is, at best, a way to make some noise and draw attention. The real battle is happening far, far away... With your current skill level, you probably wouldn't even make it to the battlefield, so stop worrying needlessly."

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"I'm worried you might let your guard down. Just wanted to prepare you mentally, in case anything happens." While speaking, she patted his shoulder with her wing. "Don't worry, don't worry. You're my Contractor, after all. If something happens, Sis will grab you and run."

Huai Shi rolled his eyes. "So basically, I should just eat, sleep, and wait, right?"

"Exactly," Raven said shrewdly. "If something big happens, you just pop out, take down a few of The Purified People, and watch your merits skyrocket, right? Reducing your sentence would be a piece of cake then. You might even get released on the spot!"

"That tone of yours..." Huai Shi glanced at her skeptically. "If something really does go down, fine. But don't you go causing trouble if it doesn't!"

"Relax, relax. Am I that kind of person?" Raven let out a few oblivious laughs, then looked elsewhere. "Why would I need to stir up trouble? Isn't this place already a tinderbox just waiting for a spark?

"But seeing you're in good condition, I'm relieved. Otherwise, the folks at home would be really worried."

Huai Shi couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. "My whole family is dead. Who the hell would worry about me?"

"Aw, but you still have me, Sister Crow, right? If you ever feel like crying, you can always seek refuge in Sister's embrace~" Raven went on with her teasing nonsense.

After the usual check-up of his body, Huai Shi began to study the new transformations of his Soul Ability.

Perhaps due to Raven's remedy, during the battle a few days ago, Huai Shi discovered that besides the Invisible Axe condensed from killing intent and anger, he could also materialize the negative emotion of Sorrow through his Hand of Confinement after deliberately isolating it.

Its form was a grey-black rope, about as thick as a pinkie finger and astonishingly tenacious. What was more surprising was its seemingly unlimited length; it could stretch continuously until Huai Shi could no longer sustain it. Its usual length was about twenty meters. It could move according to his will, at a speed roughly matching his own.

Like the Axe of Anger, the rope condensed from Sorrow could make those bound by it empathetically experience one of Huai Shi's most extreme emotions, thereby losing their ability to resist under the mental shock.

It seemed the Hand of Confinement, his Soul Ability developed over seven years of intense stress, possessed far more variations than other, simpler Soul Abilities; it wasn't limited to just forming an axe.

He had wanted to develop other emotions as well, but unfortunately, his efforts were futile. Raven's explanation for this was: There's no need to force it. When enough has accumulated, it will manifest naturally.

The Soul, though transcendent of material substance, was still limited by a Sublimator's physical body. Once he reached the Second Stage, then the Third Stage, and his body was sufficiently strengthened by the Stigma, his abilities would gain new room for improvement. Perhaps then, there would be a qualitative transformation. Therefore, there was no need to waste too much effort actively pursuing such developments early on; it was best to let things happen naturally.

At the same time, Raven brought another piece of good news: his growth period, it seemed, was officially over.

Under constant battle and psychological pressure, aided by her specially concocted concentrated Potion, what should have taken a month was compressed into about a week. He had broken through the final barrier during his fight with Naga.

That was why Huai Shi had felt so weak upon waking up. His body wasn't just healing internal injuries; it was also reinforcing the repaired areas. No amount of saline or glucose drips could cover such a massive deficit. Even when the Special Affairs Department provided Alchemy Potions for his treatment, it was merely a drop in the ocean. If Raven hadn't snuck in several times to feed him her specially made restorative Potions, Huai Shi might have died from exhaustion.

"Wait, how did you feed me?" Huai Shi looked at her suspiciously, unable to see any hands on her.

"Oh my, your question is so crude," Raven feigned coyness, fidgeting for a long moment before whispering, "Mouth-to-mouth, of course. Isn't that the fastest way?"

He'd be a fool to believe her!

After she left, Huai Shi lay back on his bed, planning to drift off into another blissful, indulgent dream. But her recent warning made him hesitant to relax completely. He quietly pulled out the Book of Fate from under his covers and entered its records.

「Not long after, he reappeared on that once-ravaged training field.」

Face-to-face with that burly, iron-strong instructor.

Perhaps because he had "farmed" this instance so many times recently, the instructor instinctively took a step back upon seeing him, adopting a defensive stance.

"Don't be scared, bro. We're not practicing military boxing today," Huai Shi said reassuringly, waving his hand. Then, using the permissions granted by the Book of Fate, he materialized two dark green Curved Knives in his hands, brandished them at the instructor, and smiled warmly. "How about we try out this new knife technique I've learned?"