Apocalypse Forecast

Ultimately, Stigmata are the remnants of miracles.

The miracles of the Abyss Genealogy, however, do not come from Current Circumstances, but stem from the Astronomical Society's observations and validations of the seven pillars at the heart of Current Circumstances, as well as their explorations and investigations of Hell over several eons.

They can be said to be the essence that remains from those dead worlds, once recognized as the most suitable Stigmata Genealogy for the exploration of Depth Hell.

Unfortunately, following the downfall of Utopia and the disappearance of the previous chairman, it has fallen apart and no longer shows any signs of coming together. It has been gradually forgotten. Now only a few prominent figures and lesser followers remain, and besides a few secret departments within the Astronomical Society and several scattered pioneering institutions across the world, it is rarely seen.

And these six major lineages are recognized as the six major ones because their potential is infinite. Not only are they more likely to give rise to The Crowned Ones among the Fifth Stage Sublimators—those who are destined by Heaven to be coronated as kings by Hell—but also because each of these six major lineages has a 'Natural Enemy' who transcends the ordinary world, beyond the Fifth Stage.

The Supreme Beings, who walk among men as gods, human-shaped Hells, are monsters that distort the world merely by existing in Current Circumstances.

Take for example, the father of the White Emperor's Son from Dongxia, universally recognized as the first among Hell Explorers, Traveler · Chu Hai, the first in history to return in one piece after entering the Abyss Bottom; the Green Neck from the India Genealogy who stirred the milk sea in a rage and forced Bagdad to overflow; the Twin Natural Enemy · Gatekeeper from Rome who once opened the Sky Gate and banished darkness from all worlds...

These are monsters capable of overturning Current Circumstances, and indeed, Current Circumstances is insufficient to support their existence. To maintain the stability of Current Circumstances, they can only operate within special Borders and Hell.

With such confidence, Dongxia naturally does not fear waging war against Paradise of Bliss. As long as it's in Current Circumstances, it's almost like whack-a-mole; one pops up, they smack one down.

It is for this reason that Ai Qing had the confidence to let Huai Shi lead Shen Yue to their doom.

With the Social Security Bureau backing them, it's nearly impossible for anything to go wrong.

No matter the situation, Shen Yue is still a Third Stage. If she can't win, she can always run. If she can earn some merit in the process to report back to the Social Security Bureau, that would be even better.

However, after hearing about Nine Phoenix's advancement from Liu DongLi, Ai Qing's expression also became grave.

Even if the overall situation is unharmed, no one wants to become the sacrificial pawn in a smaller scale game.

After sorting out the entire situation, Ai Qing pondered for a moment and then suddenly asked out of the blue, "Since you already plan to use explosives, why not choose a more efficient method?"

"You..."

Liu DongLi was stunned for a moment, then understood her meaning and instinctively shook his head. "That's impossible."

"No, it's possible."

Ai Qing raised her eyebrows, playing with the cell phone that still had one bar of battery in her hand, and said in a measured tone, "It's odd to say, but I actually have a friend working in the Current Circumstances coordination department, you know?"

"..."

Liu DongLi nodded, his feelings mixed. He understood, in all sorts of ways.

Whether the unfortunate friend Ai Qing mentioned is a "friend" in name but a "tool" in practice, or someone she can coerce because she has leverage over them, in any case, this plan seems to have a chance...

Therefore, Ai Qing slowly stood up, gazing at the box of explosives, enough to send an entire soccer stadium sky-high.

"So, let's show the bigwigs above what the minions can do."

.

.

Huai Shi now truly felt a sense of crisis.

An ally had inexplicably fallen from the sky to steal her kill!

She barely had time to consider Qi Wen as she tried to rush over, but found herself entangled by Qi Wen's many hands and feet and unable to break free.

So, Huai Shi could only watch as a long Naginata spiraled down from the sky, effortlessly tearing through the blood curtain around Qi Yuan, decapitating him.

The head landed in Qi Yuan's hands.

"So... it was hidden here?"

The face on the severed head slightly raised, looking at the stunned assailant in mid-air. Then, it reached out, the blood curtain converged, forming an Iron Fist, and violently smashed onto the body of the attacker, pinning her against the wall, impossible to pry loose.

And Qi Yuan still stood arrogantly upon the altar, slowly replacing his head back to where it belonged, leaving only a ferocious line of blood.

And within that line of blood, dark shadows continued to seep out, weaving behind him into a massive shadow, suppressing everyone's breath.

The strength that had differentiated from Nine Phoenix was clinging to his body, but that power did not come from the nine fierce heads. It came from that weeping blood, the headless neck.

From the severed neck, black blood slowly dripped down.

Bathed in this blood, he cast a cold gaze on the assailant, extended his hand, and the pitch-black blood curtain disintegrated into countless fine threads piercing towards her.

In an instant, the coat enveloping her was torn to shreds, and as countless pieces of fabric flew like butterflies, the ferocious ghost face within broke out with a blade's edge!

The massive Naginata instantly shrank, taking on the form of a Tachi, its blade inhaling and exhaling as it spiraled through the air, igniting all the entangled blood threads in its path.

Directed by the blade, Huai Shi, standing more than a dozen meters away, even felt an unprovoked heat, obviously not an ordinary occurrence.

What shocked Huai Shi even more was that, once the oversized coat was torn, it revealed a Teenage Girl's petite figure, with little leather shoes, black tights, and a sailor suit...

Was it really a JK?

If it weren't for the ferocious Prajna Mask on her face, she would have almost suspected that she had ended up at some absurd anime convention.

In the midst of the chaos, both glanced at each other, each seeing the astonishment in the other's eyes.

Huai Shi was first stunned, then furiously exclaimed, "What are you, a Second Stage, doing delivering fodder?"

Li Jian Amber was also furious, and what came out of her mouth was the perfectly pronounced Dongxia dialect, "Do you, a First Stage, have any shame in criticizing me!"

"We Dongxia have our own national conditions. It's none of your business!" Huai Shi shot back a retort, but before she could finish, she was interrupted by a series of shrill screams.

"Huai Shi! Huai Shi! Huai Shi!"

Qi Wen lunged at her again.

"'Huai Shi'? My ass!" Huai Shi roared in anger and swung her axe straight at his head. "If you're dead, then go to Hell properly! Don't you dare crawl back up here!"

The Thunder Axe Poison crisscrossed in the air.

Qi Wen's face was hacked into a bloody mess, but his movements didn't stop for even a second. Three arms and two spider legs sprouted from the mud, stabbing towards Huai Shi.

Next, his mushy face incredibly regenerated rapidly, staring straight at Huai Shi, constantly screaming, "Huai..."

"Don't you dare try to pad your part!"

Seeing that this bastard was about to pad three or four pages of her Book of Fate, Huai Shi couldn't suppress her rage any longer, charging forward with a leaping chop!

Chopped into a mess again, restored to his original state again.

Not just the face, but arms and legs too. Even if Huai Shi chopped him into halves, he could pull himself together again. Despite his clunky attacks, as Huai Shi continued her Offensive, the organs he mutated became increasingly bizarre.

Within a minute, his body was already covered in a chaotic mess of eyes, noses, hands, feet, tentacles, claws, and even guts turned inside out. At first glance, it looked like a pot of dog-shit curry stewing a jumble, repulsively unappetizing.

Soon Huai Shi discovered the source of this abnormal vitality. At this point, Qi Wen had been injected with black blood from the Lord of Nine Phoenixes by Qi Yuan, and it was rather high-quality stuff, transforming him into an undying mud monster.

What to do if my damage output isn't enough?

Huai Shi quickly retreated, taking a moment to pull out Raven's manual and desperately flipped to the back, finally finding the answer to her problem on the last page:

[Popping Pills]

—The white tube, one pill for a fight, three for annihilation, pop them all to self-destruct.

Pills?

What pills?

Huai Shi fumbled awkwardly all over herself, searching through the assorted items stuffed in her travel pack.

MP3? No! Phone? No! Keys? No! Wallet? No! Porn magazine? No! Wait... Why is this kind of thing even in my bag?

Huai Shi looked at the large characters "Dragon Tiger Leopard" on the thick magazine with a stunned expression, completely baffled as to why Raven would stuff this thing in her pack. Was it because she was afraid I'd be scared in the pitch-black subway and gave me something to stave off loneliness?

"Eat my hidden weapon!"

She flung the item at Qi Wen's head, then continued searching until she finally found a tube of pills in her pocket. They were pure white like snowflakes, crystal clear like rock sugar.

After prying open the lid and taking a sniff, Huai Shi instantly couldn't help but laugh, a joy that seemed to lift her spirits as if she were soaring through the skies, making everything look pleasant.

Even Qi Wen seemed, oh, kind of ugly-cute and endearing on closer look, making me want to pat him a couple of times.

She quickly came to her senses.

Of course, I know what this is.

If Apocalypse was the crystallization of death and my own negative energy, then this stuff was the condensed essence of life and happiness—Liberator, as Raven once called it.

It's commonly used as an important material for making various high-grade recovery Potions and can only be condensed from the Source Substance of people who died happy.

Some foreign workshops even sponsor TV shows dedicated to fulfilling the last wishes of dying people, just to collect this stuff.

A pound of Apocalypse sells for only about a hundred thousand, and this stuff is also around a hundred thousand—but that's per piece! A single piece costs about a hundred thousand!

At this thought, Huai Shi's heart broke.

She really couldn't bear to take it!

But faced with Qi Wen who was pressing in step by step, rapidly evolving from a Little Dragon into a Hundred Change Strange, and then looking at the kill that was about to be snatched away, she fiercely steeled her heart, ground her teeth, stomped her foot, popped open the lid, and poured out three pills.

Then, in one breath... she shoved them into the large hole in her chest.

Yes, that's what the manual said.

Don't ask why. Just know that I'm awesome. —Raven's addendum.

Huai Shi just hoped Raven hadn't tricked her this time. But as soon as she stuffed them inside, she realized something wasn't quite right. This Liberator is positive energy, right? But my Stigma, and whatever is filling my chest... that doesn't seem like bright, positive, uplifting stuff, does it?

Putting the two together, could it possibly...

BOOM!

Huai Shi's world went dark.