Apocalyptic Forecast - Chapter 28
Chapter 28: You Dare To Jump Out Of My Car?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
By the time Huai Shi woke up, it was already nighttime.
“They say that yesterday’s happenings have made the headlines of East Asia Edition’s news.”
The crow clutched the phone in her claws and scrolled through the screen. She clicked her tongue and exclaimed, “It was an emergency mobilization after all. Even the White Emperor was dispatched, so there was no way it could have been hidden from those who were born in the year of the fly.”
“Is that tomorrow’s news?”
Huai Shi reached his head out with great effort and took a peek. Upon seeing the application, he was immediately stunned. “Isn’t this that trash newspaper that said they would not report anything other than the truth?”
Every two or three days, this trash newspaper would report all sorts of strange and unreliable news, as well as ridiculous health tips and tricks. The fact that it could survive until now was even more ridiculous.
“Emmm, as long as you pay up, they will occasionally speak the truth… right?”
The crow sighed. “After all, it is the border’s biggest, most expensive, and darkest intelligence trader and intermediary group. In the current situation, it’ll be enough so long as the industry can act as a transportation channel. However, they’re still pretty reliable when it comes to news regarding the Ascenders.”
The crow passed the phone to him so he could see it himself. “Now, the identity of the main culprit behind the scenes has been dug up. A third-stage Ascender, originally a Roman bodyguard who had been strangely missing for a few years. When he reappeared once again at Baghdad, he was already a member of the infamous terrorist organization, Green Day. After joining Green Day, he wiped out his real name according to the rules and was left with just a code name—Red Glove. I can only say that it’s too fitting.”
“There’s even a full face picture here?”
Huai Shi scooched over and scrutinized the face in the picture. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “He looks rather friendly.”
“Uh-huh, indeed. Apparently, all these years, he’s been running around for Green Day, secretly linking up with a lot of powerful people.
“His soul ability is the Sneering Fish Tank. You’ve already seen it, and you should have a deep understanding of it. He splits his own elementium into goldfish and plants them in the bodies of others, so he can issue commands in secret.
“The goldfish is very hard to detect before they hatch, but until they do, they can only be issued a few prods to subtly influence them. After they hatch, the victims can be completely transformed into his yes-men.
“There are only seven goldfish. If one is lost, it would take a pretty long time to make up for the loss.
“And the stigma implanted on his body is the already third stage Tombstone School Branch – Taxim. The mythical living dead person with a relatively indomitable survival strength. They say that as long as the brain survives, then his survival is not really threatened. Its special feature is that it can wipe out one’s presence, achieving the effect of invisibility.
“Once the stigma is activated, no one would notice, even in the middle of a busy city… This ability suits a certain green platform quite well.
“Its flaw is that the invisibility effect comes from twisting people’s cognitive reception, so it has no effect on cameras, pictures, and reflections.”
“So, we’ve already discovered many details about it?”
Huai Shi was stunned.
“Of course. If not, how would it sell?” The crow sighed. “With the funds I have on hand at the moment I could only buy this mainstream edition. Luckily, this bro is more active; otherwise, I’d have to pull out a few more…”
“Wait, wait—”
Huai Shi snapped back to his senses. “Where did you get money from?”
The crow smiled mysteriously.
Huai Shi hastily pulled out his phone and his eyes nearly popped out of his head upon seeing the rows of cash-deduction notifications. The twenty or so thousand that he had earned as a gigolo without any regard for his life… It was all gone!
Not to mention, over three thousand had been deducted from his credit!
“You’re a piece of work! Couldn’t you have bought something cheaper!”
“There’s no use in getting cheap things,” the crow retorted. “Besides, since you’re going to court death, there’s no point in leaving any money behind, right?”
“Who said I was going to court death!?”
Huai Shi widened his eyes and held up his phone. “Don’t I know how to call someone?”
The crow was dumbfounded.
The gaze fixed on Huai Shi was one of disbelief, shock… and a motherf*cking, laughable irony.
“Two hours ago, weren’t you shouting that you were going to kill him?”
The crow’s eyes widened. “Besides, where on earth did you learn this lame habit of calling for help anytime you have a problem? In any case, you’re the person being recorded by the Book of Destiny. Don’t you have any sort of awareness as the main character?”
Huai Shi was angry. He picked up the crow’s phone and pointed at the news on the screen. “He’s already upgraded three times. A level zero noob like me trying to duel the boss… Am I going to put myself on a platter for him? Even a main character wouldn’t be so stubborn!”
“He’s already crippled, pal, do you not even know how to finish the job? If you have a problem you can’t solve, then just fight it out foolishly. Killing monsters above your grade gives double the experience, you know?”
The crow rolled her eyes at him, feeling resentful that he did not meet her expectations. “Furthermore, who are you planning to call? Liu Dongli is still f*cking resting in the ICU!”
“Uh, Ai Qing?”
“Before she left, she already said that she was immediately heading to Jinling. She might already be on the plane now. Everything will be cold by the time she gets back!”
“The Special Affairs Bureau?”
“Do you have their contact?”
“Then…”
Huai Shi hesitated. “How about 110?”1
The crow looked at him silently for a long time, before sighing helplessly. “What are you planning to tell them? Even if you tell them everything from the beginning, others will just dismiss it as a modern hipster fantasy story, right?
“Additionally, even if you located the Special Affairs Bureau, how would you explain to them the reason why you know all of this? They might even suspect that you’re a mole for Green Day! Will you believe me when I say that once you’re done explaining my business, they’ll immediately hand you a VIP ticket straight to prison?”
“F*ck me. This can’t be done, that can’t be done…”
Huai Shi smacked the table indignantly, before abruptly cooling down again. “Then what if… we just forget about it?”
“That’s fine too.”
The crow glanced at him. “From now on, you’ll walk your path, and I’ll walk mine. Brother Red Glove will be on the loose and continue to make a mess of things while you achieve the peak of life through hard work and cheat codes… If you can accept this, then I’ll simply accept it.”
Huai Shi felt despicable.
The crow shook her head and lifted her wings to pat Huai Shi’s shoulder. “Young person, would this older sister harm you?”
“Yeah!”
Huai Shi glared at her. “You’ve harmed me all over from head to tail, okay!”
“Ahem ahem, let us not discuss the matter of the wanted criminal for now…”
She awkwardly coughed twice and said in a tone full of sincerity, “Besides, think about it. This is revenge, sweet revenge! A classic theater show! A program that everyone loves to hear and see! To be able to have this opportunity in your lifetime, are you still not content?
“As the owner of the Book of Destiny, you’ve already become an Ascender—don’t restrict yourself with those weak regulations anymore.
“Before the Decemviri of the Governance Bureau publishes the Law of the Twelve Tables, there is only one applicable law between Ascenders, and that is an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!”
She fixed her gaze on her summoner. Her blood-red eyes were filled with a cold seriousness. With no more trace of teasing or joking in her tone, she spoke as if she were announcing the facts of the matter. “If in this process, there really are some things that I can teach you, then this would be the first lesson—this world does not hold any warmth or empathy toward those who are weak, and there is no leeway given for cowards to escape either.
“It’s as you have already experienced—if you don’t control your destiny, then your destiny will control you!”
“…”
Huai Shi was stunned. He stared dumbfoundedly at the crow in front of him, just as he did when he first saw her. Seeing his dumbstruck expression, the crow instantly became gleeful. “How was it? Does it feel like you’ve gotten to know me, this older sister, again? I spent all of last night coming up with such a tough line, you know! Hurry, say some nice words and praise me!”
“…”
The yearning that was so normally hard to come by in Huai Shi’s heart immediately vanished into thin air as he sighed to himself. ‘This big sister spoke in such a f*cking awesome way, but she might be all bark and no bite, with the intention to bluff newbies like me.’
However… What she said did make sense.
He thought for a long while and meticulously sized up the crow in front of him before suddenly making a bold guess.
“Emmmm… Just saying, but do you possibly have any sort of hidden combat skills? Could you possibly transform during critical times? We could combine as human and bird, and you could become armor while I become Saint Seiya…”
The crow rolled her eyes and looked at him as if he were retarded. “Cut me some slack, I’m just a bird.”
“Then what did you say so much for?” Huai Shi glared. “Am I supposed to single-handedly chop that guy to death with an ax?”
“Relax. Even without guns, and without bombs…”
The crow looked outside the window toward the yard, where a car was parked. “You can still rely on your allies.”
It was Liu Dongli’s car.
Huai Shi’s gaze brightened as well. “That’s right, Old Liu has a lot of good stuff!”
Very quickly, he dragged his iron pickaxe out the door. After circling the car that Liu Dongli had left at his place a few times, he found a spot on the back window of the car and lifted the pickaxe up behind his head.
“Old Liu, I’m going to take revenge for you now, so… don’t fuss over these small things.”
Bang!
The obviously expensive bright red sports car gave a sudden jolt. The car window had been neatly smashed open, and an alarm started to sound.
When Huai Shi pulled out a metal box with the earth sign of the Astronomical Association printed on it from behind the glass, he could not help but laugh. “Aha, as expected, it’s here!”
He had seen it clearly during these two days. That gigolo, Liu Dongli, had pulled out all his weapons from here. Thus, he hoped that he had left a small present behind for his comrade.
As expected, he was not disappointed after opening the box.
Inside, he found that a short-barreled shotgun and two handguns had been taken, but what was left was an army knife, a black bulletproof vest, and a handgun that looked really f*cking cool…
He did not know the model of it, and he was unclear about the manufacturer as well, but it looked really wicked.
Conveniently shoving the Mateba Autorevolver into the back of his pants, he pulled out a handful of bullets and crammed it into his pants pocket. Huai Shi felt that his resolve had abruptly been strengthened.
“I have a question…”
Behind him, the crow sighed helplessly and shook the item in her claw. “His car keys were right on the table, so why did you have to smash the window?”
“… I forgot.”
Huai Shi awkwardly took the keys and realized that he could now save money instead of calling for a cab. Saving was good, saving was very good. After all, he might not even have enough money to call for a car anymore.
After he had squeezed into the car, the crow that just settled on his shoulder asked one final question. “Right, do you know how to drive?”
“Uh-huh, does playing QQ Speed on my phone count? My rank is actually pretty high.”
Huai Shi thought for a moment before he replied with a question. He then grabbed ahold of the crow that was trying to get out of the car and trapped her in the passenger seat with the safety belt. “What are you running for? You dare to jump out of my car? Wasn’t it you who provoked me into taking revenge! Sit tight, we’re off!”
“Don’t do this! I haven’t yet prepared myself to die on your journey for revenge!”
The crow was flustered now and struggled with great effort. “Huai Shi, I suffer from motion sickness. It’s true. I’ll lend you some money, so how about you call a car? Hiring a luxury Lincoln limousine puts up a really tough front as well! If not, then maybe you should call someone after all! I have the contact number for the Special Affairs Bureau…”
“Since when do I have the patience to wait for others?”
Huai Shi glanced at her one last time. After hastily searching up how to drive on the internet, he jammed the key into the ignition and twisted it abruptly, firing up the engine
“We’re short on time, so let’s go!”
Vroom!
Like a crazed dog being released from a cage, the car engine and the crow let out a shriek in unison, as the bright red sports car scraped past half of the metal gate, dashing out of the Chalcedony Museum and charging onto the bumpy road of no return.
At some point in time, the moonlight was obstructed by clouds as the oppressive sound of thunder rumbled in the depths of the sky.
Wind blew from a distance.
It was about to rain.