Apocalyptic Forecast - Chapter 30
Chapter 30: I Have A Bold…
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At a distance of fifteen meters.
The barrel of the Mateba Autorevolver fired, aimed straight at his face.
At the instant the barrel lit up with gunpowder, Red Glove’s expression immediately changed, and he instinctively dodged. However, he was already too late, and in a split second, the bullet penetrated his flesh, causing blood to fly all over the place.
He was hit!
Huai Shi’s eyes lit up.
Then, he heard an enraged bellow.
It was Red Glove.
He had not died yet, but a large hole had appeared in his cheek. The bullet had crushed half his face and smashed one of his cheekbones, after which it exited his head by smashing through his right ear.
Tendons were ripped from his face, causing half of his face to dangle in the air.
A critical hit!
“F*ck, so close!”
Huai Shi gritted his teeth, nearly spontaneously combusting from anger. He had prepared for so long just for this moment, yet, when the moment arrived, he had failed to capitalize.
He had focused so much, yet the trajectory had still been off by a negligible half a centimeter…
The result was vastly different from an exploding head.
This injury that would have made regular people faint on the spot felt like nothing to the currently half-zombified Red Glove, but it made him irrepressibly agitated.
He had originally steeled himself in preparing for a bloody battle, but he never thought what waiting for him was this type of unrefined comedy routine.
The strong opponent he had imagined had not appeared, and a little piggy had hopped out instead.
A motherf*cking little piggy!
The fact that he had actually been tricked to this extent by an inexperienced weakling gave him the uncontainable urge to laugh and mock his snake-bitten self amid his rage—if those bastards knew of the detest he had unknowingly developed toward birds, they would certainly laugh themselves to death, would they not?
Having failed with one shot, Huai Shi did not waste any time being disheartened and stepped forward, once again pulling the trigger after steadying the gun.
However, this shot only hit air.
At that moment, Red Glove retreated, and his figure suddenly blurred under the rainstorm.
It was just like a drop of ink dropping into water, diffusing instantly. Then, he very faintly melted into the blur of rain.
This was the inherent skill that Stigma – Taxim allowed him after entering the third stage. Aside from being able to be half-zombified at any time and be near immortal, there was also this type of “invisibility” ability weird enough to make people fear it.
Melting.
In Eastern European legends, the term used for Taxim was the living dead, which crawled out of their graves. In other words, the Spirit of Vengeance. It was also because of their unique origin of being buried beneath the ground that people often struggled to notice this trait.
This was not invisibility that thermal vision, Undeceivable Eye, or Eye of Truth types of stigma skills could perceive. Once his Melting skill was activated, even if he was doing a jig in front of Ascenders whose expertise lied in Reconnaissance, nobody would be able to detect him.
Their subconscious mind would just block him off and forget about him.
At that moment, a shred of doubt suddenly developed in Huai Shi’s mind. ‘Why am I here?’
If he had been a normal person, he would have even forgotten the reason why he had come here.
However, the moment he thought of this, his vision turned black and his body splayed forward. He fell to the ground, like a dog eating feces.
His back was in severe pain.
He had been shot in the same spot.
Even with his bulletproof vest, it was enough to make him unable to crawl back up. What was even more torturous was that the wound inside that had not yet healed had torn open again. Wet blood seeped out from underneath the waterproof carapace, strengthening the unease and fear in his heart.
He was clear that right just now, Red Glove was standing behind him, calmly analyzing his confused state before raising his hand and firing a shot.
Like a cat catching a mouse.
Analyzing his disgraceful appearance.
However, when he turned around, he could not see anything.
Where was he?
He opened his eyes wide, focusing on his surroundings. He saw the ripples of rainwater falling on the ground, the containers surrounding him, and even a man slowly walking past him, but he just could not see where Red Glove was!
Earlier, he had been right behind him, but he did not notice any sign of him beforehand.
Even if he was easily within reach, he was afraid he would not be able to see him.
This type of scary invisibility made him silently tremble from the fear.
The crow’s intelligence report stated that Red Glove’s Stigma – Taxim affected a person’s perception. Its weakness was that it would not work through videos and photographs. Thus, he could use mediums like reflections to perceive his presence…
However, the rain was so heavy that taking out his knock-off cell phone now would only cause it to spark and malfunction. Moreover, all reflections were blurred by the rain. There was no way to see anything!
Hold on. Videos and photographs…
He suddenly had a bold idea.
He summoned the Book of Destiny. The pages turned by themselves, flipping to the latest development—the line saying he had a bold idea.
His two eyes continuously found time to scan through the words on the page while he vigilantly watched the surroundings, searching for traces of Red Glove.
[The endless rainstorm fell from the sky, sounds of thunder and the fall of rainwater layering together, turning into a torrential roar. A bolt of lightning struck the ground, electric light flashing and illuminating Huai Shi as well as the man to his right analyzing his spooked expression with unruffled discipline.]
To his right?
When these words appeared, Huai Shi aimed to his right and pulled the trigger without thinking.
Bang!
He hit him!
Huai Shi was ecstatic. He saw a spray of blood burst from the man’s chest, yet he could not spot any trace of Red Glove.
Now, where was he hiding?
He disappeared again,
[Huai Shi vigilantly watched his surroundings, but he quickly lowered his head again to peer at the page. Under the agony of losing blood, and with his eyes obscured by rain, he could not perceive the figure raising a gun in front of him.]
Bang!
Huai Shi pulled the trigger once again.
Yet another stream of blood flowed from the man’s arm, but Huai Shi still could not see him, nor did he notice the sound of an enraged cuss.
He only saw the handgun that had fallen to the ground.
Huai Shi heaved a sigh of relief and bent his head to see:
[That man speedily retreated, evading Huai Shi’s gun. He found that Huai Shi’s ability to sense his presence unbelievable, and his face red with rage. After this, he opened his mouth and roared. Huai Shi heard the sound of a lion roaring.]
The sound of a lion roaring?
Huai Shi was amused. This rotten plaything’s descriptions were truly god-level. However, after that, he really did see the head of a lion…
A real lion!
Under the rainstorm, a terrifyingly large lion leaped down from the storage containers, landing in front of Huai Shi and roaring to the sky.
The symbol of a South African zoo still hung from its neck. In its empty eyes, a goldfish silently swam about, giving Huai Shi an apathetic glance.
What was this, a hallucination?
Huai Shi could not believe it. He unconsciously took two steps back and heard the crow’s voice, “Young lad, what are you doing staying still? Shoot! This is the lion that South Africa sent to be exhibited at Jinling Zoo! The real thing! Are you planning on becoming its lunch?”
In the rainstorm, the huge, wild lion gradually advanced forward. Its dampened fur laid on its neck like twisted rope, swaying along with every step.
Sneering Fish Tank could even control animals?
Huai Shi was in disbelief, but he did not dare to hesitate either. He took aim at the lion in front of him and frantically pulled the trigger. However, after two shots, the gun clicked pathetically.
He was out of bullets!
F*ck!
Huai Shi frantically took out the magazine and unloaded the cartridge before grabbing a handful of bullets and frantically shoving them in.
However, before he could reload more than a few bullets, the lion was already pouncing on top of him.
With a roar, the thick curtain of rain broken by the man-eating beast. Its shocking weight hit him like a bullet. Its sharp claws swiped downward at Huai Shi’s face. In his haste, Huai Shi only had the time to lift his right hand to block the attack.
Right after that, a cracking sound was heard.
His right hand had been broken. Fresh blood oozed from the claw marks, spreading a scarlet across the wet ground.
The handgun fell. The scorching-hot barrel hit the water, causing it to hiss violently.
At the same time, he collapsed to the ground.
The wide-as-his-head mouth opened, biting down on his neck.
“F*ck off!”
At that moment, Huai Shi howled. His left hand flung the Book of Destiny away. The heavy book returned to elementium form in midair and returned to his soul. After this, his left hand seemed to be set aflame, encased in the pure white glow of elementium fire.
Trapping Hand, activated!
At this moment, Huai Shi’s blazing left hand suddenly reached out as if he was taking something.
He gripped an invisible handle.
In the next instant, the invisible weapon came down on the lion, landing on its head and splitting open its flesh and entering its skull.
Nonetheless, the lion’s skull was too thick, and was hard to totally pierce with the invisible ax.
However, this was no matter, Huai Shi’s soul ability was not creating invisible weapons to hack at people. Its key was not the blade but the thing it was forged of…
The rage and killing intent he had solidified after accumulating them for seven years!
Instantly, his ink-black elementium flowed out of the blade and exploded. His searing rage and icy killing intent morphed into black water and seeped through the lion’s skull.
In the blink of an eye, the fish tank behind its eyes was dyed black.
The goldfish violently spasmed and exploded, the invisible rage and killing intent entering Red Glove’s brain through the Sneering Fish Tank’s bridge, blowing it up instantly.
A wail rang out.
Sticky blood oozed out from the corners of his eyes, his nostrils, and his ears.
It was like his soul itself had been smashed with a hammer. At the same time, the fish tank in his hands trembled suddenly as a crack appeared…
Amid Red Glove’s tragic wailing, Huai Shi took the opportunity of the lion’s temporary immobility and reached out to pick up the gun that had fallen to the ground. He shoved the gun into its eyes, then repeatedly pulled the trigger.
Three gunshots later, the bullets he had stuffed in his haste were used up. Sticky cerebrospinal fluid sprayed out from the hole at the back of the lion’s head.
It was dead.
Huai Shi used all his strength to push away the lion on top of him, only feeling the excruciating pain of his broken right hand. When he crawled back up, he finally saw the exhausted Red Glove leaning on a storage container.
The sudden, violent attack left him unable to maintain his Melted state. Blood flowed from between his mouth and nose whilst he no longer looked as arrogant as when they had first met, instead now looking so battered that he could die at any moment.
However, when he looked at Huai Shi, his deformed face grinned.
“You think it’s over just like this?”
In that instant, Huai Shi felt something wrap around his thighs. It was heavy and cold as it silently extended upward. In the blink of an eye, it coiled around him, moving upward layer by layer before suddenly tightening, squeezing his broken hand and making Huai Shi cry out sharply in agony.
He only saw what was wrapping around his body when he turned his head… Icy scales, a long body, and a forked tongue.
It was a huge python.
The python’s head, which was bigger than Huai Shi’s fist, stopped in front of his face. It opened its mouth and released a fishy breath. In its lifeless eyes, a goldfish swam about lazily.
There was still a snake…