Apocalypse Forecast

The Merchant and the Gate of Alchemy

"The Astronomical Society now has probably already activated the Earth-Moon Defense System, don’t you think? Maybe there’s even some kind of super-sci-fi weapon already aimed here, and then—"

In the illusory temple, Tong Ji made a gesture of a handgun, her mouth making a ’bang’: "And then there would be nothing left."

Zeus looked up: "Are you really not concerned at all about your Contractor being blown to pieces? Or are you actually planning to push him to his death?"

"No, to be honest, I have a bit more confidence in that conservative bureaucratic system of the Jurisdiction Bureau, don’t I?"

Tong Ji shrugged: "Unless the situation becomes most dire, they would absolutely avoid any irreversible measures. Right now, they might still be in a wait-and-see state."

"Ha, in the end, they are mortals."

Zeus scoffed disdainfully: "Waiting for what? For a miracle to descend?"

"You can’t say it like that, you know." Tong Ji rested her chin on her hand, blinked, and smiled: "’Waiting’ and ’hope’ are the most beautiful things in the world, aren’t they?"

"Mortals pray for miracles, but for gods, miracles never work." Zeus remained indifferent: "Even if miracles stand by their side, they would be useless."

As the source of Power, Stigmata, in essence, are the embodiment of ’miracles.’

But miracles have no use for gods, and gods never expect miracles to appear around them.

Because miracles are merely their reflections on earth, the very nature of gods already surpasses miracles, they are the darlings favored by Current Circumstances!

Relying on such things to counter gods is no different from hoping that the reflection on the ground could defeat its body.

It’s simply a joke.

Publius needs no other Power because even now, with only the Divine Position, he is still invincible like having turned on ’cheat mode.’

Only another god can harm a god, or the Authority Relic forged by a god, or... the [Predator] with the God’s Wedge, equivalent to the divine throne!

Apart from that, everything else compared to gods is just the moon in the mirror, flowers in the water, not worth mentioning.

And regrettably, on the current Helios, none of these things exist!

Even Helios itself is under Publius’s control.

"Could it be that I misjudged?"

Zeus asked, "Your Contractor, what god’s descendant is he, possessing a demigod’s status, able to reach the godly Domain and harm Publius?"

"Isn’t that asking too much?"

Tong Ji shook her head, unable to help but feel helpless: "He’s an ordinary human for real, though his luck is bizarre, always managing to pick up weird things and being extraordinarily unlucky, he doesn’t seem like he could slay a god at all. Are you perhaps having some unrealistic expectations of my Contractor?"

Zeus’s expression grew stranger, "Or are you planning to sacrifice the God’s Wedge you currently rely on to protect their world?"

"Are you dreaming or what?"

Tong Ji widened her eyes and angrily slammed the table: "Once anything goes into my pocket, have you ever seen me return it? Saying to conveniently save the world is one thing, but making me cover hardships is too much!"

Thus, Zeus’s expression turned even more complex.

As if he had seen a ghost.

"Neither this nor that..." he asked, "then aren’t you bound to lose?"

"Not necessarily, it’s not lost yet, is it?"

Tong Ji sipped the happy drink in her pink tea cup, the straw making a joyful sizzling sound: "Did you forget the most crucial question, Zeus?"

The most crucial question.

The least known secret.

That piece of history buried in the past.

The root cause ignored by everyone...

"That thing—"

Tong Ji bit the straw, smiling: "That thing that was created."

She asked, "Is it really ’Apollo’?"

For a moment, Zeus fell silent.

Without an answer.

Yet this is the crucial point!

From the beginning, everyone, including Publius and Garand, thought that conducting rituals on Helios, the Mystic Ritual pointing to the Sun God, should naturally lead to recreating Apollo!

But, the problem is... if they had targeted gods from other Domains, they might have succeeded long ago!

Yet they happened to choose the most difficult direction.

Not because Apollo was the strongest, nor because Apollo was particularly special, and not due to any other nonsensical restrictions.

The true reason is that the Sun God known as ’Apollo’ had already died before the fall of the gods!

Calls it ’demise’ or ’fall,’ in short, He, along with other colleagues, ultimately died at the hands of the woman in front of Zeus.

Cleanly, completely, irretrievably, without any trace left, dead!

Although she claimed it as an ’immature past,’ the method she used was quite mature and thorough, leaving no chance, no breach.

An assassination like a work of art.

Leaving no room for future problems.

If there was even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of reappearance, Zeus and others would have done it long ago, wouldn’t have left it to Publius.

So, now the problem arises...

Tong Ji smiled faintly, asking softly: "At this moment, which Sun God has descended?"