Apocalypse Forecast

Those are Border Relics!

That guy is covered from head to toe with at least a hundred Border Relics!

And they’re not the cheap stuff coming off a workshop assembly line, they’re genuine masterpieces crafted by alchemists with painstaking effort.

Among them are valuable items ranked in the top hundred of the relic catalog.

Just a quick glance and Huai Shi recognized many valuable items that are priceless — the Blessing Seal, Hearthstone Crystal, Gaia Knot, Blood Oath Blue Eyes...

Originally, these precious relics should have been carefully stored or displayed in heavily guarded showcases, yet now they hung densely on a madman.

Are all Helios people this rich?

But it was obvious, just by looking, that they came from several different styles and factions, from completely different eras, and their usage varied as well.

One-time-use Gaia Knot even integrated the alchemist’s blood, limited to the creator, only effective for a month. Reboun curse, protect the soul.

It absolutely couldn’t come from the same source...

Thinking about the chaotic situation of the surrounding corpses, it’s not hard to discern the origin of these items.

After a fierce struggle, the last survivor remained alive.

But I’m afraid... it doesn’t mean anything anymore.

Amidst the vigilant gazes of other explorers, the detection pendulum shook wildly, all glowing and pointing to that figure in the distance.

And he was still immersed in feverish writing, clutching something tightly to his chest, like a swaddled infant.

Muttering something with focus and numbness.

The speech was too vague, and Huai Shi, never having learned it, could only guess from the messy scripts on the ground that it was Sanskrit, but the rest was unknown.

Only a few fragmented nouns could be heard clearly.

’Indra’, ’Yama’, ’Varuna’, ’Surya’...

These are gods passed down by India Genealogy, invoking the power of past gods for protection, yet no sacred words of mystery could be detected, it was merely chanting.

In devout prayer, hoping for any god to extend a hand to the survivor in despair.

Who could save him from the sea of suffering?

Yet he showed no response to the ones trying to rescue him.

Garandor’s disciple lit the oil lamp again, but for some reason this time, the flame that rose was quickly extinguished.

As if away from the base station, there was no signal.

No advice could be received.

For a moment, everyone fell into an eerie silence.

"He’s beyond saving." Iz shrugged and shook his head, nonchalantly taking off his helmet and flicking the ash from his cigarette, "Would someone kindly end his suffering?"

Saying so, he looked towards Huai Shi.

And Huai Shi was staring up, admiring the Helios-themed ceiling above.

Indeed, it was different from ceilings elsewhere, with an ordinary appearance yet conveying an unmatched sense of grandeur and mystery, at first glance seemingly no different from a regular ceiling, embodying the saying that divine things conceal themselves?

Anyway, just kept staring blankly.

Even though he played few horror games, he did experience many online!

He was too familiar with this setup, an inexplicable stranger doing something while facing away from you in a surreal setting. It’s not crying then it’s laughing, always acting like they’re looking at something intriguing that draws you in to get a closer look.

What’s this?

This is a plot twist!

This is a thunderous opening!

Anyway, he definitely wouldn’t fall into this trap, let someone else do it, he would shed no tears nor blood for Stone Pot Society, what’s the point of dying here?

Seeing Huai Shi completely unmoved, even remaining still, the others exchanged glances.

Apparently, Garandor’s disciple said something, and someone stepped forward cautiously, erasing the no longer effective mystic ritual on the ground, waving a hand in front of the praying person’s face, prompting no reaction whatsoever.

Neither pendulum nor any detection found anomalies.

Finally, the leader looked at Rachelle, saying something on a private channel, and Rachelle’s expression immediately turned reluctant.

He approached cautiously, examining under the person’s eyelids, then checked vital areas, concluding the same results as Iz.

Source Substance depleted, soul shattered, unsalvageable.

Though, at least he could be made useful one more time.

To tell them what happened here...

Soon, his injection gun was raised, the purple-blue potion injected into the prayer’s neck, triggering an unexpected response.

The prayer’s movement halted abruptly, eyes turning pure white, body convulsing violently, scaring Rachelle backward, retreating on hands and feet.

Only then did they notice what the survivor was clutching so tightly... was actually a clock?

Indeed, the brass clock, scarred with dents from unknown rough treatment, now stained with layers of blood, still ticking.

Emitting a crisp sound.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...

A hoarse moan arose.

When the survivor awoke from the nightmare, in those last moments of flickering life, the first reaction upon seeing the explorers was not joy but panicked gazes toward the clock.

Watching its hands inching towards the final marker, with only a few minutes left, it emitted a sharp squeal, lying prone on the ground, muttering the names of various gods, trying to repair the ritual on the floor.

But it was too late.

Because the dried blood had long since been wiped away.

In panic, he frantically rose, scrambling towards the door.

Oblivious of the deadly extreme cold vacuum outside...

Step one, step two, then collapsing to the ground, squirming, depleting the last of his Source Substance.

Just like that, he died.

Huai Shi hadn’t even had time to step forward three times.

The man was gone.

In the silence, everyone looked at each other, only the sound of the clock ticking was so clear, amplifying, becoming deafening, like a booming thunder.

Resounding in everyone’s ears.

Just at that moment, in the deadly silent emptiness of space, within the now-ruined Helios Workshop, the meaningless passage of time continued.

— Midnight arrived!

At that moment, from all directions, light instantly vanished without a trace, replaced by an indescribable darkness, swallowing everything.

Screams erupted one after another.

"... Damn, which bastard turned the light off?"

Huai Shi stiffened on the spot, feeling a muddy chill rising from his heart, rapidly spreading, bringing uncontrollable terror and unwarranted sorrow.

Even the little dog in his arms whined pitifully.

Despair spread along with the darkness, engulfing all sounds.

Soon, in the static-filled public channel, only Rachelle’s sobs remained.

In the darkness, the pharmacist knelt, weeping bitterly, helplessly pounding the floor, crying out in despair:

"So, love does disappear, right?"