Apocalypse Forecast

Two months later, when the first snowflakes of early winter floated down from the sky, the special envoy from afar finally stepped onto the land of Tanbo after passing through Kyotō’s customs.

Holding the emblem of the Rome Genealogy, the envoy moved hastily, directly entering the increasingly guarded campus, arriving at the office floor of the main building, and met the young man with a kindly smile on his face.

"You want to see the teacher..."

The Wood Cottage flipped the credentials in his hand over and over, full of curiosity: "Roman?"

"Yes, that’s correct."

The envoy behind the desk handled the situation without any awkwardness when faced with difficulties, calmly replying: "It’s just a notification to relay, my identity can be guaranteed by the Mercury Institution under the Vatican in Rome, and you can verify it on-site."

The Wood Cottage shook his head: "What matter? You can tell me as well."

"Apologies, but I must meet him in person."

The envoy raised the case in his hand, displaying the Lock Chain fastened on his wrist and the case: "Including the contents, they must be handed over to him personally."

"To be honest, I believe you’re not disguised as some kind of small fry." The Wood Cottage scratched his face, frankly saying: "But your institution, its reputation isn’t so good, you know what I mean, right?"

The envoy nodded calmly: "So, I can understand your caution."

To put it simply, while the Vatican is the central and core of the Rome Genealogy, exuding magnificence, the suffix is different.

— The Mercury Institution.

Named after the traveler from the twelve main gods of Rome, it looks like a courier department, but aside from handling the postal system, its other operations are fundamentally different from ordinary courier agencies.

This is a special agency.

Notorious, to say the least.

Bribery, abduction, extortion, assassination, even launching terrorist attacks when necessary.

In the long-standing struggle with the Russian Federation’s Eagle Eye Bureau, who knows how many things without bottom lines have been done.

Letting people like this meet Huai Shi.

To be honest, it’s a bit of an eyesore to him...

"Please rest assured." The envoy promised: "I understand Mr. Huai Shi’s situation makes it inconvenient to meet guests, but due to the limits of my duty, I must come to disturb him.

I can guarantee I will not do anything harmful to Mr. Huai Shi’s personal safety."

As soon as he spoke, the Wood Cottage’s expression turned subtly.

As if looking at a fool.

Examining the man before him, looking at the calluses washed away by potion on his fingers, the killing weapon buried within his bones, even the explosively powerful yet thin body and the scars on his arm from countless battles.

Indeed, he is an unadulterated expert, even among the Third Stage, a formidable adversary.

Only...

"...Just you?"

The Wood Cottage shook his head and laughed: "I wasn’t particularly worried about that."

The envoy furrowed his brows in confusion, sensing the condescension but not minding it, merely waiting for his explanation.

"This person..." The Wood Cottage wanted to address him but realized after a long while that he hadn’t introduced his own name yet.

"Marcus." The envoy prompted.

"Alright, Mr. Marcus, you hold the Vatican’s credentials, and I’ve verified your identity. You represent Rome, and we at Tanbo Campus aren’t ignorant of etiquette; we should warmly welcome you, and the teacher wouldn’t be so arrogant as to turn away an envoy from the Vatican."

The Wood Cottage thought for a moment and seriously explained: "But the key is, recently he’s very busy, and I don’t know if he has the time to attend to other matters."

Saying this, the Wood Cottage stood up, took a coat from the rack, picked up the car keys, and gestured to him: "When you see it, you’ll understand, please follow me."

The envoy, confused, stood and followed behind.

Just like that, a car quickly drove out of the garage, passing the busy construction sites on both sides, traversing the gradually congested downtown, and even catching a distant glimpse of the legendary growing casting research center like living metal.

And so, gradually heading outside.

In the passenger seat, Marcus remained expressionless.

Just his body gradually tensing up.

"Relax, if we had bad intentions, there wouldn’t be a need to bring you this far..." The Wood Cottage seemed to know what he was thinking, "Did you see those two people drinking tea at the entrance of the campus? The older one is called Amada, you might not have heard of him, the other one playing chess with him is called Kudagawa."

Marcus was silent for a moment, suddenly asking: "Which Kudagawa?"

"The one you’ve heard of, the General’s henchman, after dismissal sent to Tanbo for reemployment by the Sword Saint."

The Wood Cottage explained: "This is Tanbo; we’re not interested in your external entanglements, nor are we reduced to taking action against guests, rest assured."

Marcus didn’t speak.

The Wood Cottage glanced at him, also offering no further explanation.

In the silence, Marcus heard the sound of distant tides slowly rising, the slightly cool sea breeze blowing through the lowered window, revealing a line of azure sea in the afternoon sunlight.

In the wind, distant sounds faintly echoed.

As if a cello gently vibrated, long and deep. Solemn drumbeats embedded within, forming a vast resonance, spreading in all directions.

It seemed as if even the sound of tides responded to that rhythm, melting into it.

Eventually, it transformed into a complex and solemn symphony.

"Ninth Symphony?"

Marcus raised his hand, removed the plano glasses from his eyes, and couldn’t help but look out the window.

Recalling the information about the King of Tanbo, it suddenly dawned on him—if one didn’t harbor such a pursuit for art, how could he be called a Disastrous Musician?

By comparison, building a music hall by the sea with great effort to satisfy his own interests was trivial.

He had seen more extravagant things, and compared to those, this pure love flowing from the heart made one even more admirable.

However, when they turned around the ridge, they did not see the expected grand and solemn music hall, not even signs of construction.

There was no entire orchestra playing here.

There was only a bare beach and a small pier extending forward into the sea.

From a long distance, they could see the silhouette sitting at the end of the pier, and the fishing rod in his hand cast into the deep sea.

The vast ocean and man were connected by a single line.

Then, a grand and majestic symphony emerged from the sea.

The surging tide rolled with waves in front of him, like a blurred waveform, revealing the terrible forces surging in the undercurrents below.

With the interference of a single fishing line, the surging tides were freely manipulated by invisible hands, colliding and bursting into roars, faintly transforming into an earth-shattering noise.

The sea seemed to be screaming, shaking with anger from the melody, roaring, singing, and chanting.

Endlessly rising, toward the highest level guided by the melody.

Then silently disappeared, returning once more to the sea.

In the end, the layers of undulating tides instantly dissipated, replaced by a smooth, mirror-like tranquil water surface.

Reflecting the sky and distant tides.

Only the lingering sound slowly dissipated.

Everything was like a miracle, yet there was no Source Fluctuation from it, as if the scene of everything humming was just a coincidental occurrence.

And at some point, Marcus was already sweating profusely.

He finally understood why the Wood Cottage showed such an expression when he made the promise...

He did not need to guarantee Huai Shi’s safety.

In front of that person, he couldn’t even guarantee his own safety.

"He already knows we are here."

The car stopped at the end of the highway, and the Wood Cottage said: "It seems you’re lucky. A few days ago, he was too lazy to see anyone from outside and didn’t want to be disturbed."

The young man raised his hand and pointed at that silhouette: "No matter why you came, you can tell him now, Mr. Marcus, but please remember to be quick."

"Is there a time limit?" Marcus asked.

"No..."

In short silence, the young man, who seemed to have always been in control of the situation, suddenly showed a strange expression, couldn’t help but sighed deeply: "If I’m late, I won’t catch dinner, and I’ll be miserable."

Marcus froze for a moment, not understanding what kind of dinner could worry such a young man, but he didn’t intend to waste time.

He pushed open the car door and walked straight towards the distant silhouette.

The closer he got, the more he could feel the daunting pain of each step... As if the vast ocean in front of him was pressing down on him.

Peace mixed with terrifying power capable of overturning everything.

He was approaching a burning volcano.

But suddenly, all of this disappeared, the dead silent, calm sea surface suddenly returned to turbulence, the surging sea rushed to the beach and rocks, erupting in noisy sounds.

And that fishing rod had already been pulled from the sea, empty on the hook.

On the pier, the man with a sun hat turned around, looked at him, and took off the sunglasses from his face, filled with curiosity.

"Are you here to collect a fishing fee?"

Marcus was stunned for a moment, then saw him smile and wave his hand: "Just kidding, hello, I’m Huai Shi, how should I address you?"

Without any condescending inquiry, after shouldering the fishing rod, that excessively young man took the initiative to step forward and extended his hand.

Marcus, for a moment, didn’t know how to react.

"Hello, I’m Marcus..." In astonishment, maintaining professional etiquette, Marcus stated his identity: "Agent from Rome Vatican, Mercury Institution."

He shook Huai Shi’s hand, cautiously, releasing at once.

"Vatican? Seems I have no dealings with that?"

Huai Shi was puzzled, "What brings you here?"

"Actually, I received a commission from the Rome Space Agency to personally deliver this item to you—"

Marcus raised his hand, removed the shackles from his hand, and presented the box in his hand to the man in front of him: "I will await your response."

The box was not large, nor heavy, weighing only as much as a woman’s handbag.

Huai Shi held it in his hand, feeling no danger, but upon closer inspection, he found this box had no place for him to open.

He wanted to ask, but Marcus had already turned around, standing at a distance, quietly waiting for Huai Shi to call him back.

Huai Shi tilted his head, picked up the box in his hand, sat back in the chair, and flipped it back and forth, discovering that this box seemed like a solid block of metal, with no seals or keyholes.

Even with his perception, he couldn’t find any welded places, all metal crystals were neatly arranged, with no layers of seams.

Apparently, there was some Alchemy Matrix inside, maintaining the item’s safety.

If violently disassembled, it would destroy what’s inside.

Huai Shi raised an eyebrow.

A conundrum sent to him?

What aircraft is the Rome Genealogy pulling?