Apocalypse Forecast

"This isn’t really all that surprising."

It seemed like Iz noticed Huai Shi’s confusion, and with a smile, explained, "Garandor, before becoming a Great Grandmaster, had also spent seventy years at Helios."

Damn, how come all of you can use the mind reading technique!

"I can’t read minds. It’s just that you almost have ’I’m very curious’ written all over your face." Iz shrugged, happily smoking a cigar.

And Huai Shi couldn’t help but take out his phone and snap a selfie.

From start to finish, he thought he always had a calm and indifferent expression. Ever since graduating from Ai Qing’s Training Class, he rarely let his expression slip.

He’d be crazy to believe that.

But the problem is...

Garandor had stayed on Helios for seventy years? Isn’t that a full round trip?

But now he looks only about fifty years old.

Huai Shi’s expression twitched slightly, and he asked softly, "Garandor is that long-lived?"

"Ah, roughly... over two hundred and ten years old?" Iz thought for a moment and then answered, "After all, he is a Great Grandmaster, skilled in age defiance, so it’s not surprising."

Yet another old monster.

It seemed that Garandor, at the front of the group, heard the conversation and briefly glanced back before quickly resuming his explanation of the exploration plan.

The goal of the first exploration team was not to conduct an in-depth investigation, nor was the task difficult. It was just to establish a safe station point at the internal entrance of the Helios Workshop for subsequent exploration.

They were doing the work of setting up a base vehicle.

Under the remote command of a Great Grandmaster, everyone acted accordingly.

After confirming that everyone understood the plan, Garandor nodded, signaling the disciples to distribute the contents of the boxes.

They were small pouches that could be attached to the arm of a spacesuit, containing a bright crystal inside.

Boundary Marker.

Simply put, a one-time town portal scroll.

After a brief loading period, it could immediately transfer the user back to the bridge of the Child of Leviathan, which Huai Shi didn’t know the exact name of but dubbed it since it resembled a bridge.

Additionally, everyone received injections of Silver Blood Potion for ten people and Source Substance supplies for ten people.

In terms of cost alone, even before leaving, each person already had over fifty million US Dollars worth of supplies strapped to them, and this doesn’t even count the cost of the custom-made Boundary Marker.

Huai Shi couldn’t help but once again feel curious: Boundary Markers are expensive and time-consuming to make, with limited application and many restrictions... Most importantly, once made, they face a short half-month shelf life.

Huai Shi was very curious how they managed to prepare so many within such a short time?

Is the realm of a Great Grandmaster truly that amazing?

Due to Grandmaster Mikhail, he had previously delved into the records concerning Great Grandmasters.

There are eleven in the entire realm... After Publius passed away, only ten are left.

These ten individuals are recognized worldwide as the peak of Alchemy existence.

Yet, no Alchemist can clearly articulate what the realm of a Great Grandmaster is.

Because such a realm simply does not exist.

It’s merely a title.

Moreover, each Alchemist specializes in different fields, and there is no unified standard for evaluation. Given the Stone Pot Society’s notoriously tight-fisted nature, every title of ’Great Grandmaster’ is granted with extreme caution, only recognizing truly epoch-making technical discoveries and achievements.

This means that endurance and proficiency are absolutely inadequate to reach such a level.

Those who become Great Grandmasters are formidable figures, one in tens of thousands, or in millions.

At this level, they can hardly be considered ’human’ by common standards.

And according to the information Huai Shi had gathered, Garandor ranks among the topmost tier even within the Great Grandmasters.

A life span of two hundred and ten years, gathering untold calamities and miracles, enduring countless storms.

He had seen firsthand the destruction Grandmaster Mikhail could wreak by flipping a table.

Once Dome Giant Atlas enters completion, smashing the entire Hell wouldn’t be an issue.

Furthermore, holding a high position in the Stone Pot Society, rife with factions and internal strife, proves he is no pushover.

As for Huai Shi, his previous awe had started to fade.

Instead, he felt a growing sense of wariness and caution.

But Garandor didn’t care.

After calmly setting up everything, he moved on to the final stage.

Answering questions for each participant.

One question per person.

Outside the workshop’s door, Iz lay on the sofa in the lounge area, humming nonchalantly with a cigar. He suddenly turned and asked, "Have you thought about what to ask?"

"There’s nothing I need to ask."

Huai Shi shook his head.

Indeed, he might have just achieved a tiny bit in the mysterious and complex field of Alchemy, but that didn’t stop him from having many superior legs to hang onto.

Even if Tong Ji was often unreliable, often disappearing.

From a distance, there’s the Grandmaster Mikhail on the Iron Crystal Throne to consult, and closer, countless Alchemists in the Alchemy Workshops of the Ivory Tower who can teach hand in hand.

If worse comes to worst, he still has some connection with the Sun Casters in the Abyss.

Huai Shi isn’t afraid of being unable to learn, rather he’s afraid of there being too much to learn, unable to finish.

For now, he doesn’t plan to dedicate his Alchemy efforts to fields other than Metallography in the coming years.

Therefore, this reward seemed a bit trivial to him.

However, while there’s nothing he wants to ask in Alchemy, he has plenty of questions about other things.

It depended on whether Garandor would be willing to address his confusion.

When Rachelle quickly pushed open the door and came out, Iz got up, waved him in.

After just a few minutes, he casually came back out.

Like he’d just enjoyed a cup of tea, relaxed and delighted.

He waved towards Huai Shi.

It’s your turn.

When Huai Shi pushed the door open and entered, he saw the elder by the workshop furnace.

"Garandor."

Huai Shi nodded and placed his hand on his chest in salute.

"I think we can skip the pleasantries between us."

Garandor turned around and looked at him, his old eyes contrasted with the furnace fire; for a moment, it was hard to tell which was brighter.

"I’m curious about your question, Huai Shi," the elder said. "But before that, I hope you understand one thing—I don’t want any unexpected events in this exploration, especially because of you."

"Do I really seem that unreliable?" Huai Shi laughed.

"A hero of Tanbo would hardly be a character easy to deal with, would they?" Garandor said calmly. "I’ve heard that even Grandmaster Mikhail used you as the ’Furnace Heart Fire’, making you the basis for another ’Event Melting’. As a Great Grandmaster myself, how could I underestimate his insight?"

He continued, "To any Great Grandmaster, you are a rare ’catalyst’. Your fate, your style, and your orientation will thoroughly trigger all contradictions. I have to make early precautions."

Huai Shi listened and, after a moment of astonishment, couldn’t help but shrug, "I must say it’s all coincidence."

"Fate never has coincidences, Huai Shi, never."

Garandor bowed his head, gazing at the angel-faced metal sculpture at the tip of his cane, and suddenly said, "Let me hear your question—what could the last remaining ’Forger’ have to ask of me?"

"Actually, I don’t have any alchemy-related questions to ask you."

Huai Shi raised his hand, rubbing his brow, "I don’t like being treated as a flammable substance, even if it seems logical... But in reality, I’ve never wanted to be a stepping stone for anyone."

He told the elder before him, "Usually, it’s those people who bring trouble upon themselves."

"My question is only one, Great Grandmaster Garandor. My goal is simple—"

Huai Shi lifted his gaze, directly asking, "Where is Helios’s Rejuvenation Crystal?"

Huai Shi did not care whether Garandor was going to annex Helios or what he intended to do, nor did he want to get involved in troubles not belonging to him.

So he was not interested in playing any guessing games with Garandor.

His purpose here was just that simple.

After all, it’s not like your place is the only one with Rejuvenation Crystals. If Helios blows up, he can just look for them elsewhere.

At worst, he’ll simply fleece the Astronomical Society.

If London doesn’t work, he can still go to Dongxia. He merely doesn’t want to accrue more favors before repaying past ones regarding the Wish Fulfillment Crystal.

All roads lead to Rome; if not Rome, to Yanjing; if not Yanjing, then Cairo, Yorkshire, or Saint Petersburg.

Why hang on just one tree?

Without you, the butcher, do I have to eat meat with hair?

Silence.

A long silence.

The elder slightly raised his eyebrows and looked at Huai Shi.

That gaze seemed curious, yet like self-mockery and helplessness, full of meaning... except for confusion and misunderstanding.

Just as if foreseeing something.

He knew precisely where Helios’s Rejuvenation Crystal was being kept; it was because of this knowledge that he felt extremely ironic and moved.

"So that’s it... It’s you that Luo Su selected as the heir, isn’t it?"

With understanding, he nodded, raised his hand toward the furnace, and snapped his fingers.

Thus, the flames leaped.

Magnificent flashes emerged from within, interweaving, undergoing metamorphosis, and quickly—once the flames had diversified—they shed their heat, completing the final steps.

The countless transformations in a blink rivaled even Huai Shi’s Alchemy Fire.

In the end, a key appeared before Huai Shi.

"You are searching far and wide."

Garandor said, "If you had asked for this on The Moon, I could have used the Stone Pot Society’s reserves to exchange for you returning home. Of course, if you choose to stay here until the exploration activity finishes, I can keep my promise when you return to Current Circumstances.

But I guess you prefer doing it yourself."

"What is this?"

Huai Shi took the key, noticing within it a complex alchemy matrix and countless minute streams of source substance, sketching out a structure so complex it bewildered.

Yet that structure served no purpose, merely being complex, and could hardly be replicated.

It existed only as verification for something.

"This is my credential of authority in Helios."

Garandor said, "Even though I’ve been away for so long, the rules might not change easily. As far as I know, treasures like the Rejuvenation Crystal should be kept in the core zone’s preservation library: ’Between Hephaestus’."

With his gesture, a complicated map appeared in the air, pointing towards Helios’s deepest area.

The core location of the Broken Labyrinth.

"However, as of now, Helios’s core is out of control; all security measures and defense matrices will be activated, so intruding won’t be easy."

He said, "As someone who has received Helios’s favor, I can’t help you further; whatever you desire, it will depend on your own skills."

"Thank you, a little trouble doesn’t matter."

Huai Shi weighed the key and tossed it into his pocket.

But just before turning to leave, Huai Shi couldn’t help but turn back and ask, "However, I think someone who has received Helios’s favor should probably discourage others from looting during misfortune?"

Garandor did not respond.

With a calm expression, he just waved his hand.

Indicating that he should leave.

.

And so, a few hours later, at 6:10 PM in Current Circumstances’ time.

The first batch of exploration team members stood in front of the exit, repeatedly confirming and checking all equipment, donning their helmets, ready to set off.Heading toward the shattered chariot above Jupiter.

Only Huai Shi remained squatting on the ground, examining the friendly little dog in front of him, scratching his head.

—Is it really okay to bring this thing along?