Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 469: Chapter 407 Time has Changed_1

Apologies, due to the author’s foolishness, the update sequence was incorrect. The editor can’t make changes at the moment, so I can only make the correction myself here. I am truly sorry for the errors caused by the mismatch in this Chapter.

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「Five minutes before six o’clock in the afternoon.」

In the Conductor’s Cabin, Ai Qing silently leaned against the chair that had originally belonged to Rudolf, staring at the huge screen hanging on the wall.

”This place is quite good...”

The youth known as Mr. Fan paced around the exceptionally large room, looking around.

As his face slowly unfolded, countless fragments of steel appeared and joined together with the rotation of the mechanism, covering the young man’s face. They formed strange lenses, like night-vision goggles, scanning the surroundings.

Under the glow of the green light, the walls also became transparent, revealing the complex structure hidden behind them.

”Now then, I will prepare to connect.”

He turned to look at Ai Qing. ”You’ll be in charge of the command later on.”

”Mm, I appreciate it.”

Ai Qing nodded.

Then, Mr. Fan fell backward.

The youth’s shell broke apart in mid-air. Completely illogical mechanical structures unfolded layer by layer from within the cracks of the shell. Cables, like a swarm of snakes, extended out, moving on their own. They tore through the expensive flooring and wall decorations, forcefully integrating into the central control unit, merging him with the Group Star as one.

At that moment, a vast amount of Source Substance surged from within his Soul, carrying his will and instantly spreading throughout the entire massive Group Star.

All the pre-installed cables, machines, and equipment were taken over by Yan Shi’s Stigma, regardless of model, age, or format type.

Relying solely on Shen Ji Gong Shu, it would have been absolutely impossible to perform such a miracle.

But long before that, his other limbs had already been scattered across key parts of the Group Star by Yama Ding·Edward, the man who called himself the driver.

Along with the activation signal from the main unit, a total of sixteen invasion sequence units emitted furnace-like heat. This aided his will, converting the Group Star bit by bit into Yan Shi’s limbs.

”It’s a bit... at the limit...”

In the Conductor’s Cabin, Shen Ji Gong Shu, covered in steel, spoke with an aged voice. It soon turned into a pure mechanical sound as the personality simulation module went offline.

The screen that occupied an entire wall flickered with countless snowflakes, then quickly displayed a multitude of surveillance camera feeds of various sizes.

”Preliminary coverage of the Group Star is complete.”

”Full area detection has begun, database loading.”

”The mobile command center has fully deployed.”

Shortly, images from countless monitors were quickly corrected, filtered, pieced together, and culled. A miniature model of the Group Star was displayed on it.

Yan Shi took control of every secret passage, mechanism, room, and even minor systems like the circuits, water sources, and air filters, turning them into his eyes and ears.

To listen, to observe, to distinguish.

He marked all identified members of the Good Night Society from the intelligence database on the projected map.

A total of one hundred twenty-six major suspects.

Finally, the mechanical voice calmly reported, ”Filtering complete.”

Ai Qing nodded. ”Is the Spirituality Mirror loaded and ready?”

”Available for use at any time.”

”Then load the ’Source Substance Detection Workgroup’ and analyze it against the data of Rotten Dream,” Ai Qing said. ”Let me see the extent of contagion on the train.”

The moment her words fell, a startling blood-red color spread from the virtual map, nearly covering half of the Group Star.

The sheer volume of data made the support analysis team at the rear nearly gasp in horror.

At least one-third of the passengers were infected with Rotten Dream! The Good Night Society had truly spared no expense for this operation. They had prepared so many nightmare seeds in advance—undoubtedly, several thousand passengers must have been unknowingly infected before boarding.

Through explosive contagion, the number of infected had increased eight or nine times overnight. If they waited another night, there would hardly be any healthy people left on the train.

At this moment, red alerts representing Rotten Dream infection were everywhere. Aside from those in the early stages of infection who could still potentially be saved, almost all critical parts and departments of the train were marked by an alarming deep red.

Those were the terminally infected, already consumed by the Rotting Dream, turned into walking corpses.

A new personality, formed within the Rotting Dream and hidden behind the host’s subjective consciousness, could rip apart the last vestiges of the host’s original consciousness. Upon a single bell toll from the Sacrifice, it would complete the replacement and consumption.

Ai Qing rubbed her temples and picked up the phone, connecting to the temporary command post at the rear. ”Can the Decision Room send me a ’Red Book’?”

”Stop joking, Miss Ai.”

The liaison officer on the other end sighed helplessly. ”At this year’s United Conference, the Five Constants just restricted and reduced the number of document issuances. Only one has been allocated for the Asia region this year. If you sign for it now, the Decision Room will definitely explode.”

In the Current Circumstances and many Borders, the Astronomical Society holds significant power. Among these powers, the most eye-catching is the ’Clearance Document,’ which can be directly issued upon verifying a threat to the Current Circumstances.

A notice that erases a person from this world.

A legally justified license to kill, recognized across the entire territory.

The moment the stamp is applied, the life of the person registered is effectively on a countdown.

However, even these Clearance Documents, representing death, were not all equal; they too had an internal hierarchy and weight.

Despite their cumbersome and hard-to-remember official names, they could also be crudely categorized by the envelopes that contained the documents.

Black, yellow, red, white.

The most common Black Envelope targeted individual Sublimators. It could be issued by a division with an Inspector’s approval and came in a black envelope, akin to an obituary. No trial or sentencing was needed; targets could be killed in action immediately.

The issuance of a Yellow Page required careful consideration by the division before reporting to the Jurisdiction Bureau Decision Room, to avoid severe consequences.

It targeted an entire organization or a vast genealogy, like the densely packed names on each page of a phone book. Once torn out, everything listed on it would be erased, vanishing from the world.

Red-level Clearance Documents could no longer be contained on a single piece of paper. These reports were thick enough to be bound into volumes. Issuing them required an application from a division-level institution, followed by approval from both the Central Decision Making Room and the regional Five Constants. The impact they caused was enormous: an entire city, a whole genealogy, or an entire border... At the moment the Central Decision Making Room’s seal was stamped, their fate of annihilation was sealed.

As for the even higher-level White Papers, only one had been submitted in the past century, and it hadn’t been approved. Every White Paper brought a Correction Value of at least thirty to the Current Circumstances. A slight misstep, and the entire world could be thoroughly changed.

Ai Qing naturally didn’t expect them to issue her a red-bound dossier for clearance just because she asked. She simply re-emphasized the mission’s difficulty and left a record in the command center, sort of like taking out insurance in advance.

Otherwise, who knew what risks and dire consequences these Good Night Society members were preparing, ready as they were to fight to the bitter end.

After receiving another batch of support allocations distributed by the command center, she decisively hung up the phone and picked up the desk phone, which had already accessed the command channel.

She said, ”The operation begins.”

It was exactly six o’clock in the evening when Huai Shi led his subordinates through the door. The hallway floor at their feet immediately parted to both sides, a transport track rising from the darkness.

They quickly descended.

As if riding an elevator, they could see countless carriages moving rapidly in the darkness, sparks flying from the rails. They were pulled by Yan Shi’s power, speeding along.

In just half a minute, they had silently arrived at the lower level of the Group Star, in the second-class seating area. This area naturally held the largest number of passengers.

There were no individual rooms, only ten-person suites. Although the bedrooms and washrooms were separate, the space was still cramped. Through the floor overhead, they could hear muffled noises and the sound of running footsteps from outside the rooms.

But soon, those distant noises quickly receded and disappeared.

[The operational area has been isolated.]

[Carriage number J897, nine passengers, confirmed as members of the Good Night Society.]

[Permission to kill granted.]

As Yan Shi’s message arrived on their phones, a crisp sound echoed. The members of the Casting Iron Army immediately disengaged the safeties on their firearms.

When Huai Shi raised his phone towards the ceiling, he could see through the floor to the images simulated by Yan Shi’s servers.

A few huddled figures knelt, praying.

Their fervent voices, like the chanting of scriptures, overlapped and spread, lulling people into drowsiness, leading them little by little into the Rotting Dream.

”Commander, please give the order,” Crystal Lattice 1-1 requested.

Huai Shi hadn’t reacted yet, this being his first time in command, and he was unsure how to appear professional.

While they waited, someone inside seemed to notice the silence outside and realized something was wrong. They walked towards the door, only to find the doorknob wouldn’t turn.

He paused for a moment, then turned back, about to shout.

”Go, go!” Huai Shi lowered his voice, no longer caring about professionalism. He drew his Sword of Virtue, ready to charge.

THUD.

A soft sound.

The man’s head exploded into a spray of plasma.

Then, the soft sounds continued incessantly as members of the Casting Iron Army skillfully pulled their triggers, gunning down the Good Night Society members above them through the floor.

By the time Huai Shi reacted, almost everyone upstairs was dead.

He stood stunned for a long moment, awkwardly resheathing the Sword of Virtue he had just drawn. He deeply felt that times had indeed changed.

This was a counter-terrorism operation; drawing a Treasure Sword for a three-hundred-round battle was clearly inappropriate.

Crystal Lattice 1-1 turned and said, ”Targets eliminated. Stay alert. 1-11, conduct a search.”

Then, a silent soldier skillfully produced a folding ladder from his back. He climbed up, smashed through the floor, and entered the room above. He expertly put another bullet into each corpse with his pistol and finally placed an iron box on the wall.

He then slid back down the ladder, packed away his equipment, and raised his hand to report to Huai Shi, ”Commander, area secure. No anomalies.”

”...Ah? Oh, right!”

The dumbfounded Huai Shi nodded. ”Good job. What’s next?”

The phone vibrated; the next target location was already marked.

The transport track started moving again, taking them to the next location. After traveling for a short while, Crystal Lattice 1-11 took out a remote control and pressed a button. A dull thud echoed from afar.

Huai Shi watched, astounded.

Such proficient eradication of evidence!