Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 530: Chapter 455: Thank You Gift_1

In the night, Huai Shi was woken twice by distant explosions from Canberra.

He got up, poured a glass of water, and stood in front of the window, where he saw the flames rising in the distance and the vague figures of Sublimators leaping between the skyscrapers.

After watching for a while, he withdrew his gaze uninterestedly and went back to sleep.

He slept until the break of dawn.

After breakfast, a waiter came up and whispered, ”An envoy from Lord Sand King has arrived; do you have time to meet?”

”Sure,” Huai Shi wiped his mouth, sat down on a chair, and saw the Sublimator with sunglasses at the doorway, who walked in.

It was someone he knew... the same one who had driven Huai Shi yesterday.

The visitor bowed respectfully. ”Lord Sand King sends his regards.”

”Looks like you had a productive night?” Huai Shi asked.

”It was nothing but some unworthy internal strife, not worth mentioning,” the Sand King’s subordinate said. ”Mr. Sand King has sent me to present a gift to you. It’s just a modest aid, nothing extravagant, and I hope you won’t refuse.”

Huai Shi was stunned for a moment, then saw him open the box in his hand, carefully placing an envelope and a bottle in front of Huai Shi.

The envelope contained a boat ticket to Antarctica.

The contents of the bottle, however, were rather frightening.

It was a few grains of golden dust.

They looked like crystals of amber, so light in quantity that there wasn’t even one gram. But the rich, suffocating essence they contained was overpowering.

”This is... Golden Amber?” Huai Shi couldn’t believe it.

”They are merely insignificant fragments,” the Envoy stepped back, responding respectfully. ”This small amount will not affect the ceremony, but Mr. Sand King thought it might be of some help to you.”

”...”

Huai Shi was silent for a long time, then shook his head. ”I am a guest of the Sand King, who has already hosted me, and I have made promises. I don’t think this is something a guest should accept; please take it back.”

”Mr. Sand King says it’s an investment.”

As if expecting such a reply, the Envoy lifted his head and relayed the words from the Coronated, ”This is unrelated to the Astronomical Society, and if you could become a friend of Australia in the future, this would be a reward for your kindness.”

”You think so highly of me?” Huai Shi was astonished.

”He says, a person like you should achieve something,” the Envoy said. ”Because you are like him.”

”...”

Huai Shi didn’t know how to respond.

The same? He didn’t know, wasn’t even sure what the Sand King meant, and didn’t know how to retort.

After a while, he looked at the bottle in front of him and sighed involuntarily.

To be honest, I should have refused. Is the Sand King insulting me?

But the gift was too tempting...

Even if it was like dust compared to the essence of a miracle, the noble nature of this dust was something money couldn’t buy.

”Please tell him, I accept.”

Huai Shi picked up the small bottle, raised his hand, and directly stuffed it into the hollow in his chest.

Such a precious item is better kept close to the body, after all.

”Very well.”

The Envoy nodded and took two steps back. ”I’ll be waiting downstairs at all times. If you need anything before you leave Canberra, just command.”

”I will,” Huai Shi nodded.

It was still that Envoy who drove the car. In the morning, Huai Shi replenished his saddlebag inventory in Canberra and selected some local specialties, along with items he no longer needed in his backpack, to send back to Xinhai.

Of course, he didn’t forget to send Old Liu an extra portion of Kingly Mask.

Although he didn’t have the chance to go to Shambhala, the intention still had to be conveyed.

Just like how Old Liu would share pictures on WeChat with various beautiful older sisters and super-sized robots whenever he had the chance.

The mutually injurious friendship between the two seemed like it could last forever.

Afterward, Huai Shi went to the local Astronomical Society’s station for a simple report and registration, verifying that he had been there and had done no harm.

However, when the local authorities heard that Huai Shi had walked here from Darwin, they couldn’t help but show a skeptical expression that seemed to say, ”Are you kidding me?”

And upon confirming the truth of Huai Shi’s words, their expression became even more incredulous.

Why would there be such a young freak?

At noon, he and the local officer took time to have a working meal in the cafeteria. Being the Astronomical Society, the food was delicate, and even the working meals were quite decent.

The local manners were thorough, and there was no suspicion or rejection towards Huai Shi, who was an outsider.

Huai Shi also reconfirmed the Sand King’s plan with the local officer.

”It seems that the last obstacle has been removed,” said the middle-aged officer, putting down his wine glass and wiping his mouth. ”His plan is most likely to succeed. After all, with such a large Correction Value, he should be able to restore the land near Canberra and probably even clean up the radiation in the bay area as well.

”A lasting legacy... Is that how Dongxia puts it?”

”Isn’t the Astronomical Society getting involved?” Huai Shi asked.

”For certain reasons, we’re not inclined to interfere too much in the Current Circumstances of Australia,” the officer replied.

The officer didn’t share the secrets of the Existence Institute and the buffer zones with Huai Shi. Obviously, these confidential details weren’t to be mentioned to just anyone.

”The Sand King is a wise and tactful man. He knows where the boundaries lie and won’t act recklessly.”

The officer pondered for a moment. ”However, it’s wise of you not to get involved. After all, several international mining conglomerates are not happy about disruptions to their Australian supply, and there have been continuous disputes. Should conflict arise, your identity would become awkward, and someone could exploit it.”

Huai Shi smiled. ”What can someone do with a Second Stage Sublimator like me?”

The officer also smiled. ”If you were just an ordinary Second Stage Sublimator, that would be true.”

He didn’t say more.

He raised his glass to toast, concluding the lunch and wishing Huai Shi a pleasant journey ahead.

During their conversation, he hinted heavily, hoping that Huai Shi could extract himself sooner rather than later.

With each day he stayed in Australia, the chances of getting tangled in the mess increased. Even if the Sand King had no such intention, his opponents would try their best to stir the waters.

Conveniently, Huai Shi had no plans to stay any longer either.

He didn’t even go back to the hotel.

After all, he carried all his belongings with him. Upon leaving, he had the Sublimator who was driving take him straight to the dock.

Before boarding the ship, he heard an explosion in the distance behind him once again.

After turning back, he realized it was in the direction of the hotel... His brow couldn’t help but furrow.

The driver received a call, and immediately his expression turned apologetic. He lowered his head and assured Huai Shi that this was certainly not the intention of the Sand King.

”I know,” Huai Shi nodded and looked down at the report he had just sent from his phone. ”But now, some people want to see the Astronomical Society’s stance.”

Anyway, he had already handed over the excuse to intervene to the local person in charge.

He wasn’t worried about suffering losses.

”You should go back now. The Sand King will probably need more hands,” Huai Shi stood before the ship’s gangway, looked back at the driver, and said, ”It’s time for me to go too. Australia is not the place for me to stay long.”

”I wish you a smooth journey.”

”Likewise.”

Huai Shi gave him a long look, handed his ticket to a crew member, and with guidance, walked into the cabin.

Next, came the main point of the journey.

「Antarctica.」

Actually, this ship took a bit of a detour.

It wasn’t a direct voyage to Antarctica, but comparatively, it was the earliest arrival.

Because there were no direct flights to Antarctica from Australia, nor was there any need for them. Instead, the ore trade between America and Australia was exceptionally frequent and bustling.

The ship served both passengers and cargo, but it was clear there weren’t many passengers.

According to the route, it would first head to America, offload the precious cargo there, then pick up a batch of instruments for the Antarctic research stations where they could drop Huai Shi off.

As for Huai Shi’s plan, once the trip was over and he had handled ’the birth of life’, he could then proceed to Daishan Mountain in Dongxia, make up the last vestige of plant vitality, and commence preparations for advancement.

According to the message from Giant Goose Company yesterday, they had already made progress with the Undying Flames, searching for leads. But if they succeeded in finding them, Huai Shi would need to pay an additional part of the final payment. That’s because the piece of Undying Flames they found was a bit larger than originally anticipated.

That was good news; Huai Shi wouldn’t refuse it.

So now, the only thing he was lacking was the ’Blood Revenge Crystal’.

Thinking of this, he immediately opened Weibo, found the popular ’Take a Little Junior Brother’, and sent a private message.

”Hey? You there?”

The other party replied with lightning speed, ”Not here, piss off!”

Huai Shi’s eyebrow raised, then he lightly tapped the keyboard and sent back a ’¿’.

On the other end, Little Nineteen, who was habitually rude in business, had sent his reply but didn’t feel the influx of negative emotions he expected, which made his eyebrows furrow as he looked down at the sender’s name.

’Huaihai Road Little Peppa’

Who is this?

It seemed familiar... Wait a second... Fuck!

He was stunned for a long while before he remembered, breaking into a sweat and trembling uncontrollably.

[+999 negative emotions emitted from Wood Cottage!!!]

A slip of the hand, and two days’ worth of business gone for nothing!

I’ve been so blind not to recognize the name, and now I’ve provoked this god of slaughter!

Feeling the ominous presence looming over his head, he swallowed dryly and hurriedly replied, ”I’m sorry, it’s not him, I’m his cousin Lin Yu.”

”...”

Huai Shi was silent for a long time before replying, ”Little Junior Brother, stop messing around. Blood Revenge Crystal, got any leads?”

”Yes, yes, yes!”

Little Nineteen didn’t care about pretending to be someone else anymore and replied frantically, ”Big bro, how many do you want? I’ll give you an insider price. There are two in the New Year’s money I got this year, for half price...”

As he wrote this, he hesitated for a moment, then with a pain in his heart, deleted ”half price” – changing it to ”a 70% discount.”

I’m taking a big loss this time.

”Three hundred ounces, full piece, you got it?”

After sending the message, Lin Nineteen on the other end descended into a long silence.

Huai Shi thought for a moment and then added, ”I’ll pay market price, won’t take advantage of you.”

”...”

Lin Nineteen replied with a long string of ellipses.

”Big bro, it’s not about the money... That kind of quantity, I really can’t help. Frankly, with the amount you’re asking for, nobody in the Current Circumstances could gather that much... But let me introduce you to Uncle Nine. He’s the type to do anything for money. If you pay up, he’ll head to the African border right away and have it for you once he’s killed 160,000 Niggas!”

”Stop!”

Huai Shi’s hands shook with fright.

The thought of 160,000 lives made my hands tremble!

Even Niggas were not an option!

Why is the deluxe version of a Soloist’s advancement so calamitous!