Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 743: Chapter 603 Helios_1

”What in the world is this?”

Huai Shi lifted his hand, and heavy Lock Chains emerged from the void, enveloped in sparks and black smoke, materializing their outline. They had fully integrated with his Source Armament, indistinguishable from one another.

This alone made the completion of The Sorrow of Index far surpass that of any other weapon. Even the Blade of Resentment that Huai Shi had forged using the memories of the Forgers couldn’t keep up.

This was precisely why Huai Shi was utterly astonished.

”The invitation from Helios.”

Tong Ji said, ”It is the starting point for the pilgrimage path for Alchemists. Basically, every Alchemist should have heard of its existence and harbored both dread and longing for it.”

”Even the Grandmasters?”

”Even a Grandmaster starts off as an Apprentice and grows step by step, right?”

After some thought, Tong Ji said, ”As far as I know, Mikhail never accepted the invitation from Helios, but another Grandmaster from the Stone Pot Society, Garand, did go... But I digress. In short, you can think of the Lock Chain you obtained from Little Cat as a mission item that, once triggered, will generate a legendary quest called ’The Wish of Helios’...”

Huai Shi’s expression twitched. That damned Little Cat! All the rewards he gave were damn props for other missions... Thinking about it, whether it was the Identity Card, Nibelungen, or the Lock Chain, every single one of them was a damn headache! At the time, I was so pleased, thinking I had snagged a bargain, only to end up being utterly duped by that son of a bitch! Fortunately, I managed to get a Prince’s title back, so it wasn’t too much of a loss... But one way or another, I’m going to settle this account with him in the future.

After scratching his head, Huai Shi exhaled deeply, calming down.

”So, Helios’ invitation is a Lock Chain?”

”To be precise, it’s like puzzles set by scattering them across the region at random, as if squandering Miracles like raindrops—the invitation itself is a perfect vessel for a relic, an empty shell.”

At this point, Tong Ji smiled. ”Before that, let’s talk about Helios... Helios Workshop, Helios Chariot, do you know about them?”

”Ah, one of the legendary top ten workshops.” Huai Shi scratched his head. ”Even among the top few, but I don’t know much.”

”That’s why you’re still too narrowly focused, Huai Shi. For an Alchemist, this should all be common knowledge... Well then, let’s start from the beginning.”

Tong Ji leaned back as if collapsing, settling comfortably onto an invisible sofa and chair. She seemed ready to begin her tale, not caring that Huai Shi was still standing there dumbfounded.

Not to be outdone, Huai Shi let out a cold laugh, sat back in midair, and leaned against an invisible chair as well. He even crossed his legs comfortably and leaned back, arms folded.

Even Tong Ji was stunned, her eyes wide in disbelief. ”How did you do that?”

”...Horse stance.”

After a while, Huai Shi squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, awkwardly averting his gaze, his face flushing red.

”PUHAHAHAHA!”

Tong Ji burst out laughing uproariously and unapologetically. She was nearly in tears, lurching back and forth in uncontrollable amusement. ”Forget it, forget it, just come sit here. This is the first time someone has done a horse stance in front of me. I simply can’t go on like this...”

Saying so, she pointed to a patch of empty air beside her.

Huai Shi propped himself up on one leg, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Then he reached out to touch the air next to Tong Ji and actually felt the faint sensation of a sofa. He pressed down firmly a few times—it definitely was a sofa.

”What’s the principle here?”

”The intangible and the tangible, just a little Alchemy trick. Stop looking, you won’t be able to learn it,” Tong Ji said, her elbow propped on her chin, smiling.

Huai Shi thought for a moment, then tentatively sat down.

He sat down firmly right beside her, and then immediately felt a bit stiff.

”Won’t you come a bit closer?” Tong Ji eyed him curiously. ”You’re practically sitting off the edge, aren’t you?”

”You talk too much!”

Huai Shi sat bolt upright, staring straight ahead. ”Are you going to continue or not?”

He shouldn’t have sat over here; it felt even more tiring than holding the horse stance!

”Alright... where were we?”

So you were just making fun of me, were you? Huai Shi reminded her irritably, ”Helios.”

”Right, Helios.”

Seemingly oblivious to what had just happened, Tong Ji rested her arm on the armrest only she could enjoy. She said lazily, ”It’s true that it’s one of the top ten workshops. However, in essence, it belongs to no one and doesn’t have any permanent Alchemists. It is a Miracle in itself, one that allows it to stand above countless Alchemists. It was once an Authority Relic belonging to Olympus. Some might think it’s the Sun God Helios’ Chariot, but in reality, it *is* Helios itself. Do you understand?”

Huai Shi glanced over blankly, then quickly averted his gaze. ”What do you mean?”

”It means that the God Helios never existed at all. It is the mythological Sun Chariot of Apollo, the Sun Vehicle once forged by the Olympus Gods, the Authority Relic that represented the power of the blazing sun, a Miracle of Olympus. Is that clear enough for you now?”