Apocalypse Forecast

Deep into the night, within a detached courtyard of Li Jian’s Manor.

The darkness of the Buried Sacred Place rose, isolating the inside from the outside.

Huai Shi sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the figure opposite him.

They gazed at each other.

Contemplating.

Having shed the disguise left by Tong Ji, he had returned to his former state and felt a long-lost sense of exhilaration. At the same time, his efforts over the past days had finally borne fruit.

He was not referring to the ravens, which never seemed satisfied no matter how much they ate, but to himself.

Before him was the result of his labors over these days.

The Afterimage of the Soloist.

No, it no longer belonged to the realm of afterimages. Rather, it was another self.

It was as if there were an invisible mirror before him, reflecting his form within it.

But the reflection wasn’t identical. Aside from a similar face when compared side-by-side, they were starkly different in both gender and temperament.

It was a stark reversal.

To be precise, it should be called...

——Miss Huaizhi Sushi.

Thanks to Huai Shi’s overabundant and lavish preparations during his advancement, his Buried Sacred Place was qualitatively different from that of other Soloists. Consequently, the Afterimage that split from it also possessed considerable potential.

It was not just for deceiving opponents or as a base and marker for the Shadow Burial Shuttle; it also had the property of carrying Source Substance.

Owing to this, under Tong Ji’s refinement, this special Afterimage was able to grow to such a tangible extent.

And today, she had finally taken on the appearance of Huaizhi Sushi, achieving a breakthrough from nothingness to existence. From this perspective, Huai Shi’s duel in the arena must have had a considerable impact on the entirety of Nara.

Otherwise, the essentially nonexistent ’Miss Huaizhi Sushi’ would not have been able to make such progress based on these urban legend-like rumors.

The current Afterimage—no, the current Huaizhi Sushi—had become an existence just like Huai Shi’s Reflection.

Now, as Huai Shi moved, Miss Huaizhi opposite him mirrored his actions perfectly.

Whether lifting a hand, stomping a foot, or turning around, all reflections were flawlessly executed.

Even when Huai Shi improvised a Performance Method, her corresponding movements were flawless. After completing such a difficult series of actions, she even proudly blinked.

It took a long moment for Huai Shi to react, and when he did, a chill ran down his spine.

Because he hadn’t blinked just now!

Something was off...

But this kind of ’off’ was precisely what was normal.

The reason being, the more abnormal his Reflection—Miss Huaizhi Sushi—became, the better it was for Huai Shi.

This was one of the preparations he had made for the Mystic Ritual of transformation into the Great Priestess.

The nonexistent person named ’Huaizhi Sushi.’

A false identity, a person who never actually existed, or rather, an entity capable of replacing his own fate.

If put in a more fantastical way, calling it a second primordial spirit or an external incarnation wouldn’t be much different; it’s just that Huai Shi hadn’t cultivated immortality or a Flying Sword, that’s all.

To become the Great Priestess, he needed such a stand-in.

The Great Priestess and the Soloist, though originally from the same source, were two utterly different beings in both legend and contemporary perception.

Even as Stigmata, they corresponded to the Third and Fourth Stages respectively.

Because merging the two into one was simply beyond what a Third Stage Sublimator could accomplish. No Third Stage Sublimator, no matter how formidable or unreasonable, could do it.

This was not due to a lack of ability, but because they were constrained by the frailty of their own being.

Miracles and Disaster are two sides of the same coin; the reverse side of a Stigma is the Abyss, and an overly immense miracle will inevitably draw forth Disaster. The Soloist’s transformation into the Great Priestess brings not just a surge in power, but also a skyrocketing gravitational pull from Hell.

With just the Third Stage, a body that had just completed its etheric transformation could not possibly withstand such terrifying pressure. The instant the transformation was complete, Huai Shi was destined to solidify and plummet into Hell. His future would then be one of love and companionship with the portly fellows of the Golden Dawn.

Therefore, for him, there were only two ways to become the Great Priestess.

First, he could forsake the original goal of becoming the Fourth Stage Cloud Monarch. After completing the Soloist’s Sky’s Command and cultivating his own Abyss Horde, he could gain the perfect resistance of the Fourth Stage through orthodox advancement and become a legitimate Great Priestess.

This would also mean following the official process: a transfer from the Logistics Department to the counter-rebellion department—a successful career change. From then on, he’d be a ’Second fifth,’ possessing a potent specialization against those of the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy.

The second option was to find a way to withstand Hell’s gravitational pull and a method to counteract the erosion of the Abyss, then clandestinely carry out this task. Outwardly, I’d still be working in the Logistics Department, but nobody would know I also had a part-time job at Lubyanka...

Undoubtedly, the latter would be the more difficult path.

The existence of ’Miss Huaizhi Sushi’ was a preparation made for this challenging issue.

If one person could not bear the Stigma of the Great Priestess, then two people could shoulder it. Although three or four would be better, from a cost-effectiveness standpoint, two was the most straightforward and feasible approach. Any more would actually increase the risk of losing control.

Thus, the existence of Huaizhi Sushi came to be.

If the plan went smoothly, she, in her completed state, would be an extension of Huai Shi’s will. She would serve as part of his body and soul, sharing the pressure from the Great Priestess and the backlash from the Abyss with Huai Shi.

When necessary, she could act as a stand-in doll, throwing all the Abyssal backlash onto herself, and then he could sever the connection.

After all, being a mere tool person, it wouldn’t matter even if she solidified. In fact, there would be even more ways to ’use’ her after solidification.

Therefore, a tool person was the most precious thing in the world.

Normally, she could serve tea and give massages. When trouble arose, the tool person could handle it. If she couldn’t manage, the tool person could be sent to her death.

At critical moments, she could even take his place when facing certain Curses, Authority Relic-level causality attacks, or even the backlash of fate…

No wonder so many people liked tool persons; even Huai Shi himself was starting to become heartless. After all, even if it was another version of him, it was still him—no need for courtesy.

Under Tong Ji’s refinement, a critical qualitative change occurred. Driven by Huai Shi’s efforts and interpretation, the preliminary breakthrough from nothingness to existence was completed.

Now, Huaizhi Sushi, existing as a ’Reflection,’ was no longer just a figment of imagination.

But to advance her further, a sufficient amount of legend must be established. Creating some Correction Value or increasing her degree of distortion would be ideal. In that case, as an extension of the Soloist, Huaizhi Sushi’s identity would become increasingly real.

Until fiction became fact, and she became Huai Shi’s second body.

What was even more delightful was that her own growth would also count towards the Soloist’s Sky’s Command.

Huai Shi could kill two birds with one stone. Mishandling it, however, could result in a ’one corpse, two lives lost’ scenario—a risk that was, for now, bearable.

Think of it as playing on a sub-account…

So, when he operated as Huaizhi Sushi, he had to stir up more trouble.

The long-term goal was to complete the transformation into the Great Priestess and prepare for advancement. Thus, his current short-term goals were to stir up as much trouble as possible, feed the ravens whenever possible, and then, if possible, make some more money to feed the other Raven at home…

The former, though quite greedy, could eventually be satiated. But as for the latter, he felt there was no hope in this lifetime.

”Being the head of the family isn’t easy,” Huai Shi sighed helplessly, looking up at the bright moon outside the window. ”To maintain the necessary dignity, some sacrifices are inevitable.”

Indeed, to prevent the Current Circumstances from being corrupted, it was safer to use money to seal that black-hearted woman in his home’s basement.

And so, filled with the satisfaction of having successfully protected the world again today, Huai Shi lay down in bed and fell into a deep sleep…

Only to be woken up by a phone call two hours later.

Huai Shi sat up in bed, glanced down, and saw the name of his annoying little sister, Amber, on his phone. Expressionlessly, he rejected the call, lay back down, and went back to sleep.

The phone rang again.

He rejected it again, then blocked the number.

The phone rang for the third time, from an unfamiliar number.

Having no choice, he answered the call, only to hear Amber’s annoyed voice, ”Enough, Huai Shi! Quit acting like a child, will you!”

Huai Shi rolled his eyes. ”Big sister, I don’t know what you mean. After all, I’m only eighteen.”

He continued, ”Calling a weak, helpless, and pitiful man in the middle of the night... Do you realize I could report you for sexual harassment?”

”You?” Amber scoffed. ”How about we both report each other to the Astronomical Society for sexual harassment at the same time and see who the Jurisdiction Bureau believes?”

Huai Shi widened his eyes, indignant. ”Get to the point! Woman, don’t fill your head with such unhealthy thoughts all day! As a teacher from the Ivory Tower, I can’t bear to watch this!”

”Fifteen minutes, Xingfu Temple.” Amber, already fed up with his antics, stated the location and hung up.

...

...

Deliberately arriving late, at the sixteen-minute mark, Miss Huaizhi casually appeared before Amber, riding a bicycle she had acquired from who-knows-where.

Unsurprisingly, she was met with a stony-faced Amber.

”Why so serious? Come on, want some?” Huai Shi asked, raising his hand to pass over the oden he had bought from a convenience store. ”It tastes pretty good, but it was a tad bland, so I added extra chili...”

After staring at Huai Shi for a long moment, Amber took a deep breath, restraining the urge to cut down her infuriating younger brother.

”Be serious. Leave the bike here and follow me.” She exhaled and led the way. ”The murder scene is just ahead.”

Holding his oden, Huai Shi passed the guarded police tape and finally saw a corpse on the road ahead.

It was a ghastly sight.

The manner of death looked eerily familiar...

Huai Shi crouched down, swallowed the fish ball in his mouth, and examined the corpse on the ground, his eyebrows slowly rising.

”Decapitation?”