Apocalypse Forecast

Amber was right. That woman, Huaizhi Sushi... She’s actually A-level!

No. To have consecutively slaughtered Impure Monk Guo Ying and Million Gold Bruce within an hour, and then to have frontally defeated those two berserk brothers whose styles completely changed after getting too fired up—this already makes her beyond A-level.

Scarily strong!

But why... How come there’s no record of such a powerful Sublimator in their database?

Could she have smuggled herself in from the Border or Hell?

That wouldn’t make sense either. Their database is directly connected to Astronomy Club Customs and countless intelligence channels. If any powerful individuals enter Current Circumstances, they know even before the Jurisdiction Bureau does.

So why... do they know nothing about her?

Could this woman have popped out of a stone in the Ivory Tower?

”Unbelievable! You bunch of Wang Bas are slacking off way too much!”

As the editor-in-chief, she couldn’t bear it any longer. Turning back, she scolded her team, ”After all this time, this is all you can give me? Huaizhi Sushi, female, eighteen years old, a student from the Ivory Tower... and then what? Who are her parents? What’s her blood type? What kind of Stigma does she have, and what’s her background? What courses did she enroll in? Does she have a boyfriend or a girlfriend? What are her results in the Chef Demon competition? Apart from what Li Jian Amber handed over, there’s nothing else worth looking at! No buzzworthy content at all. How do you even call this journalism?”

”I can’t help it, Editor Ji.”

The team member, who had stayed up all night, also sounded helpless, ”The data access granted to our group is just this limited. We can’t access higher-level content, and the local field investigation department can’t find any clues at all. It’s already quite an achievement to have found this much.”

While the two were exchanging looks, a smug chuckle came from the side.

”HEHEHE, is it my time to shine now?”

The man who spoke was mopping the floor. Now, with his hands on his hips, he laughed proudly, ”I’ve actually made a major breakthrough! Indeed, at times like this, you need the omnipotent detective to unveil the mystery!”

”...Detective, could you please not mess around?”

The exasperated team member sighed, ”You’ve only been here for less than two months, and you haven’t even gotten the hang of your own job yet. Don’t be in such a rush to show off. Journalism is a serious business.”

”This is Tomorrow News, Detective. When it comes to work-related matters, please don’t joke around.”

Editor-in-Chief Ji Wei turned her head, staring seriously at the guy her ex-boyfriend had introduced. She always felt that the two of them were cut from the same cloth. Equally unreliable.

”This isn’t showing off.” The detective adjusted his glasses, proudly wagging a finger. ”I’ve just discovered a clue that none of you noticed!”

”...”

Ji Wei sighed.

Alright, best not to crush this guy’s enthusiasm. Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Hoping against hope that this guy might have actually found something, she waved her hand in resignation. ”Go on, then. If you’ve really discovered some clues, I’ll process your permanent employment today.”

”Well then, next up is the moment to witness a miracle!”

The detective walked up to the computer, quickly performed some operations, and then displayed a brand-new resume and file on the large screen, right next to Huaizhi Sushi’s file for a side-by-side comparison.

In the silence, Ji Wei’s expression twitched. ”Who’s this?”

”Huai Shi. Eighteen, male, Asia Inspector for the Jurisdiction Bureau, Legendary Investigator, Prince of Paradise, Disastrous Musician... Isn’t it all written clearly right here?” the detective asked in confusion. ”Don’t you know him?”

”...I know. I even wrote part of his file. I know you two knew each other before, and that you’re quite familiar with Liu DongLi, so please stop emphasizing it,” Ji Wei said, massaging her temples. ”But what does he have to do with Huaizhi Sushi?”

”No, seriously, don’t you all think the two of them look alike?”

The detective asked seriously, pointing at the two vastly different yet similarly striking faces in the profiles, and said with a straight face, ”The first time I saw Huaizhi Sushi, I felt something was off. The more I looked, the more familiar she seemed—it wasn’t until just now that I remembered: she looks so much like Huai Shi!”

???

Ji Wei’s eyes twitched wildly as she mentally suppressed a hundred thousand questions. ”How the hell do they look alike? Their genders are completely different, for a start!”

”How do they not look alike?”

The detective argued forcefully, ”Look! Huaizhi is very good-looking, and so is Huai Shi. Huaizhi is a Chef Demon, and Huai Shi is also a Chef Demon. Huaizhi is very skilled at swordsmanship, and Huai Shi also excels at swordsmanship. Huaizhi likes to behead people, and Huai Shi also likes to behead people!”

The more he spoke, the more excited the detective became, his eyes shining with enthusiasm. ”And what’s an even greater coincidence, the intelligence reports say Miss Huaizhi likes to seduce women, and Huai Shi likes to seduce women too!”

With that, he slammed his hand on the desk and solemnly announced his conclusion, ”Q.E.D.—Huaizhi Sushi is Huai Shi!”

”...”

Dead silence. A profound silence descended, almost suffocating.

In the office, everyone stared, dumbfounded.

As they stared at the detective, they were filled with a strange sense of awe. Dude, how did you even come up with such a fantastical line of reasoning?

Even a seasoned editor-in-chief like Ji Wei felt a grudging admiration for the detective’s outlandish deduction, a piece of reasoning so preposterous it was almost a work of art in its absurdity.

At the same time, a genuine question arose from the bottom of her heart: How the hell do you have the audacity to call yourself ’Detective’?

”Once you eliminate all impossible options, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth! Well? Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t it a deduction worthy of a genius?!”

The detective threw his head back and laughed triumphantly, basking in his great discovery, completely oblivious to the crushingly awkward atmosphere around him.

Ji Wei raised her hand to her forehead and sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

How utterly delusional was I, moments ago, to have even hoped he could find a clue?

”You should just go back to doing odd jobs...”