Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 972: Chapter 758: Hundred-Eyed Ghost

Half an hour earlier, at dusk, when the rain was coming down hard.

A van stopped at the back door of the izakaya.

The young man who jumped out into the rain flipped back his rain cape and gave a slight bow to the proprietress who had been waiting a long time. ”Eighty set meals, please.”

”They’ve been ready for a while.” Lady JinJiang pointed at the huge insulated box beside her. ”Rain’s pouring like this, Ushijima-kun, want to come in for some ginger tea?”

”No need, everyone back at the gang is still waiting to eat. If they get too hungry those bastards will throw a fit.”

The young man called Ushijima-kun waved his hand with an embarrassed grin and turned down the proprietress’s offer. He was just about to lift the box, but he couldn’t get it off the ground in one go, almost threw out his back, and his face flushed bright red.

”So heavy!”

”It is dinner for eighty people, after all. Ushijima-kun, it’s a bit much for you to carry alone.” Before Lady JinJiang finished, the helper girl beside her reached out and easily hefted the box up, blinking a pair of blank, innocent eyes. ”It’s not heavy... Boss, where should I put this?”

”...” Lady JinJiang’s expression froze; she wanted to grab this girl who still hadn’t learned to read the room by the cheeks and twist a few times.

Instead, the young man called Ushijima didn’t mind at all and waved it off. ”Ah, so you must be Miss Zhenxi. I heard that bastard Uehara say you’re really strong and I didn’t believe it. Just help me put it in the back of the van, that’s all.”

Once everything was loaded up, Ushijima politely said goodbye, rubbed his lower back, and climbed back into the van.

In the downpour, the van started up. The driver glanced at his sorry state and burst out laughing. ”Told you it was heavy, but you wouldn’t let me help.”

”Shut it!”

Ushijima shot him an irritable look, wiped the rain off his face, then turned off the blaring rock music on the radio. He pulled a notebook from his pocket and went back to memorizing vocabulary.

”Hinc, hinc, H-I-N-C... astra, astra, A-S-T-R-A...”

Seeing how serious he looked, the guy driving couldn’t help but shake his head. ”You really are studious. You forget what you learned in the morning by the afternoon. What’s the point of studying this crap?”

”I like it, what’s it to you!”

Ushijima glared at him and put away the notebook, still reciting under his breath. But the guy next to him seemed intent on messing with him and suddenly started singing at the top of his lungs.

Ushijima got so pissed he kicked this Wang Ba hard.

”Knock it off, I’m driving here!” His buddy shoved him back. ”Don’t distract the driv—”

Boom!

In the sweeping curtain of rain, a Land Rover suddenly shot out from a dark alley, tore through the wall of water, and slammed viciously into the side of the van.

With a deafening crash, the world flipped over. Ushijima’s vision went black, and he felt his body flung around like a rag, smashing violently into everything.

Good thing I buckled my seat belt... otherwise I’d definitely have been thrown out...

When he dragged himself out of the haze, he saw his buddy slumped over the steering wheel, head cracked open and bleeding, life or death unknown.

”Fuck, the airbag didn’t deploy...”

Ushijima fought for breath and tried to push his shoulder.

Then he heard a sound outside the window.

Someone tapped on the shattered glass. On that all-too-familiar face was a mocking smile.

”Ushijima-kun, looks like you’ve been living pretty comfortably lately.”

The few men climbing out of the Land Rover peered in through the window. The one in the lead narrowed his eyes and grinned savagely. ”Not picking up the phone, huh? Looks like you’ve really decided to switch sides?”

Iron King Party!

In an instant of shock, the worry that had been gnawing at him these past days surged up all at once.

Staring in disbelief, Ushijima gaped for a moment, then suddenly asked, ”What took you so long?”

”Huh?” The Iron King Party guy blinked.

”I thought you’d forgotten about me!” Ushijima ripped off his seat belt in fury and roared, ”If you’re really gonna make a move, you could at least give me a heads-up, fuck! Might as well kill me too while you’re at it!”

”Huh?” The man still didn’t quite follow, then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. ”Why didn’t you pick up the phone?”

”Everyone’s phones got confiscated, okay! Couldn’t you tell? I’m already under suspicion!” Ushijima snapped back. ”Even when I go out to pick up food, they’ve got people watching me. Otherwise I’d have poisoned the Huaizhi Gang’s guys to death already; what would I need you for!”

”...”

Outside the van, the men looked at each other. Then the leader seemed to get it and forced out a delighted smile. ”Very good, Ushijima-kun, I knew I hadn’t misjudged you! I said a good man like Ushijima couldn’t be a traitor...”

”You’re planning to ambush the Huaizhi Gang, right?” Ushijima glanced at them and volunteered, ”I’ll guide you in.”

”No need for directions.”

The leader shook his head, pressing a hand to the gun in his pocket, and suddenly asked, ”Where is Huai Zhisu?”

”He went out.”

Ushijima answered without thinking. ”Went to a banquet at the Ochiai Family. Right now the Huaizhi Gang’s base is practically empty, not a single Sublimator inside...”

Before he could finish, a gloomy voice sounded from behind the crowd, like a hideous silhouette woven from countless writhing strands of hair, speaking in an impatient tone:

”He’s lying.”

In that instant, everyone’s eyes on Ushijima turned strange.

In the silence, Ushijima froze, mouth half open as if to say something, but in the end he said nothing. He just let out a sigh.

He raised his hand and flipped the man outside the window the bird.

”Eat shit.”

After fumbling around for what felt like forever, Ushijima suddenly reached out, pulled the handgun from the toolbox, aimed at that face, and squeezed the trigger.

The gunshot cracked through the rain.

Then, silence again.

In front of the burning wreck, a hand woven from countless tangled hairs yanked Ushijima out of the van. A multitude of eerie pupils surfaced within it, staring into his face.

”Where is Huai Zhisu?”

Ushijima smiled and closed his eyes.

From far away came the sound of a phone ringing.

And then, agony like a tidal wave crashed over him...

.

.

The instant that single eyeball stared at him from point-blank range, Huai Shi felt a vicious Curse coil around his Soul like a snake, tightening and seeping in fast.

It invaded his Stigma and the Buried Sacred Place.

And then... nothing.

It was instantly devoured to the last drop by the Rotten Dream Source Substance burning on the Banner, becoming part of the corrupt Source Substance inside the Dream Cage.

Miracles don’t necessarily fail in front of stronger miracles, but when a Curse runs into a stronger Curse, it’s just free food.

Huai Shi only felt his vision go dark from the shockwave, and right after that, a heat at the tip of his nose—then blood started pouring out.

It honestly looked exactly like he’d drunk way too much ginseng chicken soup and overdid the ”tonic.”

His whole body was brimming with energy.

Huai Shi raised his hand, wiped away the nosebleed that was quickly thinned by the downpour, and asked in confusion, ”What the hell are you staring at?”

The eye on those writhing strands of hair froze for a second, then, as if unconvinced, stared again.

And Huai Shi got even more energized.

He couldn’t help but snort with laughter.

”Are you here to attack me, or to bring me supplements?”

In the distance, the Hundred-Eyed Ghost under that carpet of hair froze for a moment, then countless eyeballs twisted, becoming even more ferocious.

”Boss, heads up!!!”

Amid the ruins of the house, behind the burning bike basket, Ueno finally pulled a golf bag out of the shattered trunk. Tearing it open, he drew out a heavy Tachi and hurled it with all his might toward Huai Shi.

In midair, a sweep of razor-sharp black hair crossed it, and the Tachi shattered into two pieces in an instant.

Right after, hundreds of Evil Eyes twisted, coldly locking onto Ueno’s position.

At the instant the sinister light burst forth, though, it realized... Huai Shi’s face was already right in front of it, grinning, smiling.

The booming of Yu Step’s Space Break erupted a beat late.

The curtain of rain suddenly twisted, whipping up a sheet of white spray.

Then it saw the iron ball in Huai Shi’s hand, as big as a normal person’s head—glowing smooth and round, even emitting the crisp ticking of a mechanical watch movement.

Before he could get close, countless pupils shrank, and hundreds of blades of sinister light swept out in all directions.

Then came the thunderous blast.

A flash erupted at point-blank range: an improved Wrath of Ramses formula, supercharged with a huge amount of magnesium powder, detonating in an instant, blooming with searing radiance like a sunrise.

The glare, enough to scorch a normal person’s eyes, only made the Hundred-Eyed Ghost’s vision dim for a heartbeat. Right after, an acrid stench spread through the hot wind.

The reek of blood mixed with alcohol—this vicious, poisonous booze turned into vapor, rising in the downpour, looming over the Hundred-Eyed Ghost’s hair like concentrated acid, hissing as it ate through.

This was inspiration born from that duel with the bartender.

A Chef Demon–style alcohol bomb, fusing Huai Shi’s own blood-wine with metal explosives.

Once it soaked up the Source Substance from the Dream Cage, a dense fog swallowed the surroundings in an instant, a bubble-dream overlaying reality, blotting out all sight.

But it wouldn’t block the Hundred-Eyed Ghost’s gaze for long.

After confirming Ueno had escaped, Huai Shi retreated without hesitation—only to immediately notice countless crisscrossing strands suspended in the air, writhing as they were washed by the rain.

The Hundred-Eyed Ghost’s lower Stigma—Hair Woman.

Using hair to bear countless sinful Source Substance and Curses, devouring life.

Right now, countless strands lashed out, tangling around Huai Shi’s palm, and began greedily sucking away his life force...

Huai Shi froze for a second.

He didn’t feel anything.

He just thought this ”pipe’s” caliber was way too small...

Right after, those strands began to rapidly fibrose, turning woody, then spreading rot and venom. The numbness made the hair twitch like living flesh, then it snapped cleanly into two pieces.

Inside the shroud of dream-fog, the Hundred-Eyed Ghost growled in fury, and then he heard the vicious shrieks of countless iron crows.

The sharp sound of metal proliferation came crashing down from the sky.

A 39.9-meter great blade came cleaving down from above!

Roar of Resentment.

The blood-red edge carved through countless writhing strands in an instant, ignoring their coiling and draining, and instead began draining the Source Substance of the Fourth Stage Sublimator in reverse.

From within the mist came a puzzled voice:

”You didn’t actually think you were the only one who could suck, did you? No way, right? No way?”

Beneath the mass of hair, that aged face gaped wide, both eyes bloodshot.

A Fourth Stage Sublimator had actually capsized this long in front of a Third Stage, and was even being mocked in return!

The veteran Assassin from the Tomb of the Homeless went berserk. Countless strands burst from his body as his whole form melted into a mass of hair monster waving a multitude of tentacles, clamping tight around the Blade of Resent, while even more tendrils howled toward Huai Shi.

The Blade of Resent dissipated in an instant.

Then, a brilliant flash erupted!