Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

At the moment the morning sun rose and its warm light fell on the edge of Eternal Sky City, it announced the beginning of a new day.

For ordinary people, today was no different from yesterday. No—actually, not just for ordinary people. Even for some people with relatively higher status, today was just another normal day.

You had to eat like normal, live and work like normal, do your best to keep living like normal, breathing every breath of air you could, even getting up like normal, then going to school like normal.

Mm, the word ”school” sounded a bit less than normal in the apocalypse, but what could you do when the kid who had to go to school was named Rahal...

In fact, studying in Eternal Sky City wasn’t anything difficult. The difficult part wasn’t going to school itself, but the prerequisite called ”being in Eternal Sky City.”

When the sleepy-eyed Rahal forced himself awake and finished washing up, Xima had already prepared breakfast for him—soy milk and fried dough sticks, a small piece of freshly baked cake, a soft-centered fried egg, and a glass of milk from a Level 4 mutant cow.

A breakfast that, for Rahal, Dirang, and even Xima, couldn’t have been more normal.

Chewing on his favorite cake, Rahal glanced at Xima, who was still busy at the kitchen counter, then looked at the still-empty seat belonging to the ”head of the household,” and mumbled with his mouth full, ”Lady Xima, where’s Mr. Dirang?”

”Mr. Rahal, Mr. Dirang is busy with official duties. I’m afraid he can’t join you for breakfast.”

Xima answered while playing along with Rahal’s ”role-playing game,” and kept working on the housework in her hands. Only after a moment did she bring over a plate of vegetable salad and set it before Rahal. Then she took off her apron and sat down beside him.

”How long has it been since he last came home.”

Rahal ate and grumbled under his breath, but Xima understood ”the adults’ world” much better. She gently stroked Rahal’s forehead and only smiled without saying anything.

”How’s life at school? Oh right, I heard the midterm exams are coming up soon. This is your first midterm. Last time Mr. Dirang said, as long as you get into the top ten in your class, we’ll go to Yanjing and play for a day. Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go, it’s all up to you.”

”Mm-mm.”

Hearing that, Rahal, with his mouth full of food, instantly perked up. He gulped down what was in his mouth and animatedly described his wishes: ”I heard from Barker, he went with his dad to the military camp in the inner city zone of Yanjing last time. There are several really fun treasure lands in there—there are rabbits, bears, and Lions. I want to go too.”

”And the amusement park King Yue talked about, Xima, did you know Yanjing opened a new amusement park?”

”And Lin Mengmeng told me there’s also a Demon Fiend Museum in Yanjing, and a Zombie Museum. The Zombie Museum seems to have updated with the newest Level 6 zombie, and they even sell zombie plush dolls there. I want one of those!”

Xima looked at Rahal spilling all the ”intel” he’d brought back from his class with black lines all over her head, marveling at how a child’s world could be more exciting than her own. She didn’t interrupt his enthusiasm, just sat beside him, listening to the interesting stories coming out of his mouth.

”Oh yeah, Xima, Ms. Tianxue Lin came to our school the day before yesterday...”

”Hm?”

Xima immediately pricked up her Ear.

”Ms. Tianxue Lin gave a speech in the auditorium and treated us to a meal. Oh right, she was holding a little kid, that little brother was so cute, I even got to touch his hand.”

Hearing this, Xima couldn’t help feeling a twinge of emotion—Fang Yuqiong and Fang Bai’s son with Lin Tianxue, Lin Haifeng’s grandson. The moment he was born, he was already standing above everyone’s heads. That was an existence that even with Rahal’s background and status, he could only look up to...

Right, supposedly Commander Lin also had a real grandson. What was that boy’s name again?

Forgot...

These complicated thoughts rose in her mind of their own accord, and then Xima ruthlessly pushed them down. With her intelligence, she could already see all the twists and turns here. When three months ago, Commander Lin’s two grandchildren Zi Xu were born, Fang Yuqiong was immediately put under the spotlight. With Commander Lin’s tacit approval, Fang Bai even held a three-day-long birthday banquet in Eternal Sky City, while the child who’d been born even earlier had completely vanished without a trace...

According to the gossip... that kid’s father seemed to be the former War God White Tiger of the military—the only one. But now...

Thinking about how when a man dies, his light goes out, about the heartless imperial clan, she listened to Rahal chatter about fun things that had happened at school. Only when he finished breakfast did Xima put his coat on for him and send him out the door.

At the door, the bodyguard Dirang had arranged for Rahal had already been waiting for quite a while.

...

The sequence-beings residential area was not far from the noble school Rahal attended. The bodyguard walked along the quiet, tidy street with Rahal in his arms. There were few people along the way, but the environment was beautiful. Every now and then, fully armed security robots patrolled back and forth, scanning the IDs of passing pedestrians.

On the way, Rahal ran into three acquaintances—supposedly all Sequence-class powerful experts. Although Rahal couldn’t remember their names, calling them ”uncle” was always safe. He also ran into five classmates. Several kids, under the protection of bodyguards, happily walked together in a group. The powerful experts and noble ladies they passed all showed knowing smiles at the sight.

No one is born dark, and no one is born devoid of humanity. Children’s liveliness and innocence always stir up the good side of a Human.

Just as the playing, joking Rahal stumbled and was about to take a nasty fall, light and shadow suddenly flashed beside him. A big hand gently wrapped around his waist and then softly lifted him up.

”Long time no see. Whoa, you’ve gotten a lot heavier!”

The familiar tone, the familiar presence—feeling the familiar face hidden under the black trench coat beside him, Rahal let out a sharp scream, then threw his arms around the person’s neck and cheered, ”Uncle Wen Yu, Uncle Wen Yu! Why are you only visiting me now!”

The bodyguard behind him was startled by the figure that had suddenly appeared and was just about to step forward when he heard Rahal’s excited shout. He couldn’t help but pause.

The name ”Wen Yu” carried weight!

Behind them, an even taller, more familiar figure strode over. Everyone along the way, whether Sequence-class or noble lady, bowed their heads in respect. Tang Haofei merely waved his hand, then looked at Wen Yu teasing Rahal, and rather impatiently glanced at the watch on his wrist.

”Hurry up, we’re going to be late.”

Wen Yu curled his lip at Tang Haofei, pinched Rahal’s chubby cheeks a couple of times, then handed him back to his bodyguard. He smiled at Old Tang and said, eyes crinkling.

”See, this is why you don’t know how to enjoy life...”

...

”How does it feel?”

”How does what feel?”

”I mean, how does it feel to break your own oath...”

”Ah! You mean that part about never going back to the Yanjing Assembly Site? I’m not in the Yanjing Assembly Site, I’m in Eternal Sky City, aren’t I?”

Wen Yu’s twisted logic left Tang Haofei somewhat helpless. Looking at Wen Yu, who was acting like a tourist on a sightseeing trip, Tang Haofei sighed lightly. ”Honestly, all that ’never go back somewhere’ stuff is just a joke. To be honest, this time coming back, you seem pretty affected, right? There are people you know here, your friends, your memories...”

”Yeah, and the smell I hate. The air in Yanjing just makes me feel more and more suffocated!”

The noisy atmosphere, the powerful experts’ debauchery, the weak ones’ endless wails—this was heaven, and also hell. For Wen Yu, this was just Yanjing and Eternal Sky City—just place names, nothing special about them.

His powerful Perception Ability shrouded half of Eternal Sky City. Within his perception he could feel the auras of acquaintances, their words, their actions, one scene after another—but that was all once upon a time, all in the past. With no ties, you could be unrestrained. That was what Wen Yu yearned for, what he pursued.

To Wen Yu, that was what his life was supposed to be.

”Oh right, you still remember Lin Kuangliu, don’t you?”

”Huh?”

”He had a son. Mm, strictly speaking, you can’t exactly say it’s his son. It should be the son of his duplicant and Claire’s duplicant—the two you stomped to death. Turns out Lin Haifeng guessed right: the descendants produced by duplicants aren’t much different from normal people. But that little guy is having a pretty rough time getting picked on by his little aunt right now.”

”How rough?”

”He can’t become some imperial-blood noble, and might not even be able to live incognito. If Old Lin hadn’t protected him, he might’ve died before he even came out of his mother’s womb... I’ve got to say, the old man’s daughter really did inherit his ruthlessness. Not long ago she tricked her own ’big brother and sister-in-law’ to death. Tsk tsk, you have no idea—this place Yanjing is always spawning all sorts of messed-up crap. Day after day, life here is just so exciting! Mm, even more dramatic than a movie!!!”

”Which is exactly why I hate this place!”

”Fair. Honestly, if it weren’t for the crowds, for being able to find every kind of service here to make things easier for me, I wouldn’t like this place either. But you not wanting to come back works out great for me. If you came back, things between the two of us would get complicated again...”

”Relax, Yanjing is yours. Even if it’s not yours, it’s Lin Haifeng’s. Anyway, it’ll never be mine. I don’t care about this crappy place!”