Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 440 380: Who is the Antagonist?_1

A sudden twist occurred in the midst of the fight.

When you plan to ambush and slash the throat of a little bastard, you are suddenly faced with a Mimic Messenger... and in their hands are twin submachine guns. They lift the dark muzzles and pull the trigger.

The fleeting shadow suddenly shuddered, flying backward without touching the ground. It lifted the Sickle in its hand as if twisting a key through the air.

An invisible gravitational force burst forth, drawing the bullets from Red Gloves toward it, converging around the Sickle like glowing red peanuts hovering around a bent iron branch.

As Red Gloves continued firing, more and more bullets suspended above the Sickle. Eventually, even the Sickle seemed to reach its limit, turned glowing red by the converted kinetic energy, and layers of cracks appeared.

Fortunately, just before the collapse, the sound of empty magazines echoed. The attacker breathed a sigh of relief and, with a wave of his hand, sent countless bullets CLATTERING to the ground.

It was a narrow escape from certain death.

As countless pieces of the ceiling fell, a bulky and bloated figure plummeted straight down from the second floor, aiming for Huai Shi. The guy was like a metal ball, his quivering fat glistening with iron. With his movements, his two large hands slammed together, fingers interlocking, aiming for Huai Shi's forehead and smashing down as if spiking a volleyball!

The wind howled fiercely!

The attacker had no doubts about the punch's power.

This punch, even if it smashed into the front of a truck, could flip it over. Dealing with mere flesh and blood was a piece of cake.

Then, he saw Huai Shi stand firm, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.

Huai Shi took a deep breath.

He raised his empty hands behind his head, as if gripping something invisible, and roared with all his might. Suddenly, iron light condensed from midair, gathering between his fingertips, proliferating inch by inch until it outlined the ferocious form of an Iron Hammer.

The shape resembled the ferocious head of a Giant Beast.

The front of the hammer head was covered with countless overlapping scales, vaguely forming the silhouette of a wolf's head, even with two curved, sharp long horns extending forward from it.

At the end of the hammer head, the tightly closed scales and carapace suddenly shook. Six outlets burst open, and countless agonies converged into a scorching torrent, erupting from within with the power of rocket engines.

With a roar, the Iron Hammer broke through the air.

It was as if a Giant Wolf bellowed in anger, stirring up thunderous reverberations.

In an instant, the raised Iron Hammer accelerated beyond belief. Following Huai Shi's movements, it smashed forward—targeting the bloated Sublimator falling from above, entrusting all his strength and kinetic energy into this one strike.

"—Go!!!"

It was as if he had kicked a dead pig lying in the bushes.

A low thump was heard.

A faint sense of resistance traveled up from the Iron Hammer's shaft, and then, as if puncturing a bubble, an explosion erupted again amidst the thunder.

BOOM!

Before even hitting the ground, the fat Sublimator screamed, flung forward by the strike, flying straight ahead of Huai Shi.

The bloated body rapidly deformed under the smashing blows of the Iron Hammer. At the point of impact, a depression suddenly spread, creating waves of flesh. Wherever it passed, the iron-glistening fat disintegrated, and a waterfall-like mist of blood sprayed forth from the large hole in his chest.

Dragging a blood-red trail behind him, he crashed through one wall, then another, tumbling awkwardly on the ground until he finally stopped, dozens of meters later, in front of the factory's perimeter wall.

He had turned into a limp heap.

Witnessing this horrifying strike, the Sublimator holding the Sickle did not even have time to feel fear before instinctively seizing the opportunity. He boldly dove forward again, trying to bypass Red Gloves and launch an attack on Huai Shi's now defenseless back—a backstab!

Immediately after, he felt a chill at his back, a coldness in his chest.

Looking down, he saw a magnificent Sacrificial Knife protruding from his chest, yet no blood sprayed out, as the knife had absorbed all the blood into its blade. He could only feel his life rapidly draining away.

How is this possible...

He turned his head with difficulty and saw a flickering shadow, and a ghastly old face enveloped in a dark fog, its eyes cold and sinister, grinning wickedly at him.

It was like a Yin Soul.

No, it was indeed a Yin Soul, but how could it be...

In disbelief, he looked forward, seeing Red Gloves indeed standing behind Huai Shi. He couldn't understand—why were there two?

He fell awkwardly to the ground, his Sickle slipped from his grasp. Without the supply of Source Substance, it finally broke apart, inch by inch, at its limit.

Before he completely passed out, he heard an appreciative voice from Huai Shi:

"Qi Wen, well done..."

A second Yin Soul.

Since his return from the Witch's Night, the growth of the Mountain Ghost Stigma had once again brought new growth to the Ring of Nibelungen, nurturing a second Yin Soul.

And for some reason, when Huai Shi took out the Book of Fate and slapped it against its forehead, Qi Wen suddenly appeared, becoming Tool Number Two.

"What the hell is this?" Huai Shi was completely baffled. "Does this mean that everyone who bears a grudge against me will be damned?"

If this were in any fantasy novel, it would absolutely be the MO of an archvillain, something like tormenting the enemy's soul for hundreds of years.

If this archvillain were more despicable, there would be endless torment inflicted on some untouchable...

An untouchable with Qi Wen's face...

Just the thought of that scenario made Huai Shi shudder.

Although he felt disgusted inside, he quickly found that this Tool Number Two was quite useful.

Unlike Red Gloves' direct and fierce fighting style, this old scoundrel was cunning and cowardly, hiding in a corner, definitely not confronting the enemy head-on unless Huai Shi gave a direct order.

His old eyes were always fixed on people's backs, as if he was constantly plotting how to overpower someone from behind.

Firing from the dark, using a blackjack, throwing lime, poisoning...

He played dirty in every way possible.

Throw these two out—one draws aggro, the other backstabs. They seem to make a pretty good pair.

It's just that things are getting dirtier and dirtier, to the point where even Huai Shi occasionally thinks this wicked duo is too much to handle.

Not just Huai Shi, but even those smugglers watching their own people get taken out by such dirty tricks through the surveillance all gasped in shock, wondering who the real villains were amidst all the poisoning and backstabbing.

Seeing their two strongest fighters being taken away like chopping vegetables, the expressions on the faces of the others soured instantly.

"Social Security Bureau is charging in again!"

The person peeking out of the window turned back, a look of terror on their face. "Second Brother, what do we do!"

"Grab our weapons! Take down that little whelp from the Astronomical Society first! I don't believe Social Security would dare to make a move!"

Second Brother pulled out a key, unlocked the secret cabinet in his office, took out the iron box inside, and distributed weapons with a cold expression.

"Now that it's come to this, our only option is to fight to the death. Don't even think about getting off easy after surrendering. I've never seen anyone successfully lie to the Astronomical Society. The stuff we've done could get us killed dozens of times over! Even if we don't make it, at least we'll die fighting! If we get caught alive, then... begging for death will be useless!"

The ominous tone made everyone shiver. They gripped their weapons more tightly, murderous intent flashing in their eyes.

A successful pre-battle rally bolstered everyone's resolve.

Some even clapped, unable to hold back their admiration.

Outside the door.

Suddenly, everyone inside felt an intense chill surge up. Before they could even react, the door exploded—literally. Amidst the burst of flame, it shattered into countless metal fragments that screamed through the air, turning the room into a complete mess.

Then, the heavy sound of steel scraping against the ground resounded as sparks flew.

The rather slender young man dragged an Iron Hammer that completely mismatched his own style into the room step by step, greeting his stunned adversaries with a smile.

"...It looks like you guys have finished your pre-battle rally. I'm not too late, am I?"

The Iron Hammer, born of suffering, was raised again slowly, its six nozzles at the back igniting with intense flames.

They lit up Huai Shi's slightly upturned smile.

"If possible, I hope you won't resist... Otherwise, I'm not quite confident I can leave your bodies intact!"

BOOM!

The sonic boom erupted again. As Huai Shi stepped and turned, the Iron Hammer, roaring with flame, traced a fierce arc through the air.

Within the blink of an eye, it had smashed a Sublimator against the wall, splattering him so evenly that the thickness variation was no more than three centimeters.

It was just that the flowing liquids made for an unpleasant sight, causing everyone's complexion to turn pale.

"Don't be afraid!" At the critical moment, someone stood up, bellowing, "Have you forgotten what Second Brother just said!"

"Second Brother?" Huai Shi asked, puzzled, looking behind them. "You mean the one who ran away the moment I came in?"

An awkward silence descended suddenly.

Only now did they realize... Second Brother had disappeared at some point. The barely closed secret door was the only proof he had ever been there.

"That's why I hate you smugglers... completely unprofessional."

Huai Shi sighed, lifting the Iron Hammer again. "Given your not-too-bright looks, even if I asked you where Ding NanKe was, you probably wouldn't know."

"I'll try to give you a swift end—"

***

It turned out the Special Affairs Department was somewhat useful after all.

After Huai Shi finished smashing the limbs of those bothersome guys, the Suppression Troops on the radio told him Second Brother had confessed.

He surrendered voluntarily, kneeling down nice and neat.

Completely different from what he had just told his brothers. As soon as the Suppression Troops burst in, he threw himself at them. Before his burly comrades could react, he had spilled everything.

As crafty as he was at trying to clear his name, at least he gave up some information,

like the account books and his contacts, as well as where the critical goods were stored—Old Fu was currently tallying up those smuggled goods while swearing up a storm.

Without a doubt, a major case.

Yet, after blabbing about everything under the sun, Second Brother couldn't for the life of him say where Ding NanKe was.

According to him, Ding NanKe had been acting strange since the previous week. The night before last, he had personally received two visitors, with no one else allowed to intervene.

Those two guests had left the next morning.

Afterward, Ding NanKe hadn't been seen again, as if he had disappeared too.

No one knew if Ding NanKe, knowing too much, had been silenced by his own guests. Before Huai Shi burst in ready to enforce the law, everyone was discussing whether to divvy up their loot and head back to Gao's Old Manor.

Huai Shi was flabbergasted. "Unbelievable. A whole bunch of Second Fifths. With such great brothers, Ding NanKe would probably be laughing in his grave, right?"

"No, I'm actually not too keen on laughing."

Outside the door, a hoarse voice spoke up.