Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 442 382: Orchard Invisibility Technique!_1

Even the most heartless smugglers on the Border were stunned by Huai Shi's shameless act.

Motherfucker, why hurt an innocent youn— *cough cough*, old man!

Although he internally intended to lodge such a complaint, his hands didn't hesitate. He decisively slashed down with the invisible object in his hand, bisecting Qi Wen from crown to groin and cleanly splitting him in two.

But as the Yin Soul turned to ashes and smoke, he himself also vanished.

Without any warning.

It was as if he had evaporated.

However, the folding knife spinning in the air still howled menacingly, growing even more ferocious.

Huai Shi was momentarily astonished, then immediately sensed the killing intent rushing toward him.

Subconsciously, he raised his right hand and clenched it fiercely. The endless grey erupted, and the Apocalypse Nightmare Fog spread all around, outlining an elusive shadow in the seemingly empty air.

Right within arm's reach!

Huai Shi raised his Sword Blade, blocking reflexively, without a second thought.

But it was too late.

He only felt a sharp pain shoot through his wrist.

An invisible folding knife grazed his wrist, severing an artery and leaving a deep gash on the bone.

Blood spurted out, momentarily suspended in the air.

It outlined a hideously grinning face.

Ding NanKe, pleased, extended his tongue to lick the blood. He was about to compliment its taste when he suddenly felt... Something isn't right.

This blood... it's poisoned!

With no time to speak, he stumbled back, coughing violently and spitting out clots of dark green, congealed blood from his lungs and mouth.

His face turned deathly pale.

Border Flu, Abyss Plague, Hell's Black Death, Red Eye Disease, Spirit Brewing Bacteria... In an instant, countless infernal strains from Huai Shi's blood spread and flourished vigorously in the fertile field that was his body.

Even though he frantically swallowed an entire bottle of Antidote, he still felt waves of stabbing pain spreading from his lungs.

Despicable! he thought. Just how much poison did you put in your blood!

His gaze towards Huai Shi grew increasingly sorrowful and furious.

The figure disappeared without a trace once again.

Along with the attack from the three spinning folding knives, he once again silently closed in on Huai Shi.

Then, he saw Huai Shi snap his fingers disdainfully, while Red Gloves raised the submachine gun and began firing wildly ahead.

And Huai Shi, crouching behind his 'tool' (Red Gloves), lifted his rapidly healing arm, took out a fist-sized iron ball from his backpack, and tossed it forward.

The Wrath of Ramses!

The next instant, boiling flames burst forth, accompanied by the ignition of the Source of fire. Viscous liquid metal fuel rained down like a torrential downpour, carrying terrifying heat and instantly transforming the entire hall into a scorching inferno.

In the midst of the blazing flames, countless particles of Apocalypse danced, outlining a shocked silhouette.

Huai Shi had already stepped forward.

"You can turn invisible?"

Huai Shi smiled and told him, "What a coincidence. So can I!"

Then, he raised his hand and performed the Orchard Style's exclusive invisibility technique right in front of Ding NanKe. Simple, quick, convenient. And absolutely no way to break it!

The specific process involved first lifting the hand, then curling the thumb, ring finger, and pinkie together. The index and middle fingers were kept straight, maintaining a forked angle, and then aimed right at the opponent's eye sockets.

Activate Drummer!

—POKE!

CRACK!!!

With a crisp shattering noise, Ding NanKe screamed, personally experiencing the horror of the Orchard Invisibility Technique—he could no longer see where Huai Shi was. Not ever again.

Huai Shi swung his sword, deflecting the folding knife thrust at him from behind. He then threw the Sword Blade upwards; the Sacrificial Knife materialized between his spread fingers and slashed down towards Ding NanKe's shoulder.

A clean sweep.

An arm flew off his shoulder.

The Axe of Anger swept across, cleanly severing his legs. Finally, Huai Shi caught the descending Sword of Virtue and lopped off his other arm as well.

With that, he pinned Ding NanKe to the ground.

The victor was decided.

And most importantly—after Ding NanKe lost his supply of Source Substance, the invisible folding knife and the other three accompanying it all fell to the ground. Huai Shi swiftly pocketed them.

These were rare Border Relics, and a set at that! They're definitely worth a lot of money!

Feeling Huai Shi's elation, Qi Wen, who had just regained a bit of consciousness within the Ring of Nibelungen, sent a message to Huai Shi.

[There should be a hidden compartment upstairs,] Qi Wen messaged.

"Hmm?"

Huai Shi paused. "How do you know?"

[The secret door in the monitoring room is double-layered,]" Qi Wen explained. "[I've used a similar design before, specifically for concealing critical items.]

Alright. It seems a mutual understanding has arisen, a resonance characteristic of the Black Evil Force.

Huai Shi couldn't help but sneer, then waved his hand. Things like this, which could cause endless trouble if they got out, should be sealed away by me... Be quick about it, which way? Show me the path!

As he thought this, Huai Shi used The Sorrow of Index to tie up Ding NanKe on the ground. He handed him over to the Suppression Troops rushing in and then ran upstairs.

Before going up, he kindly reminded, "There's danger upstairs, be careful, and don't get too close!"

The Suppression Troops immediately tensed up as if facing a formidable enemy.

Nobody expected that as soon as Huai Shi got upstairs, his expression changed.

He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

What goes around comes around! After being an Inspector for so long, it's finally my turn to be the one doing the robbing... *cough cough*, no, this is the Astronomical Society confiscating illicit goods. How can that be called robbery!

Of course, Huai Shi would hand over any important items. But if there was just some trash... well, he'd leave it to himself, who wasn't afraid of getting dirty or a little hard work!

Thanks to having a bottomless pit at home, he was practically going mad from poverty lately. He'd even stoop to pick up a fifty-cent coin off the ground, wash it, and take it home...

With the way Raven was spending money, if he didn't make more soon, he'd be bankrupt in two years!

With that thought in mind, his movements became even faster.

Soon, under Qi Wen's guidance, Huai Shi smashed through the wall with a hammer, bringing down both it and the inner steel plate of the vault.

A sealed space of two square meters was revealed behind the wall.

There had obviously been more advanced verification equipment, but no high-tech verification device or alloy safe could withstand Huai Shi's Hand of Confinement.

With a touch of his hand, Huai Shi used Alchemy Fire to directly melt a crevice in the alloy lock core. He didn't even need to dismantle it; a light tug was all it took to open it.

Then, his eyes were lit up by the radiant glow of gold.

「 」

Ten minutes later, Huai Shi walked downstairs, looking exhausted, as if he had just been through a great battle. He staggered with every step.

He waved at the members of the Suppression Troops downstairs.

"The problem has been resolved by me, you guys can go up now…"

Under the admiring gazes of his 'good brothers' from the troops, Huai Shi trudged heavily toward the outside door.

He wasn't afraid of anyone noticing anything unusual. The safe had long since been obliterated by Huai Shi, leaving no trace. The Hand of Confinement was just so incredibly useful for these kinds of illicit activities...

Then, at the doorway, he saw the person he now feared the most.

Director Fu.

At that moment, Director Fu, with his characteristically large eyes, scanned Huai Shi. This caused Huai Shi's expression to falter, and he subconsciously felt a bit uneasy. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Contrary to Huai Shi's expectations, Director Fu's eye twitched, but he didn't see through Huai Shi's guilty conscience. After struggling to speak for a moment, Director Fu said in a low voice, "Ding NanKe is dead."

He was too embarrassed to say it. They had put so much effort into dismembering the criminal yet keeping him alive—even tying him up like a trussed crab—only to hand him over. The man had been fine in Huai Shi's custody, but he died as soon as he was transferred to Fu's... It starkly highlighted their incompetence, making Fu increasingly irritable.

However, Huai Shi couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.

Director Fu hadn't noticed my illicit, law-breaking deeds? And Ding NanKe is dead too? Doesn't this mean no one knows I pocketed the goods?

"This is really great!" he couldn't help but blurt out.

"What?"

Director Fu looked over in surprise.

"Cough cough, I mean, this is truly outrageous! Let me take a look at the scene!"

Huai Shi quickly straightened his face and headed towards the prisoner transport vehicle.

Soon, he saw a complete mess.

Ashes scattered everywhere.

The video recording showed no procedural violations; everything had been done according to protocol.

However, just before the sedative was injected, Ding NanKe began to struggle violently. His lips moved, silently forming some words, and then he grinned.

Afterward, emerald flames rose from his body.

Reducing his entire being to ashes.

Curiously, however, the flames hadn't burned the chair's cushion or the stretcher, only leaving a black scorch mark on the blood-stained white cloth.

What exactly did he say at the end? Huai Shi wondered, puzzled.

The lip-reader stared at the recording for a long time, also in disbelief.

"'You will never know why—' the staff member mechanically repeated Ding NanKe's last words, '—never...'"

If it were suicide out of fear of punishment, that would have been predictable. But Huai Shi felt that the man, who obviously could have escaped, had returned deliberately... It was as if he were intentionally trying to sever some clue.

As if terrified of leaving even the slightest trace that might attract anyone's attention.

What was he trying to hide?

He smelled the scent of conspiracy.

But what did that have to do with me, a cold and ruthless Inspector?

After all, this was a case passed on from the Border Management Bureau. It was a joint crackdown by the Astronomical Society and the Social Security Bureau against border smuggling. There weren't supposed to be so many complications in the first place; it was just meant to be an ordinary sweep for smugglers.

Even if there were any surprises, the situation here would be reported, and it should be those Border Inspection guys who had to worry about it.

Huai Shi had already, without a teacher, mastered the essential 'buck-passing' skill necessary for survival in a large organization. I'll just honestly be a 'salaried thief' and not concern myself in the slightest with matters that aren't my business.

That's right! I've matured! I'm no longer that naïve youth from the past!

If possible, I'd love to go to work every day with a thermos of goji berry tea, sip tea, smoke a cigarette, and read the newspaper all day. I'd slack off until I dug a trench to the earth's core, shirk my duties until I was a grandmaster of it!

What an ideal life!

Now, Huai Shi was already pondering how to write his report. Otherwise, what a waste of his excellent Copywriting skills!

Regrettably, after mulling it over, there wasn't much to say. It would just be something like: 'The criminal initiated hostilities, and I neutralized him with a single shot...' In the end, I decided to just copy Director Fu's report. It's not like he can do anything to me anyway.

An Inspector's joy is just that dull and simple.

「 」

All along, Director Fu felt that something wasn't quite right.

I keep feeling that kid Huai Shi is acting suspiciously...

But seeing Huai Shi walk with such difficulty, looking severely wounded, Fu's conscience pricked him. Have I been too strict with this kid?

Besides, it seemed too harsh for him to cycle back with those injuries. He decided he might as well arrange a car for him.

After sending Huai Shi off, Director Fu sat there smoking, an increasing tightness in his chest.

When he thought about having to go home after a long day's work to continue his battle with that stupid dog just to maintain his position as head of the household, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sorrow wash over him.

Is life always this painful, or is it only middle age that's like this?

Life is so hard... Under the sympathetic gazes of his subordinates, Director Fu let out a sorrowful, indignant sigh to the heavens for the thirty-second time that day.