Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 481 - 419 Cast Iron Turns into Steel_1

At this moment, a ferocious shadowy silhouette continuously emerged from the air, constantly changing its shape. It wildly agitated the tendrils around it, while myriad eyes materialized and vanished in the air without warning.

With the naked eye alone, its true form could not be witnessed.

Yet anyone with consciousness could sense it—something, something terrifying, like death, like a nightmare, had arrived!

The shadows danced, sweeping across the area.

In an instant, Andrea was sent flying, crashing through layers of deck plating and landing in the burning ruins.

Mold and mutations rapidly emerged on her arms, crawling upwards and spreading over her face.

This could hardly be considered a strike.

The dying Ruler, the Rotten Dream Queen who had lost her Dreamland and the shell she inhabited, did not even notice this assailant, reacting instinctively as one might twitch from a mosquito bite.

And yet Andrea was utterly defeated, severely injured, and struggling to breathe.

Before she could even rise from the ruins, she laboriously fumbled in her pocket for an Injection Gun, but lacked the strength to even grasp it firmly.

The Injection Gun slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.

In a daze, she heard someone rush over, pick up the Injection Gun, press it against her neck, and pull the trigger.

A 40mg Gray Liquid Potion was injected into her bloodstream, bringing excruciating pain that spread alongside the soul-tearing agony as her body convulsed violently, curling up and twitching.

Soon, the mold peeled away, and the mutations solidified, ceasing their spread...

"Hey? Hey! Andrea?"

The newcomer checked her pulse and waved a hand in front of her eyes, asking, "Can you see me? Are you okay?"

She struggled to lift her head and open her eyes. Finally, she made out the face before her: Ai Qing.

"Run..." she forcefully pushed Ai Qing's hand away, her hoarse voice urging, "Don't mind me! Rotten Dream—Rotten Dream has already arrived—"

"And where do you plan to escape to now?"

A mocking voice rose from beyond the shattered plating. A rejuvenated Morando emerged from the shadows, looking down at her.

He said, "Ladies, you have nowhere left to run."

Ai Qing, expressionless, raised her hand and snapped her fingers. In an instant, the shattered plating rapidly closed in, transforming into a pair of massive metal hands that brutally reached for Morando.

WHOOSH! Six artillery modules snapped into position, all switching to Source Substance explosive shells designed to target Sublimators, and began a frenzied bombardment.

Before Morando could react, the Casting Iron Army surged forward from both sides, raising their large shields to form an instant, solid defense between Ai Qing and Morando.

Tony, finally arriving, hoisted Andrea up and began to cover Ai Qing's retreat.

"Retreat?" Ai Qing stood her ground, turning to look at him. "Where can we possibly retreat to now? Don't you understand? Group Star is our position, our battlefield. We have nowhere else to fall back to."

"What about your safety?" Tony glared at her, demanding, "Staying here is suicide!"

"Compared to one hundred and ten thousand lives, is the safety of one woman so important?" Ai Qing looked at him indifferently, saying, "Don't make me repeat myself. Do your job, Tony. I'll stay and do mine. The Shadows and Yan Shi of the Original Dark Legion will coordinate with you. Morando is your responsibility."

"Understood."

Tony said no more. After passing Andrea to the medics, he decisively drew his twin blades, took one last look at Ai Qing, and turned to charge toward Morando.

As he ran, ghostly figures continuously emerged behind him.

It seemed as if hidden ghosts followed him, countless spectral forms spreading out, passing through walls, explosions, and Yan Shi's attacks, appearing intangibly before Morando to launch an "Offensive."

Even if it was like trying to stop a charging chariot with a mantis's limbs, they desperately held him in place.

Tony's body began to swell rapidly. In the end, enveloped by rising frost winds, he completely transformed into a giant over three meters tall, his rubber mask distorting and growing fierce as well.

Going all out after so long, he reveled in the sudden surge of power, letting out a mighty roar.

"So powerful—"

BOOM!

Dracula's Dark Hand swept across, sending Tony flying, his dual blades shattering. But moments later, the Frost Giant rose from the ruins, the gash on his chest closing rapidly beneath the spreading frost, as if he were immortal.

His eyes blazed with a burning red light as he screamed and charged once more toward the unbeatable foe.

As Tony departed, the platform where Ai Qing and the Casting Iron Army stood began to descend rapidly, like a massive elevator.

Amidst the roar, dozens of elevators descended from above, laden with soldiers of the Casting Iron Army. They crashed through walls, crushed deck plating, and reassembled within the core of Group Star's mid-levels.

And in the center of the rapidly expanding giant square, the invisible Rotting Dream finally sketched out its form within the material world.

No, if that could even be called a form, it was far too bizarre.

Even under the glare of dozens of intense searchlights, the eerie shadow lingering in the center could not be dispersed.

The laws of physics ceased to apply in this space.

Countless broken bricks and iron shards floated in the air, while twisted tracks and steel frameworks emerged without warning from the ground, bending into various strange arcs and intertwining.

When the moving fragments and steel frameworks passed through the glaring lights, the shadow they cast on the walls was distorted and bloated, resembling a woman.

She seemed to be wearing a lavish gown, walking through the vile dust of the mortal world. Her form was already riddled with gaping wounds.

Fragments continuously rose and fell, twisting and changing, complying with the interference from a higher power, bringing the image of the Ruler into the mortal realm.

In the projection on the wall, sheltered and encircled by countless viscous tentacles, the grotesque figure of the woman sprouted myriad twisted eyes that chaotically scanned all around, ferocious and cold, as if it would deign to notice the little insects swarming around Her.

But She didn't care.

She took a step forward.

At the same time, Ai Qing took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in her heart.

"Everyone—"

"Prepare for overload mode!"

Then, a succession of metallic grinding sounds arose.

It was the sound of numerous redundant modules ejecting from their exoskeletons.

First, the outer layer of ammunition supply, then secondary weapons, primary weapons, followed by the heaviest armor components. Finally, all unnecessary steel frames detached from the members of the Casting Iron Army.

However, what was revealed to the Ruler after they shed their sealed armor was not flesh and blood.

It was surging liquid metal!

Human silhouettes formed from scorching molten steel!

It was an alchemical transmutation, a matrix implanted into the skeletons of each Legion member from their first day of service.

Now, under the commander's orders, their innermost ferocity was awakened.

They truly became Killing Machines.

The renown of the Casting Iron Army came not from their armor and weapons, but from the soldiers themselves!

Now, the Steel Legion, obeying the decree, welcomed the once-in-a-lifetime alchemical transformation, burning their feeble flesh and blood to ashes, channeling their will between the runes of Alchemy and the laws of the Creator.

Only the staunchest will and most profound desire could allow them to maintain their consciousness through such destructive agony.

Only then could steel be forged!

Piercing screeches erupted, one after another.

The scorching molten iron quickly cooled, solidifying into black, coarse forms. The two thousand one hundred members of the Casting Iron Army uniformly extended their hands. Boiling iron-blood flowed from their palms, coalescing into heavy blades.

In Alchemy, the Nail of Incineration within their foundational framework was extracted, letting out a resonant cry as it anticipated the formidable enemy.

No more words were needed.

Following the commander's order, the Steel Legion trampled the earth, launching an attack on the invincible Ruler!

.

.

"So, while everyone was fighting desperately, you were just making a fool of yourself?" Huai Shi asked in disbelief after hearing the whole story. "How could you be so lame!"

Tony, so furious that blood spurted from his horse mask again, retorted, "I did contribute something, you know! Do you even know what a halftime break is? Besides, what right does a slacker like you have to criticize others!"

"Because I've got a heart full of righteous zeal!"

While verbally sparring with Tony, Huai Shi's hands never stopped. After giving Tony swift emergency treatment, he directly channeled the Mountain Ghost's life force into him.

At last, Tony's life was stabilized, albeit barely.

Visibly, a tuft of weeds swiftly grew from the mouth of his horse mask.

Then, as Tony chewed under his horse mask, he pulled the weeds back in and swallowed them. "Not bad," he mumbled. "You can even grow weeds. Think you could grow some corn next time?"

"...You really got me there." Huai Shi was dumbfounded. After a long pause, he said, "I'll try next time."

"Forget next time, Huai Shi, just run." Tony struggled to pull his body, nearly broken in two, back together. Frost sealed the gaping wound, making him whole again. "Go to the shelter, or just hide somewhere safe. Run, Huai Shi, run! You'll be fine, at least until we're all down—"

Huai Shi stared, dumbfounded. "Hey, are you going out there just to get yourself killed?"

"Throwing your life away is sometimes part of the job, Huai Shi. You think the Astronomical Society's vow to protect the world is just empty words?"

Tony chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Stay back, kid. As long as us old-timers aren't all dead, it's not time for a seventeen-year-old like you on the battlefield..." Before he could finish his boast, he coughed violently, blood spraying from his mouth. His horse-masked head jerked back, and he collapsed.

He couldn't rise again; he had reached the end of his strength.

"No way, man! Your cool moment didn't even last three minutes!"

Huai Shi panicked. He hurriedly applied another Silver Blood Potion to Tony's wound, barely keeping him breathing. Before Huai Shi could say anything, he heard Beelzebub screaming frantically in his mind:

[WARNING: ATTACK INCOMING! PREPARE FOR EMERGENCY MANEUVERS—]

Even Death Perception gave no warning.

Without a second thought, Huai Shi hoisted Tony onto his shoulder and bolted—Yu Step!

Almost instantly after he moved, a dark figure descended from the sky, shattering layer upon layer of deck plates. The floor where Tony had lain was pierced and torn apart by a single, swift arm strike.

Morando landed, his expressionless face tilting upwards.

Half of his body was now charred, and a large, through-and-through hole gaped in his chest, showing no signs of healing.

In his eyes was the crimson light that Huai Shi knew all too well.

—Craving for blood!

He was severely injured and starving.