Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 514 444 I Want Them All_1

Two days later, Huai Shi staggered out of the cabin, doubled over the rail, and heaved a mighty "BLAH" into the sea below.

He felt like he was going to die.

Why in the world could someone steer such a lousy steamer so wildly?

That self-proclaimed Kate Peterman looked strangely familiar, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember where he had seen him; was it because he'd seen too many people deserving a beating, which gave rise to the illusion?

Something just didn't seem right.

Last night, Huai Shi had personally witnessed this fellow in the captain's room, eating hot pot, singing songs, and sipping alcohol, all while one hand held the steering wheel, performing a live demonstration of drifting on wave crests and cornering through sea trenches...

At the most dangerous moment, the whole ship almost took off, flying dozens of meters above the waves.

Frightened out of his wits, Huai Shi had nightmares all night, dreaming that he and the ship were sinking into the deep sea, seeing a bizarre and terrifying city... and then Kate Peterman, leading him on, steered the ship head-on into a huge and terrifying figure.

When he woke up, Huai Shi felt utterly ruined.

Although the steamer was piloted too wildly, captained by someone too frivolous, too talkative, annoying, and very punchable, yet he was... pretty decent, wasn't he?

Huai Shi was starting to become uncertain about that.

While he wasn't sure whether to praise or curse the person's boating skills, at least he made sure Huai Shi ate well and had plenty to drink over the past two days, and even chatted with him to pass the time.

It was just that for some reason, the captain was always concerned about personal relationships.

Questions like how many girlfriends Huai Shi had, if he had kids out there, which one he was planning to marry, or if he had ever thought about polygamy, and other such nonsense.

It was as if he (Kate) pegged me as some sort of playboy, always conjuring up some messed-up scenarios about me.

Remembering my own emotionally barren first seventeen years of life, I increasingly felt that something was seriously off with the world.

I used to struggle just to find food, spending all day trying to figure out my next meal—where was the time to think about all this?

After becoming a Sublimator, I became even more detached.

All I did was temper my body, practice my qin skills, and come up with ways to hide money from the prying eyes of Raven, without paying much attention to the allure of women...

Spending time on that was wasted compared to worrying about my career direction!

I had planned to slack off in the Astronomical Society, swindle some money, pretend to be a salary thief, occasionally act the part of a tool person, and once I saved up enough money, I'd wield my now LV9 copywriting skills to write a flawless resignation letter and contentedly become a salted fish...

How on earth did I unwittingly become an S-level internal evaluation, the future Gold Medal fighter?

"Ah, the worries of young people these days are truly interesting."

After learning of Huai Shi's confusion, Captain Kate stroked his chin, his eyes lighting up with a mischievous enthusiasm, "If you ask me... why not become an archaeologist?"

"Huh?"

Huai Shi was puzzled.

The answer seemed fine, but he felt there was a subtle malice to it.

"Just think, unearthing those insane dark histories in the wilderness, battling the colossal shadows between the stars—doesn't that sound quite romantic?"

With a bottle of strong liquor in one hand, and deftly steering the ship through cresting waves with the other, Captain Kate, in a whirl of disorientation, somehow managed to engage Huai Shi in somewhat cryptic tipsy banter.

"If not an archaeologist, what about a folklorist, or how about a detective?"

He egged him on with great fervor, "A religious figure? An artist? A writer? An astronomer?"

For some reason, although these were all common and prestigious jobs, every time they came out of his mouth, they seemed to carry a certain ease of meeting a bad end...

"Young man, you worry too soon, too soon, Huai Shi," said Captain Kate, discarding the empty bottle in his hand. "Why ponder on such distant matters? Why not enjoy the present, focus on what's in front of you?"

"Damn, damn, damn..."

Huai Shi's face turned green as he instinctively clung to the nearby post, "Then would you please focus on what's in front of us first!"

Under a cloud-covered sky, a giant wave, some seventy to eighty meters high, rose up in front of their bow. Amidst a deafening roar, it loomed like a collapsing skyscraper, ready to crash down upon them.

"That's what I mean, youngsters always make a fuss over nothing. It's just a little bit of a commotion, what's there to be afraid of?" Kate Peterman whistled nonchalantly, "Isn't the promenade spacious? Head that way!"

Find me a damn promenade on the high seas, would you!

Huai Shi's vision went dark, and in the next instant, the entire steamer was engulfed by thousands of tons of seawater.

Amidst the booming sounds and violent shaking, the captain sang a rousing sea shanty, navigating the improbably resilient steamer through the waves, bounding and sprinting among the gigantic swells, headlong into the deepest part of the storm.

In the midst of thunderclaps and lightning, the raging waves swept towards them.

By the time Huai Shi came to his senses, he didn't know how long had passed.

He felt as if he had been tossed into a washing machine, spinning madly until he'd thrown up the last bit of moisture and became a wrung-out rag, then passing out.

And when he opened his eyes, the overcast sky was gone, replaced by the clear blue heavens and the violent sun pouring down its scorching rays.

The captain, lounging on a deck chair with sunglasses on, looked up at him.

"You're awake?"

He whistled, pointing towards the faint coastline in the distance, "We're about to arrive in Australia."

It took Huai Shi quite a while to realize what he was saying.

Arrived?

He gazed incredulously at the outline of Australia, completely baffled.

"That's it?"

"What else were you expecting? To arrive with a newbie Card for a thrilling trip to R'lyeh?"

The captain looked down in astonishment, lowering his glasses to look at him, "It's still not too late to turn back now. If you like cheating death, I don't mind tearing up a couple more Cards."

God knows what he was talking about.

Huai Shi took out his phone and connected directly to the Astronomical Society's GPS, checking his location.

After verifying it several times, I still couldn't believe it: I'd actually made it to Australia?

This was unscientific!

Huai Shi turned back to look at the Raven on his backpack, "The ship actually didn't explode?"

"Would you like me to arrange that?" The Raven sighed, "You're unhappy if the ship explodes, and you're also unhappy if it doesn't explode. Fool, you've become really hard to please lately."

Huai Shi rolled his eyes. Whose fault was this all anyway!

"Well, it looks like it's time to part ways..."

The captain whistled, sporting a smile that begged for a beating, toying with a pair of dice in his hand, "How about I give you some parting benefits?"

"What benefits?" Huai Shi instinctively became guarded.

"DING! DING! DING!"

The young captain, as if performing Magic, wheeled out a trolley, pointing to the dazzling array of products on it, "The Mayflower Steamer's limited-time supply event begins! All items, a flat 40% off! 40% off! You can't go wrong, no tricks, how about buying a little of everything?"

Huai Shi habitually rolled his eyes at this inexplicable development.

When he saw the prices on the cart, his eyes nearly rolled all the way back in his head.

"What the hell!"

Huai Shi pointed at the bottled water, "One liter of mineral water for eighty? And in US Dollars? Is that the discount price? Do I look like a big sucker? And these compressed biscuits look like they're about to expire, right? Where do you get the nerve to sell them for forty a pack?"

"You don't have to buy it," said the captain with a weird smile. "But just so you know, young man, once this opportunity's gone, there's no second chance."

"I, Huai Shi, would rather die of thirst today, jump off here, than buy even one bottle of water from you!"

Huai Shi clutched his wallet tightly, on guard against the captain possibly feeding him Chaos noodles or plankton noodles. Since he could already see the coastline, he might as well jump off and swim over.

Dream on if you want my money!

Unexpectedly, the captain just looked at him with pity and then put the trolley away.

Not long after, the sea started smelling foul.

As the shoreline got closer, the pungent odor in the air grew stronger.

Through the surface's layer of brown sticky grease and heaps of foam, the steamer docked at the small jetty amidst the stinging haze.

Distant factories emerged under the gray sky, their sharp and lofty contours revealed. Plumes of smoke continuously rose from their massive chimneys, like black pillars holding up the ever-lowering heavy clouds.

Beyond the city, one could vaguely make out increasingly desolate plains, and at the horizon, a vast desert.

Huai Shi couldn't help but hold his breath. It was too pungent!

The captain, on the other hand, seemed to produce a small horn out of nowhere, joyfully tooting it to bid farewell to his single passenger as he disembarked.

"Welcome to Darwin, the only town in northern Australia!"

He clapped excitedly, pointing to the dock by the ship, "Step into your new journey, young man, your treacherous fight for survival is about to begin!"

Huai Shi glanced back at him, half convinced, half suspecting the captain was waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

But even after he got off the ship, no one suddenly jumped out to pull a Long Spear and strafe at him.

Maintaining caution and vigilance, Huai Shi first entered the only convenience store outside the dock...

「Three minutes later.」

He rushed back as if chased by wild dogs, frantically grabbing the Mayflower Steamer's anchor as it was about to be weighed.

"Good sir, wait a moment!" He rushed up, humbly clinging to the captain's legs, "Do you still have those supply benefits? I'll buy! I'll buy! I'll eat my words, it's great stuff, okay?"

And so, the captain gave a wry smile.

Then he reached out and took down the sign for the limited-time offer from the trolley.

"Buying is no problem."

He grinned, smiling happily, "Unfortunately, the sale ended three minutes ago... Now, it's full price. Is that okay?"

Suppressing the urge to cry and the aching in his chest, Huai Shi took out his wallet, trembling as he pulled out the US Dollars he had worked so hard to save.

"Alright."

His voice squeezed through clenched teeth, "I'll take everything..."