Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 948 - 751: Transaction

When Tony opened his eyes again, his body told him that only fifteen minutes had passed.

Beside him, across the river, the once-large warehouse was engulfed in flames, burning brightly and lighting up the night sky. The sharp sound of fire trucks arrived from afar.

"FU@K!"

Tony reflexively cursed as he climbed up from the ground.

Then, he heard a familiar voice from behind.

"You’re really lucky."

"Hmm?"

Tony turned around and saw Ai Qing standing on the riverbank, holding her phone, quietly filming the burning scene in front of her. After a while, she looked back at him and glanced at his wound, understandingly saying, "It’s just your right hand that’s injured. You seem to have a good relationship with him."

"We’ve only been on a few missions together, I have nothing to do with that kind of monster."

Tony agitatedly shook his horse face, then reacted: "Someone else got attacked too?"

"Yes, according to other branches, two investigators have had their legs broken by him, and another detective was taken to the hospital for a concussion. Besides that, there were four car accidents, and two other incidents. The worst was one person who was dragged by the subway for three stops and almost lost his life."

Ai Qing shrugged: "In comparison, it’s surprising to me that you found so many clues and managed to escape unscathed."

Tony’s horse face seemed to stiffen for a moment, then he scratched his mane and laughed awkwardly: "I was just in a rush, I found the clue and wanted to catch something hot, I forgot to report..."

"No, you were just lucky. If you had reported to me, and a whole team had come today, he probably wouldn’t have shown mercy."

Ai Qing stared at the fire across the river, and suddenly said: "He’s not planning to hide anymore."

"Hmm?" Tony didn’t understand.

"Today, all the investigators entering the Tanbo Inner Circle were attacked. Though the injuries aren’t heavy, their ability to act won’t be restored anytime soon. He doesn’t want us interfering, even stopping us from understanding the situation."

Ai Qing pondered for a moment, then suddenly said: "To him, the Astronomical Society is no longer trustworthy."

"Huh? Why?" Tony didn’t get it: "If we want to stop God City Future, aren’t we on the same side with him?"

"Who knows? But you can guess."

Ai Qing paused briefly, then lightly laughed: "Perhaps, because he determined that once we know what happened inside the Tanbo Inner Circle, we’ll become his enemies."

Tony was stunned.

"—Then, what is he afraid of us doing?"

Ai Qing softly murmured, "Stop him? No, someone who can jump time without regard to consequences can’t be stopped without deploying equivalent Doomsday Guards."

In the reflection of the flames, she suddenly showed a mocking smile: "Then what will we do? Unless things are disastrously bad, the Astronomical Society can’t do anything—so that’s how it is... Does that mean it will lead to the Astronomical Society taking harsh actions regardless of national sovereignty?"

"What?"

Tony was dumbfounded, unable to understand why Ai Qing’s thinking jumped like that.

"How about changing the perspective—what problem remains unsolved after seventeen...no, eighteen-time jumps?"

Ai Qing said to herself: "The most likely outcome, Green Day plans to tear up its tacit agreement and contract with the Astronomical Society, seizing the opportunity of the battle among the realms, and initiating a conflict between the Current Circumstances and Border, completing the all-out war that couldn’t be started ten years ago—

Peron wants to use this to continue the final ritual, pushing Current Circumstances to the brink of collapse, becoming a complete ’Natural Enemy’ through this war.

But that’s actually the least likely because if Peron didn’t care about the stability of Current Circumstances, he would have had no need to compromise with the Astronomical Society a decade ago.

Green Day is a resistance group, but not an Element of Destructive."

"Then, the possibility remains only one... In the near future, even without Green Day, the Tanbo Inner Circle will become a threat to Current Circumstances.

But what can a group of miserable creatures squeezed between the Duke and the Wu Family do?

The most likely scenario, God City Future has completed the law of the [Single-stranded Negative-sense RNA Virus]—perhaps already completed, planting the irrevocable result even before everyone knows it, before Matsumoto Genichiro realizes.

Furthermore..."

In dead silence, Ai Qing slowly raised her head and looked coldly at the distance: "Do I need to keep speculating, Liu DongLi? How long do you plan to hide behind that telescope? What exactly are you hiding?"

No one responded.

Only a red laser dot appeared on her forehead, shining through the scattered long hair blown by the wind, a killing intent that the jumping flames couldn’t conceal.

Tony suddenly stood up, fumbling with his body, finally pinching out a small black dot beneath his pant leg.

A bug.

"Angry?"

Ai Qing lowered her head, lit the cigarette at her lips, her smile mocking: "You’ve always been timid, Liu DongLi. Despite having power, you fear harming others and never take action.

Always look like you’re smiling, yet you’re forever indifferent, never trusting others. Have you ever thought—it’s precisely because of your self-righteous weakness that has led to today’s disastrous outcome? Even your girlfriend has become ’an ex’, not planning to reflect a bit?"

"Being someone’s ’ex’ herself, Miss Ai Qing, did you go to London for a coursework in sarcasm?"

A voice full of static came from the tiny bug: "At least we were colleagues for a while, I’ve been your tool in Xinhai for so long, if not a merit then at least there’s hardship, why provoke me?"

"You mean during the day pretending as my subordinate, then secretly frequenting Magic City at night?" Ai Qing casually flicked off the cigarette ash: "Why don’t you be upfront first and tell me what you took from Magic City?"

A vague and flippant laughter came: "As a tool, there are times when things are beyond one’s control, just an old affair in the past, why not just let it go? As a man, I’ll remind you—women who are always too serious are not likable."

Ai Qing’s gaze grew increasingly cold: "Do I have to be as much of a fool like Ji Wei?"

"Yikes, if you want to start a fight, then I’m wide awake."

Amidst the crackling noise of the bug, Liu DongLi seemed to be laughing: "Why create such tension between us, good sisters?"

"Tranquilizer darts won’t work, Liu DongLi."

As if seeing the trigger about to be pulled, Ai Qing coldly reminded, "I always carry a recorder with me, running twenty-four hours a day, and all recordings are immediately sent to my inbox. If I don’t verify every twelve hours, the emails will be sent out.

If you want to keep me quiet, you’d better come up with some other excuse, okay?"

"You have a problem..."

Liu DongLi sighed helplessly, "What kind of person develops such a habit?"

"As long as you have a good girlfriend, you can develop all sorts of good habits." Ai Qing tilted her head, took a drag on her cigarette, and stared cynically at the firelight across the shore, "Now, give me a reason to stay silent."

After a brief silence, the person on the other side was quiet for a long time, and then spoke with a tone full of expectation and trust: "Can you help me?"

"No, get lost." Ai Qing replied, "How about putting the gun barrel in your mouth and pulling the trigger? Then you’ll see your beautiful dream fulfilled."

Liu DongLi sighed, "What if it’s not just me you help?"

In the long silence, Ai Qing lowered her head, smoked quietly, and eventually stubbed out her cigarette.

"Liu DongLi—"

"Hmm?"

"I can finally confirm you did it on purpose..."

When she looked up, her eyes were calm, without a trace of anger or hatred.

She simply told him softly, "After this is over, regardless of how much value you still have to the Astronomical Society; regardless of whether your adoptive father is Peron or Tier; regardless of whether you’re hiding in the Lunar Base or the Sea Trench Prison—rest assured, I’ll personally flush your brains down the toilet."

"Wow, why is this outcome even worse than last time!" Liu DongLi was astonished, "I have to say, I really didn’t meant to..."

Bang!

The sudden blast made Tony, who was engrossed, almost jump out of his skin.

A pent-up anger converged into a crystal of Source Substance in his hand, exploding and turning the bugging device into ashes.

In the silence, Tony stared blankly at Ai Qing, and Ai Qing was also looking at him.

"Doing this... cough cough... isn’t it not quite right?" he asked awkwardly.

Ai Qing looked at him uncomprehendingly, "Are you referring to how you bypassed me to try and negotiate with Liu DongLi? Or do you think I’ve made some shady deal with him?"

"Cough cough... What? Sorry, I’ve gone deaf, I didn’t hear anything just now. Oh, these anesthesia side effects are really strong..."

Tony patted his head, looked around exaggeratedly, then held his hand dramatically and shouted, "Oh no, I’m injured, my blood is all over the floor... For the next few days, I can only be a waste, eating sashimi, sushi, soaking in hot springs, and getting massages from pretty girls. What am I going to do, this is terrible for me!"

Ai Qing withdrew her gaze, coldly glanced into the darkness untouched by the distant firelight, and walked away.

.

.

Six kilometers away, atop a high building, there was no heavy sniper rifle.

Liu DongLi held a telescope, watching the figure gradually fade away. He raised his hand and turned off the laser rangefinder mounted on the stand beside him.

"What the hell, the more we act, the more we leak, which one of us is actually the one with hacks?" Liu DongLi tilted his head, lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and couldn’t help but sigh, "These days, women are really getting harder and harder to fool."

A sudden coughing sound erupted.

Black blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, causing the cigarette to rapidly decay into a mass of corrupt cotton-like material.

Liu DongLi hurriedly pulled out a bag, catching every drop of the expelled blood, carefully saving it before wiping his mouth.

"Damn it, can’t even smoke, this is absurd..."

He cursed softly, pulled a personal medicine bottle from his pocket, swallowed a metallic-colored pill, and screwed the cap back on.

In the bottle, the desolate clinking amplified with his actions.

Liu DongLi shook it once, then again, closing his eyes amidst the wave of dizziness and suffocating feeling from the drug’s effects.

Eight pills left...

.

.

The next day, incessant knocking echoed.

Huai Shi opened his eyes from a hangover, instinctively reaching for his phone.

A news popup appeared, and in the fire news from a Tanbo Inner Circle warehouse, he saw the time.

Only five o’clock?

Who the hell is knocking at this hour?

When he opened the door, he saw Old Man Tobio standing outside.

He looked up, scrutinizing Huai Shi’s still-sleepy face, "Yo, Huaizhi-kun, you seem to be in good spirits. Interested in accompanying me on a visit?"

"A visit?" Huai Shi asked blankly, "Where to?"

"To the Shogunate."

Tobio said, "To meet the General."