Apocalypse Forecast Chapter 82: The Manual

Huaishi watched as Wuya handed over a stuffed travel bag.
“Take it, use it.”
“What is it?”
Huaishi took it, but had no idea what was inside.
The next moment, Huaishi slipped.
A large hole had opened up right under his feet. Huaishi fell into the hole, screaming.
The Special Affairs Bureau returned to silence once again.
Wuya spread its wings, flew up along the stairs through the desolate prison, crossed the hall filled with corpses, and landed on the roof of the Special Affairs Bureau. Then, it saw a pillar of black smoke invisible to ordinary people.
The power swirling in the darkness was hidden by camouflage, but the truth was reflected in Wuya’s red eyes.
A black shadow, as large as a flying bird and as vast as the tide, was slowly unfolding, covering the entire city.
Nine ferocious heads faced different directions, their mouths wide open, swallowing the sacrificial offerings.
It lay dormant in the darkness, gestating the changes of hell.
“Nine Phoenix? Interesting.”
Wuya laughed.
“Are you brave, or just stupid? But in the end, it’s all in vain.”
The stage was set, and the curtain rose.
The great war was about to begin.
Who would be the protagonist this time?
※
※
Huaishi was falling through the darkness.
The wind whistled in his ears. He didn't know how much time had passed, but finally, his bottom hit the ground. Before he could even get up, a strong wind struck his face. A heavy iron whip slammed into the ground right in front of him.
Very close.
Huaishi felt a chill run down his spine.
Huaishi followed the iron whip with his eyes and saw a large man standing in front of him. His left arm was severed at the shoulder, his face was pale, but his red, bloodshot eyes looked as if they were lit by fire.
“Who are you!”
Huaishi raised both hands instinctively.
“Don't shoot, brother, I am...”
He was about to say “an ally,” but realized that was wrong and corrected himself.
“I'm a harmless citizen!”
The bearded giant looked at Huaishi coldly and held the iron whip in front of him. Huaishi didn't move an inch, as if he would be killed if even a slight breeze blew.
He felt a cold murderous intent.
Strange corpses were scattered everywhere behind the man, and he knew that the murderous intent was real.
The iron whip pressed against Huaishi's shoulder, pinning him down. Sweat ran down his back.
“Um, so...”
“Astromonical Society?”
The man asked.
Huaishi was surprised.
“Yes, that's right. How did you know?”
The giant's gaze rested on the bag Huaishi had placed on the ground. Hanging from the handle of the travel bag was Huaishi's Astronomical Society ID, which someone had kindly attached.
It was like a matchmaking profile, with his name and age written in large letters... making it easy to distinguish friend from foe.
Wuya was certainly kind.
It would have been better if the method of falling had been gentler!
“Huaishi, is it?”
The man stared at the harmless face of the boy in front of him, his expression becoming even more unpleasant.
“You're the Sublimator from Xinhai mentioned in the report.”
“Yeah...”
Huaishi had no idea if his current situation was good or bad.
“Who are you?”
“Social Security Bureau, Special Operations Department, Third Floor, Jin Mu.”
Once Huaishi's identity was confirmed, he slowly retracted the iron whip and took a metal badge from his pocket. The badge was stamped with anti-counterfeiting alchemy marks, located where the source quality fluctuations and military rank should be.
Thanks to Ai Qing's lecture, Huaishi knew how to verify the authenticity of the ID. After confirming it was genuine, Huaishi hurriedly returned it carefully with both hands.
“Excuse me.”
“Follow me.”
Clearly not fond of Huaishi, the man took the badge, carried the iron whip in one hand, and started walking again.
“Don't hold me back.”
Only now did Huaishi have the leisure to look around.
It seemed they were in a large underground passage, with signs of excavation everywhere. The light bulbs overhead illuminated traces of battles here and there, indicating that a gruesome fight had taken place.
As he walked, Huaishi stepped on a severed iron rail.
Tracks?
Huaishi was startled.
“Subway?”
Synthesizing the surrounding scenery, Huaishi guessed where he was.
No, if you think about it, if the people of Guijing were planning something, wouldn't the Xinhai subway, which had been under construction for years, be the perfect hiding place?
Huaishi walked behind Jin Mu, carrying the bag in one hand and the manual Wuya had given him in the other.
“Where are we going?”
He said without looking back.
“Looking for my partner, Shen Yue. And your boss too.”
“Ai Qing?”
Huaishi was surprised.
“Before I was sent here, I saw Shen Yue catch that inspector. They're probably together.”
“Oh.”
Huaishi nodded and used every spare moment to read the manual, nodding and looking surprised as he did so.
Finally, Jin Mu frowned and turned around.
“What are you reading?”
“The manual.”
Huaishi closed the manual, which he had finally read halfway through, and put it in his pocket.
“I think I get it now. Next time, I'll ask for a children's digest version. Reading long novels is tough.”
Huaishi put down the travel bag and took a deep breath.
“Wait a second. Let me try—”
Saying this, Huaishi spread his feet to shoulder width, lowered his hips, shouted “Ha!”, exerted force, and grimaced. He looked exactly like someone with constipation, and Jin Mu had no idea what he was doing.
A long, awkward silence.
“Sorry. It didn't work.”
Huaishi coughed awkwardly.
“Let's hurry.”
Jin Mu looked at Huaishi with cold eyes, but when he turned his gaze away, he started walking forward again. But after a few steps, as if his arm had no joints, he thrust the iron whip behind him, stopping an axe that had been swung toward his back.
Jin Mu turned around slowly, staring at the slightly surprised boy, his face becoming stern.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Believe me, it's a misunderstanding.”
Huaishi looked at the axe in his hand and stepped back awkwardly.
“I originally intended to kill you without causing pain, but since you noticed, I have no choice.”
Huaishi grinned, rolled his neck, and loosened the muscles that had been stiff from being in prison for so long. With a cracking sound, gray flames began to rise slowly from Huaishi's chest, under his clothes, and gradually covered his skin.
Soon, except for his hands in the pale source quality flames, Huaishi's entire body was covered in dark gray flames.
In the dancing flames, everything became ambiguous, and it was impossible to tell if it was matter or illusion, slowly dissolving into the darkness.
The vortex-like gap in his chest began to rotate slowly. Like a furnace deep in hell.
A light shone.
Stigmata: Yin Soul, activated.
“Thanks for teaching me so much. But this is as far as it goes...”
Wrapped in flames, the devilish boy smiled.
“So, let me kill you before you get an autopsy. Or will you obediently take off that mask and show me your real face?”
“You... noticed...?”
Jin Mu's cold expression stiffened, and the corners of his mouth lifted slowly, revealing an unnatural smile. His lips were split to the base of his ears.
Then, sticky black liquid gushed out from his wide-split mouth, emitting a foul odor. The liquid was boiling and making bubbling sounds.
“Where... did I... go wrong?”
“Actually, until I activated the Stigmata just now, I thought there was something wrong with my eyes.”
Huaishi carried the axe in his hand and pointed to his own faded, iron-gray pupils—the Jin Mu reflected in them was torn apart, rotting, with black-purple liquid squirming stickily, revealing his true form.
That was what Huaishi saw the moment he activated the Stigmata.
Fortunately, the manual had detailed information.
That said, even if there were frontier species that could disguise even source quality fluctuations, it was a complete surprise that they could also obtain memories.
“Still, it stinks.”
Huaishi muttered.
“If you had tried to take me somewhere else, I don't think I would have suspected you.”
Huaishi smelled the increasingly strong stench. Mixed with the stench of rotting corpses, it was a nauseating smell.
“Either way, now that you're here... good...”
It twisted its neck almost 180 degrees and looked in the direction they were originally going. In the darkness, red eyes began to glow, and soon strange-shaped things crawled out of the shadows.
Among them were things that looked like humans. Some had strange skeletons and were completely hairless and smooth. Some looked like stray dogs and cats, but their bodies were surprisingly large, like lions. Others looked like strange rats.
As the fake Jin Mu roared, a dozen or so crawling erosive creatures slowly advanced. Some clung to the ceiling, dripping foul-smelling saliva onto Huaishi's feet.
“One last question.”
Huaishi looked at the surrounding monsters awkwardly and raised a finger to ask.
“Do you frontier species have a habit of going to mental clinics?”
No one answered.
Amidst the screams of the eroded Jin Mu, those strange things emitted a foul odor.
Apparently, they didn't have that habit.
What a pity.
But for Huaishi, it was just right.
The Stigmata talent that Wuya recommended with five stars, I believe its name was...
In an instant, as Huaishi spread his arms, the ashes of the fire covering his body spread to the surroundings, turning into a rust-colored mist!
In the mist, endless terror exploded instantly. The pain, sorrow, and fear extracted from countless deaths merged into one, entering the consciousness of those with thinking abilities, and exploded in the deepest part of their consciousness.
The moment the screams rang out. In the rust-colored mist, Huaishi slowly raised his head. His eyes were burning, and the corners of his lips turned up to form a smile.
This is the core talent of Stigmata: Yin Soul, a three-meter radius...
“—Fear Aura!”

Translator's note: The fact that the Xinhai City subway construction never ends was briefly mentioned in Chapter 35, "Retribution," but I never expected it to be foreshadowing...