Apocalypse Forecast

In that instant, Ai Qing instinctively pulled out her gun and pulled the trigger.

KP snapped his fingers.

Instead of bullets, colorful ribbons and flowers burst out of the gun.

"Calm down, miss. I believe most of the problems can be solved through conversation." KP shrugged. "I'm sure you have many questions, right?"

Ai Qing frowned and looked at him coldly. "Do you really think you'll answer them?"

KP shrugged helplessly. "Believe me, even if you know more, it will only make things more difficult for you. And from a certain perspective, I did save you all."

"I will judge the situation myself, Mr. KP." Ai Qing said coldly. "What exactly is going on? What's wrong with my memory?"

"Don't worry, it's just temporary amnesia caused by time jumping."

KP explained with a shrug. "Simply put, due to the philosopher's stone being triggered incorrectly and causing a mutation, I had to temporarily turn this place into a border in the 'dark web' to avoid creating a quarantine zone in the realm.

Unfortunately, your operatives were caught in the records of the philosopher's stone - fragments of history from 1620.

To remedy this, I had to start this game - as I said, I provide assistance when necessary."

"Then end this game!" Ai Qing said coldly. "Bring them back!"

"Sorry, even though the dark web is a virtual world, it still has its own rules."

KP refused with a shake of his head, his smile becoming more unpleasant. "Even I can't do whatever I want. The game has already started, Ai Qing. If you can't clear it, as the host, I'm afraid I won't be able to provide much help."

Ai Qing sneered. "So, you created all this just to play a game with us?"

"That's right."

KP nodded solemnly and asked in return, "Isn't a game gentler than reality? I'm just providing you with a way to solve problems.

You see, I successfully turned the records of the philosopher's stone into a game. In other words, by clearing this game, you can successfully contain the philosopher's stone.

Or would you rather abandon this logical and simple solution and choose to face the chaos without knowing anything?"

Ai Qing said indifferently, "No, you just enjoy manipulating people like those boring authors said the main god does."

"They're pretty much the same in nature."

KP didn't deny it, he just shrugged. "But the situation is stronger than people, right?"

Ai Qing lowered her head and flipped the gun in her hand with flowers hanging from it. After a long time, she suddenly said, "But at least I can refuse."

"What about your operatives if you die?" KP curiously asked. "From what I see, you don't seem like someone without a sense of responsibility."

"So, I have to play this game?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

KP chuckled softly. "Since it has come to this, why not enjoy the game? There's no need to be so serious and hardcore. Relax a bit and treat it as an exploration-type computer game..."

After a brief silence, Ai Qing suddenly said, "I request to have a conversation with Huai Shi."

"..."

KP was taken aback for a moment and scratched his head in surprise. "Are you sure? Using a character card that is out of your control is not a good choice for the game. If you ask me, it's not too late to switch to the NPC card of Clement."

Ai Qing had no expression on her face. "I insist."

KP fell silent for a moment and suddenly showed an expectant smile. "Very well, I'll make an exception for your request!

But at the same time, I will add a rule - when Huai Shi makes a rational judgment, you will also do so simultaneously, and when Huai Shi deducts life points..."

There was no need to say the rest of the sentence.

Ai Qing nodded silently.

"Excellent!"

KP waved his hand and laughed excitedly. "Then good luck, Miss Ai. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of story you, an excellent player, and Huai Shi, an excellent character, can create together!"

In that instant, darkness suddenly descended.

Huai Shi saw the girl sitting across from him.

.

Ten minutes later.

Huai Shi finally understood the specific situation and became more confused. "So, to prevent the situation from escalating, that KP guy created a copy on the spot and brought us in, right?"

Ai Qing nodded.

But Huai Shi became even more puzzled.

Strange, it's too strange.

As a reader who has been reading the Book of Fate for so many years, Huai Shi has some experience. According to the usual plot rules, shouldn't this kind of truth be foreshadowed and hinted at with a bunch of clues, and then revealed as a climax after exploring the copy for a while?

Why was it given so easily at the beginning?

Moreover, what made Huai Shi even more uneasy was...

"Are you sure he mentioned the records?"

Ai Qing nodded, not understanding why he was so fixated on this wording.

And Huai Shi felt a mixture of relief and heaviness.

He felt relieved because the Book of Fate, this extraordinary thing, was not recorded on the character card, which means Ai Qing still didn't know about this dangerous thing he carried.

But the heaviness came from the feeling that KP seemed to have some connection with the Book of Fate.

But for now, although KP caused so many troubles, he didn't directly harm him... Instead, he actively wanted to push these players to clear this absurd game.

These mind-boggling things are too difficult to understand. Huai Shi decided to leave it to Ai Qing. For now, he focused on the most important thing.

"Now, our most important task is to complete the character objectives and clear this copy, right?"Huai Shi rubbed his hands together, nodding, "Alright, I'll go find Old Xiao and the others later, see if we can band together..."

"Could you not be so hasty?"

Ai Qing calmly reminded him from the side, "Mr. 'Van Helsing'."

Huai Shi was taken aback.

He finally realized that now, Huai Shi had become his alias, and the Demon Hunter, Van Helsing, had become his real identity... an unspeakable secret.

In this instance, everyone had secrets.

That is to say, everyone might have different goals under the premise of reaching the New World - his goal was to kill the Paracelsus hidden on the ship, but what about the others?

Perhaps they were there to protect him?

Or more directly, they were there to find Van Helsing on the ship and kill him - there might even be people who had become Paracelsus!

This was the most disgusting part about secrets.

You couldn't be sure if the other party was harmful to you, but you couldn't fully trust them either.

"So, not only can we not unite, but we also have to be wary of each other within the team." Huai Shi scratched his head in annoyance, "Because of the existence of the traitors, everyone can only be superficial friends, fighting alone in secret, right?"

"It's more than that."

Ai Qing tapped on the armrest of her wheelchair, delivering the final piece of bad news.

- Apart from Huai Shi, all other characters were directly controlled by other supervisors.

In other words, while others were a combination of player and character, their team had the player and game account separated - one person became two. It sounded good, but it wasn't necessarily an advantage.

It might even be a disadvantage.

This was true for both Huai Shi and Ai Qing.

Especially when there were disagreements between the two. Of course, Huai Shi could do as he pleased, but many times the necessary points had to be cast by Ai Qing herself...

In the silence, Ai Qing rubbed her slightly aching forehead, sighing softly, "Can we only rely on trust? It feels like such a thing doesn't exist at all."

"Don't be so pessimistic, buddy." Huai Shi was taken aback, "Aren't we in perfect sync?"

Ai Qing retorted, "You mean you go and double-cross others and then I clean up after you?"

"Uh..." Huai Shi was speechless, "Alright, even though it's not honorable, at least give me some trust in this life-and-death situation, okay?"

"I'll try."

After a moment of contemplation, Ai Qing opened her mouth to speak, but in the end, she didn't say anything and instead changed the subject, "I'll give you instructions during the next exploration, but when you act... be careful about what's hidden on this ship."

She suspected that there were definitely more secrets hidden on this ship.

Just in the so-called introduction phase, there were countless traps hidden.

First, there was the mysterious letter, then the sudden secret after boarding the ship, and finally the ultimate goal of the game - reaching the New World.

Whose letter was it?

What was the point of this inexplicable secret other than causing internal strife?

And, in the year 1620, on a cruise ship that was at least four hundred years ahead of its time, would they really worry about losing their way at sea?

Or was there a possibility that they couldn't reach their destination?

If they could safely clear the game just by lying in their rooms, wouldn't that be ridiculous?

Ai Qing tried to guess KP's thoughts from her own perspective, and the conclusion she could be completely sure of was - there was definitely something fishy about this ship.

Even if they didn't hit an iceberg, they would definitely encounter some irresistible event, not to mention the classic scenarios that would play out in the closed environment of the Snowstorm Manor.

Before reaching the New World, there would definitely be twists and turns.

The greater possibility was that if the investigators didn't unite, they might all die before they even got halfway...

Either situation was hardly pleasant.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Ai Qing bit her finger.

As the conversation ended, the darkness dispersed, and Ai Qing returned to her original position, as if time had been waiting for her in place, only slowly moving forward after she reappeared.

And the others were still oblivious to what had happened.

KP's smiling face reappeared before her eyes, "The secret room time is over, how do you feel?"

"..."

Ai Qing didn't answer, but instead asked, "I remember you said that this is a very popular game on the dark web, right?"

"That's right." KP smiled, "Everyone loves to play, suitable for all ages."

So, Ai Qing lifted her head, staring at his expression, "Then, as a player, it's not against the rules for me to want to consult the rulebook, right?"

KP raised his eyebrows in surprise, didn't say anything, but just snapped his fingers.

Bang!

A thick stack of books suddenly appeared in front of Ai Qing, piled up to forty centimeters high on the table. The writing on the cover was a mix of everything, in addition to common English, Latin, and Dongxia language, there were even minor languages like Yingzhou language.

"As you wish, Miss Ai."

He smiled, "All six editions of the rules plus house rules and the additional martial arts expansion rules used this time... I hope you can finish reading before the game ends.

But now, the warm-up time is over."

KP snapped his fingers.

The game officially began.