Apocalypse Forecast

When Huai Shi and the others rushed onto the deck, they couldn't see a single figure.

All the sailors had disappeared.

Or rather, they were all dead.

All that was left in their place was a handful of gray ashes and sets of uniforms that were 80% new... Wait, 80% new?

It seemed that Huai Shi's detection skill was quite successful. He actually found additional information, such as the degree of newness of the uniforms and even the material of the ashes.

Huai Shi put on gloves and carefully picked up a handful, sniffing it.

Thanks to Fan Haixin's excellent alchemy, he almost immediately identified the components inside - calcium, carbon, phosphorus, sodium, and so on... Almost all of them were rare components in the human body.

In other words, these were the sailors' ashes?

Huai Shi found it hard to believe that there was a power that could instantly turn all the sailors into ashes from the inside out, yet not leave a single scorch mark on their uniforms.

It was evident that these guys had almost no reaction or struggle and were completely incinerated in an instant.

And it was everyone together; otherwise, they wouldn't have failed to notice anything unusual.

Such a large number and such terrifying precision... Could humans really achieve this?

But just as he was sifting through the ashes, he found a burnt piece of paper... And when he carefully searched through the other ashes, he also found the same piece of paper.

In an instant, completely incinerated, yet those fragile pieces of paper still maintained their curled shape, crumbling at the slightest touch. With his vampire's astonishing vision, he discerned that each of those charred pieces of paper had once been inscribed with words, resembling names.

Every single piece of paper had one.

"Artificial humans." Ai Qing decisively concluded, "These guys are all artificial humans, created by alchemy to imitate the small miracles of humans."

Huai Shi couldn't help but be amazed.

Of course, he knew about artificial humans. In fact, they were frequently used tools in alchemy and had a quite ancient history.

These puppets, created directly from various metals, elements, and large amounts of water, had no self-will and were almost like walking corpses.

Before creating them, the alchemists would put pieces of paper with names written on them into containers and use these names to command them to work.

But the biggest limitation was that these artificial humans could only exist for a day and a night.

No matter when they were born, they would disintegrate when exposed to sunlight the next day.

This was a flaw that no outstanding alchemist throughout history had been able to avoid.

But the entire crew was made up of artificial humans? And they seemed so agile, even possessing considerable strength. It was simply unbelievable.

"Don't stand there in a daze." Ai Qing suddenly snapped back to reality. "Go to the captain's cabin, immediately!"

Huai Shi nodded and followed Ai Qing's instructions, silently rushing into the cabin and heading towards the topmost captain's cabin.

Whether the captain was still there at this time or not, if there was anything fishy about this ship, there would definitely be some traces in the captain's cabin. Even if there was nothing, he could at least find information about the ship and the New Continent.

But he was already too slow. As he hurried towards the captain's cabin, he saw figures rushing towards it as well. It wasn't just Lao Xiao and the others; even the strange couple from the restaurant last night were sprinting towards the captain's cabin.

While running forward, the wife, who was covered in dust, scolded her husband for wasting time. But when they forcefully pushed open the slightly ajar door of the captain's cabin, all they saw was an empty chair.

Completely empty.

Other than that chair, there was nothing in here. On the chair, they could see the captain's loose-fitting uniform and the remaining ashes.

The tilted bottle on the floor still had some liquor in it, and there were traces of dampness on the carpet.

As if in the last moment before dissipating, he was still drinking, unaware of the impending destruction. Or perhaps he had anticipated it but chose to enjoy himself in the final moment.

Now the bottle had fallen to the ground, soaking in the ashes after his disintegration. In the dust, one could see a wildflower that seemed to have been plucked from a tree on the shore.

It still retained a faint fragrance.

As if in the brief moment between dusk and death, it had found the meaning of life and left peacefully, as if it had been liberated.

Although it was just a lifeless puppet, it seemed just like a real human.

Among the people who followed behind, someone exclaimed softly. When Huai Shi turned to look, he saw a shocked Haila.

She glanced at the ashes on the ground, her expression changing, seemingly filled with pity.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

Soon, she turned and left.

Without gaining anything.

Huai Shi sighed and turned to leave as well. But suddenly, his footsteps paused. Amidst the chaotic voices and the sounds of searching everywhere, he heard an extra pair of footsteps.

Thanks to his excellent vampire hearing and vision, Huai Shi even saw the dust on the ground inexplicably rise.

As if it was stuck in the gap of a pair of shoes.

He squinted his eyes and stared at the few specks of dust silently drifting away in the chaos. He hung back, following behind those footsteps.

As if he was just strolling around.He walked to the empty deck and looked at the faint light of dawn in the distance. He sighed and took out a bag of tobacco and a stack of white paper from his pocket, skillfully rolled a cigarette and lit it at the corner of his mouth.

Then, he drew his short knife from his waist and swung it towards the footsteps that were quietly leaving behind him.

"Come out!"

In an instant, the blade flew through the air, and a figure suddenly appeared in the void, barely blocking the attack. It was Crow.

The invisibility ability of the red hat was indeed terrifying. Even the vampire's unique thermal vision couldn't find any trace of it. But Crow's stealth technique was not very good, and he didn't even notice the two specks of dust following him all the way.

"Don't do it!" He waved his hands in panic. "We are on the same side... the same side..."

"I'm attacking my own kind!"

A harsh voice burst out.

The short knife grazed his ear and nailed into the cabin board, startling him. Before he could react, Huai Shi grabbed him and choked his neck.

"Brother, spare me, spare me..." He widened his eyes and raised his hands. "I surrender, what do you think? We don't need to fight each other because of that stinky woman, Ai Qing, right?"

Huai Shi was taken aback, then shivered with fear.

How did he know that he was now acting freely and not controlled by Ai Qing?

"I know her well, buddy, much better than you." Crow saw his astonished expression and knew that he had guessed correctly. He couldn't help but grin. "I can tell who she wants to bite just by listening to her... You seem harmless, so harmless that I even think you're innocent.

Don't kill me, I'll give you money if you let me go. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, I promise!

Besides, it's not worth it to risk your life for that cripple. Don't you know how many people she has betrayed? As long as there's profit, she would even sell her own father..."

Bang!

Huai Shi's face remained expressionless as he raised his hand and punched him, knocking out one of his teeth. "Shut up before I treat you like a dead man!"

Crow obediently shut his mouth, raised his hands, and blinked his eyes.

Ai Qing seemed to have no intention of expressing her opinion and left the decision to Huai Shi.

"What did you take from the captain's room?" Huai Shi asked coldly. "Don't lie. You only have one chance. You must understand that even if we are teammates... we don't necessarily need one more like you."

Crow definitely rushed into the captain's room as soon as possible. The fact that the door was slightly ajar was evidence. If he hadn't found anything, he wouldn't have needed to sneak out quietly and stand there.

"I... I was just afraid of trouble..."

Huai Shi listened and coldly pulled out a poisoned throwing knife from his sleeve. "If you lie again, I'll ask your cousin how she used it on you."

"Wait, wait!"

Crow begged for mercy in a panic, about to speak, when his eyes suddenly lit up and he looked surprised at something behind Huai Shi.

Huai Shi sneered but didn't turn around.

You think you can play this trick on me, Huai Shi? You're underestimating me! I've been playing this game since I was eight!

But then, a sharp and gloomy voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

"Young man, what are you going to do to my dear companion?"

Huai Shi turned around in astonishment, only to see an old lady who had appeared behind him at some point. Her luxurious gown was now stained with blood, and she was holding a dead chicken in her hand. Her hair was disheveled, making her look like a madwoman.

But such an old madwoman appeared behind him for no reason...

Crow took the opportunity to break free from his grip and hid beside her, throwing sweet words at her without hesitation. "Darling, you came just in time.

Otherwise, this guy would have taken away the secret I was planning to share with you."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the old woman like a loyal dog. Huai Shi's sharp eyes noticed that it was the captain's relic.

Yes, it was the paper that the captain read aloud in the restaurant last night.

The crazy woman looked at Huai Shi coldly, and a killing intent locked onto him, making him break out in a cold sweat... Was he going to die at the hands of this bastard's mistress today?

Damn it, I should have known you were a scumbag!

But soon, the killing intent dissipated as she took the paper from Crow's hand. When she lowered her eyes to look at the paper, she froze for a moment, then a look of undisguised astonishment... and fear appeared on her face.

Her hand trembled.

Huai Shi tiptoed and secretly glanced at the paper. He saw that it was exactly the words the captain had read aloud last night, but with an additional signature.

A strange signature.

It looked like ancient characters written in a sloppy manner, but the writing was not limited to the usual left-to-right or top-to-bottom direction. It twisted and turned on the paper, with sharp corners, and in the end, it formed a pattern like a star.

It turned into a pattern like a star.

Huai Shi could almost recognize those sloppy characters. They were the records that Crow forcibly brainwashed into his Fate Book when he taught him alchemy, one of the oldest Western languages - Hebrew.

"Heller... Ben... Shahar?"He furrowed his brows, stuttering as he read out the characters on the surface.

In that instant, the elderly woman suddenly raised her head. Her originally azure eyes had turned blood-red. Whether it was due to fear or madness, her twisted face convulsed in one spot, almost roaring at him like a wild beast:

"——Don't you dare speak that name!!!"