Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 957 - 756: Resonance (Part 1)

In the afternoon, having slept until the sun was high, Yuan Zhao finally crawled out of bed, pretending that he hadn’t stayed up too late playing on his phone and delayed work. He was ready to sneak out and continue working but was stopped.

It was Ye Xueya’s phone call.

"Awake? If you are, come to the executive lounge. I’ll divide the cake with you."

Surprised.

This strange woman didn’t make him run here and there, and even bought him cake to eat?

There must be a conspiracy!

Nervous and cautious, Yuan Zhao sat opposite her at the table, chewing on the cake Ye Xueya ordered too much of and couldn’t finish, without knowing what was planned next. What he got was an unbelievable response.

"Don’t need to go?"

Yuan Zhao was stunned: "That’s it?"

"Yes." Ye Xueya nodded, "After thinking about it, you’ve worked hard for a while, so I’ll simply give you a vacation. Go where you want, buy whatever figurines and models you like. As for your salary, it’s already been deposited into your card."

"What?" Yuan Zhao was dumbfounded, staring blankly in the direction of the Tanbo Inner Circle, full of confusion: "We just leave it alone?"

Ye Xueya poked the fruit on her banana parfait and retorted, "Otherwise, God City Future is so tightly restricted, and it’s impossible to catch. There’s more than one way to solve a problem, why waste time on one tree?"

"And... those hybrids are just... left alone?"

"We are Dongxia people, Yuan Zhao. Too much foreign involvement in local matters will only make us disliked. You’re not a celebrity, doesn’t it annoy you to have several photographers following you when you go out?"

Ye Xueya raised her head and suddenly asked, "Besides, when did we say we were going to help them? The hybrid’s matter has never concerned Dongxia. Don’t you find enough trouble already?"

Yuan Zhao was stunned, looking at the calm woman in front of him, incredulous: "But that’s hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, how can you be so bloodless?"

"I don’t know if they’re innocent, but if there’s a limit to the warmth of blood, it’s only natural to keep it for the most important people, right? Shouldn’t I be more responsible to Dongxia than to strangers?"

Ye Xueya chewed on the crispy bits in her cream, putting down her fork: "It’s not our place to meddle in governmental affairs. Since Yingzhou’s authorities don’t bother, we as observers have little room to interfere.

Take advantage while you can, Little Brag, or you’ll get deeper and deeper, causing trouble and being despised——"

"Then what exactly are we here for?"

"Probably to pass a message for some petty old man, you just need to do odd jobs."

Ye Xueya shrugged slightly, glanced at her watch: "By the way, the Kyoto geographical survey report from the Current Circumstances Geographical Society is at the front desk. If you have time later, help me bring it up. I’ve got things to do, leaving now."

"Where are you going?" Behind the table full of bread and cake, Yuan Zhao became cautious: "What’s the matter now without me!"

"Do you also want to go to the SPA center for an essential oil massage?"

Ye Xueya turned, looked at him, and then realized: "Ah, almost forgot, you’ve come to the age where you’re curious about big sisters like me... But you’re not the type I like."

"I..."

Yuan Zhao instinctively wanted to retort, wanting to say he wasn’t interested in aunties, but before his mouth could open, his survival instinct sent a warning first.

In a terrible hallucination of being hit by dozens of trucks coming head-on, he obediently swallowed the rest of his words, forcing a regretful expression: "That’s really a pity..."

"Good boy."

Ye Xueya smiled faintly, withdrew her gaze, and walked away.

Only as she passed by the window, unable to help sigh silently at the vast moving crowd in the distance.

.

.

At Tobio Residence, in the quiet room.

The old man’s face still had bandages, and he threw a stack of grim photos onto the table.

"Last night, the Xia Yi Dao people, completely wiped out." He smoked a cigarette, lamenting helplessly: "So tragic, the president and all senior members were killed, not even chickens and dogs remaining... The Iron King Party is determined to expand their power this time, after allying with the Angry Ji Group they’re going big. The K Party is mixed up with Fool’s Team..."

And the Tanbo Inner Circle... sits right in between the two.

He sighed with a troubled expression: "You urged the old man to compete for the president position back then, without mentioning this sort of thing."

Opposite the table, Liu DongLi removed his wig and fanned himself, rolling his eyes: "In any case, it almost always ends badly, you’ve lived so long, are you still afraid of dying? Getting a kick out of it and then scared, what’s that about?"

"Dying is dying, fear is fear, those are two different things."

Tobio waved his hand, looking at the other side: "You haven’t sorted out God City Future for such a long time, your time travel doesn’t seem to be effective."

"Can’t help it, that guy is getting harder to deal with, it was easy to kill him a few times before."

Liu DongLi couldn’t help but want to scratch his head but considering his gradually washed-out hair, he felt even more sorrowful: "Can you not rely on me for everything? Without Rainbow Bridge’s cooperation, time leap can only be a reduced version... It’s already not easy that the Tanbo Inner Circle hasn’t exploded in place!

I’d say it’s definitely the fault of some bastard, anything mixed with him always creates problems—previous times at this moment, I’d already scattered the dust of God City! In the end, I’ve almost searched every place in the Tanbo Inner Circle, killed nearly over eighty clones combined, but he ran away, that’s just absurd!"

Tobio sighed helplessly, raised his teacup and drank, suddenly asked: "Recently, in the Tanbo Inner Circle, the mutual aid association spreading... have you heard of it?"

"What thing?" Liu DongLi frowned, "Mutual aid association? The kind I know?"

"Yeah." Tobio nodded, "It’s just a group of people finding a time, grabbing a few chairs, sitting in a circle to take turns telling stories, then everyone sheds a few tears, once again filled with hope for life, and start anew... The main idea is mutual help and support, it’s quite positive and uplifting."

"Sounds good." Liu Dongli agreed and sighed, "Do they have a hair growth support group? Introduce me!"

"..."

Tobio couldn’t help but sneer, "You actually think it sounds good? Are there really any normal people in the Tanbo Inner Circle gathering a bunch of hybrids to do good deeds?"

"That’s hard to say, nothing should be absolute, you always have to believe in life and hope!"

Liu Dongli shrugged, genuinely feeling a bit sympathetic for some guy who got inexplicably hit.

"We initially investigated the composition of this mutual support group and found that most members are a bunch of unfortunate old souls without support, but those who infiltrated discovered someone distributing these painkillers..."

Tobio raised his hand, pulled out a plastic box, and placed it in front of Liu Dongli.

Inside was just a single white pill, with no visible source.

And Liu Dongli furrowed his brow.

"Have the ingredients been identified?"

"Most are common components, with a bit of banned substances mixed in; though it can slightly alleviate pain during attacks, it’s ultimately useless, merely a placebo at best."

"What’s the source?"

"A pharmaceutical factory donated it on credit."

"Interesting."

Liu Dongli picked up the box and tossed it a couple of times, "I’ll go check it out tonight; maybe..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his face turned pale, movements froze, his fingers clenching, nearly deforming the box, his whole body convulsed on the spot, almost overturning the table.

Tobio paused for a moment, having long prepared for such an occurrence. Disregarding the heat, he instinctively grabbed his precious teapot.

Immediately afterward, Liu Dongli vomited mouthfuls of dark blood, the blood hitting the table with a sizzling sound.

Pale-faced.

The sudden Source Fluctuation startled the guardians outside the door, urgent footsteps rushed over but were halted by Tobio.

"Don’t come in!"

Tobio shouted back, "Nothing happened, everyone return to your positions."

The footsteps paused for a moment, then dissipated into the darkness.

When he turned back, looking at Liu Dongli, he saw him propped up on the table, retrieving a metallic-colored pill from his pocket and stuffing it into his mouth.

His expression finally looked a bit better.

"Alright, no need to go—"

Liu Dongli wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, breathing heavily, "The pharmaceutical factory’s been deserted for ages, it’s filled with explosives, anyone who goes in is doomed. If I hadn’t been cautious, I would’ve almost been blown up inside."

"That guy is becoming more and more troublesome..."

.

.

God City Future awoke from a nightmare.

Opening his eyes, drenched in sweat.

Once again, he was killed... In that vivid nightmare resembling reality.

Just in the laboratory he had prepared for himself, fully immersed in research and breakthroughs, the door was pushed open from behind, a person with a gun walked in, aiming at the back of his head, pulling the trigger.

Plasma spraying, he fell to the ground.

Even the experience of blurred consciousness, quickly fading away, felt so real.

He died.

But when he opened his eyes again, he found himself still lying in bed, facing a ceiling overrun with mold and stains.

As if everything that just happened was merely a simple imagined dream.

Yet such dreams had occurred too many times.

Shootings, beheadings, poisonings, falling from heights, torture, unexpected car accidents, and even fires and burns. Every dream was vivid, every nightmare’s despair and terror were so real, real enough to send chills down his spine.

In countless dreams and deaths, regardless of meeting in any place, whether in the day or night, only those indifferent and cold eyes remained the same... Only this, his memory was exceptionally clear.

That person’s name is Liu Dongli.

"Resonant Physique."

In the darkness, a low and hoarse voice sounded, "Congratulations, God City Future, living up to your name, once more narrowly escaping certain death."