Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 1216: Chapter 927: Fading Light

"Creating commotion? Don’t say that. I was just reminiscing about the past with an old friend who has lived alone for too long."

Mr. Luo Su tilted his head, lit a cigar, and suddenly asked, "Huai Shi, when were you the happiest?"

Huai Shi answered without thinking, "When I’m making money, of course!"

"Ha, that’s quite straightforward."

Mr. Luo Su laughed, "What about besides that? Not the kind of temporary peace that lets panic momentarily leave, but the time you genuinely cherished and couldn’t bear to let go... When was that?"

Huai Shi thought for a moment, looked down at the instrument frozen in Amber on his wrist.

"Probably when I was playing the cello."

He sighed softly, "When I first learned to play the cello, I didn’t understand anything, but instinctively, I loved it.

In the music, all listeners could be very satisfied and feel happiness, and I didn’t lose anything... Even after becoming a Sublimator and being able to indulge recklessly, nothing compared to that feeling."

"But you didn’t have a good time before."

"Exactly," Huai Shi nodded.

"No matter how harsh life gets, there will always be some light, right?"

Mr. Luo Su smiled as he gazed at the gradually setting sun in the distance, "Everyone has it, even Sharma."

"..."

Huai Shi glanced sideways at him, looking at his blissful smile as if he were reminiscing about a beautiful past, only feeling that the old man was truly crazy: "You were just trying to upset that person, right?

Before leaving, you specially used old enemy Ying Fangzhou to shame him, it’s clearly revenge!"

"There’s no contradiction in that, Huai Shi."

Mr. Luo Su turned back with a cheerful look: "You could say this is the most fascinating part—the happiest time in Sharma’s life was spent with the person he hated most."

"What?"

Huai Shi was dumbfounded.

"If there’s anyone in the world who can truly understand Ying Fangzhou, without doubt, it should be him."

Mr. Luo Su turned back, gazing at the stone sphere gradually fading into the distance, whispered softly, "After all, aside from Ying Fangzhou, no one else could drag him out of his shell..."

In a word, they were mortal enemies, right?

A self-enclosed Scholar who wouldn’t listen to any persuasion, and a proud and rigid Sublimator who wouldn’t heed any advice.

Scholar Sharma from India and Sublimator Ying Fangzhou from Dongxia, two completely opposite companions in terms of strengths and weaknesses.

From the first moment they met, they had already determined that the other was absolutely incompatible with themselves. Both reason and instinct unanimously blocked each other.

If possible, they wouldn’t want to stay in the same room with each other for even a second.

In reality, neither side ever concealed their repulsion and dislike for the other, but this didn’t prevent them from working closely together during Abyss explorations.

Above personal likes and dislikes were tasks and work, and hidden beneath disputes was a ’recognition’ that they themselves wouldn’t even admit.

To achieve their value, to fulfill their dreams, the other’s existence was indispensable!

The results that the other could bring, no one else could achieve.

This efficient yet awkward combination, if termed as mutual exploitation, would not be inappropriate. They were not like brothers, but collaborators who endured and restrained themselves to the utmost.

Nevertheless, there must be something besides that.

If the other were gone.

Surely, there would be loneliness...

.

.

After Mr. Luo Su left, silence returned to the stone sphere, and all isolation measures prepared for outsiders disappeared.

Yet the statue remained in place, silent.

Until a phantom not belonging here appeared, helplessly sighing, "It seems it wasn’t the right time to visit. It ended up colliding with that bastard Mr. Luo Su."

Woodman from the Golden Dawn shook his head, seeming sympathetic: "Still hasn’t given up the dream of rebuilding the Heavenly Kingdom, true to yourself, Mr. Luo Su..."

Saying this, he turned his head and asked, "Since you rejected him, how are you considering our proposal?"

"I won’t consider either."

The statue remained motionless, "I’ve said I’m not interested, you should leave now."

"Then, sorry for disturbing you this time."

Woodman smiled and didn’t persist, simply tipped his hat in a polite farewell, but hesitated for a moment before leaving.

Silent sigh.

"Sharma, I know how much you hate the outside world, hate those who continuously disappoint you... But no matter how prosperous and everlasting the world inside is, it holds no value and meaning.

"You should make a choice."

He said, "Not between the remnants of Utopia and the rebels of Golden Dawn, but between inside and outside—between the puppets who will never disappoint you and the others who will hurt you."

"Woodman, I’ve already made my choice."

The Creator inside the eco-bottle opened the door, straightforwardly told him: "Inside the world is good, please do not disturb me again."

"If that’s the case, why meet Mr. Luo Su and me?"

Woodman turned back, glanced at him one last time, and softly asked: "Inside the world, truly no regrets?"

The statue didn’t answer.

And Woodman’s phantom had already silently vanished, dissipating like a Yin Soul under the sunlight, disappearing without a trace.

In the long silence, the massive ecological dome closed once again.

Everything returned to order.

Countless laws operated within it, following the Creator’s will, slowly remedying the harm and hidden dangers brought by outsiders, readjusting the operation of wind and tides, and revising the predetermined future history.

Thus, it extended from now into the future, ensuring that a thousand and ten thousand years later, it endlessly approached a non-existent eternity.

There was no accident, nor any unreasonable anomaly.

Perfect and harmonious.

From start to finish, Sharma made no other moves.

A breeze blew from afar, stirring the business card Luo Su left on the table, landing in front of him, along with the invitation from the Golden Dawn.

No action was needed, just a thought from Sharma, and those two pieces of ordinary paper would decompose from matter, from pulp into elements and dust, leaving no trace.

But for a long time, those two pieces of paper did not change at all.

——Will there be regrets in that world, Sharma?

"I don’t know..."

Sharma answered softly.

"But his death was so satisfying, it made me very sad."

That disgusting face appeared before his eyes, with the same fearless smile as always, making the Creator close his eyes gloomily.

Because of me, he gained nothing...

.

.

The next day, after a night of sailing, Huai Shi and the others had already landed, arriving at Rome’s colony in the vast Pacific Ocean—the Hawaiian islands.

The largest children’s paradise in the Pacific.

In past history, due to the political rivalry and power struggle between Rome and America, Hawaii became a place with a rather peculiar style.

With its relaxed legal system, it became the largest offshore company registry in the world, with lax tax policies to attract more capital.

At the same time, while vigorously developing the tourism industry, the education sector was also quite thriving. The Ivy League set up various training facilities here, using it as a training pilot for their Sublimators, selling the concept of "genius children’s education," leveraging local legal conditions to conduct age-unlimited training classes in ’mathematics,’ ’physics,’ and ’logic,’ to recruit talented new blood.

It even offered courses like ’driving’ and ’shooting’ for cars, speedboats, and helicopters, as well as ’extreme sports’ subjects like skydiving, skiing, and wingsuit flying, open to the general public.

No age limit, no restriction on participants, pay today, start learning today, guaranteed teaching and mastery, with the fastest graduation in just ten days. As long as you have money, even an eight-year-old child can come here and learn amazing skills after a few months of training.

Unfortunately, Huai Shi and the others did not come here for market research.

After renting a car with their own license, they leisurely headed towards Honolulu.

On the way, Luo Su kept twirling his phone in his hand, as if waiting for a call.

Beside him, Huai Shi shook his head: "No contact yet, seems he really doesn’t want to deal with you."

"Yes, saying goodbye to old friends is truly sad."

Luo Su sighed, gazing out the window sorrowfully, loneliness like snow.

"Heh."

Huai Shi sneered, stepping on the gas pedal, too lazy to bother with him.

The address Luo Su gave was in the suburbs of Honolulu, a residential area, in front of an ordinary house.

In the afternoon sunlight, a dog could be seen lounging lazily in the shadow under the eaves, resting its head on its food bowl and sticking out its tongue.

"What’s this place?"

Huai Shi looked closely for a long time, unable to see anything special, only feeling that indeed the predecessors were masters, hiding in plain sight without revealing any anomalies.

"Just an ordinary house, don’t overthink it."

Luo Su seemed to know what Huai Shi was pondering, giving him an odd look.

"Who are we looking for this time?" Huai Shi asked.

"After all these years, I’m afraid none of us can find them anymore—it’s just a formality."

Luo Su raised his hand and rang the doorbell.

For a long time, there was no response from the house.

"Seems like nobody’s here, Huai Shi."

Luo Su sighed: "Let’s go."

But from a car that slowly stopped not far by the roadside, the window rolled down, and a middle-aged man with a full beard stuck his head out, looking over curiously, carefully discerning the two’s appearance.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Luo Su?"

The returning homeowner got out of the car, asking somewhat uncertainly.

Luo Su was taken aback by these words, exchanging a look with Huai Shi.

In the Current Circumstances, thanks to the Astronomical Society’s meticulous and cautious recognition operations, the barrier between common sense and non-common sense was exceptionally robust.

To maximize stability and social order, the Astronomical Society formed a complex mechanism through intervention in the Sea of Silver.

All knowledge and phenomena related to Sublimators and matters beyond the Current Circumstances were under cognitive blockade, unless there was a work permit similar to that of a Sublimator, Alchemist, or a related unit; even if occasionally witnessing some strange things, they would be dismissed as some usual scenery, forgotten.

Even with renowned fame along the borders, for an ordinary person, Luo Su might just be the principal of some obscure university, hardly worth noticing. As for Huai Shi... who?

Was he the runner-up of the Ninth Muse Cup Youth Group in Xinhai City?

At this moment, on this island in the Pacific, for an ordinary person to recognize Luo Su’s name spontaneously was indeed curious.

Luo Su scrutinized him for a while, confirming he had never seen him before, and asked doubtfully:

"Do you know me?"