Apocalypse Forecast-Chapter 649 - 540: Charge into Battle_1

"How tragic."

Huai Shi gazed at the Colonel, asking compassionately, "Were you thrown out to be a sacrificial pawn?"

"An important hallmark of being an adult is learning to take responsibility—" the Colonel replied indifferently. "Since it’s part of the job, no matter how bad the task is, it must be done well. You still have a long way to go, Little Brag!"

All of a sudden, it turned to personal attacks.

Huai Shi raised an eyebrow but did not seem to get angry.

Regardless, the Colonel standing here meant one thing: he had come prepared to die. He was to tie down the main force of the Ivory Tower alone, creating a last-stand opportunity for the Ivy League.

For victory, he willingly played his role in this round of "exchange."

This resolution and courage were indeed admirable.

"It’s a pity. Whether it’s here or the Iron Crystal Throne, you won’t get either."

Huai Shi finally drew the Sword Blade from the ground, took a step forward, and walked toward the Colonel. "You were challenging me just now, weren’t you, Colonel?"

"Then wait there for a moment."

Huai Shi marched straight ahead, oblivious to the fierce battle raging between them.

"I’ll respond to you right away."

He casually planted the Banner of the Buried Sacred Place in the ground behind him.

Huai Shi stepped forward, and the chaotic rat tide parted before him. Enraged Minotaur Warriors swung their massive axes, roaring as they rushed toward him.

In his hands, the projection of the Sword of Virtue dissipated, replaced by the ferocious, beast-like Iron Hammer.

The Fire of Sorrow burst forth from its vents.

As Huai Shi turned, the Iron Hammer swept out. Thunderous roars spread, followed by the glint of iron crushing with a loud bang as it advanced with unstoppable momentum. It shattered the giant axes like paper and, with relentless force, struck forward.

The shockwave erupted. Hulking armored warriors were sent flying backward, breaking apart in mid-air. A rain of crimson blood and metal shards shot out, carving a horrific breach in the defensive line.

Huai Shi had already stepped into the very center of the battlefield, casually slipping the Sacrificial Knife into the throat of an armored warrior in front of him.

Slashing through the gaps between the heavy armor plates, blood gushed out.

Before it even fell, Huai Shi had leaped up, stepping on its shoulder, and forcefully propelled himself forward.

With spreading shadows, a tide of crows swooped down. The flock of blood-colored crows cawed viciously, revealing their crimson eyes to the Minotaurs as their iron wings swept past.

As the blood-colored crow tide scattered and reformed, Huai Shi suddenly broke through the encirclement and appeared at their core. The Axe of Anger rose, aimed at the unsuspecting Minotaur Warriors surrounding him, and slashed down.

The gruesome slaughter began.

Huai Shi moved forward step by step.

The Colonel watched everything with cold detachment, quietly waiting for Huai Shi to tear through the encirclement and come within a hundred meters.

Without a signal from him, the Legion, composed entirely of his clones, took a step forward. From a commanding position amidst the burning battlefield, they aimed at Huai Shi and pulled their triggers.

Without the slightest delay or error, a perfect crossfire network instantly submerged Huai Shi’s position. A steel downpour, bringing annihilation, descended the moment the triggers were pulled.

Huai Shi’s shadow was instantly shredded.

But Huai Shi astonishingly reappeared within the crowd on the right, as if teleporting. Immediately, countless Afterimages spread out.

In the chaos, dozens of indistinguishable Afterimages chaotically lunged toward them.

The Minotaur Warriors roared, desperately throwing themselves in front of the Afterimages, determined to halt the enemy at any cost. Then, the cries of Gargoyles descended from the sky.

The moment Huai Shi entered the battlefield, all Gargoyles, under their leader’s command, quickly converged towards Huai Shi. Together, they launched an assault on the Colonel’s position.

They didn’t hesitate to raise their bat-like wings to shield Huai Shi from the crisscrossing bullets.

Behind the Colonel, a fleeting glint of light reflected from a lens.

THUNDER! A deafening explosion sounded.

A horrific, penetrating hole suddenly burst open in a Gargoyle’s chest, and it fell to the ground.

A sniper.

Ignoring the javelins shooting from behind, the sniper skillfully changed position in the darkness, raised his rifle again, aimed at the tumultuous battlefield, and pulled the trigger.

Another of Huai Shi’s Afterimages shattered.

This time, he couldn’t avoid the Gargoyles’ javelins and was blasted away, pinned to a wall.

However, the sniper’s figure rapidly vanished. A new clone emerged from the darkness, took over the rifle the previous one had left behind, and began the "Offensive" again.

When an entire Legion of soldiers was governed by a single will, their coordination reached perfection. They flawlessly executed the Colonel’s orders without any defect.

Before becoming the Colonel of the troupe, he was an actual, active-duty Colonel in the American City-States Coalition, a tactical instructor at the Army Officer Academy, and a truly formidable instrument of war.

His extensive experience, from over sixteen local wars and hundreds of special operations executions, not to mention numerous missions to suppress Sublimators, had forged the perfect counter-offensive strategy he now employed. He had even broken the enemy’s suppression and begun a counterattack.

Soloist’s Afterimages had been anticipated in their plans. Although their numbers far exceeded expectations, they were still manageable. All that was needed was to intensify the firepower, which would sooner or later force out his true self—

In that instant, Huai Shi’s figure abruptly manifested before him.

The Sword of Virtue, slashing down!

Such absurd speed was simply too much!

Accelerating with the Double Yu Step, Huai Shi crossed forty-one meters in an instant, closing the distance. The heavy blast shield, along with the clone holding it, was instantly pulverized.

Huai Shi’s figure then made an unbelievable turn in midair, seemingly ignoring inertia, bypassing multiple obstacles to aim directly at the Colonel’s face and slash down with his Sword Blade!

Behind the Colonel, two kneeling clones simultaneously raised their hands and pulled the triggers.

The Spear of Compassion glowed radiantly as its blade shot forth, hurtling towards him with a scream.

The Colonel held his breath and used his Drawing Sword to parry the spear’s edge, dodging the poison mentioned in the intel. But as he retreated, Huai Shi instantly closed in, the Sword of Virtue thrusting out once more.

Faster still, reinforcing soldiers moved in, their scorching gun barrels already pressed against the back of Huai Shi’s head. A trigger was pulled, and bullets whistled out.

In that instant, Huai Shi’s figure mysteriously vanished.

Missed.

The cold Sword Blade thrust forward, gouging a hole through the blade of the military saber and, with unstoppable force, pierced into his chest.

The Colonel indifferently reached out and firmly grasped Huai Shi’s wrist.

Drummer!

Amidst the explosive sound, the Colonel’s fingers shattered inch by inch, but the icy edge of the Sacrificial Knife was already at his neck.

Behind his mask, the Colonel looked up, gazing at the young man now surrounded. The soldiers, poised for battle, had their guns aimed at Huai Shi, who was mere feet away.

There were no blind spots; even the Colonel himself was within the line of fire.

High above, the enormous jellyfish suddenly shuddered. From beneath its bell, the hull abruptly flung open, revealing a massive cannon barrel aimed directly at their position below.

Lethal light brewed within.

"Checkmate, Huai Shi," the Colonel said arrogantly.

"Are you so sure?"

Huai Shi laughed in amusement, looking around. "Just with a few guns? You think you can hold me? Or protect yourself?"

The Colonel coldly responded, "Rest assured, I am ready for mutual destruction."

"But I am not."

Huai Shi said helplessly, "I still have an enviable youth, ample time to squander, and many ideals that may never be realized. I cannot, and should not, die here."

"Are you begging for mercy?"

"No, I am simply stating a fact."

"From the beginning, I wasn’t here to die with anyone, and I certainly won’t die here."

Huai Shi looked into his eyes calmly, as if speaking some truth, telling him, "So next, I will kill you, and then I will turn around and leave—"

As he spoke, an unexpected roar erupted from afar.

A blazing light suddenly condensed into a beam. It burst forth from the long-simmering core, tearing through the night sky above the inferno. With unstoppable momentum, it pierced the jellyfish in the clouds.

The jellyfish in the sky shrieked, its body twisting, but it could not escape its falling fate.

Towards the earth.

As copious amounts of coolant sprayed from its hull, the extreme heat began to incinerate its body in mid-air. Ultimately, hundreds of tons of glowing red steel parts, along with ash and debris, rained down, smashing into the inferno.

Beyond the battlefield, a truck, long forgotten by everyone, finally revealed its ferocious fangs.

Once the phantom camouflage disengaged, the truck bed split and opened. A multitude of complex structures rapidly transformed, driven by hydraulics, as a hidden system beneath the vehicle activated.

Sixteen wheels swiftly retracted, replaced by three massive stabilizers that anchored themselves deep into the earth. When the cumbersome truck bed detached, what rose from the chassis was an astoundingly gargantuan cannon.

Countless Alchemy Matrixes and runes shimmered on its surface. As the Source Substance surged, the fate-commanding ’Götterdämmerung’ manifested.

Having discerned the enemy’s true strength and seizing the opportunity Huai Shi had created, the colossal cannon aimed skyward and fired a decisive bolt of Thunderfire.

A final blow.

"This is a warning from the Ivory Tower. We request your side to cease all acts of war and surrender immediately. Otherwise, you will face saturation bombardment in ten seconds," Raymond declared indifferently from the console, starting the countdown, "10, 9, 8, 7..."

Dumbfounded, little pipsqueak? Your old man here’s got a cannon!

Not only was the Colonel stunned, but so was Huai Shi.

Wait, why do we have a cannon?

Aren’t you the driver?

So you’re telling me you’re actually driving a goddamn truck-mounted cannon?!

It was like suddenly realizing the driver he’d hired wasn’t just a train engineer, but one driving a railway gun!

This was enough to shock Huai Shi for an entire year.