Apocalypse Forecast-Chapter 669 - 553: You Are Already a Mature Tool Person_1
Huai Shi felt a bout of dizziness.
The moment the head in the jar opened its mouth, he heard a deep chant in his trance-like state, as if it burst forth from his own soul with the opening and closing of her lips.
The sudden haziness came on strong, but then, Huai Shi quickly awakened from this ominous stupor.
Next to him, Raymond had already started to chuckle foolishly, lost in the eerie melody, even stretching his hand towards the lever to start the truck...
Huai Shi raised his hand and slapped it onto Raymond’s helmet, trying to wake him.
Fearing the hit wasn’t powerful enough, he even used the Drummer’s technique.
Through the helmet, Huai Shi’s force exploded within the trapped air, striking Raymond’s face like a resounding slap. Raymond twitched, smacked his lips, his enchantment instantly replaced by a look of utter disinterest, as if to say, "Nothing special."
It took a long while before he realized that he had been bewitched.
Then, his complexion changed.
He heard a subtle noise from the engine.
Within that weird singing, his truck, bypassing his will, had started to preheat and was readying to start up.
Raymond’s face changed dramatically. He pressed his hand onto the dashboard, forcibly restraining the truck from starting on its own. His face turned iron-blue, as if he were playing tug-of-war with someone.
Eventually, they managed not to break their cover or expose their position.
But an intense roar had already erupted along with the eerie song. From all directions, the earth and heavens trembled; countless massive columns shook off dust.
Ashes, accompanied by a hurricane that appeared out of nowhere, rose from the ground, rustling and dancing as if coming to life under the searchlights.
But it wasn’t just the dust that came to life.
So did this silent world—
From all around, in the depths of the darkness, came the sound of hissing and roaring. Then, a series of spine-chilling, sharp, scraping noises followed.
One pair, two pairs, three pairs... until finally, the darkness lit up with countless manic pupils.
As the singing spread, all the Steel Monsters roared furiously and raced towards them. The ferocious mechanical centipede, steering its numerous knife-like legs, rushed forward. At its closest, it was only a dozen meters from Huai Shi and his group.
It darted past them, its long body thundering forward like a train.
It was several minutes before Huai Shi could see the tip of its tail.
Then came the giant Steel Spiders, treading on fine steel threads, approaching like Ghosts. And then, giant moths, their wings like buildings, silently beat their wings, bringing with them a city-sized thundercloud that descended abruptly...
It was truly a scene like a Steel Monster trade show.
Centipedes, spiders, moths, reptiles, and a sky filled with metallic insects forming an iron cloud.
Under the influence of the singing, they shrieked and raged but did not attack each other or the Ivy League’s men. They resisted in every way possible, trying to break free from the song’s hold...
But it was already too late.
The song had penetrated too deeply into their consciousness, completely dominating their spirits.
It didn’t forcefully interfere or issue commands.
It was a gentle call.
Calling them back home.
Accompanied by the sharp sound of massive steel friction, colossal floodgates slowly opened, and the convulsing mechanical centipedes burrowed in, like parts returning to their places.
Then the spiders flung away their cumbersome limbs and merged into the vast production line.
Amidst the distorted noise of huge wings, the moths fell from the Sky Dome, twitching and struggling, entering the opened colossal vats...
Returning from whence they came.
When the Giant Beasts returned to their original places one by one, the silent factory world started up amidst a resounding boom. Countless interlacing lights suddenly lit up, illuminating this silent underground world.
The giant production lines began to move slowly, numerous small indicator lights blinking in an orderly manner, causing the massive production machinery to restart.
This place... came to life.
In the jar, the head finally closed its mouth, but its features aged decades in an instant, hair turning white, clearly exhausted of its power.
But from then on, its power was no longer needed.
Because the entire complex had already begun to operate again.
"So that’s how it is."
On the driver’s seat, the projection of the Great Grandmaster suddenly appeared, startling Huai Shi greatly.
"It’s just an emergency communication device; no need to act like an unsophisticated country bumpkin." The burly Great Grandmaster, arms crossed, glanced at Huai Shi. His ethereal projection reached out, snatched Huai Shi’s binoculars, and looked out the window. "That head should be one of their replicated achievements from recent years—the Awakening Song. It’s capable of forcefully activating mechanisms in Hell to break through intractable situations... The speed of practical application is indeed fast."
"So, this... factory, what’s it all about?" Huai Shi asked. "Are they planning to produce some strategic weapons?"
"It’s pretty much for production, but not strategic weapons." The Great Grandmaster set down the binoculars calmly and looked back. "Haven’t you ever considered... that this gigantic factory might actually be part of the sub-control center?"
"What?" Huai Shi was dumbfounded. "That big?"
"That’s why I said it’s partly an outfitting—no, to be precise, it’s merely the manufacturing process for the sub-control center itself," the Great Grandmaster proclaimed proudly. "The real sub-control center is probably still in component form, stored in every segment of the production line. Only when assembled can it possess the functions of a sub-control center."
"Can it really...be like this?" Huai Shi, looking at the earth-shattering scene outside the window, was dumbfounded.
With the resumption of production, the huge underground factory was now fully revived. Countless gigantic machines roared into action, their complex assembly lines churning out innumerable parts and structures with indistinguishable functions. Between the colossal pillars, countless cranes and transport vehicles dashed back and forth on the monorails at every moment. Over one hundred thousand giant machines and tens of thousands of production lines, following steps preset millions of years ago, began to operate once more.
Fiery steel emerged from the molten furnaces, and massive hammers fell from the sky above.
The piercing roar melded into a tide, engulfing everything.
And beneath the operation of numerous colossal structures, countless intricate high walls and colonnades grew rapidly from assembly on the production lines. At last, with the changing terrain and cataclysmic operations, a massive edifice slowly rose from the rapidly self-destructing production lines.
It was a majestic and sacred palace, like a temple for the worship of the Holy Spirit.
Yet before the numerous heavy outer shells were sealed in place, the inside was surprisingly a maze created by machinery, where the outlines and shells of countless Steel Monsters were vaguely distinguishable.
Built on the foundation of so many bizarre monsters, what else could be produced but a chilling Hell?
And now, even this massive palace was rotating slowly like mechanical clockwork. Every module moved neatly along the guide rails, its form constantly changing—now an absolutely standard cube, now an inverted pyramid.
Huge structures extending from the dome and the floor had already integrated into its body, seamlessly combined as if a heart had finally been embedded in a chest.
"Alright, it’s your turn to take the stage," the Great Grandmaster said calmly before fading away. "There’s only one requirement: just bring back the sub-control center."
Easier said than done! Huai Shi glared. "Counting the Guard Team, we only have about a dozen people. How are we supposed to bring it back?"
"To be precise, ten," Raymond added, excluding himself from the count.
"How should I know? You’re all experienced tools now; you should learn to figure things out yourselves." As his projection started to fade, the Great Grandmaster glanced at Huai Shi, suddenly cracking a smile. "If I may say, aren’t you quite popular?"
With that, the projection abruptly vanished.
Leaving Huai Shi and Raymond looking at each other in dismay.
"Did he just call us tools?"
"Mhm, yes, that’s correct, I heard it too," Raymond patted his shoulder. "Be more confident. Lose the question mark. And you can even drop the ’plural’—he was probably just talking about you."
"So, you’ve really decided not to do any work, is that it!"
"I need to drive!" Raymond’s expression became serious. "Being ready to drive us out of here at the critical moment is such an important duty, I can’t be distracted!"
"Fine then..." Huai Shi rolled his eyes, picked up his binoculars, and looked towards the entrance of that mysterious palace below.
Incredibly, although it had just been manufactured, the vast palace already seemed weathered by time, which was puzzling.
Does this production line not only manufacture and assemble but also artificially age its products? Is this sub-control center some kind of mega relic-making machine? Baffling.
And at the entrance, after the Ivy League members had secured the head, two Eye of Nightmare teams had expertly suited up in various gear. After leaving some personnel with the main group to guard the periphery, they moved towards the entrance.
The personnel remaining outside were not lax in the slightest. Besides Salamander, they also deployed a large number of drones that circled around, alert to any unusual movements.
The aircraft also maintained a preheated state, ready to take off at any moment, prepared for any incoming attack. After experiencing numerous wars, these guys had become exceedingly experienced. Unless one foolishly chose a frontal attack, Huai Shi could find no opening.
But while surveying, Huai Shi suddenly felt his scalp tingle.
He abruptly turned his gaze to the very top of the shifting palace.
Atop that sharp spire, a figure had appeared at some unknown point, clad in solemn and magnificent robes. He wore a Six-fold Crown, and beneath it was a skeletal face wrought from metal. His robes, embroidered with silver and gold thread, bore the sacred Sun Emblem.
Now, his pitch-black eye sockets were overlooking everything below. Suddenly, he looked up towards Huai Shi’s position.
As Huai Shi was engulfed in terror, the solemn skeleton once again gradually vanished into the air but, before leaving, casually pointed a finger downward.
Issuing an order.
Immediately, the transforming palace resounded with a thunderous rumble, rapidly proliferating and expanding at a rate comparable to an explosion, spreading outwards in all directions. Metal turned into a tidal wave, lashing and sweeping through, instantly magnifying by hundreds of times.
It was set on swallowing everything whole!
Huai Shi instinctively wanted to tell Raymond to run, but it was already too late.
Everything went black before his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling, ornate reliefs, countless murals, and even the soft carpet beneath him.
The scene was so bizarre it was just short of a man smoking nearby saying to him, "You’re the best of this batch of newcomers..."
This spelled trouble!
Huai Shi inhaled sharply, beginning to think cautiously and analytically:
Damn it, did I transmigrate?
