Apocalyptic Disaster: I Hoard Billions in Supplies and Kill the Saint

187: Chapter 187 The Wind StilledFive in the morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

On the platform of Tianlang Mountain’s main peak, the wind rose slowly, swirling with high-heat mist. In the distance, the sky was a greyish-red like iron, a precursor to another day that would scorch people to a crisp.

Ye Nanxing stood alone by the edge of the observation deck. Behind her were Shen Qingyan, Lin Xiao, Zhang Tianjin, and the others.

Beside her was Flame Born.

He stood quietly, his crimson-gold flame robe moving slightly on its own without any wind. He looked like a living statue that had just stepped out of a furnace.

At this moment, his gaze was calm and resolute:

”I want to take a walk.”

”I want to see what this world is actually afraid of.”

”Whether it’s the fire they fear, or... the memories of being betrayed by fire.”

Ye Nanxing said nothing, only slowly producing a dark silver ring.

The ring was engraved with spirit-fire anchor patterns, and the surface shimmered with a faint light, like the pulsing heart of space.

”A spatial beacon anchor.”

”No matter where you are, as long as you say ’I want to go home,’ it will bring you back.”

She handed him the ring, her voice low and soft: ”I won’t hold you back, but... don’t forget to come back.”

Flame Born took the ring and solemnly placed it on his right index finger.

Just then, a familiar voice, tinged with a hint of reluctance, rang out:

”Are you really leaving?”

The speaker was Yan. He had appeared at the side at some unknown time, his expression indifferent, but his eyes were incredibly deep.

Flame Born turned to look at him, his voice carrying a slight heat:

”I’m going for a walk, not running away.”

”I just want to confirm... whether I can truly become ’fire’ without being a disaster.”

Yan lowered his eyes for a moment: ”You know, Sister Nanxing didn’t create you just to be a sacrifice.”

Flame Born gave a gentle smile:

”I’m not trying to be a hero, either.”

”I just... want to prove that what she created isn’t just a mass of energy, but a ’person’.”

Yan finally nodded, his voice very soft:

”When you return, let’s go see that cracked peach tree behind the mountain together. It’s borne a single fruit now.”

”We planted it together.”

Flame Born smiled, a circle of light rippling through the flames in his eyes: ”I’ll be back.”

The sound of the wind stilled.

Everyone watched as the youth took slow steps. Fire patterns rippled like light on water beneath his feet, and layers of golden flame refraction appeared in the air.

Lin Xiao whispered, ”...He isn’t a combat force.”

”He is... Ye Nanxing’s answer to fire.”

Zhao Wei shrugged: ”I hope he doesn’t get picked up by someone outside as a divine artifact.”

Zhang Tianjin curled his lip: ”Pick him up? Anyone with that intention would have to survive his emotional outburst first.”

Chu Yunting looked at Ye Nanxing, his tone meaningful: ”Are you releasing ’Light’?”

”Or are you letting loose a match—one that can set the System ablaze?”

Ye Nanxing didn’t turn around, only responding calmly:

”He is fire.”

”I want to see if this world... is worthy of being illuminated.”

In the next second.

Flame Born transformed into a streak of light and flame, soaring into the air. His fire robes billowed in the wind, his trajectory like a meteor piercing the clouds, passing through the dawn and over the mountain peak.

The arc of light was gentle, fierce, and devoid of any killing intent.

For the first time, he truly stepped into this world.

Not as ’power.’

But as—’hope.’

Shen Qingyan watched Flame Born’s figure recede and sighed softly: ”I hope... this world doesn’t fail him.”

Ye Nanxing stood still, her gaze cold:

”If it fails him.”

”I will make it—relearn what the spark of civilization truly means.”

Tianlang Mountain · District 3 Main Sentry Post

5:21 AM. The mist had not yet dispersed, the mountain wind curled lightly, and dawn light was just beginning to seep through the cloud layers.

A high-intensity warning signal flashed across the main control panel, its red light blinking.

Shen Qingyan’s fingers moved rapidly over the controls, her brow furrowing slightly:

”Perimeter detection triggered—external visitors are approaching.”

”Heat signature distribution is normal, no signs of armament, holding a high-level identification code.”

A line of bright red text popped up on the screen:

[ID Recognition Passed]

[Identity: Lanyan Shelter · Core Council Member]

[Remarks: Duan Heng · Specially Recruited Brain Trust of the Old National System · District 3 Resident Observer]

Lin Xiao stood behind her, squinting at the ID: ”Duan Heng?”

”...That’s someone who truly held the steering wheel on the System’s side.”

The screen switched.

At the distant mountain pass, an imitation-standard off-road vehicle was slowly driving up the gentle slope. An inconspicuous Shelter flag hung from the front, but the morning sun made it gleam like a piece of iron.

The car door opened, and an old man with white hair and beard stepped out slowly, supported by an assistant.

Gray cloth shirt, walking stick, and spotless leather shoes.

He wore no hat and carried no gun, but his composed aura caused the tactical personnel in front of the screen to fall silent simultaneously.

Shen Qingyan whispered: ”Duan Heng...”

”The highest-level ’Technical Officer’ in the truest sense of Lanyan Shelter, one of the survivors of the old government system, and the primary architect of the Shelter’s migration route.”

”His appearance here means Orchid Rock’s side has completely changed their strategy.”

”They aren’t here to conquer.”

”They are—here to negotiate.”

Lin Xiao’s gaze was cold: ”Negotiate what?”

”Negotiate whether our Tianlang Mountain should provide them with electricity, water, and spatial abilities?”

Zhao Wei sat in the distance clutching a submachine gun, leaning against the windowsill with a cold laugh:

”Negotiating submission?”

”Weren’t they just rejected by us last time? This time they sent an old man to sweet-talk us?”

Zhang Tianjin chewed on a breakfast compressed biscuit, rolling his eyes: ”The one coming is an old fox, not some rookie clerk. He wouldn’t fight an unprepared battle.”

”We have to treat him as a master negotiator.”

”Don’t think he’s just old; he really knows how to find the pressure points.”

Ye Nanxing stood by the hall window, holding a global atmospheric pressure chart she had just retrieved this morning, her expression unruffled.

Upon hearing the name ’Duan Heng,’ she simply closed the chart and turned, her gaze landing on the old man’s figure on the main control screen.

No emotional fluctuation, no hostility.

Only an extremely rare calmness—like a hunter seeing another old hunter step into the forest.

”Duan Heng’s arrival means Orchid Rock already knows that ’the hard way won’t work’.”

”They’ve switched to a soft knife, wanting to see if we’ll swallow it.”

She put down the documents, her voice steady:

”Bring him to the meeting room.”

”I want to see what they intend to use to ’disguise their plunder’.”

”And—this time, who intends to represent the old order of this world to negotiate terms with me.”

At the distant mountain pass, Duan Heng stood still, leaning on his walking stick, looking up at the towering sentry tower and the automatic light-sensing defense equipment.

His gaze held no hostility, even carrying a trace of distant sentiment.

”This was the place he had seen that least resembled a ’System Base’.”

”Yet it was also what he knew best—”

”The piece of wasteland most likely to ’rise to power’ in the future.”

Inside the reception room of the Tianlang Mountain Base, the air conditioner hummed quietly, but the space still held an invisible sense of confrontation.

Duan Heng stepped in slowly—

His hair was entirely white, his face covered in wrinkles, but his back was straight and his gaze sharp. His right hand rested on a walking stick, and his left arm was supported by a young assistant wearing a medical wristband.

This was no ordinary old man.

He was the kind of ’living fossil’ who had experienced the ’end of the system’ yet could still talk sense amidst the ruins.