Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 644: Chapter 535 Hell’s Experienced Driver_1

The long-standing silence of the night was broken.

It was as if an invisible force was stirring roughly beneath the surface, raising undercurrents, making the silent night no longer quiet, and an ordinary evening no longer ordinary.

Here, the world seemed to spin eternally.

The constant rotation between the rings also made the terrain incredibly variable, to the extent that even a simulated map could hardly predict what would emerge in the next change.

The longer one stayed here, the more they would realize the enormity and complexity of this place called Hell.

The Town of Dusk was too vast; this internal area alone was already comparable to the size of Qiong State.

Numerous uncontrollable machines, after such a long time, were still operating on their own. Countless massive modules grew recklessly, causing the entire Town of Dusk to be in a state of perpetual, abnormal growth.

The underground structure, so complex as to be nearly indecipherable, along with the modules on the surface rising, expanding, and contracting incessantly, had completely transformed this place into a labyrinth.

And the very machines at the edge of the Town of Dusk were still digging and producing without pause.

They were casting construction sites, expanding territory, laying the foundations for ring after ring.

The uncontrollable von Neumann machines were squandering their productive capacities non-stop, creating ruins upon ruins.

In the passenger seat, Huai Shi pinched his chin, scrutinizing the map on the screen that was so complex it could make one dizzy. He then looked up at the tangled routes ahead.

Scratching his head, he said seriously, ”I think we need someone from Yu State to lead the way...”

”Yu State?” Raymond asked, ”What place is that? Sounds pretty formidable.”

”Yeah, you enter from under the building, take the elevator down to the sixteenth floor only to find you’re in the basement, come out from the building’s top and you’re back on the ground. You might walk eighty kilometers and only have turned one corner. Just thinking about it is terrifying,” Huai Shi said casually, looking down and studying the remote control in his hands. Pressing the green button would shoot out a laser, and pressing the red button... To be honest, I haven’t dared press it yet. But I’m somewhat tempted to try.

The instruction on the back cover stated, ”Safe distance: three kilometers.” A slight misoperation could lead to mutual destruction. To be wiped out as soon as we left would be quite amusing. If I died and the story spread, I could probably put this year’s Darwin Award trophy on my urn. Better not mess with it.

”How much further?” Huai Shi asked.

”Over fifty kilometers. According to the Exploration Team, the target area is very conspicuous, visible from a great distance in the night,” Raymond’s hand slid over the panel, bringing up a straight-line distance reference.

”Visible?”

Huai Shi looked up, confused, peering into the darkness ahead. It’s so dark, how could *they* possibly see anything?

But it didn’t take long. After the speeding truck passed through an underground tunnel and climbed onto the overpass, he glimpsed the deep red sky gradually emerging behind layers of towering ruins.

It was as if a volcano were erupting.

Above the clouds, the Gargoyle opened its vast bat wings to gain altitude, and soon a signal came from below.

A large congregation of Hell Clans had been detected.

Huai Shi, holding up the Wind Lamp, climbed onto the roof. He waved and threw The Sorrow of Index, latching it onto the leg of a Gargoyle. Then, using their strength, he was hoisted into mid-air to look towards the source of the light.

He heard the roaring of flames.

From within colossal chimney stacks, akin to those of a nuclear power plant, thick smoke billowed out. Inside the chimneys, waving flames surged, merging into a fierce, red glow that tore through the night.

In the firelight, shadows of complex structures stretched far into the distance.

Those dense chimneys extended from the ground like a forest, while huge pipelines intertwined among numerous vast tanks, as tangled as vines.

Even in the dark, countless lights were rising within, illuminating everything.

Huai Shi put down the telescope, incredulous. A refinery?

Before he could react, a thunderous noise suddenly erupted.

The ground trembled.

It was as though a storage tank had exploded.

A blast wave spread out. Molten fuel spewed from the burning, shattered tanks, picked up by the hurricane and flung into the sky, forming a deadly rainfall.

The inferno was relentless, raining down from above.

An unknown number of Alien Species hidden in the vicinity startled and screamed.

These native creatures, who had been using the firelight to avoid the curse of the night, sensed the impending crisis and cried out restlessly.

As the oil sprayed, a red flare shot out of the sea of fire, rising to the clouds. It suddenly burst, dispersing a blinding burst of high-frequency flashes.

That was the rescue signal from the vanguard!

Then, a piercing screech echoed far and wide.

Amid the boiling black clouds, immense tentacles, like ribbons, slowly dropped down. They wrapped around the flashing signal, contracted, and effortlessly extinguished it within the clouds.

Only a momentary flash in the clouds etched out that silhouette. A jellyfish!

That was a jellyfish of such monstrous size that it defied all reason!

Amidst the searing smoke and clouds, it squirmed its bell, gliding through the clouds—as hot as a furnace—with the ease of a fish in water.

Its tentacles slowly stretched, grasping onto the towering chimneys of the refinery, pulling them out like toothpicks, snapping them, rolling them up, and flinging them elsewhere.

Amidst an unceasing string of explosions, the center of the earth slowly collapsed, revealing a path to its inner layers. Countless black, dot-like shadows leaped into the cracks, where the flicker of flames could be seen.

A strange Abyss Horde had descended upon this place.

The war had already begun.

Even faster than Huai Shi had anticipated.

When Huai Shi tried to connect with the Exploration Team’s signal there, all he could hear was static. Without a doubt, the Ivy League had jammed all signals long before the war began.

They had ultimately arrived too late.

Huai Shi returned to the vehicle, expressionless, and said to Raymond, ”Speed up.”

”But there’s no road ahead.”

The driver, helpless, looked at the gaping hole in the elevated road in the distance. ”We’ll have to detour.”

”Why detour?”

Huai Shi looked back and asked, ”Isn’t the rooftop ahead spacious enough? Drive up—”

”If you’re going to talk like that, then I’m not sleepy anymore.”

Raymond paused for a moment, then an excited smile appeared on his face, and he rubbed his hands together.

At the last second, he suddenly asked, ”Hey, do you get carsick?”

For some reason, seeing the man’s smile gave Huai Shi a vague sense of Death Perception.

”Wait—”

Before he could speak, he saw Raymond pull down the crimson lever beside him.

”Let’s go!!!”

In an instant, dozens of seat belts shot out from the seat, firmly strapping him to the co-pilot’s position. Right after, inside the rear compartment, the Depth Balance Instrument went into overdrive, isolating all external influences and creating a temporary enclosed area.

Amidst a high-pitched sound of steel grinding, the enormous truck suddenly shook. After shedding its heaviest outer armor plates, it revealed engine nozzles resembling those of a fighter jet at the very back of the cabin.

Ice-blue flames brewed within, then gushed forth!

A terrifying thrust erupted from within and spread out, giving the truck wings to fly.

It unfolded its invisible wings and sped forth on the elevated road, whistling as it shot out of the break in the road, trampling gravity and soaring freely through the air.

After tracing a stunning arc in the air with its hundreds of tons of terrifying mass, the truck, its tail flames extinguished, smashed heavily onto the top of a tall building. It understandably tore through the ceiling. With a roaring sound, it continued to plummet downward, breaking through six or seven layers of ceilings before finally stabilizing amongst the rubble.

As the tires began to spin again, collapsing debris was pushed aside by the front of the truck. Fragile walls were torn apart by the onrushing behemoth; dust scattered, and broken walls lamented.

The tail flame boosters erupted again, propelling it through obstacles in the building. It leaped tens of meters and plunged straight into the ruins of another tall building. Emerging from the dust-filled collapse site, it had already jumped onto another broken road section.

Whenever it encountered a wall, it broke through; whenever there was an obstacle, it tore through it; and if there was a chasm, it simply flew over it...

Raymond, whistling excitedly, spun the steering wheel sharply and slammed the accelerator to the floor. The massive truck swept across the sky in a drift,

no longer caring about any road conditions or the surroundings.

Straightforwardly, it advanced toward the oil refinery’s location!

Even from tens of miles away, one could hear the restless roar from the truck’s engine—a steel heart from the same batch as fighter jet engines, roaring vociferously!

Just like the exaggerated scenes of ’Man and Car As One’ from cartoons and comics, a layer of Source Substance flames rose from the truck.

With every rotation of the tires, dazzling bolts of lightning shot out, leaving behind a trail of fire.

The shadow of a Giant Beast resembling a rhinoceros rose from the flames, its head held high, bellowing.

Raymond’s eyes were already blazing like headlights, shooting out intense light. Only now do I realize this guy is actually a ’Knight’ from the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy, a Third Stage Sublimator from the Road of Eternity!

—Götterdämmerung!

Named after the legendary chariot offered by humankind to the gods of sky and thunder, the one who unties its knot will govern the fate of the world.

The extended meaning thus becomes: the driver of fate.

Now, just like fate’s unpredictable descent from the heavens.

It came without warning.

At this moment, the truck, now transformed into the Sky Chariot, spread Thunderfire. Its speed suddenly increased several-fold, truly like a bolt of lightning, streaking through the turbulent night,

tearing through layer upon layer of hindrance.

Finally, it broke through the last tall wall, storming headfirst into the relentless downpour of burning rain falling from the sky.

With exaggerated tail slides and drifting, the rampaging truck stirred up a maelstrom of blood and fury amongst the Hell Swarm.

In a mere four minutes, a despairingly long distance was so easily crossed.

Then, abrupt silence.

The truck came to a sudden halt.

The door slowly opened.

In the glow of the fires, a staggering figure stepped out, landing unsteadily, almost sprawling on the ground.

”Yo, everyone, hello there!”

Huai Shi grinned, forcing a smile onto his pale face with great difficulty.

Then, facing the solemn and prepared array ahead, he leaned on his knees and suddenly bent over.

”—BLEH!!!”