Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 655: Chapter 544 Since Pursuing Excitement..._1

By the time Huai Shi awoke, he had no idea how much time had passed. Lost in thought on a park bench, he had fallen into a deep sleep. When he woke up, he was still filled with that post-nap grogginess, unwilling to move.

It seemed like he had a dream.

Huai Shi dreamt of Ai Qing, then Fu Yi, and Lily, and his senior sister... and even Little Amber and the others... In the end, he vaguely dreamt of Tong Ji too. She said she wanted to give him a blessing but was sternly rejected by the unyielding Huai Shi; she could only grasp his sleeve cuff, close to tears as she apologized.

It should have been a good dream, where Huai Shi was carefree, joyfully singing and eating hotpot with everyone, filled with hope and future, and laughter. But towards the end of the dream, when everyone gathered, the atmosphere somehow wasn’t right. He didn’t know why. Weren’t they very happy just before? But suddenly, he couldn’t feel that happiness anymore. Then, Huai Shi was startled awake.

He vaguely remembered something terrifying happening but couldn’t recall what it was. Subconsciously, he touched his neck and then breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, his head was still there. But there was a coolness in his heart... What exactly was this odd feeling? He scratched his head, puzzled.

Quickly, he noticed something unusual about his body and looked down to see a blanket that had been placed over him at some unknown time. He stared blankly for a while before noticing something beside him: a carefully wrapped lunch box, still warm to the touch when he picked it up. As he examined the simple and elegant exterior, he noticed a faint scent of perfume. The image of the grey-skirted teenage girl emerged in his memory. Yuan Yuan had been here.

After checking his phone, Huai Shi realized it was already past three in the afternoon. She probably didn’t want to disturb his sleep when she came, so she left the lunch box and went away, right? Having a student is great.

With a growing sense of hunger, Huai Shi opened the lunch box and started to eat. During the meal, he picked up a stack of reports from underneath and began to read. Wood Cottage had left them here.

The reports contained detailed records of the events that took place at the Iron Crystal Throne after Huai Shi’s departure, changes and transfers of positions, as well as analyses of two meetings. They specifically recorded the results and processes of negotiations and the arrangements and duties of the students, to facilitate Huai Shi’s grasp of the specific situation.

As he read on, that string in Huai Shi’s mind associated with power struggles began to twang out of tune again. It must be said, ”He that touches pitch shall be defiled therewith,” and getting close to Little Nineteen led to darkness. All Wood Cottage’s fault!

After finishing his meal, Huai Shi tossed the report aside and saw several figures not too far away. One was shrouded in black—a suit, sunglasses, and leather boots—standing there like a shadow. A few ravens perched on the branches next to it, flapping their wings excitedly, cawing as they seemed to be telling it something. The shadow listened and occasionally gave a suggestion or two, although no sound could be heard.

The members of the Department of Justice usually didn’t like talking much. When they did communicate with the Hell Swarm, it was through Source Substance to express their thoughts directly. Regardless, they seemed quite pleased with the conversation. After hearing them, the ravens danced excitedly on the spot, as if they had been taught some odd experience. They had grown.

Noticing Huai Shi was awake, the dark spirit from the Department of Justice bowed politely, then dissolved back into Huai Shi’s shadow. The ravens flew over, landing beside him. After cawing a couple of times, one raised its foot. Tied to it with a string was a tag. The tag bore a message from the Scholars in the laboratory: ”The schematic for the modification is ready. Please come to B4-01 District Biological Laboratory for details.”

After reading it, Huai Shi rallied. He folded the blanket that had been on him and stuffed it, along with the lunch box and papers, into his saddlebag. With this message, he couldn’t afford to sleep any longer.

After quickly washing his face, he rushed toward the upper decks. Before he set out, he had already discussed with the Scholars the enhancement intentions for the Rat-men. He hadn’t expected them to produce the blueprints so quickly; it was incredibly swift.

After passing through several layers of security protection, he detected an almost suffocating smell of blood just outside the laboratory door. Pushing the door open, he saw a scene akin to a slaughterhouse inside the workshop. Various organs were everywhere, along with other assorted tools. At the center of the lab table lay a Rat-man, completely disassembled yet, in its unconsciousness, still alive. At least its heart was still beating.

It must have been one of the few lucky ones who had survived severe injuries. In the spirit of recycling waste, Huai Shi had sent all of them here. It seemed that with these samples to aid the research, significant progress had been made.

This place looks rather familiar. Huai Shi scratched his head, unable to recall where he had seen such a scene before.

Seeing that Huai Shi was not at all perturbed, the Scholar in charge of the laboratory was quite surprised. Here, the biological laboratory was mainly responsible for the dissection and research of native Hell Creatures, and bizarre scenes were common. Sometimes the experimental results even led to something even more unsettling. Even members of the Exploration Team, who had gone through various dangers and tests, would feel uncomfortable at the sight here. Few could remain as composed as Huai Shi, except perhaps for his peers.

”Mr. Huai Shi, please feel free to sit.” He left the operating table, put down his saw, took off his gloves, and led Huai Shi to the corner rest area. After shedding his mask, he asked, ”Coffee or tea?”

”Either will do. Just boiled water for me,” Huai Shi said, sitting down with his cup of water and surveying his surroundings with tuts of admiration. The brains preserved in formaldehyde particularly caught his eye. It was apparent that the cuts were meticulously made, without any damage—the handiwork of a professional.

”It’s rare to see someone as composed as you,” noted the middle-aged Scholar with a sigh. ”I’ve seen worse scenes than this during my internship at the Flesh Workshop, yet some people still make a big fuss.”

”Ahaha, maybe I just got used to it...” Huai Shi scratched his head again, asking, ”May I know how to address you?”

”Marvel, just call me Marvel,” the Scholar said, standing up and sweeping the cluttered items to one side of the table. ”To the matter at hand, take a look at this. This is the plan I have come up with based on the Rat-man samples sent over.”

With his movements, several anatomy diagrams that had been under other papers came into Huai Shi’s view. In the blueprints, the size of the Rat-man had almost doubled from its current size. According to the scale, it would be two heads taller than Huai Shi. The internal organs and skeletal structure had also dramatically changed, almost becoming a different creature. A ferocious aura leaped from the paper, incredible to behold.

”During the experiment, we found this branch of Rat-men already possessed an extraordinary capacity for integrating foreign organs, which is unbelievable. Hence, after consultations with other laboratories, we have drawn up this brand new transformation plan,” Marvel said excitedly, pointing to the blueprint. ”Constrained by their original stature, we’ve decided to use height-augmenting methods to forcibly extend their bodies. Internal alloy frameworks will gradually stretch during the surgical process. Then, two additional lymphatic systems and nerve clusters will be added to both sides of the neck and spine.

”Inside the spine, a cerebellum was fitted to coordinate and manage the movement of the lower body, avoiding any delays. The Black Death Corps’ modification relied too much on Shamans from their tribe, so we decided to use organs from other creatures to modify them. First, the muscle part. We had already received permission from the Ivory Tower, and the Athens branch sent us brand new artificial muscle synthesis laws and construction blueprints. These increase efficiency by more than tenfold compared to the original Rat-man muscles. Paired with their heightened bodies, it enabled them to bench press over two tons.

”The two additional lung lobes came from Scale Lion samples preserved in the lab. Aside from enhancing blood-oxygen exchange, we added two extra secretory glands that could, as needed, produce either sedatives or stimulants. As for the eyes, we adopted the advanced template released by the academy last year, which added infrared vision, Source Substance vision, and high-level dynamic vision, allowing them to detect danger on the battlefield instantly.

”The auxiliary internal skeletal system can transmit nerve signals unimpeded through the spinal cord, allowing them to learn various standard tactical maneuvers in a short period, as well as enhancing aiming and throwing capabilities. If there was enough time, they could even learn American military boxing... Of course, that has no meaning in the Abyss. The next focus was skin modification. Our internal artificial skin can now perfectly adapt to strong acids and strong alkalis, while the shock-absorbing shell built underneath the skin and the implanted outer layer of hair can perfectly fend off bullets fired from close range. But most importantly was the Alchemy Matrix of the skull, where we could preset matrices for Curse resistance, significantly enhancing their resistance to negative statuses...”

The more Marvel talked about it, the more excited he became. The modification of the Rat-man Army was initially just something Huai Shi casually mentioned, but after negotiations and with the coordination of the Director of Affairs, its priority was greatly elevated, turning it into a top priority. After all, they were the most convenient cannon fodder at hand. How could they be easily expended? Their abilities and value had to be enhanced.

Thus, with collective wisdom and effort, this Rat-man modification plan version 4.0 appeared before Huai Shi overnight. The group of idle biologists and Alchemists in the Iron Crystal Throne, almost growing hair from idleness, saw this project and their eyes turned green with excitement. You add a bit, I add a bit, and in the end, the Rat-man’s parts were changed so much that almost none remained, strengthening them to a theoretical limit. Even the weakest Rat-man, after modification, could become an iron warrior rushing headlong into a hail of bullets.

Even Huai Shi was stunned on the spot. Looking at this hodgepodge of things, one couldn’t see how they resembled Rat-men anymore. Bowing his head, he flipped through the blueprints over and over. After a long while, Huai Shi scratched his head. I must say, this is a bit unexpected...

He scratched his head, but his eyebrows couldn’t help but furrow. But it seems to be missing something. After thinking for a long time, he looked up and said, ”It lacks a certain flavor.”

Marvel was stupefied.