Apocalypse Forecast

A brief silence, yet it felt like an entire day had passed.

Elisa’s fingers quivered slightly.

Apart from her, no one knew the whisper of Huai Shi and the tumultuous waves that sentence stirred within her heart.

Soon, she was as calm as usual.

”Peeking into others’ privacy isn’t good, Miss Huaizhi. Should I scold you?” She leaned in ambiguously and whispered, ”Although it’s not an unbearable past, how did you find out? I shouldn’t have left any slip-ups.”

As she spoke, her emerald eyes lifted, gazing into Huai Shi’s eyes.

In her pupils, darkness seemed to surge, reflecting Miss Huaizhi’s face, allowing no trace of falsehood.

This was the gaze and interrogation from an archaeological team, from a professional abyss explorer.

”If I mention tomorrow’s news, you surely won’t believe it.”

Huai Shi sighed, ”If you try to find your true identity from tomorrow’s news, you’ll only be led by those clues to some strange organization on the border, right? It wasn’t until just now that I realized that it was just a smoke screen you deliberately released.”

After all, the bartender is a formidable opponent; even someone as thrifty as Huai Shi could only grit their teeth and bought information on the opponent from tomorrow’s news.

B-level news.

A thousand words for ten thousand US Dollars, available for one-time reading only, yet there weren’t many words.

Elisa Francisco.

Female, aged thirty-one, nationality, past occupations. Since acquiring Chef Demon Qualification at twenty-six, she’s conducted more than four abyss explorations to date…

In total, it doesn’t exceed two hundred words, yet it charges on a thousand-word basis. Besides being empty and dull, it holds no meaning at all.

Aside from that, there’s only a side-profile blurred photo full of suspicious points.

Nothing more…

Initially, Huai Shi shouldn’t be able to see through anything.

Unfortunately, she forgot to put the handgun away while showing off her new bag…

Huai Shi was too close to the workbench, close enough to clearly see the distinctive features of the handgun and the yellow and black climbing logo on the grip.

——That’s the Extreme Sports Club’s symbol.

Founded by Lucian, it was a club limited to the Astronomical Society’s internal community, or rather, only formal members of the archaeological team would be enthusiastic about this niche extreme team.

With too few members, even at its peak, it didn’t exceed fifty people… Huai Shi had been recruited countless times by Lucian and knew this too well!

Though appearing as a club, it was inherently a super elite hell exploration and mutual aid organization rallied around chairman Lucian.

The Extreme Sports Club’s purpose is to climb deeper into Hell, resembling more a communication platform among most elites in the archaeological team.

To make proper use of their power, connections, and information in Hell, while possibly providing aid to others.

The club can be said to be full of strong individuals, not lacking lone wolves who venture into Hell without relying on other team members’ support!

More importantly…

”All members of the Extreme Club should all be on-duty members of the astronomical society’s archaeological team.”

Huai Shi responded calmly, scrutinizing Elisa in return, whispering, ”It’s against the rules for a registered member of the archaeological team to take on private work, right?”

”...”

Elisa’s expression twitched slightly, her gaze drifting away: ”Why don’t you just keep quiet! Since you know this, you definitely have ties with the club… help me keep it confidential, and I’ll give you a round, how about that?”

”Two rounds!”

Huai Shi decisively lifted two fingers.

Elisa shook her head decisively: ”Two rounds is too much, one round leaves a chance for a comeback, two rounds… I’d rather you expose me.”

”Then forget it.”

Huai Shi shook his head indifferently.

”Hmm?” Elisa was stunned.

”I said, forget it.” Huai Shi explained, ”I didn’t plan to use this to blackmail you anyway, but because of this, I am rather curious…”

He enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere of being close with the blonde lady, looking up behind Elisa, at the middle-aged man with a livid face in the audience.

”Why did you choose an employer like Li Jian Bu Jing?”

”Because he’s rich.”

Elisa widened her eyes, raised her hand, and patted the cabinet beside her: ”To buy this thing, I owed a huge loan and needed a generous patron to pay for me.

But now I’m in a forced vacation period, with no way to earn a living in Hell, so I have to muddle through in this current circumstance…”

Just this?

Huai Shi was stunned.

Having money indeed allows one to do whatever they want.

At least most of the time.

”I’m going to say it upfront, even if you know so much, he offered too much money, I definitely won’t go easy on you…” She paused for a moment and seriously said, ”Just that, considering we’re both girls, I can let you lose with some dignity, you can admit defeat anytime, it’s totally OK.”

”What a coincidence, I was going to say the same thing.” Huai Shi smiled.

”Now then, the chit-chat should be over… shall we begin?”

”Let’s begin.”

Huai Shi slowly straightened up, putting some distance between himself and the blonde lady opposite: ”How are we going to compete?”

”Didn’t you bring alcohol? If you’re really arrogant enough to have a duel with a bartender, then let’s use the most traditional turn-based method. Each round both sides present a glass, the first to fall loses, the one standing wins.” Elisa said, ”In the archaeological team, disagreements are usually solved like this at my place, isn’t it fair?”

”I don’t care.”

Huai Shi shrugged, then posed the last question: ”Then, who goes first, who drinks first?”

”The method to solve this problem is even fairer.”

Elisa revealed a mysterious smile, her wrist turned, and her fingers flicked, producing an ancient-looking coin as if by magic, carrying a faint aura of a curse.

It flipped between her fingers, the skeletal face on the front and the intricate curse script on the back overlapping and changing constantly.

It was obviously a border relic.

This was Elisa’s solution, the simplest method.

A coin flip.

”Heads or tails?”

Huai Shi looked down, examining the spinning coin in her hand, his brows slightly raised: ”Tails then, I like the design of that skull.”

Then, Elisa smiled brightly, lifted her thumb, flicked it, and in an instant, the coin soared into the air.

In the stillness, it ascended.

The golden gleam spun in the air, reflecting as it passed between the eyes of the two gazing at each other, the coin rising, reaching the highest point, then falling as it tumbled downwards.

In Huai Shi’s eyes, Elisa’s sly smile was reflected.

At that moment, the elder sister’s palm suddenly raised upward, reaching for the coin in mid-air, or rather, slapping downwards… In that fleeting moment, seizing a chance to decide the outcome.

Heads above, tails below.

She won.

If the coin had indeed been struck by her…

Indeed, the heavy and cold coin had already landed in her palm, but her hand hadn’t pressed down to finalize this result.

Instead, she felt soft, slender fingers, with a hint of a cool palm.

Pressing against her own palm.

Elisa’s pupils contracted in astonishment, finally seeing clearly Miss Huaizhi’s move. In that instant, coming from behind to the fore… not trying to disrupt her action but gently and swiftly sticking to her palm beforehand.

Under the overlapping fingers and palms of the two, the coin stood upright in mid-air, subtly tilting with the changes in their muscle forces.

From simple luck to pure strength contest, but it seemed to become more fair.

This too surprised Elisa even more.

The opponent’s reflexes, speed, and skills, experience could surprisingly match her, even subtly surpassing her, a seasoned member of the archaeological team.

The two palms held firm against one another, stalemated in mid-air.

Like in traditional martial arts novels where they compete using inner power.

The great force flowed between the flexible pivots formed by the wrists, palms, and fingers, forming a fragile balance. Whenever their palms slightly moved, a sharp friction sound pierced the air.

Like an invisible glass being wiped, it grated on the nerves.

Soon after, the sound of balance collapsing echoed.

From Miss Huaizhi’s palm.

Using drummer skills unreservedly, the zero-distance finger force was enough to match the terrifying power of the Izumo Great Sumo, let alone exceeding the bartender’s strength...

First the index finger, pressed forward by a centimeter, followed by the ring finger, thumb, little finger…

The balance in the arm wrestling began to shift.

Huai Shi took the upper hand.

Tails above, heads below.

Pressing Elisa’s palm, inch by inch, downwards.

Until Elisa sighed, abruptly withdrawing her hand, no longer competing with Huai Shi.

Smack!

The dust settled.

”Hmm?” Huai Shi frowned: ”You should still have the strength to fight back, giving up just like that?”

”A bartender’s fingers are their life, not tools for competing with others... Precision and agility are what matter most. It’d be too ridiculous if I injured my fingers before the competition.”

Elisa flexed her fingers, her smile growing more cunning: ”Besides, I may not have lost yet.”

In that moment, Huai Shi’s palm felt a peculiar sensation.

As if the surface of the coin on the table was rapidly changing, the skull relief disappearing swiftly, replaced by… the script on the back.

When he lifted his hand, he saw the final result.

Heads above, tails below.

It was Elisa who won.

Huai Shi immediately smiled wryly, not expecting that before the coin flip, the outcome was already decided.

From the start, she had intended to cheat.

”So sneaky, huh?” He laughed quietly.

”This is proof of going all out.”

Elisa raised her fingers, prying out the coin embedded in the table, and tossed it playfully in the air: ”To gain the upper hand from you, big sister, I’ve brought out all the gambler’s underhanded tricks I’ve got tucked away, aren’t you pleased?”

”It’s an honor.” Huai Shi shrugged.

Elisa had returned to her workstation, after taking off her coat and hanging it on the hook of the liquor cabinet, revealing her signature white shirt and black vest underneath.

Her blonde hair tied up neatly at the back, very efficient.

The bartender was readying for work.

The duel was about to begin.