[The allied civilization army is currently being organized. The war shall begin shortly]
[All survivors are to seek refuge in relatively safe locations and wait patiently]
[Due to the appearance of the Plague Apocalypseâs complete form, all survivors are not to teleport out of the Gloom Galaxy out of their own volition]
[I repeat]
[For the safety of the infinite worlds, do not leave the Gloom Galaxy on your own volitions]
[All violators of this order shall be considered infected by the Plague Apocalypse and granted immediate execution]
Bam!
The ID card was thrown away, hitting the wall of the tower, then slowly slid to the ground.
The voice stopped.
Crow complained: âThose damn cowards, canât they even tell whether or not people in our line of work are affected by a disease?â
âThatâs not the caseâ Yu Juan pushed his glasses up and calmly replied: âFrom our calculations, there were over 1000 variations of the Plague Apocalypse, each of which has a unique mean of infection, some canât even be detected. If these ones manage to spread, it could cause the destruction of countless worldsâ
Gu Qing Shan agreed: âAgainst such a kind of Apocalypse, itâs best to be cautious about everything you canâ
He then asked Yu Juan: âWhat rank does the complete form of the Plague Apocalypse fall into?â
Yu Juan replied: âUnsolvable, Harshestâ
âHarshest?â Gu Qing Shan doubtfully asked.
âThatâs right. Since the Tomb of Myriad Beasts has to face the most Apocalypses out of everyone, the infinite worlds agreed to use their system of ranking Apocalypses, but had also made slight changes: Under every big Apocalypse category, smaller sub-categories were devised, which are Control, Perish, and Harshestâ Crow chimed in.
âAmong the Unsolvable Apocalypses, the complete form Plague Apocalypse trumps over all other Apocalypses of the same rank, so it was listed as Harshestâ Yu Juan explained.
Control, Perish, and Harshest.
Gu Qing Shan silently committed them to memory, pondered a bit, then asked with a heavy tone: âSuch a harsh Apocalypse still isnât considered to be Unlivable?â
Yu Juan had a bitter look on his face before sighing: âBecause within this Apocalypse, you still managed to save my life. If it was a true Unlivable Apocalypse, both of you would have died as wellâ
Above Unsolvable was Unlivable.
Meaning no one could survive it.
ââ-no matter who they were.
Crow added: âNot only would we die, but the infinite worlds of the void would also mark off this region as a no-man-land, then forbid all entry, they wouldnât try to organize an army eitherââ- they would simply discard this region of spaceâ
At this point, the mood among them became heavy.
Suddenly, their ID cards each issued an announcement.
[Attention all personnel]
[In one and a half days, the war against the Apocalypse shall begin]
After that announcement, the ID cards went silent again.
One and a half days.
In other words, the three of them would have to remain in this teleportation tower for another one and a half days.
Crow muttered: âSo we need to wait for one and a half days, huh? As long as there arenât any issues with the spatial runes of the tower, one and a half days should be reasonableâ
Gu Qing Shan was startled and slowly turned towards him.
Only to see that Yu Juan did the same thing.
Not only was Yu Juan staring closely at Crow, but he also asked cautiously: âExcuse me, might you be the Hitman called Curt Death Silver Crow?â
âAh, thatâs me, whatâs the matter?â Crow asked in confusion.
Two streams of tears slowly dripped down Yu Juanâs face.
He turned around, faced the wall, took off his glasses, and began to wipe his tears.
âItâs over, it really is him... the spatial runes of the tower will definitely have issuesâ Yu Juan sorrowfully muttered.
Gu Qing Shan managed to guess something, walked up to and sat down next to Yu Juan, asking him in a low voice: âIs he famous?â
Yu Juan turned back to look at Gu Qing Shan and doubtfully asked: âHow did you end up in the same team as him? Did you forget from being in danger?â
Seeing him say that, Gu Qing Shan understood.
Then, Crowâs precognitive speech was actually quite infamous...
âOi, I can still hear you yâknow. Donât believe in those superstitious predictive crap, the things Iâve gone through were nothing but coincidences!â Crow complained in irritation.
Gu Qing Shan was speechless.
He silently sent his voice to Yu Juan: âDidnât Crow go through some sort of professional check? I heard nothing was foundâ
Yu Juan silently sent his voice back: âThatâs correct, nothing was found about his abilityâââ because this ability had already surpassed the limit of the measuring equipmentâ
While explaining that, Yu Juan took out a piece of parchment paper and began writing something on it.
When Gu Qing Shan focused on it, he saw that it was his last will.
Pondering a bit, Gu Qing Shan sent his voice again: âIf itâs actually that impressive, he could simply say something opposite to make good things happenâ
Yu Juan didnât bother to look up, instead, he sped up his writing and answered: âHis ability doesnât work for good luck, only bad luckâ
Gu Qing Shan: â...â
This is incurable.
Would the spatial runes of the tower really fail?
This teleport tower contains the combined essence of the knowledge of the worlds in the Boundless Void, which was why it was able to temporarily isolate this place from the Apocalypse, lost civilization, and terrifying monsters outside.
If something happens to this tower, everyone would die.
Gu Qing Shan stayed silent for a bit, then took out a pot from his Inventory Bag.
âWhat are you doing?â Crow asked in surprise.
âItâs already night, I havenât eaten anything todayâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
âI have some rations hereâ Crow took out a bag of wrinkled, cold, hard preserved food.
Gu Qing Shan glanced at him and replied: âThat wonât do at allâ
Yu Juan smiled bitterly: âThatâs right. If I have to die, Iâd rather eat a good meal and become a full ghost instead of a hungry oneâ
He had finished writing his will.
âThatâs not itâ Gu Qing Shan begin taking out various cooking ingredients as he explained: âA grand feast can help us replenish our energy and re-adjust ourselves, making sure that we face the upcoming tough situation with ample spiritsâ
Hohââ
A fire was lit.
The pot was placed on top, followed up some oil to coat the inside that quickly started to sizzle.
âDinner should be a hearty meal, so is there anything you want?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
The others didnât answer.
This fiend is probably the âhungry ghostâ I heard of.
Crow silently thought.
A last meal? This fiendâs way of thinking is quite interesting.
Yu Juan also thought.
Seeing how they didnât answer, Gu Qing Shan decided to ignore them and just made dinner as he liked.
The ingredients this time were Clarity Fishes in the stream behind Bai Hua sect, which were top-grade ingredients in their own rights, loved by even Bai Hua Fairy.
Since he was going up against a Harshest Unsolvable Apocalypse, and because he had to make portions for other people as well, Gu Qing Shan prepared a few more than he usually did.
These fishes were finely filet using his excellent knife skills, coated in flour made from spirit wheat, then marinated in a mixture of salt, ginger, spices, and spirit wine brewed by Xiao Lou.
At this point, the pot was just hot enough for him to add spirit spring water, 16 unique spices from the cultivation world, then adjusted with some sugar before he put it back down on low heat and broiled for 7-8 minutes.
âHm, how freshâ
Gu Qing Shan tasted the fish soup and slowly savored it.
A few moments later, the pot was taken off.
The fragrant fish meat and highly tasteful soup were swiftly plated, then served. But Gu Qing Shan then took out a large jar of uniquely pickled chili and sprinkled them on top of the dish.
ââpatches of bright red chili flakes were sprinkled all over the pearly white flesh, further enhancing the look of the glistening soup below. Just a single look at this would cause anyone to drool.
Gu Qing Shan then prepared his signature dishes: pork roast, shrimp dumplings, steamed meatless buns, sausage, spirit fruit spareribs, glutinous rice chicken, fruit cake, as well as various others for a total of 33 steamers; followed by half a wok of seafood fried rice in almost no time at all.
Finishing this, he thought a bit before taking out a large wooden crate and opened it.
Cold air could instantly be felt, as the entire crate was full of ice.
It was an entire crate of strong liquor and other beverages!
These were drinks that he prepared for himself after being promoted to an Unsolvable Hitman, since this was currently a tough mission, it was just right to be taken out and used.
âWeâll need to fight later on, so drinking too much would be bad...â
Gu Qing Shan picked out three bottles of strong liquor, took them out, then put the wooden crate away.
Three sets of utensils were prepared.
There was liquor, fried rice, braised fish, and accompanying snacks.
A full course of delicious food.
âCome, since weâre eating outside, I couldnât prepare much, just eat what you canâ Gu Qing Shan told the other two.
No answer.
They were already stunned.
âThereâs an Unsolvable Apocalypse outside as well as some terrifying monsters, not to mention the lost Saint Spirit civilization, and youâre here eating braised fish?â Crow said in disbelief.
He stepped forward, picked up his chopsticks and tried out a piece of fish, then went silent.
ââhe was too busy wolfing it down.
Gu Qing Shan poured him a drink, then said: âTake it easy, no one is going to steal it from youâ
Crow just nodded without saying a word.
âNot eating?â Gu Qing Shan asked Yu Juan.
Yu Juan looked at his last will, then at the pot full of fresh braised fishes.
The bright red chili oil was making him salivate more and more.
With a gulp, Yu Juan replied: âI... want to keep a bit of dignity before I dieâ
âSo youâre not going to eat?â Gu Qing Shan asked.
âSo Iâm going to eat a bit more than usualâ
Yu Juan also picked up his utensils and tried a piece of fish.
âWho wouldâve thought Iâd be able to enjoy something like this...â
He muttered, picked up his glass, and drank it all at once.
Watching both of them digging in, he said nothing else, picked up his utensils, and began to eat as well.
Every last plate on the table was cleaned out completely.
After the meal, Crow and Yu Juan rubbed their bellies and sat down leaning against the wall.
âJust now you said... eating is for re-adjusting our states, ensuring that we can face tougher situations with ample spirits?â Crow asked.
âYes, I didâ Gu Qing Shan poured himself a cup of tea and slowly drank.
âHow strange, why do I only feel like I want to sleep after being full?â Crow commented.
He then took out a sleeping bag from the void of space and climbed in, zipping it back up.
Yu Juan was still quite spirited, so he took out a book and began reading on his own.
Gu Qing Shan chuckled and finished his tea.
He then stood up, placing one hand on the wall of the teleportation tower as he paced around the entire tower.
The [War God Skills] icon on the War God UI began blinking.
Lines of glowing text appeared accordingly:
[This teleportation tower contains the following spatial warp construction techniques:]
[Spirit teleportation]
[Witchcraft world super-distance space transport]
[Dark-type distant warp]
[High-grade insect hive natural movement rune combination]
[...]
[To comprehend the above spatial techniques, you will require a total of 27,534,000 Soul Points, would you like to comprehend them?]
âYesâ Gu Qing Shan replied.
A huge burst of warmth flowed along his arm from inside the walls of the tower, circled around his entire body, then settled inside his Thought Sea, manifesting as countless teleportation-related knowledge.
Gu Qing Shan stood there, gradually closed his eyes, and quickly absorbed all of this knowledge.
âWhat are you doing? Final prayers?â
At some point, Yu Juan had already looked up at him curiously.
A few moments later.
Gu Qing Shan opened his eyes.
âNo, Iâm just preventing the jinxâ[1] he smiled and replied.
[1] In Chinese, âcrow mouthâ is the idiom for people who always jinxes things, so Crowâs name was actually a pun