What the heck is that? What's going on? How do we handle this? These, Huai Shi's three favorite life questions, strangely erged on the stiff faces of the Departnt of Justice's spirits. It made one marvel at the turn of fate, as even they had their day as material.
"What happened?" Huai Shi eyed the transford Giant Rat Warrior before him, brimming with curiosity. "What on earth is going on here?"
After a long silence, the Departnt of Justice once again raised the sign in its hand.
——[Paradise Guard].
Before Paradise fell into decay, this was its strongest force and also the true trusted troops under Little Cat's command. With iron and blood, they had firmly defended Paradise's copyrights and safety, unlike the current Departnt of Justice, which resorted to collecting debts after the fact. Though lost for many years following the downfall of Paradise, their image still lingered in its history, never forgotten.
Yet, for so unknown reason, they had suddenly appeared before Huai Shi today.
Even the Departnt of Justice was sowhat baffled. It was incomprehensible.
Huai Shi had yet to figure it out when he heard his phone vibrating violently.
"What's the deal? What's going on? Why is there suddenly an extra employee? And it's a dispatched Guard?" Little Cat roared over the phone. "I don't care, you must add—"
BEEP.
Huai Shi hung up before Little Cat could finish, lifted his head, and scrutinized the chibi version of the Giant Rat Warrior in front of him, hardly able to believe his eyes.
Is this for real? Is it that impressive?
"Hit with a punch," Huai Shi instructed, looking up.
"GA?" The Giant Rat Warrior looked at Huai Shi with a puzzled tilt of its head, not understanding the aning behind his command.
"Never mind, just give a—"
BOOM!
Before he could finish his sentence, a hurricane slamd into his face. Thunderous shockwaves erupted from inside the room, and as the air pressure violently fluctuated, a gale swept up countless surgical tools, sending them flying chaotically and provoking screams.
Then, a shattering roar followed, belatedly. A large hole appeared in the operating room wall. Beyond that hole was another.
He had been blasted from the operating room through the dical care room, and then into the neighboring dicine warehouse. Amidst a pile of broken dicine jars, Huai Shi, dazed, lifted his hand, still in a blocking stance.
Incredulous.
His hand was almost broken.
It felt as if a truck had smashed head-on into his face. The destructive power and impact, far beyond what he had anticipated, had fractured Huai Shi's bones with a single blow.
Even though the Soloist Stigma wasn't particularly known for combat prowess within the Third Stage, the Giant Rat Warrior hadn't used much strength either. It seed almost casual.
Huai Shi waved his hand, applied a layer of Silver Blood Potion, then staggered to his feet and walked back to the surgery room. He circled the Giant Rat Warrior several tis, examining it closely.
It was hard to imagine what kind of eerie creature was shrouded inside the suit.
Even when he pried open the mouth of the suit and looked inside, he could only see darkness. It was as if the test subject that had just undergone surgery had vanished, and the suit itself was now the true entity.
All attributes had been perfectly inherited from the test subject and were even superior.
While the design is sowhat unfortunate and a little too chibi, appearances don't matter—what counts is its ability to fight!
Regrettably, the mont Huai Shi let the Candle-Holding Crow out from within, the suit would imdiately be restored to its original form, transforming back into a limp Rat-man test subject. The state of the Paradise Guard seed to require certain specific conditions to manifest. It was not solely the work of the Ravens, nor was it within the realm of the Soloist's Sky's Command.
Otherwise, Huai Shi could have imdiately achieved a great leap forward with this Correction Value...
After careful asurents and inspections, everyone was delighted to discover several things. The Paradise Guard's Giant Rat Warrior had not only fully inherited all the attributes of the test subject, but it also possessed considerable martial strength. Furthermore, it was proficient in using various weapons and demonstrated excellent adaptability to different environnts. It even had considerable experience in squad "Offensive" and defense tactics.
This was a Blessing and a gift directly bestowed by Paradise.
Regardless of Little Cat's thoughts, Paradise itself seed quite fond of Huai Shi and had never been stingy.
This made Huai Shi feel particularly embarrassed. He began to wonder. As a bootleg Prince who hasn't done any substantial work, is it really okay for to keep exploiting Paradise? His slight feelings of guilt, however, were quickly offset by that rascal Little Cat's behavior.
With such a creature benefiting in so many ways, the resurgence of Paradise within the Abyss is surely just a matter of ti. There's no need for to worry about it.
The most significant issue that followed, however, was the formal naming of the test subject.
"Destructive Warrior!" proposed Marvel, who was leading the discussion.
"New Century Rat Sonic Warrior!" suggested an Alchemist from the biochemistry departnt.
"Mobile Warrior Rat Damuki!" This was from a Scholar of the chanical transmission departnt, who had just been chased away but ca back to assert his presence.
"Wouldn't 'Red Lotus Naked Rat' sound more domineering?" soone nearby asked. "Astro Rat Cultivator is also not bad."
"Why not call it Gaised! Armored Soldier works too!"
"I propose Demon Slayer Great Rat! I will not accept any objections, YESYESYES!!!"
Before Huai Shi could react, they were already fighting over it. A bunch of Scholars and Alchemists held nothing back in their brawl, swinging wrenches and hamrs at each other's faces. Clearly, this was not their first ti.
Watching from the sidelines, Huai Shi couldn't help but gasp.
These cultured individuals fight more viciously than Sublimators!
Better slip away, I can't afford to provoke them.
In the following days, after a short rest, Huai Shi devoted himself to the surgery room, selecting severely injured Rat-n for upgrades.
Unfortunately, only nine could beco mbers of the Paradise Guard because there were only nine Candle-Holding Crows who had obtained the Yin Soul Saint Mark. Only the Candle-Holding Crows could serve as the central consciousness of the Guard, truly driving these upgraded giant Rat-n. And the number of Yin Souls at Huai Shi's disposal was limited by the Ring of Nibelungen.
Sotis Huai Shi would contemplate finding a way to cleanse Qi Wen and add him to the Guard. After all, the old fellow is the least useful, just taking up a slot. Aside from being expendable without causing any heartache, he has no other purpose.
Apart from the nine Paradise Guards, Huai Shi and Marvel also created more than thirty relatively lower-end enhanced Rat-n. Thanks to a reduction in the complexity of the Alchemy Matrix, these Rat-n, aside from being a bit slow-witted, fortunately, didn't suffer any other side effects. Huai Shi simply handed them over to the Guard Team; after all, they communicated better among themselves.
Just a few days passed, and the Rat-n had already learned to chant 'Sanctus'... The Ravens' marketing ability was truly outstanding, scarily so. It was said that the students who shared a room with Little Nineteen were often awakened in the middle of the night by strange sounds. Then they would see Wood Cottage sleepwalking while holding a birdcage and singing hymns, which was quite frightening.
With his mind cluttered by a ss of trifles, Huai Shi finished treating the last severely injured Rat-man patient, marking the end of this round of treatnts.
Afterwards, he waved goodbye to Marvel.
Next, he planned to rest properly and decided not to work day and night anymore. It was bearable once or twice, but after too many tis, this kind of work beca unbearably tedious, requiring undivided attention.
In just these few short days, his "Hell Creature Surgical Operation" skill on the "Book of Fate" had already risen to level six. He had also obtained an additional skill, "Rodent Anatomy Expert," which increased his surgery speed on rodent creatures by twenty percent.
But what use is it to be eighty percent faster? I haven't practiced piano for several days, and I feel as though I've regressed by at least several years. Yet these random skills just keep leveling up!
Huai Shi sighed and, after washing up carelessly, burdened by exhaustion, he went straight to bed, ready to sleep.
But amid the drowsiness, he suddenly shivered violently.
Rigidity.
In the instant before Huai Shi closed his eyes, it seed like he saw a figure standing at the head of the bed. Condra.
The eerie shadow he had once encountered 'briefly' at the station, a mber of the Exploration Team who had died long ago.
He stood before the bed, head bowed, damp hair clinging to his forehead. On his water-swollen, pale face, his empty eye sockets reflected Huai Shi's appearance. Seemingly smiling.
His cracked lips moved noiselessly.
Then, he thought he heard a distant voice.
He couldn't tell if it was from the left or right, east or south, nor could he discern if it was above his head or beneath his feet.
Lantation.
Huai Shi could only hear wails of agony.
As if so ancient mories were awakened, stirring from the earth, shrill screams arose, sweeping over from all directions. The despair-filled roars and bellows of millions of people materialized, forming a massive tidal wave that engulfed him, dragging him into the deepest abyss of fear.
In the grogginess, Huai Shi's fingers twitched. Before he could rise, he fell into darkness.
Cast into the coffin of death, covered by layers of cold soil, sinking into the deepest part of Hell. Without a chance to struggle.
***
In the long haze, Huai Shi seed to have a bizarre, illusory dream.
He dreamt of living a rich and beautiful life, the world flourishing, where all people were closely unified, without war, disease, strife, or persecution. Free from worries about food and clothing, possessing endless wealth, a long life that was peaceful and beautiful.
It felt as though he was dwelling at the highest point in Heaven. He had everything.
That was why what awaited him later was so utterly despairing—when he realized everything began to plumt toward Hell.
Doomsday had arrived.
In the blurred dreamland, the sun drifted away from them, and night vanished without a trace. Everlasting dusk shrouded everything.
Despair arrived amidst this vast desolation. The earth split apart, and all that was once magnificent crumbled to dust, trampled into mud. Only the survivors wandered like ghosts over the wasteland.
"Ah, ah, God, almighty God..." those blood-crying voices mourned quietly, "Why must we endure such tornt?"
No one responded. Perhaps God did not care.
Thus, the prayers gradually turned to disappointnt, and in the end, no further pleading or hope remained.
In the deepest darkness, only the most bitter persistence remained.
"We, who encompass everything..." That voice licked the blood and tears of the past, and the shattered soul whispered its last, "Then, we shall recreate everything!"
After that, endless darkness enveloped everything. All beings wailed.
***
When the alarm rang, Huai Shi opened his eyes from the nightmare, gasping in terror. Sweat soaked his back.
The despair from the dream still clung to his body, making every nerve ending tremble, lingering futilely.
When Huai Shi raised his hand, he touched the wetness on his face. It was sanguine tears of blood.
The apparition in front of the bed had vanished without a trace. Yet on the ground, there remained a faint set of footprints, as if soone had stood there for a long ti, silently watching Huai Shi in the darkness.
It had brought him a dream of suffering, then turned and left before he awoke.
Rapid footsteps sounded from outside, and soone began pounding excitedly on the door. When Huai Shi opened the door, he saw an exuberant Scholar. The Scholar paused upon seeing Huai Shi, his expression puzzled, "What happened to you? You look like death ward over!"
"It's a long story," Huai Shi said, grabbing a towel and carelessly wiping his face. "What's happened?"
"The lab group just announced their results! We've completely deciphered the outer structure of the sub-control center!" The Scholar exclaid excitedly, "We've located the positions of the other two sub-control centers, and we're only one step away from taking control of the Central Tower..."
"Deciphered?" Huai Shi was stunned for a mont, then suddenly asked, "When did the official decryption begin?"
"Four hours—no, three and a half hours ago. We expected a long battle, but it went unexpectedly smoothly... Mr. Huai Shi? Mr. Huai Shi, are you listening?"
Huai Shi leaned against the wall, lowering his head to look at the ti on his phone.
Suddenly, he understood the source of the nightmare.
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