Chapter 112 Doomsday Button

If the target of the investigation possesses the ability to circumvent divination, the information Asaho gathers will be fragmented. She once described piecing together this fragmented information as a "jigsaw puzzle." And since it's a jigsaw puzzle, it means that with enough luck, it's possible to directly piece together the desired result.

Perhaps because there was no time limit last time, she couldn't give an exact time. But this time is different. For her, who has a knack for bringing bad luck, missing the time means she won't be able to track the target, which is tantamount to "she will definitely be able to track the target within this time."

No matter how powerful the anti-divination strategy of the monster creator is, even if it increases the difficulty of Asaho's tracking from a "puzzle game" to "finding a needle in a haystack", Asaho may still manage to find it, or clues may inexplicably fall from the sky through other means.

I wonder how the creator of this weirdo will feel when he finds out about this.

"That's practically cheating!" Zhu Shi exclaimed.

Asaha seemed to be recalling the past, her expression becoming somewhat complicated and melancholic. She said, "In the past, I was forced to run away and hide everywhere because of this constitution that attracts strange things. I never thought that one day I would use it for good..."

"If you're thinking about something sad, I can give you a hug." This was both a gesture of concern and a way of responding to what I had said before.

“What you’re doing is a crime, Senior Brother Zhuang. Of course, being the one doing it is too.” Zhu Shi first complained, then said to Ma Zao, “You were right to lie to Lu Chan before. Even if you really find out where the monster creator is, don’t tell him that information.”

"Although he is aware of his lack of combat ability, he hates the Humanitarian Division too much. Once he knows a clue, he will definitely chase after it. Not to mention that it will hinder the operation to deal with the monster creator, it would be like a moth flying into a flame for him."

"Judging from his performance in stopping the Shadow Man earlier, he doesn't seem to have lost his fighting ability," I said.

"The reason he was able to stop the Shadow Monster's counterattack is because the Shadow Monster had weakened to the level of Bad, and his eyesight and judgment from his past as a Level 1 Impermanent were still barely intact," Zhu Shi said. "As for the monster creator we are dealing with this time, although there has never been any information indicating that he has special powers, judging from his fearless contact with those cruel monsters, he may possess power that surpasses those monsters."

I extracted the keyword: "'we'?"

Zhu Shi was startled: "Are you two planning to abandon me to deal with the monster creator?"

“I thought you were going to say you’d find more people from Luoshan,” I said.

“No, not at all. To avoid alerting the enemy, we'll definitely be operating with a small elite force this time. And it's impossible to recruit anyone stronger than you, or someone more capable of tracking the enemy than Asaho, in a short time. Besides, if the monster creator displays any strange abilities, I can immediately detect them and find a way to counter them,” Zhu Shi said. “My goal isn't to eliminate the monster creator, but to obtain information from him related to the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau. As for Asaho, you…”

"My goal is to obtain information related to the apocalypse from the creator of the monsters," Asaho said.

“I’m interested in both kinds of intelligence,” I said.

“Very good, we all want intelligence, and our goals are aligned. So the next operational direction is as follows…” Zhu Shi said, “To prevent the monster creator from suddenly pulling out a powerful trump card, we can kill it directly, but at least leave its head intact, which is the same approach as dealing with monsters.”

After finalizing our plan, we found a karaoke bar nearby and went inside. Ma Zao took out the head of the Shadow Man in the private room and focused intently on using her abilities to trace its historical information.

I also silently began to think about my future plans.

Between the doomsday intelligence and the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau's intelligence, if I had to choose which I'm more interested in, it would definitely be the former.

After finding Asaho, my greatest motivation was to investigate the truth behind the apocalypse with her. The apocalyptic crisis exists; I now fully believe it. Originally, this was the most important thing for Asaho, but now it's equally important to me.

I crave adventures that transcend reality, and in this world, is there any adventure more magical and thrilling than the apocalypse? I certainly can't imagine it.

The question is how I should face the end of the world.

To be specific—let's assume the apocalypse is caused by a pair of buttons of different colors, the left one being red, pressing which would bring about the end of the world. The reason the future becomes the end of the world is because, within the original timeline, someone found and pressed the red button before us.

The blue button on the right permanently disables the red button on the left.

After going through many hardships, Mazao and I finally arrived in front of the pair of buttons.

Asahi definitely wants to press the blue button, but what about me?

Do I want to press the red button or the blue button?

I also have family and friends, and of course I wouldn't want them to suffer or even die in the apocalypse. But... suppose a red button were presented to me, and pressing it would cause society and civilization to collapse, and countless calamities to befall our world, wouldn't I really feel the urge to press it?

I know my current thoughts are abnormal. It's just that the emotions I'm experiencing right now are probably not unique to me.

Even if you grabbed an ordinary person off the street and shoved a button into their hand to summon a super zombie virus and destroy the world, they might still feel the urge to press it. It sounds strange, but the desire for an apocalypse seems incredibly common. So I think there are quite a few people who can relate to this feeling.

Wanting to disrupt the monotony of daily life, they plunge into a chaotic adventure—

As this thought came to mind, I inevitably became aware of another problem.

Asaho is an important person to me, but we might be enemies.

Of course, it may be too early to make such a judgment now.

If the apocalypse is a naturally occurring disaster that doesn't need a "promoter," then I don't need to consider whether I should push for it. In that case, I'll simply stand on the side of the good guys and enjoy the pleasure of preventing the apocalypse.

"Preventing" is also a way of interacting with the apocalypse, and it can be considered a kind of "adventure." Besides, according to the prophecy, the end of the apocalypse is the complete annihilation of the world itself. If that's the outcome, I can no longer take risks. Of course, I can distinguish between a full meal and a regular meal.

...No, I have to admit, if we're talking about "the end of the world," maybe a big meal would be worth it. I do have that crazy thought. But that's not the most important thing right now.

The most important thing right now is "intelligence." Fighting alongside Asahi and investigating the truth behind the apocalypse is paramount. We can think about the rest later.

"Zhuang Cheng, you have a very serious expression right now," Zhu Shi's voice rang out from beside him. "What are you thinking about?"

Turning around, I saw Zhu Shi sitting with me on the sofa in the dimly lit private room. She probably wasn't using her ability to see through lies right now.

"I'm thinking about what to do next," I said ambiguously, then added, "By the way, could you do me a favor?"

Zhu Shi smiled and said, "Help? Just tell me if there's anything I can do!"

"I feel like my superpowers have changed a little. Can you take a look?" I asked.

Upon hearing this, she showed a troubled expression: "Help you see superpowers? I can indeed see other people's abilities, but..."

"Is there a problem?" I asked curiously.

“You’re too bright,” she said frankly. “From the perspective of Buzhou Mountain, looking at you is like looking directly at the sun with the naked eye; the brightness is so high that you can’t even see what you look like.”

“If I only use ‘Mount Buzhou’ at low power, I can actually glean some information from you. That’s how I used to determine that your superpowers didn’t originate from demon bloodlines, but that way I couldn’t see the power itself. If I look at it at full power, it will turn into the situation I just described.”

"I think this is because you are a high-density aggregate of flames, and seeing through your true form would actually be an obstacle for me."

"My elemental transformation actually has an anti-spying effect?"

This is truly beyond my expectations; it seems I'll have to figure out a way to study it myself.

At this moment, Ma Zao, who was sitting on the opposite sofa, lowered her head, seemingly a little tired from using her abilities. Zhu Shi poured her a glass of carbonated drink and handed it to her. She drank it down in one gulp and then let out a small burp.

She seemed to have something on her mind. I asked her what was wrong, and she frankly shared her thoughts.

“It’s about the weirdos,” she said. “This was the first time I’d ever seen a weirdo from this era speak so much. In my time, weirdos… or rather, demons, didn’t talk to people normally. They were like real monsters, only knowing how to kill in a frenzy…”

"Are you starting to think that the weirdo and the karmic demon have nothing to do with each other?" I probed.

“There are indeed differences between the two. The strange people of this era seem to be mainly ram-headed and human-bodied, while the karmic demons of the apocalypse are completely different. However, more important than the difference in appearance is the fluctuation of magical power…” she pondered, “The strange people of this era possess magical power fluctuations that are enough to identify them as karmic demons, a characteristic that no other strange person or cultivator possesses.”

"Only the creator of this weirdo can answer our questions," I said.

"Mmm." She nodded, then took a deep breath.

I recalled the soul trauma she mentioned during her conversation with Lu Youxun, and then asked with concern, "Could you tell me about your injuries? You previously said that the trauma you suffered was left by a great demon, so it cannot be healed... Is that true?"

Zhu Shi also showed a very concerned expression, and looked at Ma Zao with me.

(End of this chapter)