Free Web NovelChapter 18: Harbinger of Disaster
“It’s done, all taken care of.”
That afternoon, Lu Feng, who’d been missing the whole day, finally came back grinning like a fool. Ji Jue had only gone to wash his hands for a moment, and before he knew it, the guy was already sprawled out on his hospital bed, shamelessly picking at his feet like he owned the place.
“Mom took Lu Ling and the others back to the village for a few days. The repair shop’s closed for now, we’ll reopen after this mess is sorted out. I also went by your place. I fixed the door for you, but the fridge is completely done for. Just move the one from the shop back home and make do with it for now. Oh, and your little scooter is parked in the hospital lot. Grab it yourself once you’re discharged.”
He pulled out the keys from his pocket and dropped them on the table with the same two fingers he’d just been using to pick his feet.
Ji Jue’s eyelid twitched violently. He wanted to say something but held it back. I don’t want these keys anymore, can you get me a new pair?
But then he remembered that his pink scooter had been half-sold, half-gifted to him by Lu Feng after he had switched to a three-wheeler. “Lightly used by a girl, 99% new,” or so he’d claimed. Who knows how many times those same fingers had already touched that seat...
Is it still not too late to list it online?
After the usual round of disgust, Ji Jue still split an apple and gave Lu Feng half. Watching him gobble it down in two crunchy bites without even washing his hands, Ji Jue couldn’t help but silently praise the man’s iron stomach, forged through his time in the Central Lands.
Their physiques were clearly on different levels. Ji Jue had only gotten zapped and fell into the mud a couple of times. He barely had any bruises on him, yet he was limping when he walked. Meanwhile, Lu Feng had gone head-to-head with those monsters, even took a bullet, and had both minor and serious injuries all over. However, after one night’s sleep he was already back to bouncing around like nothing happened.
“Jealous, huh, Ji Jue?” Lu Feng flexed his biceps with a grin. “Been telling you to work out, but you never listen. You get wiped out just running a kilometer. Having regrets?”
Ji Jue rolled his eyes and ignored him.
Of course he was a little jealous seeing Lu Feng so full of energy, but what he cared about more was whether Mr. Watch had changed in any way. Unfortunately, there was only the slightest hint of any change.
It had gotten a good haul of the aberrant spirit matter, and its progress bar was back up to 99 again. Other than that, the golden-covered number 0 on the dial had finally shifted. If it had originally been about eighty percent covered, but now it was closer to ninety-nine, with only the tiniest sliver left uncovered.
Unfortunately, it still hadn’t made that great leap from 0 to 1. The progress bar was stuck.
No matter how anxious Ji Jue got, it wouldn’t budge at all. That last tiny sliver just refused to fill in, to the point his OCD was about to flare up. He was half-tempted to pry the watch open and fill in that last bit himself.
All he could do was pray and hope Mr. Watch hadn’t picked up the bad traits of certain pre-Cataclysm Era shopping sites with all their hidden fees. Otherwise, he might be stuck being a 0 for the rest of his life.
“Oh right, take this. Keep it on you for now.”
Lu Feng reached into a cloth bag beside him and pulled out something wrapped in two layers of black plastic, then shoved it under Ji Jue’s pillow.
The moment Ji Jue recognized its outline, he couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
A gun!
His face went pale.
“Dude, this is a hospital. What am I supposed to do with that?!” He lowered his voice, but halfway through, something clicked. He shot Lu Feng a wary look. “Why are you suddenly dumping gear on me? Don’t tell me the Security Bureau has drafted you or something?”
“Are you kidding me? I finally crawled out of that cesspit in the military, and now you think I’d jump straight into another hellhole with the Security Bureau? Without a transfer order from the military, they can forget about touching my personnel file.” Lu Feng waved the question off, trying to hide his awkwardness. “I’m laying low for a while... If some woman with a scar on her neck comes asking about me in the next couple of days, don’t say a word, got it?”
Ji Jue narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What did you do this time?”
“You think all that stuff I got came for free?” Lu Feng rolled his eyes and also lowered his voice. “Even the cheapest handgun with twelve rounds costs twenty-eight thousand, and that’s without the multiple markups by middlemen. Damn it, for this little bit of stuff, I lied and sweet-talked, even almost sold my ass. If I don’t run now, I’ll end up selling... other things to pay off my debts. Might even get dragged off to be a gigolo or something!”
Ji Jue fell silent. He stared at Lu Feng for a long moment, then slowly patted his shoulder and said in consolation, “Lu Feng, don’t overthink it. Even being a gigolo requires looks and education these days.”
“You!” That hit like a knife out of nowhere. Lu Feng instantly cracked. “If that’s the case, then why don’t you go instead?! I did all this for the sake of this family!”
He got halfway through his rant when his eyes lit up. Wait... why didn’t I think of that?
“Isn’t that how it always goes in those melodramas?” Lu Feng put on a grave, earnest tone as he tried to “reason” with him. “Big bro’s out there gambling and racking up a mountain of debt, the parents are sick, and the younger siblings can’t afford school. Lu Ling finally made it into Tianmen. Aren’t you, as her older brother, gonna show a little support? At the very least, you gotta buy her a computer and a phone, right? Studying’s useless for guys anyway. Just loosen your belt a bit, and the whole family’s taken care of!”
“Get lost, get lost, get LOST!”
Ji Jue finally snapped, kicking Lu Feng straight off the bed without holding back. Watching Lu Feng swagger off, his mood, which had been tense all along, eased up a little.
If the guy could still joke around like that, things probably weren’t that serious. Or at least, not that serious. Lu Feng kept going on about his “comrades-in-arms.” More like the kind of “comrades” in the artillery battalion who often got together to “exchange techniques,” heh[1]?
“Wow, you two are really close.” The skinny old man in the next bed with his leg still in a cast let out a sigh. “I haven’t been in touch with my brother for years. And the two boys at home never get along either, they fight every day.”
“Kids are cheeky like that, they’re always a handful. They’ll grow out of it,” the auntie from another bed chimed in, trying to comfort him. “My second and third were the same. Once they got older and realized how tough life was, they understood that family’s what you can really rely on. I went to visit them a couple days ago, and they’re so close now they even share the same blanket when they sleep. Sometimes the eldest joins them, too.”
The old man sighed again, getting emotional. “When the family’s in harmony, everything prospers. You’re really blessed, ma’am.”
Only Ji Jue, lying off to the side, was left completely dumbfounded. He opened his mouth several times wanting to say something, but he stopped himself every time. In the end, he didn’t dare say a word. He lay back down, drifting off while dreaming of finally making that leap from zero to one.
Outside the window, dusk was settling in. From far away, the roar of an explosion echoed through the wind. A column of thick smoke slowly rose from the foothills on the other side of Cliff City. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
***
“What the hell is going on?!”
Inside the violently shaking office, smoke filled the air. In the courtyard outside, employees screamed in shrill terror as they twisted into inhuman monsters, swarming toward the intruders.
Only the CEO’s office, freshly fitted with a brand-new nameplate, remained deathly silent.
An old man hiding behind the window stood frozen, like a statue. He frantically dialed the number in his hand again and again. At last, the call connected through the busy tone, and he could no longer hold back his fury.
“What’s going on?! Lawrence, what the hell are you doing?!” Lu Wending[2] was on the verge of passing out, and he trembled in terror. “Didn’t you say this was foolproof?!”
On the other end of the line, the voice remained calm and pleasant. “The experiment itself is foolproof. Please rest assured, your sacrifice won’t be in vain.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?!” Lu Wending felt like he’d fallen into an icy abyss, his voice turning shrill. “Don’t forget who pulled you out of the gutter. If it wasn’t for me—”
“I’ve given you sixteen patents, each one capable of bringing your company long-term profits and multiplying its valuation several times over. Isn’t that enough?” Lawrence chuckled. “Besides, I already gave it my all. I personally crafted ten standard doses of the Elixir of Longevity for you, along with a completely side-effect-free aberration stabilizer. I helped you rise straight to the top. As for the little bit of trouble that came with it, that’s just an inevitable side effect. As the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, don’t you ever read the instructions?
“Our contract is over, Mr. Lu. Thank you for your continued support and contributions. In my future papers, I’ll be sure to give you special acknowledgement. This is a monumental achievement that will be etched into the history of medicine!”
“Etched my ass!” With the explosions closing in, Lu Wending roared into the phone, “Don’t forget, who the hell besides me could get you qualified test subjects? After all this time, you only churned out a pile of useless trash. That bitch is the only one that showed any promise, but she’s already dead. Wait, I can still...”
Thud!
Before he could finish, a golden chain materialized in midair, its outline flickering into view before shattering into pieces. The Origin Covenant just broke.
“Now then, please make your final contribution to our great cause.”
Lu Wending froze in place, gasping violently before coughing up mouthfuls of blood. Scarlet spilled from the corners of his lips, and his veins bulged as his hands rapidly stretched and twisted into sharp claws.
Then, another grotesque head burst out from his shoulder. His body swelled... and kept swelling.
In just a few breaths, he smashed through the confines of the walls, collapsing outward like a mass of living flesh. Eyes spread all across his body, and whatever despair had been in them was gone, replaced by pure beastly hunger and madness.
Amid the falling dust and rubble, the voice on the phone still carried on.
“Oh right, I almost forgot to tell you. No need to worry, the experiment will definitely yield results.” Lawrence smiled, clearly pleased with himself. “I’ve already found a better ‘vessel’... no, to be precise, a genuine, top-grade Harbinger of Disaster.”
But Lu Wending couldn’t hear any of it anymore. The mutated ghoul, weighing dozens of tons, loomed like a mountain. Limbs and appendages sprouted wildly from its body, while a massive maw split open across its torso, spewing poison and corrosive fluid. Just a slight shift of its body cast a massive shadow on the ground.
It slowly turned its head, locking onto the intruders who didn’t belong here, then opened its mouth and lunged, only to be sent flying straight back the way it came. It crashed into the factory and slammed into the production floor, where a massive crystal pillar appeared out of nowhere and pinned it to the ground.
Wen Wen didn’t even notice what she’d casually thrown out just now. Surrounded by a swarm of ghouls, she frowned, tilting her head as she listened to the call that had just connected. Her irritation only grew.
“Can you please speak like a normal human being?”
1. If it wasn’t obvious enough, this is a joke about how they’re gay. ☜
2. Lu 卢 is the 52nd most common surname in China, shared by 5.6 million people, or 0.475% of the Chinese population as of 2002. “文” carries connotations of culture, learning, and refinement, often associated with scholarship or a gentle, intellectual temperament. “定” suggests stability, determination, and a sense of resolve or being firmly established. To me, the name gives the impression of someone who is composed, thoughtful, and reliable, with an undercurrent of quiet strength and purpose. It sounds like the name of a person who values order and clarity, and who is unlikely to be easily swayed once he has made up his mind. ☜
