Chapter 233: Divine Descent (1)

Chapter 233: Divine Descent (Part One)

Countdown 0 days, the day of the apocalypse, and the day when the divine would descend.

Sirens blared across the district, warning residents of the impending doom and urging them to take protective measures.

That day was eerily quiet; it wasn't a sudden disaster, as humanity had some preparation, but no matter how much they prepared, it was never enough. They couldn't save everyone; some had to die.

The steel dome of District 103 closed, separating night from day, completely isolating the area from the outside world. Without sunlight, time was just a number.

Patrol drones flew slowly in the sky, capturing the entirety of District 103. Neon signs were off, the lights on the elevated highways were extinguished, and skyscrapers stood silent, like the bones of a dead giant.

District 103 seemed to have already experienced the apocalypse, filled with an overwhelming silence.

There was one place that remained lit—the waste processing center. The combustion engine could not be shut down, so the massive city-guarding robots continued to burn.

The city-guarding robots sat motionless, like giants ready to come to life at any moment. They were the only source of light in the entire district, glowing like a cheap artificial sun in the darkness, illuminating a limited area.

The once bustling central street and downtown were now empty. Civilians had entered shelters, and those who couldn't escape in time hid in their homes. According to the guidelines, ordinary people didn't dare turn on lights or speak loudly.

They dared not look outside, pretending that the pollution wouldn't come, as if this would somehow protect them.

The guidelines for survival were few, and ordinary people quickly memorized them. After memorizing them, they felt it wasn't enough and dared not do anything, believing that doing less meant making fewer mistakes.

Luo Shan stayed at home; her sister was sick, and their family was too poor to obtain entry permits for the underground shelters.

Before the apocalypse, chaos reigned, and many stores were looted. She had intended to stockpile food but failed, managing to grab only two bottles of water and a nutrient injection.

There was still a little food left at home, enough to last about three days. But food wasn't the most important thing; without protective suits and mental healing agents, they could easily become infected and turn into pollutants before starving to death.

Luo Shan was an ordinary person. After He Wenxi's public declaration, the company immediately gave everyone a holiday, and she rushed back to be with her sister.

Before the countdown to the apocalypse began, they did everything they could.

Without proper protective gear, they sealed all the gaps in the doors and windows with tape. This thin layer probably wouldn't help much, unable to stop the pollution, but it carried all their hopes.

The curtains were drawn, the sirens stopped, and the entire district was dark. There were no lights inside the house, and the world was eerily quiet, with only the sound of her heartbeat.

Luo Shan sat by the window, having injected her sister with a sedative, the last one they had. After the protective suits and mental healing agents were sold out, people started grabbing sedatives, hallucinogens, euthanasia drugs, and even poisons.

It was said that black dreams were also popular.

With no hope, many sought alternative paths, wanting to die quickly and painlessly through drugs.

Her sister suffered from illness, and Luo Shan gave her the last sedative. If the apocalypse really came and everyone had to die, she hoped her sister would pass away in her sleep.

But her sister was now asleep, her breathing barely audible. In the darkness, it felt as if she were the only one left in the world.

She wore a homemade protective suit, as the poor couldn't afford expensive official anti-pollution equipment. She wrapped herself in plastic bags, wore a helmet, and covered her face with a plastic bag. With each breath, the plastic bag rose and fell, fogged up with her exhaled breath.

She hugged herself tightly, feeling on the verge of a mental breakdown, as if something was tangling in her mind.

Her head and body itched terribly. Helplessly, she scratched her arms, too hard, tearing the plastic bag and causing blood to seep out. She had scratched her skin, and her nails were filled with flesh.

Staring at the blood on her hands, she smelled the pungent metallic scent and realized her actions were abnormal, almost hysterical.

Suddenly—

"Xiao Shan." Someone called her.

The voice came from behind her, but there was a wall there, and no one was there. She had memorized the survival guidelines issued by the cleaning center and had already confirmed the number of family members. Her only family member was her sister, who was sleeping in the inner room.

"Xiao Shan." The voice called again, sounding like her sister's.

Luo Shan had personally injected the sedative into her sister and covered her with a blanket. The drug's effect lasted twenty-four hours, so her sister couldn't suddenly wake up now.

Who was calling her? Luo Shan's neck stiffened, and a chill ran down her spine, as if someone was watching her from behind.

Initially, she stared at her feet, afraid to move her gaze.

Drip—

The helmet and plastic bag did not form a fully sealed protective suit. Cold sweat mixed with tears trickled down through the gaps.

Luo Shan trembled all over, unable to control her tears. She tried to remain rational but couldn't. She didn't know what was happening behind her, but despite the silence, she felt someone was there.

What would the apocalypse be like? She had no idea. According to the guidelines, she shouldn't respond to the voice.

Don't turn around, don't turn around, don't turn around...

Luo Shan repeated these words in her mind, but the mental suggestion seemed ineffective. Two voices battled in her head, and her mouth twitched, alternating between crying and laughing, as if she couldn't control her facial muscles.

Don't turn around, don't turn around, don't turn around...

Luo Shan nervously chanted, her lips curling higher and higher, the smile growing wider. She felt her mouth being stretched to its limit, almost beyond human capacity, causing her pain.

Stop, stop smiling, but she couldn't stop, she couldn't stop!

Luo Shan strangely realized this. Her head began to turn slowly, against her will, as if a large hand was covering her head, forcefully turning it like a melon.

Stop, stop, please, she silently pleaded.

Her head turned inch by inch, and she finally looked back, but not in the way a human would.

Her body remained in the same position, hugging her knees by the window, but her head had turned 180 degrees to face the window behind her.

Through the plastic bag and helmet, everything was blurry. The window was sealed, and she could only see a shadow.

Someone was standing outside her window, but her home was on the nineteenth floor. How could anyone be standing there?

The shadow coalesced in mid-air, revealing a broad smile.

Luoshan also smiled, her lips torn, blood trickling down the corners of her mouth like an elderly person losing control, except what dripped from her was blood.

It hurts, it hurts so much.

Outside the window, there were gray-black lines. As an ordinary human, Luoshan saw this for the first time and did not know it was the mark of the contaminated zone.

Luoshan dared neither to breathe nor speak; she felt the person outside the window getting closer and closer, about to come through.

She wanted to run, but unfortunately, she couldn't move even a finger.

It seemed as if she was being summoned by something, or perhaps her brain was making its last effort to protect her, not wanting her to realize the truth, which would drive her mad.

She lowered her eyes and saw her back, along with the protruding shoulder blades.

She saw the sweater she wore today, a yellow one under the "protective suit" made of plastic bags. The plastic bag had been torn by the rotation of her head, and on the back of the sweater was a product label. A normal person shouldn't be able to see their own back by looking down. She suddenly realized that her head had turned a corner, her neck already broken.

Her brain failed to block the information, and once it came through, things became very simple.

A sob escaped her throat, wanting to scream for help, but it was too late. She watched the black smile outside the window press over, passing through the glass.

That smile looked so innocent, like a mischievous child smiling at her.

Her throat ached terribly, feeling immense pain as her lungs filled with her own blood, bones twisting, sharp bone spurs piercing her internal organs.

Her head drooped, and she lost her life completely, her eyes wide open as if she had seen an extremely terrifying monster before dying.

On that day, many people died in bizarre postures, heads rotated 180 degrees, arms twisted into braids, dying in grotesque ways.

...

Breathe—inhale—

Zhu Ning was adjusting her breathing, following Huo Wenxi's instructions. She needed to hide in the darkness, like an invisible assassin.

Unable to prevent the Divine Descent, they could only wait for the apocalypse, like watching a guillotine blade fall helplessly.

At this moment, Zhu Ning thought of Xu Meng. An assassin must wait for the best opportunity, a test of patience and mental fortitude. Just like when Xu Meng faced off against a top assassin in the contaminated zone, Zhu Ning was battling herself.

Before Huo Wenxi spoke, Zhu Ning could not make any moves; she had to follow the commander's orders.

Zhu Ning was near the garbage dump, a perfect place to hide. People around her, dressed in protective suits, hid in the shadows. Today, everyone's protective suits were uniform, no distinction between cleaners or demon hunters, all painted pure black.

If viewed from above, they were scattered like a group of black ants.

Zhu Ning blended in with everyone, like a drop of water in the sea, hard to pinpoint. Only a few people knew her exact location.

Shanmao, Shen Xingqiao, and Ye Fei protected her within a hundred meters. Song Zhizhang protected Lin Xiaofeng, while Dajuzi handled Zhu Ning's cybersecurity, hiding her trail.

Zhu Ning had to execute the fatal blow; she must succeed.

Huo Wenxi guessed that Su He would appear at that moment. Before leaving, Zhu Ning had been contacted by Huo Wenxi.

They didn't have time to meet face-to-face; all communication was through the network. Huo Wenxi asked, "Are you ready?"

Zhu Ning paused, immediately understanding the question. Huo Wenxi meant, are you prepared to sacrifice yourself?

The process of Zhu Ning's absorption was dangerous, with Su He personally responsible for the ambush. No one else could assist, and others couldn't intervene in the battle between Su He and Zhu Ning.

Zhu Ning had to make a choice on the brink of life and death. She told Huo Wenxi, "I will complete the mission."

She was prepared to sacrifice herself, regardless of the circumstances, Zhu Ning would prioritize absorbing the contaminant.

Huo Wenxi was silent for a moment, then said to Zhu Ning, "Good luck, Zhu Ning."

Huo Wenxi didn't say anything inspiring; she was skilled at speeches and boosting morale, but her words now were simple. She wished Zhu Ning good luck.

This was a battle for human dignity.

Below them lay vast contaminants, and humans, above the contaminants, tried every means to prevent the divine descent, like a few humble ants trying to stop an elephant from trampling their nest.

Huo Wenxi was the leader of these ants, and Zhu Ning was her final weapon.

After Xu Meng's sacrifice, Zhu Ning viewed her life more lightly, considering herself a defective product.

Zhu Ning didn't share this conversation with her companions. Before departure, they encouraged each other, no need for excessive farewells, even though everyone knew it might be their last meeting.

They could enjoy warm moments together, but on the eve of the mission, they could walk to the battlefield without hesitation, resolutely.

Now, Zhu Ning gazed at the incinerator not far away, the burning flames reflected in her pupils.

She had no foresight, no knowledge of the future. Suddenly, Zhu Ning's breath caught, and everyone froze.

Black lines appeared.

All were professional demon hunters, having entered multiple contaminated zones, but none had seen such large gray-black lines. The smallest were as thick as iron rods, most like pipes, and the largest like vertical black wells descending from the sky.

The gray-black lines descended slowly, inch by inch, pressing down. The area was already dark, and after the gray-black lines pressed down, it felt like a heavy hand pressing down, making the air suffocating.

Some felt short of breath, others began to tremble, normal reactions to seeing the contamination.

Black liquid flowed in Zhu Ning's eyes, covering her original pupil color. She continued to adjust her breathing.

Zhu Ning felt her heart racing, the hairs on her arms standing up. She slowed her breathing, sensing the presence of the underground contaminant as a kindred spirit.

The gray-black line descended before Zhu Ning, twice the size of her body, like the piers of a bridge.

Zhu Ning stared at the gray-black line, as if staring at her own tombstone.

She was not unfamiliar with this thing; Zhu Ning herself could create a contaminated zone, but not on such a massive scale. At that moment, she could only think of one word: massive. Zhu Ning felt so small before It.

Ding—

Zhu Ning suddenly heard the mechanical sound of the system, "You have activated the side quest: Divine Descent. Mission objective: successfully purify Zone 103, interrupt the game. Current purification level: 0%. Please try harder."

The divine had descended.