The Calamity Artifact (Thanks to Viburnia, the Alliance Leader)

"Done, everything is arranged."

In the afternoon, Lu Feng, who had been missing all day, finally returned with a cheeky grin. While Ji Jue was busy washing his hands, Lu Feng—without a hint of hesitation—flopped onto Ji Jue's hospital bed and started picking at his toes.

"Mom took Er Niu and the others back to the village to stay for a few days. The repair shop is closed for now; we'll reopen once things are settled.

I went to your place, too. I fixed the door for you, but the refrigerator is completely totaled. You can take the one from the shop back later to make do for now.

Also, I parked your Small Three-Wheeler in the hospital garage. Just grab it when you get discharged."

As he spoke, he pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them onto the table.

Using those same fingers that had just been picking at his toes...

Ji Jue's eyelid twitched violently. He wanted to say something but held back: I don't want these keys anymore. Can you get me a new set?

But then he remembered that his pink Small Three-Wheeler was a "nine-nine-percent-new, previously-owned-by-a-girl" model that Lu Feng had practically given away after upgrading his own ride. For all he knew, Lu Feng had already picked at his toes on that seat countless times...

Is it too late to list it on the secondhand market?

After the customary moment of disgust, he still begrudgingly shared half an apple with Lu Feng. Watching him devour it in two bites without even washing his hands, Ji Jue couldn't help but admire the digestive system Lu Feng had forged through his time in Central Earth.

But their constitutions were just different.

Aside from getting electrocuted and scrambling around a bit, Ji Jue barely had a bruise on him, yet he still had to shuffle just to walk. Meanwhile, this dog Lu Feng had been in close-quarters combat with those monsters, taken a bullet, and suffered who knows how many major and minor injuries, yet after one night's sleep, he was bouncing around like nothing happened.

"Envious, little brother?"

Lu Feng flexed his biceps and grinned. "I told you to work out, but you wouldn't listen. You get winded after a thousand meters. Regret it now?"

Ji Jue rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Seeing Lu Feng so full of life, it would be a lie to say he wasn't envious, but he was more concerned with whether his "Cousin" had changed at all. Unfortunately, there was a change, but only a tiny one.

Aside from the fact that he'd had a blast draining Aberrant Spirit Essence, pushing the progress bar back to 99, the number [0] on the dial—which had been covered in gold—had finally shifted.

If the original coverage had been eighty percent, it was now at about ninety-nine percent; only a tiny sliver remained uncovered.

It was just a pity that he still hadn't achieved that great breakthrough from 0 to 1.

The progress bar was stuck.

No matter how anxious Ji Jue felt, it wouldn't budge. That tiny, unfilled gap was enough to trigger his OCD; he felt like tearing the watch face off and filling it in himself.

He could only burn incense and kowtow in his heart, hoping that his "Cousin" hadn't picked up the bad habits of certain shopping websites before the Calamity Era—where 99 was followed by another 99, with no end in sight.

Otherwise, he was afraid he'd be stuck as a "0" for the rest of his life.

"Also, take this for now."

Lu Feng pulled something wrapped in two layers of black plastic bags from a cloth pocket and shoved it under Ji Jue's pillow. When Ji Jue made out the silhouette of the object, he couldn't help but gasp.

A gun!

His face turned pale with fright.

"Eldest Brother, this is a hospital! What do I need this thing for?!"

He lowered his voice, then suddenly realized something and stared at Lu Feng suspiciously. "Why are you suddenly offloading gear? Did the Security Bureau draft you?"

"Am I crazy? I finally crawled out of the Military Department's mud pit, only to turn around and dive into the Security Bureau's hole? Without a conscription notice from the Military Department, they can dream if they think they can touch my personnel file in the Federation."

Lu Feng waved his hand, masking his embarrassment. "I'm going out to lay low for a while... If a woman with a scar on her neck comes looking for me these next few days, don't you dare say a word!"

"What did you do this time?" Ji Jue narrowed his eyes.

"You think getting all that stuff doesn't cost money?"

Lu Feng rolled his eyes and whispered, "The cheapest pistol costs twenty-eight thousand with twelve rounds of ammo, and that's with middlemen marking it up at every turn.

Damn it, for this little bit of gear, I had to lie, coax, and practically sell my soul. If I don't run fast enough, I'll have to sell my essence to pay off the debt and end up being snatched away as a Star Slave!"

Ji Jue fell silent.

He stared straight at him for a long time before slowly patting his shoulder in consolation. "Feng Ge, don't overthink it. Even for that kind of work, they have requirements for education and looks."

That Ji guy, you little...

Stabbed by the sudden remark, Lu Feng was instantly broken.

"If they need education and looks, then why don't you go instead! It's all for the sake of this family anyway!"

Lu Feng stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

That's right, why didn't I think of that?

"Haven't you seen how they do it in those melodramas?"

Lu Feng advised him earnestly, "Eldest Brother is out there drowning in gambling debt, parents are sick, younger siblings can't afford school, and Er Niu finally got into the Heavenly Gate—as her brother, shouldn't you show some support? You at least need to buy her a computer or a phone, right?

Boys don't get much out of studying anyway. As long as you loosen your belt, the whole family will be set!"

"Get out, get out, get out!"

Ji Jue lost his patience and kicked him off the bed. Watching Lu Feng swagger away, his own tense mood eased slightly.

Seeing that he could still crack jokes, things probably weren't that bad—or at least, not as bad as they seemed. 'Comrades, comrades,' huh? Yeah, probably the kind of comrades who frequently 'exchange techniques' in the artillery battalion!

"Those two brothers sure have a close relationship."

The gaunt old man in the adjacent bed, his leg still encased in a plaster cast, sighed and muttered, "Sigh, that brother of mine... we haven't kept in touch for so many years. His two boys are always at each other's throats, fighting every single day."

"Oh, they're just kids, they're always full of energy. They'll be sensible once they grow up a bit."

The middle-aged woman in the other bed comforted him, "It's the same with my second and third sons. Once they grew up and realized how hard life is, they understood that family is what you can rely on. I went to see them a couple of days ago, and they were getting along so well they were even sleeping in the same bed. The eldest even goes over to stay with them sometimes."

The old man sighed with emotion, "Harmony in the family leads to prosperity in all things. You're a lucky woman, sister."

Only Ji Jue, standing nearby with a stunned expression, opened his mouth several times, wanting to speak but holding back, then wanting to speak again.

In the end, he didn't dare say a word.

He lay down on his bed, dreaming of his early transition from zero to one, and gradually drifted off to sleep.

Outside the window, twilight was just beginning to fall; it was the hour of dusk.

A loud explosion echoed through the distant sound of the wind.

A plume of thick smoke slowly rose from the foothills on the other side of Yacheng.

"What is going on?"

In the violently shaking office, smoke swirled. In the courtyard outside the window, employees screamed and shrieked, turning into inhuman monsters as they swarmed toward the intruders.

Only the CEO's office, where the new nameplate had just been hung, remained deathly silent.

The elderly man hiding behind the window was frozen in shock.

He dialed his phone frantically, over and over again. When it finally connected through the busy signal, he could no longer restrain his fury: "What is going on? Lawrence, what exactly are you doing?!"

Lu Wending was nearly fainting, trembling in terror: "Didn't you say it was foolproof?!"

"The experiment was indeed foolproof."

On the other end of the line, a calm and warm voice replied: "Please rest assured, your sacrifice will not be in vain."

"What do you mean?"

Lu Wending felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar and screamed: "Don't forget who pulled you out of the mud pit! If it weren't for me..."

"Are sixteen patents that guarantee long-term profitability and increase your company's valuation by several times not enough?"

Lawrence laughed: "Besides, I have already exhausted all my efforts to produce ten standard Longevity Drugs and Sin Corruption Stabilizers for you, to help you rise to the top.

As for the minor troubles brought about by this, they are merely inevitable side effects. As a pharmaceutical CEO, do you never read the instruction manual?

The contract between us has ended, Mr. Lu. Thank you for your support and contributions all this time. In my future papers, I will give you a grand acknowledgment.

This is a great achievement that will be carved into the history of medicine!"

"Achieve your mother's—!"

Amidst the approaching roar, Lu Wending bellowed, roaring at the phone: "Don't forget, without me, who would help you find qualified test subjects? For such a long time, you only raised so much waste, and the only one that could be considered a success, that bitch, died too.

Wait, I can still..."

Snap!

Before the words fell, a crisp sound rang out.

A golden chain manifested its outline in mid-air, and then, it fell apart.

The Heavenly Origin Contract had shattered.

"Now, please make your final sacrifice for our shared, great cause."

In that instant, Lu Wending froze in place, gasping violently. He couldn't help but vomit blood; crimson spread from the corners of his mouth, veins bulged, and his hands grew rapidly, turning into sharp claws.

Immediately after, another twisted head sprouted from his shoulder.

His body swelled, and swelled again!

In just a few heartbeats, he had burst through the shackles of the walls, rolling out like a mass of flesh. In the eyes that covered his entire body, despair vanished, leaving only beastly hunger and madness.

Amidst the falling dust and ruins, the voice from the phone continued to come through.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, please don't worry, the experiment will surely yield results."

Lawrence smiled, full of joy: "I have already found a better [Vessel]. No, I should say—a genuine, calamitous [Implement]!"

But Lu Wending could no longer hear him.

The Aberrant Ghoul, weighing dozens of tons, stood like a mountain. Limbs and arms extended from its body, and a giant mouth that seemed to span its torso opened in the center, spewing poison and acid.

Just by twisting its body, it cast a massive shadow.

It slowly turned its head, looked at the intruders who did not belong here, opened its mouth, and lunged!

Then, it flew back the way it came, crashing into the factory building and falling into the production workshop, where it was pinned to the ground by a giant crystal pillar that had appeared out of thin air.

Wen Wen didn't even pay attention to what the thing she had casually smashed away actually was.

At this very moment, amidst the siege of numerous ghouls, she frowned and tilted her head to listen to the call that had just connected, growing increasingly irritable: "Can you speak like a human being?"