Chapter 479: Traces
In his previous life, the fully awakened Leandro possessed power surpassing that of a demigod. With the unstoppable momentum of a main character, he was invincible, and could now offer him tremendous help.
As usual, what followed was the always-popular Unlucky Player Rankings. This segment was edited by the Light Brain, and since people naturally enjoy watching others run into misfortune, its popularity was extremely high—practically the flagship segment.
This episode's unluckiest player turned out to be someone Zhou Ning knew very well: Grantham from the Byron Republic.
He had taken the steam train four days early, traveling from the capital, Constanceburg, to Nathaniell. Normally it was only a two-day trip, but recent disaster-level weather triggered a rare beast tide, and monsters from every region rushed toward the Flower River to drink.
As a result, the train derailed three times, was forced to stop five times, and several Sand Elemental Lords even boarded the train and successfully camped corpses—causing Grantham to die six full times. A two-day journey was dragged into four, and he ended up switching trains three times.
That alone was miserable enough, but in the hands of the Light Brain's editors, the footage took on a tragic yet comedic tone. Grantham's grief-stricken, disbelieving expression each time he was corpse-camped, paired with perfectly timed, heroic-sounding music, made the whole thing both pitiful and laugh-inducing.
Watching this, Zhou Ning couldn't help feeling a little regret for having targeted him before.
Four words summed it up: He didn't deserve this.
Next came the NPC power rankings, still unchanged. Zhou Ning, thanks to a series of unbeatable performances, remained firmly at the top of the game's leaderboards. Second place was still Smith Hall—his Angel Descent display had deeply impressed everyone. That wouldn't change anytime soon.
Third place went to Emlyn the Gun of Destruction, the one who had just sunk an island with a single shot, while Stuart Crow frustratingly dropped to fourth place.
Zhou Ning couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Stuart Crow. Was demigod-level strength really worth so little?
After all, against anyone whose mental strength he suppressed, Stuart Crow's Great Prophecy and True Word abilities were practically guaranteed victory. And with the Sacred Zachary Scepter in hand, even without calling down his god, both Smith Hall and Emlyn would be nothing but helpless targets for him.
As in the previous episode, this one also featured the top five iconic moments from the recent events of the entire Apocalypse game. The moment ranked first in this episode had also been included among the year's top scenes, taking fifth place overall.
The fifth iconic moment was Emlyn sinking an island with a single shot. A golden current burst from the tip of his gun and struck the ground; the large manor and the island beneath it split cleanly in half with overwhelming force.
The fourth iconic moment showed Angus Motley and several high-level warriors from the War God Church surrounding and hunting the Moon Demon Wolf, Seras. One forbiddance decree after another made escape impossible. Even an angel would fall helplessly under such decrees.
The third iconic moment was a sequence of scenes: Zhou Ning wearing the Batman suit, springing into the air under pale moonlight shrouded by mist. Behind him, a massive pair of bat wings unfurled with a whoosh. He launched himself toward the Silent, and then Platinum Star appeared. With its time-stop ability, he instantly defeated four Lavides and sank the Silent, forcing the fearsome Pirate King to flee in embarrassment by turning into a dolphin.
The second iconic moment came from his confrontation with the General of Wind. He summoned the Vortex Dragon, and facing the vast number of northern pirates, he activated the Seventh Wing. Countless golden feathers and a storm of bullets cleared the field in an instant—absolutely breathtaking.
The best moment of all came from the scene where he rushed to assist Angus Motley. Facing an angel and a swarm of high-level pirates, he held a black pistol in one hand and a white pistol in the other. Under the downpour and the glow of supernatural light, he walked through the rain. Moving like a ghost, calmly handling every attack, he drew their attention together—and a massive black dragon descended. The pirates were lifted into the air. Two blazing wings unfolded behind him, and then came a smooth, unbroken sweep of gunfire.
The final frame froze on him landing lightly, bending down to pick up the hat that had fallen to the ground. He dusted it off and placed it back on his head. A golden feather drifted down from above, triggering a chain of explosions.
A breathtaking scene in every sense.
Paired with the protagonist's signature execution march, it sent viewers' adrenaline soaring. Gaming magazines even ranked this as the fifth-best game moment of the year. Even Zhou Ning himself felt it was ridiculously cool.
By the time Apocalypse Forecast finished playing, it had reached the end.
As usual, the final part closed with a mission screenshot as its concluding quote.
[A new storm is about to arrive. Wayne Sturwell has reached the city of Nathaniell and is about to begin a new legendary chapter. As the main character of Apocalypse, he stands ready to offer all assistance to players who share the will to fight evil.]
[Accept invitation?]
[Yes / No?]
A pointer shaped like a hand in a white glove hovered between the options, then clicked "Yes."
The screen went dark.
A line of text appeared:
[The adventure continues, and heroes never walk alone.]
Zhou Ning's image moved across the screen like a marquee, followed by Smith Hall; then Leandro; then Dick the Walrusman; then Liu Zhen the Pirate; and finally Emlyn the Gun of Judgment.
[Version 2.0 is approaching—look forward to the release of Version 2.0: Heaven-Sent Ten Calamities!]
…
After finishing the program, Zhou Ning still felt a lingering excitement. This episode of Apocalypse Forecast was unexpectedly excellent; none of this content had appeared in his previous life.
Emlyn and Smith Hall were still rising stars just as he remembered, but none of these Chosen of the Worlds could threaten him anymore. In the players' eyes, he was the true protagonist. After all, besides him, who else could hold four classes at once?
As long as he continued steadily growing stronger and uncovering difficult storylines and quests, becoming a demigod was only a matter of time.
Not to mention he still had the Transmigration Simulator.
About half an hour later, the jingling of his doorbell echoed through the entire living room, startling Zhou Ning out of his immersion.
He really needed to modify the doorbell at some point—the amplifier made it way too loud. With his powerful Observation Haki, he didn't need a doorbell like that at all…
Thinking this over, he walked to the door. Who would be visiting at this hour? Could it be that Viscount Hall had found some leads?
He opened the door with mild confusion, only to see Richie Burke standing outside, wearing a well-fitted merchant's coat, panting slightly but beaming with excitement.
"The cotton dealer Benson you asked me to look for—I found him."
"He's in District 12, in an old house at 79 Tanners Street!"
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