Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 551 - 517 Great Demon Descends

Chapter 551: 517 Great Demon Descends

The mysterious woman in front of me mentioned my name even though I hadn’t introduced myself yet.

I briefly recalled, before when she was tailing us, neither Youhun nor Tan Xiang had called out my name. Could it be that during my time-space communication with Weichi, they shouted my name to "wake" me up, and she overheard it? I glanced at the two of them.

Tan Xiang didn’t understand my reaction, while Youhun seemed to get it, shook his head, then furrowed his brows as he scrutinized the mysterious woman across from us.

I hadn’t truly demonstrated power at the level of the Great Unpredictable, yet the mysterious woman knew my name and surrendered so easily. It could be seen that she knew my true identity and level, hence decided that continuing the fight was meaningless.

The change in her attitude seemed to pivot on recognizing my appearance, but since she had observed us secretly for so long and initially questioned who I was, it’s impossible that she only recognized my true identity by seeing me now.

The real turning point must have been when I displayed my flame.

Flames, no matter where they are, aren’t something rare. Just having the ability to manipulate flames is far from enough to determine my true identity. However, if one recognizes me through mana fluctuations, it’s a different story. Any demon hunter who has witnessed my flames once could do that.

But I’ve only been in the Doomsday Era for such a short time, where would I find familiar faces who can recognize me just by mana fluctuations? Even if other doomsday survivors could "recognize" me, they would more likely think of the Catastrophe Demon, as the little girl beside the draftsman did last time.

It’s different for Little Bowl; she has seen my flames and should be able to identify the mana fluctuations within them. Even though she’s never seen my actual appearance, just the information from this fluctuation is enough for her to confirm my true identity. In my plan, I intended to use this method to recognize her.

In the Doomsday Era, it is possible to encounter your past or future self; similarly, you might meet familiar faces from the past or future. Could this mysterious woman actually be "Little Bowl grown up"?

As soon as I thought of this part, I suddenly realized another possibility.

If I remember correctly, besides Little Bowl, I have another "familiar face" in the Doomsday Era, and that’s No. 7.

Yes, No. 7 might also be in the Doomsday Era. This was confirmed through Weichi’s technology. Weichi had told me before, when he attempted to locate Little Bowl using the divine seal fragments, he was severely hampered by the different era; and when he tried to track No. 7, he encountered similar interference. Despite being at the deduction stage, both Weichi and I believed No. 7 and Little Bowl shared the same situation.

When the Void Realm was destroyed, No. 7 had also seen my flames, so when I met her in the Doomsday Era, failing to recognize my appearance and recognizing my true identity only through my flame mana fluctuations became extremely reasonable.

"—Are you No. 7?" I asked outright.

"..."

Upon hearing my address, the mysterious woman didn’t show any surprise or confusion but remained silent, seemingly weighing what response to give. It was difficult to tell if she was tacitly agreeing, evading my question, or planning to deny it.

I reevaluated my reasoning and felt there were other unexplainable contradictions. Firstly, assuming this mysterious woman was No. 7, she should at most identify me as No. 3 of the Void Realm. Why could she know my name is Zhuang Cheng?

Weichi and Xu Gou could know "No. 3 is Zhuang Cheng" because they’re from the modern world, where a little investigation could easily narrow down No. 3’s identity to "Luo Mountain’s newly ascended Great Unpredictable, Zhuang Cheng." But No. 7 is not from the modern world, doesn’t have access to modern information channels, and has never interacted with other Void Envoys.

Apart from the possibility that the mysterious woman is No. 7, are there any other explanations for the current situation? It seems there might be.

For instance, the mysterious woman might have met a future version of me before encountering the present me; she might not recognize my appearance because of blurred memories in this aspect. Or perhaps she learned somewhere that "the former Catastrophe Demon was Zhuang Cheng," allowing her, once seeing someone with "Catastrophe Demon’s mana fluctuations" yet looking human, to match this precisely with information she held.

"I’ve remembered."

As the silent standoff between the mysterious woman and me continued, Youhun suddenly spoke up, addressing the mysterious woman opposite, "You’re the demigod who has been following Tai Sui closely, Tai Sui’s confidant, the most valued right-hand... aren’t you? So, you’re still alive.

"Although I’ve forgotten your name, I must have seen you more than once in the past. Of course, someone like you probably wouldn’t pay attention to someone as insignificant as me..."

Perhaps the mysterious woman who might be No. 7 glanced at Youhun, and she spoke once more, "I remember you, Youhun. Still the same bedraggled look... Were you the one who wanted the Three-Life Stone Powder?"

"It was me," Youhun said, in a lowly tone, "You... no, you used to manage Tai Sui Evangelical Institute at a high level. You know this place like the back of your hand. I don’t know why the Three-Life Stone Powder appeared in Tai Sui Evangelical Institute, nor do I know why you are now lingering in a ruined place like this... But if you have any clue..."

The mysterious woman didn’t respond to Youhun, but instead looked at me and asked, "Is this your intention? Do you want to find the Three-Life Stone Powder for him?"

"Yes," I replied.

Receiving this answer, the mysterious woman directly took a small item from her bosom and threw it far towards me.

I reached out and caught it, lowered my head to look. It was a small paper packet, about half the size of a fist, containing something that looked like sand and faintly emitted a smell reminiscent of Chinese medicine.

"This is the thing you’ve been looking for," the mysterious woman said, "It’s only enough for one person. Take it with water."

Could this really be the Three-Life Stone Powder? I sensed a look of astonishment and joy from Youhun beside me. Though I wanted to verify it, not knowing what the Three-Life Stone Powder specifically looked like in the first place, I had no means of confirmation except by taking it.

"Is this considered a token of surrender, or are you intending to use this item to trade something with us?" I asked.

"Consider it a token of surrender, but I do have some matters I wish to discuss with you," the mysterious woman seemed to be pondering her words. "Zhuang Cheng, could you tell me... how did you leave your original time-space and come to this place?"

Her question made me almost certain she was No. 7.

"I was banished to the void by Huang Quan, and when I was trying to return to the modern world, something went wrong unknowingly, and I accidentally came to the Doomsday Era," I said.

"Huang Quan? Banishment? Accident?" The mysterious woman appeared troubled by a strange anxiety, "Weren’t you here on your own initiative for No. 2? I mean... don’t you know how you crossed over?"

"I don’t know," I replied.

The mysterious woman took a deep breath, then said, "I understand. Zhuang Cheng, I have another question for you: do you wish to return to your original time-space?"

I replied ambiguously, "Do you have a way?"

The mysterious woman nodded and continued, "Yes, I have a way. However, I don’t have the necessary strength to achieve the conditions required. I must rely on your power to accomplish this.

"But before that, we’d better find another place to talk. It’s really too dangerous here, especially for you..."

For me? I was baffled.

However, changing places to talk might be best. Assuming the mysterious woman is No. 7, her attitude here seemed to not want to delve into any topics related to her Void identity in front of Youhun and Tan Xiang, so I would confirm her identity in private.

And as soon as she finished speaking, an unexpected change intervened and shattered this exchange.

Youhun and I had suspected earlier, based on the mysterious woman’s indifferent attitude, that some sort of dangerous anomaly might exist here. Given the mysterious woman had the capabilities of the Great Success Rank, it was reasonable to judge that any anomaly posing a threat here would be at least beyond the level resolvable by Great Success Rank’s power. I had some psychological preparation for this, yet I did not expect the threat to exceed my expectations so easily the moment it appeared.

The enemy we faced this time was no mere apocalyptic anomaly with special abilities but lacking significantly strong power.

The mana fluctuations of reaching the Divine Domain burst forth from afar, crushing towards us like an overwhelming tsunami.

For a moment, I had a strong illusion, as if the whole world was submerged by dark seawater, and I was soaked in an abyssal depth of ten thousand fathoms.

The mysterious woman seemed to experience a similar illusion; she fell to the ground, embracing her body in pain, as if an invisible "water pressure" was squeezing her from outside, inexplicably cracking her body open.

Youhun and Tan Xiang, on the other hand, remained unscathed, clearly feeling nothing.

"How can it be so quick... Xuanwu..." the mysterious woman tried her best to speak, "... Run... The Great Demon Xuanwu is coming—!"

Then, from beneath the ground in the courtyard, an irresistibly powerful force erupted like a volcanic burst.