From Apocalypse To Entertainment Circle (BL) Chapter 161: The Gates of Hell Have Opened

"Hello, this is reporter Hua Shan speaking. A Black Alert has been issued nationwide. I repeat—a nationwide Black Alert. This is not a drill..."

The reporter’s trembling voice echoed from countless television screens, radios, and phones all over the world.

Behind her, the cacophony of screams and explosions relentlessly reverberated through the broadcast.

The camera itself shook violently.

For a fleeting moment, the image managed to capture something colossal descending from the sky—

A grotesque creature swathed in rotting flesh and veined with writhing black tendrils.

Then, the signal abruptly ceased.

Static consumed the screen.

"Oh my God... what are those things?!"

"Merciful heavens... are these monsters truly the end of our world?"

"AAAAH! Help me! My daughter—my daughter...!"

"M-Mom... Mom, save me!"

Panic spread with the speed of wildfire.

Every major city across the globe had devolved into a brutal, chaotic battlefield.

Towering skyscrapers burned fiercely beneath crimson skies. Smoke choked entire streets while incessant sirens wailed like the cries of the damned. Fighter jets roared overhead, missiles streaking through the clouds as military forces launched desperate counterattacks from every conceivable direction.

But it proved insufficient.

Nothing was enough.

Amidst the chaos... amidst the widespread destruction... grotesque, inhuman monstrosities rampaged unchecked across the planet.

Their appearances varied wildly, yet every single one radiated an overwhelming aura of sheer terror.

Some possessed bloated bodies festooned with pulsating eyes.

Others scuttled on countless limbs, resembling colossal insects.

And some bore a horrifyingly human semblance—

until their jaws unhinged, splitting far beyond any natural human capacity.

Everywhere they advanced, devastation followed in their wake.

These monsters bore an uncanny resemblance to the creature Sian and his companions had once vanquished.

No—

Some appeared even more dreadful.

A woman stumbled through the rubble of a collapsed shopping center, clutching her bleeding arm, tears carving trails down her face.

Behind her, dozens of pallid corpses dragged themselves across the ground, their limbs twisted and eyes vacant.

Zombies.

One of the monsters lunged with savage speed, sinking its fangs into a soldier’s neck.

The man’s scream endured for mere seconds before his body began convulsing uncontrollably.

His flesh turned a sickly dark hue.

Bones groaned and fractured.

Then—

He transformed.

Another monster had been spawned.

...

"Have you located Sian yet?"

The frigid voice pierced the suffocating silence within the military conference hall.

"Negative, sir. We have yet to discover any trace of him."

"Continue the search," General Lan commanded without hesitation. "Mobilize every available unit."

"Sir..." the officer faltered, his face ashen before speaking again. "The majority of our forces are already engaged in civilian evacuations and attempting to contain the monsters. We have confirmed the presence of five major creatures within our national borders. The nation’s five primary cities are under simultaneous assault."

His voice wavered slightly.

"Any human unfortunate enough to be bitten by these monsters transforms into a zombie... and the larger creatures seem capable of commanding them."

The conference hall was plunged into a profound, deathly silence.

The very atmosphere seemed heavy, laden with dread and utter exhaustion.

Immense surveillance screens adorned the walls, broadcasting live feeds from across the entire country.

Each screen depicted the same horrifying panorama—

Blood.

Incineration.

Annihilation.

Entire city blocks were submerged beneath endless swarms of monsters and resurrected undead entities.

Crumbling edifices crushed civilians trapped beneath debris while soldiers fought with desperate bravery to grant citizens precious moments to flee.

Even adjacent nations had begun issuing urgent pleas for assistance.

But how could they possibly extend aid to others when their own people were perishing by the second?

They themselves stood precariously on the precipice of oblivion.

General Lan gazed somberly at the screens.

His eyes, bloodshot and weary, brimmed with unshed grief.

In the span of mere days, he appeared to have aged more than a decade.

Compared to the man who once stood beside Sian with unwavering confidence and resolve—

He now appeared utterly broken.

For one ephemeral instant...

Even he almost succumbed to despair.

The apocalypse had descended with startling abruptness.

Without any forewarning.

Without a shred of mercy.

Humanity had been catastrophically unprepared.

General Lan slowly clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening with the strain.

Then, with forceful will, he suppressed every vestige of emotion within his being.

A leader could not falter.

Not now.

Not while millions still placed their ultimate trust in him.

He lifted his head and spoke with a voice now steady and firm.

"Minister... where is your team currently positioned?"

Barely an hour prior, without the slightest hint of warning, several monstrous entities had materialized seemingly from thin air, launching simultaneous assaults on the nation’s five most critical urban centers.

Shortly thereafter, reports originating from overseas confirmed the horrifying, unambiguous truth—

The identical nightmare was unfolding on a global scale.

Humankind stood poised at the very threshold of extinction.

And this time...

They might very well not endure.

While General Lan was unaware of the broader global situation, he knew his own country still held a final ember of hope.

Even if it was just a faint spark, superhumans affiliated with the government and the elite forces under Minister Yang were still in operation.

General Lan earnestly prayed that they could at least eliminate the encroaching monsters before humanity faced complete annihilation.

Minister Liang Wei eventually broke the silence with a low, grave tone. "They have already reached City S. Our intelligence indicates the monster there is the most powerful of the five."

He paused for a breath. "Fortunately... it appears to be the same type that Sian and Kira confronted previously."

The mere mention of 'Sian' cast an even heavier pall over the room.

Everyone present understood the profound significance of that name.

It represented hope.

It symbolized a miracle.

As Liang Wei's gaze fell, thoughts of his vanished daughter surfaced in his mind.

Her whereabouts remained unknown.

Contact was impossible.

His only recourse was to hope she had survived.

To wish she had found a safe escape.

To implore that fate might offer some leniency this time.

"Even though we managed to defeat that creature before..." Liang Wei continued softly, "without the strength of Sian and Kira..."

He left the sentence unfinished, as the grim reality was clear to all.

Their prospects were staggeringly bleak.

General Lan briefly closed his eyes, a deep longing welling up within him.

He wished for Sian's return.

He yearned for the young man to reappear once more in humanity's darkest hour and deliver them from peril.

However, he also grasped a stark truth—

Certain events transcended human control.

At this juncture...

All that remained was to surrender their fate to destiny.

"Commence the immediate broadcast of the battlefield," General Lan commanded.

They needed to observe the unfolding situation vigilantly, making decisions that would dictate the nation's future.

Lacking the power to fight directly, their strategies and commands were now their sole remaining weapons.

The tense conference hall fell into complete silence.

The fear of death was a potent terror.

But when confronted by a global catastrophe...

When the final day truly dawned...

Humanity shed its superficial concerns.

Wealth.

Influence.

Standing.

Rancor.

These things ceased to hold any meaning.

In the end, only one primal instinct persisted—

The drive to survive.

...

Meanwhile, soaring far above the infernos consuming the cities, a military helicopter sliced through the darkened heavens.

Within its confines sat three individuals.

Sian.

Wei Jinyun.

And Kira.

The deafening roar of the rotor blades filled the cabin, while the flickering glow of distant fires painted the undersides of the clouds.

Sian's gaze remained fixed on the world below, a silent observer of the unfolding destruction.

The world was aflame.

Entire sections had already succumbed to ruin.

Billows of smoke ascended endlessly, resembling funeral incense for the dying race of humankind.

Before their departure, Sian had entrusted the child to Wei Jinyun's care at his headquarters.

He refused to expose the boy to danger when he could not guarantee his safety.

"Gege..." Wei Jinyun finally broke the quiet, his voice softer than usual. "Are you truly certain about this?"

Truthfully, despite inhabiting this world for years, Wei Jinyun had never been deeply invested in its fate.

Yes, he had pursued relentless investigations.

Yes, he had attempted to thwart the mastermind before the apocalypse commenced.

But if the end was inevitable...

Then the only lives that held genuine importance for him were those of his companions.

Especially Sian.

Now, with Sian and Kira by his side once more, his singular focus was their survival.

They had already endured this nightmare once before.

They knew with chilling clarity the brutal reality of the apocalypse.

And Wei Jinyun was resolute about one thing—

This time, he would survive.

This time, he would not meet an untimely end.

And this time...

He would never again allow Sian to perish alongside him.

But then, Wei Jinyun recalled Sian's words from a long time ago.

"Jinyun... I don't want this world to become ruins. If I have the power to change something, then I’d rather this world not follow the same path ours did."

Wei Jinyun lowered his gaze in silent contemplation.

"But the chaos has already begun," he stated quietly. "Look outside. Monsters are appearing across the entire world. The three of us alone cannot save humanity."

Sian remained silent for several long moments.

The dim interior lights of the helicopter cast shifting shadows across his face, obscuring his expression.

Then, finally—

"We can still save this country," Sian said softly. "At the very least... we can mitigate the damage."

His voice was steady.

But unwavering.

"We can eliminate those monsters before the situation becomes irreversible."

Wei Jinyun regarded him wordlessly.

He had always been aware of this facet of Sian.

Sian's heart was far too tender.

Far too compassionate.

Frankly...

Wei Jinyun harbored resentment towards that part of him.

Because it was invariably the kind-hearted who suffered the most.

The world rarely dealt fairly with gentle souls.

Yet, despite everything—

Even with all the betrayals, the deaths, and the suffering they had weathered—

Sian still made the choice to save other people.

Wei Jinyun let out a soft click of his tongue, leaning back in his comfortable seat.

If his gege was determined to save the entire world...

Then that would be how it was.

After all, there was a well-known saying:

If you cannot defeat your enemy, you should join them.

And so, when Sian put in a request for a helicopter to depart...

Wei Jinyun, without a second thought, climbed aboard right beside him.

For it was a simple truth:

No matter the destination Sian chose...

He would always be there, right behind him.