Chapter 1466: Newspaper

“Extra! Extra!”“Lord Tianshu shielded us with his body, repelling the Red Star!”“Lord Xuanyu banished the Calamity of Aversion, standing tall even as he fell on the battlefield!”“Lord Lingxu made a world-shaking move, sealing the Calamity of Delusion beyond the realms! Lord Hongchen, single-handedly, repelled the Calamity of Impurity!”“Chen Ling, the World-Ending Calamity, pursued the Calamity of Thought for a thousand li, finally slaying it in the Aurora Ruins!”“The Human Apocalypse War has concluded! Full details and exclusive on-site photos are all in ‘The Tianshu News’!”“Extra! Extra! Read all about it…”

On the bustling street, a boy in a worn jacket, carrying a large bundle of newspapers, ran past, shouting. On either side of the street, around the buildings under reconstruction, sweating figures simultaneously looked towards the boy. After a brief exchange, they gathered some loose change and approached him.

“Kid, how much for a paper?”

The boy glanced at the men in their grimy work clothes, shook his head, and pulled out several newspapers, handing them directly to them. “They’re free.”

“Huh?”

“The government said that all workers involved in post-disaster reconstruction can receive them for free.”

Before the men could say anything, the boy waved, turned, and hurried down the street, his expression earnest and resolute, like a vibrant white homing pigeon darting through the ruins.

Seeing him leave, the men gathered to flip through the newspapers, pointing at the headlines and on-site photos, seemingly astonished.

“Extra! Extra! Read all about it…”

“Let me have one.” The boy had barely started his call when a curly-haired girl with red hair, accompanied by a black dog, waved to him from the street.

The boy scanned the neatly dressed girl. “One copper coin each.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the red-haired girl flicked a copper coin with her fingertip and took the newspaper with her other hand.

The red-haired girl walked through the chaotic streets, flipping through the newspaper. Her eyes landed on the page about “Chen Ling slaying the Calamity of Thought,” which she re-read several times, unable to resist clicking her tongue.

“Did these realm media outlets suddenly grow a conscience? They actually reported this truthfully…”

“Woof!” her black dog barked beside her.

“Well, the death of the Calamity of Thought is a momentous event that shocked all human realms, so it would be impossible to hide it even if they wanted to… But this article is much more objective than I expected. They didn’t even try to smear anyone?” The red-haired girl stroked her chin, “What do you think? Is this some kind of signal? Is our Twilight Society really going to go legitimate?”

“Woof woof!”

As the girl and her dog communicated, the red-haired girl arrived at the entrance of a dilapidated bar. After checking that no one was around, she pushed the door open and entered.

Ding-dong—The rusty bell above the door chimed.

Inside the bar, there were no customers, only a figure who appeared to be the owner, wiping down the counter. The red-haired girl walked directly to the bar and sat down: “I’d like to buy a ray of hope.”

The owner seemed very familiar with the girl. After exchanging a brief, pre-arranged code, he spoke with a hint of helplessness: “You’ve been here ten times in the past half month… This is a secret outpost, not a real bar. Besides, can you really stomach the awful drinks I mix?”

“Who said I came here to drink? I’m not like Jack of Diamonds, that drunkard.” The red-haired girl shrugged.

“...Oh, I was talking to Spades.” The owner looked at the large black dog next to Ten of Hearts. Drool was already dripping from the dog’s mouth, and it nudged a nearby glass, looking impatient.

“—Woof!!”

“He’s here to drink, but I’m not.” The red-haired girl leaned forward on the bar, her hands clasped eagerly. “So, any instructions from the new Red King? A new leader usually organizes some team-building, right? Even just a meeting would be fine!”

“...What? Are you really that curious about this new Red King?” the owner asked leisurely, while mixing a drink.

“It’s not just me; everyone is!” the red-haired girl said earnestly, “I mean, this new Red King… it’s been over half a month since he took office, and there’s been no news at all… No missions, no meetings, no messages for us…”

“Aside from tripling everyone’s salary, it seems he hasn’t done anything else!”

“Seriously, what kind of Red King is that?”

The owner, however, was unfazed by the red-haired girl’s barrage of questions: “Isn’t it normal for the Red King’s whereabouts to be mysterious? Do you really think the Twilight Society is some ordinary company where a new boss organizes team-building right away? He must have more important things to do.”

“But he could at least show his face… Gray King’s message didn’t reveal his identity at all, so now no one even knows who their top boss is… Some guess the Red King is an outsider who took over, some think Gray King himself is now the Red King, and others guess it’s one of our own members who got promoted… There’s all sorts of wild speculation flying around!”

The owner glanced at her, asking with interest: “What about you? Who do you think… he is?”

Ten of Hearts smiled mysteriously and tossed the newspaper onto the bar counter, precisely the page detailing Chen Ling’s slaying of the Calamity of Thought.

“Oh? You think it’s him?”

“Not me, but the seniors from JQ.” The red-haired girl’s eyes lit up. “Tell me, besides this monster who can single-handedly kill a world-ending calamity, who else has the power to take over as Red King? And he’s the original Red King’s disciple, a definite shoe-in!”

“Of course, the most important reason…”

“Tripling everyone’s salary—only our moneybags could pull that off!!”

“...” The owner fell silent. He quietly set down the mixed drink and beckoned to the large black dog. The dog seemed completely uninterested in the new Red King, instead eyeing the glass on the counter with longing. Without a word, it rushed forward, grabbed the rim of the glass with its teeth, and gulped down the drink.

“What if Chen Ling really is the Red King?” the owner asked Ten of Diamonds in return.

The red-haired girl thought for a moment. “I did see him before, in the Boundless Realm, but there were too many people then, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. No… he probably didn’t even notice me…”

“But I think he’s quite interesting, and a generous boss like him is impossible to find these days, isn’t he?”

“Your aspirations aren’t very high, are they?” The owner couldn’t help but chuckle, “But don’t forget, he’s a World-Ending Calamity.”

“What’s wrong with being a World-Ending Calamity?” the red-haired girl said dismissively, glancing at Spades, who was guzzling his drink. “Our Twilight Society isn’t without its own Calamities, and he was already one of us anyway… Besides, even if he is a World-Ending Calamity, he’s more human than some humans.”