‘LISTEN. LISTEN TO THEIR HEARTBEATS!’

The shadow engulfed the frame. Only a thin strip of ghostly blue seawater along the edge suggested this wasn't just an abyss. It was alive.

From the drone's high perspective, the luxury liner looked like a speck of glitter. Next to it was a monstrous shape stretching over a hundred meters.

One. Hundred. Meters. Longer than a World Cup pitch. Bigger than most city blocks. An impossible sight.

"This came from the East Coast," John's voice sounded rough. "The ship? Gone. Everyone aboard? Vanished. The drone captured this… then went dark. Total blackout."

Wang Zi Chen swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Is it… Some ancient beast? Like a Mosasaurus?"

"No!" Spiky (Tao Mu, the blond) interrupted sharply. "Mosasaurus maxed out at twenty meters! This thing is five times that! It belongs to a different category!"

John grimly nodded in agreement. "At first, I thought: Apocalypse Online is bringing back extinct creatures. But analysis shows this shadow is larger than any known creature. Ever. So what's the theme of this cycle? Likely massive monsters. Global players are scrambling for information." His voice lowered, filled with dread. "And combined with Elder Chang Ye Qing's prophecy… this suggests a Catastrophe-class Apocalypse."

Catastrophe-class. The term hit Ethan like a physical blow.

Plague-class. Disaster-class. Catastrophe-class. Annihilation-class. Catastrophe meant mass extinction. A worldwide slaughter where most players simply… disappeared.

Ethan was stuck, observing, eager to know Elder Chang's prophecy. But the future consciousness guiding his body remained a cold wall.

"Get back to base," John commanded, shutting off the screen. "Ship's commissioned. I'll call if anything breaks. Remember: This is a global situation. A marathon, not a sprint. Stockpile everything. Ethan, you're bunking with Fat Wang. Starting now." 

"Understood," Future-Ethan replied, flat and without emotion.

Three days passed in a strange limbo. Ethan stayed at Wang Zi Chen's large place. Their world shrank to the glare of screens and frantic controller clicks. Wang occasionally nudged him. 

"See anything new, Prophet?" 

Future-Ethan deflected easily. "Nothing concrete." 

Ethan's unease grew. Where are the suits? The spooks? An SSS-tier Prophet exposed… with no government support? Just Wang's crew as protection? It felt off.

Day Four. 

The apocalyptic rain lashed Jiangcheng without mercy. Then, John's message appeared, stark against a game screen: 

>> BUNKER. NOW. LEVEL-SHIFTING INTEL. <<

Controllers rattled. Wang's sports car roared through the flooded city, wipers struggling against the downpour. They reached John's fortified bunker, soaked to the skin. 

"What did you find, John?" Wang asked, shaking off water like a dog. 

John's expression was serious. "Wait for Spiky."

Tao Mu burst in minutes later, wet and holding a ruined umbrella. "This rain's trying to kill us! John, tell me that boat's seaworthy!" 

"Sit down. Be quiet." John's gaze fixed on Ethan, intense. "Ethan. Your A-tier skill. Eyes of the Doomed. Anything?" 

A-tier? Confusion surged within Ethan. Had he lied? Without any Revival Tokens, official protection was his only safety! Why hide his true power? 

"Nothing," Future-Ethan replied coolly.

John's disappointment felt heavy. He picked up a remote. "Then watch this. It's all I have." He pressed play.

THOOM. 

THOOM. 

THOOM. 

The sound wasn't just heard; it reverberated in their chests, deep and primal. 

"That's… a heartbeat?" Tao Mu gasped, eyes wide. 

"Exactly," John confirmed, knuckles tight. "Elder Chang's prophecy leaked early: 'LISTEN. LISTEN TO THEIR HEARTBEATS!' The 'their'… refers to these."

Listen to their heartbeats. 

Ethan's breath caught. Was that the prophecy? Wang had said Elder Chang spoke only three days before an Apocalypse began. The next cycle was still days away. Future-Ethan had accessed this information ahead of everyone else. SSS-tier power… It was terrifying. And useless without a single Revival Token.

"Now… brace yourselves," John warned, his voice strained. "This… broke me." 

The video continued. Rain pounded the lens. Darkness and fury. The THOOM grew louder, a dreadful rhythm. Then—

CRACK! 

Lightning split the sky.

In that brief moment, blinding light…

IT FILLED THE SCREEN. 

A colossal fish head, seventy meters tall. Skyscraper-sized. Streams of rain cascaded over scales that gleamed with a sick, metallic hunger under the lightning.

Ethan's mind recoiled. It was a nightmare magnification of the simple fish head from his mother's soup pot. How? Why? The sheer scale was a violation. Megalophobia made real.

"HOLY SHIT!" 

The simultaneous scream from Ethan, Wang, and Tao Mu echoed through the bunker. Pure terror.

Darkness swallowed the light. The leviathan disappeared. But the afterimage lingered. And in the storm's gloom… 

A HUGE, IMPOSSIBLE SHADOW loomed over the distant cityscape. The outline of its massive body lurked just out of sight.