NIKKE: The Apocalypse Arrives, But the System is 100 Years Late

The rust-covered, battle-worn Alteisen MK.VI now rested in place, no longer exuding its previous ferocity and brutality. The only thing still active was its core, flickering with a red glow, resembling a watchful eye. Across its metallic frame, scarlet vein-like tendrils had spread, pulsating eerily under the pale silver moonlight.

Mo Chen stepped forward.

At this point, he was practically a walking manifestation of the Red Tide—wherever he went, the scarlet filaments would spread, creeping along like a fungal colony dispersing its spores, taking root and thriving wherever they touched.

Not even Alteisen MK.VI could resist.

Because the moment it plunged into the Red Tide, it had already been completely eroded.

As for the Rapture Virus that had once infested it?

That had long been devoured.

Against the relentless aggression of the Punishing Virus, any other infection was nothing more than fertilizer, rendered completely harmless in the process.

Mo Chen reached out, placing his hand on the train's battered, rusted exterior.

A cold, rough texture greeted his palm.

It didn't feel like metal at all—more like the coarse hide of a crocodile.

From the center of his palm, a sinister crimson glow pulsed—like the rhythmic beating of a living heart. The light spread, latching onto Alteisen MK.VI's hull, seeping into its surface.

Instantly, at the point of contact, the scarlet luminescence expanded outward like ripples across a still lake, spreading in concentric waves over the entire length of the war train.

Wherever the wave passed, the damaged plating, the scorched scars, and twisted wreckage were soon engulfed in an unknown, thick, organic substance—the same scarlet growth that had previously covered the battlefield like moss.

In just a dozen breaths, the monolithic, Empire State Building-sized locomotive had been completely consumed by a pulsating mass of red sinew and membrane, beating rhythmically as if it were a living creature.

"Boom—!"

The ground trembled violently.

It was as if a colossal force was awakening beneath the earth, the terrain itself groaning and shifting, like an unseen giant clutching the land before suddenly letting go.

The ground cracked and bulged, dirt and rubble tumbling aside as something massive began to emerge.

Then, with a deafening roar, a monstrous form burst from the ground—like a beast rising from the abyss.

First, a pair of massive drill arms surfaced.

Then, an enormous spiral drill bit followed, piercing through the soil with a metallic shriek.

The earth split apart, sending rocks and debris flying, as a colossal, pitch-black machine rose from beneath the battlefield, its form towering over Mo Chen.

But he remained unfazed.

He was neither alarmed nor fearful: instead, he walked forward leisurely, as if merely strolling through his own backyard.

The monstrous entity, caught within the crimson glow, soon revealed its full form.

A Tyrant-class Rapture—Grave Digger.

Summoned by Mo Chen himself.

With a simple wave of his hand, the Red Tide surged upward, engulfing Grave Digger just as it had Alteisen MK.VI before.

A strange sensation washed over Mo Chen.

It felt as though the Red Tide was an extension of himself—a part of his very being.

And within it, he could sense everything—whether it was eroded Raptures, the long-deceased remains of fallen humans, or even the fossilized remnants of plants and animals buried beneath the battlefield.

The entirety of Mo Chen's consciousness seemed to diffuse outward, spreading through the Red Tide: it felt like an extension of his own body.

The Red Tide, as a phase of the Punishing Virus, marked a significant stage in its evolution and development.

Though the term Red Tide may refer to a marine ecological phenomenon, this was something entirely different—this was the biological materialization of the Punishing Virus.

It was first cultivated by Gabriel using a Hetero-Core, forming a dense mass of Punishing Virus—a construct akin to the primordial ocean that once nurtured life on Earth.

The Red Tide possessed immense devouring and decomposition capabilities.

Whether mechanical or biological, it could consume and break down anything, converting the extracted energy into nourishment. This ability allowed the Red Tide to give birth to countless Punishing Virus hybrid creatures, further expanding its domain and influence.

Right now, Mo Chen could sense it all.

Beneath the Red Tide, the scattered human remains and Rapture corpses—they were merging together, twisting into something new under his command.

Something far stronger than any Rapture or human alone.

However, creation took time—just like Alteisen MK.VI and Grave Digger, they needed time to develop.

Any entity born too quickly would be weak and unstable: strong enough to deal with standard Raptures, but utterly useless against elite Nikke units or Tyrant-class Raptures.

For now, Mo Chen saw a different purpose—to break down the Rapture corpses, converting their energy into nutrients to further strengthen himself.

More importantly, he discovered that the Red Tide could store the consciousness data of any intelligent lifeform that perished within it.

This meant that the Red Tide didn't just consume matter—it could devour and preserve the minds of intelligent beings.

This was an unprecedented display of adaptability and intelligence from the Punishing Virus.

In the original events, the Red Tide was what gave birth to the Twins.

It was this breakthrough that allowed the Punishing Virus to evolve beyond mere destruction, developing the ability to create and replicate life.

This newfound symbiosis between biological and mechanical entities granted the Punishing Virus unparalleled adaptability—bridging the gap between lifeless inorganic machines and intelligent, evolving beings.

And right now—

Mo Chen was about to do the same.

To conceive.

Though, the phrasing did feel a little… odd.

…

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

On the ruins of the ancient fortress, Indivilia and Chatterbox had been waiting for hours.

The Red Tide remained eerily silent. The crimson mist drifted calmly, showing no signs of movement.

Had they not seen Mo Chen enter the Red Tide themselves, they might have believed that he had never been there to begin with.

"Tch, what a disappointment."

Indivilia leaned elegantly against a centuries-old wooden table, mimicking the graceful demeanor of human nobility.

She swirled a glass of wine—a bottle aged for decades in an underground cellar.

Her crimson eyes, as deep as the wine itself, flickered with boredom and mild regret as she glanced toward the glowing Red Tide.

"I was expecting to see that human crawl out of there."

Chatterbox, watching Indivilia with thinly veiled disdain, saw through her immediately.

"You just wanted to watch him struggle before he died."

It found Indivilia's twisted amusement utterly pointless.

The dark pleasure she took in human suffering held no value—a meaningless distraction, at best.

Indivilia's lips curled into a stunning yet cold smile.

Her wine-red eyes shifted toward Chatterbox with subtle amusement.

"Humans have many faces when they die," she mused.

"Some are angry, some beg, some break down in tears—while others are so terrified that they freeze, unable to move."

She took a slow sip of her wine, savoring it.

"I was simply curious—what kind of expression would 'the strongest human' wear before his death?"

Before Chatterbox could respond—

The ground suddenly trembled.

A massive, violent quake erupted beneath them.

Indivilia's expression changed instantly.