Rocot: Reborn

"Could it be... that this is the reason that led to Lord Rocot's death?" The old man's voice seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his throat, with a hint of trembling and disbelief.

Upon hearing this, the young researcher turned his head and looked at the old man, his eyes filled with fear and confusion. "Professor, what did you say? Lord Rocot... died? How is this possible!?"

The old man did not answer. His cloudy eyes stared at the black sphere, as if he wanted to see through its strange purple arc and the secret hidden in it.

"Lord Rocot is a legend of this era. How could he have fallen? There must be something wrong. It must be..." The researcher's voice became smaller and smaller, and finally became almost a murmur. He could not accept this fact, nor could he understand it.

The old man took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He knew that now was not the time to be sad and desperate. He had to find out what had happened and whether Lord Rocot had really...

"Kid," the old man turned to look at the young researcher, his eyes full of determination, "Now is not the time to talk about this. We must leave here immediately and report what happened here to our superiors."

"But professor, how are we going to get out? The laboratory's communication system has been completely paralyzed." The researcher looked around anxiously, but found nothing but endless darkness and ruins.

"Follow me!" The old man did not explain. He took the researcher's hand and ran in the other direction of the laboratory. He knew that there must be other escape routes deep underground.

The two stumbled through corridors and passed through blocked doors. The alarms behind them became more and more urgent, as if urging them on, and as if mocking their helplessness.

Finally, they found a heavy metal door in the deepest part of the laboratory.

"Professor, this is..." The researcher looked at the door with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"This is the emergency escape route, and I'm the only one who knows of its existence." As the old man spoke, he took out a card from his pocket and inserted it into the card reader beside the door.

With a "click" sound, the metal door slowly opened, revealing a narrow passage.

"Let's go!" Without any hesitation, the old man pulled the researcher into the passage.

The passage was pitch black, and the old man groped the wall and walked forward step by step.

"Professor, you said... Lord Rocot has really..." In the darkness, the researcher's voice sounded again, with a hint of trembling and fear.

"I don't know." The old man was silent for a moment, then he said slowly, "But I know that if he were still alive, he would not want us to give up hope just like that."

"But what can we do?" The researcher's voice was full of powerlessness and despair. "We are just a group of unarmed researchers. Facing a disaster of this level, there is nothing we can do."

"No, child, you are wrong." The old man stopped, turned and looked at the darkness behind him, and said firmly, "We have the most powerful weapon in the world - knowledge!"

"Knowledge?" The researcher was puzzled.

"Yes, knowledge!" The old man's voice echoed in the darkness. "The reason why Lord Rocot has become a legend of this era is because he has mastered knowledge that transcends his time! As his followers, we have inherited his legacy. We have the responsibility and obligation to pass on his knowledge and use it to change the world!"

"Professor..." The researcher looked at the old man, and a glimmer of hope gradually appeared in his eyes.

"Child, believe me, even in this desperate darkness, there will be light shining in. And we are that light!" The old man's voice was full of strength and determination, as if it could dispel all darkness and illuminate the road ahead.

Suddenly, a faint light appeared in the passage ahead.

"Exit! It's an exit!" the researcher shouted excitedly.

The old man also saw the light, he quickened his pace and ran towards the direction of the light.

However, when they rushed out of the passage and came to the outside world, they were stunned by the scene before them...

The whole world was shrouded in a strange purple light...

The old man grabbed the researcher's hand and staggered out of the passage. The strong sense of uneasiness was like an invisible hand, strangling his throat tightly, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. He had lived for most of his life and experienced many experimental accidents, but he had never had such a strong ominous premonition.

"Professor, look!" the young researcher exclaimed, pointing ahead.

The old man narrowed his cloudy eyes, trying to see the scene clearly. He saw that the familiar sky was now covered by a strange purple light, like the bloody mouth of a giant beast, wanting to devour everything in the world. Under the reflection of the purple light, the buildings were distorted into strange silhouettes, as if from hell.

"What...what is this?!" The researcher's voice trembled, and fear spread between the two like a plague.

The old man did not answer. His lips trembled as he tried to say something, but he could not utter a word. He suddenly remembered what Lord Rocot had said: "When the sky is covered with purple, the world will be overturned."

Could it be that the prophecy has come true?

No, it's impossible! The old man shook his head violently, trying to get rid of the terrible thought in his mind. Lord Rocot has... has...

He suddenly thought of the cold body in the laboratory. His heart suddenly sank and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

"Professor, what should we do now?" The researcher's voice brought the old man back to reality.

What to do? He didn't know what to do!

The old man slumped on the ground helplessly, despair overwhelmed him like a tide. Looking around, the whole world was shrouded in dead silence, without a single sound, as if everything was dead.

"Professor, look there!" The researcher suddenly pointed to the distance with a hint of hope in his tone.

The old man looked in the direction the researcher's finger pointed, and saw a faint fire under the purple sky in the distance, swaying in the wind, as if a glimmer of hope had been ignited in the abyss of despair.

"Let's go and take a look!" The old man struggled to stand up, brushed off the dust on his body, and a glimmer of hope rekindled in his cloudy eyes.

The two men walked towards the direction of the fire. Every step they took seemed like walking on the edge of a knife, full of unknown dangers.

After walking for a long time, they finally arrived at the fire. It was a run-down bar with a dim neon light flashing at the door. The words on the sign were already blurred, and the words "Doomsday Carnival" could be vaguely recognized.

The bar was bustling with people, the deafening music and the sounds of people reveling mixed together, as if they were celebrating something.

The old man and the researcher looked at each other, and saw surprise and confusion in each other's eyes. In this doomsday scene, it was incredible that there were still people who could celebrate like this.

"Would you like a drink?" a rough voice sounded.

The old man looked up and saw a burly bald man standing in front of them with a playful smile on his face and two glasses of strangely colored wine in his hands.

"What is this?" the researcher asked warily.

"This is the 'Kiss of Doomsday', a fine wine that can only be tasted at doomsday. Do you want to try it?" The bald man shook the wine glass in his hand, and the purple liquid rippled in the glass, emitting a strange light.

The old man stared at the two glasses of wine, alarm bells ringing in his heart. His intuition told him that this matter was definitely not that simple.

"No need, we..."

The old man was about to refuse but was interrupted by the researcher.

"Okay, let's try it!" The researcher took the wine from the bald man, handed a glass to the old man, and then couldn't wait to drink the other glass.

"Wait!" The old man wanted to stop it, but it was too late.

After the researcher drank the wine, his face instantly turned red and his eyes began to blur. He stood up shakily, grabbed the old man's hand, and said excitedly: "Professor, do you know? This world... is about to be destroyed! Hahaha... But I'm not afraid! I want to party! I want to enjoy the last moments to the fullest!"

With that, he stumbled into the bar and joined the reveling crowd.

The old man looked at the researcher's back, his heart filled with worry and uneasiness. He knew that there must be something wrong with that glass of wine!

"What did you give him to drink?!" The old man turned his head suddenly and glared at the bald man.

The bald man sneered and said, "It's nothing, just a glass of 'happy water'. Don't worry, he will enjoy this last carnival."

"you……"

Just as the old man was about to have an attack, he suddenly felt dizzy, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness...