All Chapters of DOOMSDAY LEDGER: Chapter 21
- Chapter 24
24 chapters
Chapter 21: Dwindling Stock
“One... two... three... and finished.” Mr. Hendra’s voice sounded heavy, as if he had just pronounced a death sentence. He closed his stock inventory notebook with a listless *thud*, then massaged the bridge of his wrinkled nose. In the back storage room of Cosmo Mart, which now served as an emergency meeting room and bedroom, the morning atmosphere was grim. It contrasted sharply with the euphoria of eating luxury sardines yesterday afternoon. Sunlight streamed through a small vent, highlighting the dust floating in the air. “What do you mean, finished, sir?” Rico asked, picking a piece of leftover corned beef from his teeth with a toothpick. “I feel like there’s still a pile of instant noodle boxes in that corner?” “Those are instant noodles with Chicken Curry flavor whose packaging was punctured by rats or splashed with chemicals during the fig
Chapter 22: The Outside World
The midday sun felt wet and sticky, as if the Jakarta air had turned into a giant soup of steam. The asphalt beneath their feet was no longer hard and black, but heavily cracked, covered in thick, dark purple moss growing at an unnatural speed. Elian stepped carefully, avoiding greenish puddles that simmered slowly between the roots of the Angsana trees that had burst through the sidewalk. The roots were as thick as an adult's thigh, wrapped around the dented wreck of a Honda Jazz sedan like a python constricting its prey. "Insane..." muttered Rico, walking behind Elian, his eyes glued to the tablet screen connected to the drone. "Are we in East Jakarta or the Amazon Rainforest from hell? It feels like the apocalypse just started two days ago, why are the trees already massive?" "Accelerated cellular mutation," Vara replied without turning her head. She walked with a light step on the left side, her *Cosmo Rapier* drawn
Chapter 23: The Next Shophouse
The darkness inside the shophouse wasn't merely the absence of light; it was a thick blanket woven from dust, cobwebs, and a pungent ammonia odor. The smell of rat urine mixed with human sweat that had fermented for days created a hellish perfume that instantly made Elian's stomach churn. "Hold your breath," Elian whispered, activating his low-light vision mode. The world in Elian's eyes turned into a greenish monochrome. He could see dust particles floating in the air, disturbed by their movement. The boot prints on the dusty floor led straight to a double door at the end of the corridor—likely the main warehouse area where the snack stock was kept. "What is that smell, El?" Rico complained, covering his nose with his dirty sleeve. "It smells like a final-year college dorm room that hasn't been opened in ten years." "The smell of humans," Vara answered curtly. Her hand was already gripping the
Chapter 24: The Two Faces of Darius
The VIP room Darius boasted about turned out to be more like an interrogation room disguised as a cheap motel room. Although there was a spring mattress with fresh sheets, the musty smell of damp carpet and the faint red stain near the table leg—clearly dried blood that had been scrubbed—made the atmosphere tense.Rico sat cross-legged on the bed, holding his drone remote control. His face was wrinkled in seriousness, his eyebrows nearly meeting."El, look at this," Rico whispered, pointing to the tablet screen propped up on a pillow. "The Goblin is patrolling the air vent of Darius's office."Elian, who was cleaning his iron pipe with a wet wipe from their loot, approached. "Get anything?"On the tablet screen, which was slightly static due to indoor signal interference, a view from the upper corner of Darius's office was visible. The drone camera peeked through a gap in the rusty exhaust fan.Darius was sitting in his opulent leather