49 Apocalypse Rules

"Come on, come on, let’s connect!"

"Connect to ours! We’ve got over a hundred people in our network!"

"A hundred people is nothing! We’re over four hundred!"

"What’s the difference who connects to who? It’s all shared."

A week after the rule took effect, as information about Psychic Power Connections spread, the academy’s students began connecting with each other one after another.

Although network devices were no longer usable, they could join a brand-new "Mind Network." For young people who love novelty, this was both new and exciting, and they all flocked to it.

The academy neither encouraged nor opposed these connections, merely posting notices in front of the academic and dormitory buildings, advising students to act with caution.

After all, no one knew if this kind of Psychic Power Connection had any side effects, or if connecting indiscriminately would lead to negative consequences.

Some more naturally cautious students did indeed refrain from rashly forming Psychic Power Connections with others.

Others worried that once connected, their more sordid inner thoughts might become known, which would be a complete loss of face.

However, according to those who had already joined a Mind Network, one’s inner thoughts weren’t directly transmitted to other members. Only information you specifically intended to convey would be sent.

The source of the leak about Psychic Power Connections could be traced back, of course, to Guan Tong.

His method of releasing the information was very simple: he made some paper slips with the information written on them and used his Shadow to place them in Gathering Points for ordinary people.

Ordinary people weren’t restricted by the rule and could freely use the internet. As long as some of them posted the information online, it was bound to spread quickly.

It seemed things were going exactly as Guan Tong had expected. In just three or four days, the relevant information had spread throughout the country and even abroad. Within the academy, the trend of making Psychic Power Connections was all the rage.

Because the students had generally taken the Psychic Power Flow course, it was easier for them to connect with one another. As a result, several large-scale Mind Networks quickly appeared within the academy.

With so many people providing data as "samples," Guan Tong quickly came to understand the general operating principles of the Mind Network.

First, it was simultaneously public and anonymous.

Anyone connected to a Mind Network could hear the words spoken by any other member; there was no way to "private message" someone. Unless someone in the network recognized the speaker’s voice, no one would know who specifically had said what.

This single feature made the Mind Network a paradise for social trolls, allowing them to recklessly spout all sorts of sensational, extreme opinions.

Furthermore, if someone’s words gained the approval of the majority in the network, that person could potentially gain a kind of decentralized influence, able to coordinate many people to do things simultaneously.

Second, there was no upper limit to the number of connections or any distance restrictions, and when members of two different networks came into contact, their respective Mind Networks would automatically merge.

This characteristic was rather strange. It meant that if two people belonging to different Mind Networks connected, their respective Mind Networks would also merge.

At this rate, given enough time, it was possible that every Ascender in the world would end up in the same single Mind Network.

But the question was, how much noise would there be in such a network?

Just think about how chaotic it gets in a room when even a few people talk at once. In a Mind Network, no one had the power to "Silence" others. With so many people able to speak freely... how chaotic would that be?

From what Guan Tong had gathered, the Mind Networks formed by the student body exhibited this exact situation. Many people spoke at once, causing a chaotic buzzing in the brain. In severe cases, some even experienced nausea and ultimately had to withdraw from the Mind Network.

Indeed, to leave a Mind Network after joining, one simply had to sever their connection to the Psychic Power that linked them to others.

However, he learned from the idle chatter of some students that there were individuals among them who had a strong ability to distinguish between multiple people speaking at once, their brains able to process the meaning of several sentences simultaneously.

This greatly interested Guan Tong, but unfortunately, he wasn’t connected to the students’ network.

It wasn’t just him; none of the academy’s instructors were.

This was because the students had established a rule for their Mind Network: members could only connect with other students and were not allowed to bring in any of the academy’s instructors.

It was probably the same logic as not inviting teachers into the class’s private group chat. One could imagine many students would use it to complain or even relentlessly bash teachers they disliked.

However, at Dean Zhou Qinfeng’s suggestion, the academy’s lecturers had also set up a Mind Network of their own, for the purpose of conveniently making announcements.

Around twenty people were connected to this Mind Network. Unlike the students, none of the lecturers would be idle enough to chatter pointlessly inside. Therefore, after Guan Tong connected, he had heard a total of fewer than twenty sentences from it.

While most people were focused on the Mind Network itself, Guan Tong was thinking more about the purpose behind it.

’Why did the Fire Thief tell humanity about this use for Psychic Power? Is its goal to make humanity use this method for a specific purpose?’

If he were to assume malicious intent, Guan Tong thought the Fire Thief’s goal might be to further divide humanity.

This was because, on one hand, ordinary people couldn’t join this network—only Ascenders could. On the other hand, its decentralized nature went even further than Guan Tong’s "Ascender’s Home" website.

The website had him as an administrator, and he didn’t allow the posting of anti-human content, such as promoting the Fire Worship Cult. But this Mind Network had no "moderator" and couldn’t be moderated in any way.

This made it convenient for people with common goals to establish connections and communicate. If the goal was good, that was fine. But if it was bad, it would undoubtedly become a black box, an echo chamber for breeding evil.

’If I consider it from a benevolent perspective...’

’(Attention, all lecturers.)’

The voice of Zhou Qinfeng suddenly echoed in his mind. Guan Tong, sitting on his dorm bed, was pulled from his thoughts. He knew the Dean was speaking through the Mind Network.

’(The academy’s first-month-of-school discussion will be held in one hour in the conference room on the 5th floor of the faculty building. Please do not be late.)’

After Zhou Qinfeng finished, another lecturer’s voice sounded in the Mind Network: ’(With this network, I bet we could hold the meeting without even leaving our rooms.)’

Zhou Qinfeng’s voice returned. ’(Don’t joke around. Many non-lecturer faculty members will be participating in this meeting. They aren’t in this network, and besides, this isn’t suitable for a large meeting.)’

’(Understood. I was just making a casual remark, not to be taken seriously.)’

A few other lecturers also said "Understood" in the Mind Network.

Guan Tong didn’t speak. He just waited for the time to come and then went to the conference room.

It was a large conference room containing three long tables, with quite a few people seated at them. He found a random seat and sat down. As he looked up, he saw Fang Qian, sitting at the corner of the adjacent long table, looking right at him.

The moment their eyes met, Fang Qian guiltily averted her gaze, her expression unnatural.

’Looks like she’s different from Xiaotian. She’s one of the graduates who stayed at the academy.’

Guan Tong had heard from Xu Xiaotian that some of the first graduating class would stay on as counselors or other faculty members. Since Fang Qian was here, it meant she was one of them.

’But it doesn’t matter to me. The past is the past. I didn’t act then, and I’m not going to dredge up old scores now. We just won’t have anything to do with each other, even if we cross paths again.’

Once all the academy’s faculty had arrived, Dean Zhou Qinfeng began to speak.

He summarized the various situations since the start of the semester, the improvements compared to last year, and the current shortcomings... Perhaps it was an occupational hazard from his previous job as a university president, but he used a lot of jargon and platitudes. It made Guan Tong drowsy, his mind long since wandering.

He only snapped back to reality when Zhou Qinfeng brought up the matter related to the recent rule.

Zhou Qinfeng said, "As you all know, the students have established a Mind Network that excludes us faculty members. This is definitely a problem."

"You must understand that these academy students are future pillars of the nation, cultivated with great care. If they collude and cause some kind of trouble, it will be our responsibility. We would be failing the trust the higher-ups have placed in us. Therefore, someone from our faculty must connect to the students’ Mind Network to know what they’re saying and what they’re thinking."

After Zhou Qinfeng finished speaking, many faculty members expressed their agreement.

"That’s right, we should."

"These students are a handful. We definitely need to keep an eye on them."

"But forcing our way in might not be good. How about we find a top student who has a good relationship with the teachers and have them pull a faculty member in?"

"Yes, forcing it is definitely not appropriate. It’s best if someone can proactively blend in." Zhou Qinfeng scanned the room, his gaze falling on the graduates from last year who were serving as counselors.

"Is there anyone among you who can complete this task? You’re graduates from last year. As their upperclassmen, it should be easy for you to get along with this year’s students. I think it would be most convenient for one of you to connect to the students’ network."

The counselors exchanged glances, all turning to look at Fang Qian, as if she were the most capable among them. Although Fang Qian’s expression showed some reluctance, she resignedly raised her hand. "Dean, I can do it."