49 Apocalypse Rules

"Terminal Panel."

After a full day of receiving Psychic Power transmissions, Guan Tong opened the panel to check his results.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 352 (352) (481,710)]

[Sublimation Coins: 3,686,120]

[Comprehensive Bio-information Evaluation: Excellent]

After a day of high-intensity transmission and conversion, his reserved Psychic Power was now close to half a million!

The number was undoubtedly outrageous, but it was far from his limit.

According to the information the research room gave him, the total number of Ascenders in North Star Country was around one hundred million. Mobilizing all of them for the transmission was unrealistic, both in terms of time and scale.

But even if only one percent of them met the conditions for transmission, that was still a million people. To put that in perspective, many small nations in the Human Federation had total populations in the millions. This showed just how powerful North Star Country’s foundation was.

Zhang Minglu had told Guan Tong that the government was still preparing a more efficient transmission method, hoping to complete the "grand transmission" before the magnitude 10 earthquake.

After all, for North Star Country, the only disaster that truly posed a nation-ending threat was the final, magnitude 10 earthquake. The preceding magnitude 9 and 8 quakes were terrifying, but at most they could destroy a few cities. They weren’t enough to completely annihilate a superpower with a territory of over twenty million square kilometers.

Therefore, as long as the grand transmission was completed before the final magnitude 10 quake, a slightly lower efficiency in the earlier stages was acceptable.

The research room had originally planned for 24-hour, non-stop transmission, only stopping after the magnitude 7 earthquake occurred. But after the first 24 hours, Guan Tong felt exhausted and temporarily halted the process.

He was someone who prioritized rest and didn’t want to face a massive earthquake in a state of exhaustion, so he stopped for a few hours.

After a nap, he went online and discovered that popular post on his website’s forum.

After reading it, he came to the same conclusion as Gao Liangwei: someone inside the government had leaked the information.

He called Zhang Minglu to ask about it. Zhang Minglu said the Strategy Research Room was currently investigating the matter and that the person in charge had already spoken to several people.

"The government should probably issue a statement to debunk the rumors. If you don’t respond, some of the transmitters might refuse to cooperate later on."

Guan Tong’s prediction was quickly proven right. Many voices appeared online, expressing their refusal to cooperate with the government’s "god-making project."

The representatives of other nations in the Human Federation were also paying close attention to the matter, wanting to know what North Star Country was up to.

In the end, the government had no choice but to issue a statement. It admitted that the Psychic Power was being transferred to "Shadow," but clarified that the purpose wasn’t to create a god. It was a cooperative effort to use his special abilities to mitigate the damage caused by the earthquake rules.

Once the statement was released, the initial plan for secrecy was a complete failure. Netizens were skeptical.

Guan Tong, using the account "Shadow himself," posted a thread to dispel the rumors. He stated that he was indeed cooperating with the government, but it had nothing to do with creating a god—it was solely for disaster relief.

Some believed him, others doubted. That was all normal. What wasn’t normal was why someone inside the government would leak the secret. Weren’t the earthquake disasters a threat to every citizen of North Star Country? Why would someone actively try to sabotage and interfere?

Guan Tong didn’t understand, and Gao Liangwei understood even less.

He spent the night questioning Dr. Yu and the others. Using various interrogation techniques, he managed to get some information. Dr. Yu and the others claimed they had absolutely not leaked any secrets, but they did admit to privately collaborating on a letter of opposition.

After careful questioning, Gao Liangwei discovered that all of them had been brought together by the same person: Dr. Sun, the biologist.

"Dr. Sun Hong, all the testimonies indicate that you were the one who approached them individually and persuaded them to band together. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Gao Liangwei spoke to Sun Hong, who sat across the table from him in the interrogation room.

Sun Hong’s expression didn’t change. "I admit I approached some people and persuaded them to write something together. But that doesn’t violate any rules, does it? We’re dissatisfied with you as the director, and we have the right to report the situation to the higher-ups."

"That’s not the focus of my questioning. You’re free to report your dissatisfaction with me," Gao Liangwei said. "My focus is the leak."

"I didn’t leak anything," Sun Hong denied. "If Mr. Gao wants to accuse me of leaking secrets, please present the evidence."

"Dr. Sun, you should know that there are people on this base with ’lie-detection’ items, right? If you confess now, we can all save some time."

"No need. Just have that person come test me."

"...Go get them."

Soon, the person with the lie-detection item was brought in. The item was a pair of glasses; when they detected a lie, the lenses would automatically turn red.

Gao Liangwei asked, "Dr. Sun Hong, did you leak the secrets of the Strategy Research Room?"

"No."

The glasses’ lenses did not change color.

Gao Liangwei frowned. A trace of contempt flashed in Sun Hong’s eyes.

After a moment of silence, Gao Liangwei asked again, "Dr. Sun Hong, did you unite the other members of the research room because you were following someone else’s orders?"

"..."

This time, Sun Hong was silent.

Gao Liangwei said coldly, "It seems you’re admitting it by default."

"Without evidence, I won’t admit to anything," Sun Hong said. "Even if you are the director of the research room, you have no right to punish me without proof."

"I only need to know that you were acting on orders. That’s enough."

With that, Gao Liangwei stood up and left, instructing the security guard, "Escort Dr. Sun back to her room. Until this matter is fully investigated, she is not permitted to move freely around the base."

"Yes, sir."

"Gao Liangwei! What right do you have to put me under house arrest? I’m going to report this to the higher-ups—"

THUD.

Gao Liangwei walked out, his expression grim.

’The person who could order Sun Hong to rally the others must be a member of the high-level decision-making body... The secret was most likely leaked by someone at that level, too. This is trouble.’

He could use a lie-detection item on Sun Hong, but he obviously didn’t have the authority to use it on those high-level decision-makers.

Moreover, if someone among the decision-makers was against this operation, would their opposition stop at rallying others, leaking secrets, and manipulating public opinion? Or would it go further, manifesting in more concrete ways?

Gao Liangwei felt a growing sense of unease. He immediately summoned Zhang Minglu to his office.

"Dr. Zhang, I have a special mission for you," Gao Liangwei said. "I need you to select some elite Ascenders to form a protection detail."

"A protection detail?" Zhang Minglu was confused. "Mr. Gao, who is this team supposed to protect?"

"To protect Shadow. To be precise, to protect Shadow while he is destroying the Earth Vein Pillar during the earthquake."

Zhang Minglu quickly understood the profound implications, his eyes slowly widening. "Mr. Gao, you mean... someone might attack Shadow at that moment?"

"I can’t say for certain, but I am sure that a faction is stirring in the shadows, intending to carry out acts of sabotage," Gao Liangwei said. "Do you remember the investigation into the Supporter base in Yongzhou?"

Zhang Minglu nodded. "I remember. I think Li Meng and his team were investigating the department that previously owned that base, but there haven’t been any updates since."

"That’s right. I made a point to ask Li Meng, and he told me the situation is very complicated. That military base was inexplicably transferred to a major businessman over a decade ago, but all the transfer documents have been lost... They claim it was due to the chaos caused by rioters after the Apocalypse Rules appeared, which resulted in a massive loss of data."

"That’s... ridiculous." Zhang Minglu knew it was just an excuse. It was obvious they had used the rioters as a cover to deliberately destroy the records.

"I suspect the mastermind behind that base is extremely powerful, and this incident might be related to them as well. What we can do now is take precautions. To ensure Shadow can complete the plan without interference, we must arrange for specialized personnel to protect him on-site."

"I understand, Mr. Gao," Zhang Minglu said. "I will select an elite team for the protection detail. They won’t transmit their Psychic Power; instead, they will conserve their strength to provide comprehensive protection for Shadow."

"Good. Arrange it as soon as possible. The magnitude 7 earthquake will hit in one more day. We must be on high alert and defend our position starting now."