49 Apocalypse Rules

RUMBLE!

The moment the magnitude 8 earthquake erupted, a violent roar echoed from deep within the earth. In nearby cities, swarms of rats scurried through the streets as the ground tore apart, forming one deep, bottomless fissure after another.

Gushing groundwater mixed with mud and sand shot several meters into the air like geysers, while dust billowed out in every direction, forming a dust storm that blotted out the sky.

Just then, a beam of blue light flared up from the epicenter. The next moment, several figures appeared.

It was the "Earthquake Disaster Response Team," led by Guan Tong.

"Everyone, reinforce your defenses!"

The instant they teleported in, every member of the team threw out various defensive items to protect themselves from being killed by the shockwaves of the intensely powerful earthquake.

As the core member, Guan Tong’s personal safety was paramount, so the authorities had prepared a large number of defensive items for him.

Only by using these items in conjunction with his Shadow Armor could he approach the Earth Vein Pillar amidst the seismic shockwaves.

Meanwhile, the other members of the team immediately used their items to ascend high into the air and establish a floating defensive platform.

Unlike Guan Tong, if they tried to forcibly approach the Earth Vein Pillar, they would simply be shaken to death by the shockwaves.

"So this is what the epicenter of a magnitude 8 earthquake looks like? It’s like the end of the world!" roared Black Shark from the Dragon Soul Team.

The bottomless fissures in the earth, the dust and sand obscuring the sky, the pillars of mud constantly erupting from the ground like fountains... a scene that truly filled every witness with a deep, apocalyptic terror!

What made this scene even more terrifying was the thought that magnitude 9 and 10 earthquakes were still to come!

"Is that guy Shadow really going to be okay?! He’s too close to the ground!"

"We just have to trust him."

"Dr. Zhang equipped him with dozens of defensive items. He should be able to hold on!"

Guan Tong, the focus of his team’s concern, felt his body swaying uncontrollably. Even though he was constantly using defensive items and had released hundreds of Shadow Ropes to wrap tightly around the Earth Vein Pillar, he still found it difficult to even keep his body steady.

Before setting out, Zhang Minglu had equipped Guan Tong with over fifty defensive items. Now, less than ten seconds after teleporting in, he had already used up half of them—more than twenty. How could he possibly continue like this?

’I have to complete the transfer as quickly as possible. Otherwise, once my items run out, I’ll be in extreme danger!’

Not daring to delay for a single second, Guan Tong touched the Earth Vein Pillar and, in one go, poured all of the several million units of Psychic Power he had in reserve into the Wordless Book. The book then converted it into the Power of Rupture, which he directed at the Earth Vein Pillar.

CRACK! CRACKLE!

He could faintly hear the pillar’s outer shell cracking, but he couldn’t see it. The dust and sand filling the air were too dense, with visibility under a meter.

All he could do was use up his entire reserve of Psychic Power and hope it would be enough.

After two outputs, a total of over ten million units of reserved Psychic Power had been poured in. Guan Tong felt the intensity of the Earth Vein Pillar’s vibrations drop sharply, but it didn’t collapse.

’Ten million units of Psychic Power isn’t enough?’ Guan Tong was slightly alarmed.

「Meanwhile, in the Strategy Research Room.」

Around the conference table, everyone was anxiously awaiting the results.

Once the earthquake’s intensity reached magnitude 8 and the team teleported to the epicenter, communications were immediately cut off, making contact impossible.

However, through the seismological bureau’s real-time monitoring, they could indirectly gauge the team’s progress.

About ten-odd seconds after the team teleported, a call came in from the seismological bureau: "We’ve detected a rapid decrease in the earthquake’s intensity, by about ninety percent!"

"Great!"

"The operation was a success!"

The people in the research room cheered, but Gao Liangwei and a few others couldn’t bring themselves to smile.

Gao Liangwei frowned. "The total Psychic Power we’ve transferred to Shadow over the past few days has already surpassed a hundred million, right? And it only weakened the Earth Vein Pillar by ninety percent, not destroyed it."

Zhang Minglu, who was beside him, said, "Shadow did mention that he can’t store one hundred percent of the Psychic Power transferred to him. There’s likely a significant amount of loss."

Gao Liangwei nodded.

He knew this as well. If Shadow could store one hundred percent of all transferred Psychic Power, his ability would be far too terrifying.

"From the looks of it, the amount of Psychic Power needed to destroy... no... to reduce the destructive power of the magnitude 9 and 10 earthquakes to below fifty percent is unimaginable."

"Yes, Director. Although North Star has over a hundred million Ascenders, and even if each one gave Shadow just 10 points, that would be a billion—but the problem is, we simply don’t have enough time."

In reality, coordinating over a hundred million people isn’t like a video game where you can just draw a circle with your mouse and issue a command.

There are only 72 hours between each earthquake. Mobilizing over a hundred million people to transfer Psychic Power to Guan Tong in that time is completely unrealistic.

Therefore, Zhang Minglu, Gao Liangwei, and the others knew full well that they could only transfer as much Psychic Power as possible to Guan Tong within the limited time. How much he could ultimately weaken the quakes was out of their hands.

Five minutes passed quickly, and the seismological bureau called again to report, "The earthquake has stopped."

Immediately after, a call came from Dragon Soul. "Reporting, we have teleported back to base."

"What’s the situation?" Gao Liangwei asked. "Is Shadow injured?"

His biggest concern was Shadow’s physical condition. Since Shadow had to make physical contact with the Earth Vein Pillar, he couldn’t be too far from the ground, meaning he was most affected by the seismic shockwaves.

If Shadow was injured and couldn’t carry out the subsequent missions for the magnitude 9 and 10 quakes, they would be in trouble.

"Shadow is fine," Dragon Soul reported. "He just said that all the items Dr. Zhang prepared for him have been used up."

Gao Liangwei breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as he’s okay. If the items are used up, they’re used up."

Zhang Minglu added, "Exactly. We still have plenty of defensive items, so there’s no need to be frugal. I was a bit too conservative this time, preparing only fifty-odd items. It seems I’ll have to multiply that amount several times over for the next ones."

"Director, Shadow is asking when to resume the Psychic Power transfers. He’s already used up everything that was transferred before."

"Start now," Gao Liangwei said. "The transfer personnel are ready. I’ll send you the coordinates. Take Shadow there immediately to receive it."

"Yes, sir."

Time was tight. After dealing with the magnitude 8 earthquake, Guan Tong didn’t even have time to rest before he had to go receive another Psychic Power transfer.

He was exhausted, of course, but he had no choice if he was to face the magnitude 9 earthquake in 72 hours.

To this end, Zhang Minglu had specially prepared some side-effect-free items for Guan Tong that could eliminate fatigue and restore energy, allowing him to go without sleep or food for these critical few days and spend all his time absorbing Psychic Power.

After ending the call, Gao Liangwei contacted the relevant departments to inquire about the disaster situation.

"Lufengxiang City, the closest to the epicenter, has been severely affected. More than half the city is destroyed, and many shelters have been damaged. Casualties have not yet been tallied... Furthermore, all transportation routes near the epicenter have been cut off. Roads and railways are severely ruptured, the airport has been destroyed, and the rescue outlook is very bleak."

"We will dispatch a rescue team composed of elite Ascenders to airdrop into Lufengxiang City and assist with relief efforts."

After making a series of arrangements, Gao Liangwei took a deep breath.

"Without that ninety-percent reduction, Lufengxiang City would probably have been completely destroyed."

"I’m afraid so..."

Everyone present was still shaken by the thought.

"Meeting adjourned. Dr. Zhang, you stay behind."

After the others had left, Zhang Minglu took the initiative to ask, "Director, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Dr. Zhang, you saw what happened this time. Relying on defensive items alone is becoming insufficient. Shadow needs more protection."

"What do you mean?"

"Assemble a group of Ascenders with protective abilities to be responsible for protecting him with their powers during the earthquake. That kind of defense will be more effective than items."

Zhang Minglu was stunned. "Director, that’s too dangerous for those Ascenders... Under the impact of such intense seismic waves, they’ll have trouble just protecting themselves. If they use their abilities to protect Shadow, they’ll certainly die!"

"I know," Gao Liangwei said, his expression grim. "But if something happens to Shadow, entire cities full of people will die."

"..."

"Don’t make this mandatory. It should be voluntary."

"...Alright. I’ll poll the Ascenders in the database who have protective abilities."

...

「In a secret base somewhere, a team of more than fifteen people gathered in secret.」

Their leader was a short-haired woman. She said to the others, "The Commander-in-Chief has issued the order. Our mission is to move after the magnitude 10 earthquake erupts and eliminate Shadow."

"Magnitude 10? The epicenter will be hit with intense seismic waves. Won’t that be too dangerous?" someone asked.

The short-haired woman explained, "We won’t make our move during the earthquake, but after. To be precise, there are two scenarios."

"First, as you said, the epicenter of a magnitude 10 earthquake will definitely erupt with extremely powerful, destructive energy. When Shadow goes to handle it, he might die directly from the impact of the shockwaves. In that case, it saves us the trouble of acting."

"Second. If Shadow and his team actually manage to resolve the magnitude 10 disaster—or even if they only weaken it instead of fully resolving it—Shadow will definitely be in a state where his Psychic Power is depleted and his strength is greatly diminished. If we launch a surprise attack then, while we’re at full strength, it will be an easy victory."

Hearing this, everyone nodded. It was indeed a sound plan.

Jiang Ming, who was part of the strike team, felt a faint sense of disdain as he listened.

He felt that daring to strike only when Shadow was weakened was underestimating themselves. In his opinion, Shadow wasn’t all that great. He had only lost their last encounter due to his own carelessness. If they fought again, the result would be completely different.

Especially since he had shored up some of his weaknesses in the meantime, further increasing his strength. He was fully confident he could face Shadow.

But thoughts were just thoughts; he certainly wouldn’t defy the team’s plan. Even though the Commander-in-Chief was his grandmother, he knew she was an old woman whose word was law. If he acted on his own, he would definitely be kicked off the team and put under house arrest.

There was just one thing he didn’t understand.

After the team dispersed, he approached the short-haired woman alone.

Her name was Liu Wen. Like Han Ling, the former manager of Yongzhou Base, she seemed to be a trusted subordinate who answered only to the Commander-in-Chief.

The thought of Han Ling added another layer to Jiang Ming’s hatred for Shadow.

He’d had a good impression of Han Ling, but in the end, it was less a case of her committing suicide by poison and more a case of her being driven to her death by Shadow.

"Mr. Jiang, is there something I can help you with?"

Liu Wen asked when she saw Jiang Ming approach.

She wouldn’t be so polite with others, but Jiang Ming was the Commander-in-Chief’s grandson, so her attitude was much more accommodating.

"I want to know, even if the plan succeeds and we manage to kill Shadow, what’s the endgame? After these Apocalypse Rules end, Shadow will be promoted as a hero, won’t he? Won’t killing him bring a backlash from the higher-ups?"

Liu Wen smiled at his words. "Mr. Jiang, you’re right, Shadow will indeed be seen as a hero. But how many people will avenge a dead hero who has no power base?"

"The Commander-in-Chief’s investigation was very thorough. Although Shadow is strong, he’s too much of a loner. His relationship with the authorities isn’t one of subordination, but cooperation. This means that while he isn’t subject to many restrictions, he also doesn’t receive much protection."

Jiang Ming felt there was some truth to her words, but he also sensed that things wouldn’t be that simple.

Liu Wen continued, "Of course, the authorities will definitely investigate. We will make preparations for that in advance. You and your strike team, Mr. Jiang, only need to focus on the combat. You don’t have to worry about the aftermath."

"...I understand."

Jiang Ming recalled something his father had said before he died, and he understood. Indeed, in a world after the arrival of the Apocalypse Rules, an upright person like his father couldn’t survive. In contrast, someone like the Commander-in-Chief would thrive.

This kind of world disgusted Jiang Ming, but he himself was now a part of it. He could only convince himself with the thought: ’Use them first, then destroy them.’

"You don’t need to overthink it, Mr. Jiang," Liu Wen said softly, seemingly sensing his state of mind. "You are the Commander-in-Chief’s grandson. In the future, once the Commander-in-Chief has accomplished her grand ambition, you will become one of the most distinguished individuals in North Star. You’ll be able to do whatever you want then."