49 Apocalypse Rules

Guan Tong could tell the King of Soloma had ulterior motives. He was likely using Shadow’s unique identity to stir things up.

He might even be harboring a petty desire to sow discord. After all, it was common knowledge among the nations that Shadow was one of the North Star People. The North Star Country and the Soloma Empire had been fighting openly and in secret since before the Apocalypse Rules, and the conflict hadn’t eased in the new era. In fact, their clandestine struggles had only intensified.

But he didn’t care about that. What he needed was to collect all five fragments and complete the puzzle. For that, he was willing to accept this commission.

He didn’t know what the King of Soloma wanted his help with. But it should go without saying that the King understood he wouldn’t agree to commit evil deeds like murder and arson.

He sent a private message to Primordial Man, agreeing to the transaction.

He then replied to the Strategy Research Room’s account, stating clearly that the ambush on Lado and the others had nothing to do with him.

Whether the authorities believed him or not was out of his hands. But everything required evidence. If someone tried to hold him responsible without proof, he would certainly not stand for it.

After a while, he received replies from both parties.

The official account stated that they would continue to investigate and would not jump to conclusions without conclusive evidence.

Primordial Man replied that the commission had been posted.

Guan Tong went to the commission board, and sure enough, there was a newly posted, related request.

"King of Soloma Selling a Related Item for the Price of "One Favor." This Commission Can Only Be Accepted by the Ascender, "Shadow.""

Guan Tong clicked on the post, which was already flooded with comments.

"The King of Soloma? For real?"

"What in the world are they selling that requires the great Shadow God to pay with a favor?"

"If this is real, could they be trying to recruit the Shadow God? I remember Soloma made a public announcement a while back, hoping the Shadow God would go over to their side."

The keywords "King of Soloma" and "Shadow" were both trending topics on their own. Now that they appeared together in the post’s title, its popularity was skyrocketing.

Since Guan Tong had already agreed, he didn’t waste any time. However, this time he didn’t use the site admin’s account. Instead, he switched to one he had registered previously with the nickname "The Real Shadow" and replied:

"I’ll take this commission."

Guan Tong felt that separating the admin account from his Shadow account would make future communications and transactions more convenient.

The moment he replied with the Shadow account, a flood of new comments appeared.

"Is this really the Shadow God?"

"Master, let me ride your coattails!"

"Is this the real deal or an imposter? I’ve seen at least ten accounts with the name ’Shadow’ in their nickname on this site lately."

Primordial Man was also clearly unsure, so he sent a private message to verify. Once Guan Tong confirmed that he was indeed the real Shadow, Primordial Man replied in the thread.

"Deal."

The confirmation of their deal drew a crowd of spectators, including many individuals and even powerful factions.

Although no one knew what item was being traded, the identities of the two parties involved were stunning enough on their own.

One was the Soloma Empire, one of the most powerful nations in the world. The other was Shadow, known as the World’s First Ascender. Any interaction between these two was bound to attract attention, regardless of the circumstances.

Ten minutes after the commission was confirmed, Primordial Man sent him a string of numbers. Guan Tong changed his nickname back to "Shadow," added him as a friend, and initiated the trade.

When he saw the other party place two fragments on the trade panel, Guan Tong’s breath hitched slightly.

The instant the trade was completed, a notification prompt sounded in his mind.

[You have obtained: Qimo Star Chronicles · Fragment 2]

[You have obtained: Qimo Star Chronicles · Fragment 4]

[You have collected all 5 Qimo Star Fragments. The chronicle is now complete.]

[You have obtained: "Qimo Star Chronicles"]

’The chronicle puzzle is complete...’

Unable to contain his excitement and curiosity, Guan Tong immediately opened his storage. Inside lay a miniature mural. He immediately checked its details.

[Qimo Star Chronicles]: Records the process of the Qimo Star’s sapient civilization’s destruction. Upon use, grants a special title.

Guan Tong chose to use it.

SHIIING—

The mural item released a brilliant light that enveloped and swallowed Guan Tong.

In an instant, the complete mural materialized before his eyes. New content appeared, filling in the parts that had been missing!

Guan Tong saw scenes he had never witnessed before:

An image of a ripple, representing sound, descended from high above. All the various Exotic Beasts on Qimo Star heard it. Some were startled, some paid it no mind, some glanced about, and only a tiny minority of individuals looked up, their eyes filled with confusion.

’That must be the voice of the Fire Thief!’

Guan Tong was certain that, just as had happened on Celestial Water Star, the Fire Thief had descended upon Qimo Star one day and proclaimed the Apocalypse Rules in the form of a "voice."

However... there was one enormous problem. In the Alien Beast Civilization of Qimo Star, the vast majority of species had not yet developed "sapience"!

Like the cats and dogs on Celestial Water Star, even if they could hear the Fire Thief’s voice just as humans did, they were completely incapable of understanding the meaning it contained!

The only ones who could grasp a rough understanding were likely those few individuals in the mural who had looked up at the sky.

These individuals must have been evolutionarily ahead of the other species on Qimo Star. Yet, their numbers were pitifully small—probably not even one in ten thousand, or even one in a hundred thousand.

In the mural’s depiction, these individuals who could understand the voice’s meaning all behaved with agitation, roaring and crying out, clearly having realized the immense danger brought by the rules.

Following this were scenes of various disasters descending. They were, without a doubt, the manifestations of the string of Apocalypse Rules issued by the Fire Thief.

Because most species on Qimo Star had not developed sapience, they couldn’t understand the rules, let alone use the rewards for completing them. As a result, they died out at an astonishingly rapid rate. This was also the reason for the great species migration—it was a biological instinct, a belief that they could escape the disasters simply by moving to a different place.

But these were not natural disasters; they were disasters manufactured by the Fire Thief. This meant the great migration was entirely pointless. No matter where the species migrated, the Fire Thief’s rules would take effect there!

Perhaps to make the Exotic Beasts understand this, the Fire Thief finally issued the Apocalypse Rule concerning the "Mist": a fog that spread to every corner of the world, utterly destroying their civilization. In the end, only a few individuals managed to survive by hiding in underground caves.

Guan Tong and Adam had originally guessed that these few individuals had just been lucky to escape the calamity. But now it seemed they must have possessed sapience, enabling them to understand the Fire Thief and the meaning of the rules, which is how they survived to the very end.

’But if only a handful of individuals from a civilization, from a species, survive to the end, can it truly continue?’

Guan Tong looked at the final scene of the mural, where those few individuals were drawn up into a black, cylindrical ship and carried off into the cosmos.

’Was the Fire Thief being benevolent, unable to bring itself to wipe out the last remnants of the Qimo Star civilization? Or did it simply know the civilization couldn’t be sustained, making complete annihilation unnecessary?’

’If these surviving individuals are the same giant Exotic Beasts guarding the Fog Gate in the Ninth Rule, then what is their current state? Have they become servants commanded by the Fire Thief, or are they just fragments of a destroyed civilization, preserved merely for observation?’

The mural faded from view without him noticing, leaving Guan Tong deeply immersed in the shock of what he had seen.

’Will humanity on Celestial Water Star suffer the same fate? Will the vast majority perish, leaving only a small handful of survivors, unable to continue the species?’

The tragic thing was, after the very first rule, the vast majority of humanity had already collectively stopped procreating. As long as the forty-nine rules remained in effect, how many fathers and mothers would be willing to bring new life into this world?

’No, it has to be different! Humanity is a collective that has already awakened its sapience, unlike the Exotic Beasts on Qimo Star.’

’But... is humanity’s sapience enough to see the entire race through to the end? If we only make it slightly farther than the Alien Beast Civilization of Qimo Star, what’s the point?’

After a long while, a notification sound pulled Guan Tong back to his senses.

[You have obtained the title: Civilization Observer]