49 Apocalypse Rules

May 1st, 8:50 AM.

Guan Tong was ready, waiting for the release of the eleventh Apocalypse Rule.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 325 (325) (2810)]

[Sublimation Coins: 3,686,120]

[Overall Bio-information Evaluation: Excellent]

After his Psychic Power cap increased to 325, he had tried writing on the sixth page of the Wordless Book, but he had failed.

However, this failure wasn’t like before when his hand was forcefully repelled. This time, he only felt some resistance that prevented him from writing. This meant he was close to meeting the requirement. He estimated he would be able to write on it once his Psychic Power reached 350.

At his current rate, bridging the 25-point gap would take three months. But factoring in the acceleration of his natural growth, Guan Tong estimated he could reach it in two.

As he was lost in thought, the time reached nine o’clock. The voice of the Fire Thief rang out, and the eleventh rule was released right on schedule.

[The Eleventh Apocalypse Rule has been released]

[Apocalypse Rule Eleven: Earth Dragon Flipping Over]

[Rule Content: From the moment of this rule’s release, Celestial Water Star will experience earthquake disasters. The earthquake level will increase by 1 every 72 hours, up to a maximum of level 10. Each earthquake will last for 5 minutes. This rule will be in effect for 30 days.]

[Success Reward: 1,000 Sublimation Coins, Survival Treasure Chest · Golden Level]

[Failure Penalty: None]

[Note: A true survivor knows to start looking for sturdier shelter at the earth’s first tremor. But when the continents tear asunder and the oceans boil, will you still be able to find a place to stand?]

’Earthquakes up to level 10?’

Guan Tong was stunned after hearing the rule.

’How is this possible? A level-10 earthquake should only exist in theory. If it really happens, won’t humanity be on the brink of extinction... No, there must be a solution!’

Guan Tong immediately opened his Terminal Panel, desperate to check for hidden rules.

He refused to believe there was no way to counter it. Otherwise, this rule would most likely bring about total annihilation!

...

As soon as the rule was announced, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over the entire world, completely extinguishing the flames of excitement and thrill ignited by the establishment of the Human Federation just two days prior.

"Up to a level-10 earthquake?!"

"I don’t think a level-10 earthquake has ever happened before..."

"Wasn’t the biggest earthquake in history a magnitude 9.7 or something?"

"A level-10 earthquake... even if it only lasts for five minutes, humanity could be wiped out..."

"Could this be the Fire Thief’s retaliation for humanity establishing the Human Federation?!"

The eleventh rule’s announcement brought as much despair as the publication of the Human Unity Declaration had brought hope.

Many people began to suspect: was it because humanity was uniting that the Fire Thief decided to issue such a terrifying survival-based rule?

Meanwhile, three hours after the rule was released, the Human Federation convened its first-ever rule response discussion.

Since the committee had just been formed, a physical meeting place had not yet been decided, so the meeting was held online.

All thirty-four member nations of the Human Federation were in attendance. Each meeting room was equipped with several huge screens displaying the video feeds of the various national representatives.

The Human Federation’s committee operates on a rotating system. Through a prior vote, the representative from North Star Country was elected as the first chairman with an overwhelming majority of twenty-six votes.

Securing so many votes was related to North Star Country’s performance over the past year. Although it had lost a large number of people, in terms of percentage, North Star Country’s fifty percent population loss was the lowest in the world.

Among the other thirty-three nations, the one with the lowest losses still lost over eighty percent of its population, while the hardest-hit countries lost over ninety percent, leaving less than ten percent of their people remaining.

And there was more than one such country. Half of the thirty-four nations had seen their populations drop below the ten-million mark, leaving only a few million people.

Of the remaining half, only North Star, Soloma, and Black Moon Flag still had populations measured in the hundreds of millions. Other countries like Sakura Prayer, Fahe, and Sisiya were in the tens of millions.

In times of peace, population was one symbol of strength. In the era of the Apocalypse Rules, this strength was magnified even further.

A larger population meant more Ascenders, which naturally translated to greater comprehensive national power.

However, unlike North Star and Soloma, the "Black Moon Flag" nation, which also maintained a population over one hundred million, did so not because it had handled the rules well, but purely because it had had too many people to begin with...

Before the Apocalypse Rules, the Black Moon Flag nation had a total population of over 2 billion, but its economy was underdeveloped, and most of its citizens lived in poverty. A year after the rules began, nearly ninety percent of this 2 billion-strong population had perished, leaving only about 200 million.

With a national situation like this, even though its population was still in the hundreds of millions, its comprehensive national power was very weak and could not be compared to the other two nations in that bracket.

Therefore, the competition for the first chairmanship was almost exclusively between North Star Country and the Soloma Empire.

North Star’s landslide victory was partly due to its reputation for being steady and reliable, and partly because the Soloma Empire had made too many enemies by frequently attacking other nations. Thus, North Star’s win was widely supported.

The representative from North Star Country serving as chairman was none other than the head of the Strategy Research Room, Gao Liangwei.

North Star’s "Apocalypse Rules Strategy Research Room" was famous worldwide. Many smaller nations that lacked the resources and capabilities to study the rules themselves would base their strategies on the "Apocalypse Rules White Paper" published by the Strategy Research Room.

Because of this, the moment Gao Liangwei’s resolute face appeared on screen, the representatives from every nation applauded to show their respect.

"Everyone, this is the Human Federation’s first joint meeting to discuss our strategy for an Apocalypse Rule, so I’ll dispense with the pleasantries." Gao Liangwei went straight to the point. "You are all aware of the severity of this eleventh rule. The most critical threats are the level-8 earthquake on day 24, the level-9 earthquake on day 27, and the level-10 earthquake on day 30."

The commissioners from every nation nodded in agreement.

For this rule, the level 1 through 7 earthquakes were manageable. Earthquakes happen every year around the world, and all nations had familiar response measures.

But starting from level 8, the degree of disaster was beyond what ordinary measures could handle. Even lasting for just five minutes, the destruction would be staggering, and a large number of people would die.

And at level 9, aside from the earthquake itself, massive secondary disasters like volcanic eruptions and tsunamis could level entire cities.

As for level 10...

"The level-10 earthquake set to erupt on May 30th—will it really not completely destroy human civilization?" one commissioner couldn’t help but ask. "That’s a level-10 earthquake! A level that has only ever existed in theory!"

"Indeed, a level-10 earthquake is just too hard to imagine. Our domestic experts believe that if one were to occur, even continental plates would be torn apart. It would also trigger secondary disasters like mega-tsunamis and the collapse of our agricultural and industrial systems, dealing a devastating blow to human civilization."

"Is there really nothing we can do? We have to come up with a countermeasure!"

Gao Liangwei spoke up. "Everyone, let’s not panic. We still have time."

The earthquake level increases once every 72 hours, or three days. Starting from today, May 1st, the level-10 quake won’t hit until May 30th.

Before that, humanity has one month to prepare for its arrival. Whether it’s finding a way to prevent it from happening, a way to mitigate the damage it causes, or even a way to escape and build high-altitude safe havens... there is still time.

"The Chairman is right. We must use the time we have to prepare thoroughly."

"I propose we requisition all the aircraft from every nation for unified deployment, to protect each country’s elites," a commissioner said. "According to our calculations, earthquakes have a negligible effect on the stratosphere. As long as a plane is at cruising altitude when the earthquake hits, it should be able to avoid the disaster."

Another commissioner immediately shot the idea down. "That can only be a backup plan. How many people are there in the world, and how many can all our planes carry combined? Besides, the exact time of the earthquake is uncertain; it will only occur within a five-minute window on that day. This means that to avoid it, planes would have to maintain high-altitude flight for 24 hours straight."

"And don’t forget the situation on the ground," another commissioner added. "Planes flying at high altitudes might not be affected by the earthquake, but what about the radar and control towers on the ground? Once those are destroyed, the planes lose their navigation signals and become like headless flies... And with airports and other facilities destroyed by the quake, where would the planes even land?"

After being refuted twice, the commissioner who made the proposal was left speechless.

"In that case, building sturdy shelters is also pretty pointless," someone said. "Level 8 to 10 earthquakes can tear the earth apart, creating massive fissures. Even if a shelter could withstand the shaking, it would be swallowed by the cracks in the ground."

"Will this rule have hidden information, like the last two?" the commissioner from Sakura Prayer suddenly asked Gao Liangwei. "Chairman Gao, the administrator of that ’Ascender’s Home’ website is most likely one of your North Star People, aren’t they?"

Gao Liangwei replied, "I’ve already had someone contact them via the website’s private messaging. I hope to get a result soon."

His words surprised everyone.

The commissioner from the Soloma Empire, a blonde woman in a suit, chuckled. "Are you joking, Chairman Gao? With North Star’s formidable official power, you’re saying you ’hope’ for a result? Why not just order the administrator to comply?"

Gao Liangwei wasn’t provoked by her taunting words. He stated calmly, "The website is not owned by the North Star government, and we are not aware of the administrator’s identity. On another note, I recall that Soloma also has a very famous Divination Master. I wonder if they have offered any Prophecy this time?"

At his words, the other commissioners all looked at the blonde woman from Soloma. Indeed, Soloma’s Divination Master, known as "Moon Key," was very famous, and every nation had heard of her.

The blonde commissioner’s expression soured, but she answered, "She has already made a Prophecy. I wasn’t trying to hide it; it’s just that the result of the Prophecy was not good, and we don’t believe it anyway."

"The Human Federation was founded for the sake of mutual aid and information sharing. Just say what you have to say. Since she possesses the ability of divination, her words are worth hearing, regardless of whether they come true," Gao Liangwei said.

"If you all insist on hearing it, then I’ll tell you. But don’t blame me if you can’t handle it after you hear it." The female commissioner took a deep breath and relayed the Prophecy from Moon Key.

"Moon Key’s Prophecy is this: she saw the true ’end of the world.’ The vast majority of humanity will die as earthquakes tear continents apart and tsunamis swallow cities. The few who remain will suffer from nuclear leaks caused by the quakes, eventually succumbing to mutations during a long nuclear winter, ending human civilization in the form of deformed monsters."