49 Apocalypse Rules

Soloma Empire, Near-Earth Space Station.

After the magnitude 10 earthquake ended, the changes on Celestial Water Star were visible to the naked eye from here.

The blue regions symbolizing oceans had changed the most. Without a doubt, countless cities on the planet had been submerged by tsunamis.

On the space station at this moment were the King of Soloma, along with a number of elders and other important personnel.

They had boarded a manned rocket to the space station the day before the earthquake erupted. Compared to staying on Celestial Water Star, it was naturally much safer here.

According to the "Terra Immigration" plan, if the ecosystem on Celestial Water Star was destroyed by this earthquake, they would move to Terra Star to survive.

But a day after the earthquake, intermittent reports came in from the ground. Although Celestial Water Star had been severely damaged, it hadn’t reached the point of utter destruction.

However, the secondary disasters brought on by the quake would persist for a long time, requiring years for humanity to recover.

"I wonder how many cities and countries are left on the planet now?" an elder lamented. "What a terrifying disaster."

"Even if all the other countries have been wiped out, our Soloma will surely still be standing."

"Yes. I think North Star is probably still around, too."

"I really want to go back and see the situation for myself as soon as possible."

"To be safe, we should wait a month or so. It’s still not safe to go back now."

Besides Soloma’s large space station, named "Celestial God," there were several other stations in orbit belonging to various major powers, each housing personnel who had been evacuated as a precaution before the earthquake.

The people on every space station were paying close attention to the planet’s condition. After all, unless it was absolutely necessary, no one really wanted to leave their home to live in a desolate place like Terra Star, where they would have to survive on synthetic food.

Meanwhile, on Celestial Water Star, the environment had undergone a dramatic transformation.

Due to the tectonic plates tearing and shifting from the super-quake, some former great rift valleys had widened, becoming new oceans.

Many of the original islands, including the former homelands of nations like Sakura Prayer, had sunk. In their place, elevated seabeds rose up, forming new island chains.

In addition to the island nations that suffered complete annihilation, the low-altitude regions of inland countries were also almost entirely submerged by tsunamis. Only cities in high-altitude areas remained relatively intact—and that was only relatively, as the powerful tremors still caused numerous buildings to collapse, resulting in heavy casualties.

But the deadliest problem was the thousands of tons of volcanic ash produced by massive eruptions. This ash, filling the air, would affect all kinds of engines and sensors, capable of infiltrating the components of precision equipment and causing all sorts of damage.

Furthermore, it would pollute the environment. Until its density decreased, people would have to wear professional-grade gas masks to go outside.

On top of all that, there were numerous other secondary disasters, such as a sudden drop in temperature and persistent acid rain, all of which had a huge impact on rescue efforts and the ecosystem.

The only silver lining was that, through the operations of the Human Federation, every nation had shut down its nuclear power plants before the earthquake and had professionally neutralized its nuclear facilities.

Otherwise, with the addition of extremely severe nuclear leaks and contamination, even if humanity hadn’t been destroyed by the earthquake, it was very likely they would have undergone biochemical mutations due to the intense atmospheric pollution, just as that Divination Master from Soloma had predicted.

The earthquake that erupted off the coast of North Star Country had its destructive power weakened to some extent, which gave the government more time for a second round of evacuations.

On the third day after the earthquake, in the early morning of May 30th, the initial transfer of survivors was completed.

Morning, May 30th. Strategy Research Room.

Inside the conference room, Gao Liangwei looked at the latest statistics. Even for a soldier like him, a man of Steel Will, he couldn’t hold back his inner sorrow, and his eyes reddened.

Everyone else in the room was silent.

Everyone knew the number of casualties from this super-disaster would be terrifying. So many cities had been swallowed by the tsunami—that was a hard fact. The chance of survival for anyone living in them was less than one in a thousand.

"...According to the current statistics, only eight major cities in North Star are still functional," Gao Liangwei said, his voice hoarse. "We have only one mission right now: to rescue the survivors in the affected cities as much as possible."

"Director, our departments have already come up with some rescue plans, as well as contingency plans for various secondary disasters. You can review them later."

"Good. I’ll review them as soon as possible. Also, contact the other functional nations quickly. The Human Federation must continue to operate so that all countries can cooperate efficiently."

The relevant personnel nodded. "Understood."

After such a major disaster, if the nations didn’t want the ecosystem of Celestial Water Star to be destroyed by the subsequent secondary disasters, they had no choice but to unite and work together to protect their shared home.

After the meeting, Zhang Minglu reported something to Gao Liangwei in private.

"Director," Zhang Minglu said with some hesitation. "Shadow was attacked after completing his mission and teleporting back to base. This has nothing to do with the Strategy Research Room, right?"

Gao Liangwei’s pupils constricted. "Where did you hear this?"

"Shadow contacted me. He said he’s already eliminated the attackers, but he won’t let the mastermind behind it go either."

"...This matter has nothing to do with the Research Room."

Gao Liangwei’s brows knitted tightly.

After the mission to weaken the Earth Vein Pillar was completed, he had immediately recalled Ascenders belonging to the Research Room, like Dragon Soul, to send them on emergency rescue missions.

Since Guan Tong wasn’t officially affiliated with them, Gao Liangwei naturally hadn’t asked him. But he never expected an attack like this to happen.

"What?" Gao Liangwei shot back at Zhang Minglu. "Is he implying with this call that he suspects our Research Room of getting rid of him now that his job is done?"

"From his perspective, it’s a reasonable suspicion... After all, that base belongs to the government. Anyone who knew he would be there and could also mobilize long-range weapons to attack him is definitely not an ordinary person."

"The attackers used long-range weapons?" As someone with a military background, Gao Liangwei knew what that implied.

He immediately said, "Then we have a lead. The use of such weapons always leaves a trail! A double trail, in fact—both digital and paper. No one has the authority to destroy it. We can follow the records to find the commander and dig up who gave the order."

His expression grew darker as he spoke. "To be attacking our own people during a natural disaster instead of focusing on rescue... I could tolerate some of their petty moves before, but this time, even if I have to tear the whole thing open, I’m going to demand an explanation from the higher-ups!"

Gao Liangwei was truly furious this time. The Research Room had worked so hard to establish a cooperative relationship with Shadow. For the past month, they had done so much—mobilizing all sorts of materials, items, and personnel. How could an outsider possibly know how much effort it took?

All that hard work had finally led to a positive outcome, and now someone was pulling a stunt this despicable. No matter who it was, Gao Liangwei was determined to confront them head-on.

Zhang Minglu nodded. "Exactly. The implications of this are too severe. If we don’t investigate this thoroughly, any future cooperation with Shadow will be impossible. His abilities are unique; there will definitely be a need for them in the future. We absolutely cannot let this relationship fall apart."

"We can’t delay this," Gao Liangwei realized, his senses sharpening. "The attack failed, so the mastermind will definitely make another move. I need to contact my superiors immediately."

The moment he finished speaking, the voice of the Fire Thief echoed in his mind.

[Rule Period has ended]

[Congratulations. You have passed the trial of the eleventh Apocalypse Rule]

Gao Liangwei and Zhang Minglu looked at each other, and a complex, bitter smile couldn’t help but appear on their faces.

The pain and exhaustion brought on by this Rule had even blurred their sense of time, making them forget that it was supposed to end at 9 o’clock today.