49 Apocalypse Rules

"From the way you put it, Tong, maybe going to Terra wouldn’t be so bad after all."

The moment he finished speaking, Xu Xiaotian shook his head again and again.

"But I’m not going, no way. Here, worst case, we can still eat canned food. Over there, wouldn’t we have to drink nutritional supplements all day? I’d rather die."

Guan Tong smiled. "For this kind of emigration plan, the first wave of people will definitely be carefully selected. Ordinary folks like us wouldn’t get a chance anyway."

"You’re not ordinary, Tong. You’re way stronger than me! By the way, are you thinking about going to an alien star?"

"Not really."

Although Guan Tong enjoyed his solitude, it wasn’t to the point where he had to live on another planet.

Besides, he felt that the space emigration plan was just a safety measure from the country’s higher-ups. They would never abandon their home world unless it was an absolute last resort.

But...

"I don’t want to go to an alien star, but I have a feeling about something. I don’t know if it’ll come true."

"What kind of feeling, Tong?"

Guan Tong said hesitantly, "I think there might be a rule in the future that involves going to an alien planet."

"Huh? Really?"

"Just a feeling. After all, the Fire Thieves can bring creatures from alien planets to our Celestial Water Star. If they wanted to, they could also send us to an alien planet."

Hearing this, Xu Xiaotian wasn’t scared at all. Instead, his face lit up with eager anticipation. "So you’re saying there might be a rule in the future that sends us to an alien planet to complete a task? That would be so exciting!"

"What if we’ve already been?"

"???"

Xu Xiaotian was completely baffled.

"What are you talking about, Tong? When have we ever had a rule that sent us to an alien planet?"

"Not a rule, but the ’First Ascender Challenge’," Guan Tong reminded him. "Have you followed the subsequent investigations into the competition’s venue, ’Holy Grail Island’? According to the national satellite survey information that was later disclosed, no such island exists on Celestial Water Star."

Xu Xiaotian’s eyes widened. "So you’re saying the Ascenders who participated in the competition were transported to an alien planet?"

"It’s not certain, just a possibility. That’s why I said we might be sent to an alien planet by the Fire Thieves in the future."

"Well, that’s something to look forward to!"

The two chatted as they ate. Over the course of the meal, they talked about many things, from their recent circumstances to the future.

After leaving the building, Xu Xiaotian scratched his head sheepishly. "Tong, I can only join you for lunch today. I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on this afternoon."

"It’s fine. Go do what you need to do."

"Okay. I’ll come find you at the academy next time I’m free. It feels like a rare treat getting to talk with you, Tong!"

Guan Tong felt the same way. This conversation with Xu Xiaotian was the most he had spoken to anyone recently.

Even in his classes at the academy, he didn’t actually say much.

"I’m heading back then!"

Xu Xiaotian was about to head back to his department when Guan Tong remembered something and called out to him.

"Wait, Xiaotian. There’s one more thing I forgot to mention."

"What is it?"

"That kidnapping case from before... the organization behind it has been dismantled. Only the mastermind and a few core members are likely still at large."

Both of them had been involved in the kidnapping. Since Guan Tong had this information, he took the opportunity of their rare meeting to update Xu Xiaotian.

But he didn’t expect Xu Xiaotian to smack his own forehead upon hearing this. "Tong, I would’ve totally forgotten if you hadn’t brought it up! A while ago, Director Li—you know, Li Meng, the former public security director from our Yunhua—gave me a call."

"Oh? Was it about the kidnapping case?"

Guan Tong remembered his last meeting with Li Meng. Back then, Li Meng had said the case would be temporarily shelved and they would be notified once the investigation yielded results.

Since he had called Xu Xiaotian, it was very likely there were results.

"That’s exactly it!" said Xu Xiaotian. "He told me many of the participants were caught, they have the evidence, and the case is considered closed."

"Closed?" Guan Tong frowned. "As far as I know, the top leader hasn’t been caught. How can the case be closed?"

Xu Xiaotian shook his head. "I’m not sure about that. To be honest, if Director Li hadn’t called me, I would’ve forgotten all about the kidnapping."

"...You’re certainly carefree."

Guan Tong thought of the underground prison level he had seen in the Yongzhou Base. If Xu Xiaotian hadn’t been rescued back then, he probably would have been taken there. Half a year in that place would have broken almost anyone.

"Don’t worry, Tong, I’ll never forget that you saved my life," Xu Xiaotian said with a chuckle. "I’ll definitely repay you when I get the chance."

"Treating me to a hot meal today is repayment enough," Guan Tong said. "I’m heading back to the academy. See you next time."

Guan Tong bid farewell to Xu Xiaotian. On his way back to the academy, he was in a foul mood.

’Big Sister’ clearly hadn’t been caught, yet Li Meng had called Xu Xiaotian to say the case was closed. Whether they were just trying to brush it under the rug or not, he couldn’t accept it.

But then again, he hadn’t been pinning his hopes on others anyway. He would continue to hunt down this master villain in his own way.

’Besides,’ he thought, ’if the higher-ups have truly cut ties with this person, it will be easier for me to find them. I was already prepared to search even if the authorities were protecting them, and that would have been a whole different level of difficulty.’

...

It was already afternoon when Guan Tong returned to the academy. After his afternoon class, he went back to his assigned dormitory.

However, as he reached his door, he saw a slip of paper stuck in the gap underneath.

He bent down, pulled the slip of paper out, and unfolded it.

On the white slip of paper, a line of text was written in red ink:

"If you don’t want to die a violent death, stop giving private lessons to Yelena Stasia immediately!"

Guan Tong frowned slightly as he stared at the words.

’Who could have done this?’

’A student? Unlikely.’

’Even if a student was unhappy about my extra lessons for Yelena, they wouldn’t have the guts to send a death threat to an instructor.’

’Another instructor? That seems unlikely too.’

’Helping Yelena master Psychic Power Flow doesn’t harm any of the other instructors. There’s no conflict of interest.’

’But if it’s not a teacher and not a student, then who could it be?’

Guan Tong felt a surge of weariness and annoyance.

’I’m just here to substitute teach for a bit, and someone’s already pulling this kind of crap. Can’t they just let me have a short, peaceful campus life?’

’The priority now is to find the person who threatened me.’

Guan Tong looked up at the ceiling of the corridor. Since this was the faculty dormitory area, no security cameras were installed.

Moreover, because of the [Digital Detox] rule, all access control systems had been disabled during this period. Anyone could enter or leave the dormitory building. This meant the person who left the note could be anyone from the academy, or even an outsider.

He looked at the note in his hand again. ’I wonder what their reason is for wanting me to stop giving Yelena Stasia private lessons. Is it because they don’t want me to be alone with her? Or is it because they don’t want her to get stronger so quickly?’

’If it’s the former, the threat could have come from an ordinary student. Yelena is very beautiful, so it’s not impossible that some boy with a crush on her acted impulsively out of jealousy, doing something this brainless.’

’If it’s the latter... I’ll have to ask Yelena herself. Only she would know who wouldn’t want her to get stronger quickly.’

Thinking this, Guan Tong took out his key, unlocked the door, and entered the room.

He immediately smelled the stench of blood coming from the bedroom, and his expression grew grave.

He walked to the bedroom and pushed open the partially ajar door.

The next moment, he saw a severed black bear’s head placed in the middle of his bed. Blood stained the sheets red. It was the most direct warning possible: *I can cut off a bear’s head and put it on your bed, so I can cut off your head while you sleep.*

The moment he saw the bear’s head, Guan Tong knew this wasn’t the work of some jealous student.

A student might slip a note under his door, but they would absolutely not go find a bear, cut off its head, and throw it on his bed as a death threat.

"Excellent."

Guan Tong looked at the bear’s head and, unexpectedly, a slow smile spread across his face.

’I happen to be developing my Shadow Realm Ability recently. I was looking for someone to experiment on, but couldn’t find a suitable subject... And now, someone has just volunteered themselves.’