49 Apocalypse Rules

After the magnitude-9 earthquake, the Human Federation meeting, which was supposed to be held remotely, was first postponed and then canceled.

The reason was simple: most member nations had been devastated and were in no mood for a meeting.

The previous magnitude-8 earthquake had led to the demise of the nation of Magala, and this magnitude-9 quake destroyed over five more in one fell swoop—three with populations in the millions, and two in the tens of millions.

In just one short week, the Human Federation, originally composed of thirty-four nations, was now left with only twenty-eight.

Among these twenty-eight nations, many were teetering on the brink of collapse. If they received no aid from other countries for disaster relief, their dissolution was only a matter of time.

The cruel reality, however, was that no country had the spare capacity to offer a helping hand.

North Star couldn’t do it, and neither could Soloma.

Every major power had to prepare for the final magnitude-10 superquake, leaving them without a shred of energy to spare for other nations. This was another reason for the Human Federation meeting’s cancellation.

Facing an impending magnitude-10 earthquake, the likes of which humanity had never seen, no one could claim to be prepared. In fact, many people in the disaster-stricken areas had given up on seeking shelter entirely. There simply wasn’t enough time.

As a result, for many countries, these three days became a final, frantic celebration.

Cultists lurking in many countries, sensing the apocalypse was nigh, stopped hiding and emerged to preach openly.

Some even gave passionate speeches right in front of government buildings, declaring that Judgment Day was at hand and that this was the punishment sinful humanity deserved.

Officials in many countries couldn’t be bothered to deal with them. All resources and personnel had to be dedicated to disaster relief and preparations for the final quake. Everything would be settled in three days. If the world truly ended, arresting a few Cultists three days sooner would be pointless.

This frenzied atmosphere wasn’t just spreading in the real world; it was rampant online as well.

On the Ascender’s Home forums, netizens from various countries were chiming in, and a post with three "apocalyptic questions" gained massive traction.

"The Magnitude-10 Apocalypse is Nigh, OP Has Three Questions: What will you do in these three days? Do you have any regrets? If you survive, how will you live your life from now on?"

The replies below were all over the map.

"Go to a high mountain to watch the world end; my regret is moving to a big city for my career; if I live, I’ll go back to my hometown and live as a free agent."

"Replay my favorite game; before the Apocalypse Rules, I was too frugal to buy a good rig; if I live, I’ll play games every day."

"Eat, drink, and sleep. My regret is struggling so hard during the first Rule—I should’ve just gone to sleep comfortably and passed on without knowing a thing. If I survive, the next time a Rule offers a painless death, I’m just gonna take the exit."

People chimed in with answers to the three questions, each revealing a different deep-seated fixation.

But the vast majority of replies revealed a powerful will to live.

Those who had survived this long undoubtedly wanted to keep going. Even in the face of what seemed like an unsurvivable catastrophe, they were unwilling to simply give up.

However, another post soon appeared, its popularity skyrocketing to the number one spot.

"Risking My Life to Expose This: The Major Powers Are About to Launch Manned Rockets! The People of Celestial Water Star Are Being Abandoned! The Elites Are Migrating to Terra Star!"

The poster claimed to be an insider at a certain nation’s space agency, saying they were leaking the news out of a guilty conscience.

According to classified materials provided by the poster, major powers including Soloma, Fahe Country, and North Star Country all had similar plans. Relevant departments from several of these nations had even held secret meetings to discuss the matter.

The moment this post appeared, the number of replies exploded.

"Shameless! Abandoning ordinary people to flee into space—it’s utterly shameless!"

"The only ones getting on those rockets will be the elites and their lackeys. Ordinary people won’t stand a chance."

"These bastards have it all figured out, don’t they? They’ll hide in space during the earthquake. If Celestial Water Star is destroyed, they’ll go to Terra. If it survives, they’ll just come back. They won’t miss a thing!"

"We can’t let them fly! Who do they think they are?!"

"I agree! Destroy all the launch sites!!!"

The issue struck a nerve common to ordinary people in every country. They knew full well they had absolutely no chance of getting a seat on one of those rockets.

The post, therefore, incited a storm of public outrage, adding fuel to an already raging fire.

The news spread like wildfire, circulating through every country in less than half a day.

That afternoon, related movements began to unfold.

A massive public outcry erupted in Fahe Country. Protesters first denounced the decision-makers, then converged on the space center, intending to destroy all rocket launchpads and equipment to ensure not a single elite could escape.

This naturally provoked a strong reaction from Fahe’s government, which immediately mobilized personnel to stop and suppress the protests.

What the Fahe government hadn’t expected, however, was that the very personnel under their command would mutiny and side with the ordinary people.

These enforcers had figured it out: they, like everyone else, were in the category of people who wouldn’t be getting a seat on a rocket. With the world about to end, what was the point of laying down their lives for those people?

This complete reversal, happening in such a short time, caught the Fahe government completely off guard. Before they could formulate a response, their command centers were breached, and numerous high-ranking officials were detained.

The entire nation’s upheaval occurred in just half a day. By evening, new representatives were already issuing statements to other countries, announcing that Fahe Country was in the process of selecting a new leadership group.

The sheer speed of these events left other nations stunned.

After rapid analysis, both Soloma’s Senate and North Star’s think tanks concluded that an unknown force was fanning the flames behind the scenes.

It was highly probable that an organization within Fahe Country was behind the post exposing the rocket plan. Their goal was to use the incident to rapidly incite public anger, then exploit the window of opportunity right after the earthquake. With a large portion of the government’s manpower dispatched for disaster relief, creating an internal power vacuum, they could seize power in a single stroke.

North Star’s high-level think tanks analyzed that this incident might be connected to the individual who used Brain Control to build a Cultist organization, and that they must be watched closely.

For now, however, other nations were too busy dealing with the earthquake to concern themselves with Fahe’s internal power struggles. This was likely the exact window of opportunity the plotters had deliberately chosen, striking decisively when other countries were unable and unwilling to interfere.

News of the upheaval in Fahe spread rapidly online, and many within Soloma and North Star Country began to question whether the manned rocket escape was truly anything but an act of privilege.

Soloma chose to handle the issue with silence. The government of North Star Country, however, issued a public statement, disclosing some of the items being placed inside the rockets.

Among them were various plant seeds, hard drives storing the history and culture of Celestial Water Star, and even a gene bank for humans and numerous animal species.

The official explanation was that the rocket program’s purpose was to preserve humanity’s civilization and its legacy in a worst-case scenario, with the hope of one day rebuilding their home. As for the passengers, aside from a few key decision-makers, they would primarily be experts in relevant fields.

After this explanation was published, while many people remained dissatisfied, the public opposition did weaken considerably.

The people of North Star understood, on some level, that it was wise to prepare for the worst.

It was just that the thought of not being among the chosen few inevitably stirred anger born from disappointment.

But none of this had anything to do with Guan Tong.

While others discussed how they would spend these three days, he had no free time to join in. His entire three days were spent absorbing Psychic Power.

To maximize efficiency, the government had devised over twenty different methods to channel the power to him simultaneously. Every hour, every minute, every second, a massive amount of Psychic Power surged into his body, which he converted and stored at a ten-to-one ratio.

By the final second of the seventy-two-hour period, Guan Tong’s reserve of Psychic Power had surpassed one billion.

This meant that the country had mobilized over ten million Ascenders, who in three days had channeled a total of over ten billion units of Psychic Power to him.

These few simple numbers laid bare the full extent of North Star Country’s comprehensive national power. It represented the absolute peak number of Ascenders that could be mobilized within the strict seventy-two-hour time limit.