49 Apocalypse Rules

’So, is "preventing enemies from teleporting away" the next direction for optimizing my Shadow Realm?’

The Shadow Realm dispersed.

Dragon Soul and Silver Fox watched as the black expanse in the sky vanished. A massive black hand lowered Shadow to the ground.

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though they had faith in Shadow, they couldn’t relax until they saw the outcome with their own eyes.

Now, Shadow was still here, but Lucifer was nowhere to be seen. The victor was clear.

But as some rejoiced, others despaired. While the two of them relaxed, Jiang Lanying’s face was ashen.

She didn’t care if Lucifer had run or died. To her, there was no difference—both meant her plan to flee the country had failed.

"Shadow, we owe you for this one,"

Dragon Soul said, stepping forward.

"Hand the target over to us. We’ll take her back for interrogation by our superiors."

Guan Tong glanced at Jiang Lanying, who was bound by his shadows not far away. The "big sister" who had caused so much harm had lost all her previous spirit, looking as if she had aged years in an instant.

"Sorry," Guan Tong said, turning to Dragon Soul. "I don’t plan on handing her over to you."

"!!"

Dragon Soul and Silver Fox were both stunned.

But upon hearing this, a spark of hope ignited in Jiang Lanying. She snapped her head up and said, "Shadow, if you’re willing to get me out of the country and guarantee my safety, I can compensate you for my past actions."

"I have a massive amount of Sublimation Coins and items in my storage. They can help you advance and become even stronger. Just agree, and they’re all yours!"

In Jiang Lanying’s eyes, gaining Shadow’s protection was an even better deal than her arrangement with Lucifer.

She had only sought out Lucifer before because she had no better options.

She had previously tried to secretly contact the Soloma Empire and Sisiya Country, hoping for asylum, but both nations had refused her. Their reason was the same: "As member states of the Human Federation, we cannot provide asylum to a fugitive from another member state."

This meant she couldn’t escape to the territory of any Human Federation member state. Her only remaining option was the lawless, warlord-ridden lands of the Tulip Federation.

That was why she had managed to contact Lucifer, hiring him for a huge sum of Sublimation Coins to help her leave the country.

If Shadow agreed to protect her now, she would definitely be able to escape!

"Shadow, you’re not actually going to agree, are you?" Silver Fox shouted. "Have you forgotten what she’s done?!"

She couldn’t believe Shadow would accept, but even if there was the slightest chance, she worried he might be tempted by the offer and make the wrong choice.

If Shadow truly chose to protect Jiang Lanying, there was no way she and Dragon Soul could stop him, not even with the reinforcements that were on their way.

"Of course I haven’t forgotten what she’s done," Guan Tong said.

If it weren’t for the [Self-Punishment for Lying] rule, Guan Tong might have pretended to agree, taken Jiang Lanying’s Sublimation Coins, and then made his move.

But with that rule in effect, "pretending to agree" would be a violation.

Dragon Soul, however, now understood what Guan Tong meant.

"Shadow, are you planning to take justice into your own hands? That isn’t a rational decision, and it will bring you trouble. Besides, without an interrogation, we might miss the chance to expose other hidden enemies connected to her."

"Maybe. Goodbye."

Guan Tong had no intention of discussing it further. He neither confirmed nor denied Dragon Soul’s words.

After speaking, his body shot away, taking the Shadow Line-bound Jiang Lanying with him.

"Wait!"

"Shadow, you..."

The two of them were powerless to stop Guan Tong from taking her away, and could only watch as they rapidly vanished from sight.

"Captain, what do we do?"

"...We can only report it as it happened. COUGH!"

Dragon Soul coughed up a mouthful of blood and took out a healing-type item to swallow.

He had been heavily injured in his fight with Lucifer and wouldn’t be able to fight again anytime soon.

Just then, the sound of helicopter propellers echoed in the distance. Reinforcements had arrived.

...

「In a secluded forest somewhere.」

Jiang Lanying struggled, trying to move her arms, but it was no use.

Her every finger was bound by Shadow Lines, rendering her unable to even twitch.

She knew Shadow had done this deliberately. This way, even if she could mentally retrieve an item from her storage, she would be completely unable to use it.

Guan Tong wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice. Lucifer had already escaped using a teleportation item; he would never give Jiang Lanying the same opportunity.

Her struggles proving futile, Jiang Lanying said bluntly, "Shadow, if you were worried about being officially wanted and didn’t dare agree in front of Dragon Soul, I can tell you now that my offer still stands."

"...I’m curious. You already have so much, so why are you still not satisfied?"

Guan Tong’s baffling words made Jiang Lanying’s expression freeze. "What?"

"Compared to others, you already control resources beyond the imagination of ordinary people," Guan Tong said. "Even without doing things like kidnapping, you could still safely pass through the Apocalypse Rules under the protection of many, couldn’t you?"

"..."

Jiang Lanying was silent for a moment, then snorted coldly. "Shadow, I can tell from your words that you must have come from the bottom. Only someone who has never touched power would say something so childish."

"Childish?"

"Utterly childish. A fearless, ignorant whelp who just got lucky and made something of himself in these special times dares to question me? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Guan Tong didn’t get angry at her words. He replied calmly, "You think I got lucky, but aren’t you the same? If you hadn’t been lucky enough to be born into a good family, to have a good start in life, would you have everything you do now?"

Jiang Lanying glared. "What did you say?!"

"For someone your age to still not understand this point... it seems I’m not the only childish one here." Guan Tong shook his head. "I have nothing more to say to you."

Jiang Lanying knew she was at the end of her rope, but she couldn’t resist making one last threat. "Shadow, do you think that just because I’m wanted, you can touch me without consequences? Believe me, if you dare, many people will not let you off the hook—including those you think are on your side."

"Is that so."

Jiang Lanying sneered. "In this world, only humans can kill humans. But if a dog kept by a human dares to bite a person to death, even its own master will put it down. Do you know why? Because a dog that has tasted human blood becomes a threat to everyone, including its master."

Hearing Jiang Lanying’s words, Guan Tong felt more sorrow than anger.

He even felt that the Fire Thief had more humanity than the "person" before him. The Fire Thief’s Apocalypse Rules treated all humans equally, whereas this "person" viewed most people as dogs.

"What, are you scared? Realize you’re just a dog that bit the wrong person? It’s not too late to regret it. I can show you the way out."

Seeing Guan Tong’s silence, Jiang Lanying thought he felt threatened and was hesitating. She wanted to strike while the iron was hot and make him change his mind.

However, the voice that answered her was calm, devoid of any fear or regret.

And the resolution contained within it struck a deep, primal fear into Jiang Lanying’s heart.

"As for ’people’ like you... I’ll bite to death as many as there are."