49 Apocalypse Rules

In the border region of Antu City, many Andai Kingdom soldiers were on guard and patrolling.

The orders they received were simple: do not allow anyone to cross the border into North Star Country.

The higher-ups issued this order because they wanted to capture Shadow, who had wreaked havoc in Banzhen. They believed that after burning down Ba Song’s manor, Shadow would definitely return to North Star Country, so they set up blockades on all possible routes.

Furthermore, they had lookouts posted on every street in Antu City; any suspected foreigner would be reported immediately.

But in reality, these measures were completely ineffective.

First, if Guan Tong wanted to return, any blockade would be useless against a combination of his Shadow and Body Shifting abilities.

Second, Guan Tong currently had no intention of leaving the Andai Kingdom.

That’s right. He wasn’t in the border city of Antu at this moment, but deep within a forest in the Andai Kingdom.

As a country with a typical tropical rainforest climate, the Andai Kingdom had vast, dense forests within its borders.

Many of them were undeveloped. Guan Tong simply found one, went deep inside, summoned his sanctuary, and temporarily settled down.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to return to North Star Country, but he was currently worried about the North Star officials’ attitude toward him.

Before making a move against Ba Song, he had considered that the Andai Kingdom’s government would definitely lodge an official protest.

How North Star Country would respond was hard to say.

Before, Guan Tong wouldn’t have worried about being found by officials while staying on Mingdao Mountain, but things were different now.

Now, as long as he held the Puzzle Fragments, his location would be known to the other two holders.

This made Guan Tong worry that a special situation might arise: the other two fragment holders might take the initiative to leak his location to the North Star officials.

This seemed absurd, but there was a real possibility of it happening. In fact, the possibility wasn’t small.

The reason was that the other two fragment holders were likely backed by major powers, or even had official government backgrounds.

Guan Tong, on the other hand, was just an individual Ascender.

If the organizations behind the other two fragment holders entered negotiations with North Star officials over a fragment trade, and then discovered that North Star Country’s holder wasn’t affiliated with the government, it would be a logical move to reveal his location to the North Star officials to facilitate the talks.

Based on this, after thinking it over, Guan Tong decided to stay abroad for now.

—So, wasn’t he worried that the other two fragment holders might leak his location to the Andai Kingdom officials who were hunting for him?

Actually, he was.

Guan Tong wasn’t afraid of ordinary soldiers or Ascenders from the Andai Kingdom coming after him, but he was afraid of long-range bombardment.

Indeed, he could maintain constant surveillance with his shadow eyes against any ground assault.

But what if the enemy didn’t attack head-on? What if, after pinpointing his general location, they just launched a long-range missile strike...

It wasn’t out of the question for the Andai Kingdom to do something like that.

Guan Tong even felt that the Soloma Empire might have the same idea.

This tyrannical Empire was known for its overbearing ways, often using stealth bombers to drop various types of bombs from extreme altitudes for precision strikes.

If Soloma’s fragment holder was state-affiliated and could mobilize Soloma’s military forces, it was highly likely they would dispatch several large bombers to fly over, following the fragment’s location, and drop bombs from high altitude.

In any case, the fragments had the "indestructible" trait. As long as they bombed the holder to death, they could just pick up the fragments afterward.

In response to this situation, Guan Tong had also made a contingency plan.

And that was to separate himself from the fragments.

That’s right, his two fragments were not on his person at the moment. Instead, they were wrapped in a detached Shadow Line. This Shadow Line was very far from his location and deep underground, so he didn’t have to worry about it being destroyed in a bombing.

This way, he could sense the fragments’ condition at all times without having to worry about being bombed in his sleep one day—even with his sanctuary, he felt its current defenses probably couldn’t stop a high-yield missile strike.

Aside from all these reasons, in the two days since he’d left the country, he had also found it was much more convenient to get many things done abroad. So, he decided to stay outside the country for a while before considering whether to return.

Additionally, he was determined to obtain the other three Puzzle Fragments.

This meant that if he couldn’t obtain them through other channels, or if the other fragment holders didn’t come looking for him, he might have to make a trip to the Soloma Empire or the Sakura Prayer country in the future. In that case, it might be more convenient to depart from the Andai Kingdom.

But that was definitely not a task for the immediate future.

Guan Tong believed that the other two fragment holders would surely get the news and be on alert, making it unlikely that he could just go over and take the fragments directly.

Besides, this trip to the Andai Kingdom had been exhausting. He planned to rest for a while and would only consider getting the other fragments after the tenth Apocalypse Rule ended.

That evening, Guan Tong opened his computer and logged into the Ascender’s Home website.

’I haven’t been on my website for a few days. I wonder if there’s anything new.’

He didn’t realize until he looked, but he was a hot topic again. Many posts were about him, and one in particular had a huge number of replies.

"Breaking News! The Shadow God Wreaked Havoc in Banzhen, the Capital of the Andai Kingdom, and Is Now Wanted by Their Government!"

"The OP works in the foreign affairs department and just received a protest from the Andai Kingdom’s foreign affairs department. It says the Shadow God killed over a hundred people in their Capital, a grievous crime, and they’re demanding that North Star Country officials help capture the Shadow God!"

"???"

"What’s the deal? The Shadow God went abroad and went on a killing spree?"

"Didn’t they ban individuals from entering or leaving the country after the Apocalypse Rules started? How did the Shadow God get out?"

"Are you an idiot, poster above? Shadow is the World’s First Ascender. You think a little thing like leaving the country would stop him?"

"This is a huge deal now. I wonder how the government will handle it."

"Didn’t that Lucifer from Soloma also go abroad and kill a bunch of people? From what I saw, besides issuing a public wanted notice, Soloma didn’t send any planes or warships to capture him."

"Don’t you dare compare my Shadow God with that mass murderer Lucifer!!! The Shadow God must have had a reason for doing this!"

The users were discussing the matter animatedly, their debate heated. Everyone was guessing why Shadow went to the Andai Kingdom to cause chaos and how the government would handle the situation.

Guan Tong watched for a while before closing the thread. Since the public didn’t know the truth, their baseless speculation wasn’t very meaningful. The only thing worth noting was the formal protest from the Andai Kingdom’s foreign ministry, which now put North Star Country’s government in a difficult position.

Then, to his surprise, when he clicked on the commission board, he saw a commission with an extremely high offer, and it was related to the Puzzle Fragments.

"Commission Post~ Anyone holding a [Qimo Star Chronicles · Fragment] item, please take a look. I’d like to purchase them for a price of 5 million Sublimation Coins per piece. If you’re interested or want to discuss, please send me a private message."

The user who posted the commission had the username "Primordial Man."

The post had several hundred replies, most of them from people who were confused.

"What’s a [Qimo Star Chronicles · Fragment]? How come I’ve never heard of it?"

"Jeez, what kind of item sells for 5 million? Are you sure this isn’t just made-up bait?"

"This is a pointless commission post. Why hasn’t the admin deleted it yet?"

These comments were perfectly normal, because there were only five Puzzle Fragments in total. Besides the holders, only a very small number of people would know about them.

Guan Tong didn’t know if the poster was connected to the Sakura Prayer holder or the Soloma Empire holder, but he knew this wasn’t a bait post. The fragments really were worth millions.

Looking at the poster’s username, "Primordial Man," Guan Tong thought for a moment, then opened his private messages. He scrolled through and discovered this person had actually sent him a message.

Primordial Man: "Hello, Admin~ Others might not know, but I’m sure you must know about the existence of the [Qimo Star Chronicles · Fragment], right? After all, you’re so close to Shadow (or should I say, you are Shadow?). If you see this message, could you please reply?"

Primordial Man: "If you or Shadow are willing to part with them, I can offer five million per piece. I know Shadow probably doesn’t lack Sublimation Coins, but the more the merrier, right?"

Guan Tong looked at the timestamp on the message; it hadn’t been sent long ago.

He thought for a moment and typed a reply.

Admin: "What if, on the contrary, Shadow wants to acquire your fragments?"

A few minutes later, a reply came.

Primordial Man: "It seems Shadow is also someone who enjoys reading stories. Perhaps we’ll have a lot to talk about. However, if Shadow isn’t willing to part with his fragments, then things get troublesome. After all, you can only complete the puzzle and get the full story by collecting all the fragments. But is it really worth it to fight tooth and nail, even taking countless lives, just to assemble it?"

Primordial Man: "So, I have a proposal. If Shadow agrees, why don’t we set a time and place for a 1v1 friendly match? If I lose, I will naturally hand over my two fragments. If I win, Shadow’s fragments are mine, but I will still provide Sublimation Coins as compensation. I imagine the famous Shadow, as the World’s First Ascender, wouldn’t refuse, right?"

Guan Tong frowned as he read the reply.

’A 1v1 friendly match?’

It seemed advantageous, but it was actually a huge risk.

’All this talk of being "famous" and the "World’s First"—it’s all just empty praise.’ Guan Tong wasn’t so conceited that he’d let it go to his head and believe he was truly invincible.

He knew very well that compared to this "Primordial Man," he was at an absolute disadvantage—an information disadvantage.

During the battle on Holy Grail Island, too many of his abilities had been exposed. Anyone who had seriously investigated or paid attention to him would have some understanding of his combat style and know what to expect.

Meanwhile, Guan Tong knew absolutely nothing about this "Primordial Man"—not whether they were male or female, old or young, or what special abilities or items they possessed.

In a fight between Ascenders, if there was a huge disparity in power, one could perhaps ignore all other factors and simply crush the opponent.

But if their strengths were similar, then it ultimately came down to a battle of intelligence.

The opponent had intelligence on him, while he knew nothing about the opponent.

In this situation, even if this "Primordial Man" didn’t play any tricks and genuinely wanted a 1v1 spar, Guan Tong would still be at a disadvantage.

Admin: "Shadow feels this isn’t fair. Too much of his combat intelligence has been exposed."

Primordial Man: "Ah, that is a fair point. A lot of people know that Shadow can control and shape shadows, and create smoke and explosions. As an exchange, please tell Shadow that I wield the power of a Manipulation Force Field. How about that?"

Guan Tong was stunned when he saw the reply.

’A Manipulation Force Field? For real?’

’If that’s true, it’s without a doubt an extremely powerful and versatile ability. It can be used for both offense and defense, and its development potential is nearly limitless. As long as one has enough Psychic Power and a rich enough imagination, one could develop countless insane techniques.’

’Then why just tell me like that?’

’Does this guy think he can still win, even after leaking his own intelligence?’

Even just through text, Guan Tong could faintly sense that this "Primordial Man" possessed an extremely calm confidence. It wasn’t the arrogance born of pride or vanity, but the confidence of someone who truly believed they would win.

Guan Tong thought for a moment before typing.

Admin: "Shadow needs to think it over. He has many concerns about this friendly match."

Primordial Man: "I can understand. It’s hard for people to trust each other in this era. But I think that since Shadow and I are both story lovers, perhaps we could become friends."

When Guan Tong saw how this person kept bringing up "stories," an idea sparked in his mind.

Admin: "Shadow has an idea. A story for a story. Each fragment contains a mural. If we exchange the contents of our murals, perhaps we can piece together the outline of the Qimo Star story?"

Primordial Man: "Ah, that’s a great idea! I have fragments #2 and #4. May I ask which numbers Shadow has?"

Admin: "Shadow has #1 and #3."

Primordial Man: "Then they should connect nicely! It’s just a pity that we’re missing #5, the most important fragment, the one that symbolizes the ’ending’."