49 Apocalypse Rules

At the foot of Mingdao Mountain.

Yu Hong and Zhao Yu, who had been camped here to survive, saw the thick Mist appear after the ninth rule was announced. They immediately dove into a jeep, locking the doors and windows.

They weren’t foolish enough to hide in a tent. That kind of canvas material would be utterly useless against monsters.

But the vehicle didn’t seem much better...

Zhao Yu’s eyes were wide as he nervously glanced around. "Yu, what should we do? Hiding in this car can’t be a long-term solution, can it...?"

The rules had already stated that a monster called the "Nightmare Beast" existed within the Mist. The fact that it hunted humans was enough to prove how dangerous it was.

"How about we try to take shelter in the nearest city?" Yu Hong suggested.

"Whatever you say, Yu."

Zhao Yu was in a complete panic and couldn’t think of a single idea himself.

Yu Hong started the car and pulled out her phone to use the GPS, but the function was completely dead.

She thought her own phone might be broken, so she had Zhao Yu try his, but the result was the same.

"This is bad. It seems GPS doesn’t work in the Mist."

"Then what do we do?"

"The Mist is so thick we can’t see the road at all, and it’s hard to get our bearings. There’s no way we can get to the city without GPS."

Neither Yu Hong nor Zhao Yu knew the surrounding roads well. Driving to the city in this thick Mist without navigation was impossible. Even if they weren’t killed by a Nightmare Beast along the way, they would most likely get lost and die some other horrible death.

"Yu, I don’t want to die... Please, can’t you think of something?" Zhao Yu said, his voice trembling. He had always been timid, and since he wasn’t an Ascender, he had no powers or items, leaving him even more helpless against the Apocalypse Rules.

Seeing him in this state, Yu Hong knew he would have a complete breakdown if this went on. She gritted her teeth and said, "It looks like our only choice is to head up the mountain and ask the camp there for help."

Yu Hong had never actually seen the mountain camp, but from her few encounters with its people, she had a general impression: the camp had people of all ages, they were powerful, and they were rich in resources.

However, Yu Hong also knew that the mountain camp was somewhat wary of outsiders.

That was why, apart from going up once to trade for food, she and Zhao Yu had never returned to the mountain or bothered its inhabitants. They were afraid of provoking the camp’s displeasure and getting driven away.

But now, with their lives on the line, Yu Hong had no choice but to hope the mountain camp would help them survive.

"That’s right!" Hearing Yu Hong’s suggestion, Zhao Yu’s eyes lit up with excitement. "I forgot there was a powerful base on the mountain! The people there are so strong, they can definitely help us! Yu, let’s go up right now."

Yu Hong nodded, glanced outside, and said, "When we get out of the car, stick close to me. Watch your step. In a fog this thick, one wrong move and you could fall to your death. Understand?"

"I know, Yu."

The car doors opened, and they stepped out, immediately immersing themselves in the Mist.

Instantly, they both felt a stinging pain on their exposed skin.

It was February and the weather was cold, so they were both wearing thick winter coats. The only skin left exposed was on their hands and faces, and that was where the pain was coming from.

"It hurts!" Zhao Yu looked down at his hand and saw faint red marks, like burns, already appearing on the back of it.

"The Mist is toxic! Quick, put on your gloves! Don’t leave any skin exposed!" Yu Hong shouted, quickly pulling on her own gloves and wrapping her face tightly with her hat and scarf.

Zhao Yu followed her lead, and the two of them hurried toward the mountain. Visibility was only a few meters. Even though Mingdao Mountain was close, they could only make out the silhouette of its base.

Yu Hong led the way, each step exceptionally cautious. Mingdao Mountain was hard to climb even without a proper path, and with the frozen, slippery ground in winter, a single slip and fall would be no joke.

Zhao Yu followed behind her. They trudged upward step by step, praying they wouldn’t run into a Nightmare Beast before they found the mountain camp.

It seemed the Fire Thief heard their prayers. Despite the difficult climb, they actually managed to reach the mountainside without being attacked.

"Zhao Yu, look!" Yu Hong suddenly spotted something, her face lighting up with pleasant surprise. "Those trees up ahead are just stumps! Someone must have cut them down to build something. This means the camp isn’t far!"

When she finished speaking, she heard no response from Zhao Yu. Her heart suddenly sank. She whipped her head around and saw him standing motionless a few meters away from her.

"Zhao Yu, what’s wrong with you?"

Yu Hong walked over and heard him muttering to himself.

"Home... home isn’t that way. It’s... it’s the other way. The other way is home..."

Muttering, Zhao Yu suddenly turned and started walking in the other direction. But there was no home that way—only a cliff’s edge.

Seeing this, Yu Hong rushed to stop him, grabbing his arm. "Are you crazy? That’s a cliff over there!"

"Home is that way..."

His eyes were resolute, a look that filled Yu Hong’s heart with an indescribable fear.

The next moment, he violently shoved her away. "Don’t stop me from going home!"

Caught off guard by his push, Yu Hong staggered and nearly fell. By the time she regained her balance and looked up, Zhao Yu had already run to the edge of the cliff.

"Zhao Yu!!!"

"I’m going home..."

With a single leap, Zhao Yu jumped off the cliff. Yu Hong, rushing after him, was too late to stop him. She could only watch helplessly as he fell and was quickly swallowed by the Mist.

"No, no... this... Zhao Yu must have gone mad... or he was hallucinating..."

Yu Hong stumbled back a few steps in terror, trying her best to calm down.

’If it was the Mist’s influence, then why am I fine? How am I still lucid?’

Yu Hong shook her head forcefully. She knew this wasn’t the time for thinking. She was still in the Mist and could be attacked by a Nightmare Beast at any moment. Zhao Yu was dead, but she couldn’t just give up!

She turned and continued in the original direction. Since she’d found artificially cut trees, it meant the mountain camp was nearby. Finding it was her only hope of survival.

Yu Hong broke into a jog. She found the path growing smoother, and soon she saw a yard enclosed by a wooden fence up ahead. It looked just like a campsite!

As she drew closer, she saw a house inside the yard. It appeared to be made of stone, with perfectly fitted seams.

She was completely stunned. ’How could anyone build a stone house like this on a mountain?’ Piling up stones to make a house might be easy, but to make the stones fit together without a single gap would require all sorts of professional polishing and construction equipment. How could they have that up here on a mountain?

’Was this house built using some kind of Psychic Power item or a special ability?’

After that fleeting thought, she ran to the stone house and pounded on the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"Help! I’m Yu Hong from the camp at the foot of the mountain! Please help me!"

Inside, Guan Tong was studying how to explore the Mist when he suddenly heard the pounding on the door and Yu Hong’s cries for help. He looked up at the door in surprise.

Because he had sealed the door to his shelter to keep the dense Mist from getting in, his Shadow Surveillance Eyes, which he had originally placed around the mountain, were now useless. That was why he hadn’t noticed Yu Hong coming up the mountain.

He had thought that Yu Hong and Zhao Yu wouldn’t risk coming up in the thick Mist, especially with the cold, slippery mountain. He never expected they would actually come.

’But judging by the voice, it sounds like only Yu Hong came.’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The pounding on the door started again.

Guan Tong hesitated for a second, then stood up and walked to the door.

"Please, help me, open the door! My friend, Zhao Yu, he’s already—"

Just as Guan Tong’s hand reached the doorknob, Yu Hong’s voice from outside abruptly cut off.

Guan Tong froze, his wrist about to turn the handle.

"Yu Hong?" he called out.

Dead silence from outside.

Guan Tong took two steps back.

One second, three seconds, five seconds... Not another sound came from Yu Hong.

...

"Combat Team A-1 is fully assembled."

At an armed base in the Outskirts of Yong’an, in an indoor staging area, over eighty fully armed soldiers stood ready to deploy.

They wore special, fully-enclosed Combat Suits, and next to them stood armored combat vehicles, tanks, and other mobile armed platforms.

After hearing the squad leader’s report, the Commander spoke. "Our Combat Team A-1 has been on the battlefield before. We are soldiers tested by iron and blood, with experience that the B-class combat units do not have. This time, our enemy is not human, but a monster called the ’Nightmare Beast.’ But no matter what the enemy is, we will achieve victory. To victory!"

"To victory!" the soldiers roared in unison.

"Board the vehicles!"

At the Commander’s order, everyone boarded the sealed armored cars and tanks.

Immediately after, the staging area’s main gate opened, and the Mist from outside instantly seeped in.

"Mission objective: Proceed along the designated route to Area K31, conduct reconnaissance by fire, engage Nightmare Beasts in the Mist, and gather actionable intelligence on the enemy. Move out!"

A convoy of more than twenty armored vehicles and tanks drove out of the staging warehouse and into the dense fog, where they were quickly swallowed by the Mist.

The convoy advanced in combat formation, all machine guns and cannons ready to fire at a moment’s notice. A fight was inevitable, something every soldier knew well, as one of their objectives was to conduct reconnaissance by fire and determine the Nightmare Beasts’ combat capabilities.

Soon after the convoy entered the Mist, all their navigation equipment failed, but radio communication was unaffected. The Commander used the radio to get real-time updates on the situation. About ten minutes later, a message came from the lead unit.

"Report! Squad 1 is under attack by Nightmare Beasts! We are engaging the enemy!"

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The dense sound of gunfire and cannons erupted, accompanied by a loud CRUNCH, as if an armored vehicle had been overturned. Though the units at the rear of the convoy didn’t know what kind of attack the lead unit was facing, they followed the Commander’s orders and immediately moved to flank from both sides.

A light armored vehicle quickly approached the lead unit from the left flank. As it entered visual range, the armed personnel inside immediately saw several strange, indescribable creatures attacking the forward vehicles.

The creatures varied in shape. Some had streamlined bodies, while others were multi-limbed like centipedes. But these monsters, called "Nightmare Beasts" in the rules, all shared one common trait: their bodies were covered in a carapace-like hide, the same pale purple-green color as the Mist, allowing them to camouflage themselves perfectly.

What was most unsettling to the humans was that these Nightmare Beasts had no organs like "eyes," "mouths," or "noses." They were completely different from any terrestrial creature and, just as the rules mentioned, were undoubtedly life forms from an Alien Planet.

The Nightmare Beasts varied in size, but most were incredibly stout. They weren’t fast, but they were immensely strong—strong enough to flip a tank weighing over ten tons.

"Fire! Fire!"

The human counterattack was unleashed in a torrent of conventional weaponry. A hail of bullets, cannon shells, and even high-temperature flames rained down. When they struck the Nightmare Beasts, their carapace-like hides cracked and shattered. The way they died was by exploding like a balloon, completely dissipating into the Mist.

This discovery immediately made the soldiers ecstatic!

Unlike the previous "Sound Hunters," the Nightmare Beasts from this rule could be killed by human firearms!

This meant that for the first time under the Apocalypse Rules, the weapons humanity had spent years developing were finally being put to good use. This rule didn’t require relying on powerful Ascenders, fancy Psychic Power items, or special skills. With their own creations alone, humans could slaughter the monsters in the Mist!