49 Apocalypse Rules

November 1st, 9:00 AM.

The voice of the Fire Thief rang in the mind of every Ascender, but the content was not the same for everyone.

[The Rule period has ended]

[This Rule challenge has been failed. The failure penalty is now in effect.]

[The fourteenth Apocalypse Rule will be announced in thirty days.]

At a Gathering Point, a young woman named Wang Lan shuddered when she heard the result "The failure penalty is now in effect." An indescribable fear spread through her heart.

This wasn’t her first failure. But when she’d failed before, the only penalty had been a reduction of her maximum Psychic Power. This time, however, the failure penalty for the Rule was rather special: she could no longer tell the truth.

’What exactly is going to happen?’

As Wang Lan was thinking worriedly, someone came in from outside—a fellow countryman. He greeted her, "Wang Lan, did you pass the Rule?"

Wang Lan had unintentionally lied earlier, breaking the Rule. Not wanting to deceive her countryman now, she nodded and admitted:

"I fai—uh—fai—"

Wang Lan wanted to say "I failed," but to her horror, she discovered she couldn’t get the words out!

It was as if something was blocking her throat and she couldn’t control her tongue. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t speak the words she was thinking.

"Wang Lan, what’s wrong with you?" her countryman asked, looking at her in confusion.

Wang Lan’s face was pale. She now understood what "The failure penalty is now in effect" meant. From that moment on, she could no longer speak the truth.

Seeing Wang Lan’s pained expression, her countryman realized something. "Wa-Wang Lan, you don’t mean... you violated the Rule and can’t tell the truth anymore, do you?"

"Wrong..."

Wang Lan said, nodding, her eyes welling up with tears. Because she didn’t want to say "wrong," but "right," yet she couldn’t get the word out.

All she could do was nod while saying "wrong."

’I can’t verbally express what I truly mean... From now on, will I only be able to deny things with my words while affirming them with my body?’

Wang Lan’s mind was in chaos, unable to accept this reality. For a moment, she was struck dumb, unable to say anything at all.

...

[The Rule period has ended]

[Congratulations on passing the test of the thirteenth Apocalypse Rule]

[Your reward has been sent to your storage box]

[The fourteenth Apocalypse Rule will be announced in thirty days.]

When the Fire Thief’s voice rang out, Guan Tong was sitting in front of his computer.

Less than a minute after the Fire Thief finished speaking, the number of posts on the website began to skyrocket.

It was obvious that everyone was frantically talking the moment the Rule ended.

And the topic was still related to the popular thread he had pinned yesterday.

Centered on the issues described in that post and the official statement, a large number of related topics had sprung up, all revolving around "laws in the age of Apocalypse Rules."

The fact that laws tend to lag behind is a problem that exists in every country.

This was especially true after entering the age of Apocalypse Rules. Unprecedented situations in human history were appearing one after another, and just dealing with them was overwhelming enough; there was no time to perfect the corresponding legal frameworks.

This allowed a hidden danger to be planted as early as the first Apocalypse Rule.

During those three days, many people used the leaked hidden rules, obtaining [Sober Mint Candy] by knocking others out to ensure they passed the Rule themselves.

After the Rule ended, a huge debate erupted online. Many people believed this was no different from deliberate murder. Some even proposed that the authorities should check everyone’s title, and anyone with the title "Disorder Breaker" should be arrested and charged with intentional homicide.

In the end, however, the authorities chose to give the matter the cold shoulder, offering almost no response to public opinion.

At the time, some believed the information had been leaked by the authorities themselves, and that some officials must have used this method. They wouldn’t arrest themselves.

Others believed implementation was too difficult. If every person with the "Disorder Breaker" title were to be arrested, it could trigger civil unrest, making a society already in chaos due to the Apocalypse Rules even more uncontrollable.

Moreover, people who identified as Disorder Breakers at the time were also actively speaking up online to defend themselves.

Some claimed it was an act of necessity. From a legal standpoint, they had only knocked people out, not killed them. The real killers were the Fire Thief and the Apocalypse Rules.

Others used the authorities’ attitude as an endorsement, arguing that if the government hadn’t convicted them, no one else had the right to call "Disorder Breakers" criminals.

Although people’s attention shifted as time went on and new Rules appeared, they would never forget this incident.

There’s a saying that "the internet has no memory," but things were different now. Everyone had a vivid memory of every Apocalypse Rule and the major events that occurred during them. These things were tied to their very lives and fortunes; how could they not take them seriously?

So, even now, though the first Rule was given the cold shoulder by the authorities and no one brought it up anymore, many people’s first prerequisite for making friends was still to check the other person’s title. If their title was "Disorder Breaker," they wouldn’t pursue any deeper interaction.

Now, a new situation had emerged again, with people deliberately sabotaging others’ Rule challenges—though this wasn’t actually new. During the eighth Rule, [World’s First], there were also cases of people snatching another’s "first," causing them to fail the Rule.

At that time, the authorities had also failed to classify this behavior, so many people’s response was simply "mutual protection pacts within shelters."

Now that a similar situation had occurred again, many people were at the end of their rope. They urged the authorities to quickly formulate and strictly enforce a set of laws suitable for the current environment, threatening to cause chaos in the streets otherwise.

Guan Tong thought, ’If this keeps up, they’ll probably declare martial law again.’

After the earthquake Rule, with countless cities destroyed, hundreds of millions of people had to be relocated.

Take Pinglu City, where he was now. Although it had shelters, it definitely couldn’t accommodate the tens of millions of people from all over the country.

Currently, most outsiders lived in Gathering Points for people from the same region. The materials distribution department where Xu Xiaotian worked was responsible for providing members of these Gathering Points with regular, rationed supplies like food and clothing.

Compared to the completely sealed shelters, management of the Gathering Points was certainly much more relaxed. Especially now, with the relocation just having ended, people would even go out for a stroll when they had nothing to do—even though almost no shops were open on the streets, it didn’t stop them from wandering a few laps along the mountain roads.

If a large group of people really came out to cause destruction and disrupt order, Guan Tong figured the authorities would restore the previous full wartime management system, not allowing people to freely leave the Gathering Point area.

...

Apocalypse Rules Strategy Research Room.

In the conference room, the two words "Legal Recommendations" were projected onto the large screen.

Gao Liangwei said, "Everyone is aware of recent events, from the conflict between the academy students and the ordinary people to this recent incident of deliberately causing others to fail a Rule challenge... The public is now strongly demanding updates to the relevant laws.

"The higher-ups are also planning for this and are having legal professionals research it. As the department that deals most with the Apocalypse Rules, our Strategy Research Room also needs to submit some suggestions for their reference. Let’s hear what everyone has to say."

After speaking, Gao Liangwei paused and added, "You all saw what happened to Dr. Li. Even though the Rule has ended and lying is no longer punished, I still hope you will be honest and not just go with the flow."

Everyone in the conference room nodded, then began to offer suggestions.

"I think we should first address the people’s most pressing concern," one of the doctors said. "For instance, based on yesterday’s public sentiment, we could establish a ’Crime of Deliberate Rule Obstruction.’ Anyone who causes another person to fail a Rule challenge would be charged under this law."

Someone asked, "And what would be the consequences for committing this crime? What’s the punishment? Compensation or a prison sentence? If it’s compensation, would it be paid in Sublimation Coins?"

The doctor who made the suggestion shook his head repeatedly. "I’m no lawyer; I don’t know much about that. As for the legal consequences, that’s something legal professionals will have to research and formulate."

"I think we should establish a ’Law for Regulating Ascender Conduct.’ Everyone knows there’s a lot of conflict between Ascenders and ordinary people. It’s necessary to introduce a specific law to restrain Ascenders."

"I agree. What I want to propose is a ’Prohibition on the Abuse of Psychic Power-Related Items,’ which could be included in the law for regulating conduct. The number of Ascenders abusing Ability Items is quite high right now. We need to rein them in."