49 Apocalypse Rules

As time passed, the evacuation efforts of every nation continued to accelerate.

However, the Sakura Prayer Kingdom wasn’t the only one meeting resistance; every nation in the Human Federation had its own set of problems.

Some people were so deeply attached to their homeland they would rather die than leave. Some nations lacked sufficient transport capacity, dooming a portion of the population to be left behind, and the choice of who went and who stayed sparked considerable chaos. In still other countries, some people believed destruction was inevitable and began a final, hedonistic revelry, refusing to cooperate with any official actions.

Even in a nation like North Star, many people refused to evacuate. Their reasoning was mostly that concentrating the population in inland cities was like putting all their eggs in one basket.

If hundreds of millions of people were all crammed into inland cities, and the epicenter happened to be inland, wouldn’t that be even more dangerous from the very start?

After consideration, the North Star officials decided not to force those who were unwilling to relocate. It wasn’t that the decision-makers thought their concerns were valid, but rather that forceful measures were becoming less and less effective. Forcibly evacuating a large number of resentful people could instead incite riots, and the losses would outweigh the gains.

Guan Tong’s own hometown, Yunhua, was located in the central-southeastern region. While not a coastal city itself, there was a neighboring city’s port just a few hundred miles away.

A few hundred miles might seem far, but if a massive tsunami were to erupt, the floodwaters would surge over in no time, leaving little to no buffer.

Therefore, even though Yunhua was a major metropolis, it had been undergoing evacuation for days. On the eve of the magnitude 5 earthquake, almost the entire city’s population had been transported out.

On the evening of May 12th, before the magnitude 5 earthquake struck, Guan Tong made a special trip from Mingdao Mountain back to his hometown, Yunhua.

He walked down the deserted streets, his feelings a complicated mix as he looked at the various items left behind and scattered by the roadside during the evacuation.

This feeling certainly wasn’t unique to him. In the year since the Apocalypse Rules descended, most cities across the country, and even the world, had been abandoned, becoming ghost towns.

Furthermore, no one knew if their former prosperity could ever be restored. If humanity could pass all the Apocalypse Rules and ultimately usher in some form of "evolution," from the individual to the collective, that would perhaps be the best and most ideal outcome.

But if humanity was wiped out by one of the rules, becoming just another one of the fingers on the Fire Thief’s mechanical arm that symbolized a civilization, then all their current efforts would be for naught.

Guan Tong didn’t think their efforts were meaningless, but...

CLICK.

As he walked past an official shelter built on the side of the street, his foot accidentally stepped on a soda can.

The sound made him stop and turn his head. "An official shelter, huh? Come to think of it, I’ve never been inside one."

After the people living here were evacuated, the shelters that had been built were all left empty.

Whether these shelters would ever be used again depended on whether the city would be destroyed by a great earthquake. Curious, Guan Tong sent a shadow inside, then used Body Shifting to follow it.

He had seen pictures of the shelter’s interior on the forums, but this was his first time entering one himself. He walked through each section and finally arrived at the warehouse area, where a large amount of food and other supplies that hadn’t been transported were still stored.

Recalling that he’d nearly used up the food he had stored before going to Mingdao Mountain, Guan Tong went ahead and packed some of it into his Storage Ring.

Afterward, he went to the recreational area and sat on a sofa for a bit. The shelter didn’t feel as oppressive as he had imagined, but he knew that was just the novelty of it. ’I definitely couldn’t stand being cooped up in here for long.’

When night fell, he returned to Mingdao Mountain. After finishing his evening practice of "Psychic Power Flow," he went to bed early. He woke up promptly at dawn on the 13th to await the magnitude 5 earthquake.

While waiting, he reviewed his training progress. Ever since he had become capable of covering his body with a thin layer of Psychic Power, he had gained a rudimentary ability to resist Psychic Power attacks and intrusions.

However, due to his lack of proficiency and his still insufficient Psychic Power limit, the defense of this layer—which Shi Jingyi called a "Spiritual Power Shield"—was not very high.

To keep improving, he had to raise his Psychic Power limit as quickly as possible. Only then could he mobilize more Psychic Power to circulate and continuously strengthen this Spiritual Power Shield. This was also one of the reasons he had requested items from the officials to increase his Psychic Power limit.

Although the Spiritual Power Shield’s defense was currently low, it served an important early-warning function for Guan Tong. As soon as it was affected, he would instantly know someone was secretly using a Psychic Power item or ability to attack or invade him, allowing him to react in time.

Whether it was immediately covering his body in Shadow Armor to prepare a defensive counterattack, or instantly using Body Shifting to escape, he would have a window to react instead of being controlled right from the start.

This undoubtedly gave him a greater sense of security and strengthened his resolve to continue down this path of cultivation.

He believed the Spiritual Power Shield would likely become a kind of "General Solution" in the future. This higher-level application of Psychic Power was something all powerful Ascenders would have to train in to some extent.

Guan Tong continued to ponder and walk around until 10 a.m., when the magnitude 5 earthquake finally occurred. Zhang Minglu immediately notified him of the epicenter’s location, and he, in turn, instantly used Body Shifting to reach the nearest shadow.

RUMBLE... ROOOOAR...

Unlike the previous magnitude 4 quake, the energy released by this magnitude 5 earthquake was much greater.

As soon as Guan Tong used Body Shifting to arrive, he felt the ground shake beneath him, his body swaying unsteadily.

He did his best to steady himself and quickly approached the epicenter. At the same time, the teams dispatched by the officials arrived. Most were the same soldiers who had handled the magnitude 4 earthquake, but there were a few familiar faces among them.

Guan Tong saw five people with particularly outstanding auras and thought, ’Aren’t they the Official Team I met in front of the Fog Gate?’

The five new additions to this operation were none other than the official Dragon Soul Team.

They had been ordered to participate in this operation. For one, they would be needed to handle major earthquakes in the future, so this was a chance to get accustomed to it.

For another, Zhang Minglu had specifically instructed them to make contact with Guan Tong to lay the groundwork for future cooperation.

At that moment, Black Shark of the Dragon Soul Team was holding a Yellow Bell with both hands, striking it from time to time. The Yellow Bell seemed to be some kind of special item. Guan Tong noticed that the people were able to stand firm within the epicenter, which was likely because of this bell.

As he approached, the Dragon Soul Team immediately came forward to greet him. The team leader, Dragon Soul, looked at Guan Tong with some surprise. "You’re Shepherd?"

"Yes." Guan Tong’s appearance today was that of a middle-aged man, different from the young man he was last time.

By doing this, he was blatantly telling the officials that he had the ability to change his appearance. However, according to prior intelligence, the officials also suspected that the famous "Shadow" possessed a similar ability or item.

Guan Tong himself understood this. ’This way, the officials will definitely suspect I might be Shadow,’ which was within his expectations.

The reason he wasn’t directly contacting the officials using his "Shadow" identity was related to the condemnation statement the officials had issued after the Andai Kingdom incident.

In that statement, the officials had said they would seriously investigate the matter—even though the Andai Kingdom no longer existed, the statement was still on the record.

Guan Tong had only come out of seclusion this time to mitigate the earthquake disaster. He didn’t want any extra trouble, nor did he want to cooperate with the investigation into the attack on Prince Lado, so he didn’t use his "Shadow" identity.

It didn’t matter if the officials guessed. As long as he didn’t admit it, no one had any conclusive proof that he was Shadow.

"...Alright, let’s begin immediately. Don’t worry about stability near the Earth Vein Pillar. We have an item to maintain our balance—that Yellow Bell."

Even though Dragon Soul was curious, he didn’t ask any extra questions. Time was tight, and there was none to spare for anything else.

He handed the Psychic Power transmission item they had used before, the Positive Pole Magnet, to Guan Tong. He then took the negative pole himself and said, "Besides the magnet, we’ve also brought another Psychic Power transmission item this time."

Listening, Guan Tong took the Positive Pole Magnet, walked up to the Earth Vein Pillar, and placed his hand on it, beginning to channel the "Power of Rupture."

He immediately converted a large amount of his Psychic Power, then began to draw more through the magnet. Dragon Soul held the negative pole for a full three seconds before passing it to the next person, which impressed Guan Tong.

He absorbed his current limit—321 points of Psychic Power—every second. The soldiers from last time would have been drained in an instant.

But Dragon Soul held the negative pole for a full three seconds. This meant his total Psychic Power was greater than 642 but no more than 963.

’Looks like he must have obtained the full 300-point Psychic Power limit from the eighth rule...’

Guan Tong thought to himself, ’If he started with over 300 Psychic Power, and then got the full 300 from the eighth rule, it’s no wonder he could last for three seconds against my absorption.’

Afterward, each member of the Dragon Soul Team also lasted three seconds before passing the negative pole to the next person. This meant that all five of them had a Psychic Power limit exceeding 642. Such profound team strength confirmed for Guan Tong that this squad must be one of the officials’ most highly valued teams.

Furthermore, from the five’s competent and sharp demeanor, it was clear they had likely been selected from the military. Their backgrounds were known inside and out, which was why they would receive such focused cultivation from the officials.

At this time, Guan Tong was absorbing Psychic Power with the Positive Pole Magnet while also occasionally taking a piece of candy from Dragon Soul and popping it into his mouth.

This candy was the second type of Psychic Power transfer item, named [Mind Candy]. It came from a person with the ability to extract Psychic Power and materialize it as gummy candy. Others could then eat it to acquire the Psychic Power within.

This was similar in principle to the Psychic Power reserve in Guan Tong’s [Wordless Book], as both could be stored in advance for use as a backup energy source.

It was just that Guan Tong’s method was more convenient, storing it directly in his Terminal Panel, rather than requiring the extra step of "eating" like this ability did.

Thanks to Guan Tong’s powerful efficiency, converting 321 points of Psychic Power per second, the outer shell of the Earth Vein Pillar cracked rapidly. Although it was much slower than during the magnitude 4 earthquake, the pillar completely disintegrated one minute before the rule ended.

In an instant, the earthquake stopped. The crisis was averted.

Everyone let out a soft cry of relief.

"We did it!"

Having witnessed the collapse of the Earth Vein Pillar with their own eyes, the members of the Dragon Soul Team were deeply shaken, even though they had seen the video footage from last time.

Silver Fox had been watching Guan Tong the whole time. Suddenly, she asked brazenly, "Shepherd, you’re actually ’Shadow,’ aren’t you?"

"Silver Fox!" Dragon Soul shot her a glare, signaling her not to ask reckless questions.

But Silver Fox just smiled. "What? His build doesn’t match, but I still feel a sense of familiarity. That’s my sixth sense talking."

They had a brief encounter with Guan Tong in front of the Fog Gate during the Mist rule. Even though the Mist had obscured her vision, Silver Fox had firmly committed Guan Tong’s build to memory in hopes of identifying him later.

Just now, after she had finished transferring her Psychic Power, she had nothing else to do and had been observing Guan Tong. Based on a sixth sense, she just felt that this middle-aged man had a similar aura to the "Shadow" she had met at the Fog Gate.

Hearing this, Black Shark’s eyes widened as he looked Guan Tong up and down. "Are you really Shadow, the guy who exchanged a couple of moves with me in front of the Fog Gate?"

"..."

Guan Tong thought to himself, ’When did I ever exchange moves with you? I just created a Shadow Wall to block you for a moment.’

"Sorry, you don’t have to answer those questions." Dragon Soul said to Guan Tong. "We’re not interested in investigating your identity. We just want to cooperate smoothly to mitigate the disaster from this rule as much as possible. By the way, Dr. Zhang asked me to give you this."

He took out two items from his storage item. They were the extremely precious items used to increase one’s Psychic Power limit.