49 Apocalypse Rules

The things that could come from the boxes were bizarre and varied, so it wasn’t surprising that one might contain a Martial Arts manual.

However, compared to Shi Jingyi, Guan Tong wasn’t particularly interested in such things.

Over the past year, based on his own observations and the myriad of posts about different abilities on the Ascender website, he’d concluded that a simple truth had become a consensus among Ascenders.

The consensus was that Psychic Power itself was far more important than the quality of one’s abilities and items. If one’s Psychic Power wasn’t sufficiently developed, even the best and most powerful abilities would be useless.

For this reason, the academy’s courses were now incredibly popular, with innumerable people watching the online classes every day. Everyone hoped to be like Ouyang Shanyue or Shi Jingyi and find a way to quickly recover and enhance their Psychic Power.

Guan Tong opened his computer and logged into Ascender’s Home.

After the tenth rule ended, users whose five senses had returned flocked to the site to post, marveling at how hard it had been just to stay alive.

Many mentioned that new faces were appearing in their shelters. This undoubtedly meant many had died during the rule, and their numbers were being supplemented by people who had previously lived in the Gathering Points.

Many others posted about how they had become disillusioned with the world.

One user posted a thread titled, "When True is False, and False is True".

He said that during the days he lost his sense of touch, he came to understand a certain truth: the entire material world might be false, an illusion simulated by the brain.

He concluded that there was no need to take anything too seriously. One should just eat and drink as they pleased. While not going so far as to live completely in the moment, one no longer needed to be consumed by the daily pressure of the rules. It was better to just go with the flow.

This post sparked numerous replies, resonating with many who had gone through the same experience.

Guan Tong saw the post and thought it wasn’t surprising that many people would develop a sense of nihilism after such an experience.

He himself hadn’t experienced it for long, as he had relied on the five senses shared by Shadow. If he had lost his senses for over ten days like everyone else, he might have developed similar feelings.

He wouldn’t necessarily descend directly into nihilism, but it would certainly leave some degree of psychological trauma—something he had always desperately tried to avoid.

He believed that to make it to the very end, strength alone wasn’t enough; mental health required constant attention. Once you started down the irrevocable path of extreme alienation, there was likely no good outcome.

Because of this, many people also posted that the authorities were actively conducting psychological interventions and therapy, organizing people in the shelters to attend classes and share their experiences.

This was to reduce the number of suicides. In this environment, during and after almost every rule, some people would take their own lives. If this continued, it would surely become a major problem.

Guan Tong continued to browse, absorbing information about the outside world.

He saw someone post that they had relied on drugs and surgery to evade the rule, but the result was a failed challenge, and their Psychic Power had diminished.

This was within his expectations, but the next piece of information he came across was somewhat surprising.

A user posted a thread: "You Won’t Believe This: The Government is Launching a Major Ascender Reality Show!"

At first, Guan Tong thought it was a prank post, but after clicking on it, he found it wasn’t.

The poster claimed to be a former variety show worker. Recently, a government department had approached some of them, asking them to organize and create a large-scale variety show, but the main stars wouldn’t be celebrities of the past, but the Ascenders of today.

The post had a ton of replies, with everyone expressing their surprise.

"Seriously? In this environment, they’re still bothering with stuff like this?"

"It’s probably to give the public some entertainment."

"It’s true that some new form of entertainment is needed. I feel like a lot of people in the shelters are going crazy from being cooped up. They can’t even get immersed in games or movies anymore."

"Is this an attempt to turn Ascenders into celebrity idols? Feels a bit like they’re trying to create gods."

"This reminds me of an old TV show about idolized Superpower Users. All bright and righteous on the surface, but full of shady dealings behind the scenes."

"I’m still quite looking forward to it. Something new is better than nothing."

"I agree. I hope there are some Ascender battles, even if they’re scripted. I feel like all we do is fight the rules; I’ve rarely seen Ascenders fight each other."

"To the user above: you’re in a shelter, so you definitely don’t get a chance to see it... You would if you went into the wild. In some places abroad, it’s been an all-out Ascender brawl for a long time!"

After reading the replies, Guan Tong felt that this plan for an "Ascender reality show" had really hit on a pain point for the Ascenders within the country.

North Star’s government was extremely assertive. They had built numerous shelters for people early on and strictly prohibited private combat. As a result, those living in the shelters rarely had the chance to use their abilities and items to fight.

Launching a reality show with combat elements at a time like this would definitely grab a lot of attention.

Of course, Guan Tong was hardly the target audience. While not exactly a war-torn veteran, he was an old hand with plenty of combat experience. Having been through both duels and group fights, his mindset alone put him far ahead of most Ascenders who had never been in a proper battle.

In comparison, those Ascenders who had always stayed in the Gathering Points and shelters, under the protection of the government, were no different from a flock of little lambs in terms of combat power.

It was hard to say whether this was good or bad. But for those who disliked conflict, living in a safe and orderly environment was always better than chaos.

Guan Tong closed the thread and opened his private messages.

He saw that Primordial Man had sent him a new reply.

He had previously sent a message, hoping to get the two fragments that the latter had.

Primordial Man: "The fragments are with me, but a lot of people worked to get them, so I can’t make the call myself. However, I can ask the person who has the final say for you, Shadow."

Primordial Man: "Oh right, what’s the content of the mural on Fragment 5?"

Guan Tong had a good impression of him. Their previous exchange of fragment information had been a pleasant collaboration.

He sent his interpretation of Fragment 5, and the other party quickly replied.

Primordial Man: "So the artist wasn’t a native of Qimo Star, but possibly a Fire Thief? That’s strange. Could the Fire Thieves be some kind of ’Civilization Collectors’ who specialize in gathering information on destroyed civilizations?"

Webmaster: "Not enough information to make that kind of inference."

Primordial Man: "That’s true. Speaking of which, how did Shadow get the fifth fragment? You were surprisingly fast."

Webmaster: "Just good luck."

He didn’t say that the fragment was given to him directly by its holder in Sakura Prayer. The other person probably wouldn’t have believed him anyway.

Primordial Man: "Is that so. Shadow has 3 pieces now, and I have 2. Hmm... Although I’d love to get those 3 pieces, Shadow definitely won’t give them up, right?"

Webmaster: "That’s right."

Primordial Man: "Then I’ll contact the person with the authority over the fragments later. They’ll probably propose some conditions."

Webmaster: "Have you given up on collecting them?"

Primordial Man: "Well, Shadow got Fragment 5 first. If the score was 3:2 in my favor, I might still have fought for it. But now that it’s 2:3, I can’t be bothered to go through the trouble. Besides, if Shadow puts it all together and gets any new information, you’ll tell me, right? I think we can be considered friends by now."

Webmaster: "I suppose so."

Guan Tong didn’t mind. He thought the guy’s personality was pretty decent. Their communications had been smooth so far, and being online friends wouldn’t be a problem.

Primordial Man: "Then tell Shadow to wait for my message~"

...

「Meanwhile, at the Leming Island Shrine in Sakura Prayer.」

When Mu Tian City learned that Baqizi had given the fragment to Shadow, he was completely stunned.

He looked at the person before him in disbelief and said, aghast, "You... Baqizi... Why would you do that?"

Baqizi’s two teammates and subordinates, Moon Fate and Wuyan Clan, were also quite surprised. But after exchanging a glance, they lowered their eyes, as if they could understand.

"I didn’t want him to kill people on the island," Baqizi said.

Mu Tian City said frantically, "Are you crazy? This island is our territory! The garrison has hundreds of soldiers! Even if most couldn’t fight because of the Five Senses Elimination rule, with you, Moon Fate, and Wuyan Clan, plus the soldiers who could fight, you were still afraid of one lone Shadow?!"

Baqizi shook her head slightly. "We couldn’t have stopped him."

"You..." A look of anger appeared on Mu Tian City’s face. "With such a defeatist mentality, how do you expect to claim the throne of world’s number one!"

Baqizi retorted, "Is being number one in the world that important?"

"Of course! It’s the symbol of our Sakura Prayer becoming the strongest nation in the world!" Mu Tian City said excitedly. "We never had this chance in the past, but now that we’ve entered the era of the Apocalypse Rules, anything is possible. If we play our cards right, Sakura Prayer can completely surpass Soloma and North Star to become the world’s number one power!"

Compared to Mu Tian City’s fanaticism, Baqizi was completely expressionless.

Mu Tian City gradually calmed down. He looked at Baqizi and said in a low voice, "Fine. Let’s say you have no interest in becoming number one. But have you ever considered if an act like this repays the grace Lord Divine Son has shown you?"

"I haven’t."

"...Forget it! I will report this matter exactly as it happened. Baqizi, don’t think your special bloodline allows you to act willfully. If Lord Divine Son becomes enraged, he can have you replaced at any time!"

"I can accept that."

"You... Hmph!"

Mu Tian City angrily flung his hand and left. Moon Fate and Wuyan Clan exchanged a look, and the former said, "Team Leader, the instructor might be too angry to see it right now, but we know you did it to protect everyone."

Wuyan Clan also said, "For Shadow to dare cross the sea to this island alone, he must be supremely confident in his own strength. If you hadn’t given him the fragment, Team Leader, he would have killed many people on the island."

Baqizi knew her two team members were trying to make excuses for her. She said, "Do you two also think being number one in the world is important?"

Moon Fate shook her head. "I think survival is what’s most important."

Wuyan Clan, however, said, "For me, regardless of the outcome, I’m content just to be able to fight alongside you, Team Leader."

"If..."

Baqizi didn’t continue, just shaking her head.

"We’ll talk about this later."