Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 122 Suspected Fishing and Wilderness Encounter

November 29th, one day before the end of Rule 11.

Guan Tong sat in the courtyard, adjusting her breathing, and channeling her mental energy like she was circulating her qi, moving it to her right index finger.

A faint glow appeared on the fingertip, and after 1 second, 2 seconds... 8 seconds, the glow turned into light spots and dispersed.

Guan Tong wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although he had only circulated his mental power for less than ten seconds, it required a great deal of focus and fine control.

Compared to the previous ability to maintain the time for only 1-2 seconds, the current ability to maintain it for nearly 10 seconds near the end of the rule is a significant improvement.

He has exchanged messages with Shi Jingyi several times in the past few days. She also said that he is making great progress. At this rate, he will probably be able to complete a full flow of spiritual energy throughout his body within three months.

Three months isn't a long time. But in a post-apocalyptic world, three months can span two or three different rules, which, as some netizens have put it, feels like "living two or three lifetimes."

This statement is not wrong, because overcoming each rule, especially the survival rules, gives one a feeling of "surviving a catastrophe".

Passing each survival rule is like surviving a terrifying disaster, and the impact on one's mindset is enormous.

This is also why many people choose a lifestyle of living one day at a time and indulging in pleasure while they can.

Some people who enjoy excitement and challenges treat the rules like a game. Surviving each rule is like passing a level. The final victory is achieved when all forty-nine rules have been exhausted.

Guan Tong's mindset is somewhere in between.

He won't drift through life aimlessly, nor will he treat the rules as a game. For him, doing what he should and can do is enough; having done his best, he can accept whatever the final outcome may be.

After completing her training for the day, Guan Tong got up to stretch her limbs and then began to take a walk in the mountains.

Taking walks has always been a way for him to relax, especially after moving to the mountains where the hustle and bustle of the city makes him feel even more at ease.

Moreover, he was quite pleased that Yu Hong and Zhao Yu, who were camped at the foot of the mountain, did not attempt to come up the mountain to find him during this time.

He had been wondering how he would persuade the two to turn back if they couldn't resist coming up the mountain to look for him. Now it seems he was overthinking it.

After taking a stroll around the mountain, Guan Tong returned to the cabin feeling refreshed and turned on her computer.

On the Ascendant's House website, following the successful initial commission transaction, other people have started posting commissions in the past few days.

However, most of these commissions went unnoticed because of their low value.

For example, someone might post a request to buy a non-disposable attack item, but the price they can only offer is 2-300 Ascendant Coins.

Nobody would take this kind of commission. Non-disposable attack items can sell for at least 1000 coins in the terminal market. Why would someone sell it to you at a 3% discount instead of putting it on the market?

Some people even post requests to find someone with "regeneration" abilities to treat their severed arm and allow it to regrow. The pay is exorbitant.

This kind of request might be valuable, but the requirements are too demanding. The ability to "regenerate" is definitely a niche ability; someone might exist, but they might not see this post, and even if they do, they might not be willing to help.

Even if the two agree, Guan Tong cannot arrange for them to meet if they are not in the same place.

Although his shadow can transport both goods and people, these are two different concepts. In particular, transporting people would partially reveal the secrets of his shadow, and Guan Tong would not do such a thing for reward.

However, there is a request that Guan Tong is currently concerned about.

This client, like the previous "Black Stone," is someone who survives in a wilderness camp.

His request was to have a shipment of long-shelf-life, room-temperature-storable food transported from the city to his camp. His camp was willing to collectively contribute 3,000 Ascended Coins for this purpose.

Guan Tong noticed that someone accepted the commission within 10 minutes of it being posted.

The person who accepted the offer claimed to be the manager of a supply warehouse in the city and was willing to resell food for Ascension Coins, provided that the station manager could help with transportation.

Both the client and the recipient tagged the site administrator in the post, and there were also many other users replying in the post.

"Reselling food from a supply warehouse? Bro, aren't you afraid of getting arrested?"

"Even if you dare to take this commission, the station manager might not dare to transport it for you."

"Are you kidding me? I'm also an employee at the city's supply warehouse. The food storage is all kept in stock. What if you resell it and the accounts don't match up later?"

Guan Tong agrees with the views expressed in these comments.

The previous resale of the anti-talking masks by "Sky Like the Wind" was somewhat understandable, because those masks were left over from deaths of people in the same gathering point, and the authorities would not take them back. In addition, "Black Stone" did not mind that these masks had been used by others, which ultimately led to the transaction.

It's safe to say that even if the authorities eventually find "Sky Like the Wind," they'll at most give him a reprimand, and it's unlikely they'll convict or punish him.

But reselling food reserves in the supply warehouse is a different matter. Even in peacetime, this would warrant arrest, let alone in a post-apocalyptic world governed by wartime rules. If discovered, the official authorities would definitely deal with it severely, strictly, and swiftly.

Guan Tong wondered if this guy who called himself a warehouse manager was really willing to take such a big risk just for some Ascension Coins.

Even if this guy is determined to take the risk, Guan Tong will never accept the shipping order.

Although this website is not officially tracked, Guan Tong does not want it to become a breeding ground for illegal activities.

He quickly updated the previous post about collecting fees, adding a statement that he would not assist in illegal or criminal activities.

However, he can meet the needs of his clients.

He now has plenty of food and supplies. What he brought was enough for six months, and later Yu Hong and Zhao Yu brought over a lot of supplies from the gang of thugs' car, mostly food, enough to last for more than a year.

Guan Tong himself certainly doesn't need that much food, but if any camps are short of food, he's willing to sell some. He can earn some Ascension Coins and also make up for the shortages of others—a win-win situation.

So he sent a private message to the person who commissioned the post.

Station manager: "How many people's worth of food do you need, and how many days' worth? I might be able to provide some."

The client, whose nickname is "Flying Owl," replied: "Provided by the site administrator? Didn't someone already take on this commission before?"

The site administrator stated, "I have already added a statement in the pinned post that we will not assist in illegal or criminal activities."

Fei Xiao: "..." Guan Tong found it strange that Fei Xiao did not reply immediately.

Since the camp where Flying Owl is located is short of food, wouldn't a legitimate source be better than stealing from the official supply warehouse? If they really take the warehouse manager's stolen goods, aren't they afraid of being caught and punished by the authorities later?

Three minutes later, Fei Xiao replied: "Okay, we need enough food for 10 people for a month. The coordinates are as follows. Please send them to us as soon as possible."

Guan Tong narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at the reply message.

...I have a feeling this guy is fishing.

Guan Tong always trusted his intuition, and from the moment he saw the request, he felt something was off. Now, after talking to him, it felt even stranger.

If the other party is phishing, what is their purpose? Do they want to find out how I transport goods in and out of the city, or do they want to trace the clues back to me personally?
Guan Tong pondered for a moment and decided to send his shadow to investigate the area around the coordinates—in its ethereal state, without any cargo, of course. He needed to figure out if someone was setting him up.

……

"You...who are you?!"

In a certain camp, only one of the dozen or so thugs remained, kneeling on the ground, barely clinging to life as he asked. His comrades were all dead, and he no longer cared about the rule of not speaking; he just wanted to die knowing why.

Five men stood in front of him, the leader holding a silenced pistol—the very gun that had just killed at least eight thugs.

When questioned by the only survivor, the man holding the pistol did not respond, but raised his gun and fired a short burst. The man was immediately shot between the eyebrows and fell to the ground dead.

The woman beside him converted the text into speech and said, "Captain, he's already spoken, why isn't he waiting for the Sound Hunter?"

The captain also took out his phone to convert the text and replied: "I just want to give him a quick death, and now is not the time to waste time, Xu Wei."

The woman named "Xu Wei" nodded.

At that moment, a burly man walked into the camp, looked around, and raised his phone to speak: "These guys looted a lot of supplies, and I bet they killed quite a few people! Damn it, they deserved to die!"

Captain: "Got it, buddy. Zhang Qian, send the coordinates to the base and have the recovery team bring the supplies back to a nearby city."

Another person in the team replied, "Understood."

This squad is the fifth squad, one of the five official squads.

The captain was once the national shooting champion, and his exclusive mental power item is a silenced pistol with unlimited bullets. The other team members are also quite skilled.

They were dispatched out of the city together with the second team, with two missions in total. One was to investigate the existence of a mysterious organization, and the other was to investigate the living conditions of the people outside the city.

After they left the city, they discovered that the area outside had essentially become a jungle society, where people had to follow the law of the jungle or they would soon be eaten up without a trace.

So they applied to their superiors for the "power to conduct raids," which was granted after consideration. This gave them the right to crack down on gangs of thugs in the wild.

This gang is the third one they've taken down in the last few days.

Zhang Qian: "Captain, coordinates have been sent."

The captain nodded: "Let's go and move on to the next area."

He took the lead and walked towards the team's vehicle, while the other team members looked at each other.

Xu Wei: "Is the captain in such a hurry?"

"It's good that they're motivated. It would be so worrying if they acted like they did when they came back from Grail Island!"

Zhang Qian: "It seems that the defeat was a big blow to the captain... so he wants to perform well and prove himself as soon as possible."

Several other people nodded.

Previously on Grail Island, their fifth squad was very close to obtaining the "shadow" of the Grail, so they were among the first to arrive.

Despite being outnumbered five to one, they were easily wiped out by the Shadow. Only Xu Wei, who was responsible for drawing away the undead army at the entrance, survived because she didn't enter the church immediately.

After that challenge, the members of Team Five were undoubtedly very frustrated. Especially their captain, Xu You, who had held high hopes that his team could win the Holy Grail and gain honor, but it ended in a complete defeat.

Judging from what happened later, if he, as the team captain, had made the rational decision to "give up the fight for the Holy Grail" like the captain of the first team, Longhun, he might have been able to get his team into the top ten by relying on kill points.

As a result of his own decisions, the team was eliminated and missed the top ten. Although the team members and even Dr. Zhang and other senior executives did not blame him, Xu You himself felt very awkward.

Even though he had recently heard that possessing the Holy Grail would grant him the buff of "infinite mental power," he still felt that this was not an excuse for leading his team to a complete wipeout.

Ultimately, the disastrous defeat stemmed from their eagerness to seize the Holy Grail and their rash attack without thoroughly investigating the Shadow's abilities. This is absolutely his responsibility as captain.

Therefore, after receiving the mission to investigate outside the city, he rallied his spirits and worked with great enthusiasm. He was determined to complete the mission and bring back valuable intelligence.

As Xu You walked, he thought: Although this trip wiped out three thug strongholds and recovered a large amount of supplies, he still hadn't found out any information about that mysterious organization... In addition, he also needed to conduct an in-depth investigation into the camp ecology of ordinary survivor groups.

I wonder if I'll be able to gain anything before the rules expire tomorrow...

Xu You thought for a moment and walked to the car.

Suddenly, he noticed in the rearview mirror that a black SUV was driving towards him.

who?

He immediately turned around and looked, and the other four members of his team also took their battle positions, staring at the car.

The black SUV slowed down and stopped as it approached.

The car door opened, and several figures got out.

The group was led by a young man wearing headphones, followed by a young man wearing glasses, a teenager wearing a pullover sweater, a little girl who looked very young, and...

When they saw the last person getting off the bus, Xu You and the others' expressions changed drastically.

Gu Fei?!
(End of this chapter)