Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 123 The Ability to Absorb and Release
The initial selection process for the five official teams involved one hundred participants.

From these 100 people, 30 to 40 more outstanding individuals were selected to form five teams. The remaining individuals, although not selected, joined the combat teams in various cities as reserve candidates, with the possibility of being added later.

Because the entire selection process took place at the same training base, many of the participants knew each other. In particular, those who later formed teams of thirty or forty people got to know each other and even became good friends after training together for a period of time.

So when the members of the fifth squad saw Gu Fei get out of the car, they couldn't help but look surprised.

When Gu Fei saw the members of the fifth squad, he was clearly taken aback, and his expression gradually turned gloomy.

The young man wearing headphones picked up his phone and showed it to Gu Fei. The screen displayed three words: (Do you recognize this?)

Gu Fei nodded, hesitated for a moment, then picked up his phone to reply: (It's a team officially funded.)
The young man with headphones glanced at it, his expression remaining as calm as ever, showing no change.

At this moment, Xu You, the captain of the fifth squad, used his phone to question, "Gu Fei, who are the people around you?"

The other team members knew that Gu Fei had been expelled from the third squad. Some people had tried to contact him about it, but he didn't reply, and his whereabouts remained unknown.

Unexpectedly, we met again outside the city.

Moreover, judging from the fact that Gu Fei and the other four were wearing uniforms with the same black plum blossom pattern, they had clearly joined some organization.

Gu Fei picked up his phone and replied, "This is none of your business. Get out of here now."

Xu You frowned, but then the young man with the headphones shook his head and typed a message for Gu Fei to see: (The official team members cannot be let go.)
Gu Fei's expression changed slightly, but he ultimately did not type a rebuttal.

Although neither side uttered a single word, the shift in the tense atmosphere was all too obvious.

Both sides felt that a battle was inevitable.

Xu You turned his head and gestured to his teammates with his eyes, then immediately took action!

He struck first, summoning a silenced pistol the instant he raised his hand, and fired several shots at the young man wearing headphones without even aiming.

He knew Gu Fei well; this usually unruly guy was completely obedient to the young man with the headphones on, clearly indicating that the one with the headphones was the leader among them.

To catch the thief, first catch the king. If we can take him down first, the rest might surrender without a fight.

However, he underestimated the other party's reaction. The moment he raised his hand, the young man wearing glasses and looking like a college student summoned a ball of light.

The ball of light generated a circular light shield, enveloping him and the young man with the headphones. Xu You's bullets dissipated immediately upon hitting it, unable to break through.

Xu You frowned, and at the same time, his teammates either defended or attacked.

Xu Wei, who was moving quickly, circled around to the side to launch an attack, but was stopped by the teenager in the sweater.

He summoned his prop, a large pile of irregularly shaped building blocks, which, with the movement of his fingers, combined to form three wolves that surrounded Xu Wei.

The burly man Lao Tie, wielding a giant axe, attacked from the front, swinging his axe to smash it down. Gu Fei rushed out at this moment and fought him with his scimitar.

The other two members of the fifth squad, Zhang Qian, who was in charge of communications and medical treatment, were not strong enough to fight, so he did not go forward. Instead, he immediately contacted the base to report the sudden battle situation.

Another man named Liu Ze had outstanding defensive capabilities. At this moment, he stood in front of Zhang Qian and Xu You, constantly on guard against enemy attacks on their "healer" and "archer".

On the other hand, the opposing team also consisted of five people. Gu Fei and Lao Tie were engaged in close combat, the boy in the sweater was holding back Xu Wei, and the one wearing glasses was holding up a ball of light to create a shield.

The remaining young man with the headphones didn't move, just watching. The very young girl stood by the car, seemingly having no intention of joining the fight.

Xu You quickly analyzed the battle situation, glanced at Liu Ze, and signaled him to cover him. Then he focused his mental energy, and the gun in his hand transformed; the silencer disappeared, replaced by a longer, thicker barrel.

This is the result of his in-depth development of his own weapon. It was originally just a silenced pistol, but now it can be switched to a second sniper mode.

He raised his aim at the young man with the headphones, intending to finish him off with one shot.

However, the moment he met the latter's gaze, an indescribable weariness welled up from within, and his hand holding the gun momentarily lost its balance.

"boom!"

A dull gunshot rang out, and the bullet pierced through the bespectacled youth's defensive light shield, startling him.

But the bullet didn't pierce the young man's head; it merely grazed his face, leaving a shallow wound.

What's most surprising is that the young man with the headphones, who was nearly blown to the head, remained calm, staring at Xu You who fired the shot. The latter tried to look away but found he couldn't; his body grew increasingly weak, and the gun in his hand vanished without him.

Liu Ze, who was in charge of defense, realized something was wrong and quickly used an item to summon a large shield, cutting off the line of sight between Xu You and the young man with headphones.

The moment the connection was severed, Xu You's knees buckled and he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Zhang Qian caught him in time, his eyes filled with worry and inquiry.

Xu You glanced at his panel and, sure enough, it was correct. He barely managed to type aloud on his phone: "Don't make eye contact with that young man wearing headphones. His eyes can absorb other people's physical and mental energy. The enemy is dangerous. Use all items."

Can one absorb spiritual power through eye contact?
Such a bizarre ability was unheard of by any of them. At this moment, they could only trust their captain's judgment. Almost simultaneously, they took out a large number of offensive items and hurled them at the enemy team!
Official team members have no shortage of items; this is part of their investment and also a means to unleash maximum attack power at crucial moments.

Twenty or thirty kinds of offensive props were thrown at them, instantly breaking through the bespectacled youth's light sphere defense, and various explosions and flames engulfed him and the headphone-wearing youth.

Gu Fei managed to evade the attack in time and was not affected. As a former official team member, he was very familiar with this tactic and had been warned of it beforehand.

However, due to the "Silence Hour" rule still in effect, he couldn't verbally remind his teammates. And needless to say, their team's lack of coordination was appalling.

After the explosion subsided, the bespectacled youth who looked like a college student lay on the ground, his fate unknown. The youth with headphones, however, was completely unharmed, not even his clothes were damaged. Xu You and the others were shocked. Seeing the youth's pupils move, they suddenly realized: Could this guy's eyes not only absorb other people's physical and mental energy, but also the damage caused by mental energy items? If so, how could they hurt him? Was physical attack the only way?

The young man with the headphones closed his eyes, as if to indicate that it was his turn to attack.

Xu You immediately signaled to Lao Tie and Xu Wei to retreat.

Xu Wei had just destroyed the sweater boy's block monster wolf when she immediately tiptoed backward.

Lao Tie, however, had charged too far ahead and couldn't turn back immediately.

At this moment, the young man with headphones opened his eyes again. Unlike his black pupils before, this time his pupils had turned white.

The transition between black and white seems to signify the alternation of absorption and release.

Brush brush brush brush!

Hundreds of needle-like white rays shot out from his eyes. Lao Tie threw out several defensive items to block in front of him, but they were quickly penetrated by the white rays and pierced through his body.

"what!!!"

The old man cried out in pain, suffering a severe injury that also meant he had broken the seventh rule.

Xu Wei turned around and rushed towards Lao Tie, thrusting her dagger toward Lao Tie's neck, seemingly trying to stop the Sound Hunter's attack.

But she still didn't have time. Just three seconds later, Lao Tie's carotid artery was pierced, and the gushing blood splattered all over Xu Wei...

……

In another wilderness campsite.

An electronic female voice rang out: "Captain, when is that website administrator coming? The second and fifth squads have gone out to eat meat, but we're stuck here waiting. It's so boring."

Another electronic male voice rang out: "Silver Fox, stop complaining. Our mission is just as important."

Waiting at the camp was the official first squad.

As the strongest squad, their mission was to seize the opportunity to take control of the "House of Ascended" stationmaster.

Guan Tong's earlier judgment was correct; the commission in the commission section was a bait, specifically designed to lure him, this "snake," out of his hole.

The original plan devised by the official department was to set up ambushes and deploy a large number of surveillance cameras near the city's supply warehouses, which might help them figure out how the station chief entered and left the city and avoided patrolling drones transporting supplies.

However, to their surprise, the station manager was risk-averse and refused to transport goods from the official supply warehouse. Just as the official department was about to change the plan, the station manager sent a private message saying that he had goods on hand and could deliver them.

After a quick discussion, the authorities agreed, and the message was reported. The base dispatched the first squad to the designated field camp. They were to wait for the station chief to appear with the goods, then subdue him and extract information about the website and other details.

By this time, the first squad had been in the camp for more than twenty hours, and the station chief was still nowhere to be seen. The team members were getting impatient.

Silver Fox: "Could it be that the stationmaster has already noticed something?"

Dragon Soul: "So far, I don't think I've revealed any weaknesses."

"That's hard to say." Silver Fox used an electronic female voice that was mature and sophisticated. "Who knows if she has any special investigative abilities?"

...Guan Tong, who was on Mingdao Mountain at that moment, thought to himself, "You really are right."

While the first team was still waiting, Guan Tong's shadow had already burrowed underground to the vicinity of the camp.

After activating his hearing, one of his five senses, he heard the electronic conversations of the group. This confirmed to him that this commission was indeed a sting operation, and not from some violent gang or savage organization, but from an official government department.

Guan Tong knew the authorities wanted to find him, but he didn't expect it to happen this way...

"If the stationmaster really is that Shadow, I'd like to meet him." The electronic female voice transformed from Silver Fox entered Guan Tong's ears again, "Preferably a handsome middle-aged man."

Dragon Soul: "What, you don't like young, handsome men?"

Silver Fox: "What's so good about young, handsome men? I prefer rugged, mature men."

Dragon Soul: "I don't think it's your place to be picky. If it really is a shadow, it will probably be immediately and strictly protected by the authorities. Once it's confirmed to be reliable, they'll invest a huge amount of resources in its development. At that point, we might not even have the chance to make contact."

Silver Fox: "Do the higher-ups think shadows are that important?"

Dragon Soul: "Yes. Now, several major powers believe that the rules of the apocalypse are a selection process where the strong always prevail. Perhaps in the end, a truly top-tier expert will be able to rival thousands of other Ascended individuals. Shadow already demonstrated this potential in the battle on Holy Grail Island."

Silver Fox: "Isn't it because he possesses the Holy Grail with its infinite mental power?"

Dragon Soul: "Even with unlimited mental power, you still need to have the ability to use it. Tell me, with our abilities, even if we possessed unlimited mental power, could we withstand an attack from hundreds or thousands of people?"

Silver Fox: "...I think I understand what the higher-ups mean now. No wonder Dr. Zhang values ​​Bai Xuewu so much; he probably thinks she has the potential to take on ten thousand men single-handedly, right?"

　Day 15 of my daily 10,000-word challenge. In another two weeks, I'll be able to get the badge for writing 10,000 words a day. Keep up the good work!

　　I was also shocked to hear the devastating news today that my friend, Hungry Fish, a writer, passed away from sudden cardiac arrest. I am deeply saddened. He was only 24 years old, so young… I hope everyone takes good care of themselves.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)