Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 144: It’s over, just brush off your clothes and go away

"Captain, what mission is so urgent this time?"

After the first team boarded the plane, team member Black Shark was the first to ask a question.

"See for yourselves."

Dragon Soul handed the tablet in his hand to the four people, which contained the mission details sent by Dr. Zhang.

The four of them initially appeared relaxed, but after a few seconds, they all became extremely serious.

After reading it, Black Shark was incredulous: "Two thousand victims, and the stronghold is located in the Yongzhou Mountains, more than 100 kilometers from the capital. Captain, what kind of organization is so audacious?"

“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?” Dragon Soul said. “This is also something we need to focus on investigating at the scene, besides rescuing people. Night Owl, the task of gathering intelligence at the scene is yours.”

"Yes."

The taciturn Night Owl gave a brief reply and then fell silent. Everyone was used to his personality; Night Owl preferred dealing with electronic devices to humans, and had previously been an expert in electronic warfare within the military.

"I, Black Shark, Flying Eagle, and Silver Fox will each lead an armed force to complete the clearing of personnel from the base as soon as possible."

"Yes, Captain."

The plane carrying the Dragon Soul team reached the target location at top speed.

After they landed, they waited for other armed forces to arrive before commencing operations.

However, as soon as they approached the base, they saw many people in gray uniforms walking out in scattered groups.

Upon seeing Long Hun and his group, their first reaction was shock and fear. Mistaking them for reinforcements from the base, many collapsed to the ground.

Dragon Soul quickly stepped forward to help one of them up, saying, "Don't be afraid, we're here to rescue people. Are you all being held captive in the base?"

"Yes, yes..." The young man who was helped up, upon hearing that Long Hun was from the government, immediately burst into tears. "I'm finally saved! Half a year! I was imprisoned for a full half year..."

Half a year?

Dragon Soul's heart skipped a beat. It was January 2041. The first apocalyptic rule had been in effect since April 2040. This meant that the young man had been captured and brought here shortly after the apocalyptic rule began.

"How did you escape?" he continued. "What happened at the organization's stronghold where you were being held captive?"

The young man shook his head: "No, I don't know. It seems someone broke in, a lot of people died, even the guards died... Nobody cared, we... we all escaped..."

Looking at the young man who was speaking somewhat incoherently, Long Hun knew that now was not a good time to ask him questions.

He arranged for some people to receive and take care of the escapees, while his own squad rushed to the stronghold as quickly as possible.

When they arrived at the gate of the base inside the mountain, they were all shocked.

The heavy, several-meter-high blast-proof door is embedded in the mountain. Now it is fully opened inward, revealing a long car track and parked armored vehicles.

"Captain, this... how could this be a base that civilians could set up?" Black Shark looked completely bewildered.

Dragon Soul also realized that there was more to this base than met the eye, and his face darkened: "Go in."

The crowd surged into the base, while somewhere far away in the mountains, Guan Tong, who had regained his true form, was covered in shadow armor and observing the situation.

"They're from the government... I shouldn't need to handle the follow-up anymore."

After Guan Tong eliminated the people inside the base, the surveillance shadows stationed outside the base discovered the arrival of the officials, so he immediately withdrew from the base.

However, he did not use the shelter to take Chen Na away.

It wasn't that he didn't want to do it, but he felt that doing so would have a consequence: it would be difficult for Chen Na to return to a normal life afterward.

Because there is extensive surveillance within the base, the official investigation will definitely trace it back to Chen Na. If Guan Tong takes her away, the authorities will certainly continue to track down Chen Na's whereabouts, which would make it difficult for her to even meet with her mother, and it would be hard to explain the situation clearly.

So Guan Tong kept her at the base, so that when the authorities found her, she could simply tell the truth and explain everything.

Guan Tong believed that with her abilities and potential, coupled with her previous lack of understanding of the base's evil nature, she would immediately find a way to notify the outside world once she understood... After the authorities investigated and clarified the situation, they would definitely treat her well.

As for her identity, Guan Tong wasn't worried about it being exposed.

Although his actions within the base exposed the fact that he was the Shadow, his appearance remained unchanged throughout, thanks to the [Passerby Transformation Device], so he didn't have to worry about being tracked down.

After the official investigation, aside from knowing that the Shadows eliminated the base personnel, no further information will be available.

Guan Tong watched for a moment, then silently used the Shadow Shift technique. The next moment, the person had vanished without a trace, leaving only a rapidly retracting black shadow in the original spot.

……

It happened late that night, at 3 a.m.

The initial investigation has concluded, and the relevant personnel have returned to the underground base where the Countermeasures Research Office is located, with the collected data and some important video footage.

Dragon Soul, the captain of the first squad, answered questions on behalf of the team.

When he entered the room, besides Gao Liangwei and Dr. Zhang, who were from the research lab, there were two other people inside.

One was a young man in his thirties, wearing a crisp uniform and tie. The other was a middle-aged man who wore glasses and appeared refined.

Gao Liangwei said, "Let me introduce you. These two are both from the capital. This is investigator Wu Zheng, sent by higher-ups to gather information related to this incident." The man in the tie nodded.

"This is Li Meng, the deputy leader of the team investigating the kidnapping of the Ascended Ones."

The middle-aged man wearing glasses smiled.

Long Hun gestured with his eyes, then sat down.

Gao Liangwei said, "Why don't you report on the overall findings of your investigation first?"

“Yes,” Dragon Soul said. “After we arrived at the target location, we found that a large number of imprisoned Ascended beings were escaping, and the target organization’s stronghold had been raided in advance. All the armed personnel in the stronghold were wiped out, with only a few organization members hiding in the underground drainage system and a girl named Chen Na surviving.”

"Based on questioning and review of surveillance footage from the base, we learned that the organization that was targeted was the infamous 'Shadow' among the Ascended."

Upon hearing Long Hun's words, the other four people's expressions changed.

Dr. Zhang asked in surprise, "A shadow? The surveillance camera captured the shadow's face?"

"Yes, according to the surveillance footage, the shadow is a woman in her twenties."

The four remained silent for a moment after hearing this. Gao Liangwei said, "The shadow is unlikely to be a woman. According to previous intelligence, it should be a man."

"Yes. But the abilities the woman used, as captured on surveillance footage, all belong to Shadow. It's unclear whether someone else possesses similar abilities or if Shadow used a tool to alter her appearance."

Dragon Soul paused and added, "However, we found a cell phone at the scene. The phone recorded what Shadow said. The content was: 'Shadow is never just one person. Shadow is a group, and everyone in the group is a shadow.'"

“Shadow is a group…that’s interesting…” Dr. Zhang pondered.

Li Meng then asked, "Captain Dragon Soul, were all the Ascended beings you rescued at the scene captured from various cities?"

Rather than whether the shadow is male or female, or whether it is a person or a group, Li Meng is more concerned about the major serial kidnapping case that he has been following since Yunhua.

“Yes. And many of them were captured at the very beginning of the rules,” Dragon Soul replied.

"It seems to be them!" Li Meng exclaimed excitedly. "The massive serial kidnapping case that our team has been investigating, spanning multiple cities and targeting individuals with high mental abilities, was carried out by this organization! We've finally found them."

The investigator named Wu Zheng then asked, "Have you discovered the identity of the person in charge of this organization at the base?"

Dragon Soul shook his head: "All we know is that there is a woman named 'Han Ling' who is the base manager. According to the autopsy, she was not killed by Shadow, but died by poisoning herself."

Where are her communication devices?

"We checked, and there were no relevant call records. It's possible that they changed devices after each call, or they used other confidential calling methods."

“Hmm.” Wu Zheng nodded. “So, we still don’t know who founded this organization.”

Longhun said, "We also found the bodies of several well-known entrepreneurs at the scene. They all died in management offices, so we speculate that the founders of the base may be related to business people."

Dr. Zhang asked curiously, "Business people? Could it be that they are dissatisfied with the government taking away their factories and denying them special privileges, so they have banded together to do this?"

Gao Liangwei disagreed, saying, "I don't think so. That base is definitely not something any businessman could handle. Investigator Wu, if we want to investigate the identity of the organization's founder, I think we should start by investigating the origin of this mountain base and its usage records."

Dr. Zhang and Li Meng exchanged a glance, both vaguely sensing that Gao Liangwei seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Wu Zheng, the investigator sent by the higher-ups.

Wu Zheng, seemingly oblivious, nodded with an unchanged expression: "This is under investigation, and we are currently awaiting the results. Captain of Dragon Soul, please send me a backup of the data."

“This…” Long Hun looked at Gao Liangwei, and only agreed after the latter nodded, “Okay, I will send it to you after the meeting.”

"Okay, I'll go tidy up first." Wu Zheng said and left the meeting room.

Li Meng then said, "I'd like to speak with the victims on behalf of the kidnapping investigation team. Is that alright?"

“Okay.” Gao Liangwei’s attitude softened considerably when facing Li Meng. “I’ve heard you say that these people specifically kidnap those with a mental strength limit exceeding 80 points?”

"Yes."

"What a bunch of bastards!" Dr. Zhang couldn't help but curse when it came to the issue of those who had transcended. "Those whose mental power limit could exceed 80 in the early stages of the rules were all promising talents, but these bastards ruined their precious development period by several months!"

"Yes. But delaying development is not a big deal now. The most important thing is to let these victims receive psychological treatment and return to normal life."

After Li Meng finished speaking, he shook his head with a wry smile: "Now that there are so many rules, how can there be any normal life?"

"That's true...sigh." Dr. Zhang sighed, feeling sorry for these victims.

Gao Liangwei then said, "Shadow wiped out all the armed personnel in the base by herself this time. Has her strength become that great? Are our people capable of doing that?"

Dr. Zhang and Dragon Soul exchanged a glance and both shook their heads.

"Unlikely. Shadow eliminated not only hundreds of armed personnel, but also several powerful Ascendants. What's terrifying about this person is not just his abilities, but also his mental power... If other Ascendants used their abilities like Shadow, their mental power would probably have been completely exhausted long ago."

"So, the Shadow's mental power limit is extremely high."

"Unless his ability consumes very little mental energy, but that's unlikely. The more powerful the ability, the more mental energy it consumes; that's practically an ironclad rule."

　Day 22 of my daily 10,000-word check-in challenge. Thank you all for reading and supporting me with your monthly votes. I'll keep working hard!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)