Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 153 Prophecy and Footprints

Chen Na, wearing a protective suit specially customized to her height and build, rode the elevator upwards with five other tall and imposing individuals.

Because she wasn't very familiar with the five people, she stood somewhat awkwardly in the corner.

But this situation didn't last more than a few seconds. Soon, the only woman among the five people came over, bent down, and smiled at her.

"Little sister Chen Na, shall I call you Xiao Na from now on?"

Chen Na nodded: "Okay, may I ask how I should address you, sister?"

"My code name is 'Silver Fox,' so you can call me Sister Silver Fox."

"Understood, Sister Silver Fox."

"So good~"

Silver Fox gently patted Chen Na's head and said with a smile.

"Don't be nervous. Your sister and those four men who look fierce are all good people. They'll protect you when we go on missions."

"Hey, Silver Fox, that's enough already," Black Shark complained. "You call yourself 'older sister' and the four of us 'older uncles'!"

Silver Fox laughed and said, "What, you four rough men, do you expect young girls to call you 'little brothers'?"

Black Shark looked speechless, while Flying Eagle chuckled and interjected, "Night Owl is younger than you, Silver Fox. You're already the older sister, so he must be the older brother."

Wearing thin-rimmed glasses, Night Owl glanced up, then buried himself in his electronic devices, clearly not wanting to get involved in this pointless argument.

Captain Long Hun then said, "Silver Fox, we'll be operating with elite troops this time, so don't make any jokes then. The troop commander will definitely be unhappy."

Silver Fox shrugged: "Got it."

Dragon Soul then turned to Chen Na and said, "Little sister Chen Na, you should stay with your Silver Fox sister. She will protect you if you encounter any danger. Don't run around on your own."

Chen Na nodded. Although others still treated her like a child who needed to be taken care of, after experiencing so much, she was now much more mature than her peers.

She knew she was going on a mission that might require her abilities, so she would take it seriously.

Even though she was still young, she already understood the principle of "equivalent exchange".

If it weren't for her abilities, Dr. Zhang Minglu wouldn't have kept her and even arranged a job for her mother at a base of this caliber—something many people outside would beg for.

Because she understood this, she readily agreed to join the first team and provide assistance when Dr. Zhang asked for her opinion.

The group of six took the elevator to the huge preparation room on the ground floor, where a large number of soldiers were already lined up, ready to go.

This was the first time Chen Na had ever seen so many soldiers on television, and she was quite surprised.

Even Black Shark from the Dragon Soul squad was surprised. Looking at the neat rows of soldiers, he muttered to Dragon Soul, "Captain, so many people for this operation? That's like a reinforced armored battalion... Wow, and anti-aircraft fire too. Are we sure there are flying monsters now?"

"Say less, Black Shark. Don't forget our mission this time," Dragon Soul said. "We need to investigate deep into the fog, so having more people is necessary."

After finishing his speech, Long Hun had a brief exchange with the unit's commander. Then, everyone boarded the vehicles and set off under the commander's orders.

……

Somewhere in the Solomon Empire.

Four women with high noses and deep-set eyes pushed open the door and entered a room. The walls and floor of the room were covered with all sorts of occult props: talismans, tortoise shells, bells, ritual knives... and so on.

Behind the long table sat a woman, huddled in a chair, her entire body shrouded in a long rug embroidered with starry patterns, revealing only an excessively pale face dotted with a few freckles.

After the four women entered, the woman merely glanced at them before lowering her gaze to continue looking at a crystal ball on the table, inside which was a dark blue, moon-shaped key.

“Adam,” one of the four women called softly to the door, “Come in, it’s that fortune teller ‘Key of the Moon’, that’s right.”

"I'm so sorry to have disturbed your peace~"

Adam, with his long, flowing golden hair and slender figure, entered the room and showed great respect to the woman behind the long table.

This displeased the four women. They believed that Adam was the strongest ascendant in the country and there was no need for them to be overly humble towards a charlatan.

The woman behind the long table glanced at Adam upon hearing this and asked, "Yes, what is it?"

Her voice was hoarse, and her tone of voice was strange, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time and was not fluent.

Adam said, "I came here to ask you, the renowned diviner Moon Key, to help predict the outcome of the ninth pattern rule. Strangely enough, I've been feeling uneasy ever since this rule was published."

"Prophecy requires... a lot of mental energy. I haven't recovered yet," the woman known as the "Key of the Moon" stammered.

“I’ve already thought of that.”

Adam took out two bottles of medicine and placed them on the table.

"One bottle temporarily increases the maximum mental strength, while the other bottle immediately restores all mental strength."

The woman nodded, accepted the potion, and used it.

She then stared at the crystal ball in her hand, muttering something to herself.

Before long, the deep blue key in the crystal ball in her hand emitted a faint light and began to spin.

The woman closed her eyes, seemingly receiving guidance from the key. This process lasted a full five minutes, until the key stopped turning, and the woman opened her eyes. She looked at Adam, her pupils unfocused and vacant: "I saw... a door, an open door, hidden deep in the mist. The door leads to... a terrifying world. Monsters, countless monsters are emerging..."

door?
The four women looked at each other, not understanding what it meant.

Adam nodded earnestly: "Thank you for your prophecy." He then took out several precious items and placed them on the table as a token of his gratitude.

He then left the room, and the four women immediately followed.

"Adam, is this fortune teller's advice really effective? Or is she just talking nonsense?"

"Yes... those props you gave me are worth hundreds of thousands of Ascension Coins. Are they really worth it?"

“It’s worth it,” Adam said noncommittally. “Get ready, I’m going deep into the mist.”

"Adam, you want to explore the mist? That's too dangerous. Will His Majesty allow it?"

Adam smiled gently: "I don't think I need the king's permission to do anything, have you all forgotten?"

"...Understood, Adam. Let's get ready now."

……

Guan Tong walked through the mist.

He had no clue as to where the fog was coming from; he simply walked along, casting several shadow lines as he went.

These shadow lines spread out in all directions from him. Their sole purpose was to find clues about the origin of the fog.

Before long, he heard a strange noise coming from the fog on his left. He immediately realized that the sound was coming from above.

call!
A ferocious beast, almost blending into the mist, suddenly descended from the sky, its sharp claws reaching for Guan Tong's chest!

Guan Tong reacted quickly enough, pulling the trigger and firing a No. 2 bullet.

"Thump! Snap!"

There were not one explosion, but two.

The first sound was the bullet hitting the monster, and the second sound was the monster exploding itself.

Guan Tong witnessed firsthand how the headless, winged, four-clawed beast with a tube-shaped body exploded like a balloon after being shot!
Without flesh or hair, the monster vanished without a trace after exploding, as if swallowed by mist.

Guan Tong witnessed such a bizarre creature firsthand, and even though she knew it came from another planet, she still felt extremely uncomfortable.

When humans come into close contact with these creatures that defy common sense, they experience an indescribable sense of psychological disorientation.

Fortunately, its defenses weren't very strong, and it was easily taken out by a single No. 2 slug, which gave him some peace of mind.

He descended the mountain and discovered the original campsite of Yu Hong and Zhao Yu at the foot of the mountain. Those two...

Boom!Boom!
Suddenly, a loud, earth-shaking sound interrupted Guan Tong's thoughts. Hearing the sound, he immediately looked in the direction of the sound and adjusted the shadow vision for that direction to his own.

He immediately saw a huge, terrifying beast walking through the thick fog!

It has five legs, seemingly without feet; the foot area is simply a cylindrical surface. Looking up from the legs, it is completely invisible; the height of just a few legs exceeds the visible range by several meters, and the rest of its body is hidden in the thick fog, making it impossible to discern.

Guan Tong recalled the [Biosignal Detector] sold in the Shenghua Store; it must be used to detect this kind of giant monster.

...Should we avoid this kind of monster?

Guan Tong didn't have much of a fighting mindset. Within its field of vision, its five legs alone were as tall as two or three stories, making its true size impossible to estimate.

If Guan Tong were discovered by such an enemy and attacked, she felt that she would have no choice but to run.

His first instinct was to get away from the enormous beast, but then he thought about it again and, listening to the thud of its feet, he suddenly realized something.

He manipulated the shadow in that direction to look down, and sure enough, he found the footprints left by the monster on the ground.

This immediately gave Guan Tong an idea: the source of the fog must be the place where the monster appeared. So, if he followed the footprints left by the giant monster back to the end of the footprints, that should be the source of the fog!
With this thought in mind, he immediately changed direction. In order to avoid being noticed by the giant monster, he deliberately took a long detour to the footprints, and then followed the direction of the footprints.

He adjusted the shadows from the other directions back to focus on extending them in this one direction, hoping that the shadows could discover the source of the fog faster than he could.

However, relying on shadows for early warning is no longer possible—because he has discovered that the monsters' outer skin is like a soft carapace, and its color is almost identical to the color of the mist.

This means that unless the monster moves, it is very difficult for humans to distinguish or see it in the fog.

The shadow's five senses do not possess any special abilities; they are the same as Guan Tong's own. What Guan Tong cannot detect, the shadow cannot detect either.

He followed the footprints, remaining constantly vigilant for any possible attack from the monster. He had no idea which direction he was heading; he had been completely disoriented since entering the fog.

After walking for about seven or eight minutes, Guan Tong heard a faint noise coming from behind him. He immediately turned around and saw a strange, humanoid beast with a head, body, and limbs charging towards him!
"boom!"

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger of the Silver Hunter, this time using No. 1 shotgun shells. Several bullets shot out, knocking the humanoid monster back two steps before its body exploded and melted into the mist.

The instant the monster exploded, Guan Tong saw the humanoid monster's face clearly. Although most of it was corroded away, he still recognized it, and a violent feeling of nausea almost made him vomit.

That's Yu Hong's face!

　Day 25 of my daily check-in challenge! Victory is in sight! Keep it up! Thank you for your support, dear readers.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)