Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 154 Moving Forward Through the Fog

Yu Hong? How could it be her?
Guan Tong couldn't believe his eyes, but he was certain he hadn't misread anything for that moment.

That mutilated face, mostly corroded by the mist, was indeed Yu Hong's.

"Do humans become monsters themselves after being killed by monsters, or does the mist itself turn humans into monsters? This information isn't in the official announcements. Is it because it hasn't been discovered yet...?"

Moreover, the rules clearly state that the Nightmare Beasts are creatures from another planet... When did Yu Hong, a native of Tianshui, become a creature from another planet?

Guan Tong was confused. But he actually had a pretty good impression of Hong, thinking she was a very sensible person. Seeing her turn into a monster and die tragically made him very uncomfortable.

But this is the kind of tragedy that happens every day in the rules of the apocalypse... He took a deep breath, calmed himself down as quickly as possible, and continued walking forward.

He knew that since he had chosen to explore, there was no reason for him to give up halfway. However, he had to be careful and, without knowing why humans had been transformed into monsters, make sure he didn't inhale even a single drop of the mist.

Guided by the footprints of a giant monster, Guan Tong felt the fog gradually thicken as she walked forward.

Previously, when we were near Mingdao Mountain, the visibility in the fog was about four or five meters, but now it has been reduced to two or three meters, which is undoubtedly a direct reflection of the increase in fog.

As the fog thickened, the attacks from the monsters became much more dangerous, demanding increasingly faster reaction speeds from Guan Tong.

For safety's sake, he had to slow down considerably and listen carefully to any sounds around him.

He had encountered ordinary small monsters several times before, and had easily dealt with them all using Silver Hunter; they were nothing to fear.

What truly terrified him were those enormous, monstrous beasts. In such dense fog, a sudden encounter would make fighting extremely dangerous.

Guan Tong has discovered that although these monsters explode into fragments like balloons when they die, seemingly very light, they possess power commensurate with, or even exceeding, their size before death.

This was one of the strange and counterintuitive phenomena that struck him as odd: a creature with a large mass when alive suddenly loses all its mass at the moment of death, going from "as heavy as Mount Tai" to "as light as a feather" in an instant... Is this really what alien creatures are like? It's hard to imagine that such a phenomenon could exist in the biosphere of Tianshui.

Filled with questions, Guan Tong continued onward. He believed that these questions would be answered once the source of the fog was found.

However, the source of this fog seemed extremely distant. Guan Tong walked for several hours, and apart from the fog becoming increasingly dense and the attacks from the nightmare beasts becoming more frequent, there were no other significant changes.

Driving might be faster, but driving ordinary vehicles in the fog is too dangerous, and it would be difficult to defend oneself if attacked from inside the vehicle. He can't currently obtain armored vehicles or tanks with strong defensive capabilities, so he has to rely on his legs for now.

"I set off in the afternoon, and now it's already..." Guan Tong glanced at her phone; it was already 8 PM.

The dense fog already severely impairs visibility during the day, and the darkness at night makes it even more unbearable.

Guan Tong could barely see more than a meter in front of him, even with a headlamp and strong light. Without it, he probably couldn't see anything at all.

The fog illuminated by the headlamp, with its intense white light mixed with the faint purple-green hue of the fog, created an extremely psychedelic color atmosphere. Guan Tong would get a headache and lose focus from time to time if he looked at it for too long.

This made him realize that he couldn't continue like this. If he wasn't focused enough in the fog, he might not be able to handle an attack. To be honest, he wasn't afraid of getting hurt, but he was afraid that the monsters would destroy his protective suit and expose his skin to the fog.

Indeed, after experiencing numerous attacks by the monsters, Guan Tong has discovered that these monsters have no mouths or facial features. They do not eat people or kill people—to be precise, they do not have the subjective concept of "killing." Their attack seems to be aimed at exposing the target's skin to the mist.

This gave Guan Tong the feeling that in this hunting game, the monsters were merely supporting characters, only responsible for completing the "foreplay." The real protagonist, responsible for completing the "main act," was the dense, eerie fog itself.

The beast doesn't kill people; it's the fog that kills them!
Guan Tong no longer hesitated, took out the [Wordless Book] from the storage box, summoned her omnipotent shelter, and then used the "Shadow Shift" ability to teleport inside.

He glanced at the remaining oxygen level inside his helmet: 67 hours (recharging).
"call……"

Guan Tong took off her helmet and took a deep breath.

Coal Ball, which had been staying indoors, darted over and meowed a few times. Guan Tong fed it some food and made up her mind not to leave the shelter before dawn.

After feeding the coal briquettes, he went to the bathroom to take a shower to relieve his fatigue.

Although he only walked in the fog for a few hours, he was in a state of high tension and vigilance during those hours. His muscles could not relax, and he felt a lot of fatigue due to the combination of psychological and physical exhaustion. He needed to relax.

After taking a shower, he sat down at his desk, turned on his computer, and checked for any new news.

Since the official announcement that firearms could eliminate the monsters, there have been no further updates.

Guan Tong thought for a moment, then went to the information section of her Ascended Home website and posted a message.

Information regarding the Ninth Rule of the End Times

In his post, he described how humans exposed to the fog would transform into monsters after a period of time. He also listed the characteristics of several different monsters he encountered.

Most users on the site have set him as the site administrator to special attention, so his posts immediately received a surge in replies.

"A good website owner is one who provides free information!" "The website owner has finally reappeared! Judging from the post, has the website owner gone into hiding?"

"You dare to explore in the fog when it's so dangerous? No wonder you're the stationmaster, we're all hiding in enclosed areas."

"This intelligence doesn't seem very useful. We're not going into the fog; it's too dangerous."

"Now that firearms have been able to eliminate the monsters, surely all countries will send out fog exploration teams, right?"

"Upstairs, that's for sure. I reckon the officials from all countries are holding their breath. The previous rules had a lot of modern weapons but no way to use them. This time they can finally put their skills to good use and they'll definitely put them to good use!"

"It seems some renowned Ascended Ones have also risked their lives to explore the fog. Could there be something valuable inside?"

"The rules mentioned exploring the fog of war... there might be some gains. But I don't want to take any risks, I'll just wait for official news. Since we'll be using firearms this time, any gains should be available to the authorities."

While Guan Tong's information had some value, unfortunately most Ascended Ones had no intention of exploring the Mist, so it was of no use to them.

Even if a few explorers wanted to see it, they probably wouldn't—after all, not every Ascended One is like Guan Tong, carrying around a fully functional shelter with internet access, a shower, and a place to sleep...

After Guan Tong posted the message, she checked her private messages.

Contacts of some large organizations and groups who were previously eager to purchase the new rules to conceal intelligence have now fallen silent.

It is probably related to the discovery that firearms can kill the monsters.

Given the immense power of the organizations and groups behind these contacts, how many of them wouldn't have access to modern firearms?
As a result, these organizations had less need for concealed intelligence. Only a few contacts sent new private messages, not to purchase intelligence, but to seek deeper cooperation with Guan Tong.

Just like the private messages sent by someone claiming to be a liaison for the Somali Empire, they repeatedly expressed their desire for Guan Tong to become an imperial advisor. They said they were willing to negotiate any price for it; gold and beautiful women were insignificant, and even a large fiefdom would be no problem.

Guan Tong knew that the Soro Empire still had the concept of "fiefdoms." The king was the highest monarch, and there were a total of fifty-nine large fiefdoms under his control, each of which was controlled by a local lord's family.

Before the rules of the apocalypse, every lord family was considered prestigious and invincible.

However, things will undoubtedly be tough for everyone after entering the post-apocalyptic era. The fact that this liaison is now offering hereditary private fiefdoms of other families as a price for employment shows that the Soro Empire is willing to do anything to gain a leading position in the post-apocalyptic era.

These conditions might be extremely tempting to others, but unfortunately, Guan Tong had no intention of becoming a lord. Moreover, in the post-apocalyptic era, it was common for one rule to be incredibly prestigious while the next rule would meet a violent end.

No one can be sure if their tomorrow will come, so the most tempting power and status in a stable era are no longer important to many people in this era.

Guan Tong closed the webpage, lay down on the bed, and turned to look out the window.

Apart from the pervasive fog, nothing could be seen.

"have a rest."

Guan Tong didn't want to think too much. Getting enough sleep and having plenty of energy to continue exploring deeper the next morning was the most important thing.

He closed his eyes, and thanks to the safety of the shelter, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

The occasional noises would occasionally wake him up.

Those sounds of impact, slapping, and friction... would come from the doorway or the outer wall every now and then.

However, these monsters lacked the destructive power to breach the shelter constructed from special solid stone. Therefore, aside from occasionally waking Guan Tong and causing him to turn over and go back to sleep, their actions had no other impact on him.

He woke up around 5 a.m. the next day and glanced out the window. His heart skipped a beat.

Several blood-red handprints were visible on the window, and in the middle of those handprints was a blurry red human face print.

It seems that at some point while he was asleep, someone or some kind of monster peered at him through the window...

For the first time, Guan Tong felt that the new windows that appeared after the shelter was upgraded weren't all good. At least with the old wooden house that only had one door, there was no need to worry about being spied on from the outside.

"Forget it, whatever demons or monsters they are, I'll shoot them all if I run into them."

Guan Tong wasn't frightened by the bloodstains on a few windows.

He got up to wash up, ate something, and once it was light outside, he put on an oxygen-filled protective suit, left the shelter, and continued following the monster's footprints on the ground toward the source of the fog.

　Regarding the hidden rule in Rule 8, Xiaocao thought about it and realized it wasn't quite reasonable. So she revised the previous text, adding a limit of 500 points of mental power that could be acquired at most.

　　I apologize for this. My outlines are rough and lack detail, which may have caused issues with the reading experience. I ask for your understanding. I will revise them as soon as possible if any further problems arise. Thank you for your comments and suggestions!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)