Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 165 The Invitation of the Primal People

In the border area of ​​Antu City, many soldiers from the Antai State are on guard and patrolling.

The orders they received were simple: no one was allowed to cross the border into the territory of the Northern Star Kingdom.

The higher-ups issued this order, naturally wanting to catch the shadow who had caused all that trouble in Banzhen. They were convinced that the shadow would return to Beixing Kingdom after burning down Basong's manor, so they set up checkpoints on all the necessary routes.

Furthermore, people have been stationed on every street in Antu city to keep watch, and they will report any suspected foreigners they spot.

But in reality, doing so has no effect whatsoever.

Firstly, if Guan Tong wanted to go back, any obstacle would be rendered useless by using the combination of shadows and teleportation.

Secondly, Guan Tong does not plan to leave Antai State for the time being.

Yes, he was not in the border city of Antu at that time, but deep in a forest in Antai State.

As a typical tropical rainforest climate country, Antai State has a large number of dense and extensive forests within its territory.

Many of them were undeveloped. Guan Tong randomly picked one, ventured deep inside, summoned a shelter, and settled down temporarily.

It wasn't that he didn't want to return to Beixing Kingdom, but rather that he was worried about the attitude of the Beixing government towards him.

Before taking action against Basong, he had actually considered that if he did this, the Antai State government would definitely protest from a national standpoint.

It's hard to say how the North Star Congress will respond.

Guan Tong used to not worry about being found by the authorities while staying on Mingdao Mountain, but the situation is different now.

Now, as long as he holds a puzzle piece, his location will be known to the other two holders.

This made Guan Tong worry that some special situation might occur: the two fragment holders might intentionally leak his location information to the North Star Kingdom's officials.

This kind of thing seems outrageous, but it's actually possible. In fact, the possibility is not small.

The reason is that the other two fragment holders are likely backed by powerful forces or even official backgrounds.

Guan Tong, on the other hand, is merely a person who has undergone personal sublimation.

If the organizations to which the other two fragment holders belong engage in negotiations with the North Star Kingdom's government to discuss the fragment trade—and discover after the negotiations that the North Star Kingdom's fragment holders are not affiliated with the government—then, in order to facilitate negotiations, it would be logical for them to proactively inform the North Star Kingdom's government of the location of that holder.

Based on this, after much thought, Guan Tong decided to stay outside for the time being.

—Isn't he worried that the other two fragment holders might reveal their location to the Antai State authorities who are currently searching for him?

I was actually worried.

Guan Tong wasn't afraid of trouble from ordinary soldiers or the Ascended from Antai State, but he was afraid of long-range bombing.

That's right, during ground attacks, he can use his Shadow Eyes to scout and monitor at any time.

But what if the enemy doesn't attack head-on? Instead, after determining your approximate location, they launch long-range missile bombardments...

It's not impossible for An Tai State to do something like this.

Guan Tong even thought that the Roman Empire might have the same idea.

This powerful empire has always been domineering and arrogant, and likes to use stealth bombers to drop various bombs from extremely high points for targeted destruction.

If the owner of the Soroma fragment is affiliated with the government and can mobilize Soroma's military forces, then it's highly likely they would dispatch several large bombers to fly over and drop bombs from high altitude based on the fragment's location.

Since the fragments are "indestructible," all you need to do is blow up the holder and then retrieve the fragments.

Guan Tong also made contingency plans in response to this situation.

That is the separation of people from fragments.

That's right, he wasn't carrying the two fragments with him at the moment, but rather they were wrapped by a branching shadow line. This shadow line was far away from his location and went deep underground, so there was no need to worry about it being destroyed in the event of a bombing.

This way, he could sense the debris situation at any time without worrying about being bombed while he was sleeping—although he had a shelter, he felt that the current level of defense was not enough to stop high-powered missile attacks.

Aside from the reasons mentioned above, he also found it very convenient to do many things abroad in the past two days, so he plans to stay abroad for a while before considering whether to return to China.

He was also determined to get the other three puzzle pieces.

This means that if he cannot obtain it through other channels, or if other fragment holders do not actively seek him out, he may have to travel to the Somali Empire or Yingqi Kingdom in the future, and it might be more convenient to depart from Antai State then.

But that's definitely not something I need to do in the next few days.

Guan Tong believes that the other two fragment holders will definitely receive the news and become alert, making it unlikely that they will be able to directly go and obtain the fragments again.

Moreover, he was quite tired from his trip to Antai State and planned to rest for a while before considering retrieving other fragments after the tenth rule was completed.

In the evening, Guan Tong turned on her computer and logged into the Ascended Ones' Home website.

"I haven't been on my website for several days, I wonder if there's any new information."

I didn't know until I looked that I was trending again, with many posts related to him, and one of them had a lot of replies.

Breaking News! The "Shadow Detective" has been arrested in Ban Chin, the capital of Amdaemun State, for causing trouble and is now wanted by the state authorities!

"The original poster works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and just received a protest from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Antai State, saying that the Shadow God killed more than 100 people in their capital, a serious crime, and requested the assistance of the North Star State government in arresting the Shadow God!"

"???"

"What's going on? Has the Shadow God gone on a killing spree overseas?"

"After the apocalypse began, weren't all personal entry and exit prohibited? How did Shadow God manage to get out?"

"Are you stupid, upstairs? Shadow is the world's number one Ascensionist, how could he be stumped by something as trivial as going abroad?" "This is a big deal, I wonder how the authorities will handle it."

"Didn't that Lucifer from Soromagato also go abroad and kill people indiscriminately? I don't think Soromagato just issued an arrest warrant, but he didn't send any planes or warships to arrest him."

"Don't compare my Shadow God to that murderous Lucifer!!! There must be a reason why the Shadow God did this!"

Users are discussing this matter enthusiastically, speculating about the reasons why the shadow went to Antai State to cause trouble and how the authorities will handle the situation.

Guan Tong closed the post after reading it for a while, because the public didn't know the truth, and speculative content was meaningless. The only noteworthy thing was that the Antai State Foreign Ministry issued a formal protest, which put the problem in the hands of the Northern Star government.

Then, to his surprise, after clicking into the commission section, he saw a commission with an extremely high bid, which was related to puzzle pieces.

"Request for Request ~ If you have any [Yahoo! Chronicles Fragments] items, please come and see. I'm looking to buy them for 500 million Ascension Coins each. If you're interested or want to discuss this further, please DM me."

The user who posted the commission has the nickname "The Primal One".

The post received hundreds of replies, most of which were from people who didn't understand it.

"What is '【Yamo Star Chronicles: Fragments】'? I've never heard of it before?"

"Good heavens, what kind of prop can sell for 500 million? Are you sure you're not just making this up to bait people?"

"This is a meaningless post, why doesn't the site administrator delete it?"

These comments are perfectly normal, because there are only 5 puzzle pieces in total, and only a very few people besides the owner would know about them.

Guan Tong didn't know whether the post was related to the holder of the Cherry Blossom Kingdom or the holder of the Soro Empire, but he knew it wasn't a bait post; this fragment was indeed worth millions.

Looking at the poster's nickname "The Primordial One," Guan Tong thought for a moment and opened his private messages. He found that this person had indeed sent him a private message.

The Primal Man: "Hi, site administrator~ Others may not know, but I'm sure you do know about the existence of [Yahoo Star Chronicles: Fragments]. After all, you and the Shadow are so closely related (or are you the Shadow yourself?). If you see this private message, could you please reply?"

The Original One: "If the stationmaster or Shadow is willing to part with them, I can offer five million for each coin. I know Shadow certainly doesn't lack Ascended Coins, but the more the merrier."

Guan Tong looked at the time in the private message; it had been sent not long ago.

He thought for a moment and typed a reply.

Station Master: "What if it were the other way around, and Shadow also wanted to buy your fragments?"

A reply message arrived a few minutes later.

The Primal: "It seems Shadow also enjoys reading stories. Perhaps we'll have a lot in common. However, if Shadow isn't willing to part with some pieces, that would be troublesome. After all, only by collecting all the fragments can we complete the puzzle and obtain the full story. But is it really worth fighting each other and even killing so many people just to piece it together?"

The Primordial One: "Then I have a suggestion. If Shadow agrees, let's arrange a time and place for a friendly 1v1 match—if I lose, I'll naturally hand over the two fragments. If I win, Shadow's fragments are mine, but I'll still give him Ascension Coins as compensation. I think the renowned Shadow, as the world's number one Ascensionist, shouldn't refuse, right?"

Guan Tong frowned after reading the reply.

1v1 friendly match?
This may seem to be very advantageous to him, but in reality, it poses a huge hidden danger.

The titles "famous" and "number one in the world" are all empty names. Guan Tong is not so blinded by fame that he would actually think he is invincible.

He knew very well that he was at a disadvantage compared to this "original being"—a disadvantage in terms of information and intelligence.

During the battle on Grail Island, many of his abilities were exposed. Anyone who seriously investigated and paid attention to him would have a certain understanding and expectation of his fighting style.

Guan Tong knew absolutely nothing about this "Primordial Being"—she didn't know if he was male or female, old or young, or what special abilities or items he might have.

In battles between Ascended Beings, if the disparity in strength is too great, it may be possible to crush the opponent regardless of other conditions.

But if the scores are similar, then it all boils down to an intelligence war.

The other side has its own intelligence, but you know nothing about the other side.

Even if this "original person" doesn't use any tricks and genuinely wants a 1v1 duel, Guan Tong will still be at a disadvantage in this situation.

Station Master: "Shadow thinks this is unfair, as too much of his combat intelligence has been exposed."

The Primordial One: "Ah, that's true. Many people do know that Shadow can control the transformation of shadows, and can also create smoke and explosions. In exchange, please tell Shadow that I possess the power to manipulate force fields. Is that acceptable?"

Guan Tong was taken aback when she saw the reply.

Manipulating force fields? Really?
If true, this is undoubtedly an extremely powerful all-around ability. It can be used for both offense and defense, and its potential for development is almost limitless. As long as one has enough mental strength and a rich enough imagination, countless bizarre techniques can be developed.

Then why tell him that?
Does this guy think he can still win even if he leaks information?
Even through the words alone, Guan Tong could vaguely sense that this "Primordial Being" possessed an extremely calm confidence. It wasn't arrogance or vanity, but the kind of confidence that stemmed from a genuine belief in one's ability to win.

After thinking for a moment, Guan Tong started typing.

Station Master: "Shadow needs to think it over; he has many concerns about this friendly match."

The Primal Man: "I understand. It's hard for people to trust each other in this era, but I think Shadow and I are both story lovers, so maybe we can become friends."

Guan Tong noticed that this person kept talking about "stories," and her heart stirred slightly.

Station Master: "Shadow has an idea: to exchange stories. Each fragment contains a mural. If we exchange them and share the content of the murals, perhaps we can piece together the story of Yamo Star?"

The Primordial One: "Ah, that's a good idea! I have fragments number 2 and 4 here. May I ask which one the Shadow has?"

Station Master: "Shadow owns Number 1 and Number 3."

The Primal Man: "That does connect the dots! It's just a pity that we're missing the most important fragment, number 5, which symbolizes the 'ending'."

　Day 29 of my daily check-in challenge. Just one more day until I get the badge, hehe.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)