Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 172 Impact of the Rules After They Take Effect and the Meeting

The Solomon Empire, Senate.

Several hundred years ago, the empire was initially established by a union of thirteen families. Each family elected a decision-maker, and the thirteen formed an institution for making decisions on important matters of the empire, named the Senate.

After entering the post-apocalyptic era, the Senate is responsible for analyzing and deciding on responses to each rule. However, the Emperor has veto power; if the Emperor rejects a decision, the Senate must amend it.

At this moment, in the council chamber of the Senate, information about the Sakura Kingdom's warship operations was displayed on the electronic screen.

Even after the visual elimination rule took effect, each elder was still able to see, clearly indicating that they were using special props as a guarantee.

"This time, the Sakura Kingdom has taken the lead over us, sending warships to Antai State with the aim of seizing the fragments. This is unacceptable to us!"

"However, according to the latest information we received from Adam, the operation of the Cherry Blossom Kingdom seems to have failed, and the location of the fragments has not changed."

One elder said, "I previously proposed sending warships and bombers to conduct large-scale bombing. How could a small country like Antai State dare to object?"

“This issue has been discussed before; An Tai State’s attitude was never even considered,” another elder countered.

"The key is the Northern Star Kingdom. Antai State borders the Northern Star Kingdom, and the two sides have friendly relations. The shadowy figure is also most likely a Northern Star person. If we send troops to bomb it, the Northern Star Kingdom will definitely not sit idly by. Under the current circumstances, we must avoid military conflict with the Northern Star Kingdom."

"Why doesn't the Cherry Blossom Kingdom have such concerns? Aren't they afraid that bombing the neighboring country of the Northern Star Kingdom and killing Shadow, a Northern Star person, will trigger a military conflict with the Northern Star Kingdom?"

A female elder shrugged: "The Sakura Kingdom has always been crazy and audacious, who knows what they're thinking."

"Don't forget there's another problem: Adam lacks motivation!" a hot-tempered elder shouted in dissatisfaction.

"This kid never thinks about improving his strength, all he does is sunbathe on the island with a few women. He's nothing like a man from Soma! I think he's not even as good as Lucifer who fled to another country. At least the latter has more guts and is more like a predator!"

While this statement has some issues, it resonated with many veterans.

Adam, chosen as the "father" for special training in the "Eden Project," showed no signs of masculinity expected of a father. Instead, he grew his hair almost to his waist like a woman and spent his days idly enjoying himself on the island, which the elders found unacceptable.

"If you ask me, he should have been replaced long ago! But I don't know what His Majesty was thinking, he just insisted on that kid!"

"It's because of Adam's abilities," one of the elders said. "Adam's ability to manipulate force fields is absolutely one in a million. And only his computer-like brain could unleash this power."

Everyone agrees on this point.

Adam's strength lay not in his abilities, but in the perfect combination of his brain and his abilities.

If his abilities were given to an ordinary person, the effectiveness would be greatly reduced. The reason is simple: an ordinary person's brain lacks the computational power to balance the manipulation of the force field with the consumption of mental energy.

Ordinary people using this ability either cannot utilize it effectively or will instantly deplete all their mental energy. However, Adam, with his computer-like mental processing power, can quickly determine how much mental energy to use to manipulate the force field in complex environments, thus enabling him to respond to situations and meet his needs.

That is why he was able to stand out in the selection and be given the special name "Adam," which could only be used by the person chosen as "Father."

However, the elders soon discovered that although Adam was powerful, his personality did not match.

His easygoing and unambitious nature is unlike that of a Somali; he is more like a person from a tropical country who does not engage in production and spends his days eating and sleeping.

This also resulted in Adam being virtually unknown among the general public, while Lucifer, a deranged serial killer, had far more popularity and admirers.

The Senate discussed this issue more than once, hoping that Adam could be more "domineering" and have more "leadership qualities." After the first Ascended Challenge, they collectively criticized Adam for giving up the fight for the Holy Grail and letting the Shadow win first place.

But Adam had a completely nonchalant attitude, letting whatever others said go in one ear and out the other.

If the king hadn't overruled the objections, Adam would probably have been voted out of his fatherhood long ago.

"Leaving aside Adam's flaws, judging solely from the actions of the Sakura Kingdom this time, it's clear that the Sakura Kingdom government has a plan to collect all the fragments. This means that they are very likely also planning an attack on our Soroman."

"Do they really dare to do that? In terms of military strength, our Sororo is more than ten times that of Yingqi!"

"This isn't a question of whether we dare or not. In this era, never overestimate people's rational thinking, even those at the highest levels of decision-making," a respected elder said slowly.

Everyone nodded slightly in agreement.

Indeed, in this apocalyptic world where rules can be described as insane, humans are capable of anything.

Even those with power and influence can be more insane than ordinary people.

The reason is simple: many ordinary people had nothing to begin with. They lived in poverty before the fire-bringers arrived, and after their arrival, some of them were not only not in pain, but were actually very happy.

The good thing is that everyone is now the same, whether they are humble laborers struggling to make ends meet or extravagant billionaires, they all have to be tested by the rules on an equal footing.

Even if the wealthy and powerful can mobilize resources and gain an advantage to some extent, they still cannot remain forever high above others as they were before the arrival of the fire-bringers. If they are not careful, they will end up like ordinary people, wiped out by the rules.

Therefore, compared to the madness of ordinary people, the wealthy and powerful who fell from their high positions after the arrival of the fire-stealers were only more insane and would stop at nothing to get through the rules.

In this situation, it would be irrational to assume that all official decision-makers in various countries are "rational".

"The Grand Elder is right. It seems we must remain vigilant at all times to prevent the Sakura Kingdom from launching a surprise attack!"

“I think we can talk to the Northern Star Kingdom. They shouldn’t remain indifferent after this happened.”

“I support it. Among the world’s major powers, we and North Star are on the same level. The Tulip Federation was not to be underestimated, but the civil war that began with the eighth rule and continues to this day has completely torn apart the alliance’s cohesion.”

"Hmph... The Tulip Federation was just a bunch of warlords, big and small, all together. Even without the trigger of the Eighth Rule, it would have been a civil war sooner or later, and it wouldn't have been a proper match."

"I also think we should establish a good communication channel with the Northern Star Kingdom. Let's all vote."

"I agree!"

"agree."

While the Senate of Soro was voting, the North Star Kingdom's policy research office was also holding a meeting.

The meeting focused on two main issues.

First, the impact of visual elimination; second, the bombing of Antai State by the Kingdom of Cherry.

The second matter involved shadows, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also needed to consult the research office.

It is worth noting that currently, only one person in the meeting room has had their vision removed, and that person is the person in charge, Gao Liangwei.

He stared blankly ahead, and everyone who saw him felt both worried and admiring.

After obtaining the hidden intelligence, the Countermeasures Research Lab has found some individuals with the ability to temporarily shut down their senses or who possess certain items, based on the database search results.

By bringing these people together, specific individuals can be exempted from sensory deprivation, thus making it easier for them to carry out their work.

The experts belonging to the Countermeasures Research Office naturally enjoy this right.

But Gao Liangwei refused, believing that only by personally experiencing the feeling of being deprived of one's senses could one truly know what the general public needed.

After all, only a very small number of people can use external objects to shut down their senses in advance. Most ordinary people living in gathering points or shelters do not receive this treatment.

Kao Liang-wei did not want to be detached from the public regarding this rule, so he preferred to experience the pain himself rather than use external assistance.

The analyst reported at this moment: "Because of the preparations made in advance, the situation in each shelter is relatively stable at present. With the help of intelligent guidance devices such as guide robots, people can live and work normally."

"What needs more attention is the psychological aspect. Some people with poor coping abilities may break down during the sensory elimination process."

Gao Liangwei said, "This is indeed not an ordinary elimination. I can feel myself in absolute darkness without any light right now. If you are not congenitally blind, it would be very difficult to endure for a long time, and you would need some psychological counseling."

Someone couldn't help but say, "Manager, why are you doing this? It's so inconvenient..."

Gao Liangwei's eyes were vacant, but his expression was quite serious.

“I’ve already said it. We’ve been staying in this safe underground base, using all kinds of resources at the top of every rule. In the long run, we’ll only grow further and further away from ordinary people and become unable to empathize with their plight. So this time, I must feel what the people feel and what the people feel. Only in this way can I make more correct decisions.”

"As expected of Manager Gao..."

"Having a leader like Gao Daxiao is a blessing for the general public."

The crowd praised him in hushed tones, but they also felt a sense of relief.

It's fine that Gao Liangwei is so strict with himself, but it would be hard to accept if everyone were forced to do the same.

"Furthermore, regarding the military operation launched by the Yingqi Kingdom, according to the intelligence we have gathered, its target is not Antai State, but rather a shadowy entity still within Antai State."

The analyst continued his report.

"Based on the information from the first squad's Fog Gate Cave and some information collected by the data officer from the House of Ascended, we can make the following judgment: According to the Ninth Rule, multiple Fog Gate Caves have appeared around the world, and there are some special items inside them."

The holder of the item should know the location of other items, so the reason Shadow suddenly went to Antai State was likely to obtain a special item. The reason Sakura Kingdom deployed warships to bomb the southern rainforest of Antai State was also to eliminate Shadow and seize the special item.

(End of this chapter)