Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 173 Let's start with an explosion as an appetizer.
In the eastern part of Ban Zhen, a magnificent palace stands.

The walls and gates of the palace are covered in gold, symbolizing splendor, making it look like gold at first glance.

A magenta carpet was laid out in front of the gate, and armed soldiers stood on both sides. Before the era of the apocalyptic rules, those standing here were all handsome honor guards in dress uniforms, but now they were all replaced by real armed soldiers.

Times have changed, and the palace is no longer as safe as it used to be.

Living inside is Prince Rato XVI, the supreme ruler of An Tai State, and his family members.

As a constitutional monarchy, An Tai State differs from other similar states on Tian Shui Xing. The leader of this country, the "Prince," wields real power and controls the military; he is not merely a figurehead.

At this moment, in the palace hall, Prince Rado XVI, dressed in an exquisite nightgown, sat on a wicker chair with a sullen face, looking very unhappy.

Standing in front of him were several middle-aged men in military uniforms, whose expressions were not very good.

"So, the Sakura Kingdom's operation failed? They boasted so much before, even deploying warships, but they couldn't even handle a shadow. What a waste."

Prince Rado originally thought that eliminating Shadow through Yingqi Kingdom would both avenge the attack on the capital and save face, without taking any risks, which was a great thing.

Unexpectedly, the Sakura Kingdom dispatched warships, launched missiles, and sent several special forces teams, but all their efforts ended in failure.

"Your Highness, our soldiers only found the bodies of Yingqi Kingdom soldiers in the target area, and did not find the body of the one suspected to be Shadow. The latter should still be alive and may seek revenge. You must be extra careful during this time."

Prince Rado raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "What did you say? You want me to be careful? That Shadow wiped out a minor warlord, and he doesn't think he'd dare attack the palace. You're overestimating that guy."

"Yes, Your Highness. But it's always better to be prepared."

"Hmm. I have plenty of defensive items, what's there to be afraid of? Besides, I don't believe Shadow would dare to enter the palace." Prince Lado sneered, "Antai and Beixing are friendly countries. If that guy attacks the leader of a friendly country, I don't even need to lift a finger, the Beixing government will not let him off the hook."

"That's what I say, but..."

boom! ! !
The explosion suddenly came from the outer wall and top of the palace. It was very powerful, and countless brick and stone fragments immediately fell from the sky and crashed down.

An officer was unable to dodge in time and was hit on the head by a brick, falling to the ground and dying instantly.

This immediately brought the others to their senses, and they all started shouting.

"Enemy! Enemy attack!"

"Quickly, protect the prince!"

"Soldiers outside, what's going on?!"

After regaining their senses, the officers quickly took action, while Prince Rado was so frightened that he immediately hid in a safe house with the help of several guards.

The few soldiers on duty outside the palace had no idea how the explosion had happened. It seemed someone had thrown a bomb at the palace, causing several walls and the roof to collapse.

The soldiers kept watch while searching for the attackers. But there were no attackers nearby, as if the bomb had fallen from the sky.

Rumble…

After the explosion, the palace's structure was damaged, and it began to collapse systematically. Even with several soldiers on the perimeter, they were unable to intervene or stop it and could only watch helplessly as it crumbled.

Except for a very few who escaped, everyone else inside took refuge in sturdy safe houses. Even so, several officers were still crushed and killed.

Even worse, the palace was completely destroyed—it was one of the national symbols of An Tai State and a building with a long history, dating back more than a century.

However, under the series of explosions, it collapsed into ruins in just a few minutes. Only a few royal safe houses remain standing.

As the military armored vehicles arrived and Prince Rado and his entourage were taken to a safe area, a shadow, barely perceptible to the naked eye, also quickly disappeared from the scene.

Without a doubt, the bombing of the royal palace was planned by Guan Tong.

As the saying goes, an eye for an eye, if the prince of An Tai Bang agreed to let Ying Qi Kingdom send warships to bomb him with missiles, then he could naturally retaliate with bombs and blow up the royal palace.

Although Guan Tong didn't have any bombs, he had over four million Ascension Coins. Why not just buy some from the terminal market?

In the terminal market, those props with special functions and strange and unusual features are highly sought after, but no one is interested in "bombs," which are simply destructive props.

The reason is simple—those who are snapping up the goods are mostly government agencies and large organizations from various countries. Do they lack bombs? Of course not! They probably have too many to use, so there's no need for them to spend their Ascended Coins on the terminal market.

In this way, Guan Tong easily spent nearly 100,000 Ascension Coins to buy a bunch of bombs of varying power.

These bombs all share the characteristic of being sticky or timed. Guan Tong remotely manipulates the shadow lines to secretly plant them on the palace and then detonate them.

Whether or not he could kill Prince Rado was secondary; his main objective was to destroy the palace to demonstrate his vengeful attitude.

You can bomb me, and I can bomb you. As for who will have the last laugh, we'll see.

Guan Tong isn't fixated on taking down Rado right now; that's not easy.

Even though An Tai State is a small country, as a prince, Lado must have many items to defend against mental attacks, making it virtually impossible for him to invade with his shadow.

Using other methods of attack would require Guan Tong to go in person. He didn't want to take that risk right now, so he decided to blow up the palace first, and further retaliation could wait until he had more methods and greater strength.

As for Lado's status as a prince, and the disastrous consequences of blowing up the palace... to be honest, Guan Tong didn't care. He remembered what one of the men who had followed him and tried to rob him said on his first day in Antai State—it left a deep impression on him:
"So what if it's the Northern Star Kingdom? I might die under the next rule, what's there to be afraid of! Even if the King of Soro came, I'd dare to rob him. At worst, I'd just die, it's only a matter of time!"

Aside from the fact that "robbery" itself is not open to the public, Guan Tong felt there was nothing wrong with it.

Even he wouldn't dare guarantee that he would survive to the end; he might "die under the next rule."

In this situation, if someone targets you and even launches an actual attack, do you still need to care who the enemy is or what their status is?

The robber said he'd dare rob even the King of Soma. Guan Tong, on the other hand, wouldn't care who wanted to kill him; even if it was a king or president, he would still seek revenge.

"Let's fry your house first, just to whet our appetites. We'll serve the main course later when we've prepared everything properly."

Guan Tong activated his teleportation ability and vanished without a trace in the next moment.

……

News of the bombing of the Royal Palace of An Tai Bang quickly spread to countries around the world.

Ordinary people generally don't pay attention to it because the vast majority of them are "blind" to it, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't.

When people lose their sight, their first thought is, "It's so dark, it's fucking dark," and they realize that the world of the blind is so miserable.

However, some blind people who regained their sight, amidst their joy and surprise, also said that the world they experienced when they were blind was not actually pure black, and some could even perceive some blurry colors.

But no matter what, being blind is being blind. After becoming blind, most of people's activities come to an end, and their entertainment basically becomes lying in bed listening to music, audiobooks, or chatting on the phone.

With the exception of a very few individuals, most people were able to maintain their composure and not break down. This is because they had hope in their hearts, knowing that after fifteen days, once the rules ended, they would regain their sight.

If there isn't a clear deadline, and people don't know when they'll be able to see it again, they'd probably be mentally exhausted long ago, and it's impossible for them to calmly lie in bed listening to audio.

In this situation, those who follow world news are mainly the official forces of various countries.

They were also shocked to learn that the royal palace in An Tai Bang had been bombed.

In particular, afterward, Prince Lato of Amdai State publicly stated through official channels that the explosion must be related to the Shadow. The Shadow's act of destroying the royal palace was a desecration of the entire Lato family and the national dignity of Amdai State. On behalf of the entire nation of Amdai State, he will definitely pursue the matter to the end!

Even more outrageous, the relevant personnel from An Tai Bang posted a reward request in the commission section of the "Home of Ascension" website.

The official reward offered by the Antai State government for the Ascended Being "Shadow" is 500 million Ascended Coins for a body and 1000 million Ascended Coins for its capture alive!

Because most of the ascendants are blind, they cannot access the internet, view, or reply to posts. However, when officials from various countries saw this bounty post, they felt more inclined to laugh than to remain solemn.

Anyone with even a slight understanding of this website knows that the site's administrator and the "Shadow" are very closely related, and it's even possible that the administrator is the "Shadow" himself. Posting a bounty for the "Shadow" on this website seems rather ridiculous.

However, despite the laughter, the nature of this matter is still very serious.

Some things may not weigh much on a scale, but they can weigh a ton on a scale.

Especially in the Northern Star Kingdom, the Shadow's earlier elimination of the Basong gang had already triggered a diplomatic incident. However, after it was later revealed that Basong was a smuggling gang, the Shadow's actions were seen by many as acting on behalf of Heaven, with a sense of righteousness.

With the Antai State government also intending to downplay the issue, Beixing naturally only issued a statement and didn't say much more.

But this time it's different. This time, the Shadow destroyed the royal palace of An Tai Bang, making it many times more serious than before.

Because this palace is not only the private property of the Lado family, but also a national symbol of Antai State. Destroying it is, in a sense, no different from an open declaration of war.

Prince Rado has issued a statement on behalf of the nation, vowing to pursue the matter to the end. The Northern Star Kingdom undoubtedly has no choice but to respond.

This is something the Countermeasures Research Office cannot decide.

A small meeting is being held indoors somewhere in Yong'an.

As the saying goes, important matters are discussed in small meetings, and minor matters in large meetings. At this moment, the small meeting in this simple room is discussing important matters.

A firm voice said, "Shadow's actions demonstrate that he has completely disregarded the nation and is now a blatant individualist! I propose that the highest level of arrest warrant be issued for this person!"

Another, slightly gentler voice said, "I think we shouldn't rush this. We should learn from last time and investigate the matter thoroughly first."

Another person said, "According to the report submitted by the Countermeasures Research Office, the Shadow probably destroyed the royal palace in a similar manner as retaliation for the long-range bombing of Sakura Kingdom."

The forceful voice retorted, "If you want revenge, why don't you bomb Yingqi Kingdom? Antai State is a diplomatically friendly country of ours. Have you considered the country's position when you do this? In my eyes, this is already an act of treason! I'm not exaggerating."

A brief silence followed.

Finally, a steady voice rang out, making a decisive statement: "First, investigate the matter thoroughly. We'll make a decision based on the results after the tenth apocalyptic rule is finalized. Also, have the Countermeasures Research Office try to contact Shadow for an official meeting. How can we know each other's thoughts without communication? I believe Shadow understands this and will likely agree."

　The revisions took a while, so there won't be a fourth chapter today. Sorry...

　　However, I will definitely make up for yesterday's missed chapter during the National Day holiday, so you can rest assured.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)