Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 188 Hidden Rule Eleven
Shortly after the rules were released, while the People's Federation held a meeting to discuss countermeasures, many ordinary people went to the website of the Ascended Ones' Home to leave messages and post.

"Station Master! Do you have any hidden information about this rule?"

"If we can't solve a magnitude 10 earthquake, I feel like humanity is really doomed..."

"Will the shelter we're living in now be destroyed by then? Will they start organizing our evacuation to higher ground soon?"

"Going high is useless, unless you go as high as a space station in low Earth orbit."

"Speaking of which, weren't there commercial space travel programs before? If we take a rocket into space at the end of the month, we should be able to avoid earthquakes, right? I wonder how many people we can take?"

"Don't even think about going to space to avoid earthquakes. Even if it were possible, only a few people would have the chance. Ordinary people would never get that opportunity."

"Isn't the Human Rights Alliance having a meeting right now? Hopefully, they'll come up with a solution..."

"It's not that easy. You can tell from the rewards this time that there's a gold-level survival chest for the first time, so it's definitely more dangerous than the previous survival chests."

Why isn't the stationmaster showing up yet?

Guan Tong, the stationmaster on whom everyone placed high hopes, was currently looking at the hidden rules.

He had been watching for a minute or two, somewhat lost in thought.

[Hidden Rule Eleven: Pillars of Ley Lines]

[Hidden Rule: During an earthquake, ley lines will appear at the epicenter. Ascended individuals can connect to these ley lines by touching them, continuously consuming their maximum psychic energy, which can appropriately reduce the damage caused by the earthquake.]

[Note: To protect their home and civilization, and for the continuation of their species, are humans willing to make sufficient sacrifices? If so, who will bear the cost of those sacrifices?]

The pillars of the earth's veins... reduce the destructive power of earthquakes by consuming the maximum amount of mental energy...

This hidden rule made Guan Tong feel like she was drinking poison to quench her thirst.

Ascended individuals worldwide have reached a consensus on the importance of spiritual power and are unwilling to accept its diminishment or loss unless absolutely necessary.

But this "poisoned wine" cannot be avoided, because it is obvious that not drinking it will lead to thirst and death—if a magnitude 10 earthquake is allowed to cause total destruction, then human civilization will truly be at risk of complete annihilation.

The problem is that it's unknown how much mental energy this ley line pillar will consume or how much it will reduce the destructive power of earthquakes. If it requires a massive amount of mental energy, then even draining a person dry wouldn't be enough.

Even though no attempt has been made yet, Guan Tong guesses that a large number of Ascended Ones would definitely need to make sacrifices to significantly reduce the destructive power of earthquakes.

That would raise the issue mentioned in the rule notes: who will make the sacrifice? Who will bear this cost?
Guan Tong asked himself honestly, was he willing to go? If the ley lines didn't absorb much, he could accept it. But if the ley lines drained the ascendant's maximum mental power in one go, could he really accept that?
It took him more than a year to reach his current mental power limit of 325 points. If it were all cleared out, most of his items and abilities would become unusable, and his strength would immediately plummet from the top ranks of the world to the very bottom.

But if a strong person like him doesn't set an example, won't ordinary ascendants be even more resistant? Won't they think, "If the sky falls, the taller ones will hold it up first"?
If disputes and conflicts arise over the selection of candidates, and enforcement becomes necessary, it will undoubtedly cause further division and deal a huge blow to the newly established People's Alliance organization—moreover, the effectiveness of enforcement cannot be guaranteed.

Guan Tong knew that this was not a problem for one person to think about, but a problem for all of humanity to think about and make decisions together.

Therefore, he doesn't consider this rule to be sold. He doesn't want anyone to be sacrificed in the end. It's entirely up to some high-ranking and powerful people to discuss and decide behind closed doors.

Ten minutes later, he posted a message in the intelligence section.

Secret information related to the Eleventh Rule of the Apocalypse

In his post, he specified the existence of the "Pillars of the Earth's Ley Lines" and also stated that any Ascended who comes into contact with them will suffer a loss of their maximum mental power, in exchange for a reduction in the destructive power of earthquakes.

The post sparked a huge discussion as soon as it was published.

Countless users are paying close attention to the activities of Guan Tong, the site administrator, wondering if he will sell confidential information this time, just like he did the previous two times.

However, to everyone's surprise, this time the site administrator did not post the sale ad in the "site administrator domain," but instead posted it publicly and for free in the intelligence section.

The topic quickly gained popularity, attracting countless comments and replies.

"Pillars of Earth's Ley Lines??? What are those things?!"

"Judging from this intelligence, if we don't want to be wiped out, we have to sacrifice a portion of the Ascended's mental power?"

"Is it just a sacrifice of mental power? Look closely, the station chief's intelligence says that the pillars of the ley lines appeared at the epicenter! The epicenter is the most dangerous place after an earthquake, right?!"

“That’s right, the epicenter of a high-magnitude earthquake will definitely have large rifts and faults. If you decide to go there to contact the pillars of the ley lines, not only will it deplete your maximum mental energy, but you might also die in the epicenter area…” “Are you kidding me? That’s too dangerous! Who would go?!”

"If no one goes, everyone will die! The only difference is where they die. If we don't find a way to reduce the destructive power of a magnitude 10 earthquake, it will be enough to wipe out all of humanity!"

"The information provided by the station chief is too vague. There are no specific figures on how many people are needed or to what extent the destructive power can be weakened!"

"I guess even the station manager himself doesn't know. I don't think the station manager would hide anything about something that concerns the survival of humanity."

"Specific data will probably have to wait until the Joint Mission sends out professionals to calculate it. I estimate that they will try to collect and test data in the previous few low-magnitude earthquakes to provide a reference for the final magnitude 9 and 10 earthquakes."

The information released by Guan Tong quickly spread to various organizations and groups amidst heated discussions among the public. The People's Federation reached a consensus as soon as it learned of the information.

The 34 countries unanimously agreed that two contingency plans must be made for this new set of rules.

On the one hand, we must take proactive measures and use various methods to reduce and avoid the disasters caused by the earthquake, and ensure that as many people as possible survive.

On the other hand, we must also prepare for failure. If humanity fails in this trial, what will be preserved? Will humanity, like the alien civilization of the Qimo planet, have its history recorded by the Firebringers, the destroyers?

This is unacceptable to humanity. Therefore, the Human Federation decided that a specialized cultural preservation department would make multiple digital backups of the civilization's records, store them around the world, and send some of them into space via rockets.

However, the most important thing is to get through this rule change. After discussion, the representatives and committee members made several decisions.

First, all countries must immediately shut down their nuclear power plant facilities and carry out harmless disposal to avoid large-scale nuclear leaks caused by earthquakes, which could lead to huge secondary pollution disasters.

Secondly, there are arrangements for the evacuation and relocation of people. People near some tsunami-prone areas must be evacuated, and the island nations, represented by Sakuragi, are the most anxious about this.

The natural disaster these island nations fear most is undoubtedly a major earthquake. If a magnitude 10 earthquake were to inevitably occur, their islands would most likely be destroyed by the resulting rupture and super tsunami.

"We have no choice but to relocate the entire country! We need help from other countries during this process!"

The representative from Yingqi Kingdom spoke with unwavering resolve. Under no circumstances could they remain on the island and wait to die when a massive earthquake was imminent; they had to find a way to survive for the millions of people on the island.

The transportation of tens of millions of people cannot be completed within a month by Yingqi Kingdom alone; it is necessary to rely on the help of other countries.

Now that the Human Rights Confederation has been established, other countries will naturally not stand idly by in the face of this situation.

Landlocked countries, represented by North Star and Somaliland, have expressed their willingness to assist in the relocation of personnel, but the relocation location needs to be determined as soon as possible.

Over the course of a year, the number of countries in the world has dwindled from more than 300 to just 34, a staggering loss of life. The disappearance of these people and nations also means that their lands have become available for immigration to several island nations.

Other landlocked countries have no objection to this; at this point, territorial issues are no longer a priority. With the survival of humanity uncertain, no one really wants to argue endlessly about the ownership of a piece of land.

Finally, there's the discussion about Guan Tong revealing information.

"What can be confirmed at present is that none of the intelligence released by this station chief is wrong and all have been verified," Gao Liangwei said. "Although there may be some omissions and deficiencies, it does not affect the accuracy of the published intelligence."

"Our professionals suggest that in the previous few earthquakes of lower magnitude, once professional instruments detect an earthquake outbreak, we should immediately dispatch the Ascended team to find the pillars of the ley lines and conduct contact tests."

Based on the tests, specific data on psychic energy consumption and the degree of earthquake destructive reduction were obtained. Then, the data collected from various countries were unified to build a model, which was analyzed by artificial intelligence to predict the amount of psychic energy and the number of Ascended Individuals required to effectively reduce the final magnitude 8, 9, and 10 earthquakes.

"agree."

"agree."

Representatives from the thirty-three nations raised their hands in unison to vote, agreeing to the proposal from the Northern Star Nation.

After the remote meeting ended, Gao Liangwei leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples vigorously with both hands.

The intense meetings and discussions that lasted for several hours were a test of physical and mental strength for every committee member. As the chairman, he, in particular, needed to expend extra energy.

But he has no time to rest now. A devastating magnitude 10 earthquake is expected on the 30th of this month, and not a single second can be wasted before then.

He picked up the phone: "Notify all departments to go to the conference room... Also, call Zhou Qinfeng, the dean of the Mind Power Development Academy, and ask him to come over and participate in the meeting."

(End of this chapter)