Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 194 Magnitude 3 Earthquake and the Chaotic Law and Harmony

Like a magnitude 1 earthquake, a magnitude 2 earthquake is also considered a "micro-earthquake". In addition, it occurs in the middle of the night, so ordinary people will not feel it while they are asleep.

But starting with the next magnitude 3 earthquake, people will begin to feel the earthquake, and this feeling will only become stronger with each subsequent earthquake.

After the meeting of the People's Federation concluded, some of the meeting minutes, after removing the bickering and sulking parts, were also made public online.

Because the People's Alliance has advocated transparent cooperation and information sharing since its inception, most of the discussions are made public, except for a few classified intelligence items. This is to ensure that the public understands the significance of policy-making, knows the reasons behind it, and is therefore more willing to cooperate with official actions.

When the public learned that France and the United States had failed in their data collection mission due to obstruction by cultists, they found it somewhat unbelievable.

French citizens and locals expressed strong dissatisfaction, taking to the streets to protest and demanding that the authorities forcefully eradicate the cult. Unlike previous protests, this one was extremely intense because it concerned the life and death of every individual.

According to online reports, large-scale demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people have occurred in France and several major cities. In addition to protesting against the authorities, demonstrators have also spontaneously shared information about cult members, leading to their arrests.

Strangely, although black uniforms and a new Bible book called "The Book of Fire" containing end-times rules were found in the homes of many cult members, those arrested all claimed they did not know what was happening and that they were innocent.

The angry protesters certainly didn't believe that after the arrests, some were sent to official agencies, while others were beaten to death by the angry mob—if there was one thing that all countries in the world had in common after entering the era of apocalyptic rules, it was that the flames of violence hidden deep in everyone's hearts had been raging.

The French and government attempted to suppress the unrest, but to little avail; within a day or two, the entire country descended into chaos.

"It's only going to get worse if things continue like this..."

After reading the relevant posts on the Ascended Home forum, Guan Tong felt that the future of the law and this country was probably not good.

Tomorrow is the day a magnitude 3 earthquake is expected to occur. The protests haven't stopped yet, so collecting data might still be unsuccessful...

Aside from the situation in France and China, which has left netizens around the world watching the drama unfold, the official authorities in the Northern Star Kingdom have also publicly announced a search for someone to eliminate the Earth Vein Pillars.

The article states that the authorities will not impose any restrictions, but only wish to cooperate with this person or organization to jointly resolve the disaster caused by this rule. It also mentions that generous rewards will be offered if the individual is willing.

After the article was published, people were very curious about which folk master had made the move, but since there were no clues, the discussion quickly subsided.

Guan Tong herself knew that the authorities wouldn't use any tricks in this kind of thing; they were definitely sincere.

If, after tomorrow's magnitude 3 earthquake test, he determines that he cannot use the [Book Without Words] to counteract a higher level of earthquake damage with his own mental power, then he will contact the authorities for cooperation.

……

France, Le Loan City.

This law and the largest city has been thrown into chaos by a massive march of hundreds of thousands of people.

Even in the early hours of the morning, there were still many people on the streets.

They walked the streets without any specific demands, simply venting their frustrations.

Even though the authorities officially announced during the day that they would crack down on cults like the Firebringers, people's anger has not subsided.

Pierre was one of the marchers. He was a 25-year-old young man who was a promising young talent who had graduated from a top university and worked for a world-class company. However, the apocalyptic rules brought by the Firebringers completely destroyed his life.

His family and friends were all killed or injured under the old rules, and his work became meaningless. Now he drinks heavily every day and just lives one day at a time.

He was furious after seeing the news yesterday about cultists obstructing the collection of rules data.

Because everything he had was destroyed by the rules of the apocalypse, what he hated most was the rules themselves, and the Firebringers. And now, someone was actually treating the Firebringers as gods? This was something he simply couldn't accept.

He immediately participated in, and even organized, a community march, and personally led a group of people to search a house based on clues provided by the public, finding cult uniforms and the Book of the Thief of Fire.

The man also claimed that he knew nothing and had no idea how the uniform and books came to be.

Pierre, naturally skeptical, punched the man to the ground. His violence sparked a brawl among the others, with a large group beating the man to death and setting his uniform and books on fire.

This gave Pierre a great sense of satisfaction. He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes scanning the surroundings like a hawk's, determined to capture more cultists and destroy the bodies of these fire-stealing bastards.

Suddenly, as Pierre was walking, a voice echoed in his mind.

"A miracle has occurred. Go to the central square to protect it." Pierre was startled when he heard the voice in his mind. It was a very gentle male voice, which seemed to have a magical power that immediately calmed his restless mood.

He didn't know whose voice it was, but after he came to his senses and understood the meaning of the words, he felt very strange.

God? What God?

"A miracle has occurred; go to the central square to protect it."

When that voice rang out again, Pierre's previously somewhat confused gaze instantly hardened, and his doubts seemed to vanish completely.

He now had only one thought in his mind: to protect the miracle.

He suddenly stopped, then immediately turned and ran towards the central square. Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one doing this; several people who were following him nearby all started running with him, as if they too had heard a similar instruction.

However, some people did not do so; instead, they looked at them with puzzlement as they suddenly turned and ran away.

People have a herd mentality; when so many people suddenly turn and run, it will encourage those who don't know the truth to join in. In an instant, hundreds or even thousands of marchers started running, and Pierre was the one running at the very front, his eyes resolute, heading straight for the central square.

At 0:14 a.m., a magnitude 3 earthquake struck.

Soon, at 14 minutes and 30 seconds, French authorities determined the location of the epicenter to be in the central square of Le Loan.

Learning from the previous experience, this time the French and government authorities not only sent data collectors, but also an elite armed soldier unit and an elite Ascendant squad, totaling a hundred people.

With these 100 people protecting us, we have nothing to worry about, no matter what cult organizations there are.

However, a minute later, when the data collection team, escorted by a hundred people, arrived at the central square, they were shocked to find that hundreds of people were surrounding the ley line pillar, not allowing anyone else to approach.

At first, they thought it was a spontaneous isolation formed by the public to wait for the officials to arrive. But when they approached and explained that they were from the official group, those people still refused to move aside.

"Get out of the way immediately!" the armed commander shouted. "We need to collect disaster data! What are you doing?!"

Among the more than one hundred people guarding the pillars of the earth's veins, a young but resolute voice rang out.

"God's sacred objects must not be desecrated!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd on the periphery erupted into chaos.

"what?!"

"Damn it! They're cultists!"

"Wait a minute, aren't they the people who participated in the anti-cult march?!"

"Wasn't that Pierre who just spoke? Isn't he one of the organizers of the community march?"

Everyone was stunned. Pierre, and those around him, were all participants, even organizers, of anti-cult marches. Why would they do the same thing as cult members?
The armed commander was also in a difficult situation. He immediately contacted his superiors to report the situation and ask how to handle it.

The superior's voice was icy: "Two consecutive data collection failures will cause France and the United States to lose face within the Federation of People's Societies! Immediately remove any personnel obstructing our work!"

“But!” the armed commander hesitated, “those who are stopping us are civilians, not wearing cult uniforms! And there are too many people gathered around; shooting them might result in friendly fire…”

"If we delay any longer, we won't have enough time! We must act now!"

"……clear!"

The armed commander immediately ordered his soldiers: "Clear anyone obstructing data collection!"

The soldiers looked at each other, and one of them gritted his teeth, raised his gun, and pulled the trigger. With two "bangs," one of the obstructors was immediately shot in the face and fell to the ground dead.

This immediately sparked a riot, with screams filling the air. Gunshots rang out, and the entire central square was filled with a thick, pungent stench of blood…

(End of this chapter)