Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 198 Reunion and Cooperation with the Dragon Soul Squad
As time goes by, the relocation efforts in various countries continue to accelerate.

However, it wasn't just Sakura Kingdom that encountered obstacles; all the other member states of the consortium also had their own set of problems.

Some people are deeply attached to their homeland and refuse to leave even at the cost of their lives; others have insufficient transportation capacity and are destined to be unable to evacuate, so a choice must be made between who stays and who goes, which has led to a lot of chaos; and some people in some countries believe that destruction is inevitable, so they start a final celebration and refuse to cooperate with any official actions.
Even in countries like Northern Star, many people have refused to relocate. Their main reason is the belief that concentrating the population in inland cities carries the risk of putting all their eggs in one basket.

With hundreds of millions of people crammed into inland cities, wouldn't it be even more dangerous if the epicenter were to erupt inland?
After careful consideration, the Beixing authorities did not force those unwilling to relocate. This was not because the decision-makers believed their concerns were valid, but because coercion was becoming increasingly ineffective. Forcibly taking away so many resistant individuals could potentially create chaos, which would be counterproductive.

Guan Tong's original home, Yunhua, is located in the central-southeast region. Although it is not a coastal city, there is a neighboring city-level port a few hundred miles away.

Hundreds of miles may seem far, but if a massive tsunami breaks out, the floodwaters will rush over very quickly, with little time to adjust.

Therefore, even though Yunhua is a megacity, it has been carrying out population evacuation work in recent days. Before the magnitude 5 earthquake, almost the entire city's population had been moved away.

On the evening of May 12, before the magnitude 5 earthquake struck, Guan Tong made a special trip back to Yunhua, her hometown, from Mingdao Mountain.

He walked down the deserted street, looking at the many pieces of debris left over from the transportation work scattered along the roadside, and his feelings were inevitably complicated.

This feeling was certainly not unique to him. More than a year after the end-of-the-world rules came into effect, most cities across the country and even the world have become ghost towns, deserted and empty.

Moreover, no one currently anticipates whether the previous prosperity can be restored in the future. If humanity, through all the rules of the apocalypse, ultimately achieves some kind of "evolution" from the individual to the collective, that might be the best and most ideal outcome.

But if humanity perishes under some rule, becoming just one of the many fingers symbolizing civilization on the mechanical arm of the Firebringer, then all the efforts made so far will have been in vain.

Guan Tong didn't think it was meaningless, it's just...

"Clatter".

As he walked past an official shelter on the side of the street, he accidentally stepped on an aluminum can.

The sound made him stop and turn around: "An official shelter? Come to think of it, I've never been inside one before."

After the people living here were all moved away, the shelters that had been built were all left empty.

Whether these shelters will remain operational in the future depends on whether the city will be destroyed by a major earthquake. Guan Tong, with a wait-and-see attitude, entered one using her shadow, then teleported inside.

He had seen pictures of the shelter on the forum, but this was his first time actually being inside. He walked around each area and finally arrived at the warehouse area, where many food and other supplies that had not yet been moved were still stored.

Guan Tong realized that the food she had stored before going to Mingdao Mountain was almost used up, so she simply used her storage ring to store some more.

Afterwards, he sat on the sofa in the lounge area and felt that the shelter was not as oppressive as he had imagined. However, he knew that this was due to the novelty and that he would definitely not be able to stand it if he stayed there for too long.

As night fell, he returned to Mingdao Mountain, completed his evening prayer of "spiritual power circulation," and went to bed early. He woke up precisely in the early hours of the 13th, waiting for the magnitude 5 earthquake to strike.

While waiting, he reviewed his cultivation progress. From the point where he could cover his body with a thin layer of mental energy, he had begun to possess the ability to resist mental energy attacks and intrusions.

However, due to his lack of proficiency and insufficient mental strength, the defensive power of what Shi Jingyi called a "spiritual energy shield" was not high.

To continue improving, he needed to raise his mental power limit as soon as possible. This would allow him to mobilize more mental power for circulation, constantly strengthening the mental power shield. This was one of the reasons he requested items from the official team to increase his mental power limit.

However, although the current spiritual energy shield has low defensive power, it still serves an important early warning function for Guan Tong. As long as it is affected, he can immediately know that someone is secretly using mental energy items or abilities to attack or invade him, and thus take timely action.

Whether you immediately cover your entire body with shadow armor to prepare for a defensive counterattack, or immediately use teleportation to escape, you will have time to react and will not be directly controlled by the first move.

This undoubtedly gave him a greater sense of security and strengthened his resolve to continue on this path of spiritual practice.

He believes that the aura shield may become a kind of "universal solution" in the future, a higher level of use of mental power that all powerful ascendants will need to learn to some extent.

Guan Tong pondered and walked around until 10 a.m., when the magnitude 5 earthquake finally occurred. Zhang Minglu immediately informed him of the epicenter location, and he, in turn, immediately teleported to the nearest shadow.

Thump... boom boom...

Unlike the previous magnitude 4 earthquake, this magnitude 5 earthquake released much more energy.

As soon as Guan Tong teleported over, he felt unsteady on his feet and his body swayed.

He steadied himself and quickly moved toward the epicenter. At the same time, the official team arrived immediately, mostly soldiers who had handled the previous magnitude 4 earthquake, but there were also a few familiar faces.

Guan Tong saw the five people with exceptionally outstanding demeanor and thought, "Isn't this the official team we encountered in front of the fog gate last time?"

The five new members joining this operation are the official Dragon Soul Squad.

They were tasked with this operation partly because they would be needed to handle major earthquakes in the future, and this was a good opportunity for them to get used to it.

On the other hand, Zhang Minglu also specifically instructed them to contact Guan Tong to lay the foundation for future cooperation.

At this moment, Black Shark of the Dragon Soul team was holding a yellow bell in both hands, ringing it from time to time. The yellow bell seemed to be some kind of special item. Guan Tong noticed that those people were able to stand still even in the epicenter area, which should be related to this bell.

As he approached, the Dragon Soul team immediately came to meet him. The team leader, Dragon Soul, was somewhat surprised to see Guan Tong: "Are you Shepherd Boy?" "Yes." Guan Tong's appearance today was that of a middle-aged man, different from the young man he appeared to be last time.

By doing this, he was clearly telling the authorities that he had the ability to change his appearance. However, based on some previous intelligence, the authorities also suspected that the infamous "Shadow" also possessed the ability or tools to change his appearance.

Guan Tong himself understood that this would definitely make the authorities suspect that he might be a shadow, which was within his expectations.

The reason he didn't directly contact the authorities under the guise of being a "shadow" is related to the official condemnation statement issued after the Antai State incident.

The official statement said they would seriously investigate the matter—even though Antai State no longer exists, the statement is still there.

Guan Tong's trip out of the mountains was only to mitigate the earthquake disaster. He didn't want to cause any additional trouble or cooperate with the investigation into Prince Rado's attack, so he didn't use the identity of "Shadow".

Even if the authorities guessed it, it wouldn't matter. As long as he doesn't admit it, no one has conclusive evidence to prove that he is the shadow.

"...Alright, let's begin immediately. Don't worry about the stability near the ley line pillars; we have a tool to maintain body stability—that yellow bell."

Even though Long Hun was curious, he didn't ask any further questions. Time was of the essence, and there was no time to say anything else.

He handed the positive magnet, the mental energy transmission tool he had used before, to Guan Tong, and then took the negative magnet himself, saying, "This time, in addition to the magnet, I also mobilized another mental energy transmission tool."

As Guan Tong listened, he took the positive magnet and went to the pillar of the earth vein. He raised his hand and pressed it on the pillar, beginning to transmit the "cracking power".

He immediately converted a large amount of mental energy and then began to absorb it through the magnet. The dragon soul held the negative pole for a full three seconds before handing it over to the next person, which impressed Guan Tong.

He absorbs his current maximum mental energy, which is 321 points, every second. The soldier from last time would have absorbed it all in one second.

However, the Dragon Soul held the negative pole for a full 3 seconds, which means that its total mental power could withstand no more than three absorptions, which is greater than or equal to 642 points and less than 942 points.

It seems he must have obtained the maximum of 500 points of mental power through the eighth rule...

Guan Tong thought to herself, if this person already has over 100, plus the full 500 obtained from the eighth rule, it wouldn't be surprising if they could withstand his absorption three times.

Afterwards, each member of the Dragon Soul team withstood three absorptions before transferring the negative energy to the next person, meaning that the mental power limit of all five members exceeded 642. Such formidable team strength convinced Guan Tong that this squad was one of the most highly regarded official teams.

Moreover, judging from their capable demeanor, they must have been selected from the military and were well-known to the public, which is why they received special training from the authorities.

At this moment, Guan Tong was absorbing mental energy with the positive magnet while occasionally taking a piece of candy from the dragon soul and putting it in his mouth.

This candy is the second type of mental energy transfer item, called "Mental Gummy." It allows one person to extract mental energy and materialize it into gummy candy, which others can then consume to gain that mental energy.

This is similar to Guan Tong's "Wordless Book" in that it stores up mental energy in advance, allowing it to be used as a backup energy source.

The only difference is that Guan Tong's is more convenient, as it is stored directly in the terminal panel, unlike this ability which requires an extra "eating" step.

With Guan Tong's powerful conversion efficiency of injecting 321 points of mental energy into the [Wordless Book] every second, the outer shell of the Earth Vein Pillar was also cracking rapidly. Although it was much slower than during a magnitude 4 earthquake, it still completely collapsed one minute before the rules ended.

The earthquake stopped instantly, and the crisis was averted.

Everyone gasped softly.

"Success!"

Having witnessed the collapse of the ley line pillars firsthand, the Dragon Soul team was still deeply shocked even after watching the previous video footage.

Silver Fox kept staring at Guan Tong, then suddenly asked boldly, "Shepherd Boy, you are actually 'Shadow,' aren't you?"

"Silver Fox!" Dragon Soul glared at her, signaling her not to ask any more questions.

Silver Fox chuckled and said, "What's wrong? Although the figures don't match, I still feel a sense of familiarity. It's my sixth sense telling me this."

Previously, during the fog rules, Guan Tong had a brief encounter with this team in front of the fog gate. Even with the fog obscuring their vision, Silver Fox still firmly memorized Guan Tong's figure, hoping to identify him later.

After transmitting her mental energy, she had nothing else to do but observe Guan Tong. Driven by some kind of sixth sense, she felt that this middle-aged man shared some similarities in temperament with the "shadow" she had encountered at the fog gate.

Upon hearing this, Black Shark stared wide-eyed at Guan Tong, looking him up and down: "Are you really the Shadow who sparred with me in front of the Fog Gate last time?"

"..."

Guan Tong thought to herself, "When did I ever spar with you? I just created a shadow wall to block your movements."

“I’m sorry, you don’t need to answer these questions,” Dragon Soul said to Guan Tong. “We don’t want to investigate your identity; we just want to cooperate smoothly and minimize the disaster caused by these rules. By the way, Dr. Zhang asked me to bring this to you.”

He took out two items from the storage device, which were extremely precious items used to increase the upper limit of mental power.

(End of this chapter)