Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 208 Protection Arrangements and Action Team Plan
Rumble!
The instant the magnitude 8 earthquake struck, a deafening roar echoed from the ground. Rats swarmed the streets of nearby cities, the ground tore open, and deep, bottomless cracks appeared.

The gushing groundwater, mixed with silt, leaped several meters high like a fountain, while dust scattered everywhere, forming a dust storm that darkened the sky.

At that moment, a blue beam of light shone from the epicenter, and several figures appeared the next instant.

It was the "Earthquake Disaster Response Team" led by Guan Tong.

"Everyone, strengthen defenses!"

The moment they were teleported, everyone in the team threw out various defensive items to protect themselves from being killed by the extremely powerful seismic waves.

As a key figure, Guan Tong's personal safety is of utmost importance, so the authorities have prepared a large number of defensive items for him.

These items, combined with the Shadow Armor, allowed him to approach the pillars of the earth's veins amidst the impact of the seismic waves.

The rest of the team immediately used the equipment to go to a high altitude and build a suspended defense platform.

Unlike Guan Tong, if they forcibly approach the pillar of the earth vein, they will only be killed by the shockwave.

"Is this what the epicenter of an 8-magnitude earthquake looks like? It's like the end of the world!" Black Shark from the Dragon Soul team roared.

The bottomless fissures in the earth, the dust that blotted out the sky, the mud columns that gushed out from the ground like springs... indeed made everyone who witnessed it feel a deep, apocalyptic fear!
What instilled even greater fear in them was the prospect of even stronger earthquakes of magnitude 9 and 10 following behind!
"Is Shadow really going to get hurt? He's too close to the ground!"

"We have no choice but to trust him."

"Dr. Zhang equipped him with dozens of defensive items; he should be able to hold out!"

Guan Tong, whom the team members were concerned about, felt his body swaying uncontrollably. Even though he kept using defensive items and released hundreds of shadow ropes to firmly bind the ley line pillar, he still had difficulty stabilizing himself.

Before setting off, Zhang Minglu equipped Guan Tong with more than fifty defensive items. Now, less than ten seconds after being teleported here, more than half of them, more than twenty, have already been used up. How can this continue?
I need to complete the delivery as soon as possible, otherwise my situation will be too dangerous once the supplies are used up!

Guan Tong didn't dare to delay for even a second. After touching the Earth Vein Pillar, he poured all of his millions of stored spiritual power into the [Wordless Book] in one go, which was then converted into cracking power and applied to the Earth Vein Pillar.

Click click click! Click click click click!

He could vaguely hear the sound of the outer shell of the pillar cracking, but he couldn't see it because the dust and sand were so dense that visibility was less than a meter.

All he could do was use up all his stored mental energy in the hope of meeting the requirements.

With two outputs, a total of over ten million units of reserved mental energy were poured in. Guan Tong felt the intensity of the vibration of the earth vein pillar drop sharply, but it did not collapse.

Even ten million units of spiritual power aren't enough?

Guan Tong was slightly startled.

Meanwhile, in the Countermeasures Research Office.

Everyone around the conference table waited anxiously for the results.

Once the earthquake reached magnitude 8, the team was immediately cut off from communication as soon as they were teleported to the epicenter, making it impossible to contact each other.

However, the results of the team's operation can be known indirectly through the real-time monitoring of the earthquake bureau.

About ten seconds after the team was teleported there, personnel from the earthquake bureau called back: "We have detected a rapid decrease in earthquake intensity, with the magnitude reduced to about 90%!"

"it is good!"

"The operation was successful!"

The researchers cheered, but Gao Liangwei and a few others couldn't laugh.

Gao Liangwei frowned and said, "You've probably sent over a hundred million units of mental energy to the Shadow these past few days, right? It only weakened it by ninety percent and failed to destroy the Earth Vein Pillar."

Zhang Minglu, who was standing nearby, said, "Shadow did mention that he couldn't retain 100% of the mental energy transferred to him, and there must be a large proportion of loss."

Gao Liangwei nodded.

He knew this too; if the shadow could store 100% of the transmitted mental energy, that ability would be terrifying.

"From this perspective, the amount of mental energy required to reduce the damage of a magnitude 9 or 10 earthquake to less than 50% is unimaginable."

"Yes, person in charge. Although there are hundreds of millions of Ascendants in Beixing, even if each person is given 10 points of Shadow, there would still be a billion—but the problem is, there simply isn't enough time."

In reality, scheduling and managing hundreds of millions of people is not as simple as playing a game where you can just circle a point with a mouse and issue a command.

With only 72 hours between earthquakes, it's completely unrealistic to mobilize hundreds of millions of people to send mental energy to Guan Tong during that time.

Therefore, Zhang Minglu, Gao Liangwei, and the others were well aware that they could only transfer as much mental energy as possible to Guan Tong within the limited time. How much his mental energy would ultimately be weakened was beyond their control.

Five minutes passed quickly, and the earthquake bureau called again to report: "The earthquake has stopped."

Immediately afterwards, Dragon Soul also sent a message: "Report, we have been teleported back to the base."

"How are things?" Gao Liangwei asked. "Is Shadow injured?"

His biggest concern was the Shadow's physical condition, because the latter had to personally touch the pillars of the ley lines, which meant he couldn't be too far from the ground and would be most affected by the earthquake shockwaves.

If the shadow is injured and unable to perform subsequent level 9 and 10 tasks, then it will be troublesome.

“Shadow is fine,” Dragon Soul said. “He just said he’s used up all the props Dr. Zhang prepared for him.”

Gao Liangwei breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that everyone is alright. As long as the props are used up, they're used up."

Zhang Minglu also said, "Yes, there are still many defensive items, so there's no need to be stingy. I was a bit conservative this time, only preparing more than fifty items. It seems I'll have to increase that number several times over in the future."

"The person in charge, Shadow asked when to continue sending mental energy, as he has already used up all the energy he sent before this time."

"Let's begin now," Gao Liangwei said. "The transport personnel are ready. I'll send you the coordinates; you can immediately teleport there with your shadow to receive them."

"Yes."

Time was of the essence. After dealing with the magnitude 8 earthquake, Guan Tong didn't even have time to rest before receiving a transfer of mental energy. She was exhausted, of course, but she had no choice but to do so in order to prepare for the magnitude 9 earthquake 72 hours later.

For this reason, Zhang Minglu specially prepared some items in advance that had no side effects and could eliminate fatigue and restore energy for Guan Tong, so that he could not sleep or eat during these crucial days and could spend all his time absorbing mental energy.

After ending the communication, Gao Liangwei contacted the relevant departments to inquire about the disaster situation.

"Lufengxiang City, which is closest to the epicenter, has been severely affected. Most of the city has been destroyed, and many shelters have also been damaged. The number of casualties has not yet been tallied. In addition, all roads and railways near the epicenter have been cut off, and the airport has also been destroyed. The rescue situation is not optimistic."

"We will send a rescue team composed of elite ascendants to Lufengxiang City to assist in the rescue work."

After making several arrangements, Gao Liangwei took a deep breath.

"Without this 90% reduction, Lufengxiang City might have been completely destroyed."

"I'm afraid so..."

Everyone present was still shaken.

"Meeting adjourned, Dr. Zhang, you stay."

After everyone left, Zhang Minglu asked, "What did the person in charge want to say to me?"

"Dr. Zhang, you've seen the situation this time. Defensive items alone are no longer sufficient. Shadow needs more protection."

"what do you mean?"

“Reassign a group of Ascendants with protective abilities to protect him during earthquakes. This defensive ability is more effective than gadgets.”

Zhang Minglu exclaimed in shock: "Manager, this is too dangerous for those Ascended Ones... Under the impact of that intensity of seismic waves, they themselves would be in grave danger. If they use their abilities to protect their shadows, they will definitely die!"

“I know,” Gao Liangwei said solemnly, “but if something happens to Shadow, it will be the people of an entire city who die.”

"..."

"Don't force me to do this; it should be voluntary."

"...Okay, I will seek the consent of those in the database who possess enhanced protective capabilities."

……

In a secret base, a team of more than fifteen people secretly assembled.

The leader was a short-haired woman who said to the dozen or so others, "The commander has given orders that our mission is to take action after the magnitude 10 earthquake and eliminate the Shadows."

"Magnitude 10? The epicenter will experience strong seismic waves. Isn't that too dangerous?" someone asked.

The short-haired woman explained, "It wasn't during the earthquake that we took action, but after it struck. To be precise, there are two scenarios."

"The first possibility is, as you said, that the epicenter of a magnitude 10 earthquake will definitely unleash extremely strong and destructive energy, with tremendous destructive power. When Shadow goes to deal with it, he may die directly from the impact of the seismic waves, which would save us the trouble of not having to take action."

"The second possibility is that if Shadow and the others really do manage to resolve the magnitude 10 earthquake disaster, they might not be able to completely resolve it but only weaken it—Shadow will definitely be in a state of depleted mental energy and significantly weakened strength. At that time, if we launch a surprise attack at full strength, it will be easy to succeed."

Everyone nodded in agreement; that was indeed the case.

Jiang Ming, who was in the action team, felt a slight disdain after hearing this.

He felt that only daring to attack when Shadow was weak was a sign of underestimating himself. In his view, Shadow wasn't a big deal. He had only lost the last time because he was careless, but if they fought again, the outcome would definitely be different.

In particular, during this period he made up for some of his shortcomings, further improved his strength, and had full confidence in facing the shadow.

But despite his thoughts, he was certain he wouldn't go against the action team's plan. Even though the commander was his grandmother, he knew she was a woman of her word, and if he acted without authorization, he would definitely be kicked out of the action team and placed under house arrest.

There was just one question that puzzled him.

After the team dispersed, he found the short-haired woman alone.

The latter, named "Liu Wen," seems to be a trusted subordinate who only obeys the commander, just like Han Ling, the previous manager of the Yongzhou base.

Thinking of Han Ling, Jiang Ming's hatred for Shadow intensified.

Because he had a good impression of Han Ling, but her later death was less a suicide by poisoning and more a death driven to her death by his shadow.

"Mr. Jiang, is there anything I can help you with?"

Liu Wen saw Jiang Ming coming over and asked him a question.

She wouldn't be this polite to others, but Jiang Ming is the commander's grandson, so her attitude is much better.

"I want to know, even if the plan succeeds and we manage to kill Shadow, how will things end? After this rule ends, Shadow will be promoted as a hero, right? Won't killing him lead to accountability from higher-ups?"

Liu Wen smiled upon hearing this: "Mr. Jiang, you are right. Shadows can indeed be regarded as heroes. But how many people would avenge a hero who dies without power?"

"The commander-in-chief's investigation is very clear: Shadow is strong, but too isolated. His relationship with the authorities is not one of subordination, but cooperation. This means that while he will not be subject to too many restrictions, he will not receive much protection either."

Jiang Ming thought there was some truth to what he heard, but he also felt that things were not that simple.

Liu Wen continued, "Of course, the authorities will definitely investigate, and we will make preparations in advance. Mr. Jiang, your team is only responsible for combat; you don't need to worry about the aftermath."

"……understood."

Jiang Ming recalled his father's words before his death and understood. Indeed, in a world where the rules of the apocalypse had arrived, an upright person like his father would not survive, while someone like the Commander would thrive.

Jiang Ming found this world disgusting, but he was now part of it and could only convince himself with the idea of ​​"using it first and then destroying it."

“Mr. Jiang, don’t overthink it.” Liu Wen seemed to have discerned Jiang Ming’s mindset and gently reassured him, “You are the Commander-in-Chief’s grandson. In the future, once the Commander-in-Chief completes his great undertaking, you will also become one of the most distinguished people in Beixing. At that time, you can do whatever you want.”

(End of this chapter)