Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 250, Rule Thirteen of the Apocalypse
As September drew to a close, people's hearts, which had finally settled down, began to race again, becoming tense and restless.

October 1st is the day the new rules will be released. Although there is no discernible pattern to the rules released by the Fire Stealers, they usually adopt a "balanced" approach.

The so-called "moderation" means not releasing extremely difficult survival rules one after another, but rather one survival rule followed by one non-survival rule, or one less difficult survival rule.

Rule 12, the "digital withdrawal" rule, although extremely difficult for many people who are glued to the internet 24/7, is one that even they have to admit is definitely a "relaxation" rather than a "tension."

Therefore, according to the theory of tension and relaxation, people can't help but worry that the thirteenth rule might be a highly difficult survival rule.

The past few days have been quite uneventful at the college, giving it a sense of calm before the storm.

The only thing that sparked some discussion was Yelena's sudden withdrawal from school.

The students were disappointed, but since Yelena had hardly interacted with other students during her time at the academy, they didn't know much about her. It was just a pity that they had lost such a beautiful and pleasing woman as Sisyah, who always brought them joy.

After school on the last day of the month, the students ate dinner and went back to their dormitories early to rest.

Staying up late is nothing usually, but the day before each new rule is announced, everyone who wants to survive will go to bed early to conserve their energy for the new rules.

The teachers were no exception; they all returned to their dormitories to rest.

Guan Tong herself returned to her own shelter.

As night fell and moonlight streamed down, Guan Tong sat at the doorway, admiring the canyon under the moonlight, finding a unique tranquility in it.

Coal Ball lay on the grass not far away, occasionally opening its eyes and scanning its surroundings with sharp eyes, looking very alert.

"This little thing is really getting bigger and stronger..."

Guan Tong looked at the coal ball. Ever since it ate that piece of demon flesh, its size had increased dramatically at first, and then continued to increase slowly for a period of time.

Several months have passed, and it has now reached the size of an adult cheetah, looking majestic and fierce.

Moreover, its taste seems to have changed as its size has changed.

Guan Tong used to feed it cat food and canned food, but now it hardly eats them anymore. It now mostly hunts for itself in the mountains every day.

Not only does it eat its own food, but it also brings some back with it. Once, it brought back a pheasant and placed it in front of Guan Tong, seemingly as if it were meant for him.

Guan Tong said he wouldn't eat it, and the dog cleverly understood, and then stopped bringing him back any wild game.

Guan Tong thought this was a good thing.

He used to have to remember to prepare food for the coal ball all the time, but now that it has the ability to survive on its own, even if he has to go to the shelter for ten days or half a month, he doesn't have to worry about it going hungry.

After looking at it for a moment, he had an idea and took out an item from the storage box.

It was the little hourglass that Yelena had given him before she left.

He had seen the effect of this prop before, and after seeing it, he understood why the woman named Skochin next to Yelena looked surprised and unwilling when Yelena took it out.

[Hourglass of Time]: Consumes 20% of your mental energy upon use, freezing time for 1 second within a 50-meter radius centered on you. You are unaffected. Cooldown: 48 hours. Maximum uses: 5. Current uses remaining: 4. Tradeable.

The ability to pause time for one second within a 50-meter radius consumes one-fifth of one's mental energy and has a limit on the number of uses. At first glance, it doesn't seem like much.

But Guan Tong knew very well that items related to "time" and "space" abilities were always extremely precious.

This one-second time stop might not be of much value to an ordinary person. But for a powerful Ascended Being, that one second could very well change the outcome of a crucial battle.

Guan Tong hadn't expected Ye Lianka to give him such a precious item as a gift. If this item were on the market, it would definitely fetch millions or even more Ascension Coins.

In comparison, Guan Tong felt that the [Passerby Transformation Device] she offered wasn't that valuable.

However, he didn't pay too much attention to it. If you nitpick over every penny of the value of a gift, it loses its meaning and becomes a transaction.

"If we have a chance to meet again next time, I'll give her something nice."

Guan Tong thought about putting the hourglass back into the storage box.

"Buzz, buzz."

Just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw that it was Shi Jingyi calling.

After the call connected, Shi Jingyi told him that she had almost finished recuperating.

"Actually, I was fine by mid-September, but I didn't go back because I wanted to improve my skills."

Upon hearing this, Guan Tong asked, "So, how's your progress?"

“I’ve gained some insights, but it’s not enough.” Shi Jingyi then said with a smile, “I wanted to ask you how you feel about being a lecturer? I looked at the online comments, and the students’ evaluations of you are quite good.”

"I feel okay."

Guan Tong has not felt any pressure during his less than three months as a lecturer, because he has already mastered the course content and is more than capable of teaching students.

But besides the pressure, some trivial matters still took up some of his time.

However, these experiences are definitely meaningful.

Putting everything else aside, if he hadn't come to the academy, he most likely wouldn't have met Ye Lianka, wouldn't have learned about the situation within the academy, and wouldn't have met Fang Qian again to discuss the issues left over from before.

"Are you alright?" Shi Jingyi asked upon hearing this. "So, are you considering staying at the academy?"

"No, not at all," Guan Tong said. "I'll still leave once you come back to take over. So when are you coming back?"

Even though she had only been in the academy for less than three months, Guan Tong already missed her free and easy life.

He definitely wouldn't be able to stand it if he had to keep taking classes here.

Shi Jingyi said apologetically, "It will probably be around mid-to-late October. Please hang in there a little longer."

“It’s not about persisting yet…and you don’t need to rush.” Guan Tong was worried that Shi Jingyi would rush back before she had fully recovered, so she thought for a moment and said, “How about this, you can come back after the thirteenth rule is over.”

“That works too,” Shi Jingyi said. “I’ll go back in November, and you can take care of me for another month.”

"Hmm." The two chatted for a few more minutes about other things before hanging up.

Guan Tong checked the time; it was past nine o'clock at night. In preparation for the release of the new rules tomorrow, he went back to his room to sleep early.

……

May 10, morning.

From students to teachers, from inside the academy to outside, from North Star to the whole world, everyone is waiting for the Firebringers to release new rules.

When the fire-stealer's voice rang out, everyone knew it was nine o'clock without even looking at their watches.

[The Thirteenth Rule of the Apocalypse Has Been Released]

[Apocalyptic Rule Thirteen: Punish Yourself for Lying]

[Rule Content: From the date of this rule's publication, all humans are prohibited from making statements that they subjectively determine to be false. This includes, but is not limited to, spoken language, written language, sign language, and encrypted communication. However, objective errors of perception, such as misremembering a date, are not considered violations. This rule will last for 30 days.]

[Success Reward: 500 Ascension Coins, increased maximum Mental Power]

[Penalty for failure: Those who violate the rules will never be able to tell the truth again after the rules expire.]

[Note: Humans, a race that lives with lies. If we couldn't lie, would humans still possess the ability to communicate?]

……

Post-Apocalyptic Rules and Countermeasures Research Lab.

The meeting was convened immediately after the release of Rule 13.

Once everyone had arrived, they all remained silent, carefully considering what they were about to say.

Many have even decided that during this rule period, they will remain completely silent, just like during the previous seventh apocalyptic rule, the "Hour of Silence."

Isn't lying bound to fail? Then I guess I won't say a word!

Because everyone knows that some lies are not intentional, but may just be said accidentally.

For example, if someone asks you to do something, invites you to dinner, or asks you for a favor, you might be reluctant and casually tell a lie like, "I have something to do, so I won't go."

It can be said that in human life, most people love to tell little white lies, which has nothing to do with morality or character, but is simply to make life more convenient and easier.

However, I'm sorry to say that such trivial lies will be considered invalid if spoken or written during the period specified in this rule.

"The key aspects of these new rules are the rewards for success and the penalties for failure."

In the silent meeting room, it was Gao Liangwei, the person in charge, who spoke first.

“In the past, the penalty for failure was a choice between ‘death’ and ‘decay of maximum mental energy’. This is also how the survival-type and non-survival-type rules were distinguished. Another way to distinguish them was to see if there was a survival treasure chest in the success reward.”

"But this time, the rules are different. Failure will not reduce your maximum mental power, nor will it kill you. Instead, you will never be able to tell the truth again. Success, on the other hand, will grant you a fixed amount of Ascension Coins and an extremely valuable increase in your maximum mental power."

Zhang Minglu said, "The rules this time are indeed quite unusual. In terms of difficulty, as long as everyone keeps quiet, getting through this smoothly shouldn't be a problem."

“The problem is that some people might take advantage of this rule,” one expert said. “To give a somewhat inappropriate example: in a couple, one party suspects the other of cheating but has no evidence. Under this rule, they can directly ask the other person. If the other person is vague or remains silent, then it means that the other person has indeed cheated.”

The others nodded, their expressions serious.

The example of infidelity is not important; what is important is that this rule can be applied to the field of lie detection.

If you don't give a direct answer when asked a question, it means you're afraid of the rules and don't dare to lie, which confirms that you have a problem.

“The rules mention ‘subjective cognition,’ which means that if one objectively believes that they did not do it, denying it will not cause the rules to fail.” Another expert gave an example: “For instance, if a person has a habit of sleepwalking and kills someone while sleepwalking, they may not trigger the rules if they deny that they killed someone after waking up because they do not have the subjective cognition of killing.

Someone else spoke up: "Don't forget that failing the rules doesn't mean you die, it just means you'll never be able to tell the truth again. If the benefits are big enough and you're willing to pay the price, then lying during the rule period is acceptable."

Everyone nodded again. This time, the rules seemed simple, but in reality, one could easily fall into a trap if not careful, so they had to be cautious.

A sociology PhD said, "I don't think this rule should be used as a lie detector; doing so would only damage relationships between people, which is perhaps exactly what the fire-stealers wanted."

"I suggest that a proposal be made in the white paper calling on everyone not to use the rules to test others during this period. Then, just speak as little as possible, and there shouldn't be any problem passing the rule challenge."

"agree."

"Agreed, ah..."

An expert had just finished speaking when he suddenly covered his mouth, his face filled with panic.

Everyone else in the room looked over.

Gao Liangwei asked in a deep voice, "Dr. Li, you wouldn't be saying you agree when you don't actually agree, thus violating the rules, would you?"

"me……"

The Dr. Li looked anxious and was sweating profusely, clearly indicating that Gao Liangwei's prediction had come true.

"Nonsense!" Gao Liangwei shouted angrily. "If you disagree, either stay silent or publicly oppose it. Why go against your conscience and agree with others?"

Dr. Li said in a panic, "The person in charge, I... I was wrong... What should I do now?"

He looked at the others, but they remained silent.

Some learned from his mistake and dared not speak carelessly again.

Some people simply didn't know what to say, just like the rule's name suggests, "Those who eat lies will be punished," it's none of anyone else's business.

What can you do if you break the rules? You'll naturally be punished by the rules, and you'll never be able to tell the truth again after that.

Which is worse: the punishment of never being able to tell the truth or death?

(End of this chapter)