Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 275, Rule Fourteen of the Apocalypse
12 month 1 day.

Guan Tong woke up at 7 a.m., two hours before the rules were to be released.

He ate something and then turned on his computer to check the morning news.

As for Sakura Inori, the bombing is still under investigation. Officials say they have collected all available DNA data from the scene and will use it to identify her.

Guan Tong wasn't worried about himself, since he hadn't left any DNA behind.

Whether Wu Wang left any trace is hard to say. If the identity databases of the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations are shared, it is possible that his identity could be discovered.

However, with the new rules about to be released, everything else, no matter how important, must be put aside and the rules must be taken into account first.

The news report also covered the newly promulgated "Doomsday Rules Management Law".

Just two days after the new law was promulgated, someone was already made the news as a typical case.

Specifically, it was an Ascended being with the ability to "control fire" who used his power to set fire to an empty, unclaimed wooden crate by the roadside.

An empty wooden box burning isn't much of a property loss, especially since the box was ownerless. Besides, no other things or people were burned, so it doesn't seem like a big deal.

The ascendant himself thought so too, but was caught red-handed by the sheriff.

Their actions violated the "Regulations on the Restraint of Sublimation Persons".

The regulations stipulate that those who have sublimated are prohibited from using their abilities or props in public spaces without a valid reason. Violators will be punished according to the severity of the consequences, and may face imprisonment.

The case in the news was relatively minor because no one was injured, so the person was only fined some Shenghua coins.

"That's really unlucky... but these regulations are a bit too strict."

After reading the news, Guan Tong didn't think much of it and opened the terminal panel to sort out her current state.

Name: Guan Tong

Nickname: Shadow

[Title: Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 945 (945) (181620)]

[Ascended Coins: 4957280]

[Overall Bioinformatics Evaluation: Excellent]

The only noteworthy aspect of personal data is the upper limit of mental strength, which seems to have increased more in the past month than before.

I don't know if it's because the natural improvement speed has increased again, or because I fought several battles this month.

When I opened the storage box, it was a complete mess.

Guan Tong looked at them and realized that many of the items were ones he had acquired early on, but he hadn't had many opportunities to use them.

For example, he still had a basic food box, but with the Portable Page Shelter and Storage Ring, he had storage space for all his supplies and didn't need any food items.

Other items include the [Lock Picker], [Signal Detector], and [Multi-functional Protective Suit], but these early items are now mostly just gathering dust.

Not only support items, but also offensive items such as the [Corpse Whistle], an early-game item that could summon the undead, are now basically useless.

However, since Guan Tong successfully attracted the Sound Hunters with the undead summoned by the Corpse Whistle, it means that the undead might have some special uses besides attacking and doing hard labor, so they can be kept.

He then tidied up and placed the usable items in front of the storage box; there were about a few of them.

[The Book Without Words], [The Corpse Whistle], [The Mind Power Activation Needle], [The Secret Scroll of Communication], [The Life-Saving Pendant], [The Hourglass of Time], [The Gilded Guardian].

He placed other special items, such as the "Chronicles of Yahoo!" and the "Invitation to the Second Ascendant Challenge", in the middle.

As for items worn on the body, such as the [Giant Axe Warrior Hoodie], [Storage Ring], and [Thermostatic Technology Underwear], they are not included.

It seems that there aren't many commonly used items, and some of them are disposable or have a limited number of uses.

If you want to fill your storage box, Guan Tong can do it; just spend Ascension Coins to buy them from the market.

If it were the early stages of the apocalypse, he might have done that. But now, after the thirteen rules, he has gradually come to a realization: "Focus on the core."

This core concept refers to the page-based capabilities derived from the "wordless book."

He wasn't initially certain about this awareness, but after experiencing several recent battles, he felt that those powerful individuals possessed it to varying degrees.

Like the previous Dragon Soul and Lucifer.

Dragon Soul's ability is to strengthen muscles. He used almost only his own ability in the battle, and the only extra tool he used was a triangular military dagger that could automatically target enemies.

Lucifer was even more outrageous. Whether fighting the Dragon Soul or later Guan Tong, he didn't use any items at all, relying solely on the abilities of his "Fallen Angel Wings." Only when he realized he was outmatched did he pull out a teleportation item to escape.

Take, for example, Wu Wang, whom Guan Tong dealt with three days ago. This guy must have obtained a lot of items from Lado. But all he used from beginning to end was a defensive [Gilded Guardian], a can that could quickly spread metal powder, and a super metal bomb he hid on his body.

The last two offensive items are used in conjunction with his ability to "detonate metal".

Throughout the entire process, Wu Wang did not suddenly pull out any other type of offensive item to try and attack Guan Tong.

The fighting styles of these three individuals all answer one question:
Given limited mental energy, should one prioritize using items or their own unique abilities?

All three answered the latter, prioritizing exclusive abilities.

This was also Guan Tong's idea.

If the items don't consume mental energy, then you can use them freely.

However, when items consume mental energy, it seems that using that precious mental energy on one's own abilities is more valuable in the long run.

Because of this awareness, Guan Tong doesn't tend to buy items in large quantities. She only opens the market to search and purchase items when she has a specific need.

“Using powerful items consumes a lot of mental energy, which is probably the Achilles' heel of people like Jiang Lanying.”

Even if those powerful people can concentrate the sublimation coins of thousands of people on themselves and buy dozens or hundreds of items, they will run out of mental energy after using only a few items, and they cannot make the most of them.

In this situation, distributing the Ascension Coins to trusted subordinates to build team combat effectiveness is the reasonable way to allocate them.

Jiang Lanying's loyal followers were trained in this way, but their numbers were still too small. This also shows how suspicious she was, trusting only the orphans she adopted.

The members of the Green Plum Club, however, do not receive the same level of trust.

Take Liu Yuqiang, for example, who shot himself in front of Guan Tong. Judging from his management skills, how could a self-made chairman who built an industry leader be inferior to that woman in her twenties, Han Ling?
As a result, Han Ling, not Liu Yuqiang, became the manager of the Yongzhou base. If their positions had been reversed, Liu Yuqiang might have truly fallen for Jiang Lanying instead of feeling like a dispensable pawn.

"Om."

The brief vibration of his phone interrupted Guan Tong's thoughts. He picked it up and saw that it was an official mass notification text message.

"The fourteenth apocalyptic rule is about to be released. Please stay indoors as much as possible and do not go out. After the rule is released, the official departments will analyze and assess it as soon as possible and announce countermeasures."

Before each new rule is released, the official website sends a mass text message reminder. I turned off my phone, wondering which category this rule would fall under.

Time ticked by, and soon that moment arrived amidst the anticipation of people all over the world.

The fire-stealer's voice rang out precisely on time.

The Fourteenth Rule of the Apocalypse Has Been Released

【Apocalyptic Rule Fourteen: Extraterrestrial Parasites】

[Rules: From the date of this rule's release, an alien-derived, attachable spore will be deployed on Tianshui. This spore can attach to any physical object, and humans who inhale it will experience both physical and psychological changes, potentially leading to unique addictive symptoms. These symptoms can be resisted through willpower; failure to resist results in failure. This rule will last for 30 days.]

[Success Reward: 1000 Ascension Coins, Survival Chest]

[Failure Penalty: Survive as a parasite]

[Note: Humans of Tianshui, do you believe it? This spore was once a best-selling product in the universe.]

　The next chapter will be posted later today. I'm feeling unwell today; I've had a headache and my mouth is inflamed and very painful. I'll go to the community clinic later.

　　Chapter Two might not be finished until after 11 PM, so please bear with me, dear readers.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)