Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 277 The Impact of Intelligence

Following the release of the Fourteenth Doomsday Rule, various countries have issued statements urging people to stay in enclosed environments as much as possible and reduce going out.

If you must go out, it is recommended to wear effective protective equipment.

This is not quite the same as the situation with the Blood Plague.

During the period of bloodborne transmission, because the virus had the characteristic of being "transmitted through blood," infected individuals could infect others. Therefore, at that time, the authorities not only advised but also mandated that people not go out at will.

However, since this rule doesn't mention that people who inhale alien spores can infect others, it means that they are not infectious.

In this situation, although the authorities strongly advise against going out, if you insist on going out, no one will arrest you.

Most rational people would certainly choose to stay indoors, but there will definitely be some who choose to go out.

At this moment, at the academy in Beixing, the students were all staying in their dormitories. They had recently received a notice from the academy requiring them not to leave their dormitories unless absolutely necessary, until the situation changed.

The students had different feelings about this.

Some were very happy, thinking they could stay in their dorms and have a great time for a month, just like during the last Blood Plague rule.

Some people don't like staying in the dormitory and prefer to go outdoors. Now that they have to stay in the dormitory for a month, they are very unhappy.

More than these, the "parasites" mentioned in the rules are now the focus of discussion in every dormitory.

In a dormitory room, three people were having a heated discussion about this topic.

"What do you think it would be like to become a spore parasite?"

"I guess it will be like the monsters that are common in science fiction! Aren't there often movies and TV shows where humans are parasitized and turned into monsters?"

"If it turns into a monster, why would this thing be a best-selling product in the universe?"

"Haha, if the note is true, haven't we humans made a profit? Since it's a best-selling product, it means that other intelligent civilizations have to spend some kind of currency to buy it, while we're just giving it away for free."

"Uh, don't you know that free things are often the most expensive? It's like free-to-play online games; you think you're the user, but actually you're the 'product' providing traffic and emotional value to the big shots..."

"That's right. The fire thieves aren't that kind."

"Lu Cheng, what do you think?"

The three looked at their roommate who hadn't participated in the discussion; he was sitting on his bed, meditating with his eyes closed.

Hearing someone call his name, Lu Cheng slowly opened his eyes, picked up the black-rimmed glasses that were placed to the side, put them on, and said, "I have nothing to say."

The three were speechless for a moment, then one of them joked, "Lu Cheng, you're really something else. The new rules were just released and everyone's discussing them. And you, you're actually meditating."

"I'm practicing the flow of mental energy, but I feel like I'm not making much progress," Lu Cheng said.

"You're already the fastest in the class, right? I remember Lecturer Jingyi praised you last week."

"Exactly, if your progress isn't good, then ours is hopeless. Besides, you're so young, what's the rush?"

Lu Cheng shook his head: "Yelenka from Sisia who dropped out of school in October, I heard she's only sixteen or seventeen, but she's already far ahead of me. Not to mention our teacher Guan Tong, he's only nineteen and he's already a lecturer... The gap between me and them is still too big."

The three roommates looked at each other in surprise. They hadn't expected Lu Cheng to set his sights so high, even comparing himself to Guan Tong.

"Lu Cheng, you can't compare yourself to Teacher Guan, he's a genius."

"Yes, there are probably only a handful of people like Teacher Guan in the whole world."

Lu Cheng pushed up his glasses, didn't say much, got out of bed, sat down at the table, put on his headphones, and started watching video lessons to review.

The three roommates were used to having a genius in the dorm, so they didn't ask any more questions and continued their discussion.

Lu Cheng stared at the computer screen, his brows slightly furrowed.

Genius?

Although he was somewhat unconvinced, he had to admit that his roommates were right.

If Guan Tong isn't a genius, why is he able to become a lecturer at such a young age and cultivate the flow of mental energy to such a level—after all, his situation is completely different from Shi Jingyi's.

Those who come to the academy as lecturers attract a lot of attention, and their identities before the apocalyptic rules can be exposed online.

The students all knew that Shi Jingyi had been practicing at the martial arts school for many years. Therefore, it was reasonable for her to combine her mental power with her years of training experience to develop the circulation of mental power after entering the post-apocalyptic era.

However, after Guan Tong's identity was revealed, many students found it hard to believe.

It turns out that before the rules of the apocalypse, he was just an ordinary senior high school student.

So why was he able to take such a big lead more than a year later, when everyone started at the same time? The students didn't know the reason, so they could only assume he was a genius.

Lu Cheng thought about his recent cultivation, which had been stuck at a bottleneck, and couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Before enrolling this year, he had hoped to shine in the college and believed that if he focused on his studies for a year, he could become the top student.

But the arrival of Guan Tong, the substitute lecturer, made him feel particularly uncomfortable.

Even though Guan Tong's identity is that of a teacher, his identity is that of a student.

However, comparing their ages, Lu Cheng, who is twenty years old this year, is a year older than Guan Tong, which makes it difficult for him to accept the gap represented by their status.

Although Guan Tong has left the academy, whenever Lu Cheng encounters difficulties in his cultivation, the thought of Guan Tong being so much younger and more accomplished than him fills him with both dejection and envy. "If only I had genius talent..."

As Lu Cheng was thinking, he suddenly felt a blur before his eyes, and a strange tremor rose within his body.

what happened?

He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and was surprised to find that he could see the small print on the computer screen clearly when he put his hands down.

Lu Cheng was stunned for a moment: "How come I'm nearsighted..."

……

The Ascended Home website.

In the casual chat section, a large number of posts related to the rules were published.

Many people are tagging the site administrator's account, asking if there's any hidden information this time.

They weren't disappointed; a new post was quickly published in the webmaster forum.

Selling classified information related to the Fourteenth Rule of the End Times

Details: The price of this information is 200000 Ascension Coins. This information will not be provided immediately; a unified notification will be given 1 hours later.

As soon as the post was published, replies kept popping up.

"I knew there was intelligence!"

"As expected of the site administrator, thumbs up!"

"The notification time was shortened this time? One hour. It seems that this hidden intelligence is the kind that can't be delayed."

"Why did the price go up this time? Didn't it used to sell for 100,000?"

"I guess there are fewer customers buying intelligence..."

"That's normal. The North Star official makes their purchases public every time. If I were the head of another organization, I wouldn't waste my Ascension Coins buying them; I'd just wait to get them for free."

"No wonder you couldn't become the organization leader, upstairs. What if the North Star official buys the content, modifies some parts, and then releases it?"

"If the Fire Thieves have first-hand information, then the station chief is second-hand, and what we buy from the station chief is third-hand. We, who are just waiting to get the information from the North Star official for free, are all getting fourth-hand information... To be honest, if I had more coins, I would buy a copy separately too."

"The site owner might not have gotten secondhand equipment, right? Is it possible that the site owner is actually the Firebringer himself? Otherwise, how come this website hasn't been compromised by any country yet!"

"The person upstairs might be telling the truth, and the truth often surprises people. Many people think the site administrator and 'Shadow' are the same person, but I don't believe it."

The comments section quickly veered off course from discussing hidden information, with people talking about all sorts of things.

Meanwhile, various organizations and official entities that had been monitoring the site administrator's account 24/7 immediately sent private messages to the administrator after the post was published, expressing their willingness to purchase.

Even if the price doubles, you still have to buy it.

There's no way around it; it's a seller's market through and through.

Moreover, this time the notification time was shortened to 1 hour, and each client judged that the hidden information was quite urgent, so they were all prepared at all times.

An hour later, all customers who had purchased the intelligence received a private message reply.

Upon seeing the intelligence, these organizations immediately understood why the station chief had significantly shortened the notification time this time.

It's not because hiding information is so wicked, but because it's too tempting!

Indeed, heteromorphic spores can deeply develop physical functions, improve mental state, and make intelligent organisms stronger quickly... This is undoubtedly extremely attractive to humans.

This temptation could easily lead some people with poor self-control to become completely addicted after experiencing the benefits of the spores. By then, it might be too late to warn them.

The official response from Beixing was the fastest; less than ten minutes after obtaining the hidden information, they updated their official account and white paper.

While the authorities haven't concealed the benefits of heterospores, they have also repeatedly emphasized their addictive nature. These benefits are utterly insignificant compared to the unknown dangers of becoming a parasite after addiction!
Therefore, the authorities strongly advise that no one should try to actively inhale the spores, and not to "let go" psychologically, thinking that they have strong enough willpower to resist the temptation.

However, the voice of another group has emerged unexpectedly, persistently and sharply resonating throughout the world.

This voice comes from ordinary people all over the world.

The general public generally said that their personal terminals have been shut down and they are in a state of "nothing left to lose," so why not take this opportunity to strengthen themselves?

After all, this rule is not limited to Ascended Ones; the Alien Spores affect all of humanity!
If those who have transcended are afraid of failing to challenge the rules and dare not try, then what do ordinary people have to be afraid of?

A post that represented the sentiments of many ordinary people quickly rose to the top of the forum.

In this crazy time, mediocrity is even more terrifying than death.

The post details are as follows:

"I am an ordinary person whose terminal panel is turned off. Since the panel was turned off, I have been living in a daze every day, just waiting to die."

Even though the authorities have consistently emphasized that they will treat those who have achieved sublimation and ordinary people equally, and have recently enacted laws to restrict those who have achieved sublimation... in reality, I don't think many ordinary people would genuinely believe that they can truly be on equal footing with those who have achieved sublimation.

Therefore, these rules might be an opportunity. If developing these spores could make me, an ordinary person, as strong as an Ascended Being, then I'd be willing to risk failure and becoming a parasite to try!
As for the reason for doing this… it's simple! As my post title says, in this crazy era, mediocrity is more terrifying than death! An ordinary person cannot possibly survive all forty-nine rules; relying on others is unreliable, we can only rely on our own efforts to save ourselves!

(End of this chapter)