Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 279 The plan cannot keep up with the changes

Sakura Inori, Antu City Police Department.

As evening fell, Yoshino, who was in charge of investigating the bombing, was on the phone, standing ramrod straight.

"Yoshino, how's the investigation into the bombing going?" A stern voice came through the phone.

"Reporting to the Director, the DNA data has been collected and the Evidence Division is currently comparing it. In addition, all the police officers in the department have been dispatched and are patrolling the entire city, leaving no suspicious person unchecked."

“We must produce results as soon as possible. This is the first major case that has occurred since Yingqi moved to this land. So many people have died and been injured, and the impact is extremely negative. Entrusting this to you is a sign of our high regard for you. Don’t let us down.”

"Yes!" Yoshino shouted. "I will definitely not let my superiors down!"

After hanging up the phone, Yoshino took a deep breath, feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders and immense pressure.

The person who called him was the director of the Ban Chin Police Headquarters, the highest-ranking official in the Yingqi Police Station system.

The fact that the director personally inquired about the progress indicates that higher-level officials, or even the Divine Child, may be paying attention to this case.

This is serious... because he had heard rumors that the Divine Child was very angry about the sinking of his home island and the problems caused by some of the personnel within the organization, and had punished many people.

Yoshino knew that if he failed to handle the case effectively, he would likely face punishment as well.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk."

"Come in."

A sheriff came in to report: "Commander Yoshino, we have completed our patrol of the northern area and found no suspicious persons."

"Continue patrolling the south, don't miss any corner of the city. Thoroughly search every enclosed place where someone could hide, understand?"

"Ah... yes!"

The sheriff seemed dazed for a moment, then suddenly replied in an unusually loud voice. Yoshino immediately frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, Commander Yoshino. I might be... a little agitated because of the spores."

"..."

Yoshino knew that because the police station did not stop working during the regulation period, and the officers had to go out on patrols all the time, every officer would inhale spores, which was inevitable.

"Remember to constantly remind yourself to resist and not get addicted," Yoshino advised.

"understand!"

After the sheriff left, Yoshino thought to himself that he should also be careful.

He felt the effects of the spores shortly after the rules were released yesterday: increased energy.

That's right, he hasn't slept since yesterday. In the past, he would need something like coffee to stay awake when he stayed up like this, but right now he's not tired or sleepy at all; on the contrary, he's full of energy.

He knew this was the effect of the spores.

“I also have to be careful not to get too addicted to this feeling of ‘limitless energy’... It’s just a little sweetness from the spores.”

Yoshino thought to himself that he would force himself to take a nap after working for a few more hours.

He immediately went to the evidence department to expedite the DNA comparison data.

Meanwhile, in the eastern suburbs of Antu City, a security vehicle stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse.

The sheriff driving the car glanced at it and, seeing the warehouse was dilapidated and covered in dust, lost all interest.

"Is it necessary to investigate? This place looks like it hasn't been here for days."

The sheriff in the passenger seat opened the car door and got out: "Don't forget Commander Yoshino's orders. Even if it's just a hole in the ground, if it can hide someone, you have to go in and check it out. Let's go."

"Ugh...this is so troublesome..."

The two sheriffs got out of the car and walked to the abandoned warehouse.

The iron gate was closed. The two of them tried to pull it, but found that they couldn't budge it, as if it was locked from the inside.

Lock it?

The two exchanged a glance, and one of them went back to the car to get a portable door-breaking tool.

Inside the warehouse, in the shelter, Guan Tong heard the noise from the warehouse's iron gate outside and sighed helplessly.

He was worried that someone would come over in the morning, but to his surprise, the person actually came before evening.

Once outsiders come in, they'll see his shelter, and that will be troublesome.

"It seems my hunch when the rules were released was right. Sure enough, there will be some unexpected twists and turns during this rule period, preventing me from staying peacefully for a month as before..."

With things having come to this, Guan Tong had no choice but to get up, walk to the door, and open the shelter door.

The moment it was opened, the shelter immediately ceased its completely sealed state. This also meant that the protection against the alien spores was completely rendered ineffective at that moment.

"Boom!"

With a muffled thud, two sheriffs broke open the warehouse's iron gate.

They shone their flashlights inside and found nothing but some miscellaneous items.

“I told you so,” the driver said. “There’s nothing in here.”

"That's strange, why is the iron gate locked from the inside when no one's around?"

"It's probably broken. Let's go check somewhere else."

The two sheriffs who were speaking were completely unaware that Guan Tong was suspended above them by a shadow line, looking down at them.

As for the refuge, he has already taken it back into the "Wordless Book".

If they had shone their flashlights directly overhead, they might have been able to spot Guan Tong. But neither of them seemed to realize this; they simply shone their flashlights around and then turned and left.

After the security vehicle drove away, Guan Tong walked out of the warehouse. Since his strategy of seeking stability had been disrupted by the unexpected situation, his next plan naturally needed to be changed.

But before that...

Guan Tong felt his breath and knew that he had inhaled alien spores that could attach to any physical object and were almost everywhere.

What changes will this thing bring to me?
Three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes...

Time passed, and Guan Tong waited for more than half an hour, but she didn't find herself any different from before.

This undoubtedly struck him as odd. According to information he had seen online, many people reacted within minutes or a dozen minutes of the rules being implemented.

"Could it be because I lack nothing? That can't be."

Compared to others, Guan Tong did not have a particularly strong desire.

His mental state, while not absolutely healthy, is at least relatively calm, and he doesn't need spores to stabilize his emotions; moreover, he is satisfied with his steadily improving strength and has no desire to improve it through risky means.

Could it be related to my excessive vigilance?
Guan Tong had been closely monitoring her body for the past half hour, which was a process of "continuous self-examination." This state might reduce or delay the effectiveness of the spores.

Just like drinking, many people get drunk because they are having a good time and unknowingly drink many glasses of wine. By the time they realize they have drunk too much, it is too late.

Guan Tong's approach was to stop and check her body after every drink, even after just one sip, to see if she showed any signs of intoxication. Drinking like that, it was practically impossible to get drunk...

"Even if there are no changes for the time being, I must always be vigilant and conduct self-examinations frequently."

After a moment's thought, he decided not to summon the shelter in.

"Now that I'm out, there's no point in staying in the refugee camp any longer. I might as well go straight to Banzhen."

He decided not to waste any more time and went directly to Banzhen, the capital of Sakuragi, to try to find news of Yagi-no-Muraku.

……

North Star Academy.

Lu Cheng, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, opened his eyes, his excitement almost overflowing.

"It's done!"

He let out a low exclamation, which drew the attention of all three people in the dormitory.

"Lu Cheng, why are you shouting all of a sudden?"

Unable to suppress his desire to show off, Lu Cheng said, "I just completed two round trips of mental energy flow, one forward and one reverse, without making any mistakes."

"oh?!"

"Holy crap, that's awesome!"

The three roommates were utterly shocked. One of them exclaimed in disbelief, "Lu Cheng, you could only manage to run it forward once before, right? How come you can run it backward so quickly without making a single mistake? Are you cheating?"

Lu Cheng smiled slightly but did not explain.

Another roommate suddenly asked, "Lu Cheng, is it the effect of the spores?"

Lu Cheng's smile froze for a moment, then disappeared.

Upon hearing this, the other two roommates were initially taken aback, but after seeing Lu Cheng's expression, they realized he must have been right.

"Is it really because of the spores? This...isn't there something wrong with it?"

"Since the rules were released yesterday, the academy has notified everyone several times to resist any benefits the spores bring, in order to avoid addiction. Lu Cheng, you should know this!"

Despite his roommates' concern, Lu Cheng felt somewhat resistant and said to the three of them, "The spores may have had some effect, but that's not important. The hidden information in the officially released rules mentions that as long as the dosage is controlled to avoid addiction, there won't be any problems."

"Control the dosage? How do you know what dosage is the non-addictive limit? There's no clear numerical value!"

"Lu Cheng, your grades are already good enough, why take risks? It's unnecessary."

"Yeah. Actually, I felt something was off yesterday. Aren't you severely nearsighted? After the rules were announced yesterday, I noticed you weren't wearing your glasses anymore. It must be due to the spores, right?"

Although his three roommates meant well, Lu Cheng became increasingly irritated as he listened. He jumped off the bed and said, "I can't reason with you guys. Don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing. I'm going to the study room."

He finished speaking and habitually picked up his glasses from his desk, but suddenly realized that his nearsightedness had improved, so he put the glasses down and quickly left the dormitory.

The three roommates looked at each other, each with a furrowed brow, deeply worried about Lu Cheng's situation.

Is this okay for him?

"Something feels off; it's not like him at all. He doesn't usually get angry so easily."

"Should we inform the college leadership?"

"Okay, I think we should let him know too. He's my roommate, after all; we can't just watch him mess things up!"

The three of them discussed it and immediately contacted their counselor to explain the situation.

After hearing this, the counselor immediately took it very seriously, saying that he would report to the lecturer and the director, and would also talk to Lu Cheng.

So, just a few minutes after Lu Cheng arrived at the study room, while he was still a little angry about his roommate's questioning of him, the counselor also arrived at the study room.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Lu Cheng asked in surprise, "Counselor Qin, are you here to see me?"

Their counselor was Qin Qing, Fang Qian's good friend. After Fang Qian left the college, Qin Qing stayed on as a counselor.

Qin Qing nodded: "Lu Cheng, I'd like to talk to you about the alien spores."

Lu Cheng was instantly enraged upon hearing this, but he didn't explode. He just clenched his fists and his voice became somewhat low: "Counselor Qin, did someone from our dormitory contact you?"

Yes. Your roommates care about you a lot, they—

“They’ve got it wrong.” Lu Cheng interrupted Qin Qing before she could finish speaking. “Thank you, Counselor Qin. But I don’t think I need to have a talk.”

(End of this chapter)