Forty-nine rules of the end times

The 288th octopus has taken the bait; I'm starting to reel it in.

The Chosen Group that Shangyuan Zi was in before consisted of three people: herself, Yueming, and Wuyanshi.

Just as her name was chosen by the divine child, the names of her two team members were also bestowed by the divine child, each corresponding to their own abilities.

Wu Yan's ability is disguise. She can use her ability to impersonate anyone, and as long as her mental energy is not exhausted, she can maintain the disguise indefinitely.

Furthermore, her ability has another unique characteristic: once the disguise is complete, in addition to obtaining the other person's face, figure, and voice, she can even imitate the other person's abilities.

However, the degree of effectiveness depends on the relative strength of one's own mental power and that of the person being impersonated.

With this special ability, the Divine Child chose her to join the Chosen Ones, where she was positioned as an assistant to Uehara Yuki and would carry out infiltration and assassination operations when necessary.

Another team member, Moon Fate, possesses a unique psychic power item called "Moon Wheel." Using it summons a giant moon disc, resembling a toy children used to play with.

This roulette wheel can trap a target inside, causing them to lose their balance as the wheel spins, until they completely faint.

Both of these individuals are far less destructive than Uehara Shizuka; they are both functional personnel.

This is precisely the idea behind the Divine Child's grouping: only one Destroyer is needed in a group, and the others should exist as assistants to the Destroyer.

Previously, Uehara Yuki, the destroyer of the Chosen Ones, was placed under house arrest, and the other two members of the group had also been under investigation. Now, Uehara Yuki has seemingly been rescued by Shadow, which is tantamount to a complete betrayal.

As her team members, Yueming and Wuyan were immediately placed under close surveillance. After receiving a message from Shangyuan Zi, they immediately agreed to assist in the arrest operation in order to prove their innocence.

As for the shadow...

The action team members gathered at headquarters to communicate with the task force. This time, the two sides would be conducting a joint operation; the task force would provide intelligence support, while the action team would be responsible for making the arrests.

"The Divine Child's orders are to capture the Shadow if possible, and to eliminate it on the spot if it cannot be captured alive," the action team commander said.

The members of the task force looked at each other and felt that the decision was somewhat inappropriate.

An older investigator frowned and said, "I don't mean any disrespect to His Highness, but Shadow only kidnapped one person; he didn't kill any of our people. What if we fail if we go too far with him?"

"Yes. Shadow's abilities are too strong. Becoming his mortal enemy... it doesn't seem worth it at all. If we fail in the battle, he will start launching indiscriminate attacks, and we won't be able to defend against them at all."

"Are you bunch of bastards doubting our abilities?"

"A man with a face full of tattoos in the action team said, his eyes filled with a sinister look."

The task force members remained silent, while the team commander said, "This task force consists of four Ascended teams, and we are confident in dealing with Shadow. In particular, we all know his abilities, but he knows nothing about ours."

“And another thing.” The commander looked at a woman in the task force, “Your name is Suzuki, right? You’ve also been assigned to the action team. Your profile ability might come in handy.”

"Yes! I'm willing to serve!" Suzuki said proudly.

At that moment, a man entered from outside, his face not looking too good: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs just received a message from Beixing."

"what news?"

"First, they asked us for evidence that the suspect is Shadow, which we do not have at the moment."

The conclusion that the kidnapper was Shadow was entirely based on Suzuki's profiling. However, this conclusion cannot be used as evidence to persuade Hokusei to admit wrongdoing.

"Secondly... secondly, Beixing said that if the other party really is Shadow, they also advised us to handle it with caution. They said that they currently have no official contact with Shadow."

"Hmph, they mean they don't want to get involved," the action team commander sneered. "Ignore Beixing's side, let's proceed according to plan. We'll depart in ten minutes for the meeting place agreed upon with Yamata no Yukari."

"Yes!"

……

At this moment, Shangyuan Zi was in a forest, wearing headphones.

She looked around and asked, "Why did you choose this place?"

Her voice reached Guan Tong's ears from a distance through her earphones; the latter was not with Shang Yuanzi at that moment.

“I know this forest very well,” he said.

This is real.

When Guan Tong first arrived in An Tai State, after burning down Basong's manor, he lived in this forest for a period of time.

This period was enough time for him to familiarize himself with everything here, so this was also the battlefield he had chosen.

Without a doubt, Shangyuan Zi's actions in contacting Yueming and Wuyan were at his behest.

The purpose was to lure out the son of God's confidants.

Because Shangyuan Zi is very important to the Divine Child, as long as he learns of the information, he will definitely send at least one of his trusted subordinates to participate in the capture operation.

If Guan Tong can control this person, he can then obtain the location information of the Divine Child.

Although he could achieve his goal by causing a scene, he disliked escalating the conflict. His target was only the Divine Child, not other unrelated Sakura Inori people, so he chose this method to find her.

Currently, Shangyuan Zi is in the forest, while Guan Tong is outside. He plans to remotely control the shadow combat, maintaining a global perspective from outside the battlefield. He does this partly to avoid being subjected to long-range area-of-effect attacks—although Yingqi Kingdom's military strength has greatly decreased after its relocation, and it didn't bring many weapons and equipment, it's possible that it has purchased some more from the Soro Empire during this period.

After the relocation of the Sakura Kingdom, it's impossible for them not to have military anxieties. Even if it means spending a large amount of Ascension Coins, they will still seek channels to purchase military equipment. And the Soro Empire, as a major arms-selling nation, is even less likely to turn down a deal that's practically handed to them.

If the Divine Child were a madman, and upon learning that Shangyuan Zi and Guan Tong were in the forest, he were to launch a long-range bombardment, it would still be somewhat dangerous.

As for Uehara Yuki, who remained in the forest, her scales were enough to defend against most firearms. Moreover, it was impossible for her to act as bait without taking any risks, and she was well aware of this.

"coming."

Guan Tong's voice rang in Shang Yuanzi's ears.

"Two people entered the forest; they must be your team members."

"Only them?" Shangyuan Zi asked curiously. "Didn't they tell anyone else?"

"No, it's probably to avoid alerting them. Only two people went into the forest, but they were both equipped with communication devices."

Guan Tong had a large number of shadowy figures lying in ambush in the forest, monitoring the two people who entered the forest from various angles.

"I suspect that as soon as they see you, they will notify the arrest team. Then, in order to catch us off guard, they will probably use teleportation items to teleport to a fixed point."

Guan Tong knew very well that since he had demonstrated his abilities so many times, it was impossible for others not to be wary of him.

Perhaps there's already a group of people dedicated to collecting intelligence and studying the specific effects of his abilities every day.

Now, no organization would be foolish enough to send someone to launch a direct frontal attack against him. Any attack would be a surprise attack. And what could be more effective than a surprise attack using a teleportation device?
They walked towards you.

When are you going to make your move?

"I will not move unless the enemy moves. I will not make a move until their main force appears."

A few minutes later, Yueming and Wuyan found Shangyuan Zi.

The atmosphere became somewhat heavy as soon as the three met.

Shang Yuanzi spoke first: "I contacted you and invited you to leave with me. Now that you've come, it means you've agreed, right?"

“Yes, we are willing to stand with the team leader through thick and thin,” Yueming said.

Wu Yan asked, "Team leader, wasn't it Shadow who rescued you? Why didn't I see him?"

“If you leave this country with me, you will be able to see the person who saved me.”

Wu Yan and Yue Ming exchanged a glance and stopped pretending.

Yueming said coldly, "Team leader, do you really think that after you're taken away, the two of us will still be able to move around freely?"

"..."

"We don't understand why you, team leader, would betray the Divine Child and betray us. Instructor Mu Tiancheng's suicide in despair was partly your fault... Don't you really feel even a little bit of gratitude?"

Shangyuan Zi said calmly, "Should I be grateful to them for training me so that they would send me to turn people into snake servants? Should I be grateful to them for wanting to use my abilities to help them realize their delusion of ruling the world?"

"Shouldn't it be like this?" Yueming asked, utterly bewildered. "This era is one where the strong prey on the weak!"

Wu Yan also said, "Team leader, the Divine Child only asked you to transform those ordinary people into snake servants, right? Don't you know that in this era, the lives of ordinary people are meaningless? As ordinary people, they will die sooner or later due to some rule, so it's better for them to become snake servants and contribute their value."

Guan Tong, who was eavesdropping outside the forest, heard the two men's conversation and felt more sorrow than anger.

Their statements prove that the Firebringers have successfully divided humanity. At least in the Sakura Kingdom, the dominant ideology among the higher-ups is that these transcendent beings, who no longer regard ordinary people as human, are the ones who have transcended humanity.

Perhaps there was another reason why Shangyuan Zi entrusted the fragments of Qimo Star to him in the first place. That is, she felt that the environment she was in was beyond redemption, and that possessing more power would only cause more harm to humanity.

"Team leader, it seems you're beyond saving." Yueming took out a scepter prop and stuck it into the ground.

A halo of light suddenly shone from the center of the scepter.

"We know we're no match for you, so we'll have someone specifically tasked with dealing with you. As for where Shadow is, I think we'll find out after we capture you and interrogate him."

When the aperture expanded to its maximum, more than a dozen figures were revealed.

The action team that arrived using a collective teleportation device consisted of four ascendant groups, plus the commander and Suzuki, making a total of fourteen people.

The commander had already learned the content of the three people's conversation through the listening earpiece, and after being teleported over, he immediately ordered: "Immediately capture Yamata no Yukari."

The four Ascended Team members immediately surrounded Yamata no Yukari, and one of them threw out several smoke bombs, causing a large amount of smoke to spread out.

These people were well aware of Shang Yuanzi's abilities and knew that to capture her, they had to block her vision immediately. Otherwise, if those vertical pupils activated their abilities, they might experience hallucinations or even be transformed into snake servants.

Guan Tong saw this from a distance and knew that the fish had taken the bait, so he could start reeling in the line.

(End of this chapter)