Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 290 The Power of the Winter Overlord

“Sgorchin, don’t even think about getting in. I won’t let you ruin Lord Rijeka’s plans.”

At the gates of Mrs. Konia's estate, Gelkin and his men blocked Scrooge's path, preventing her from entering.

Sgorchin said coldly, "Have you considered the consequences of doing this?"

"If the emperor only has one heir left, even if he doesn't like the person, he has no choice but to choose that person."

Without saying anything more, Sigachin rushed forward, and a sledgehammer, more than half a person's height, appeared out of thin air in his hand.

"boom!"

With one swing of the hammer, two interceptors were instantly smashed into a bloody pulp. Gelkin, hiding behind them, twitched at the corner of his eye and commanded the remaining dozen or so men: "Hold her back!"

A dozen or so people rushed forward. They were all elite Ascended cultivators, possessing such a significant numerical advantage, yet they could only barely defend.

Scrooge's power was terrifying; no one could withstand her hammer attacks head-on, and could only dodge and use props to entangle her.

In any case, they knew very well that their mission was not to kill Stochastic, but simply to delay her entry into the manor.

Inside a house in the manor, Yelena faces attacks from multiple people, recalling the time she received training from Guan Tong at the academy.

One of Guan Tong's remarks left a deep impression on her at the time.

Are you sure there's only one enemy fighting you one-on-one? What if ten people attack you simultaneously?

Those were the words Guan Tong spoke when training his mental energy to circulate for full-body defense.

Although she trained very hard at that time, deep down she felt that given her status and position, and with a skilled bodyguard like Sgorchin by her side, this situation was unlikely to happen.

But now Guan Tong's hypothesis has become a reality.

It's okay... the teacher is much faster than these people...

In Yelena's eyes, the pressure from these people attacking her from different directions was not as great as the pressure from Guan Tong alone in the last few days.

She instantly channeled her mental energy to form a defense around her body, withstanding the first wave of attacks. At the same time, she immediately took out defensive items to further enhance her protection.

Rijeka was initially startled, then flew into a rage and shouted, "What a bunch of useless trash! Take her down!"

These were his best elites, specially assigned to lay an ambush so that Yelena would be subdued without being able to use any of her items or abilities during the surprise attack.

Unexpectedly, they failed right from the start, with all their attacks blocked, causing the plan to end the battle immediately to fail.

"It's the mental energy circulation defense system of Beixing Academy!"

"Her reaction was too quick."

These elite ascendants are discerning; they spend most of their time focusing on improving their abilities, so they are naturally very familiar with the open course "The Flow of Mind Power".

Upon hearing this, Rijeka's pale face became even more sinister.

Surprisingly, Yelena actually learned something in just a few months in Beixing...

His men, having failed in their first attack, were about to strike again. But Yelena was prepared; she made a fist with both hands, and two silver-white ice swords materialized in her palms.

With a swift, spinning slash, she decapitated two people instantly. Although another person managed to dodge in time, he still suffered a cut on his arm.

The cold air spread rapidly from his wound to his whole body, and in just a few seconds he froze on the spot and became an ice sculpture!
This is Yelena's ability: [Winter Overlord].

She can instantly condense cold air into high-density ice crystal weapons. These condensed weapons possess the property of "rapid freezing," and once they hit a target, they can transfer the cold air to the target, freezing them into an ice sculpture.

"Crack!"

The frozen person shattered into countless ice crystals and fell to the ground as Yelena lightly touched him with her sword.

This scene terrified the others, who all took a few steps back.

Rijeka was equally incredulous: "When did your abilities become so strong?!"

Yelena ignored her brother, simply holding two ice swords and coldly surveying the other assassins: "Do you all want to become ice sculptures too?"

Upon hearing this, the men wavered slightly, but Rijeka shouted, "Surrendering will only lead to a worse death! I have many men outside, what are you afraid of? Kill them!"

"Go for it! Don't get close, use ranged attacks to deplete her mental energy!"

Rijeka's trusted men gritted their teeth, knowing there was no turning back now. Even if they surrendered now, they would be executed later for attacking the princess, so they might as well fight to the death.

The group stopped trying to engage in close combat. Yelena's ice sword was too intimidating, so they decided to use items to wear her down from a distance.

But Yelena didn't give them that chance.

She tossed out two ice swords, which shattered rapidly in mid-air, turning into hundreds of sharp ice spikes that flew toward the enemy!

Rijeka and the others quickly defended themselves, but upon closer inspection, they saw that Yelena had already run to the back of the room.

"She's trying to escape through the back door! Chase her!" Rijeka shouted, pulling out his phone and dialing a number while ordering several men to give chase. "General Puli! Have your men form an encirclement! If Yelena escapes, we're all doomed!"

……

Beixing, the Post-Apocalyptic Rules and Countermeasures Research Lab.

Inside Gao Liangwei's office, Zhang Minglu was reporting on the situation in the quarantine area.

"Currently, the most fervent practitioners are being guided into quarantine zones in their respective cities. Although a very small number have shown resistance, the majority have readily agreed, and are even quite pleased."

"Happy?"

"Yes. Spore addicts tend to gather in groups, which is another discovery after 'cherishing life'. It has to be said that this characteristic has facilitated the implementation of the quarantine zone plan."

"Have there been any new changes among these people?" Gao Liangwei asked.

“We randomly select people for physical examinations every day, and the results show that their health data is getting better and better. Some people have even had their long-standing physical defects healed on their own…”

Zhang Minglu shook his head helplessly: "No wonder so many people get addicted. The benefits of spores are indeed too direct. No matter how much you publicize their dangers, people will still want to improve themselves, and that's something that can't be changed."

Gao Liangwei paused for a moment, then said, "So, these deeply addicted individuals haven't experienced any other special physiological changes besides repairing their defects."

"Nothing unusual has been found so far."

Zhang Minglu understood that Gao Liangwei wanted to ask whether these people who were deeply addicted to spores were starting to show a "monstrous" appearance.

If it occurs, then from the very first signs, we must begin preparing for the final elimination.

“To be honest, I’m also a little puzzled,” Zhang Minglu said, puzzled. “These people have completely undergone the transformation of the spores, both physically and mentally, but they haven’t shown any unusual physical changes.”

"Yes, that's a point we need to focus on," Gao Liangwei said. "Also, what's your opinion on the idea that 'prevention is worse than cure'?"

"Is it Shi Jingyi from the college who said it? I saw people discussing it online. It seems that a counselor posted the contents of the college meeting online... I think her views can only be applied to a minority of people and are not universally applicable."

"Just like the extended satisfaction experiment we used to do with children, if there are three candies in total, you can give them one candy if they eat it now, and two candies if they eat it tomorrow. Most children will choose to eat it now."

"Adults may think children are stupid, but adults also have their own versions of delayed gratification experiments. For example, skipping a late-night snack will lead to weight loss in the long run... The temptation of spores is much greater than that of a late-night snack. How many adults can control themselves, and how many can be as self-disciplined as Shi Jingyi?"

Gao Liangwei nodded in agreement: "You're right."

“However…” Zhang Minglu changed the subject, “risks and opportunities coexist. The hidden intelligence provided by the station chief also points out that using spores appropriately can indeed tap into potential and accelerate growth.”

"What do you mean by all this?"

“Manager, my idea is that we could select some official Ascendants with strong wills and let them try to gradually accept and use the spores to strengthen themselves? For example, Dragon Soul, whose will is stronger than steel, would never become addicted.”

"No."

Gao Liangwei's refusal came faster than Zhang Minglu had expected, and his attitude was very clear.

“Dragon Soul and others are all powerful individuals cultivated by the government with resources and time. We cannot afford to lose them.”

“Dr. Zhang, I understand your feelings. You can refer to the data submitted from various places, and you can even contact Shi Jingyi to ask about her personal experience of ‘prevention is worse than cure’ in her experiments, but you are not allowed to use the base’s sublimators for experiments. This is an order.”

“Yes,” Zhang Minglu replied immediately. “I understand, person in charge.”

"Okay, if there's nothing else, you can go and do your work."

After Gao Liangwei finished speaking, he lowered his head to work, but when he noticed that Zhang Minglu hadn't left, he looked up at him with a questioning gaze.

Zhang Ming hesitated for a moment, then asked, "The person in charge should have received news about Shadow's presence in Sakura, right?"

When the matter was brought up, Gao Liangwei said calmly, "Ying Qifang did not provide any concrete evidence, so it cannot be concluded whether that person is Shadow or not."

“What if that’s the case? I mean, this isn’t the first time he’s done this, you know that.”

"..."

Gao Liangwei remained silent.

Shadow is indeed not a peaceful person. Since he became famous, one big thing after another has happened to him, and now he is a focus of attention all over the world.

“I’m worried that someone might use our shadows to attack us,” Zhang Minglu said. “After all, Beixing just recently enacted a new law…”

The "Sublimation Behavior Restraint Ordinance" clearly stipulates that Sublimation users are not allowed to use their abilities or props arbitrarily in public spaces.

Abilities and items can only be used as emergency protection when facing a life-threatening situation, where failure to use them could result in injury or death.

Gao Liangwei and Zhang Minglu knew very well that if they were to strictly investigate, there could be many ascendants who violated the regulations... especially top-level powerhouses like Shadow, who could not be restricted by a single regulation.

"If Sakuragi can produce evidence proving that the other party is indeed Shadow, then we'll consider how to handle it," Gao Liangwei said.

(End of this chapter)