Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 90 Book Pages Shelter
Post-Apocalyptic Rules and Countermeasures Research Lab.

After the first Ascendant Challenge concluded, Gao Liangwei, the person in charge, had a private meeting with Dr. Zhang in his office.

How did the five teams perform?

"I think it's pretty good," Dr. Zhang said. "The first team, Dragon Soul, got third place. The fourth team got fifth place."

Gao Liangwei nodded: "With so many teams, it's not bad that two teams have placed. Especially that little girl, I didn't expect her team of one to actually do so well."

Upon hearing this, Dr. Zhang said, "To be honest, I haven't seen a more powerful mental energy item than her mecha yet... If there's any flaw, it's that this child is young and not very mature. Moreover, she has a withdrawn personality and can't get along with others, which is why she was put in charge of the team alone."

"Let's not talk about her for now. Let's talk about the second, third, and fifth teams that were eliminated. How were they eliminated?"

“I’ve asked around,” Dr. Zhang said in turn. “The second team was unlucky; they encountered the wolf pack team from the Tulip Federation. They were outnumbered and had no choice but to be eliminated.”

"Wolfpack?"

"Yes, the Federation teams all agreed on a meeting point before the competition. After entering the island, they headed to that point, gathered together, and used their numerical advantage to eliminate teams from other countries."

Gao Liangwei said coldly, "It's amazing that they came up with this idea, but I have to admit that it is indeed effective."

"Yes. If their 'alpha wolf' hadn't died, they would definitely have gotten a place... In short, the second team died at their hands. The third team... the elimination situation for the third team was rather special."

Dr. Zhang recounted what he had heard from the team members. After listening, Gao Liangwei's face darkened: "If that's the case, then Gu Fei, as the team leader, bears an unshirkable responsibility!"

"I think so... I chose him as captain because of his outstanding talent in close combat and his willingness to fight. Now it seems that was a mistake, and it was my fault."

"What's the situation with the fifth team?"

"According to the report from the members of Team 5, they were defeated by 'Shadow' when they went to compete for the hidden treasure 'Holy Grail'. This 'Shadow' also survived to the end and won first place and the hidden reward."

"Who exactly is this shadow? Can we find out as soon as possible?" Gao Liangwei asked.

Dr. Zhang thought for a moment and said, "Currently, due to his battles with multiple people, some of his abilities have been exposed. First, he can summon the living dead that appeared in the Fifth Rule; second, he can create explosions and smoke in a small area; and third, he can manipulate shadow-like things to kill..."

Gao Liangwei immediately said, "Pass this intelligence on to relevant personnel in various places and tell them to keep a close eye out. If they discover anyone using similar abilities, they should report it immediately."

"Okay, I'll take care of it in a bit."

"Shadow is first, Dragon Soul team is third, so who's in the second team?"

"The second team is Team Adam."

"Adam?" Gao Liangwei seemed to recognize the name. "Could it be..."

"Yes, he was a participant in the 'Eden Project' carried out by the Soro Empire. According to secret investigations, all participants in the project were sent to an island called 'Eden Island.' Their process of conceiving the 'Son of God' took place on that island."

As for this man named 'Adam'... he's supposedly the most favored candidate to be the 'father'. His four teammates also seem to be his wives, who will bear his children.

"..."

Gao Liangwei was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

But this was ultimately the Soro Empire's plan, and he couldn't interfere. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Is there a count of the number of participants in this challenge?"

Dr. Zhang shook his head: "No. But there aren't as many participants as you might imagine, because many qualified people from various countries have chosen to discard their invitations—after all, no one knows what the competition will be like before it starts. If it turns out to be a real life-or-death battle, some people don't want to take that risk."

Gao Liangwei could understand what he was saying.

As the saying goes, "A son of a wealthy family will not sit under a dangerous roof," some people of higher status are unwilling to participate in this kind of ambiguous competition. They prefer to deal with the rules of the apocalypse step by step with concentrated resources, which makes them feel safer.

"In any case, only a minority of those who advance through the challenge will actually participate. Most of the others don't really care about the competition; they are more concerned about whether they can pass the next rule, which is also our main task."

After saying that, Gao Liangwei added, "Also, starting today, Gu Fei is removed from the post-apocalyptic team training program. His performance has been extremely disappointing!"

"……clear."

……

Guan Tong walked to the entrance of the shelter, but instead of going in, she first examined its appearance.

To be honest, it was quite different from the shelter Guan Tong had imagined. From the outside, it looked like a small wooden cabin, not much bigger than the property storage room where he was currently living.

"A wooden shelter...that's really reassuring."

Guan Tong muttered to himself as he walked in. The scene inside gave him the feeling of walking into a cheap hotel room that cost 30 yuan a night.

There was a bed, a wardrobe, a wooden table with a stool, and a bathroom in the room; that was all.

...Isn't this too rudimentary?
Guan Tong picked up the blank book. Sure enough, it clearly said "Full-Function Shelter" on it. How could this be considered full-function?

Could it be that, like the original 'shadow outline', I'm getting a super-shrunk version?
Guan Tong believes it is very likely.

However, I wouldn't say I was extremely disappointed.

Guan Tong quickly noticed several highlights.

There are electrical outlets in the house; the bathroom faucet works; the toilet flushes; and the showerhead can be used for showering.

However, when he finished testing everything and assumed that the shelter had unlimited water and electricity resources, he discovered that his mental strength had silently changed from 2 points to 1 point.

"...?"

Guan Tong was stunned for a moment, then came to her senses: "Does the existence of the shelter consume mental energy?"

He immediately tested it and found that it was indeed the case. After the shelter was summoned, it would consume 1 point of mental energy every 10 minutes it existed.

In other words, if Guan Tong is to maintain it 24 hours a day, she has to consume 144 points of mental energy every day.

“我之前平均5分钟恢复1点心灵力，装备了‘优胜者’的称号后，降低到了2分半恢复1点，24小时就是576点。”

I can afford to stay, but having to keep paying "room fees" is a bit annoying.

But what could he do? He desperately needed a portable shelter, and having running water and electricity would certainly make things much more convenient; at least he could take a shower every day.

However, he was not satisfied with the shelter's poor defenses. It was made of wood, and without any other attack, a single fire would destroy it.

This led him to conclude that this must be a scaled-down version of the full-featured shelter. Perhaps once his mental power limit increases, he can upgrade it further by summoning it again.

"The upper limit of mental power... raise it as soon as possible."

Guan Tong's current maximum of 134 points is definitely more than that of an average person, but he still feels it's not enough.

However, there are very few ways to enhance it; Guan Tong has only discovered two so far. One is through gene optimizers, and the other is through high-frequency, intense battles.

Not only is the former something that can only be encountered by chance, but the latter is the same.

Aside from special cases like challenge matches, there aren't that many combat scenarios in reality.

Not to mention that Guan Tong is currently trying her best not to make a move.

He knew that after the Holy Grail War, many people had gained some understanding of his abilities. He was unaware of how many people were searching for him worldwide, so it was best to keep a low profile.

There's no such thing as having it both ways, so Guan Tong decided to take it one step at a time and wait for the sixth rule to be released.

"Let's take a rest first."

During the eight-hour challenge, Guan Tong was under constant high tension. Now that she has relaxed, she is also feeling exhausted.

He lay on the bed in the shelter, looking at the wordless book in his hand, and thought, "What would happen if I were in the shelter and I pulled the shelter back into the wordless book? Would I go into the book with it?"

"……never mind."

Guan Tong didn't want to risk her life recklessly. What if she really went in and couldn't get out? If she really wanted to try, she would buy a hamster and keep it in the house while she conducted the test outside.

Lying in bed, he felt sleepy and soon fell asleep.

Silent all night.

The next day, he woke up, took a shower, and while his hair was drying, he took out his phone and browsed the internet.

There wasn't much discussion online about the challenge that ended yesterday, but there were some trending posts.

One of the posts with over 10,000 replies was about none other than him.

The post is titled "In-depth analysis of the abilities of the 'shadow' mastermind who has risen to the top of the champion rankings!"

Guan Tong clicked in and saw that the poster was someone who had participated in the challenge and said that he had gone to fight for the Holy Grail and died under "Black Thorn".

Guan Tong knew that the "Black Thorn" mentioned by the poster was the materialized "Thorn Shadow Killing Array".

The original poster then went on to provide a serious analysis, which contained both correct and incorrect points. The correct point was that "the black thorn can transform," while the incorrect point was an analysis claiming that the shadows were "covered with landmines."

However, what made this post popular was not the original poster's analysis, but rather a comment in the thread.

A user with the ID "White Snow Without a Trace" commented: "Shadow is a psychopath who likes tentacles and poop!"

When Guan Tong saw this comment, she almost immediately knew that this was the guy who piloted the mecha.

Not only did he recognize her, but many other contestants also recognized her by her ID.

"The Snow Without a Trace! That expert who ranked fifth in the challenge?!"

"That white mech!! I saw it too!"

"Great Goddess White Snow, do you still remember me? I was the one you killed with a single strike of your lightsaber!"

"I saw that mech too! It's the coolest psychic power device I've ever seen, I'm so envious!"

Many contestants on the island had seen the mecha and responded one after another.

Guan Tong definitely wasn't in the mood to reply. He thought this guy dared to wield a power sword to kill people, yet he could be scared away by some disgusting things. He was really a weirdo.

Besides, what he really cared about was Lucifer. The latter said his wings were called "Wings of a Fallen Angel," which were indeed quite powerful and even had some effect on his shadow.

Although that guy was a foreigner and she probably wouldn't run into him normally, Guan Tong, being a person with a sense of crisis, kept thinking about it and how to deal with an enemy who could restrain her.

Previously, relying solely on the grappling hook, he certainly couldn't outrun Lucifer, the winged "birdman." But with the "teleportation" ability, combined with the shadow that activates vision, he can have the shadow activate its vision and quickly teleport to a far distance beyond Guan Tong's field of vision. Then, by activating the ability again, he can achieve an ultra-long-distance teleportation escape.

But simply trying to escape is not a viable path; we still need to think about how to win.

Guan Tong pondered for a while, and after her hair was almost dry, she put the matter aside and went out to conduct experiments at the shelter.

　Day 4 of my daily 10,000-word challenge, today's update is 10262 words.

　　Keep up the good work tomorrow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)