Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 98 Shi Jingyi's Contact
Seventh day of the spread of the blood plague virus.

Guan Tong sat at the table. He had just finished reciting the human body's acupoints and was using his laptop to check the latest official updates online.

Seven days have passed, and the authorities have not released any information regarding "antibodies," "infection awareness," "serum," or any related topics.

Guan Tong absolutely did not believe that the official authorities would fail to discover the existence of adaptors even after a week. Let alone a week, they should have been able to discover them in a single day.

Therefore, the lack of news indicates that the decision not to disclose the information was made proactively.

This was within his expectations, but what puzzled him was that there was no related discussion online.

He tried searching for keywords, and this time, unlike when he searched for "cooling mints," he didn't get "no results." This time, there were many results, but they were mostly irrelevant.

"Could it be that they've upgraded their information blocking technology...?"

Guan Tong thought it was quite possible. If that were the case, even if the information were leaked, it would be contained within a small, offline circle of acquaintances, and would not be able to spread thousands of times faster due to the amplifying properties of the internet.

buzzing...

Just then, the phone on the table vibrated. Guan Tong picked it up and, as expected, it was Xu Xiaotian calling.

The only person who will call him now is Xu Xiaotian.

"Hey?"

"Brother Tong, you're still alive!"

"……thank you."

Xu Xiaotian laughed awkwardly: "No... it's because the rules this time are too outrageous, and the casualties in Yong'an are quite terrible. So I was just worried about you!"

"With so many people in Yong'an, dealing with these new rules is indeed very troublesome."

"Yes, that's why a large-scale evacuation was carried out on the first day, and they're still evacuating every day now."

"How's it going at your college?" Guan Tong asked.

"Fortunately! The authorities take the students of the college very seriously. As soon as the rules were released, a large amount of protective equipment was delivered, and each student received a set."

"That's not bad."

"Yes. And the academy is full of hidden talents. You don't know, Tong-ge, one of our people has a mental power tool that is a disinfectant spray, which is perfect for suppressing the virus in this rule! It's just that the effective range is a bit small, about the size of a room, so it can't hold many people."

"That's fine too. Even if we squeeze in a room, we can still fit dozens of people."

"Yeah. But this guy locked his dorm room door on the first day and wouldn't let anyone in... Never mind that, Tong-ge, I have something I want to ask you."

"what's up?"

"Do you know Professor Shi Jingyi, who teaches the course 'The Flow of Spiritual Power'?"

Guan Tong asked in surprise, "What?"

Xu Xiaotian said, "I had some questions about the course before, and we ended up talking about mental power props. I mentioned that my idea for developing multi-effect instant noodles was inspired by you, Tong Ge. Then she said that she also knew a Guan Tong, who was also in Yunhua, and asked if I was the same person."

"...Yes, I did meet her once."

"Really? I thought it was just a coincidence!" Xu Xiaotian exclaimed in surprise. "I never imagined the world was so small. Oh, and the lecturer also said that if it's the same person, they'd like your contact information. Do you want to give it to them?"

Do you want my contact information?

Guan Tong didn't know if Shi Jingyi wanted to see him about something, but considering that they had worked together well last time, he agreed: "Here you go."

"OK, I'll send a message later."

After talking with Xu Xiaotian, Guan Tong put down her phone less than ten minutes later, she received another call.

The caller ID shows an unknown number; Guan Tong answers.

"Guan Tong?"

A clear voice came through the receiver; it was Shi Jingyi calling.

"it's me."

"Haha, I didn't expect it to really be the same person," Shi Jingyi laughed. "Looks like we're quite destined for each other."

"Maybe," Guan Tong said. "Is there something you need from me?"

"Nothing else, it's just that... well, it's not convenient to talk about it over the phone, so let's not talk about it."

Is it inconvenient to say this over the phone?
"Are you worried about...the call being leaked?"

"Who knows? Maybe."

"..."

Guan Tong was puzzled. Did he and Shi Jingyi have any secrets that he was worried about being exposed?
It seems... wait.

Guan Tong suddenly realized something, and her breathing became slightly heavier.

Shi Jingyi on the other end of the phone seemed to have heard me and said, "Looks like you know what I mean. Yes, that's it. But don't worry, I haven't mentioned it to anyone else." "..."

That's right, Guan Tong understood what Shi Jingyi meant.

She probably already knows that he is... Shadow!
Through the battle on Holy Grail Island, many of Guan Tong's abilities were revealed. These included the ability to create explosions and manipulate shadows.

Previously, under the fifth rule, in the industrial park, Shi Jingyi personally witnessed Guan Tong using Silver Hunter No. 3 bombs to bombard the undead, and also witnessed him manipulating shadows to eliminate the "Matrix Converter" through implosion.

Even if she didn't realize it at the time, after the results of the Holy Grail Island battle were announced, she would definitely connect the two and thus be highly likely to confirm that Guan Tong was the "Shadow".

“But I really didn’t expect that, haha,” Shi Jingyi said. “You’re truly a hidden talent.”

"..."

Guan Tong felt somewhat conflicted. He wasn't too worried that Shi Jingyi would reveal his identity. Judging from her previous behavior, she didn't seem like the type to betray someone else's secrets for personal gain.

However, it must feel strange to have your true identity guessed by someone for the first time.

"Before we said goodbye last time, you said you would watch my online classes. Did you watch them?" Shi Jingyi didn't bring up that matter again and changed the subject.

"I've seen it," Guan Tong said. "And I've been learning from it."

"Really? Let me test you?"

"can."

Shi Jingyi randomly selected five or six people to ask about their knowledge of acupoints. Guan Tong answered three correctly because she hadn't memorized them yet.

This was enough to surprise Shi Jingyi.

"It seems you've really been working hard; you're just as good as the students who attend classes in the classroom, even though you're only taking online classes!"

Guan Tong really didn't want to say that he stayed in his room all day and had nothing to do except watch online classes.

“In that case, if you have any questions, just call me directly,” Shi Jingyi said. “After all, online classes don’t have a ‘Q&A’ component.”

"Is that alright? Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After hanging up the phone, Guan Tong took a deep breath.

Although he had long known that his identity would eventually be revealed to others, he did not expect it to happen under such a somewhat sudden circumstances.

Fortunately, only Shi Jingyi knows about it. Judging from the fact that she deliberately didn't mention it on the phone to avoid leaking the call, it shouldn't be leaked.

But better safe than sorry, Guan Tong still needs to be prepared for the possibility that her identity might be completely exposed.

"As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Besides the refuge, I should find a few more hiding places... I should leave some mental items in these places so that if I encounter danger, I can use the 'teleportation' ability to move there and avoid it."

"Furthermore...should I also consider using my strengths to further accelerate my development, or somehow mobilize the group's power for my own use?"

Guan Tong casually opened a webpage, stared at it for a while, and started brainstorming various ideas.

The key point is that you don't have to worry about being tracked when using the internet in the shelter.

Based on this core idea, perhaps I could build a website. On the website, I could publish… no, sell—sell high-value information in exchange for a large amount of Ascension Coins?
No, in the business world, the biggest beneficiaries are always the various 'platforms,' not the merchants.

If you're just selling information... if you sell it for too high a price, there might not be many customers who can afford it; if you sell it for too low a price, then the information that's everywhere becomes worthless.

But what if it's selling "intermediary services"?

By leveraging the website's impenetrable and untraceable nature, could I establish an intermediary network for Ascendants to trade information, items, and even post commissions, and then take a cut from it? Would that be the way to maximize my profits?
Guan Tong felt that this was worth a try.

The reason is that people have this need—at least Guan Tong himself has this need. He thinks that not only him, but many sublimators who choose to live alone, and even some small and medium-sized organizations, will have concerns about privacy issues.

Many people have a need to trade goods and information, but the end market is almost entirely monopolized by major organizations and government agencies. Trading on third-party platforms raises concerns about identity leaks and potential offline tracking and targeting.

If a dedicated communication and trading website for Ascended users could emerge at this time, ensuring that their identities would not be leaked and they would not be tracked, it would definitely trigger a surge in its use.

"Meow."

Coal Ball then jumped onto the table and lay on the laptop keyboard. Guan Tong tapped its head: "Do you also think this is a good idea?"

The coal ball lying there made a gurgling sound, clearly only moving closer because the laptop keyboard was warmer.

"Never mind all that, let's just give it a try."

Guan Tong acted on his idea immediately. Ignoring the coal ball's protests, he grabbed it and threw it onto the bed. Then he downloaded a website template from the internet.

He didn't have much knowledge about website creation, but that didn't matter, because this era has no shortage of AI tools. Even if you know nothing about programming, you can rely on AI assistance and templates to complete a foolproof website creation process.

However, he soon discovered that the website created in this way consisted only of individual static pages. It also required a server to store the data. While he could choose cloud services from other companies, it was clear that handing over the data to someone else would render the website meaningless.

"If I want to make the website work, I'll need to get some servers, hard drives and other equipment and put them in my shelter... It's definitely not possible during the Blood Plague rules right now, I'll have to wait until it's over and then figure out how to get them."

　Today's chapter was not updated on time because there were many revisions and the timing was slightly off. Please understand.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)