Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 311 Group Reunion and Unboxing Items

Congratulations on passing the test of the fourteenth rule of the apocalypse!

[Reward has been sent to your storage box]

The fifteenth apocalyptic rule will be released in fifteen days.

At 9:00 AM on January 1st, near the border between Beixing and Yingqi, Guan Tong heard the voice of the Fire Thief, but felt nothing.

He remained vigilant for almost the entire month, constantly engaging his metacognition to monitor the effects of the spores on him, and quickly nipping them in the bud whenever he detected signs of the parasitic infection spreading.

That's right, he knew that since he was outside the shelter, he would inevitably be parasitized by spores, but as long as it didn't develop into deep parasitism, there wouldn't be a problem.

"You guys passed too, right?"

He turned to look at Uehara Yuki and Suzuki beside him.

The two of them were with him, waiting to welcome Silver Fox and Chen Na.

As agreed, they will arrive today.

"Yes, it's approved." Shangyuan Zi nodded.

During this time, she spent time with Guan Tong, and under the latter's supervision, she was extra vigilant about the spores, preventing the parasitic growth from developing further.

"And you."

Guan Tong looked at Suzuki, who seemed not to have heard his question, staring blankly into the void ahead.

"Suzuki?" Uehara Yuki called out to her.

"Huh? Oh, of course." Suzuki snapped out of his daze. "I passed too."

"..."

Guan Tong looked at her for a moment, then looked away.

Before long, Silver Fox and Chen Na appeared on the other side of the river.

After the five people met, they introduced themselves to each other.

Guan Tong looked at Chen Na's flushed cheeks and patted her head with a smile: "Little Na, it's been a long time."

"Yes, Brother Guan, it's been a long time!"

After learning that Guan Tong was the Shadow, Chen Na knew that he had secretly helped her a lot, and she was even more grateful to him.

Seeing people now fills me with indescribable joy.

"By the way, Mom told me to tell you when I see Brother Guan that I thank you for your help in the past."

Guan Tong smiled but didn't say anything.

At this point, Silver Fox said, "So the investigation team consists of the five of us plus the base's logistics personnel?"

"Hmm." Guan Tong looked at her, "Too many people can be inconvenient."

“That’s true,” Silver Fox chuckled. “With the Shadow God around, one of us is worth ten. It’s incredibly reassuring.”

"Brother Guan is worth a hundred of them all, hehe," Chen Na chimed in.

Guan Tong said seriously, "Jokes aside, you'd better not let your guard down. Given the enemy's ruthlessness, this investigation of ours is dangerous."

"Yes!" Chen Na nodded vigorously immediately. "I will definitely stay vigilant!"

Shangyuan Zi listened from the side and knew that the three of them knew each other before.

But she was eager to get to the lab to investigate the clues, and even though she knew that what she said would be unpopular, she still said bluntly, "Let's leave the small talk for later and start the investigation right away."

Silver Fox snapped his fingers: "No problem. Xin has already given us the location of that 'Snake Cave' laboratory; it's in Banzhen City. But we need to go to the Police Headquarters first."

"Why?" Shangyuan Zi asked.

Silver Fox explained, "This is Sakura's request. They can accept external investigations, but the investigators must first obtain an investigation warrant issued by their headquarters. Otherwise, their official departments will not cooperate with people who do not have credentials."

Silver Fox shrugged after speaking: "Whether they're just being inflexible or trying to stall for time, we still need to get the documents. Otherwise, if they deliberately interfere or refuse to cooperate, it will only cause more trouble. And to be honest, I think they're just trying to save face."

Shangyuan Zi frowned, disliking this kind of tediousness.

Guan Tong agreed.

He thought Silver Fox was right.

As government officials, allowing foreigners to conduct independent investigations in their country would undoubtedly be a source of shame for them. Demanding a permit now seems more like a face-saving measure by Sakura Inori's official team.

The five then set off for Ban Zhen.

Silver Fox mentioned that Sakura Inori's official proposal to provide transportation for the investigation team throughout the process was rejected by Hokusei.

This so-called pick-up and drop-off service is actually nothing more than surveillance.

Given the Misawa family's centuries-long history of influence in Sakuragi, even if their crimes are exposed, they will not immediately fall from power. At most, they will retreat into the background, continuing to control and run this severely declining country through their intricate network of connections.

Therefore, Guan Tong and Yin Hu both believed that the information obtained from this investigation must not be shared with Sakura Inori's official team, as that would be no different from directly telling Misawa Jun, who was hiding somewhere in the dark.

……

On the way to Banzhen, Guan Tong checked her panel and storage box after the rules were completed.

Name: Guan Tong

Nickname: Shadow

[Title: Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 965 (965) (15086)]

[Ascended Coins: 488520]

[Overall Bioinformatics Evaluation: Excellent]

Compared to December 1st, his mental strength naturally increased by 20 points, almost double what it used to be, which surprised him slightly.

He believes the enhancement is due to the spores.

Even though he resisted and was wary of the spores, they still managed to tap into some of his body's potential, which was reflected in an increase in his mental power limit.

Perhaps this is the benefit of the "dosage control" mentioned in the hidden rules.

Those who have a better grasp of the boundaries can "squeeze" the spores to the maximum extent.

The goal is to maximize the boost from the spores while staying just short of the addiction threshold, thus successfully passing the rule challenges.

Without visualized data, Guan Tong believes he cannot do it.

He felt that Shi Jingyi might be able to get closer to the addiction threshold and receive more enhancements than him, but he didn't know about the others.

It's always a good thing to get promoted, and Guan Tong was very satisfied.

His current mental strength cap is 965, only 35 points away from the 1000 mark.

This means that the breakthrough could be completed no later than April of this year, which is two years before the release of the apocalypse rules.

As for what changes will occur after breaking through 1000 points, there is only one thing he can be certain of.

That means you can start a new page to write on the wordless book.

He was unaware of the other changes, but this one was the most important to him.

With each page he wrote, he gained a significant boost—either in strength or in breaking through the rules—which filled him with anticipation.

However, a problem also emerged on the panel...

My mental energy reserves have decreased by tens of thousands.

Guan Tong knew that this was related to his recent frequent use of Shadow Domain Small Space attacks.

This move is extremely energy-intensive, requiring tens of thousands of mental energy to use. In return, it grants a spatial attack capable of penetrating almost any defensive artifact.

If we continue using it at this frequency, our mental energy reserves will soon be depleted.

With this in mind, Guan Tong either needs to reduce his usage or seek external assistance, as relying on himself to accumulate resources at a ratio of ten to one is still too little and too slow.

The reason the authorities were willing to mobilize a large number of ascended beings across the country to send him spiritual power during the earthquake was to weaken the power of the earthquake disaster.

The reason so many ascended beings across the country agreed to transfer their spiritual power to him was because he weakened the destructive force of the earthquake, which was equivalent to saving their lives. Otherwise, even if the authorities called for it, how many people would be willing to transfer their spiritual power to others?

Guan Tong hasn't come up with a good solution to this problem yet.

He had a vague idea before, which was to establish his own organization and provide armed protection as a condition for those who joined to transfer their mental power to him.

However, there are many problems in implementing this, and we need to plan for the long term.

After closing the panel, he opened the storage box and opened the Silver-level Survival Treasure Chest, which was a reward from the rules.

What they received was a talisman.

[Obtain random item: Silver Clone Talisman]

[Silver Clone Talisman]: Creates a clone of yourself that lasts for fifteen minutes. The clone possesses one-fifth of the original owner's mental power, shares the same senses and will. A one-time use item; this item is tradable.

It feels pretty good...

Guan Tong saw the effect of the talisman that came out of the box. Although it wasn't particularly amazing, it was quite practical.

With his abilities, even if his clone is only one-fifth of his original form, its combat power is still considerable. Moreover, since both of their senses are interconnected, their combined combat strength will be greatly enhanced within fifteen minutes.

(End of this chapter)