Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 324 Gifts from Everyone

While others were unaware of Xu Xiaotian's abilities, Guan Tong was very clear about them.

Upon seeing that the box contained instant noodles in a cup, he guessed that it was a product of his ability.

"Xiaotian, can the instant noodles you create now be stored?"

Guan Tong remembered that Xu Xiaotian's instant noodles used to be made fresh and could only be eaten by himself, and no one else could eat them.

“That’s right!” Xu Xiaotian said with pride. “After more than a year of continuous development, I have finally made my instant noodles able to be stored independently, and anyone can eat them without needing to team up.”

The others were very interested in the instant noodles, and after obtaining Guan Tong's permission, they each took a box to examine them.

Once you acquire the instant noodle cup, all the corresponding effects will appear in front of you as a panel.

Silver Fox looked at the box in his hand: "Skin elasticity doubles within 30 minutes of taking it... That's quite interesting."

"This box is supposed to 'immediately relieve a state of poisoning after taking it,' it seems really useful!" Chen Na said.

The others also had different effects. Guan Tong said, "It seems you've spent a lot of time developing it, Xiaotian. It's quite effective."

"Anyway, I'm just idling around when I'm not working, but it's definitely not enough for you, Tong-ge..."

After learning that Guan Tong was the Shadow, Xu Xiaotian didn't think that the instant noodles he made were of any great use to him.

Guan Tong shook her head and said, "No, maybe these instant noodles will come in handy at a crucial moment. Thanks."

"As long as it's useful, hehe. By the way, if you're interested, you can let me know, and I'll make some for you too."

Guan Tong put seven or eight boxes of instant noodles with different effects into her storage ring. Then Silver Fox took out the gift she had prepared and placed it on the table with a soft clanging sound.

It turned out to be a short knife about the length of a forearm.

"This is a gift for you, take a look and see what you think."

Guan Tong picked up the short knife, and to his surprise, it was not a mental power item.

It is a weapon forged by humankind.

He picked it up and swung it around a few times. It felt good in his hand and was relatively light, which was related to the significant increase in his strength due to his mental power.

“This is a short sword made of multiple alloys, sturdy and extremely sharp,” Silver Fox explained. “I think you shouldn’t lack psychic weapons, and your shadow itself can also be used as a weapon, so I think a handy man-made melee weapon might be more useful to you.”

"Thank you," Guan Tong said gratefully. "I do indeed lack a suitable man-made cold weapon."

Sometimes, a man-made weapon can have a surprising effect in battle.

For example, many barrier-type items can only block and defend against attacks related to mental energy. In this situation, suddenly pulling out a man-made melee weapon and striking with it might actually achieve a miraculous victory.

Guan Tong and Silver Fox weren't close; they were more like business partners than friends. The fact that she brought such a meticulously crafted weapon as a gift was already beyond his expectations.

So he expressed his gratitude again.

Silver Fox waved his hand dismissively: "Since we'll be cooperating for a long time, this little gift is nothing. Putting everything else aside, the effort you put into eliminating the Sakura Inori family will definitely earn you a large reward from the authorities if we apply for it."

"That's no need."

Guan Tong's motives for targeting Yu Ze were purely personal, driven by revenge. Cooperating with the official team was mutually beneficial, so applying for rewards afterward would be inappropriate.

After putting the alloy knife given to him by Silver Fox into his storage ring, Guan Tong looked at Shi Jingyi.

Shi Jingyi smiled slightly: "Would you be disappointed if I said I didn't prepare a gift?"

"No, that won't happen. After all, time is too tight."

He only informed Shi Jingyi the day before the birthday party. It was perfectly normal that she didn't have time to prepare a gift since she had to attend classes at the academy.

However, judging from Shi Jingyi's tone of voice, the word "if" made him feel that she must have made preparations.

Sure enough, the next moment Shi Jingyi took out a small notebook from her pocket and handed it to him.

"I didn't prepare anything new, mainly because I didn't know what to prepare. But I've recently been researching some new applications of psychic powers, so I'll give them to you as a gift."

Guan Tong curiously opened the notebook, which contained some rough sketches and notes by Shi Jingyi. He quickly found a key word.

"Mind-body martial arts?"

"Ah."

The others were also quite curious upon hearing this, wondering what this "mind martial arts" was.

As one of the first graduates of the academy, Xu Xiaotian was well aware of Shi Jingyi's expertise in mental power, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Lecturer Jingyi, you've discovered a new way to use mental power again?"

Shi Jingyi shook her head slightly: "It can't be considered a new usage, just a variant that has been circulating. Guan Tong, do you remember why I borrowed the Ascension Coins from you before?"

"I remember. You said you wanted to buy a qigong manual?"

“Yes,” Shi Jingyi said, “it was that manual that gave me the inspiration. I referenced its operation and developed several new martial arts techniques, but they are not yet fully developed.”

"Since you developed it, there must be no problem."

Guan Tong had always admired Shi Jingyi's mastery of combining mental power and martial arts. He felt that, at least on this path, Shi Jingyi was definitely a pioneer and leader.

“When are you free? You can come with me for a test. To verify the merits of martial arts techniques, you always need a qualified opponent. Among the people I know, you are the most suitable,” Shi Jingyi said.

Guan Tong nodded and readily agreed, "Okay."

Seeing this, the others vaguely felt that the two seemed to know each other much better and were very comfortable with each other.

Silver Fox narrowed her eyes, thinking that the two were indeed closer. She felt the most obvious sign was that Guan Tong hadn't thanked Shi Jingyi for the gift, which was enough to tell her something.

After receiving the gifts, Guan Tong cut the cake for everyone.

After finishing his meal, Silver Fox was the first to get up and leave.

"I'm going back to base now. I took leave to come out today because I can't stay outside for too long."

Wang Yan and Chen Na are also now promoted members of the research lab, enjoying generous benefits while strictly adhering to the lab's rules and regulations.

When Guan Tong saw the three off, she made a point of thanking Chen Na.

Without this little girl's encouragement, telling him that he should find joy even in difficult circumstances, he definitely wouldn't celebrate his birthday, much less hold a birthday party.

Now that he's done it, he realizes that Chen Na was absolutely right.

For him, it had been a long time since he had a day as relaxed as today.

After the three left, Xu Xiaotian also said goodbye and departed.

Before leaving, he said, "Brother Tong, I know you're amazing, but the places you're going and your opponents are all so dangerous... You have to be careful!"

"I will, don't worry." "Okay, I'll be going now. Keep in touch!"

After Xu Xiaotian left, only Guan Tong and Shi Jingyi remained.

Guan Tong tidied up the yard for her, then asked, "Are you worried about the parasite?"

He had noticed earlier during dinner that Shi Jingyi's expression was somewhat serious when everyone was talking about parasites.

Guan Tong felt that given her cheerful personality, she wouldn't have shown that expression unless it was something personally relevant to her.

Shi Jingyi was surprised by his question.

After a moment of silence, she nodded and said, "I'm worried about the students."

"Students? Students have become parasites?"

Although the college is a key area for prevention, with so many students, it is not impossible that some of them would succumb to the allure of the spores.

"It's not certain yet, but we can tell they're addicted," Shi Jingyi said. "In the one or two days after the rules ended, a total of five students went missing... The academy held a meeting and concluded that they either became parasites or were addicted to the spores and had to find ways to obtain them outside the academy."

“…This is not something your teachers can control,” Guan Tong advised. “You can worry, but you don’t need to blame yourself.”

"Ugh."

Shi Jingyi sighed.

Do you remember a student named Lu Cheng?

“Lu Cheng…” Guan Tong thought for a moment and remembered, “I remember him. During the few months I taught him, he did very well and was one of the top students.”

“Yes, that’s him. He’s also among the five missing people… Actually, I noticed he had a spore addiction problem before he disappeared, but I couldn’t intervene effectively. I’ve been thinking these past two days that maybe I’m not a good enough lecturer. If I had performed better, maybe he would have asked me for help and things wouldn’t have come to this.”

"Don't say that. The students' support for you is enough to prove your performance. If you're not qualified, then no one is," Guan Tong said. "Besides, this time, the Spore Rules can only be resisted by your own determination. No one else can help you."

"...Thanks. Guan Tong, where do you think these students will run off to?"

"I don't know. But if they're addicted to spores, they'll only go to the places with the most spores. Hmm... Black Flag Country?"

Shi Jingyi was taken aback by Guan Tong's casual remark, which she believed might be the key answer.

The Black Flag Kingdom has now been occupied by parasites, who have claimed to have established a new parasite kingdom called "Seri God Kingdom" and have openly called on parasites from all over the world to go there, seemingly to make it a holy place, just like Jerusalem, the Christian holy land on Earth, Guan Tong's hometown.

Since the missing students were craving spores, it was perfectly reasonable for them to head there as their destination.

"It would be dangerous if a few students actually went there."

“That’s not something you can stop,” Guan Tong said. “You can only report it to the authorities and ask the personnel stationed along the route to pay more attention.”

Shi Jingyi nodded. Just as Guan Tong said, this was all she could do.

"You mentioned testing mental martial arts earlier, how about we do it in the next few days? I happen to have time," Guan Tong suggested.

"Didn't you say you needed to rest? And the new rules are about to be released, aren't you going to take some time to prepare in advance?"

"This is a break for me. And the testing won't delay my preparations."

"Okay. I'll contact you after class tomorrow."

"Ah."

After leaving Shi Jingyi's residence, Guan Tong went directly to the valley where she used to live in Pinglu, intending to stay there for the night.

He summoned the refuge, and as soon as the door opened, Coalballs ran out.

It was overjoyed to be back here, jumping around excitedly, probably considering this its territory. No wonder, given that it had been in this wild area for several months and had become the local tyrant.

"Come, let me see."

Guan Tong checked the coal ball and, after confirming that there was nothing wrong with its body, released it into the wild.

Because Coal Ball had previously eaten one of Yu Ze Chun's heads, Guan Tong was worried that it might have a negative impact on it. Now that a day and a night have passed and there has been no change, it means that everything is fine.

Watching Coal Ball run wild in the woods, Guan Tong also snapped out of the relaxation of today's birthday party and began to think about everything that had happened recently and her future plans.

His experience dealing with Jun Misawa made him realize that his combat strength was still flawed and his attack methods were relatively limited.

For dealing with ordinary enemies, shadows are sufficient. However, against powerful foes, the destructive power of shadows needs to be enhanced.

Although he possesses an almost unbeatable instant-kill combo of teleportation and small-space devouring, he will be unable to kill an enemy with multiple lives like Jun Misawa, thus revealing the secrets of his moves.

"Organization is really important."

Guan Tong thought to herself.

With the addition of Shangyuan Zi, it's equivalent to having two completely different combat forces.

Then, when encountering enemies again, one can decide whether to fight oneself, send Shangyuan Zi into battle, or simply send both of them together, depending on the specific circumstances of the enemy.

If an organization can recruit more people, the combination of different tactics will increase explosively, which is very important when facing powerful enemies.

However, we cannot focus all our attention on the battle.

Uncovering secrets and pursuing the truth are Guan Tong's original intentions. Combat is merely a secondary means to resolve conflicts; it should not be the other way around.

"After dealing with Yelena's brother and Lucifer, I should focus on exploring the rules and the Fire Stealers... As for these next few days, I'll first test Shi Jingyi's mental martial arts, and also keep an eye on the parasite situation."

As a human being, Guan Tong didn't want human territory to be "stolen" by parasites.

If the Human Alliance cannot resolve the issues with the Black Flag Nation as soon as possible, it may call on all Ascended Ones to contribute their efforts, and he will certainly have to do so as well.

The night passed quietly.

The next morning, Shangyuan Zi contacted Guan Tong and said that she had seen Suzuki and felt that Suzuki was in a bad state and kept asking him about things.

“From what I can tell, she really wants to meet you,” Shangyuan Zi said.

"Meet me? And why?"

“I don’t know. But I think her behavior is a bit strange.” Shangyuan Zi paused and said, “I suspect it might be related to the spores.”

“That’s what I think too,” Guan Tong said. “She’s either a spore addict or a lurking parasite.”

"Do you want to see her?"

"of course."

After talking with Shi Jingyi last night, Guan Tong, who was already very interested in spore addicts and parasites, will not let this opportunity to come into contact with real-life cases slip by.

(End of this chapter)