Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 334 Results and Delegation

The person asking the question walked up to the alien intelligent being and asked, "What is your name?"

This is a question that Louis has already asked.

There are several important reasons why the testers asked this question.

Reason one: to test whether there will be a second cost when the same question is asked multiple times.

Reason two: If further costs are required, test whether the amount of these costs is controllable and quantifiable.

Louis had previously asked two questions: "name" and "origin," at the cost of ten lives.

Now, by asking for just one name, even if we have to pay a second price, we can still keep the amount of food consumed to single digits, as expected.

Reason three is the true purpose of food substitution testing.

By arranging food zones in circular patterns at varying distances, it would be ideal if the animals in the first ring (such as cattle, sheep, and pigs) could serve as substitutes. If not, the parasites in the second ring and the death row inmates in the third ring could take their place.

As for the fourth circle, it was the soldiers from Sissia who were responsible for maintaining order on site, and they were naturally not affected.

At this moment, after the questioner asked the question, the lump of black mud immediately changed.

It quickly swam past the questioner and moved forward!

At this point, the first conclusion has been reached: asking the same question a second time will still come at the cost of food.

The black mud moved extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, it had passed the cattle, sheep, pigs, and other animals in the first circle.

Given the density of these animals, its massive mass should have been impossible to bypass without contact. Yet, it exhibited a peculiar decomposition-aggregation characteristic.

Its body instantly disintegrated from a large puddle into countless "black mud dots," which slipped through the narrow gaps between the animals and then quickly coalesced back into their original form.

After the aggregation was complete, it immediately enveloped the nearest parasites. After a tooth-grinding corrosive sound, it went limp and lay on the ground again.

A short, gurgling sound came from its mouth and was recorded by the high-precision recording equipment that the soldiers had prepared in advance.

"Experiment over. Return to non-contact status."

"I'm standing outside the fourth lap," Sgorchen said, his voice coming through the questioner's earpiece. The questioner immediately shut up and left without a word.

Several snipers in the distance stopped aiming.

Even if the questioner is carefully selected by the consortium, there's always a chance of something going wrong.

If the person asking the question does so on their own initiative or harbors malicious intent and wants to ask a question without permission, they will be shot dead by a sniper the moment they open their mouth.

The entire experimental process and results were witnessed live by the highest decision-makers representing the countries represented by the Federation of People's Associations and its members.

They got the result they wanted.

In the Senate meeting room of the Solomon Empire.

After watching the live broadcast, the elders all looked at the king.

The emperor, who ruled the empire, held his scepter and remained expressionless.

The elders said, "They asked the same question before, yet they still want to eat it again. This alien monster is truly greedy."

"Although it cannot be replaced by animals, the good thing is that it is not so picky as to refuse to eat even its parasites."

"Last time I ate ten, this time I ate four. If humans and parasites are equal, then it means its name is worth four lives, and its origin is worth six lives."

"A name is worth four lives... It's easy to imagine that if you want to ask important questions, you have to prepare enough food in advance and put it on site."

"How do you identify a parasite? How many portions of food do you need to prepare in advance? Dozens, or hundreds?"

"To be on the safe side, it's best to prepare thousands of copies, and also be mentally prepared for failure. If it doesn't know the answer or the answer it gives is incomprehensible to humans, then we'll be in trouble."

“Can’t we try to move it to Soroma? The ice field there has a harsh environment and extremely poor transportation conditions. Besides, even if Yelena wouldn’t dare to cause trouble, it’s still unsettling to leave such an important entity on someone else’s territory.”

"Your Majesty, what do you think?"

“There’s no need for that,” the king said slowly. “Let it stay on the ice plains of Sissia.”

"But……"

"Let alone whether it can be transferred, even if it could, Beixing wouldn't agree. At this point, we shouldn't complicate things further."

The elders nodded in agreement.

If this extraterrestrial intelligent entity landed in Sisyah, both North Star and Soroma could accept it. However, if it landed in one of the two countries, the other country would definitely harbor resentment.

"How is the situation with the allied forces?" the king asked.

An elder in charge of the matter replied, "The coalition operation was originally suspended due to the release of the new rules. But it has now resumed, and the main forces of the three countries have now converged on the border of the Black Flag Nation."

"What about the parasitic reaction there?"

"It looks like they're going to put up a fight to the very end."

"To resist to the bitter end...where does the confidence come from?"

The king stroked his scepter, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes. Before the apocalyptic rules, the Black Flag Kingdom had the world's largest population, but its military strength didn't even rank among the top twenty globally.

Now, its population is less than one-tenth of what it used to be. Even if they all became parasites, how could they possibly fight against the Allied Forces?

"Hmph, a bunch of fools," the elder in charge of military affairs sneered.

"Those parasites probably think that Black Flag Country is a landlocked country with many mountains, and they want to wear down the coalition forces by infiltrating the mountains and forests. But they don't realize that as long as the coalition forces maintain air superiority and cut off supplies, they can starve to death just by starving!"

“No. The previous objective was to eliminate them, but now it has become to capture them, which makes it much more difficult, and the allied forces’ operational plan must be revised,” the king said.

"Yes. The commanders of the allied forces from North Star and Sisia and I are planning to hold a meeting to discuss this issue."

"Hmm. Tell the intelligence agencies to keep a close eye on global developments," the King said. "Perhaps these parasites are brewing some secret plan."

"A secret plan? Do you think you can keep it from us?"

"If parasites have any advantage over humans, it's that they don't betray their own kind. Thousands upon thousands of people share the same goal, and there isn't a single traitor—that's terrifying."

The king paused for a moment and then said, "Send Adam to assist the allied forces in the battle. His task will be to personally capture the leader of the parasites."

"Adam?" The elders were taken aback. "But the 'Eden Project'..."

"The child has been born, and his role as 'father' is complete. The upbringing of the child will now be handled by a designated person."

……

Following the rule about parasites, several major powers closed their borders again and temporarily stopped accepting refugees from other countries.

If the victim is a refugee, they must meet certain conditions to enter the country. These conditions are quite simple: they must live in a centralized detention facility.

The purpose of these countries doing this is, of course, to prevent parasites from infiltrating. Whether they intend to cause destruction and chaos or to lurk and transform into more parasites after entering the country, they pose a significant threat.

Therefore, Guan Tong and Shang Yuanzi, who wanted to enter Xisia, naturally wouldn't apply normally.

Actually, if he wanted to go through the proper channels, he could have contacted the Countermeasures Research Office and requested such assistance under the guise of cooperation; it wouldn't have been difficult.

But Guan Tong wouldn't use this method. He wasn't going to Xisia for sightseeing; he was going to settle scores. He didn't intend to let too many people know about this personal grudge resolution.

The two planned to enter Sisya from the weakly defended western region. They first went to a small country that bordered Sisya to the west, but found that it was already deserted.

"It appears that, during the earthquake, this place is not far from one of the epicenters."

Guan Tong looked at the long crack in the earth beneath her feet, which stretched forward and seemed to have no end.

Shangyuan Zi looked around at the ruins, but she couldn't sense any sign of life.

Has this country been completely destroyed?

"should be."

The two walked for an hour or two without seeing any living people, only occasionally catching glimpses of dried bones on the ground.

This feeling is hard to describe, and it made Guan Tong personally experience what it means to have "bones exposed in the wild, and no rooster crowing for a thousand miles".

Even though previous apocalyptic rules had resulted in numerous deaths in Beixing, the authorities always acted swiftly, dispatching personnel immediately to collect and incinerate the bodies. Furthermore, the existence of mass shelters prevented death from being so blatantly displayed before everyone's eyes or on the streets.

But now, stepping onto the territory of this small, extinct country, he realized the immense and tangible destruction that the rules of the apocalypse could inflict on a nation that had lost its control.

In this oppressive atmosphere, neither of them said anything, but simply quickened their pace.

By noon the following day, the two had successfully entered Sisya territory.

As the second largest country after North Star and Soroma, order has been maintained within Sisyah, and it has not descended into chaos due to the parasite.

However, the alcohol problem here is very serious, and the post-apocalyptic rules seem to have exacerbated it. As soon as the two entered this border city, they could smell the strong smell of alcohol in the air.

Many Sisyans would even lie drunk on the road with bottles of strong liquor, completely ignoring passersby, as if they were already used to this sight.

Guan Tong and Shang Yuanzi were both visiting Xisia for the first time, so they were unfamiliar with the place.

In the past, when he went to unfamiliar places, he would just go there first and deal with any problems as they arose.

This time, however, it's different.

Guan Tong and Shang Yuanzi found a bar where someone was already waiting by the wall at the entrance. He was a young man from Sissia with curly hair and reddish skin.

Upon seeing the two, the young man immediately stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen..."

Guan Tong said, "You're 'Black Star,' right?"

"Haha." The curly-haired youth laughed, "Looks like I wasn't wrong, he really is my client. Hmm, he arrived more than ten minutes earlier than I said."

Unlike his previous trips to unfamiliar places, Guan Tong's visit to Sisia this time involved posting a request on the Ascended Ones' Home forum using a secondary account.

The person who accepted the commission was nicknamed "Black Star," and he looked exactly like the curly-haired Sisian youth in front of him.

"Please come in with me, both of you. Everything is arranged."

Hei Xing pushed open the door and entered the bar. Guan Tong and Shang Yuanzi exchanged a glance and followed him in.

(End of this chapter)