Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 339 Intrusion and Leakage

"Warning: You have invaded the territory of the Soro Empire. Stop immediately or you will be dealt with according to the law."

"Warning, you..."

On the eastern border of the Solomon Empire, a defensive line of hundreds of robots is being attacked by a large number of men in black robes.

These black-robed figures were all swift in their movements, undoubtedly powerful Ascendants. They were like a black flood, carrying a terrifying impact as they broke through and tore apart the defenses in one fell swoop.

Although the machine guards had sufficient firepower, they were quickly defeated by a commando team composed of thousands of elite Ascendants.

"You have already..."

Click!

Before the warning that the robot soldier was repeating on repeat could be finished, his head was smashed by a weapon that looked like an iron bar.

The black-robed man carrying an iron bar looked down at the machine soldier he had knocked down. The latter's head was cracked open, sparks flying, exposing the internal circuitry and chip board.

"A bunch of electronic waste."

He snorted coldly, raised the iron bar in his hand, and charged toward the next machine soldier.

In just over ten minutes, the eastern border of Soroma was completely lost, and a large number of French and Ascended warriors dressed in black robes stormed into the Empire and quickly advanced towards the core city.

This move shocked the world.

The Senate in Solomon itself was also caught off guard by the French and French parliaments' surprise attack and hastily convened a council of senators.

"Who gave these fire-stealing cult madmen the audacity to do this?!"

An elder said in a deep voice, "This must be a premeditated revenge. The empire previously sent an elite team to carry out a decapitation operation against them, and they are taking this opportunity to retaliate!"

The other elders nodded in agreement, their faces grim.

Soromagna did indeed send a decapitation squad to assassinate Joel I of France, with the aim of dismantling this unstable factor that shared the same continent as the empire.

The operation was a success; the decapitation team lived up to expectations and successfully carried out the assassination.

However, France did not collapse as a result. Instead, less than three days after Joel I was assassinated, Joel II was elected.

This surprised the Solomon Empire and even the entire Siamese Federation.

The alliance originally planned to send a joint team to carry out the operation, but due to the impact of subsequent rules, the operation had to be temporarily shelved.

The biggest enemy of the Human Alliance right now is the parasite, so much so that the newly formed coalition immediately went to the Black Flag Country, and had no time to deal with France and the Country.

France seized this opportunity and launched a decisive surprise attack on Somali. This attack has already yielded some results.

"Now that a large number of the Empire's elite soldiers have been sent to the Allied Forces, do those bastards from France think the Empire is vulnerable, which is why they dare to attack?"

"What is France's purpose? Is it merely to retaliate for our assassination attempt, or do they truly intend to seize our land?"

"Land is of little significance nowadays. I think they're after our people, wanting us all to convert to the worship of the Fire Stealers... or to exterminate us, whom they call heretics!"

"The surrounding cities are almost completely undefended. These bastards can easily advance unimpeded after crossing the border. We must react as soon as possible!"

This was not only the case in the Solomon Empire; many cities in the Commonwealth of Nations were deserted and desolate due to a significant decline in population.

In such cases, in most cases, no city near a border town has a larger population than the border town itself.

This means that once the imperial borders are breached, the French and the Republic's offensive forces can advance rapidly, all the way to the densely populated core cities.

This is something the empire cannot accept.

"But a large number of our elite troops have been deployed to participate in the coalition forces. Should we withdraw some of them?"

"The host organisms are also crucial. If we retreat now, how can we guarantee that we can capture enough food to supply the alien entities in exchange for answers to our questions?"

"Is asking questions more important than saving your life?!" the elder in charge of intelligence roared. "This time, Fa and those lunatics are serious. The advance team alone has more than a thousand Ascended Ones!"

“That’s right, don’t forget about Fa and the Ascended who is suspected of possessing mind control abilities. If this person enters our city and turns our people into followers of the Fire Stealers cult, then…”

"The elite troops participating in the coalition cannot be withdrawn."

At that moment, a firm voice came from outside.

The elders looked over and saw the emperor of the empire enter, leaning on a cane, his face brooking no argument.

"Your Majesty, the attack by France..."

"I'll handle this."

The elders looked at each other, and one of them said, "Your Majesty, are you going to use your own troops? Those are your personal guards."

The king said, "I have my own plans for this. Elders, you should focus your attention on capturing more parasites."

He finished speaking, turned around, and left without offering any further explanation.

The elders listened to the sound of the cane fading into the distance before someone spoke up a moment later.

"Your Majesty... is there some important question you intend to ask that alien intelligent being? Otherwise, why are you in such a hurry to capture the parasite?"

"It's indeed possible."

The elders looked at each other, each able to discern something from the other's face, but none dared to speak out.

Shortly after King Soromagne left the Senate, he appeared in a large laboratory filled with mechanical objects.

"Your Majesty, you are here."

An elderly man with white hair greeted him.

The king looked at the old man's arms, which gleamed with a metallic sheen.

"Dr. Heisen, you've changed a lot in the two months I've been away from you."

This white-haired elderly man is the leader behind Soroma's mass-produced intelligent robot technology.

This technology was merely a byproduct of the "Iron Will" project.

"Hehe." Haisen chuckled, raising his modified mechanical arm. "These two are much more convenient for working."

“I know Dr. Heisenberg is passionate about mechanical modification technology, but it’s best not to risk your health. The doctor should understand that I cannot accept the risk of something happening to you.”

Dr. Haisen nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes. Is there anything I can do for Your Majesty this time?"

"I need to send a batch of 'annihilators' to suppress the enemy."

Dr. Haisen was startled upon hearing this: "Your Majesty is going to deploy the Exterminators? Won't that expose their existence to the world? Won't that affect your future plans?"

“If we can’t even secure this now, how can we talk about the future?” the king said. “Right now, the Empire’s enemies are a large number of Ascended Ones, while the Empire’s elite troops have more important things to do.”

“I see.” Dr. Haisen nodded. “If the enemy consists of a large number of Ascendants, then the standard mass-produced type is indeed insufficient. I understand. I will activate the prepared ‘Annihilators.’ I wonder how many Your Majesty requires?”

One hundred units.

"Okay, I'll go and make the arrangements right away."

"and many more."

The king called out to Dr. Hysen, and then fell silent for a moment.

Dr. Heisenberg cautiously guessed, "Your Majesty...you want to ask about the 'angel,' right?" "...How is he?"

"Currently, we are still troubled by neural connectivity issues and cannot fully recover our consciousness. We can only retain some instincts and the ability to obey orders, just like the 'exterminators'."

Dr. Haisen sighed: "The neuronal system of the human brain is far too complex. At the current pace of research, unless there is a revolutionary breakthrough, it will take many more years of research to fully revive the 'angel'..."

"Can you make the connection problem more specific? So specific that you can explain it in just a few words?" the king said.

Dr. Heisenberg paused for a moment: "It is possible, but what is the point?"

“It makes sense. Questions that humanity cannot answer now may be left to extraterrestrial intelligent beings to answer.”

……

The Sesitata Icefield, landing site.

Since the question was asked at the cost of nearly three thousand parasites, no one has approached the alien intelligent entity for a long time.

The members of the delegation who were in contact with the delegation believed there was only one reason: there wasn't enough food.

The more significant issues come at a huge cost, which means that before a large number of parasites are captured from the Black Flag Country, the total number of parasites in the various member states of the Federation may not be enough to answer the questions even a few times.

Those who came into contact with the delegation felt fortunate.

If the human consortium is not adequately prepared and asks questions, and there aren't enough parasites on site to eat, it will be obvious who the alien intelligent entity will eat next.

They, along with the soldiers maintaining order and vigilance, will become its prey.

Don't be fooled by the fact that many of them are interested in studying extraterrestrial life; studying it is one thing, becoming food for extraterrestrial life is another.

Aside from a few zealots like Louis, most people are just paying lip service to something they don't truly understand.

Perhaps they used to boast that "I would be satisfied even if I died just to see an alien creature," but now most of them are thinking about ending the rules as soon as possible and the fire-stealers taking back this man-eating monster.

They also had no illusions about asking questions to extraterrestrial intelligent beings.

Their experience over the past few days has made it clear to them that only a small number of people are qualified to ask questions, and even then, these few people need to hold a meeting to discuss and vote on which question to ask.

Just when everyone thought that today would be another boring and freezing day, Stochastic led his soldiers toward them.

“You can leave now,” she said. “The soldiers will drive you to the nearest town, and then you can go to the city, return to your country or department on your own.”

The people who came into contact with the delegation were stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

"Can we go back now?"

"Great! Finally, we can get out of this awful place!"

"I've been having nightmares about being eaten every night for the past few days, but it's finally over..."

The crowd cheered with joy, while some calmly inquired, "What's going on? How did we suddenly get back?"

Schorchin said calmly, "The intelligence has been leaked. Someone posted information about the role of extraterrestrial intelligent beings and their feeding habits on the internet."

"What……"

Everyone was quite surprised to hear this.

They have been staying at the landing site for the past few days, and have not been able to access any devices with internet access, so they are well aware of how strict the security measures are.

It's unbelievable that the information would still be leaked under these circumstances...

"I want to stay!"

Louis then stepped forward and spoke persistently to Stochastic.

“Impossible,” Sgorchin said bluntly. “My orders are to repatriate everyone who came into contact with the delegation.”

“But I’m not like those cowards!” Louis exclaimed, his voice trembling. “They’re afraid of dying and want to get out of there as soon as possible, but I’m not!”

The rest of the delegation were bombarded with criticism and immediately became furious.

"Louis, you bastard, who are you calling a coward?"

"Ignore him, he's a madman."

"Captain, I think you should keep him. Didn't he say he can cook? Let him do it next time; it'll be a good contribution to humanity."

Ignoring everyone else, Louis pleaded with Stochastic, "Please, let me stay. Or you can contact your superior and I'll explain!"

Sgorchin said expressionlessly, "Take them away."

"Yes."

The soldiers immediately put everyone, including Louis, into the vehicle.

"I want to stay! Let me stay!"

Louis clung to the car door, refusing to let go, but to no avail. A soldier struck him with the butt of his rifle, causing him to release his grip in pain, and he was then pushed back into the car.

After the delegation and others left the landing site, Stochastic contacted Yelena to explain the situation.

"Governor, the entire delegation has been sent to town."

"okay, I get it."

Hearing Yelena's voice sound somewhat low, Sgorchin asked, "Governor, do you need me to go to the prison to investigate the murder case?"

“No, from now on you are not going anywhere,” Yelena said. “After the intelligence about the alien intelligence was exposed, some individuals or groups with impure motives may try to make contact. You must stop these people. I have already mobilized a new batch of soldiers to support you.”

"Yes, Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will never allow any unauthorized personnel to approach the alien intelligent entity even a step!"

"Yes, I believe you." Ye Lianka paused. "Scochin, do you think he was the one who did it?"

Yelena didn't say "his" name, but Sgorchin knew that he was referring to the academy teacher, Guan Tong.

"At this point, we can only say that he has a strong motive and is a suspect," Sgorchin said, "but without evidence, I cannot make a judgment."

"...Yes. Without evidence, we can't make a judgment. I've already sent people to the scene to investigate, so let's wait for the results."

After the communication ended, Sgorchenko remained silent and pondered.

She couldn't detect any "sadness" or similar emotions in Yelena's voice.

This is not surprising. Although they are siblings, they did not grow up together and only saw each other a handful of times a year, so their relationship was not very close.

This already thin relationship was completely destroyed by Rijeka's actions: sending assassins to threaten Guan Tong with murder and conspiring with her grandmother to try to sabotage Guan Tong at her birthday banquet.

Rather than being relatives, the two were more like enemies who wanted to get rid of each other.

However, the Konya family is a large one. From the family's perspective, the assassination of a core family member who had once been a contender for the position of consul is an extremely serious matter for the family.

If the family doesn't handle this properly, it only means that the family has lost its power, which will make many enemies eager to make a move.

If it really was that teacher Guan Tong who assassinated Rijeka, then the consul...

Sgorchen shook her head; this was not something she should worry about.

Now she only has one thing to worry about: strictly carry out the tasks assigned by Yelena and ensure that no unrelated personnel have the opportunity to approach the alien intelligent entity during the rule period following the intelligence leak.

(End of this chapter)