Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 357 Nanoswarm
"here……"

After Scroogeun led the soldiers back to the core area, the first thing he did was to check the status of the alien intelligent entity. Once he found its location, he immediately ordered the soldiers to establish a perimeter around it.

She then noticed that Guan Tong was no longer there.

She wasn't worried about Guan Tong getting into trouble, because she found some surviving unconscious parasites at the scene, which meant that the question he raised hadn't triggered the alien intelligence to feed on him.

Moreover, when she was still some distance away from here, she saw a pure black dome made of shadows in the car, which should be some kind of "domain" that Guan Tong had mentioned.

Si Gaoqin knew that now was not the time to worry about where Guan Tong had gone; she needed to clean up the scene as soon as possible and rearrange the equipment.

On the other hand, after receiving the results from the analysis department, the Human Alliance was quite surprised by the internal structure of the alien intelligent entity.

Everyone has always believed that it is some kind of special creature, an independent individual.

However, the analysis revealed that it was actually an "individual" composed of a massive number of nanobiomes or nanorobots.

The concept of nanometers is not unfamiliar to humans, and we can even apply it to a microscopic level.

However, such a special intelligent entity, which integrates hundreds of billions or even more nano-creations and possesses intelligence, is beyond the capabilities of humans.

This discovery also explains why it doesn't excrete. Instead of ingesting, it decomposes, and the decomposed life forms may dissipate into the air or provide energy for countless nanoorganisms.

Moreover, with this discovery, technical experts have also figured out that the spaceship it was traveling in was most likely also made of nanoscale materials.

This undoubtedly provides humanity with an inspiration and a development path that can be learned from: shifting the focus to the microscopic realm and researching methods to fully master nanomaterials.

However, many technical experts also understand that this path will not be long before it is blocked by a wall called the "materials problem".

The materials issue mentioned by the extraterrestrial intelligent beings in their previous answer to the energy question limits humanity's ability to travel far in various fields, and the microscopic realm is no exception.

This brings us back to the previous approach: humanity must develop space technology as quickly as possible, at least to fully explore several planets in our star system, and try to find the special energy substance that is lacking on Tianshui.

……

During the last two days of the rules period following the attack, the Confederation of People did not raise any further questions.

One reason is the insufficient number of parasites, and the fear that the enemy might repeat their old tricks, creating more Ascended to infiltrate ordinary parasites. Even with meticulous checks, oversights can still occur.

Another reason is related to the previous question.

The questions posed by the human consortium regarding the rules of the apocalypse were met with chaos when the extraterrestrial intelligence responded, but someone released information explaining its answers and the anomalies that occurred.

Although the person who released the information was anonymous, everyone in the community knew that it was "Shadow." At the time, the live broadcast and audio recording equipment was damaged due to the melee, and only he stayed behind to hear the answer.

Furthermore, based on the investigation conducted by the soldiers who later arrived at the scene, they believed that "Shadow" may have asked questions without authorization.

This is also the assessment of the official bodies of various countries.

They certainly don't believe that "Shadow" went to the scene without any purpose.

In response, officials from various countries inquired with the Sisyan government about whether there was any secret cooperation between the two.

The Sisya government has denied this claim, but only a few people know the truth.

In any case, the conjoined group judged that the "shadow" had no reason to lie.

But the most important reason is that the Human Alliance discovered that the alien intelligent entity was in an unstable state. To be precise, it seemed to have entered a closed, or shut-down state, and was no longer active.

Humans tried asking the "name" question again, only to find that it neither digested food nor answered the question. This change made the conjoined twins worry that continuing the experiment would be dangerous, so they gave up.

So after waiting at the landing site for two more days, at the moment the scheduled time ended, the alien intelligent entity automatically returned to the spaceship and then quickly ascended and disappeared.

Congratulations on passing the fifteenth rule of the apocalypse!

The moment the voice of the fire-stealer echoed in Sgorchen's mind, she breathed a sigh of relief and her mind relaxed.

"It's finally over..."

The other soldiers also sat down on the spot.

The immense pressure of being under global scrutiny, where a single misstep could lead to a major mistake, is enough to leave one physically and mentally exhausted, even if endured for just a few days.

……

A city on the border of West Asia.

Guan Tong and Shang Yuanzi were in the lobby of an abandoned shopping mall when the voice of the Fire Thief echoed in their minds at the same time.

Congratulations on passing the fifteenth rule of the apocalypse!

There are no rewards for following these rules.

The sixteenth apocalyptic rule will be released in seven days.

"ended."

Shang Yuanzi looked towards the entrance of the hall, and Guan Tong's gaze also fell there.

There, the shadow remained in the posture of holding a book page.

Since leaving the landing site, Guan Tong has had Shadow carry the page that the alien intelligent being "spit out"—a page formed from a part of its body—for the past two days.

He dared not let it get too close, for although the possibility of it suddenly attacking him was low, it was not impossible.

During this time, he contacted Shang Yuanzi and asked her to come and meet him.

The two then stayed there until the rules were over.

“The rules have ended, so there shouldn’t be any risk now, right?” Shangyuan Zi said.

“Not necessarily,” Guan Tong said. “Don’t forget the fog and the spore parasites from before; these are things that remained on this planet even after the rules ended.”

Shangyuan Zi nodded.

At this moment, Guan Tong suddenly paused slightly: "This..."

"how?"

Guan Tong said uncertainly, "I just received a notification from the Fire Thief's voice... that page seems to have turned into a prop."

Upon hearing this, Shang Yuanzi immediately became curious.

Guan Tong then manipulated her shadow to come over and took the page from the book.

Other things can be faked, but the fire-stealer's clues will not be wrong.

Guan Tong clearly heard the prompt just now:

You have obtained: Nanobot swarm

Nanoparticles... swarm?
Once he received the book pages, the relevant information immediately appeared.

[Nano Swarm]: This is part of a special type of nano-beast. When a sufficient number of these organisms aggregate, they can develop collective intelligence; otherwise, they only possess basic shaping and decomposition abilities. This particular nano swarm exhibits a fusion effect when decomposing a special type of energy and can be controlled by the holder of that energy. So that's how it is!
Guan Tong suddenly understood many things.

He glanced at Shang Yuanzi, who was looking at him with curiosity, and teamed up with her, sharing the item information with her.

After looking at it, she suddenly realized, "That alien intelligent entity is a swarm of many nanobots?"

“It seems so.” Guan Tong guessed based on the information. “Single or a small number of nanobots won’t work. Only when a huge number of nanobots aggregate together to form a massive swarm can they generate intelligence… The ones I have now are clearly not enough to generate intelligence.”

Uehara Yuki added, "The information says that this swarm of nanobots has the ability to shape and decompose, just like the alien intelligent beings we see changing their form and devouring food—that is actually decomposition."

Guan Tong nodded.

"The reason why part of its body became a prop is because it was fused with some kind of special energy. That energy comes from you."

"...So be it."

Guan Tong knew that the special energy mentioned in the message referred to the [Wordless Book].

Perhaps because he owned the "Book Without Words," this special product, created by the fusion of the nanobots and the pages, became one of his tools after the rules ended, and was thus preserved in this way.

"Congratulations," said Shangyuan Zi. "This item looks very powerful, and it can be used without consuming mental energy."

"Yeah, so all that effort for these rules wasn't for nothing. But this thing..."

Guan Tong looked at the pages of the book in her hand, feeling the connection between them and herself, and tried to transform them.

The next moment, it rapidly transformed into an apple—a pure black apple.

Guan Tong tried to change it to another color or make it bigger, but she couldn't.

"Because of their limited numbers, these nanobots have a limited maximum size that can be deformed, and their color seems to be limited to black."

"What about its decomposition capability?"

"Let me try."

Guan Tong summoned several undead, intending to manipulate the swarm of nanobots like he was controlling shadows, but they didn't move.

"This thing seems unable to act independently of me. It appears that without intelligence, it cannot be controlled at will like a summoned creature."

After thinking for a moment, Guan Tong came up with a way to use it.

The black apple transformed into a pair of gloves in the next instant.

Guan Tong put it on her left hand, then placed her left hand on the head of the living dead.

As he gave the "disintegrate" command, the part of the undead's head that had been in contact with his palm vanished instantly.

Upon witnessing this scene, Shangyuan Zi's pupils contracted. This powerful destructive ability to instantly disintegrate objects, which could be used without consuming mental energy, was truly terrifying.

However, its drawback is also obvious: it cannot be used independently and must be held and used by Guan Tong personally.

Let's use it like this for now.

Guan Tong looked at his pure black left hand after putting on the "nanobug" glove and felt that it formed a pair with the small space attack he often used on his right hand.

Looking at it, Guan Tong couldn't help but recall the changes in the nanobot swarm and his answers after he asked the question earlier.

His memory is very clear; it is still vivid in his mind.

When he asked the question, the swarm of nanobots, eager to decompose his "wordless book," tore off a page and decomposed it, which then transformed into a creation resembling a spaceship.

God, Starship, Out of Control, Fragments.

These four words were uttered intermittently by the nanobots at the time. Is there any connection between them?

It has to be said that Guan Tong's confusion only deepened after receiving this answer.

The only thing he was certain of was that the origin of the "Wordless Book" was even more unusual than he had imagined, hiding a great secret that was definitely related to his time travel.

"Commander, where are we going next?"

Shang Yuanzi didn't ask what "special energy" was. She knew that Guan Tong sharing information about nanobots with her was a sign of trust, but even if she gained trust, it didn't mean she had to pry into all the secrets.

"In order to gain access to the landing site, I made a deal with Yelena, the governor of Sisia," Guan Tong said. "After the rules expire, I will stay in Sisia and provide her with personal protection for a period of time."

"..."

"It shouldn't be too long. Once she's secured her position as governor, the agreement will be fulfilled. If you don't have any other plans during this time, you can stay with me."

Shangyuan Zi nodded: "Understood."

She naturally had no other plans; for her, it didn't matter much where she was now. Even though Sakura was her homeland, after experiencing so much, she couldn't really say she felt any sense of belonging to this country anymore.

Guan Tong said, "Also, I remember that the second Ascendant Challenge started after the fifteenth rule. But this time the rule interval is only seven days, so it's not realistic to insert a competition in the middle."

"You mean the sixteenth rule might be related to this competition?"

"Yes, so we need to prepare properly this week."

"How's your injury?"

"I used a recovery item earlier, and I'm almost fully recovered. Let's get ready to go."

After Guan Tong finished speaking, she took out the phone she used to contact Ye Lianka from her storage ring and found that there were already many messages from her.

He replied, "Send me your address, and we'll head over right away."

A few minutes later, Yelena sent an address in the capital of Sisyah, and the two immediately set off for it.

……

Countermeasures Research Office, Rules Summary Meeting.

All information, data, and research regarding extraterrestrial intelligent beings have been compiled into documents and sent to every authorized scholar.

Zhang Minglu stated at the meeting: "Judging from the results, we humans have still gained a lot from this rule. The methods for identifying parasites, the knowledge of the existence of special energy substances, the methods for converting brainwaves into digital signals, and the exploration of nano-intelligence are all valuable information."

“But these are all ‘indefinitely delayed’ gains, hasn’t Dr. Zhang noticed that?” Han Qiu said. “Mind networks, special energy substances, brainwave-to-digital signal conversion, nanotechnology… are any of these things immediately applicable?”

"...Although it's not immediately usable, we can at least be certain that the conversion of brainwaves into digital signals will be implemented within a year. Based on the open-source technology from Soroma, our relevant experts have predicted that it will be applied within a year."

“A year…” Han Qiu sighed, “In the era of apocalyptic rules, far too many things can happen in a year.”

Another scholar asked, "Academician Han, is it because you didn't get the answer you wanted to your question that you're so pessimistic?"

"That's part of the reason. But I'm the kind of person who naturally likes to consider the negative factors first." Han Qiu looked at Gao Liangwei, "Manager, do you think these rules haven't created any negative factors?"

Gao Liangwei paused for a moment, then slowly said, "Of course there are unfavorable factors. Xisia has lost many elite soldiers, there is a lot of public opinion against asking questions, and the alliance between the parasites and the Fire-Borrower Cult... These are all very detrimental to humanity as a whole. But we will overcome these disadvantages one by one."

(End of this chapter)