Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 425 "Domestic Mental Power" is Cheaper
On the evening of March 23, the People's Union was located at the coalition base on the front line of the Black Flag State.

Soldiers from various countries stayed in the base's barracks, sitting in small groups chatting and laughing.

The base is surrounded by a dense surveillance matrix of drones, maintaining constant vigilance.

Normally, the frontline commanders wouldn't be so cautious, but the Siamese had previously conducted several research experiments on Scarlet Terra and discovered that the parasites were extremely insensitive to fear because their brain neurons had been modified by spores.

This could lead to situations where parasites use the power of the rules to launch a counterattack against humanity, prompting frontline commanders to be extremely vigilant and deploy numerous reconnaissance and defense facilities around the coalition base.

"I can finally rotate back next week. To be honest, I can hardly believe it myself. After spending every day in this desolate place, I've actually started to miss the days in the shelter."

"Yes, there's food, drink, and entertainment at the shelter. It's much better than this godforsaken place."

"I'm so envious. It will be another month before I can switch back."

"It's all those damned parasites' fault. They've all burrowed into the deep mountains like rats and won't come out. Otherwise, with our human firepower, we would have wiped them all out long ago!"

"I've heard that Sororo's war machines are very powerful, they're called 'Destroyers'... Why don't they send a few of those things over here?"

"I've also heard that the giant robot is very destructive, but it probably won't be very effective in this mountainous terrain."

The soldiers were chatting idly when a junior soldier approached them with a grin and said, "I'll show you something interesting."

The soldiers, seeing he was an unfamiliar face, exchanged glances, and one of them asked, "What is it?"

The soldier took out several photos from his pocket and showed them to the group. The photos were high-definition images of Scarlet Terra.

"This is!"

"You're a parasite?!"

"Look away!"

"Ahhhh!"

The group had no idea that the soldier in military uniform was a lurking parasite, and they were immediately infected without any preparation.

Except for one person who reacted quickly and immediately looked away, the rest of them were all affected by scarlet phobia and experienced fear attacks.

This was not an isolated operation; simultaneously, lurking parasites throughout the base launched attacks, either showing soldiers images of scarlet terror or creating explosions using psychic bombs.

The deadly thing is that these bombs weren't meant to kill people, but to blow up houses.

If the roof leaks or the house collapses, people will have to run outside. But it's nighttime, and the crimson Terran sun hangs high in the sky, putting everyone in the open at risk.

The frontline commander was still in the operations room discussing countermeasures with several officers when he heard screams and explosions outside. He immediately realized it was an enemy attack.

The commander calmly used the instruments to discover that the defensive network formed by the drone matrix around the base had not been breached, which meant that the chaos was caused by infiltrators inside and had to be suppressed as soon as possible.

"All squad leaders, listen up! Immediately lead your teams to eliminate the exposed parasites!"

The commander had just given the order over the radio when a cluster of red dots suddenly appeared on the screen around the base.

"They're all enemies!" another officer in the operations room exclaimed. "How did so many suddenly appear?!"

"The internal spies have launched an attack, coupled with the sudden appearance of a large number of parasites from the outside—this must be a long-planned counterattack by the Prophet!" another officer cried anxiously. "Commander! We—"

The commander immediately activated the base-wide communication channel: "The parasites have launched a large-scale counterattack. All units must hold their positions and eliminate any appearing..."

"Thump!"

Before the commander could finish speaking, a loud crash came from the roof, and large pieces of bricks and stones fell down.

"careful!"

"Get out of the way!"

Several officers protected the commander and retreated to the side, and then a burly figure leaped down from the broken roof.

The burly man ripped off his black robe, revealing a suit bulging with his bulging muscles. The commander's pupils contracted as he saw the black robe fly off: "You're not a parasite, you're a cultist!"

“Bishop, Khan.” The burly man in the suit clenched his fist and said expressionlessly, “Heretics, death is the time.”

……

After completing their mission, Guan Tong and his group returned to the city of Soma and, not long after, took a private plane back to Beixing Pinglu at noon on the 24th.

After returning, Li Meng first let everyone rest for a few hours before gathering them together for a debriefing meeting in the evening.

In addition to all team members, Zhang Minglu and the person in charge, Gao Liangwei, also participated in the meeting.

“First, the mission was to eliminate the high-ranking members of the Fire-Binding Cult, headed by the Pope. Judging from the fact that only a hundred or so cultists and two bishops died, the mission ended in failure.” Li Meng paused and then changed the subject, “But there is no doubt that Soroma should bear the responsibility for this failure.”

The relevant information and countermeasures research office had already provided updates. Zhang Minglu said, "Based on our assessment, Soromagatovich's intention is likely to have Adam's team find the Pope ahead of time. The goal is probably to persuade him to surrender or capture him alive."

"Captured alive?" Yang Ran looked puzzled. "Why?"

Zhang Minglu glanced at him: "Ability."

Silver Fox immediately understood: "Doctor, you mean that Sororo wants to obtain that mind control power."

“We cannot make a definitive conclusion without evidence, but we believe it is highly likely,” Zhang Minglu explained. “All the intelligence we have gathered in the past indicates that many people in France and the United States who were staunchly opposed to the worship of the fire-stealers have changed their attitudes overnight and become the most steadfast believers. This must be due to mind control.”

"Who does Soroma want to control with his mind?" Chen Na didn't understand. "Aren't the members of the Human Alliance already cooperating?"

Gao Liangwei said in a deep voice, "Soroma is ambitious and may have some secret plans. The second anniversary of the arrival of the apocalypse rules is coming soon, and the Human Alliance will also elect a new chairman. Even though the chairman does not have the power to decide, Soroma has always wanted to get this position."

“Perhaps it is as the person in charge said,” Zhang Minglu added. “But I also want to remind you of one thing, which is about the ‘digital memory’ project. All countries are paying close attention to its progress, and after our technicians studied the technology that Soloma initially shared, they believed that Soloma had withheld some information.”

Bai Xuewu frowned and said, "In other words, Soroma's technology is progressing faster than that of other countries."

"I'm afraid so."

Gao Liangwei then looked at Guan Tong, who had remained silent, and asked, "Do you believe that Soroma did not cooperate with the Cult of the Fire Thieves?"

"That's how I see it," Guan Tong said.

He didn't believe Adam's acting skills could fool him, nor did he think that the death of Adam's wife Amanda was a ruse to gain trust.

But the most crucial evidence is that he didn't sense any murderous intent from Adam and his companions. His passive ability, "Killing Intent Perception," wasn't active at the time, meaning that Adam and his group were indeed completely unaware of Peter, the lurking bishop, and harbored no ill will towards the action teams from other countries.

“I also believe that Adam and the others were unaware of this,” Bai Xuewu said.

Zhang Minglu said to Gao Liangwei, "Xiaobai and Adam were both in the Ascended Division on the front lines of the Black Flag Kingdom. They fought side by side many times, so they have some understanding of each other."

Gao Liangwei nodded: "If that's the case, King Soroman will definitely be furious."

For such an important operation, the fact that a cult bishop had infiltrated their own team is not just a matter of losing face, but will also make other countries doubt Solmar's abilities. Could it be that he couldn't even do a good job of background checks and screening personnel?
Not to mention that, more important than being suspected, if Guan Tong hadn't broken the formation, the entire action team would have been wiped out, and Solmar would have been held responsible for that, since it was Peter who leaked the intelligence.

"Thanks to having Guan Tong in the team this time," Zhang Minglu said, still shaken. "Without your heroic efforts, I don't even want to think about the consequences!"

Everyone remained silent and acquiesced.

Without Guan Tong, the complete annihilation of the action team would only be the first step; the second step would be a large-scale invasion by the Fire Stealer Cult's parasitic entities. Without Guan Tong leading the team to hold off and buy time, the densely populated city of Soroma would likely have been destroyed.

In this era of immense population importance, the destruction of a city with a million inhabitants would undoubtedly be a major blow to humanity as a whole.

“Before we returned, the Soroman side indicated that they would provide compensation soon,” Li Meng said. “King Soroman also said that he would personally give each member of the team a generous sum of sublimation coins.”

"Wow!" Yang Ran exclaimed with a broad smile. "Thanks to the captain, we're going to make a fortune!"

"Um... can we take it?" Chen Na asked cautiously.

Silver Fox smiled and said, "Why not? It's only right to receive some reward after saving so many people. This will also encourage more people to save others in similar situations in the future."

“Silver Fox is right,” Zhang Minglu said in support. “Just accept it; it’s what you deserve. Of course, the research lab will also give you a bonus. You’ve exceeded the planned targets this time, am I right, person in charge?”

Gao Liangwei nodded: "Yes, that's right. The rewards will be distributed to you soon."

Yang Ran beamed with joy and rubbed his hands together repeatedly: "Haha, then we'll gladly accept!"

At this moment, Guan Tong was thinking: In this way, I can repay the favor to King Soroma.

Soroman gave him the fragments of Qimo in exchange for his assistance. Now that he's involved in the operation and led the team to save a million Soromans, it's naturally a way of returning the favor.

With this, his worries were finally put to rest, and he no longer had to worry about it, feeling much lighter.

"There's one more thing I have to mention."

Gao Liangwei suddenly spoke, his expression serious.

Zhang Minglu seemed to know what he was going to say, and sat up straight.

"According to the mission report, when you were intercepting the cult legion, several cultists, in a fit of desperation, tried to take Silver Fox down with them, displaying the Crimson Terra photo pasted on the inside of their robes. However, Silver Fox was not affected by the power of the Crimson Fear; instead, she went head-on and killed the cultists... This seems to be related to Wenren Yizhi's 'black chess piece' and Guan Tong's 'mental anchor'."

After Gao Liangwei finished speaking, Guan Tong looked at Wenren Yizhi, who hadn't said a word since the beginning of the meeting, and the latter was also looking at him.

“The main function is his stabilizing anchor.” Wenren Yizhi spoke first, her voice as ethereal as her expression. “My chess piece shattered immediately upon contact with the power of Scarlet Fear.”

"No, no, Wenren, your chess piece still worked, and it was even faster than Guan Tong's!" Silver Fox corrected. "At that time, I felt the chess piece vibrate first, and then I felt the totem of the stabilizing anchor in my palm heat up. I think if you had concentrated your power instead of spreading it across multiple chess pieces, you might have been able to resist the power of the Crimson Fear."

Wenren Yizhi shook her head slightly and said no more.

Gao Liangwei and Zhang Minglu's eyes were both focused on Guan Tong at this moment.

Clearly, compared to Wenren Yizhi's chess pieces, their focus is still on the mental anchor.

"Guan Tong, you gave each member of the team a mental stability anchor totem, and through the Silver Fox's passive test, it actually can resist scarlet fear for a few seconds. Do you know what this means?" Zhang Minglu said with a hint of excitement.

“It means I can give totems to many people,” Guan Tong said, “but my spiritual power is limited, and my reserves are also limited.”

“We know. That’s why you’ve been buying Psychic Power through the underground commission market in Sisia,” Gao Liangwei said.

Guan Tong raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Gao Liangwei continued, “Don’t misunderstand, this is not a deliberate investigation targeting you. Beixing has intelligence agencies in various countries, and Xisia is no exception. Not long after you appeared there, people in the underground market started buying up large amounts of flowing mental energy. Considering that we know you have the ability to store mental energy through our cooperation with you during the [Earth Dragon Turns Over] rule... it’s not hard to deduce that the buyer is you.”

Guan Tong didn't say anything.

He knew this was definitely not a secret to the higher-ups at Beixing, so he didn't make it a top secret from the beginning.

If it were truly a top secret, he wouldn't have openly manipulated the shadows to let Black Star know his identity.

Knowing something is one thing, but now that the research lab has brought it up, that's a different story.

“We understand that the reason you don’t do this in North Star is because you’re worried about causing unnecessary trouble with the authorities. And since you have a close relationship with Governor Yelena of Sisia, even if she knew about this, she certainly wouldn’t stop you. But what we’re going to tell you now is that North Star can also provide you with a replenishment of your flowing mental energy.”

Gao Liangwei's words startled not only Guan Tong, but everyone present. Only Wenren Yizhi seemed lost in thought, her attention completely elsewhere.

“The person in charge is right,” Zhang Minglu continued. “The research lab has already made a decision. If Guan Tong, your abilities can help the public and others during the rule period, then we will provide you with the mental energy you need to help others free of charge. In addition to helping others, if you want to stockpile more, we can also open a channel to sell it to you at 80% of the price you paid for it in Sisia.”

"...That sounds great."

"This isn't just something that sounds amazing; it really is!" Zhang Minglu said. "You're the only unofficial Ascension user in all of Beixing who can enjoy this 'privilege'!"

"Hey, I think it's pretty good." Silver Fox said to Guan Tong with a smile, "As the saying goes, 'charity begins at home.' Since it's all bought with Ascension Coins, it's better for you to buy it domestically so the Ascension Coins end up in the hands of domestic Ascensionists than in the hands of Ascensionists in Sissia. Besides, 'domestic Mind Power' is even cheaper!"

Guan Tong pondered for a moment and nodded: "If there are no other conditions attached, I am very willing to carry out this cooperation. However, I must also make it clear in advance that this does not mean that I will not purchase through other channels from now on."

Even if domestically produced spiritual energy products are discounted by 20%, Guan Tong doesn't want to rely on only one channel.

From a darker perspective, leaving only one channel means that relevant personnel can accurately deduce the range of your total reserve of spiritual power by counting the quantity you purchase.

Guan Tong was still very cautious about this; he didn't want others to know how much mental energy he had stored up.

Gao Liangwei and Zhang Minglu exchanged a glance, and the latter gave a wry smile: "I lost. It's still the person in charge who thought things through."

"What?" Silver Fox asked curiously, "You guys even made a bet?"

"Yes. The person in charge said that Guan Tong would propose reserving the right to purchase through other channels, but I think, why buy the expensive one when there's a cheaper one... It seems that the person in charge understands people better."

Guan Tong: "..."

“I agree to your conditions, so the matter is settled.” Gao Liangwei said seriously, “Guan Tong, this rule now requires your mental anchor. We need to use it to complete the final exploration of the source of fear.”

(End of this chapter)