Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 430 Guan Tong's Fear

Solmar Space Agency, Ground Control Center.

The footage from the experimental compartment of the Imperial Pioneer was projected onto a large screen, with the camera positioned above the portholes to avoid capturing the Crimson Terra outside.

In the scene, Guan Tong sits expressionlessly and motionless on a metal chair. His eyes are fixed straight ahead, appearing vacant due to their unfocused gaze, making him look like a puppet.

Zhang Minglu pursed his lips, frowned slightly as he looked at the screen, and checked the time every now and then.

As the initiator of this plan, I will certainly be credited if it succeeds, but I will also inevitably bear the responsibility if it fails.

Even though Guan Tong is not affiliated with the Countermeasures Research Office, he is still a "valuable asset" to the Beixing government.

Long ago, when Guan Tong was still causing trouble abroad all by himself, the decision-makers at Beixing had already discussed his situation, and some people had expressed their admiration for him.

Through several subsequent collaborations, the official decision-makers gained a general understanding of Guan Tong's personality, "getting a feel for him," which laid the foundation for deeper cooperation. For example, appointing him as the captain of the action team tasked with carrying out the decapitation mission was a manifestation of this trust.

Not to mention that Guan Tong also possesses a network of relationships that, while not large, are of extremely high quality.

According to data collected by the Countermeasures Research Office and the Beixing Intelligence Department, there are many people in Beixing who have close relationships with him. These include Chen Na, who possesses a rare wide-range perception ability, Shi Jingyi, the academy's lecturer who is the world's number one in the application of mental energy, and even when he was a teacher at the academy, he was loved by many students.

Besides Beixing, he often acted with Shangyuan Zi, the former leader of the Chosen Group of the official Sakura Inori team, and Yelianka, the governor of the Kingdom of Sisia, also received his help and respected him very much.

These small but exceptionally high-quality networks of relationships remain unseen in ordinary times, but can coalesce into a powerful force at crucial moments.

It is conceivable that if Guan Tong were unable to return from space, it would be a tremendous loss for Beixing and even for humanity as a whole, and people within his network would likely take action.

Therefore, whether out of personal or public interest, Zhang Minglu hoped that Guan Tong would succeed. Secondly, even if the secret was not discovered, he hoped that the mission could be successfully terminated to ensure his own safety.

“Dr. Zhang looks very nervous,” said Veranco, the director of the Soma Space Agency, who was standing nearby.

“Director Weilanco, you should be a little more nervous too,” Zhang Minglu said. “Because if Guan Tong succeeds, those in your country who are under stress due to scarlet phobia may also be saved.”

“Dr. Zhang is right.” Weilanko nodded. “Mr. Guan’s success or failure is of great importance.”

He had barely finished speaking when an employee ran up and shouted, "Director, emergency! The 'Dream Boat One' that our team has been monitoring has moved!"

"what?"

A hint of surprise appeared in Wilanco's gray-blue pupils.

Zhang Minglu was also very surprised to hear this: "Dream Boat No. 1? That belongs to our North Star... Isn't it always in orbit around Terra Star?"

The employee said, "It was originally orbiting Terra, presumably to conserve fuel. But shortly after the Imperial Pioneer entered space, it suddenly began to change course!"

“It’s Robert!” Veranco said. “Robert sent a distress signal before, and we replied that we would rescue him after this rule ended. He hasn’t replied since. Now ‘Dreamboat One’ has suddenly changed course, and it doesn’t have enough fuel left to return to Tianshui Star… Could it be targeting ‘Imperial Pioneers’?”

Zhang Minglu's expression changed drastically: "Damn it! This means our speculation about Robert was correct. He may have become a source of Scarlet Fear transmission, just like Lu Ruiguo, the woman whose prefrontal cortex was removed! We must stop him, or Guan Tong will be in danger!"

With a grave expression, Wilanco asked the members of the testing team, "When will 'Dreamboat One' approach 'Imperial Pioneer'?"

"At normal speed, it takes about 59 hours, but if it goes full speed ahead regardless of fuel consumption, it can reduce the time to within 40 hours."

"According to the established plan, the 'Imperial Pioneers' will return in 48 hours if everything goes smoothly, but now it seems that we have to move it up."

An aircraft that encounters problems after takeoff can return to its origin or seek landing at a nearby airport at any time. But a launched rocket cannot return immediately.

Because it involves operations in outer space, the complexity is an order of magnitude greater, and the existence of a "window period" must also be taken into account.

Sometimes, if a launch mission misses its scheduled launch time, the next launch window may be days, tens of days, or even years later.

Guan Tong's journey into space aboard the "Imperial Pioneer" was already somewhat rushed due to the mission, so in order to improve the safety of the return trip, the return time was scheduled for 48 hours, or two days later, based on the window period.

This means that even if the experiment is successful, Guan Tong will have to stay in space for almost two days before she can come back.

Now Robert is maneuvering "Dream Boat 1" to accelerate towards the destination, and in terms of time, he will arrive before the window period.

Those at the ground control center believed that Guan Tong would have no chance of survival if the two rockets collided.

Weilan immediately contacted the North Star Space Agency, calling directly to Director Chen Shi.

As soon as the call connected, Chen Shi brought up the matter first: "'Dream Boat No. 1' is changing course and heading towards 'Imperial Pioneer,' which is a very dangerous signal!"

It is clear that the North Star Space Agency has been monitoring the two rockets and spacecraft.

“Director Chen, can’t you take over control of the rocket remotely? After all, ‘Dreamship’ is your spaceship,” Wilanko said.

Even if Robert, as the leader of the Soro space colony, possessed extensive knowledge of rocket and spacecraft operation and was able to operate "Dreamboat-1," its ultimate control should still lie with the North Star Space Agency.

"We could have stopped it remotely, but the message we received indicated that Robert was operating the rocket not with his own authority, but with the authority of our astronaut Wei Xuan!"

Wilanco's pupils dilated: "Wei Xuan? Isn't that the team leader you sent before? Robert has his authority, which means..."

When the space colony retreated, Wei Xuan, the leader of the North Star team, went alone to "Dream Boat No. 1" to continue the mission, but he never returned.

Later, both countries received Robert's distress signal, but not Wei Xuan's... At that time, some people speculated that Wei Xuan had sacrificed himself, but they did not know how he sacrificed himself.

It seems there's already a result.

Chen Shi said coldly, "We speculate that Robert killed Wei Xuan and used the latter's leadership authority to gain supreme control of 'Dreamboat-1'. In this way, the ground center would be unable to remotely control the rocket."

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Weilan's forehead: "In that case, we will begin preparations for a forced return. We absolutely cannot allow the two rockets to collide. Otherwise, not only will Guan Tong's life be in danger, but the debris from the two giant rocket spacecraft will create countless pieces of space junk, blocking orbits and threatening the safety of numerous satellites."

After the communication ended, Wieland immediately instructed his staff to begin preparations for a forced return. At the same time, he ordered a team to maintain 24-hour contact with Robert to see if they could reach him and find out what he was up to.

"As for Mr. Guan," Weilanco looked at Zhang Minglu, whose face had turned pale, "Dr. Zhang, when do you plan to tell him this news?"

Zhang Minglu paced back and forth for a moment, clenching his fists. "Guan Tong is still exploring Scarlet Fear. Disturbing him now would be dangerous! There's still plenty of time; we can tell him after he finishes his exploration." ...

Inside the red space.

Guan Tong had been "flying" around for more than ten minutes, and his mental energy was rapidly dissipating through the mental anchor.

The red dots that had been popping up were now densely packed, almost giving him trypophobia.

During this time, he repeatedly considered stopping his exploration because this red space of consciousness was extremely strange. Even with the mental anchor preventing any terrifying visions from being generated, he still felt extremely uncomfortable.

As the exploration time increased, he even began to feel dizzy and nauseous, similar to motion sickness.

He felt this was related to the fact that he didn't have a "body" in this space, which is a characteristic of humans—that is, it is almost impossible to engage in conscious activity in pure consciousness without a body.

This is different from dreaming, where you usually have a body and quickly forget the dream upon waking. But Guan Tong is now perfectly awake, exploring his surroundings. This disconnect between his consciousness and body is the root of his discomfort.

Where exactly?
Guan Tong couldn't find the "red blush," which was the source of her fear.

However, according to Zhang Minglu's previous statement, in the previous experiments, several researchers noticed redness shortly after the experiment began.

A thought suddenly popped into Guan Tong's mind: Could it be that my mental anchor blocked the generation of terrifying images, and at the same time blocked the emergence of the source of fear?

His "body" stopped, and looking at the boundless red world around him, he couldn't help but come to this conclusion.

If it's not for this reason, why hasn't he discovered anything after his consciousness has been in this space for more than ten minutes?

If this continues, there will be no gain even if one's mental energy is exhausted.

Guan Tong took a deep breath and made a decision.

...We have no choice but to take the risk!
At a certain moment, he paused for a brief moment the output of mental energy that provided a stable anchor for his mind.

In that instant, the anchor fails, and a terrifying scene is bound to unfold...

But only pause for a moment, and immediately re-enter after stopping. This way, the block will only pause briefly before restarting, ensuring that you don't get lost in fear.

Furthermore, he has several life-saving items, such as the [Life-Saving Pendant] which can negate one death-level injury in a critical moment, and the [Hourglass of Time] which can stop the flow of time in a critical moment, which can serve as double insurance.

After quickly finishing her thought, Guan Tong immediately put the plan into action.

The moment the mental anchor's blocking effect was interrupted, the original red dot immediately expanded countless times, transforming into a terrifying scene that encompassed and devoured Guan Tong:
He saw a version of himself with a strange expression, standing with millions of people, raising his arms and shouting: "Everything for the sake of spreading!"

A wave of fear instantly swept over him. Guan Tong knew that it was himself, transformed into a parasite by the spores. Even though he knew it was fake, the scene of the scarlet fear was incredibly realistic and truly struck a chord deep within him—the fear of having his free will taken away.

Indeed, ever since the end-of-the-world rules came into effect, everything he has done has been driven by a desire to avoid being controlled by others/fire stealers, because he is terrified of losing his free will and becoming a numb puppet.

However, this fear did not destroy him, nor did it drive him mad. The Scarlet Fear seemed to be "aware" of this, and just before the blockade took effect again, it generated a different terrifying scene.

"go to hell."

Guan Tong felt a sharp pain and looked down to see an ice sword piercing his abdomen. The one wielding the sword was none other than Ye Lianka, whose face was as cold as ice.

"go to hell."

Another heavy punch slammed into his chest, breaking his ribs and leaving him unable to breathe. The puncher was none other than Shi Jingyi, dressed in white robes and with a long braid.

"go to hell."

The sound came from the side, and Guan Tong felt her whole body stiffen as if she had turned to stone. She turned her head and looked directly at Yuan Zi's snake eyes that were emitting a green light.

"go to hell."

"go to hell."

"go to hell."

"go to hell."

Chen Na, Wang Yan, Xu Xiaotian, Bai Xuewu, Yin Hu, Li Meng, Zhang Minglu, Gao Liangwei, Long Hun, Wenren Yizhi... all the people Guan Tong knew turned into executioners, delivering fatal blows to him.

The physical pain is nothing compared to the agony of being betrayed and abandoned by everyone, but what is more painful than being betrayed is a profound sense of emptiness, as if everything you protected ultimately became meaningless.

"...You made me experience what despair is like. But thanks to you, now that I know how terrible this feeling is, I will do everything in my power to prevent it from happening in the real world!"

Guan Tong, who was being attacked in dozens of ways, suddenly raised her head and locked her gaze in one direction.

His passive ability, [Killing Intent Perception], allowed him to sense the intense killing intent directed at him and pinpoint its source.

He took a step, and the next moment, the scene before him vanished, and the world returned to a crimson hue. And where his gaze fell, a hazy crimson glow floated—the very "source of fear" Zhang Minglu had told him about!
Once the mental stability anchor takes effect, other terrifying scenarios are immediately blocked.

Guan Tong rushed toward the source of fear, and as he got close, he reached out his "hand" and grabbed it.

In an instant, his entire field of vision was filled with "red dots"!
The dense red dots left no gaps! They were vying to generate tens of thousands of terrifying scenes!
The scorching heat from the mental anchor totem in his palm had become unbearable for Guan Tong; he felt as if his entire palm was about to be burned through! And his mental energy was like a flood bursting through a dam, being consumed frantically every second!
No, if I keep scratching it, it will completely erode me!

Guan Tong gritted her teeth, wanting to let go and give up.

Just then, his terminal panel popped up automatically and opened the title interface.

Two large, scarlet notifications popped up:

Consuming the currently held item "Wailing Forge" will increase the experience required for this title.

The 'Civilization Observer' title can be upgraded after this experience boost.

(End of this chapter)