Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 439 The Promised Land
Noon on April 1st, Argan Grassland.

Sunlight streamed down from the clear blue sky, falling on the yellow-green earth.

Down on the hillside, by the stream, several yaks were slowly grazing on the grass, their tails swishing leisurely.

Several black tents were pitched in a sheltered spot not far away, with some people scattered around, some standing and some sitting. These people were of different ages, some strong and some young, but they were all wearing thin wool sweaters, and their skin had a rosy glow from frequent sun exposure.

One of the men, a tall, muscular man with dark skin, clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Today our big family has a new member. Let's welcome him!"

Under the curious gaze of the crowd, the woman dressed in a robe with star patterns walked slowly over and said to them, "Hello, I am the Key of the Moon."

"The Key to the Moon? What a strange name..."

"It's really strange that a new person has come to the tribe!"

Led by the tribal chief, a tall, burly, dark-skinned man, the tribespeople applauded.

The man said, "Moon, let's call you that. The names of the tribe members have been simplified a lot, so it's easier to call you that way. You can call me 'Jay'."

Moon Key nodded in agreement.

A young girl with pigtails asked curiously, "Where are you from? How do you know about our area?"

The other members of the tribe also looked puzzled, because the formation of their tribe was rather unique.

In the early stages of the apocalyptic era, some people who firmly believed that modern technology could not save humanity connected online. The most radical among them believed that the only way to survive this catastrophe was to leave industrial society and return to a primitive, pastoral life.

As a result, some of them moved from online to offline and chose to come to the Algan Grassland, a high-altitude, sparsely populated place, where they lived a pristine natural life.

As extremists, these people have abandoned all industrial goods, stopped using the internet, and completely cut off contact with the outside world. Even if other teams enter Argan, the probability of encountering them in such a vast grassland would be very small.

Therefore, it's understandable that they would be puzzled as to why this seemingly mysterious woman could find and join them.

The Moon Key said, “My power is ‘prophecy.’ I foresaw that this place would be my ‘right place,’ or rather, the ‘Promised Land,’ so I came here. Since you live here, it is what I should do to join you.”

Prophetic abilities!

The tribespeople all looked surprised upon hearing this.

Chief Jay smiled and said to everyone, "Everyone, this is a good thing. Since we have chosen to return to the pastoral tribe life, isn't the arrival of someone with the ability of 'prophecy' a sign that our choice is correct? The moon is our sacrifice!"

"A sacrificial ceremony?! Yes, that's absolutely right!"

"It really is true..."

"The tribe is indeed lacking a priestess! A warm welcome to Miss Yue!"

After Jay identified the Moon Key as a "priest," he immediately received a strong response from everyone.

The Moon Key itself accepted this situation calmly.

The girl who had asked the question was even more excited: "Moon Priestess, I am Flower... Please stay in my tent! There is still a lot of space inside."

Moon Key smiled: "Then thank you, Flower."

At this moment, a middle-aged woman took out a sweater from the tent and handed it to Moon Key: "Moon Priest, please change into this. This is a pure wool sweater that we knitted ourselves, without a trace of plastic, it's the safest."

“Yes! The rules are very simple for us this time; we can pass without doing anything,” another young man said, puffing out his chest with pride.

“Although our tents look dark and old, they are all made of pure yak hair. The clothes we wear are also pure wool. We eat fresh meat and dried meat, drink cow and sheep milk, and drink clean stream water. There is no plastic pollution at all! Unlike the city, where there are pollutants everywhere!”

Moon Key nodded slightly, said nothing more, and followed the girl called "Flower" into the tent. The furnishings inside were simple: a sheepskin blanket was spread on the ground, with some wooden jars, leather ropes, and other miscellaneous items on it.

After she settled in, the leader, Jay, came in to find her: "Moon Priestess, everyone is very curious about your abilities. If possible, please demonstrate them tonight. Also, everyone wants to know some things about the outside world; you can talk about them then."

Jay chuckled as he spoke: "We've been here on the grasslands for over a year now, completely cut off from the outside world. Although everyone says they're not curious, they're secretly curious about what's going on in the cities outside."

“Okay.” Moon Key nodded.

After Jay left, the Moon Key took out her crystal ball. She hadn't brought any other divination tools; one crystal ball was enough.

She gazed at the shimmering light within the crystal ball, her eyes deep and thoughtful: "Is this truly my promised land? What does it mean that fate has led me here..."

……

The information about the hidden rules was quickly released to the various organizations after they obtained it.

Unsurprisingly, its horrifying content immediately sparked a global discussion.

"This so-called 'plastic intensification' reaction requires humans to sacrifice their reproductive capacity, only to achieve a 50/50 success rate?"

"This is outrageous! Who would do such a thing!"

"Speaking of which, this ability to 'immunely purify microplastics,' could be considered a kind of superpower, right? You Ascended Ones might not care, but it's still somewhat attractive to us ordinary people." "???"

"Is the guy above joking? Ordinary people would be willing to take such a high risk? Don't forget that even if you succeed, you'll be permanently infertile!"

"So what if you can't have children? There are plenty of infertile people in peacetime, and none of them have died."

"Everyone, don't do anything reckless... As long as the authorities coordinate issues such as food, accommodation, and air filtration, we should be able to survive this rule."

"The situation above is even more outrageous. Do you think it's so easy to coordinate? Take food and water for example. A lot of the food stored in the supply warehouses is still packaged in plastic film, commonly known as 'soft canned food.' Drinking water is also mostly stored in large plastic containers. Who knows if this food and water is still usable, or how much microplastics are in it?"

"Even if the toxicity of microplastics increases significantly, it won't kill people immediately. Today is only the first day of the rule's release; it won't be that quick."

"That's not necessarily true. Don't forget that the human body already contains a lot of microplastics; if their toxicity increases, it's hard to say what will happen!"

"That's true! Shouldn't the authorities give everyone a medical checkup?"

"I plan to wait and see for a few days. If the authorities can coordinate well and the casualty rate is not high, that would be best. If this rule is very lethal and the authorities can't do anything about it, then I'll really have to gamble on the 50% chance of it escalating!"

Online debates continue regarding choices and safeguards. Although officials from various countries have stated that they will provide solutions as soon as possible, the pervasive atmosphere of panic is still unavoidable.

Not long after the debate began, a new wave of criticism emerged.

"This is the punishment that those who stole fire have inflicted on humanity's environmental pollution! From mountains to oceans, plastic bags are everywhere. These plastics break down into particles that become microplastics, which animals eat and then pass through the food chain to our dinner tables. It's simply the result of our own neglect of the environment!"

However, this voice was quickly suppressed by the other group as soon as it emerged.

"This is completely putting the cart before the horse. If plastic had been this toxic from the beginning, how could humanity have developed it? It's the fire-bringers who greatly amplified its toxicity."

"Even those who steal fire can be washed? Go back and read your 'Words of God'!"

"The cultists still dare to show their faces. It seems that the bombing of the conjoined twins was not severe enough."

"Anyone who believes the rules of the apocalypse are correct is an enemy of humanity!!!"

The internet is in chaos, and the real world is no less so.

In a women's shelter in Beixing, several sharp screams suddenly erupted.

"what!!!"

"Someone come quick!"

The screams attracted people from several dormitories to come and check. The shelter management staff also immediately led the medical personnel assigned to each shelter to the dormitory from which the screams originated.

As soon as the administrator opened the door, he saw two women standing by the door, looking panicked and helpless, and a woman lying on the bed unconscious with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Another woman was pressing on the former's chest to perform a heart pacing.

"What happened? What's wrong with her!" The medical staff at the shelter rushed over to check on her, while the administrator loudly asked the other three roommates.

The roommate who was performing CPR on the unconscious woman hurriedly said, "I just went to get some water and found her unconscious, bleeding from the corner of her mouth, and yellow spots appearing on her skin... I... she seems to be dying!"

Medical personnel quickly examined the unconscious woman and found that she was breathing abnormally, her skin was discolored, and she was bleeding and swollen. They immediately made a diagnosis.

"These are symptoms of organ failure! And it's multiple organ failure!"

The three roommates and the manager were shocked to hear this.

Organ failure is undoubtedly caused by the microplastic toxicity mentioned in the new rules.

"No, it can't be... How could it be so fast? This is only the first day the new rules were announced!" a roommate exclaimed incredulously, grabbing his hair.

The medical staff frowned: "It's possible that she already had a high level of microplastics in her body, and then absorbed some from the outside, causing it to break through the critical point and erupt. Have you completely removed all the plastic debris from your dormitory?"

Shortly after the rules were announced in the morning, officials notified all shelters to move all plastic items outside. As a result, tables, chairs, sofas, fiber sheets, and clothing were all removed, leaving each dormitory looking like a bare, unfinished building.

Another roommate nearly collapsed, saying, "I cleared everything out! I threw everything away, how could this still happen!"

The shelter manager scanned the dormitory and found nothing conspicuous about the plastic structures. She thought for a moment and went into the bathroom. When she saw something on the sink, she was furious.

She pulled a piece of pure cloth from her pocket, wrapped around something, and demanded sharply, "Look at this!"

The three roommates were stunned when they saw that the cloth contained a small glass bottle with some liquid inside.

"This, this is face wash that was poured out of the plastic bottle... We threw away the plastic bottle, but the glass is fine, right?"

The administrator's face turned ashen: "The facial cleanser is also on the official list of plastics, didn't you see it! Do you think only the bottle is plastic? Many facial cleansers with deep cleansing functions also contain a lot of microplastic particles in the liquid itself! She must have washed her face with it after the rules were released, right!"

The three roommates were so shocked they couldn't speak; they never imagined that there would be microplastics in the face wash.

"Administrator," the medical staff member said sadly, looking over. "The person is gone."

(End of this chapter)