Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 68 Hidden Rule Five

The moment the fire-stealer finished announcing the rules, the once clear sky instantly turned pitch black.

There were no stars or moon; it was as if the whole world had been suddenly draped with a thick, opaque curtain.

At the same time, strange shrieks suddenly rang out from all over the world.

The sound was like a whistle, sharp and piercing, cutting through the night sky and spreading throughout the world.

Along with this sound, some beings began to stir.

In a temporary body shelter in Yunhua City, several staff members are gathered in the break room with the lights on, discussing newly released rules.

"What are 'living dead'? Zombies?"

"I don't know... let's wait for the official guide."

"You get an extra Ascension Coin for each undead you kill! If you kill a hundred or eighty, you'll make a fortune when the rules end and the settlement is complete!"

"I would be satisfied if I could take down ten of them and complete the challenge without diminishing my mental strength."

"Me too. Although the Fire Stealer is supposed to be a bonus level, it's still a post-apocalyptic world with its own rules. Can people really just farm coins like that?"

Boom!
As they were talking, a loud crash suddenly came from the glass door. The group turned around in surprise and were horrified at the sight.

A figure was pressed against the door, his face contorted in a grotesque grimace, his eyes gleaming with an eerie crimson light. What terrified them most was the gray robe he wore—the uniform worn by those temporarily housing corpses.

The dead are resurrected?!

"No no no no!"

The group immediately realized that if the "living dead" in this rule did not appear out of thin air, but were actually resurrected corpses, then the temporary corpse containment facility where they were currently located would undoubtedly be the most dangerous place!
Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The next moment, their premonition came true. A large number of corpses dressed in gray robes surged to the doorway, pressing in from both sides, and the glass door quickly shattered under the pressure.

"It's all over!"

The moment the glass shattered, their minds went blank, and they couldn't even muster the slightest thought of resistance.

"Roar!!!!!"

Dozens of undead bees swarmed into the break room, howling like wild beasts as they pounced on several staff members, tearing their despair and lives to shreds.

At the same time, the shriek continued to echo through the night sky.

Soon, it spread from the city to the suburbs and to the villages and counties.

Those villages that were submerged and disappeared by blizzards in the fourth rule have reappeared after the snow melts.

Besides the village, numerous corpses were also found submerged in the melted snow.

Due to a shortage of manpower in the city, the city has been focused on finishing up disaster relief efforts and remodeling existing structures for the past month. Villages in other areas have been neglected, and many corpses have been left to soak in the water for days.

At that moment, accompanied by that shrill scream, the corpses trembled and rose from the water. Some were rotten and gigantic, others were incomplete, their limbs broken by collapsed buildings. But what they all had in common was a pair of eerie, scarlet eyes that emitted a red glow.

At this moment, these resurrected undead, after a brief silence, burst into roars and rushed wildly toward Yunhua City, where countless lights were rapidly lit up in the darkness!

……

Inside the community's property management storage room, after the fire thief finished announcing the rules, Guan Tong also heard that piercing scream.

The sound came from a distance to the south; it was indescribable and sounded very unpleasant.

"This rule only lasts for 24 hours, making it the shortest rule to date... and the Firebringers specifically called it a 'bonus level'..."

Guan Tong felt there was more to it than that. If it were truly a reward level, wouldn't it be simpler to just give each Ascendant a thousand or eight hundred Ascendant Coins? Why bother with the pretense of rules?

He watched the sky turn pitch black in an instant, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. He quickly closed the door, then hurriedly opened his personal panel to check the hidden rules.

Focus your attention on the fifth apocalyptic rule, and soon the color particles recombine, revealing the hidden rule.

[Hidden Rule Five: The Source of Conversion]

[Hidden Rule: In this rule, using non-psychic items or abilities to eliminate the undead will not count towards the elimination count. In addition to the undead, a special 'Mother Converter' exists within a certain area. The 'Mother Converter' can transform human corpses into the undead by emitting a shriek. Eliminating the 'Mother Converter' will grant a high special reward and prematurely end the undead conversion in that area.]

[Note: During the 24-hour period of this rule's effect, the "Mother Transformer" will periodically emit shrieks, transforming human corpses into the undead. If you decide to destroy it and end the transformation, please remember that it cannot be killed by non-psychic items or abilities, and possesses extraordinary power, making it an extremely terrifying enemy.]

The fact that eliminating the undead using non-psychic powers would not be counted in the statistics was something Guan Tong had already anticipated. Not only him, but most people should have been able to guess it after the rules were announced.

What truly surprised him was the existence of the "Matrix Transformer".

After reading the hidden rules, Guan Tong realized that the extremely unsettling shriek that came from the Fire Thief after announcing the rules must have been emitted by this Mother Transformer!

"With that one sound, how many human corpses were turned into the living dead?" Guan Tong sensed something was wrong. "So many people died under the fourth rule, so many corpses couldn't all have been cremated. There must be many more temporarily stored in morgues or similar places..."

"Furthermore, judging from the hidden rules, this 'Mother Converter' will emit shrieks intermittently during the 24-hour period when the rules are in effect. If humans killed by the undead are continuously converted into new undead, then..."

Guan Tong felt the consequences would be unimaginable!

The hidden rule notes specifically state that the "Mother Transformer" cannot be killed by anything not related to psychic power. In other words, even if the authorities discover its existence and attempt to kill it with weapons to end the transformation, they cannot!
The transformation can only be ended by the Ascended One using mental power-related items or abilities to kill it!

So now Guan Tong only has two choices.

Should they find a good defensive position to hold and eliminate the invading undead? Or should they take the initiative and risk searching for and eliminating the Mother Transformer?
Guan Tong looked at the silver Hunter in his hand, and after a moment of silence, made a decision.

"The shriek I just heard seemed to be coming from the south... that's the direction I need to go."

"However, we cannot act rashly. We must first find out the fighting strength of the undead."

Guan Tong wondered if this undead was a slow-moving, wobbly zombie, or a rabid dog that lunged at and bit anyone it saw.

The difference between the two is undoubtedly huge! The level of danger is completely different.

(End of this chapter)