Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 95 Worship and Recruitment

Boom!

With a clap of thunder, rain began to fall.

Guan Tong was sitting cross-legged on the bed meditating when she heard the pattering rain outside and opened her eyes.

"Is it raining?"

It's mid-August now, in the middle of summer, which is the rainy season.

As Guan Tong listened to the thunder and rain, her heart, which had finally calmed down through meditation, began to feel restless again.

He got up and paced around the room before sitting down at the table, turning on his computer, and glancing at the time.

It was 4 p.m., seven hours after the rules were released.

He then went online to check the news and found that many people had posted pictures and videos of infected people bleeding profusely, which looked extremely disturbing.

Official sources also released a statement, stating that they had made a preliminary assessment of the virus and named it "Blood Plague," a name mentioned in the rules.

This is a highly contagious disease that causes internal and external bleeding quickly after infection. The condition worsens rapidly until a certain critical point is reached, at which point blood pressure becomes completely out of control, leading to a terrifying "blood rupture" effect.

The symptoms of those infected with the plague have been summarized. The most obvious symptom, "bleeding from all seven orifices," is a manifestation of the later stages of the second phase of infection. In the earlier first phase, large red patches appear on the neck and shoulders.

These erythema spots are extremely distinctive; unlike the dark spots of other skin diseases, they are bright spots, making them very easy to identify. It can be said that the presence of bright erythema spots in these two areas is almost a definitive diagnosis of erysipelas infection.

As for a solution to the blood plague virus, the authorities have not yet mentioned it.

However, some people have posted online that there are some drug-related items available in the market. Items whose descriptions explicitly include "antiviral," "cure disease," or "antibacterial" functions might be useful.

However, these items are now being sold at exorbitant prices, with prices reaching seven figures or even millions of Ascension Coins, enough to make 99.99% of people "sigh in despair at the price."

However, some lucky people who had previously opened boxes and obtained similar medicine items were both excited and conflicted.

The excitement stems from the prospect of striking it rich! Seize this opportunity and sell your items for hundreds of thousands or even millions – that's equivalent to countless rule rewards! Keep in mind that the reward for completing a single rule right now is only a few hundred or a few hundred Ascension Coins.

But... what if I sell the props and accidentally get infected?
Selling it is easy, but buying it back is a different story.

If you've just sold tens or hundreds of thousands of Ascension Coins, and before you've even had a chance to enjoy them, you get infected and can't use the money you earned to buy similar items... wouldn't that be a very tragic situation: you die before you've spent all your money?

Therefore, whether to sell or not is a very difficult question.

Some players who felt lucky and wanted to try their luck to turn their bicycles into motorcycles chose to list their items.

Other Ascendants who don't want to take risks and believe that survival is paramount choose to keep it for themselves, to save their lives in critical moments.

However, there is a third compromise.

Guan Tong saw an official account posting that they were buying up such items from across society. In addition to offering a large amount of Ascension Coins, they would also provide benefits such as professional protective suits and access to professional shelters.

This is specifically designed for Ascendants who don't want to take risks but still want to make money by selling items. It's like having an official endorsement, providing professional-grade protection while accepting items, minimizing your chances of getting infected.

Guan Tong thought to herself, "If that's the case, I estimate that quite a few people would be willing to choose this method."

The official practice of collecting drugs in this way is undoubtedly intended to provide multiple layers of protection for key figures.

For ordinary people, selling medicine in exchange for protection and a large amount of Ascension Coins is a good choice, and in a sense, it is a win-win situation.

Guan Tong herself admitted to feeling a little envious, but definitely not too much.

The shelter he's in now is definitely worth far more than those medicines and props.

After all, everyone hopes to avoid getting infected rather than recovering from it.

only……

Guan Tong stared at the doorway. He didn't know if he had won the "gene lottery," but going out to try was out of the question; that would be suicidal.

With his current abilities, there's no way to isolate himself from the air, unless...

"I wonder if a completely solid, enclosed shadow can isolate the air? Even if it can, I'll suffocate if I stay inside for too long. I'd have to wear an oxygen mask and oxygen tank... That might work, but why take the risk?"

Guan Tong couldn't think of a reason why she insisted on going out. Staying safely in the shelter and waiting for the rules to end in fifteen days was the safest thing to do.

Guan Tong no longer wanted to go out, but then a trending video on the internet caught his attention.

The video was filmed abroad, showing hundreds of foreigners gathered in a famous cathedral to pray.

A tall statue that was originally located in front of the hall has been removed. Judging from the remaining fragments on the ground, the statue, which was once listed as a "national treasure," has been violently destroyed.

Occupying the spot of the Genshin Impact statue is a rectangular black stone slab that looks somewhat like the "personal terminal" interface that an Ascended can open after silently reciting a command.

Moreover, each of these foreigners was clutching a thin book. A closer look revealed that the book cover read "Words of God," and the contents inside were all the currently published rules of the apocalypse.

The person filming the video was undoubtedly from Northern Star, speaking fluent native language: "Damn it, these foreigners have gone mad! They've turned the Firebringers into new gods, and they've even printed the rules of the apocalypse into a book and are treating it like a new Bible! I think they're all doomed sooner or later... No, I can't stay here any longer, I have to hurry back home!"

Has the situation reached this point abroad?

Guan Tong looked at the devout prayers in the video and couldn't help but feel a little shocked.

He could somewhat understand the destruction of the old idols. The facts were clear: if the gods they once revered truly existed, why didn't they manifest their power to stop the fire-stealers who had killed countless humans?
Since no deity intervened, it means those deities never existed. Therefore, it's not entirely unexpected that some believers smashed the statues out of anger.

But if we truly worship the fire-stealers as a new god and recite the end-times rules as a new Bible, then it's a different story... And although the events are happening abroad, the world today is a global village.

With such advanced transportation, even in a post-apocalyptic world, nations inevitably influence each other. However, as things stand, the world is still unable to unite and collectively face these rules. Otherwise, the Tulip Federation wouldn't have created the "Wolf Pack" team in the previous Ascendant Challenge.

The fact that the Tulip Federation first united to eliminate other countries' teams and then distributed the top ten teams among itself shows that it had no intention of cooperating with other countries.

"The disintegration of human groups and their fighting among themselves is exactly what the Firebringers wanted to see."

Guan Tong closed her laptop and pondered silently.

Is it really the right thing for humanity to continue following the path of the fire-bringers?
……

dong dong dong.

"Open the door, Gu Fei."

Hearing the noise outside the door, Gu Fei, who was alone in an abandoned house, got up and went to the door, opening it.

Standing at the door was a person wearing a full set of high-standard protective clothing; it was the short-haired woman who had stopped him from committing suicide earlier.

She carried a box and placed it in front of Gu Fei.

"This is a special arrangement by the commander-in-chief. There is a complete set of top-level protective equipment inside. As long as you are not infected with the virus now, you will definitely not be infected after putting it on."

Upon hearing this, Gu Fei looked at the box with mixed feelings and reached out to take it, saying, "Please thank... Commander for me."

"You can thank him yourself later."

Upon hearing this, Gu Fei asked in surprise, "I can see the commander-in-chief?"

"The commander said that as long as you survive this trial, he will arrange for you to meet him."

"understood."

Not daring to take any further risks of infection, Gu Fei immediately opened the box and put on the protective suit and face shield inside.

"Excuse me," Gu Fei said, "what does that commander need me to do?"

"You'll find out when the time comes." After saying that, the woman pointed to the inside of the box. "There's a cell phone in a hidden compartment. I'll use it to contact you, and you can use it to contact me too. But I'm usually very busy, so it's best not to bother me unless it's important."

“I understand.” Gu Fei said, then paused and asked, “How did you know I was here? And how did you know I’m the captain…”

"Stop, I don't have time to answer your questions. You'll understand when you meet the commander."

After the short-haired woman finished speaking and left, Gu Fei silently closed the door.

He looked down at the professional protective equipment on his body and knew he had made the right choice.

"The official team... Hmph, why didn't they send me a set of protective equipment? Just because I failed twice, does that mean I deserve to be kicked out like a dog?"

"When I meet that commander and he shines brightly in the new organization... you will all regret it one day!"

After delivering the protective gear to Gu Fei, the short-haired woman returned to the transport vehicle. The driver asked, "Where should we send the next set?"

The short-haired woman took out a tablet and looked at it: "The next location is Baishui Road next to the Second Hospital. Let's go."

The driver started the vehicle and headed towards the destination.

"Do we have enough equipment?"

"That's enough. There are still five people on the list, and eight sets in the car."

"The commander-in-chief is certainly willing to spend money. If you ask me, why go through all this trouble? Just do it like before and arrest people and that's it."

"The situation is different now," the short-haired woman said calmly. "Previously, the procedures in various places were too sloppy, which quickly attracted the attention of the top leadership, who formed a special team to investigate the matter, and the investigation is still ongoing."

Furthermore, the commander believed it was necessary to build a powerful squad of their own. To maximize the combat effectiveness of these personnel, recruitment for this squad would primarily rely on a policy of appeasement and favoritism.

The driver nodded and said, "The commander has great vision, which we certainly can't match. However, there are still few capable people in the common people. Look at Yunhua, we've been searching for so long, and we've only found a dozen or so worth contacting."

“The strongest ones are definitely all with the authorities, but…” the short-haired woman thought for a moment, “the person the commander is most interested in is among the common people, and most likely a citizen of the Northern Star Kingdom.”

"Who?"

"shadow."

"That shadow was actually among the common people?"

"Yes. If the commander-in-chief had access to internal intelligence, he would have known long ago if the shadow belonged to the government... But according to the commander-in-chief, the government has also been putting a lot of effort into finding this shadow, hoping to recruit him."

The driver suddenly realized, "So, the commander-in-chief wants to find a shadow in front of the officials and win him over to join him?"

“Yes.” The short-haired woman nodded. “The commander told us personally that he was willing to recruit Shadow at all costs. The fact that this person could form a team by himself in the Challenger Tournament and defend the Holy Grail single-handedly is enough to prove that he possesses extraordinary power.”

"If only this shadow were in Yunhua," the driver said. "If we could find it, the commander would definitely give us a great reward."

"If only they were that lucky. Beixing has more than a dozen megacities. Who knows where that person might be? Not to mention, they might not even be in a megacity."

"That makes sense... We've arrived at Baishui Road. Who are they this time?"

The short-haired woman glanced at the list: "It's a little girl named Chen Na."

(End of this chapter)