49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 262: Chapter 250: Hidden Rule 13

A madman once proclaimed that the history of humanity is a history of lies.

While that statement may be a bit extreme, humanity is undeniably a race that excels at and even enjoys lying.

From the little white lies of daily life to the cutthroat deception of the business world, it was a free-for-all. The titans of industry were all too willing to bend the truth, each one trying to outdo the other, as long as it tricked customers into buying their products.

Many elites across all professions are masters of this craft. Some even take pride in deceiving more people. In certain industries, the greater one’s talent for lying and deception, the higher the pay and the more one is valued by their superiors.

On an even higher level, in the realm of national conflicts, rivalries, and wars, the lies are simply endless.

In fact, "strategic deception" has been a key stratagem in the art of war throughout history.

The principles of warfare—"All warfare is based on deception," "when real, feign emptiness; when empty, feign reality," creating an unfathomable mix of truth and illusion—mean that a famous general is very likely a top-tier master of deception.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that lies have run through all of human history.

Since its arrival, the Fire Thief had completely twisted, broken, and altered the course of human history. It was hardly surprising, then, that it would now issue a rule so contrary to human nature.

Guan Tong’s first reaction after reading the new rule was that it was actually pretty good.

That’s right. He thought the rule was genuinely good.

’Can’t lie? Then just don’t talk. If you’re worried you might slip up and tell a white lie out of habit, then just don’t say a single word.’

Of course, according to the rule’s details, the restriction wasn’t just on "speech" but also on other media like writing.

That meant you couldn’t just avoid lying out loud; spouting nonsense online or writing lies in a personal diary would also be rule violations.

The safest way to get through this Rule Stage, then, was to speak little—or not at all—for the entire month. You also couldn’t write or publish anything. That would be foolproof.

And Guan Tong believed that was something most people could manage.

Passing this way would earn not just Sublimation Coins, but also a reward that increased one’s Psychic Power limit. All in all, it was a pretty good rule.

At least, that’s how it seemed to Guan Tong.

’Let’s see what the hidden rule is this time.’

Guan Tong opened the Terminal Panel and checked the rule details.

The hidden rule soon appeared as he watched.

[Hidden Rule Thirteen: Truth Contract]

[Hidden Rule Content: Each person may form a Truth Contract with one other person. The contract is formed when both parties simultaneously express the key meaning of "I will never lie to you." During the Rule Stage, if neither party lies, both will receive double rewards upon its completion. If one party lies while the other does not, the liar will receive triple rewards, while the other will suffer the rule’s penalty. If both parties lie to each other, both will suffer the penalty for rule failure.]

[Note: In a world filled with lies, is there anyone you can completely trust not to lie to you? If so, would you betray them for a huge reward?]

Guan Tong’s heart sank after he finished reading the hidden rule.

’Isn’t this... some kind of variation on the prisoner’s dilemma?’

Two people form a Truth Contract. If both tell the truth, they both get double rewards when the Rule Stage ends. If both lie, it’s a lose-lose situation; they both fail the rule.

But if one person lies and the other doesn’t, the liar gets to walk away with triple the reward... The Fire Thief was undoubtedly encouraging people to find someone they absolutely trusted, form a contract with them, and then betray that person to obtain the highest possible reward.

Guan Tong was starting to understand why the reward for this rule included an "increase to one’s Psychic Power limit."

Just for Sublimation Coins, even a multiplied reward wouldn’t be worth betraying the person who trusts you most. But what about a massive increase to your Psychic Power limit? A triple reward meant a threefold increase. The temptation of that was on another level compared to Sublimation Coins.

And yet...

Guan Tong thought he saw a loophole.

If two people are about to form a Truth Contract, and one asks the other, "Do you plan on betraying me?"—the premeditated betrayer would have to either remain silent or deflect.

Since the question is asked before the contract is formed, saying "no" while secretly intending to betray someone would be a violation of the rule against lying.

’Or is there a way to bypass this?’

’For instance, by not bringing up the question at all? Or by putting oneself into the state of "objective cognitive error" mentioned in the rule details when the contract is formed?’

Guan Tong thought for a moment, then shook his head. He didn’t think too deeply about it. He didn’t plan on betraying anyone, so there was no need to dig for loopholes.

The question before him now was whether to publicize this hidden rule. Or sell it.

In his eyes, this hidden rule was somewhat "neutral."

Meaning, it was both good and bad.

On the one hand, two people who genuinely trusted each other could use it to gain greater rewards and benefits.

On the other hand, once it was public, people would inevitably use it to trap others—specifically, the very people who trusted them the most. Or, like with Rule Eight, it could be exploited by the Supporter system.

For instance, someone could take control of a person and threaten them into forming a contract. Then, they could warn them that if they dared to lie, they would be killed when the Rule Stage ended. Out of fear, that person might not dare to lie, allowing the controller to lie without consequence and claim the triple reward.

’...Even if I don’t publicize it, this hidden rule will probably be discovered through trial and error. They’ll only figure out that the contract exists, but they won’t know the rewards or the penalty for violating it... unless those details are displayed when the contract is formed,’ Guan Tong thought.

The trigger for the "Truth Contract" was for two people to say something to each other along the lines of "I’ll never deceive you" or "I’ll never lie to you"... Doesn’t that kind of dialogue happen all the time between young couples?

Granted, the number of couples and spouses had dropped significantly since the era of the Apocalypse Rules began, but there were still some out there.

With this rule in effect, some couples might be the first to gaze lovingly at their partners and declare that they’ll never deceive them.

If that happened, the Truth Contract would trigger between them, ready to be formed. You can’t keep a secret that big, and the news would spread like wildfire.

’Might as well make some Sublimation Coins. Business has been slow these past few months.’

Lately, Guan Tong’s Sublimation Coins had only been flowing out in large amounts; his only income was the paltry few hundred from rule rewards. Since this hidden rule was suitable for sale, he might as well sell it.

He opened his computer and logged into the Ascender’s Home website.

He went to the Webmaster Realm section and created a new post, following his usual sales format.

_Selling Secret Intel on the Thirteenth Apocalypse Rule_

Details: Price is 100,000 Sublimation Coins. Information will not be delivered immediately, but will be sent to all buyers at once in 12 hours.

He finished editing and hit post.

Compared to his previous sales, he didn’t raise the price this time, still asking for one hundred thousand.

The reason for this was quite practical. After the earthquake rule, the global population had plummeted once again, and that number included many Ascenders.

No matter how staggering the number of Sublimation Coins the major organizations and factions held, their supply was ultimately sourced from individual Ascenders.

With fewer Ascenders, the production of Sublimation Coins had naturally dropped as well.

This was evident in the terminal market, where the prices of many exorbitant items were plummeting. The crazy environment of the past—where any remotely useful item could fetch tens of thousands—was gone for good.

Once this became a trend, the market would only grow more "depressed." In time, Sublimation Coins would actually appreciate, becoming much more valuable and having far greater purchasing power than they did now.

A moment after Guan Tong’s post went live, his private message notifications began to flash wildly.

Major organizations, factions, and national governments all had people assigned to monitor his account, and they were all sending purchase inquiries at the earliest opportunity.

Guan Tong looked on and sighed. ’Looks like I should have raised the price after all. With the establishment of the Human Federation, I have fewer clients.’

He had guessed correctly. One of the items on the agenda at the Human Federation’s meeting was a motion to save on unnecessary expenses: the Sublimation Coins used to purchase intelligence from the Webmaster of Ascender’s Home would be pooled by the member nations, and the intelligence would be shared among them.

This way, instead of each nation buying its own copy, they could now just pool their funds for a single purchase and share the information.

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