49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 264: Chapter 252: An Important Message from "Desperate

Guan Tong’s Psychic Power Flow class didn’t involve much verbal content, so it was held as usual during the Rule Stage.

When he arrived at the classroom, he found the class quieter than he’d ever seen it. Not a single person was whispering to another.

"Looks like you’ve all seen the many cases of failure online and know to speak as little as possible during this Rule Stage," Guan Tong said.

"I’m the same way. So, during this Rule Stage, I won’t be giving any theoretical lectures. The class will focus mainly on paired sparring."

As soon as he finished speaking, many students’ faces turned bitter.

After nearly three months of getting to know him, they had no doubt about Guan Tong’s abilities. It was just that his frequent sparring sessions made many students who disliked conflict and fighting feel very uncomfortable.

But this was Guan Tong’s teaching style. His goal was to help his students improve; he didn’t care much about their comfort.

Of course, there were also students who refused to fight, and Guan Tong didn’t force them. He adhered to the philosophy that a teacher’s job was simply to teach what needed to be taught. Whether the students learned or not was their own business.

So, the students once again followed Guan Tong to the large gymnasium, using the empty basketball court as a training ground. They drew lots to be randomly matched with opponents.

After an intense sparring session, every student was drenched in sweat.

Guan Tong concluded the class by summarizing some key points and pointing out common mistakes he saw during the spars.

Throughout the class, the students barely spoke, save for grunts of exertion and yelps of pain during combat. Guan Tong also said nothing beyond giving instructions. This way, there was basically no chance of violating the rule.

After the day’s classes ended, it was time to send out the hidden rule. Guan Tong returned to his shelter and sent it to the various buyers according to his plan.

Unlike last time when he had over thirty buyers for his information, this time there were only nineteen in total. The number had been cut nearly in half.

This was partly due to the establishment of the Human Federation. Another factor was that some of the original buyers’ groups or official factions had been destroyed or dismantled during the earthquake Rule.

Still, at a price of one hundred thousand Sublimation Coins each, nineteen buyers netted him a massive income of 1.9 million, pushing his total Sublimation Coin balance over the five million mark once again.

Not long after he sent out the information, North Star’s government made it public that same night, immediately sparking a flood of discussion threads on the forums.

"This hidden info is pretty generous. Isn’t this just a free double reward?"

"Looking for a contract partner in Fengyuan City, anyone interested?"

"It’s either a win-win or a lose-lose. This hidden info is actually pretty good. As long as you’re not a lunatic, you’d choose the win-win, right?"

"Can’t rule out some twisted people who’d intentionally screw you over... You should only form this kind of contract with someone you know and trust."

"People you know aren’t necessarily reliable. I think it might be easier to pass with a stranger—for example, two strangers meet, form the contract, and then go their separate ways. If you don’t see or speak to each other for a month, you’re guaranteed the double reward, right?"

"That makes sense! Strangers don’t have overlapping lives. After you form the contract, even if you wanted to lie to them, how could you when you can’t even find them?"

"If you’re going with a stranger, I’d suggest checking their title first. If they’re an ’Orderkeeper,’ it’s probably okay. If they’re a ’Disorder Breaker,’ forget it."

"So true. A few of my friends are all Orderkeepers, not a single Disorder Breaker. I feel like Disorder Breakers are all potential murderers. They’re too dangerous, I wouldn’t dare befriend one..."

"I’m a Disorder Breaker. You Orderkeepers love to slander us. If you don’t want to make a contract with us, that’s your loss. We Disorder Breakers can just stick together, and we’ll be fine!"

Guan Tong watched for a moment, then noticed a thread that was rapidly gaining traction.

"Discussing Unknown Possibilities: What Happens If One Party in a Contract Lies to an Outsider/the Other Party?"

The original poster wrote: "Right now, the hidden information only covers two scenarios: both parties lie, or neither party lies. If only one party lies, that can be divided into two more scenarios: one, lying to the contract partner, and two, lying to an outsider. I wonder if the outcome for both would be the same?"

The poster’s question sparked a wave of speculation from many others.

"If one party lies to an outsider, it should only count as a failure for that person, right? It shouldn’t affect the other party."

"Forget everything else, if you lie to your contract partner, the double reward is definitely gone. Who would do something so stupid?"

"The OP is very perceptive. I also feel like something doesn’t add up here. There’s this indescribable sense of dissonance."

"You guys are overthinking it! No need to make it so complicated. Just find someone you trust, make the contract, and hold out for a month to get the double reward!"

"I don’t know about the rest, but I do know from past experience that the hidden info for many rules contains huge pitfalls. Have you all forgotten about the ’Mind Lock’ incident...? So I’ve decided not to form a contract with anyone. I’ll just follow the explicit requirements of the rule."

"Correct. The more you think, the more likely you are to mess up. I don’t want to accidentally fail the challenge. It’s better to play it safe."

’Looks like plenty of people think like me and want to play it safe...’

Guan Tong thought to himself as he read the comments on the thread.

Just then, he saw a new message in his private inbox. It was an inquiry from a customer who had bought the information.

"Excuse me, Proprietor, is the information you sold and sent incomplete?"

Guan Tong narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw the question.

’If I answer "yes," they might demand the complete information on the grounds that they paid for it.’

’If I answer "no," I’ll be violating the rule.’

So, Guan Tong simply chose not to reply.

Similarly, many people on the forums had sent him messages, all trying to use the rule to trick him into revealing things or setting a trap.

For example, someone had messaged him asking, "Proprietor, are you Shadow himself?"

He ignored all such questions.

However, among all the private messages, one in particular instantly captured his full attention.

The sender’s nickname was "Desperate."

Desperate: "Proprietor, you can contact Shadow, right? I have intel on ’Big Sis.’ He should really want it."

’Big Sis!’

The founder of the Qingmei Association, the mastermind behind the serial kidnappings and the Yongzhou Supporter Base, the architect of the attack on him and Shi Jingyi... She was indeed the person Guan Tong had been searching for.

Previously, officials had told him that Big Sis’s power structure had been destroyed and her current whereabouts were unknown. Xu Xiaotian had also said that Li Meng called him to say the old kidnapping case was now closed.

None of this made Guan Tong give up. Instead, it fueled his determination to find her himself.

According to his original plan, once the current Thirteenth Rule was over and Shi Jingyi had returned to the academy to take over, he would leave and begin his hunt for Big Sis.

He never expected such a windfall today...

Guan Tong glanced at the account information for "Desperate." It had never posted before; the account had just been registered this very afternoon.

Just then, the other party sent several new messages.

Desperate: "I have the location information for ’Big Sis’ herself. If Shadow needs it, I will provide it in exchange for him meeting my conditions."

Desperate: "The reason I’m sending these messages now is precisely because of the [Self-Punishment for Lying] rule. With the rule in effect, I will not lie."

’Wrong.’

Guan Tong thought, ’It’s not that you *won’t* lie, but that lying comes at a great cost. Conversely, if you’re willing to bear the consequences of failing the rule, then lying at a time like this would make it incredibly easy to gain someone’s trust.’

Desperate: "To show my sincerity, I’ll first provide some key information for free, which Shadow can verify through his own channels."

Desperate: "’Big Sis’s’ real identity is Jiang Lanying. Her son, Jiang Qingshan, took her surname, but mother and son have been estranged for many years. She also had one grandson, Jiang Ming, who is already dead at Shadow’s hands."

’Jiang Ming!’

Guan Tong’s heart jolted when he saw the name mentioned in the message.

’So that kid who could absorb and release Psychic Power was actually "Big Sis" Jiang Lanying’s grandson.’

’No wonder...’

Guan Tong now understood why this Big Sis was willing to risk exposing her high-level identity to deploy long-range weapons to bombard him. It was a combination of new and old hatreds: revenge for the destruction of the Yongzhou Base and the deaths of her subordinates, compounded by the blood feud over her grandson’s death. That’s what drove her to take such drastic measures.

"Desperate" sent no more messages, likely feeling they had revealed enough and were now waiting for a reply.

Guan Tong stared at the message box. The name "Jiang Lanying" sounded vaguely familiar.

He tried typing the name into a search engine, but the results were all unrelated terms, suggesting signs of data corruption.

He flipped through many pages before spotting some information in the corner of a webpage, which made him recall why the name was familiar.

"So she’s the one who used to be on TV all the time when I was a kid..."

Guan Tong silently closed the web page, lost in thought.

This "Desperate" person knew a lot; there was no doubt about that.

If what this person said was true, and they knew the location of "Big Sis" while she was on the run, it meant they were very likely someone close to her.

But he couldn’t rule out the possibility that they were lying.

Guan Tong thought of Han Ling, the administrator of the Yongzhou Base, and the short-haired woman who had led the last attack against him... The two were very similar. Both chose to commit suicide by poison when they were cornered.

This meant they would rather die than betray Big Sis, their so-called Commander-in-Chief.

’So, what if this "Desperate" was a similar kind of Death Warrior, a trusted confidant? What if, under Big Sis’s orders, they were deliberately using this rule to lie and win his trust?’

’What would be the goal? After winning my trust, would they try to lure me to a fake location, into an ambush?’

’...True or false, this is an opportunity.’

Guan Tong made his decision. He had to find out.

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