49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 290: Chapter 270: How Come I Didn’t Know I Did It?

「November 28th, 9:00 AM.」

Guan Tong was in his shelter, browsing the forums.

Several hot topics had recently popped up in the general discussion section.

Topics like "Manned Rocket to Terra Star About to Launch," "Season Two of Decisive Ascender Premiering Soon," and "No-Prize Guess: What Kind of Rule Will the Fourteenth One Be?" were trending.

After the Human Federation conference, the announcement that a manned rocket would launch by the end of the year had undoubtedly caused a huge stir.

Everyone hoped this attempt would be a success, giving humanity a backup planet for evacuation.

No one suspected that immigrating to Terra would be an exclusive privilege of the rich and powerful. The truth was, Terra Star wasn’t a habitable planet for humans. To live there, people would likely be confined to specialized survival pods. They would have to be fully armed to go outside, and their diet would consist solely of Energy Gels.

So unless Celestial Water Star was completely done for, no person of power would trade their comfortable home planet for a life of cramped pods and tasteless Energy Gels on Terra Star.

As for Guan Tong, he wasn’t very optimistic about space colonization.

’With humanity’s current level of technology, it’s impossible to develop the capability for large-scale space migration in the few years it takes for all forty-nine rules to take effect.’

’No matter how many geniuses there were, a technological explosion of that magnitude wasn’t possible in just a few short years. Besides, the Apocalypse Rules would interfere one after another, making it impossible for many elites and experts to focus on uninterrupted scientific research.’

’Unless humanity hit some kind of jackpot, like obtaining an "Advanced Technology Blueprint" item, but the probability of that was undoubtedly low.’

’Furthermore, judging by the Fire Thief’s actions, it would never allow humanity to escape the Apocalypse Rules by "cheating" with mass space migration.’

Therefore, Guan Tong believed that space colonization could, at best, preserve the spark of humanity. Or perhaps they could send storage devices containing the historical data of Celestial Water Star’s civilization to Terra and launch them in all directions into the cosmos.

’To truly save ourselves, we need every person, every Ascender, to strive to pass the rules and uncover the secrets behind them.’

This was exactly what Guan Tong had been striving to do.

Besides the manned rocket, the news about the upcoming second season of Decisive Ascender was also drawing a lot of attention. This was because the first season had been a massive success, thanks to a perfect storm of circumstances.

When the first season aired, people couldn’t use their internet devices due to the [Digital Detox] rule and could only watch disc recordings. This turned the show into a national phenomenon.

It was a bit like back on Guan Tong’s home planet, Earth. When he was a child, information channels were limited, so that era produced household-name idols known by everyone.

But after entering the internet and mobile internet age, it became nearly impossible to produce a superstar with that kind of universal fame.

Of course, the show’s explosion in popularity was also due to its high production quality. The contestants were also a huge draw—they were either handsome men, beautiful women, or a host of powerful experts. With internet celebrities like "I Am a Good Person" participating, its success wasn’t surprising.

However, Guan Tong felt there was a deeper reason for the show’s massive popularity: most Ascenders had little to no real combat experience.

Since they lacked the opportunity or were too afraid of the danger to engage in real combat, the battles between the contestants on the show became a thrilling substitute.

What could be more satisfying than watching a group of powerful Ascenders use their abilities in intense combat from the comfort and safety of one’s home? It was similar to watching a wilderness survival show while eating snacks and drinking soda—enjoying the sight of others taking risks from a safe place.

And this was precisely why Guan Tong wasn’t as fanatical about the show as others—he had too much real combat experience to get excited about the pseudo-battles on a reality show.

If he were to watch, he would only be interested in the combat clips of the "Snow White Traceless" mecha. He felt that among all the current contestants, only that mecha’s combat prowess was worth his attention.

"DING."

As he was browsing, a private message notification sounded.

It was a message from the trader he had arranged to meet today.

Photography Art WW: "Meet on the north bank of the Border River at 10:00."

Guan Tong glanced at the time. It was 9:28. It would take about twenty minutes to walk to the north bank of the Border River from his location.

’But why walk?’

Guan Tong held out his hand, and the Wordless Book silently appeared in his palm. He opened it to the first page, and a shadow quickly detached itself from the paper, speeding toward the destination.

A lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit. Guan Tong was confident in his abilities, but he never underestimated others. No matter who the enemy was, he always followed the procedure of scouting first before taking action.

The shadow moved swiftly and reached the vicinity a moment later.

From the images transmitted back, Guan Tong saw seven or eight people strolling along the north bank.

However, while they appeared to be walking separately, it was clear they knew each other. They would occasionally exchange glances or scan their surroundings. It was obviously a loose encirclement, set up specifically to wait for him.

’Looks like I was right. It’s a group operation...’

Guan Tong continued to observe, trying to identify the leader among them.

Soon, he locked onto a bald, burly man sitting by the riverbank.

The guy was wearing headphones, and his mouth was constantly moving. Guan Tong maneuvered the shadow closer to eavesdrop on what he was saying.

"...Everyone be sharp in a bit, and get a clear look at how many of them show up. Damn it, there’s a lot of double-crossing these days."

"You two, try to act natural! Stop pacing around in circles!"

"Nobody blow our cover, you hear me? The last mark got suspicious and almost got away. I’ll say it again: nobody moves until I give the word!"

"Anyone screws this up, and I’ll throw you in the river to feed the fish, just like all the other marks!"

Guan Tong heard this and was amused that the other party was worried about being double-crossed.

’Though their concern isn’t exactly misplaced.’

And his guess was correct—this group were repeat offenders. Not only did they rob other Ascenders of their Sublimation Coins and items, but they also killed them and dumped their bodies in the river afterward.

’No wonder they wanted to meet by the river... They plan on throwing me in to feed the fish, too.’

With a thought from Guan Tong, the shadow began to transform, splitting into several thin, long Shadow Lines.

Like tiny, hair-thin snakes, they slithered toward the thugs who were pretending to stroll, crawling up their pant legs and into their clothes to lie in wait.

After completing this action, Guan Tong confirmed one thing.

These thugs had no items to defend against Psychic Power attacks, nor had they taken Shi Jingyi’s online course to learn Psychic Power Flow. They were completely oblivious to the infiltration of his Shadow Lines.

’This will make things easier for me later.’

Guan Tong set out for the target location.

Ten minutes later, he appeared by the river, wearing a baseball cap.

The cap hid most of his face, making his features indistinct.

But the thugs noticed his arrival immediately. The bald, burly man even stood up, waved at him, and spoke through a translator.

"Are you brother Sakura Prayer, here for the trade? Over here."

Guan Tong walked over. Before the bald man could say anything else, he heard a sentence in perfect North Star Language from the man in the baseball cap.

"I’m not your brother Sakura Prayer."

The bald man froze. "You’re a North Star Person? You used the name Sakura Prayer on the site to trick me?"

Guan Tong nodded. "How else was I supposed to ’double-cross’ you?"

"You!" The bald man’s expression changed, and he roared, "You dare try to double-cross me! Get him, everyone!"

The seven or eight men who had been pretending to stroll immediately rushed forward. But after taking only a step or two, they suddenly felt their necks tighten, as if constricted by some incredibly tough thread.

"Ghk! Ghk!!!"

They all collapsed to the ground, clawing at their necks, trying to pull away the Shadow Line constricting them, but it was useless. In an instant, they all suffocated and died.

The bald man was completely dumbfounded, with no idea what had just happened. Before he could react, a swift, heavy punch landed on his head, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

Then, his hands and feet were bound and pulled back by some kind of tough yet flexible "ropes," forcing his body into a position with all four limbs arched backward, unable to resist in any way.

"Don’t, boss! Don’t kill me!" Only then did the bald man understand that his opponent had really come to double-cross him—and was more than capable of pulling it off.

"I admit defeat! You can have everything! Just spare my life, don’t kill me!"

Guan Tong looked down at the bald man. "I have a question for you. Tell me the truth."

"Ask away, boss!"

"Prince Lado of the Andai Kingdom. Was it you who bombed his motorcade?"

The bald man never expected this mysterious and powerful man in the baseball cap to ask such a question. It made him realize that this guy probably wasn’t some underworld figure, but might have been sent by an official North Star department to investigate the case.

His mind raced, and he immediately shook his head. "No, it had nothing to do with us! Shadow did it!"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive! Shadow already had a grudge against Lado, so it makes sense that he’d go after him. Boss, no matter what department sent you to investigate, this really has nothing to do with us. I’m telling the truth, you have to believe me!"

Guan Tong’s tone turned cold. "You say Shadow did this. Then take a look at this."

As his words fell, the bald man felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder and screamed. He looked down, and his face filled with horror. The source of the excruciating pain was a black spike piercing his shoulder!

"Th-this is..." The bald man’s voice trembled. One of Shadow’s signature attacks, the Shadow Thorns, was already widely known.

Seeing it with his own eyes, the bald man finally understood who stood before him. He felt as if he had plunged into an abyss. "You’re... Shadow... G-God..."

"You say I’m the one who bombed the motorcade, so how come I don’t know anything about it?" Guan Tong said coldly. "I’ll give you one more chance. If you don’t tell the truth, the next Shadow Thorn won’t go through your shoulder, but your throat."

The bald man never imagined the legendary "Shadow" would come looking for him. Thinking of the latter’s terrifying methods, he didn’t dare hide the truth any longer and admitted it with a trembling voice.

"Yes, we were the ones who bombed the motorcade... But, Shadow God, framing you for it wasn’t my idea! It was our boss’s idea, it had nothing to do with me!"

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