49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 291: Chapter 271: Don’t Touch My Camera

SPLOOSH... SPLOOSH... SPLOOSH...

After a series of splashes, the ripples on the river’s surface gradually subsided.

After sending the thugs to feed the fish, Shadow returned to Guan Tong’s side. The latter was deep in thought, mulling over the information the bald thug had given him before he died.

’Wu Wang, in his twenties, likes videography, ability is Detonating Metal...’

This was the personal intel on the leader of this gang of thugs.

As for this band of marauders, they were originally a group of people surviving in the wilderness near a city on the North Star Border. Their leader had been the bald thug.

During one of their raids, they had tried to rob Wu Wang, only for him to turn the tables and kill nearly half of them with his explosions. Terrified, they surrendered and submitted to him.

The young man named Wu Wang naturally took over the group, becoming their new leader and continuing to lead them in their marauding activities.

However, according to the bald thug, Wu Wang wasn’t very interested in the raids themselves. He was more interested in filming videos.

The reason they had ambushed Prince Lado’s convoy wasn’t purely to steal Sublimation Coins and items. It was because their leader, Wu Wang, thought that "blowing up the convoy of a Prince of the Andai Kingdom would be really eye-catching, perfect material for a short film." That was why he had decided to make a move.

Guan Tong was surprised to hear this, but not by much.

Ever since the dawn of the age of Apocalypse Rules, there were too many mentally unstable people. They were capable of anything, and he had long since seen it all.

In this era, you could say that villains who acted purely for fame and fortune had become a rarity. Most people who did evil things often had no reason at all. They did it simply to vent, or for reasons that would have sounded completely bizarre in normal times.

Just like this Wu Wang, who had no scruples when it came to filming his material.

According to the bald thug’s confession, Wu Wang had started filming and selling these kinds of videos a long time ago. If he didn’t have any material, he would become a "director" and artificially create some explosive scenes.

What Guan Tong regretted now was that Wu Wang hadn’t participated in the operation this time. But the bald thug had given up the location of their base, so all he had to do was go find it.

Guan Tong glanced at the time: 10:03.

The appointed time was 10:00. He had arrived early, and the time it took to subdue the thugs, interrogate them, and dispose of them was very short. So, only three minutes had passed since the agreed-upon time.

’I have to move fast. Otherwise, if Wu Wang tries to contact the bald thug and can’t get through, he might relocate.’

Finding him then would be difficult. After all, the account "VideographyWW" obviously belonged to Wu Wang, but the device used to log in was in the bald thug’s hands. This showed that Wu Wang was a hands-off boss.

If Wu Wang didn’t usually log into Ascender’s Home, or if he switched to a different account later, it would be very difficult to determine which account was his.

Without further delay, Guan Tong immediately directed Shadow to move.

Moving at extreme speed, Shadow arrived at the group’s base in just a few short minutes.

It was a large compound on the outskirts of Antu City. It had been surrounded by rice paddies, but now they were just barren fields.

After infiltrating the compound, Shadow found several thugs. However, their physical descriptions didn’t match Wu Wang’s.

According to the bald thug’s description, Wu Wang wore a hoodie year-round and was never without his camera and other filming equipment. None of the men here fit that description.

’Is he not here?’

Guan Tong had Shadow carefully sneak into every room, but it found no one else.

He activated his Body Shifting ability, instantly appearing inside the compound himself.

The few thugs remaining there had no time to react before they were all bound tightly by Shadow Lines, completely unable to resist.

After a round of interrogation, Guan Tong learned that their leader, Wu Wang, had gone downtown that morning, apparently to shoot some new material.

...

Compared to the rest of Antu City, the downtown area was a little more lively.

There were crowds of people on the streets, and you could see streams of traffic on the roads.

Wu Wang was currently in a half-collapsed building, looking down at the street below from a third-floor window.

He planned to shoot some footage on this busy main street.

More than landscapes or architecture, he loved filming people—especially people caught in sudden disasters. The looks on their faces were the most authentic and captivating. And that was exactly what the clients who bought his films loved.

"First step, set up the camera angle."

Wu Wang set up the camera he carried, aimed it at the street below, and made several adjustments until he found the perfect angle he had envisioned.

Then he went downstairs. He wasn’t worried about someone suddenly running up and touching his camera. The building had mostly collapsed in an earthquake and was condemned; no one but him would come here.

After leaving the building, Wu Wang came out onto the street. Watching the flow of traffic, the palms of his hands, tucked in his pockets, began to itch.

Ever since he passed the first Apocalypse Rule and obtained this ability, his long-cherished wish had been fulfilled.

Ever since surviving a car accident in his student days, he had harbored an extreme hatred for drivers who didn’t follow traffic rules. It later escalated to the point where if a driver didn’t yield to him or honked impatiently, he would feel an urge to beat them to death.

Afterward, whenever he encountered such a situation on the road, he would fantasize about having a Superpower. With just a soft clap of his hands or a snap of his fingers, he could make the driver’s car explode.

Wu Wang had never imagined that his wish would actually come true.

After the first Apocalypse Rule ended, he acquired the special ability [Detonating Metal] from the Sublimation Store.

This made him ecstatic. He almost immediately ran out onto the street to find a car to test it on.

The results, however, were very disappointing.

He discovered that detonating large metal objects consumed a lot of Psychic Power, far more than he possessed.

Later, left with no choice, he started carrying small Steel Balls with him. Whenever he came across someone who annoyed him, he would secretly toss a few their way and detonate them to cause injury.

During this process, he gradually discovered his love for photography. His favorite subject was filming the terrified expressions and reactions of others after he detonated metal objects.

At first, he was just doing it for his own amusement. But after posting a video online once, many people expressed a desire to see more. Some even contacted him privately to buy or commission custom videos. This instantly sparked an immense creative drive in him.

Doing this not only satisfied his vanity by gaining others’ approval but also allowed him to earn extra Sublimation Coins by selling videos to accelerate his own growth. It was a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.

Wu Wang was instantly hooked.

He then began to move from place to place, creating explosions and filming videos. Because his actions were mostly small-scale, and the public’s attention was focused on the Apocalypse Rules, no one paid him any mind.

Moreover, he employed hit-and-run tactics, making it difficult for official departments to track him down.

This continued until the sixth Apocalypse Rule, [Deadly Blood Plague]. By pretending to be one of the "Infected," he incited other, real Infected and acted as a key instigator in that bloody hospital conflict.

He made a fortune from the video he shot during that conflict and his fame skyrocketed within a certain niche.

However, the authorities also noticed that video and began a secret investigation. Furthermore, after the Blood Plague rule, the North Star government officially declared a state of war, advising citizens not to go out unless necessary and to stay in Gathering Points and shelters... As a result, Wu Wang completely lost his filming opportunities.

With no other choice, he considered his options and came up with the idea of filming abroad, choosing the Andai Kingdom as his destination. He figured it must be chaotic there, perfect for the videos he wanted to make.

After he set off and reached the border, he encountered the wilderness raiding party led by the bald thug.

By then, his Psychic Power had improved considerably. He used his formidable ability to blow up several of them, scaring the rest out of their wits and forcing them to submit to him.

Although Wu Wang had little interest in being a gang leader, on second thought, he figured having some underlings wouldn’t be so bad. It meant he would have more manpower available to film larger-scale scenes.

He took the bald thug and his men under his wing. The group crossed the border and established a base in the Andai Kingdom.

Later, while continuing their raids and filming, they managed to connect with some powerful figures in the Andai Kingdom... which led to the incident where they ambushed the Prince’s convoy.

The film shot during this event was Wu Wang’s most satisfying work, and his clients gave it the highest praise. After all, Lado was a Prince of the Andai Kingdom; footage of someone of his status being attacked was rare.

In particular, the look of utter despair on Lado’s face after seeing his son’s car explode was perfectly captured, leaving Wu Wang’s clients thrilled.

Having reaped huge profits, Wu Wang also worried about being placed on an international wanted list. So, he turned around and pinned the blame on "Shadow," who had a grudge against Lado, starting a rumor that Shadow was responsible.

As for retaliation from "Shadow," he wasn’t worried. He believed it was impossible for Shadow to know who he was or where to find him, so he acted with brazen confidence. The fact that several months had passed peacefully only strengthened this conviction.

But even the best works have a shelf life. Several months went by, and his clients were all urging him to produce something new.

After much deliberation, Wu Wang decided that welcoming the newly arrived people of Sakura Prayer to this land with an "explosion show" would be an excellent theme for his next shoot.

He spent some time scouting locations, choosing a time and place, and finally settled on a major intersection in downtown Antu City.

This spot had the most traffic between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., making it the perfect place for him to use his ability.

He felt the time was right. He pulled his hands out of his hoodie pockets and gently brought them together.

"Let’s begin."

"BOOM!!!"

The next moment, without any warning, a moving supply truck suddenly exploded! Parts flew everywhere, and a fire erupted. Several nearby cars were caught in the blast, crashing into each other, their horns blaring nonstop.

"BEEP— BEEP—"

"What’s going on?!"

"A car just exploded!"

Many people on the street were terrified by the sudden explosion, which was precisely the kind of scene Wu Wang loved to see.

He feigned shock himself while continuing to activate his ability.

"BOOM!!!"

Another sedan was detonated, instantly killing the two passengers inside. This terrified the other pedestrians and drivers. Many abandoned their cars and fled, their screams echoing endlessly.

Haha...

Watching the crowd scatter and flee, Wu Wang thought the footage his camera was capturing must be excellent.

He turned his head to look at the third-floor window of the condemned building where he had placed his camera, and the smile on his face suddenly froze.

A stranger in a baseball cap was reaching out and taking his camera off its mount.

Wu Wang flew into an instant rage and sprinted back toward the building.

"Don’t touch my camera!!!"

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