49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 316: Chapter 293: The Third Stage of Parasitism

The academy. The Practice Room.

Lu City slowly exhaled after rapidly circulating his Psychic Power through every acupoint in his body.

He glanced at the others in the room. Most of them were far behind him in their progress. He was miles ahead of the pack.

"Lu City."

His smugness lasted only a few seconds before he heard the lecturer call his name.

He immediately got up and approached the lecturer’s desk.

Shi Jingyi was sitting at her desk, her expression grave as she looked at the student before her.

"I heard from Counselor Qin that you’ve recently been using the power of the spores to practice. Is that true?"

Lu City frowned, cursing inwardly. ’That Qin Qing is so nosy.’

"Yes." He met Shi Jingyi’s gaze, not bothering to lie or make excuses. "The Alien Spores have indeed been helpful. But I feel I have it under control."

Lu City added, "Lecturer Jingyi, didn’t you say it’s better to guide something than to suppress it? Er... I saw that online. Anyway, I think as long as I’m disciplined and careful, there won’t be any problems."

"That may be so, but can you really control it?"

"I believe I can."

"Let’s do a test."

"A test?"

Lu City had no idea how one could even test for something like that.

Shi Jingyi explained, "From now on, you are to stop your practice of Psychic Power Flow."

"What?"

Lu City was stunned. He hadn’t expected Shi Jingyi to make him stop practicing. ’Isn’t this just going to slow me down and ruin my lead?’

"Just for seven days," Shi Jingyi said gravely. "If you can go seven days without practicing, I’ll believe you have it under control. If you can’t resist and break that promise within those seven days, it means you’re already addicted... If that happens, you tell me immediately! Understand?"

’So that’s what this is about...’

Lu City understood Shi Jingyi’s reasoning.

The enhancement the spores provided to his body was a continuous process, and its intensity was increasing in stages.

It was like an addictive substance; the pleasure it brought grew stronger and stronger. If he suddenly stopped for a period and his body experienced intense discomfort, or he even found himself unable to resist, it would prove he was addicted.

Eager to prove himself, Lu City readily agreed. "No problem at all, Lecturer Jingyi. I promise to stop practicing for seven days."

"Good. A promise is a promise."

After class, Lu City returned to his dorm room.

He instinctively went to sit on his bed to practice, but he stopped short as he remembered his promise.

Shi Jingyi would never know if he practiced in secret, but he had given his word to her face and intended to see it through.

’It’s just a few days without practice. It’s no big deal. I’ll just focus on my other studies. When the seven days are up, Lecturer Jingyi will have to see me in a new light... Maybe she’ll even pass on a few secret techniques to me.’

Lu City mused that if he could hold out, it would prove he could achieve the same state of "going with the flow" as Shi Jingyi. The thought was a great source of encouragement.

...

Pinglu City, Quarantine Zone 3.

This place, originally a large indoor stadium, had been officially converted into a quarantine zone. Of course, "quarantine zone" was an internal designation. To the public, it was known as a "Group Practice Area."

On what was once a basketball court, the floor was now densely packed with practitioners.

Most of them wore homemade, so-called "signal-enhancing hats," muttering and chanting under their breath.

The whole scene resembled a high school morning reading session, only magnified several dozen times over, making for a spectacular sight.

In a corner of the court, several people in uniform watched the scene, their faces grim and unsmiling.

"Did you just say they’ve been sitting here for six or seven hours without even eating lunch?" asked a middle-aged man in a white lab coat. He was Zhang Minglu of the Strategy Research Room, here to conduct an on-site observation of the quarantine zone.

"That’s right," the person in charge of the quarantine zone said. "People started trickling in to practice just after 7 a.m., and they haven’t stopped the entire time."

Zhang Minglu glanced at his watch. It was already past two in the afternoon.

Seven hours without food or water. Their behavior was straying further and further from the norm.

"How late will they keep this up?"

"Yesterday, they went until ten at night."

"From seven in the morning until ten at night... without eating anything in between?"

"No, only a few don’t eat at all. Most of them will eat a little something around five in the afternoon."

"..."

Zhang Minglu’s brow furrowed. ’Could fasting be the third stage of the parasitic infection?’ he wondered.

The Strategy Research Room had already divided the parasitic infection by the spores into stages.

In the first stage, the host begins to exhibit extreme self-preservation, refusing to engage in dangerous activities or enter dangerous areas.

In the second stage, the host develops a tendency to congregate, feeling a strong desire to gather with others in the same stage—the more, the better.

And this prolonged fasting seemed to be a manifestation of the third stage.

Zhang Minglu continued his questioning. "Those few who eat nothing at all, when did that start? And do they eat after they finish practicing for the day?"

The supervisor replied, "It started about two or three days ago. According to our surveillance, those individuals are now only eating once every two days, and not very much at that."

"...All right, I understand the situation now. Thank you for your hard work; please continue to observe them."

"Of course."

After the supervisor left, only Zhang Minglu and Dragon Soul, who had accompanied him, remained in the corner.

Dragon Soul spoke up. "Doctor, have these people who aren’t eating entered the next stage of the parasitic infection?"

"It’s very likely," Zhang Minglu said, glancing at him. "And have you noticed? A contradiction has emerged."

"A contradiction?" Dragon Soul didn’t immediately understand.

"The first stage of infection for a host is self-preservation, correct? Then let me ask you, is prolonged fasting a sign of self-preservation? That would only make the body weaker and weaker, eventually leading to death by malnutrition."

Realization dawned on Dragon Soul. Indeed, eating only once every two or three days was not the behavior of someone trying to preserve their life.

"If I’m not mistaken, in another one or two stages—the fourth or fifth stage—the parasitic infection will be complete," Zhang Minglu said, his tone pessimistic. "At that point, the host will likely become what the rules refer to as a ’Parasite.’"

Dragon Soul asked, "Doctor, are we really powerless? Can we only stand by and watch this happen?"

Zhang Minglu shook his head and sighed. "There’s nothing we can do... We’ve tried every method available over this period—abilities, items, even medical research into the Alien Spores—and everything has ended in failure. The only thing that can fight the spores is a person’s own will."

"..."

"To use the theory of that lecturer from the academy, Guan Tong, the Fire Thief is a higher-order being that has completely suppressed us humans, the lower-order beings. We can only play by the rules of the game it has created."

Hearing the name "Guan Tong," Dragon Soul’s interest was piqued. "Doctor, is there still no news about him?"

"I don’t know. The investigation into his case isn’t my responsibility. Mr. Gao’s department should have some news. Why? Are you interested in him too, Dragon Soul?"

"Not me. Silver Fox is."

"Silver Fox?"

"She only remembered in the last day or two why she felt a strange sense of familiarity when she saw Guan Tong," Dragon Soul said. "Doctor, do you remember the rule about the Nightmare Beast? Our team briefly clashed with Shadow in front of the Fog Gate."

Zhang Minglu thought back for a moment, then nodded. "I remember. What are you getting at?"

"Silver Fox attacked Shadow in close quarters. Although he was protected by armor formed from shadows, she still got a rough impression of his build... She told me the day before yesterday that her sense of familiarity with Guan Tong might stem from that."

Zhang Minglu’s expression shifted. "Does Silver Fox think Shadow’s true identity is connected to Guan Tong?"

"I believe so."

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