49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 319: Chapter 296: The Organization for the Ultimate Goal

「Three days after the assassination, somewhere near the border of Antu City and North Star.」

Guan Tong handed a USB flash drive to Shangyuan Zi.

"This contains the local data stolen by Mask’s trojan. You can pass it to him for analysis. If there’s any information on your parents, it’s only a matter of time before he finds it."

His agreement with Shangyuan Zi was to help each other.

After assassinating the Divine Son, Guan Tong took advantage of the chaos within Sakura Prayer to infiltrate the administration building again. He planted the trojan developed by Mask into their internal network and stole the local data.

"Thank you." Shangyuan Zi accepted the flash drive, a hint of hesitation on her face.

Seeing her expression, Guan Tong asked, "Is there something you want to say?"

"Did you really... kill the Divine Son?"

"I completely destroyed his head."

To ensure a one-hit kill, Guan Tong had deliberately targeted the head instead of any other part of the body.

He didn’t believe anyone could survive after their brain had been devoured by his Small Space.

Besides, the subsequent chaos in the Sakura Prayer administration building and the city-wide search conducted by all the Sheriffs were signs that their supreme leader had indeed perished.

"What is it? Do you think something’s wrong?" Guan Tong asked.

Shangyuan Zi shook her head. "I just think... The Divine Son was always so careful. For him to die so easily..."

’Simple? I wouldn’t be so sure.’

’My Body Shifting combined with my Small Space attack is a guaranteed kill against an enemy who doesn’t know what’s coming,’ Guan Tong thought.

’No matter how well-prepared they are, anyone would be on the back foot against an enemy who can practically teleport to their side and unleash an attack that bypasses all defenses.’

’However...’ Guan Tong recalled the ninja-like Divine Son Guard who could turn invisible. ’That guy’s reaction at the time was definitely strange.’

"Anyway, thank you for your help," Shangyuan Zi said. "I’ll contact Mask later and ask him to search the data. If he finds anything about my parents, I’ll go and confirm it myself."

"Okay." Guan Tong nodded. "Do you remember what I said before, about an opportunity?"

Shangyuan Zi remembered. Guan Tong had mentioned it briefly before the assassination, but hadn’t elaborated.

"I remember."

"This opportunity is related to my ultimate goal."

"Ultimate goal?"

"To uncover the truth behind this series of mysteries: the Apocalypse Rules, the Fire Thief, Psychic Power, the events of the apocalypse, and so on."

Guan Tong added silently in his heart, ’And my own transmigration is part of it, too.’

’At this point, I don’t believe my transmigration was just a random occurrence. My arrival here, my body reverting to its eighteen-year-old state, and even the Wordless Book I possess, which can resist the Apocalypse Rules to some degree—all of it must have happened for a reason.’

’And that reason is very likely connected to the truth about the Fire Thief.’

"...Your goal is very ambitious."

"I don’t know if I can achieve this goal on my own," Guan Tong said. "Especially as time goes on and the Rules become more difficult, humanity will be pushed further and further onto the back foot. That’s why, not long ago, I got the idea to find some like-minded people to work toward this goal with me."

"Uncovering the truth must be something the North Star government wants to do as well, right? Why don’t you join them? With your power, you’d definitely be given the best possible treatment," Shangyuan Zi asked.

"I trust the government as an institution, but that doesn’t mean I trust every individual within it."

Guan Tong said, "In any organization, you’ll find good people, bad people, and people who only look out for themselves. I’m a pretty straightforward person. I don’t want to get involved in a group that’s too complicated. I just want to find a few people I can trust and move toward my goal with them."

People like Jiang Lanying aren’t the first, and they won’t be the last. Instead of joining a huge, bloated organization and having to identify and outwit people like her, Guan Tong would rather build a small group from scratch.

Given that this is an era where an individual’s power can grow to incredible heights, this small group wouldn’t need many members. They wouldn’t even all have to be incredibly powerful.

Guan Tong only had two criteria for selecting people.

First, they have to be trustworthy, someone who is fundamentally good, not evil.

Second, they must be determined to uncover the truth. Only if everyone shares the same goal can they focus their efforts.

Faced with Guan Tong’s implied invitation, Shangyuan Zi shook her head.

"If you think I’m that kind of person... I’m sorry. I’ve never thought about uncovering the truth. All I want to do is find my parents. If they’re still alive, I want to ask them to their faces why they abandoned me."

"And then?"

"And then..." Shangyuan Zi looked blankly at the flash drive in her hand. "Maybe I’ll just die. There’s nothing in this world for me to hold onto."

...

Guan Tong was silent for a moment. Then, the shadow covering his face slowly receded, revealing his true features.

Shangyuan Zi stared at his face, surprised he would do such a thing.

"My real name is Guan Tong. If you change your mind in the future, you can send me a private message on Ascender’s Home."

Guan Tong met her gaze and shrugged. "Don’t look at me like that. Since you told me your real family name was Shangyuan, I figured that before we part ways, possibly for good, there’s no harm in you knowing my real name."

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll leak it? Shadow’s true identity... A lot of people in the world would want to know that."

"My identity will be exposed eventually. It’s just a matter of sooner or later. But I don’t think you’d do it. There’d be no point for you, would there?"

Guan Tong knew very well that if Shangyuan Zi were driven by personal gain, she never would have defied the Sakura Prayer government’s arrangements in the first place. None of this would have happened.

"...Thank you for trusting me."

"So, is it time to say goodbye? Or should I say farewell?"

...

The news that the Ascender known as Shadow had assassinated the Divine Son of Sakura Prayer became a global headline, just as expected.

The Sakura Prayer government issued a full-throated condemnation, declaring they would mobilize all national resources to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Furthermore, they proposed that all member states of the Human Federation issue a global warrant for Shadow’s arrest on charges of "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity."

The Sakura Prayer government believed that no matter how powerful Shadow was, he would eventually be cornered if faced with a full-scale manhunt by the Human Federation, the world’s current dominant power.

However, the proposal had yet to be passed by a collective decision of the Human Federation.

The member states were divided on the issue.

The only nation to explicitly answer Sakura Prayer’s call was the Black Banner Country.

The Black Banner Country’s official statement deemed Shadow’s act of assassination a "world-class crime" that was absolutely unacceptable.

The other major powers, however, remained noncommittal.

North Star officials stated they were investigating the situation and would only make a public statement once all the facts were clear.

The Soloma Empire condemned Shadow’s actions but had yet to decide on issuing a warrant.

Sisiya Country echoed North Star’s stance, stating it would wait for a detailed investigation report before making a decision.

The incident also sparked widespread discussion among the public. The first few pages of the general chat board on Ascender’s Home were filled with related threads.

There were threads from the people of Sakura Prayer calling for retribution, angry denunciations, and of course, posts from people just trying to stir the pot and watch the drama unfold.

One thread titled "A Rational Analysis of Shadow’s Assassination" was filled with discussion about his motives.

"I personally think the great Shadow must have had a good reason. Judging from his past actions, the person he assassinated was probably no saint."

"You can tell just by looking at how the other countries are reacting, right? If Shadow was really just assassinating people for no reason, he’d have a global warrant on his head by now."

"Not necessarily. Shadow took out the Divine Son single-handedly. His power is unimaginable. Anyone who wants to put a warrant on him has to first ask themselves if they’ll be his next target."

"I don’t know about other countries, but North Star would never join the manhunt. They’d probably even offer him asylum. Don’t forget, if the great Shadow hadn’t weakened the disaster during the Earthquake Rule, how many more people would have died in North Star? That accomplishment alone is a get-out-of-jail-free card for him in North Star."

"’A get-out-of-jail-free card,’ really? Bro, what era is this? You still believe good deeds should cancel out crimes? I’m all for rewarding good deeds and punishing crimes separately. Shadow saved a lot of people, sure, but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants."

"No matter what era it is, you can’t really punish every crime. According to North Star’s new Ascender Management Act, just using an ability on the street is illegal. Imagine how many laws Shadow has broken... And what’s the result? The government has no problem arresting some Ascender who uses Fire Control to burn a wooden box, but can they arrest Shadow?"

"Hey guys, you think maybe the great Shadow was being controlled by spores? That’s why he did it? I heard people who get addicted to those spores start hallucinating."

"No way an Ascender on Shadow’s level could be controlled by spores..."

"Not necessarily. I read a professional study that said the spores tap deep into a person’s potential. The stronger the person, the greater their potential, and the bigger the boost they get! So the most powerful Ascenders are actually the most likely to get addicted."

"Still talking about spores. Looks like you guys are asking for a trip to the ’training room’."

The discussion surrounding this incident was on a much larger scale than when Shadow had previously wreaked havoc in the Andai Kingdom.

Although the two incidents were similar in nature—the one in the Andai Kingdom arguably being even more severe, since Shadow blew up Prince Lado’s entire palace—the level of discussion wasn’t in the same league.

This was because Sakura Prayer had originally been a world power. Even though its national strength had plummeted after the Earthquake Rule—not just cut in half, but cut off at the ankles—the country at least hadn’t collapsed.

Furthermore, Sakura Prayer’s status as a member of the Human Federation presented a test for the organization itself: when a member state suffers a decapitation strike, how should the Federation as a whole respond?

This was especially true when the attacker was a top-tier Ascender like Shadow. An Ascender of his caliber could go anywhere in the world, making him nearly impossible to restrain.

If pushed too far, he could potentially end up like Lucifer, who ran off to the chaotic regions of the Tulip Federation and became a warlord.

Just as public discussion of the assassination reached a fever pitch, another piece of bombshell news broke.

The Governor of Sisiya, Gutman Konia, publicly announced that his daughter, Yelena Konia, would succeed him as the country’s next Governor.

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