49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 328: Chapter 305: Denouncing the Representative, Sacrificing the Chariot to Save the General

Less than a week remained before the end of the fourteenth rule.

More than Shadow’s assassination, the public was concerned about the expanding dangers of the rule.

It was an undeniable fact that every country in the world now had a large number of spore addicts and deeply infected individuals.

The changes in their stages of addiction gradually became public knowledge.

Especially after entering the fourth stage, the addicts began to show violent tendencies, which undoubtedly threatened the safety of the unaddicted.

As a result, other countries had no choice but to follow North Star’s lead and place the spore addicts in centralized containment.

Because North Star had done this early in the rule’s duration, their early prevention left them in a relatively stable position now.

But other countries, making a last-minute decision, were only now trying to patch things up as the rule neared its end. As a result, they faced violent resistance from the addicts.

Conflict and bloodshed were inevitable.

So when North Star initiated a Human Federation meeting, the other countries thought it was to discuss the rule. They never expected North Star to target Sakura Prayer.

At the meeting, Gao Liangwei played the video of the underground prison filmed by Guan Tong and had several of the former prisoners appear in person to testify.

With both witnesses and material evidence present, the representative commissioner from Sakura Prayer fell silent, unable to argue.

"The founding principle of the Human Federation is for the people of the world to unite and fight against the Apocalypse Rules and the Fire Thief. Any individual or group that endangers the people of the world is a common enemy of the Human Federation."

Gao Liangwei proposed, "To uphold this principle, I believe we must form a joint investigation team composed of members from all Human Federation nations to go to Sakura Prayer and investigate the case of the gene-mixing experiments."

Upon hearing this, several commissioners voiced their agreement, but they seemed somewhat distracted.

They probably still felt this was an internal affair of Sakura Prayer. The experiments were done on Yingqi People or people from the now-defunct Andai Kingdom, so it posed no threat to their own countries.

Especially now that the [Outer Heaven Parasite] rule was about to end, countries were more concerned about the damage the rule would cause them than about Sakura Prayer’s messy affairs.

One commissioner couldn’t help but say, "Chairman Gao, your proposal is very reasonable. But we simply can’t spare the energy or manpower to participate in some joint investigation team. The matter of the rule alone has us completely overwhelmed back home."

"That’s right," the commissioner from the Black Banner Country added. "Right now, a huge number of addicts have become violent in the Black Banner Country. Figuring out how to deal with them is already a big enough headache. We don’t have time to worry about some other country’s human gene experiments."

"Heh heh."

Mary, the commissioner from the Soloma Empire, couldn’t help but chuckle as she saw person after person oppose Gao Liangwei.

Gao Liangwei didn’t get angry. He asked, "Does Commissioner Mary have something to say?"

"Of course. Chairman Gao, your proposal is good—very fair and humane. But our countries aren’t as lucky as you, North Star. We’re not so comfortable that we can spare the energy to manage this kind of thing."

"..."

"What, you think I’m wrong? Then let me just say what everyone’s thinking, and don’t take it the wrong way."

Seeing Gao Liangwei’s silent frown, Mary continued.

"From the very first rule announced by the Fire Thief, North Star has gotten a huge advantage just by luck. If it had been night for you and day for us back then, would your country still have such a large population?"

"Then there was the earthquake rule. Shadow, the one with the ability to store Psychic Power, just happens to be a citizen of North Star. With his power, the force of the earthquake in your territory was greatly reduced... Thanks to those two strokes of luck, North Star is now the most populous country in the world. The populations of all other Human Federation countries combined can’t match yours."

Gao Liangwei said, "What are you trying to say?"

Mary shrugged and smiled. "I just want to remind you, Chairman Gao, that when North Star is speaking from on high, you should also try to see things from the perspective of other countries."

"That’s right," the commissioner from Sakura Prayer chimed in. "And let’s keep things separate. Even if we do have some internal problems, punishment can only be administered after a trial and conviction. Shadow’s assassination is still intolerable. We insist that the Human Federation issue a warrant for his arrest. If North Star intends to shelter him, then—"

The representative commissioner from Sakura Prayer trailed off, stopping mid-sentence when he saw the way Gao Liangwei was looking at him.

The atmosphere of the meeting froze.

After a moment, another commissioner changed the subject. "Actually, our country needs some help right now. We have too many spore addicts. Most of those entering the violent fourth stage are ordinary people, and we can barely suppress them with armed soldiers. If this develops further... our country might be at risk of collapse."

"Indeed. By comparison, the Spore Parasite problem is more important. If we don’t handle it properly, the danger will be far more serious than what’s happening in Sakura Prayer. It could be even more terrifying than what happened in Fahe, where everyone joined the Fire Worship Cult."

The scourge of the Alien Spores was a thorny problem for every nation. For now, it was still under control, but no one could say what would happen when the addicts finally transformed completely into Spore Parasites.

The terror and pressure of this unknown had even caused major projects to be delayed, like the launch of a manned rocket and the dispatch of an action team to Fahe.

After hearing what everyone had to say, Gao Liangwei reflected on his own actions.

He had indeed overlooked how dire the situations were in other countries.

Just because North Star had the spare capacity to deal with foreign affairs didn’t mean other countries did.

"It was my oversight," Gao Liangwei admitted frankly. "You are all correct. Responding to the threat of the rule is the top priority. But even so, what’s happened in Sakura Prayer cannot be ignored. North Star will dispatch its own investigation team."

"Chairman Gao, why must you insist on pursuing this matter!" The Sakura Prayer commissioner’s face flushed with anger. "This is something we will investigate and handle internally. We don’t need you to interfere."

A cold glint appeared in Gao Liangwei’s eyes as he rebuked him in a low voice, "When the Human Federation voted to allocate the lands of the Andai Kingdom to you, Sakura Prayer made a promise to treat the remaining Andai People there with kindness. But what was the result? The evidence shows that not only were these people not treated well, they became victims of human experiments."

"This..."

"You broke your promise first. What right do you have now to conduct an internal investigation? As Chairman of the Human Federation, I am telling you plainly: you do not have the right to refuse an external investigation!"

Gao Liangwei didn’t roar, but merely deepening his voice was enough to make the Sakura Prayer commissioner squirm in his seat as he constantly looked to others for support.

However, the other commissioners all looked away, feigning helplessness. Even Mary, the commissioner from Soloma—which sold large quantities of arms and Intelligent Robots to Sakura Prayer—remained silent.

Because Gao Liangwei was right.

The land Sakura Prayer now occupied hadn’t been given for free. Aside from preserving the city names of the Andai Kingdom, they were also required to treat the Andai People who remained there with kindness.

Now, Sakura Prayer was using people for human experiments, and the evidence indicated that the mastermind was none other than Sakura Prayer’s de facto ruler, the Mizusawa Clan. Given this complete abandonment of morality and conscience, it was not at all excessive for North Star to send investigators.

Moreover, given Gao Liangwei’s resolute attitude, if Sakura Prayer continued to refuse, North Star might even send troops. At that point, the matter would no longer be something an investigation could solve.

"...Fine."

Seeing that no one would speak up for him, the Sakura Prayer commissioner’s posture slumped, and his entire demeanor became listless.

"After the meeting, I will notify the relevant personnel to begin consultations..."

...

While the Human Federation meeting was being held, movements within Sakura Prayer were equally swift.

After the incident at the underground prison, the Mizusawa Clan knew their secrets had been exposed. They immediately sent people to completely destroy the official residence along with the prison beneath it, eradicating the physical evidence.

As for the prisoners who had vanished from their cells, no large-scale manhunt was launched.

The Mizusawa Clan internally speculated that the enemy might have used mass Teleportation Items to take everyone away. Under these circumstances, a pursuit would not only be pointless but would also be a dead giveaway.

They believed the most urgent task was to destroy or move any other evidence that had not yet been discovered.

In a dimly lit room, several elders of the Mizusawa Clan stood with their heads bowed. Before them, seated on a tatami mat, was the Divine Son, Mizusawa Chun.

"Xin would not betray me. I trust him," Mizusawa Chun said calmly. "However, a person’s will cannot contend with Psychic Power. We must assume that under the control of a special item or ability, he will confess all our secrets."

He sighed. "Ever since the assassination, I have been worried about the secret prison. That’s why I sent Xin to prepare to move the prisoners elsewhere. I didn’t expect to be one step too late."

Hearing this, the elders all grew tense. One of them said, "Lord Divine Son, Xin knows many things, such as the laboratory..."

"Shut it down for now. Move the materials and facilities."

"Shut it down now? The mid-stage experiments were clearly a success! With a few more adjustments, we could have started mass production..." An elder clenched his fist. "Damn it, I can’t accept this!"

"There’s no need for that."

As the leader of the experiment, Mizusawa Chun should have been more anxious than anyone, yet he remained calm.

"This experiment will determine whether our Mizusawa Clan can rise above the entire world. We cannot afford a single misstep. A temporary halt is better than making a mistake and losing everything."

"...Yes, I’ll go make the arrangements at once!"

"The enemy took all the prisoners from the secret prison; they won’t stop there." A glint flickered in Mizusawa Chun’s eyes. "I suspect they will come after the Mizusawa Clan. We must prepare in advance."

"Lord Divine Son, what kind of preparations are you talking about?"

"Sacrifice the pawns to save the king. The core members of the clan will go into hiding, leaving only some unimportant relatives and servants out in the open. If the enemy wants to kill them, let them."

"But..."

Unimportant relatives were still relatives, people who shared their blood. To just use them as sacrificial pawns... For a moment, the elders found it difficult to accept.

Mizusawa Chun looked at the elders, his eyes utterly cold, but his words were placating. "It’s fine. Once the storm passes and the experiment is restarted, we will soon make all our enemies pay in blood."

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