49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 338: Chapter 315: Snake Swallowing an Elephant, Without Risk

To the south, the tropical Andai Kingdom borders the sea.

After the Sakura Prayer nation relocated, its ships moved into these waters as well.

As a former island nation, the seafaring and shipbuilding industries had always been Sakura Prayer’s national industrial advantages. In the past, these sectors served as pillar industries, creating a massive trade surplus for the country.

However, after the "earthquake rule," Sakura Prayer’s factories and industries almost all sank along with its islands. Although some talent in related fields was transferred, starting over from scratch on new, barren land was not so easy.

This was not a problem unique to Sakura Prayer. Even powerful nations like Soloma and North Star experienced significant industrial decline during the era of the Apocalypse Rules.

Yes, decline, not progress.

Originally, people across the globe widely assumed that, faced with an apocalyptic threat and with humanity’s very survival on the line, all resources would be funneled into R&D, leading to a kind of technological explosion.

But things didn’t turn out that way.

Technological R&D isn’t like playing pool, where brute force can create a miracle.

In the field of R&D, ninety-nine percent perspiration is worthless without that one percent of inspiration.

In these industries, more people don’t necessarily speed up development. In fact, having more people can lead to a "too many cooks spoil the broth" situation, creating massive project management issues.

Moreover, the bigger problem was that scientific research required a stable external environment—something that humanity currently lacked.

The Fire Thief released a new Apocalypse Rule every so often. With no prior knowledge, it was difficult for humanity to prepare in advance. Each time, they were forced to scramble for last-minute solutions after a rule was announced.

This made it impossible for many people to settle down and focus on their work.

Just as in peacetime, it was said that a steady livelihood was required for a steady mind.

And those without such security, living each day with uncertainty about the future, were more inclined to simply give up or take on daily gigs, living one day at a time.

Researchers were human, too, and lacked none of the common human weaknesses.

Living in constant fear of the rules, how could they possibly have the peace of mind to conduct their research?

North Star was doing slightly better in this regard. One of the purposes of establishing the Strategy Research Room was to solve this very problem. The Research Room mobilized the full power of the nation to protect its members, all so that the top professionals in various fields could focus on their research and waste less mental energy on the rules.

As for Sakura Prayer, once a great shipbuilding nation, it had now lost the ability to build new, large ships. It could only struggle to maintain the few vessels it had left, and even regular maintenance was beyond its capabilities.

In the future, when the ships inevitably broke down, they would either have to sail to a port in Soloma or North Star to seek repairs, or they would simply be decommissioned and scrapped.

"Fortunately, time hasn’t been too cruel to us. Wouldn’t you say so, Dr. Heikawa?"

Mizusawa Chun said, sitting on the deck and gazing up at the starry night sky.

He wore a felt hat that obscured most of his face.

Standing behind him was a man in a long coat, also wearing a black bucket hat that concealed his face. It was none other than Heikawa Yue, the technical lead of the genetic modification experiment.

"Your enemies will discover this place sooner or later," Heikawa Yue said. "The Andai Kingdom isn’t that large. If they find nothing elsewhere, they will inevitably suspect the ocean... But you are correct. Time is on our side."

"Have the mass production experiments succeeded?"

"We’ve initially managed to achieve a 1-in-120 success rate."

"Only one controllable subject for every one hundred and twenty? That’s a bit low."

"It’s mainly an issue with the quality of the raw materials," Heikawa Yue said. "Forgive my bluntness, but if we used Ascenders for all the material, the success rate could be as high as 1-in-10. Most ordinary people are too physically weak to endure the pain of the transformation process, yet remaining fully conscious is a necessary condition for a successful conversion."

"...In terms of the global population of Ascenders, North Star has the most—at least in the tens of millions."

"Indeed. Tens of millions of Ascenders—that’s more than the entire population of some countries."

Mizusawa Chun gazed north, toward North Star.

"If I were a North Star decision-maker, I would have already conquered the world with that power. But it’s a pity the North Star People are so self-righteous and complacent... The arrogance born from such power will bring about their destruction. In the end, they can only see what’s on the surface."

"Indeed," Heikawa Yue sighed, his tone tinged with regret.

"Your purchase of arms and weapons from Soloma was merely to lull North Star into a false sense of security. In reality, the ’Snake Slave Army’ is your true weapon, and North Star is completely oblivious... It’s just a shame that ’Shadow’ has already unveiled a corner of that secret."

The first phase of their original plan was to conduct the experiments in secret until they were a complete success.

The second phase was to lie dormant and wait.

A direct assault would be unwise. Even once the Snake Slave Army was formed, it would still be at a disadvantage against North Star’s advanced modern arsenal, its military, and its vast number of Ascenders.

So they had to wait. Wait until the Fire Thief released a rule that would plunge North Star into severe internal chaos—that would be the perfect time to attack, marking the start of phase three.

In Mizusawa Chun and Heikawa Yue’s plan, swallowing an elephant like North Star in one bite like a snake was unrealistic; the prey was simply too large.

But as long as they could devour a single piece, they could slowly encroach upon and consume the rest.

They would use North Star’s population advantage to create more soldiers for the Snake Slave Army.

Snowballing like that, it would only be a matter of time before they devoured North Star completely.

By then, possessing North Star’s vast population—whether forcing them into combat or converting them into the Snake Slave Army—they would undoubtedly have the power to conquer the world.

However, this perfect plan had been compromised because of Shadow.

"The exposure of the gene-hybrid experiments must have put North Star’s leadership on alert," Heikawa Yue said. "That’s why they insisted on sending an investigation team over this time—to uncover the truth."

"...Shadow has indeed caused me a great deal of trouble. But the one who worries me more is the traitor."

"You mean Baqizi?"

"She is no longer worthy to use the name ’Orochi’."

Heikawa Yue quickly understood the reason. "Are you worried she’ll use her bloodline ability to vie with you for control of the Snake Slave Army?"

"Exactly."

Both of their abilities were related to their bloodlines, and Mizusawa Chun knew that on the Terminal Panel, Shangyuan Zi’s bloodline ability was named "Tooru."

In Sakura Prayer legend, "Tooru" was the hero who grievously wounded the Great Serpent.

Mizusawa Chun had originally taken her in and renamed her "Baqizi," partly to use her, and partly to study her bloodline ability in depth to see if it could act as some kind of counter to his own.

He had originally planned to deal with her after the gene-hybrid experiments were a complete success, but he never expected Shadow to interfere and rescue her ahead of schedule.

This had disrupted his original plan, leaving him with a vague, lingering sense of unease.

"Please, do not worry," Heikawa Yue said. "As a superior user of Psychic Power, suppressing an inferior like her will be no problem for you."

Mizusawa Chun nodded slightly.

That was true. He was well aware of Shangyuan Zi’s Psychic Power level; there was a considerable gap between them.

"In any case, we must accelerate the process. I will have more ’materials’ sent to the ship. North Star is already on alert, and dragging this out is not to our advantage. Furthermore, the Parasite phenomenon that appeared after the last rule ended is actually a good thing for us."

A smile played on Mizusawa Chun’s lips. "North Star must have a massive number of Parasites internally right now. They’re like ticking time bombs. Without an external threat, the North Star government might be able to keep them suppressed and slowly defuse the situation. But the moment the external environment changes..."

Heikawa Yue’s eyes lit up. "So that’s your plan. You intend to use the Parasites to throw North Star into chaos, referencing what happened in the Black Banner Country."

"No matter how powerful North Star is, it can’t fight two wars at once. Besides us and the Parasites, I imagine Soloma will also be eager to make a move... Being too powerful isn’t always a good thing. It means everyone is watching you, just waiting for you to make a mistake."

"...I understand. I will accelerate our progress."

...

「January 3rd. Somewhere in Banzhen.」

Silver Fox opened a file from the Strategy Research Room on a tablet for the others to see.

"This is the result of an all-night investigation by our intelligence support department. According to satellite video footage, the large ship we’re looking for—the one the laboratory was moved to—is very likely this one."

On the screen was a large, silver-gray cargo ship. The name "Yun Jia" was painted on its hull.

"According to surveillance by the intelligence department, several shipping containers from Sakura Prayer have recently been loaded onto the Yun Jia. However, Sakura Prayer has no real exports to speak of these days, which means the containers weren’t filled with cargo..."

"It’s people," Shangyuan Zi said grimly. "People being used as test subjects."

Silver Fox glanced at her and nodded. "The intelligence department came to the same conclusion. This ship is likely our target."

Guan Tong looked at the image on the screen. "Weren’t there any photos of guards or anyone like that?"

"None. The people on the ship seem aware of surveillance; they rarely come out on deck. Even when they do, they’re always wearing heavy clothing and hats to conceal their faces, making it impossible to identify them."

"In that case, let’s go take a look," Guan Tong said, then added, "I’ll go investigate by myself first."

"What’s that supposed to mean? You want to go off on your own and risk it?" Shangyuan Zi immediately protested.

Silver Fox also shook his head. "We’re a team. We need to operate as a unit. Of course, Na can stay behind."

"What! No way, I want to go with you!" Chen Na immediately shot back, not wanting to be left behind.

Guan Tong said in a low voice, "I’m not planning on taking risks alone. It’s just that I have a remote reconnaissance ability. Right now, we have no clear intel on the ship’s situation. Boarding it directly would be reckless."

"Besides, my only objective is to confirm that this is the experimental ship. Once it’s confirmed, I want to ask the Strategy Research Room to coordinate with the North Star government to dispatch warships and carry out the elimination operation."

’Since this operation is a collaboration with the government, why should I risk bringing a few people with me?’

’If I were alone, that would be one thing. But with others here, especially Chen Na, I don’t want to act recklessly.’

’Ultimately, with the combination of my abilities and items, I have more than enough power to protect myself. Protecting others, however, is a different story.’

’For example, if I ran into danger, I could use Body Shifting to escape in an instant. But to bring someone else along, I would have to summon the Book Page Sanctuary, get the person I’m protecting inside, retract the Sanctuary, and *then* use Body Shifting... The whole process adds several extra steps!’

’In a critical moment, where would I find the time to do all that?’

’Leveraging the official power of North Star, confirming the ship’s identity, and then—with just cause—sending in multiple warships to crush them is the safest approach.’

’Besides, I’m just one person; I can’t handle the aftermath for the victims on the ship. That has to be coordinated and arranged by official North Star departments. That way, after the ship is secured, the warships will be right there to take in the victims and transfer them to a safe location.’

After Guan Tong explained his reasoning, the others all agreed.

Silver Fox, in particular, looked at him with newfound respect. "I really thought you’d try to solve this all on your own."

"I’m not a superhero. Besides, safety is what’s most important. I don’t want anyone on our investigation team to get hurt."

"Guan is right!"

"Then it’s settled," Silver Fox said. "I’ll communicate with the Strategy Research Room. As long as you can confirm that ship is indeed the experimental vessel and you have proof, deploying the warships shouldn’t be a problem."

"Right. I’ll go find the proof."

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