49 Apocalypse Rules

「July 9th. Apocalypse Rules Strategy Research Room.」

The atmosphere in the meeting room was somewhat oppressive. The fourth Apocalypse Rule had ended several days ago, but as of today, the final casualty statistics had yet to be compiled.

This was different from the first Apocalypse Rule. Far more people had died during the first one, but most had perished in their homes, in their beds, making the subsequent handling and transportation of the bodies relatively easy.

This time, however, countless people had been swallowed by the heavy snow and buried under collapsed buildings. It was difficult enough just to excavate their bodies quickly, let alone compile precise statistics.

A statistical researcher said, "The main difficulty in compiling the statistics right now is the rural population. Many villages were completely buried by the snow, becoming ’vanished villages,’ and we are severely shorthanded on rescue personnel."

"Has there been no progress with the rescue robot technology? Weren’t massive resources invested into its research and development after the first Apocalypse Rule?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"The rescue robots are still undergoing data calibration. There are too many potential scenarios they might encounter, so the logic processing is proving to be very tricky..."

"While we can’t get specific numbers, based on the current situation and big data extrapolation, the total casualties in our country could be in the millions. Worldwide, the total will certainly exceed one hundred million."

A silence fell over the meeting room.

Gao Liangwei, the director, spoke. "Everyone, while these severe casualties are certainly related to how treacherous and difficult the Apocalypse Rule itself was, I believe we also bear responsibility for our own complacency and inadequate response."

"The ’non-lethal’ nature of the previous two Apocalypse Rules gave everyone, myself included, a false sense of security. We started thinking that if a rule was too hard, we could just give up. The worst that could happen was a decay in our Psychic Power, as long as we survived."

"But that kind of thinking is completely wrong! The option to abandon an Apocalypse Rule is just a poison pill from the Fire Thief, meant to lull humanity into complacency. If we swallow it, allowing our Psychic Power to decay, we will be left helpless and suffer heavy casualties when faced with survival-type rules."

Gao Liangwei paused, then continued, "So, after this Apocalypse Rule, we must ramp up our public awareness campaigns. Every citizen must be made to clearly understand the importance of Psychic Power. And we must get the academies up and running as soon as possible."

"Agreed." An expert nodded. "Many people know Psychic Power is important, but they’re too lazy to go through the daily process of depletion and regeneration to raise their cap. It’s an environmental influence. If you’re in an environment where everyone is striving to improve, you’ll most likely start working hard too."

"I agree. The academies need to open as soon as possible, and we could relax the admission requirements a little."

"Is lowering the requirements wise? An 80-point cap isn’t very high to begin with. If we lower it further, we’ll have too many new students, and the academies probably can’t accommodate them all."

"Then we’ll acquire more land, build as we recruit, and run online courses simultaneously," Gao Liangwei declared with a wave of his hand.

"The higher-ups have already made a decision. After this last Apocalypse Rule, the vast majority of commercial and office buildings in the cities will be demolished. The vacant land will be converted into facilities geared toward improving survival rates. The academies, naturally, are included in that."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Since the era of the Apocalypse Rules began, buildings like shops and office towers served no real purpose. They should have been demolished earlier, but the decision had been repeatedly postponed.

This latest Apocalypse Rule, however, had solidified the higher-ups’ resolve. They were no longer hesitating and had begun taking bold, decisive action to redevelop the major cities with a full focus on survival.

"Now, for the next item on the agenda," Gao Liangwei said. "According to intelligence gathered by our covert operations divisions, all the world’s surviving powers have initiated special development programs."

"The Soloma Empire launched the ’Eden Project’ a month ago. The plan involves gathering their Ascenders with the highest Psychic Power caps, encouraging them to form relationships, pair off, and procreate."

"According to the information from our source, the project’s director believes that children born from the union of two Ascenders with high Psychic Power will be innately gifted with high Psychic Power that will also increase rapidly. Their ultimate goal is to select a so-called ’Son of God’ from these children, who will then complete all subsequent Apocalypse Rules and ultimately control all power."

The experts and researchers in the room were stunned. Their gut reaction was that the plan sounded preposterous.

But on second thought, if children born from the union of two individuals with high Psychic Power were truly born with high Psychic Power themselves, then it might actually be viable.

The interval between each Apocalypse Rule was unpredictable, ranging from as long as a month to as short as three days. Assuming an average of 20 days between rules, ten rules would span 200 days, and twenty rules would take 400 days.

A human pregnancy lasts a little over nine months, which is less than 300 days. This means that as long as a mother can survive a dozen or so Apocalypse Rules after becoming pregnant, the child could be born safely.

Of course, whether the newborn could then survive the subsequent Apocalypse Rules was another question entirely. An infant understands nothing. Even if the adults gave it all their Psychic Power items, the child would have no concept of how to use them.

"The conditions for this ’Eden Project’ to succeed are far too demanding," a researcher said, shaking his head. "I don’t see much chance of success."

Gao Liangwei said, "The Soloma Empire must have its reasons for trying this, so we need to keep a close watch. In addition, the Tulip Federation has its own plan, called the ’Wolf Pack Operation.’"

"This plan has High Psychic Power Users battle one another to determine their relative strength and select an ’Alpha Wolf.’ This ’Alpha Wolf’ then chooses other Ascenders to form a ’pack’ that operates as a unit."

"Other countries have their own plans as well, and we, the North Star Country, cannot afford to fall behind." Gao Liangwei turned to one of the attendees. "Dr. Zhang, what’s the status of the personnel selection process for the Apocalypse Squad?"

Dr. Zhang, who was in charge of personnel selection, immediately replied, "The list of candidates has now reached one hundred people. Every one of them has passed a rigorous background check, and their Psychic Power cap has met the minimum 100-point standard for an ’Excellent’ rating."

"One hundred people..." Gao Liangwei mused for a moment. "Top-tier resources are limited. Spreading them thin will only breed mediocrity. We must choose the best of the best. From this hundred, select thirty. We will then form teams based on the synergy of their abilities and items, and provide them with personalized training."

"Understood. I’ll get right on it after the meeting," Dr. Zhang said.

Gao Liangwei nodded, then turned to a middle-aged woman on the right side of the long table. "Dr. Li, how is the acquisition of items from the Terminal Market coming along?"

Dr. Li reported, "We have currently selected and acquired over eighty high-value items. We’ve also assigned dedicated personnel to monitor the market around the clock, preemptively purchasing valuable items and sniping any good deals that appear. However..."

"However?"

"It’s clear that other organizations are also acquiring items in bulk," Dr. Li said gravely. "And not just on the Terminal Market. Some groups are collecting items from other Ascenders offline, using violence and other illegal methods. I believe we must stop them as soon as possible."

"I’ve already made arrangements for that," Gao Liangwei said coldly. "Regardless of the organization or group, any who dare to do such things will be crushed. We will show no mercy!"