Chapter 51 Misfortunes Never Come Slowly
"Teacher Feng? Teacher Feng!"
"Oh no, Teacher Feng is in critical condition! We need to get him to the hospital immediately!"
On the morning of June 9th, at the Limei Hotel, many people anxiously surrounded a refined-looking man.
Teacher Feng had been running a fever for several days. They had initially thought that rest, hot water, and medication would help, but
his condition had worsened over the past few days. This morning, someone noticed he was burning up, delirious, and unconscious. This was no longer a case of medication; he needed to be taken to the hospital.
But the problem was, how?
"We need an official vehicle to pick him up!" someone said. "We can't take him ourselves!"
"Call the emergency management department, call the hospital!"
People discussed, dialing official numbers and explaining the situation.
"Hello! This is the Limei Hotel. Someone is very ill and needs to be taken to the hospital immediately!"
"Okay, we will coordinate as soon as possible."
"Please hurry, he's already unconscious!"
After the call, they waited for over half an hour, but no vehicle arrived. The call came again, and the reply was the same: "There are too many people seeking help right now; we will coordinate and arrange things as soon as possible."
This was incredibly frustrating. Someone went to find the armed squad leader, who was huddled in a corner, but the latter was also helpless in this situation.
"We are only responsible for handling security issues; we are afraid we can't do anything about other problems," the squad leader said.
He was telling the truth. In this situation, his gun couldn't save anyone, nor could he conjure up an ambulance.
"If this drags on any longer, the person might not make it!" A man who was on good terms with Teacher Feng couldn't sit still any longer. "I suggest we carry him to the hospital!"
As soon as the man said this, the people around him looked at him with extremely strange expressions.
"Carry him to the hospital? Are you kidding me? The nearest hospital is two kilometers away..."
"It's minus twenty degrees Celsius outside, and the blizzard is relentless. Going out is suicide!"
"Are we just going to watch people die from their illness?!"
Someone walked to the door, pointed outside, and said to the man, "Come and see for yourself what it's like outside!"
Looking out from the hotel entrance, only the main road had relatively little snow because officials cleared it 24/7. Beyond the main road, it was a complete expanse of ice and snow.
Ice walls over four meters high had piled up on the sidewalk across the street, stretching as far as the eye could see, like a miniature Great Wall of ice and snow, completely blocking out the shops along the street.
Looking further into the distance, the relentless heavy snowfall severely reduced visibility. Nothing could be seen except for a vast expanse of white.
Even near the hotel entrance steps, despite dozens of people cleaning daily with sweeping, shoveling, and salting, the persistently low temperatures have resulted in a thin layer of very slippery ice.
Yesterday, when a delivery truck came to deliver supplies, two people slipped and nearly broke their bones while going out to retrieve them.
Carrying people to the hospital in such dire conditions seemed like a pipe dream to most.
Few responded, and the man who had initially suggested it reluctantly gave up, having to carry the injured back to their rooms.
Currently, over 50 of the hotel's 150 rooms are occupied by patients with colds and fevers. This was decided by a vote, partly to allow them to rest peacefully, and partly as a form of isolation to prevent the spread of the virus in public spaces like the lobby.
However, this approach hasn't been very effective; new patients are still appearing daily, and some existing patients are showing signs of worsening. If this continues, deaths may occur soon.
"Boom!!!"
"Crash—"
Just as many were anxious about Teacher Feng's unconsciousness, a loud crash and the sound of shattering glass from the doorway startled everyone.
Everyone in the lobby looked up to see the large "Limei Hotel" sign had fallen, smashing the hotel's glass door in front of it.
Glass shards flew everywhere, and without the thick glass door to block them, a large amount of cold air rushed into the lobby, causing many to shiver and filling the hundreds of people in the lobby with panic.
"The door is broken!"
"Oh no, the snow must have been too heavy and crushed the hotel sign!"
"Quick! Block the door! Cold air is getting in!"
People scrambled to move tables and grab blankets to block the door. However, some disagreed, worried that blocking the door would prevent them from retrieving supplies later.
The hotel housed hundreds of people who consumed large quantities of supplies daily, and the Supplies Bureau had to send delivery trucks every seven or eight days. Blocking the door would make it inconvenient to clear the snow from the entrance every day, otherwise, an ice wall like a sidewalk would form at the entrance in three or four days, trapping everyone inside!
"Hey! Hey!"
Shouts came from the direction of the restaurant.
"The water pipes aren't working! The water's stopped!"
"What?!"
"It's over, it must be the pipes frozen! I knew it, with the outside temperature so low, the pipes would freeze sooner or later..."
"What do we do now? Do we have enough drinking water left? Should we contact the Supplies Department to send water immediately!"
Misfortune never comes singly; the series of incidents threw the entire hotel into chaos. Panic spread rapidly.
"Calm down, everyone!" At the critical moment, the captain of the armed squad stepped forward and shouted, "Don't panic! Deal with any problems one by one!"
...
Apocalyptic Rules Countermeasures Research Room, Conference Room.
Due to the severe and volatile situation surrounding the current rules, this was the third additional meeting.
An analyst was standing in front of a large screen, explaining based on information gathered from all over the country.
"As of yesterday, June 8th, the new regulations have already resulted in six-figure casualties, primarily concentrated in rural areas surrounding megacities. The main cause of death is the collapse of houses due to accumulated snow, burying large numbers of people and making rescue impossible."
"Currently, the number of casualties tallied in the ten megacities with populations exceeding ten million is still relatively small. However, this number is rapidly increasing over time, due to supply problems with basic energy sources such as water and electricity."
"Take Wuming City, which has the highest number of tallied casualties among the megacities, as an example. For many years, the city has vigorously developed new energy sources, relying on wind and solar power for some of its electricity.
After the regulations came into effect, cloud cover blocked direct sunlight, severely impacting the efficiency of solar panels. Simultaneously, many of the city's wind turbines were frozen by the blizzard, rendering them unable to operate and provide electricity, ultimately leading to a power shortage."
"In areas experiencing power shortages, the inability to use air conditioning, electric heaters, and other heating devices quickly led to chaos at gathering points. Even with the suppression efforts of armed squads, several clashes occurred, resulting in bloodshed and casualties."
"Currently, the city has implemented citywide power rationing, with different areas receiving power at different times. It's worth noting that other megacities may soon face similar crises."
The analyst paused, switching to a chart, and continued, "The persistently low temperatures have also caused numerous water pipes to freeze and burst, leading to water supply problems. This is especially true in several major southern cities, where the lack of underground heating systems has resulted in widespread pipe freezing." "
Finally, there's the issue of transporting supplies. Warehouses across the city have stockpiled large quantities of essential goods, enough to meet people's basic needs. However, during transport, many exits at gathering points have been buried by snow and blocked by ice walls due to a lack of timely clearing, preventing supplies from reaching people."
"However, some cities have managed to barely solve this problem by deploying drilling rigs to create snow tunnels... Currently, according to our analysis, the biggest risk of casualties lies in the risk of building collapses."
The analyst said seriously, "It's not just rural brick and mud houses that will collapse due to the weight of accumulated snow; shops in cities have also collapsed in large numbers in the past few days. Yesterday, a stadium in Fengnan City with more than a thousand people collapsed overnight under the weight of accumulated snow. The roof collapsed and fell, and blizzards poured in, with almost no one inside surviving..." "
Damn shoddy construction! They must have cut corners during construction!" a hot-tempered scientist cursed, "The person in charge of construction and supervision should all be arrested and executed!"
"The most urgent task now is to immediately notify the emergency management bureaus in various places. They need to coordinate resources and do everything possible to ensure the safety of buildings in densely populated areas!"
"That's right, we can't just clear the snow from the main roads; we also need to deal with the snow on the roofs of these buildings in densely populated areas. The snowfall in these cities is really too heavy. The snowflakes look light, but when they accumulate, they become incredibly heavy!"
"Based on density calculations, just one foot of snow on a 100-square-meter surface can accumulate to a weight in the tons! And with the snowfall in a megacity, it would only take a day and a night to reach that level,"
said Gao Liangwei, the person in charge. "Immediately synchronize the relevant information with the emergency management bureaus in various regions so they can handle it. And reiterate that ensuring the survival of personnel is the top priority; no amount of resources is too great to waste for this."
After Gao Liangwei finished speaking, he remembered something and asked a person in a white uniform representing the Public Security Bureau, "What is the current status of the investigation into the kidnapping case targeting individuals with high mental strength?"
"The head of the Public Security Bureau in Yunhua has identified a key figure, but due to the blizzard rules, further investigation has not yet been possible, and currently there are only witnesses; the chain of evidence is incomplete."
"My opinion is to arrest them now," Gao Liangwei said without hesitation. "In this situation, there's no time for such considerations. Delay could lead to complications. Evidence can be gathered later. First, we need to control the people, find out the purpose of the kidnapping, and whether there are any other accomplices."
Chapter 52 Battle and Decision
June 13th, morning.
Guan Tong was clearing snow from the path with a folding shovel, and the little girl Chen Na was standing not far ahead.
Over the past few days, she and her mother, Wang Yan, had gradually become familiar with Guan Tong. Yesterday, they even exchanged food; Wang Yan traded a carton of milk for a bag of biscuits with Guan Tong.
"Brother Guan Tong, do you shovel snow every day?" Chen Na squatted on the snow layer on the left side of the path, looking at Guan Tong busy below and asked.
After almost half a month, the snow on both sides of the path was already more than half a person high. Guan Tong stood in the path, straightening up; the snow on both sides was about waist-high.
"Yes, I shovel every day," Guan Tong said. "If I leave it unattended, the snow will accumulate so much that I won't be able to get out of the camp."
"Oh~"
"Nana." Wang Yan's voice came from not far away, and Chen Na responded and ran over.
A short while later, Wang Yan came over with a short shovel and said to Guan Tong, "Xiao Guan, let me help you shovel."
Guan Tong quickly replied, "No need, Sister Wang, I can do it myself."
Wang Yan smiled, "It's alright, I've finished clearing the snow from my car, I'm just killing time anyway, Xiao Guan, don't be shy." Guan
Tong smiled gratefully, "Okay, thank you, Sister Wang."
With Wang Yan's help, the snow removal on the path was much faster.
After the two of them had been clearing for a while, Chen Na also came over to help, and the three of them chatted as they worked.
"Xiao Guan, have you been online these past few days? Many cities have experienced water and power outages. Many buildings and shopping malls have also collapsed under the weight of the snow. I've seen many videos of collapses; I wonder how many people have been killed, it's really terrifying."
"I haven't been looking at that much," Guan Tong said.
He hadn't looked at his phone much since arriving at Mingdao Mountain.
Partly to save battery power, and partly because he felt there wasn't much to see.
Just as Wang Yan said, the internet was filled with various disaster reports from different places.
Guan Tong didn't really want to see these things, because seeing them would only make her depressed and sad,
so it was better not to see them at all. Wang Yan said, "It seems that Yong'an has suffered quite a bit of damage this time, and that's the capital."
"The capital has the largest population in the country, so the snowfall must be the heaviest," Guan Tong said.
"That makes sense. But I still think we have to go to the capital. No other place is as good as the capital. You know, that's where all the important people live. It's definitely the safest place under the current circumstances."
Wang Yan's tone sounded very firm. Guan Tong asked, "From what I'm saying, Sister Wang, are you planning to take Xiao Na to Yong'an later?"
Wang Yan nodded: "I had already decided before leaving the village. Once the snow disaster is over, I'll take my daughter and drive the national highway to the capital."
Guan Tong thought for a moment and said, "But I heard that the policy of applying for free housing in the capital has been suspended. After this snow disaster, many houses will probably collapse, and the housing problem will only become more serious. Sister Wang, aren't you worried about not having a place to stay when you take Xiao Na there?"
Wang Yan laughed: "Look at what you're saying. The capital is so big, how could there not be a place for my daughter and me to stay? If all else fails, we can sleep in the car. As long as we can find a place to stay and let my daughter study in the capital, I'll be at ease."
"Mom!"
At this moment, Chen Na suddenly shouted from the front of the path, attracting the attention of Wang Yan and Guan Tong.
Wang Yan rushed over immediately, picked up her terrified daughter, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, Nana?!"
"Something...something is running down the mountain!" Chen Na said fearfully, "Very fast!"
What?
Upon hearing this, Guan Tong first climbed from the path onto the snow on the side, stood up, and looked towards the mountainside of Mingdao Mountain, but didn't see anything.
He asked loudly, "Xiao Na, where is what you saw?"
"I didn't see it..."
Guan Tong was stunned, but at this moment Wang Yan quickly said, "Xiao Guan, my daughter can sense things moving around nearby. If she says there's something, then there definitely is!"
Sensing things moving around nearby? Is this the ability of some kind of mental power item?
As Guan Tong was thinking, he suddenly saw a black thing darting down the mountain. He looked closely and immediately recognized it.
"It's a wild boar!"
"Quick, Xiao Guan!" Wang Yan's face changed drastically, and she immediately picked up her daughter and ran towards her truck, "Come with us to hide in the truck!"
"Okay!"
Guan Tong followed Wang Yan's footsteps, but after running a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned around.
The wild boar that leaped down from the mountain headed straight for his camp!
All his supplies were at the camp. If the wild boar destroyed them, what would he do with the remaining two weeks? Would he have to eat Wang Yan's food and sleep in her car? But what if there wasn't enough food for everyone?
No way!
Guan Tong couldn't accept that the camp he'd painstakingly built over two weeks would be destroyed by wild boars. He gritted his teeth, turned, and ran towards the camp.
Wang Yan, already in her car with her daughter Chen Na, saw Guan Tong running towards the wild boar and, realizing the danger, cried out in alarm, "Xiao Guan! Xiao Guan!"
Guan Tong heard Wang Yan's cries, but his mind was made up.
He didn't think he couldn't handle a wild boar; if he used the cleared path and his shadow… he could win!
Guan Tong ran back to the camp from the snowdrift. Sure enough, the wild boar was now rummaging through his backpack containing food, making grunting noises.
"Beast!"
Guan Tong hissed, immediately attracting the boar's attention.
It turned its head, its tiny, beady eyes darting around, seemingly unaware of Guan Tong above the snowdrift.
Because the snow on both sides of the path was over a meter high, and although the wild boar was tough, thick-skinned, and extremely ferocious, its biggest weakness was its short stature and short legs.
If they could use the height difference to trap the beast in the path…
Guan Tong waved his hand, and the wordless book instantly appeared.
"Shadow, come out!"
The pages turned, and the shadow, in a phantom form, detached from the pages, "swam" into the path, and suddenly solidified when it reached the side of the wild boar!
"Oink!"
Seeing the solidified shadow beside it, the wild boar immediately lowered its head and nuzzled the shadow's legs.
If it were Guan Tong standing there, he might have suffered a broken bone. But that was the shadow—a shadow that felt no pain, could quickly recover from injury by consuming mental energy, and had unlimited stamina!
Attack!
Under Guan Tong's control, the shadow spread its arms and pounced on the wild boar, locking its thick neck tightly, flipping it to its side, and then holding it firmly by the neck.
The wild boar kicked wildly, grunting incessantly, trying to break free.
But the shadow possessed unlimited stamina for its duration. Even though its strength was no match for the wild boar, its unlimited stamina allowed it to restrain the boar for a short time in the narrow path.
Guan Tong's mental energy was rapidly depleting. He knew he had to finish off the boar before it ran out, otherwise, without the shadow's assistance, fighting the boar alone would be extremely dangerous!
He dared not delay, immediately jumping down from the path and using his folding shovel to smash the boar's head several times. But the boar's hide was thick, and despite several blows, it remained lively and struggled incessantly.
No, this shovel wasn't hard enough!
Guan Tong made a decisive move, turning and rushing into the camp to grab the large iron tongs he had brought from the supply depot.
This thing was much heavier and harder than the folding shovel.
Guan Tong gripped it with both hands and smashed it hard onto the boar's head!
"Pfft!"
Blood appeared on the boar's head with this blow.
"Hmph hmph hmph!!!"
The boar seemed to be enraged by the bleeding, struggling even more fiercely! The shadowy figure gripped its neck with its arms and clamped its hind legs with its legs, barely managing to subdue it.
Guan Tong knew that this kind of wild boar would become more frenzied the more it was injured, and he had to deal with it quickly!
Bang! Thud! Thud!
Guan Tong swung the large iron pincers with both hands, each strike delivered with all his might!
After eight or nine blows, the boar's head was completely mangled, its struggling movements greatly reduced, and its hind legs twitched and straightened—clearly, it was beyond saving.
But Guan Tong dared not let his guard down, and just in case, he struck it more than ten times in succession, until he was completely exhausted. Only then did he lower the pincers, sit on the ground, and gasp for breath.
"Ha, ha, ha..."
The shadowy figure had now vanished, leaving only Guan Tong slumped on the ground and the boar, its head mangled and lifeless.
Even though the boar was beyond dead, Guan Tong's face showed little joy.
A single wild boar had forced him to exhaust his mental energy and utilize the terrain to defeat it. What if two appear at the same time? Or what if you encounter an even stronger beast…
People living in modern cities almost never consider this question. People usually only think about what to eat, what to do, how their work and relationships are going; what normal person would need to think about how to deal with wild animals?
But now we've entered an era of apocalyptic rules!
Who knows if, due to other rules, people will be forced to leave the city and live in the desolate mountains and forests just to survive?
Problems that didn't need to be considered before, now require consideration for survival.
"Weapons, I need a weapon that I can use immediately, and melee weapons won't do!"
Guan Tong thought; sometimes relying solely on shadows isn't enough.
Imagine if I had a gun; wouldn't it be much easier to deal with wild boars, other wild animals, or even enemies?
Looking at the wild boar's carcass, Guan Tong made a decision.
"After completing the minting in a few days, I won't write 'Ascension Coin' on the second page of the wordless book… I'll try writing… 'Shotgun'."
Chapter 53 Domain Abilities
Inside the truck cab, Chen Na asked worriedly, "Mom, did Guan Tong get hit by a wild boar?"
"I don't know... this child is just reckless!"
Wang Yan said anxiously. From her angle, due to the high snow cover, she couldn't see what was happening on the path leading to the campsite.
She didn't understand why Guan Tong would abandon hiding in the truck and instead fight a wild boar. This wasn't a plump domestic pig, but a wild boar that foraged for food in the mountains, with thick skin and powerful enough to kill!
Just as the two women were anxious, a short while later, Guan Tong climbed up from the path, waved, and indicated that everything was alright.
Wang Yan immediately got out of the truck, leaving her daughter Chen Na in the truck, and went over herself.
"Little Guan, what happened... ah?"
Wang Yan looked into the path as she approached and immediately saw the wild boar with its head smashed and dead.
She stared at Guan Tong in astonishment: "Xiao Guan, you killed a wild boar?!"
"Yeah." Guan Tong rested for a while, regaining some strength. "I had to do it, otherwise all the food in my bag would have been eaten by it."
"..."
Wang Yan was somewhat incredulous. Guan Tong's figure could only be described as well-proportioned, but it was far from being "robust," yet she had managed to kill a wild boar...
Wang Yan suddenly realized something and blurted out, "Xiao Guan, you used some kind of mental power item, didn't you?" Guan
Tong nodded slightly.
The battle took place on a path near the campsite, and Wang Yan and her daughter, in the car on the other side, couldn't see what happened. Even if they knew Guan Tong had used a mental power item, they didn't know what it was.
Wang Yan didn't press the matter, knowing that their relationship wasn't that close yet.
However, knowing that Guan Tong had the ability to kill a wild boar reassured her considerably. Otherwise, if they couldn't deal with the wild boar, she and her daughter would have had to stay hidden in the car, afraid to get out and move around.
"Thanks to Xiaona," Guan Tong said. "If she hadn't given us a heads-up, we might not have seen this wild boar come down the mountain. If it had suddenly gored us, it could have been a disaster."
In this desolate wilderness, there was no hope of rescue. Minor injuries would be fine, as Guan Tong had a makeshift first-aid kit, but if the injury was serious, there would be no one to help.
"Nana…" Wang Yan sighed, mentioning Chen Na's warning. "Her ability seems to work sometimes and sometimes not, I don't know why."
"Ability? Isn't it a mental power item?"
"Actually, I don't really understand how it works either." Wang Yan said, "The village collectively counted mental power values before, saying that those exceeding 80 would receive a subsidy from the government. I asked my daughter, and she said that sometimes she exceeded it and sometimes she didn't, so I was afraid of making a mistake and didn't register her."
Guan Tong found this a bit strange and thought for a moment before saying, "Xiao Na should be over 80. Since she has times when she exceeds 80, it means that her mental power limit is over 80. When it's below 80, it must be because she has consumed some of it."
Wang Yan asked curiously, "Xiao Guan, do you know a lot about this?" Guan
Tong shook her head: "I can find all the information I know about this in the white paper."
Wang Yan nodded as if she understood. At this moment, Chen Na got out of the car and ran over. Upon seeing the wild boar carcass, she exclaimed "Ah!" and grabbed her mother's hand.
"It's alright, Nana, the wild boar is dead."
"Ah? Did Brother Guan Tong kill it?" Chen Na looked at Guan Tong with admiration. "Brother Guan Tong, you're so amazing!"
Guan Tong smiled and said, "It's all thanks to you, Xiao Na, that you found it in advance."
"Nana, your Brother Guan Tong knows a lot. Ask him about your mental power," Wang Yan said. "Didn't you say before that your numbers were always fluctuating?"
"Yes." Chen Na nodded, tilting her head as if organizing her thoughts.
"Brother Guan Tong, sometimes I can sense a large area around me, with people or small animals walking around. I can feel where they are. But after a while, I can't sense them anymore, and then after a while, I can sense them again. It's very strange."
If Wang Yan and Chen Na hadn't mentioned it, Guan Tong wouldn't have asked. After all, mental power values and items are considered private matters these days.
But now that Wang Yan had Chen Na tell him, he was willing to help investigate what was going on.
What Chen Na was saying gave Guan Tong the feeling that her perception ability seemed to be "automatically activated."
After activation, she could sense the movement and location of living beings within a certain range. This ability would deactivate once her mental energy was depleted, repeating the process once her mental energy recovered.
Couldn't Chen Na control the activation and deactivation of this sensory ability herself?
Guan Tong thought for a moment and asked, "Nana, after passing the first rule, what did you search for and buy in the Ascension Shop?"
"Hmm…it's because Mom used to be out delivering goods and often didn't know when she'd be back. I wanted to know when Mom came back, and after thinking that, something called 'Perception Domain' appeared in the shop. After buying it, I could sense things."
"Nana, my good girl." Wang Yan, hearing her daughter say these words for the first time, couldn't help but tear up and hugged her. "It's all Mom's fault for being away from home so often. From now on, Mom will definitely always be with you."
Chen Na lowered her head shyly, and Guan Tong, standing beside her, was also somewhat moved. However, what he cared more about was Chen Na's ability.
That's right, after passing the first rule, what she bought wasn't an "item," but an "ability," which was quite rare.
Items like Guan Tong's "Wordless Book," Xu Xiaotian's "Instant Noodles," and even Shen Zuohu's "Braids Knuckle Duster" are all mental power tools.
However, Chen Na's is a special ability called "Perception Domain."
Guan Tong asked, "Xiao Na, can't you control this ability? For example, could you try controlling the opening and closing of this 'Perception Domain' with your mind?"
Chen Na blinked: "How do I control it with my mind?"
"Hmm… For example, you can set a keyword yourself. Like 'Open Perception Domain' and 'Close Perception Domain.'
When you silently say 'Open Perception Domain,' concentrate on mobilizing your mental energy. When you silently say 'Close Perception Domain,' immediately cut off the infusion of mental energy,"
Wang Yan said. "Nana, just try it like your brother Guan Tong."
"Okay." Chen Na tried as Guan Tong said, silently saying 'Open Perception Domain' while sensing her mental energy. She immediately sensed the presence of living things around her, but it automatically closed the next second.
Chen Na shook her head and said, "I think I succeeded after silently saying 'Open,' but it stopped immediately."
"Maybe your mental energy is exhausted. Check your terminal?" Guan Tong suggested.
Chen Na silently checked her personal terminal and saw that her mental energy level was indeed 0.
"Hmm! It's down to 0!"
"It's probably because your [Perception Domain] was active when the wild boar appeared... This kind of 'domain-type' ability, which has a wide range of effects, must consume a lot of mental energy. Xiao Na, you should wait until your mental energy recovers before trying again."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Guan!" Chen Na playfully changed her address.
"What 'Brother Guan'?" Wang Yan scolded lightly, "How can you call someone 'Brother Guan' like that?"
"It's okay." Guan Tong didn't mind, "Xiao Na can call me whatever she likes."
"Hehe, then I'll call you Brother Guan from now on." Chen Na made a face at her mother, Wang Yan, and then looked at the wild boar carcass in the path.
"What should we do with this big black boar? I've seen people roast wild boar in movies before, should we roast some meat too?"
"No." Wang Yan and Guan Tong said almost in unison.
Wang Yan explained, "You can't eat wild boar meat, it's full of bacteria and parasites! Nana, if you want meat, there's some dried meat in the car, you can eat that."
"Sister Wang is right. Unless there's absolutely nothing else to eat, try not to eat wild animals, not just wild boar, but also rabbits and the like."
"Ah, rabbits are so cute, why would we eat rabbits!" Chen Na shook her head repeatedly.
Guan Tong paused, then said, "We can't just leave this wild boar in the path. Let's get it out, put it aside, and let the snow bury it."
"Okay, I'll lend a hand, let's get it out together."
"Then thank you, Sister Wang."
Guan Tong and Wang Yan worked together to lift the wild boar carcass from the path to the snow layer beside it. Then, each of them grabbed a hind leg and dragged the carcass away from the camp and the truck, and then shoveled snow to bury it.
After all that, the three of them were a little tired.
Wang Yan and Chen Na went back to the car to rest, and Guan Tong also returned to her campsite to tidy up her backpack that had been dug up by the wild boar.
Fortunately, he dealt with the wild boar in time; only a bag of biscuits was crushed and a bottle of water was broken, the rest of his bag was saved.
If Guan Tong had hidden in the truck and left it alone, the entire backpack of food would have been ruined in no time.
After tidying up, Guan Tong opened his sleeping bag and lay down to rest, still thinking about Chen Na's [Perception Domain] ability.
He felt that this ability had great potential, but it couldn't be fully utilized at present because of his low mental strength limit. In the future, when his mental strength increased, if the range was further expanded and the ability was further improved, it should have many uses.
Guan Tong thought, "If I write a similar ability name in the [Wordless Book], can I acquire a similar ability? I can try it later, but it seems a bit risky..."
Having held the [Wordless Book] for so long, Guan Tong had figured out some of its abilities. Its core was probably "the ability to materialize written concepts by consuming mental strength," which could be said to possess a kind of extremely powerful reality distortion force.
The more complex, powerful, and abstract the concept, the more mental strength was required to materialize it.
If the conversion is forced, one possibility is that it will result in a reduced version. For example, the first page clearly states "Guan Tong," but after the initial conversion, it only produces a shadow with Guan Tong's outline but no physical form.
The same applies to the "Ascension Coins" he wrote on the second page; after materialization, it's also a reduced version—this is reflected in the quantity of coins, only 10 bound coins.
The problem is, he only wrote "Ascension Coins," without any quantifiers like "XX coins." This means that only 10 coins are given, which is currently the maximum number he can convert in a single instance.
The second possibility is that the conversion will fail. For example, Guan Tong once tried to connect the ethereal shadow to the car shadow and then materialize it, but his mental energy was instantly depleted, and the materialization failed.
Now, his plan is to write "Shotgun," to materialize the concept of a gun, which shouldn't be too difficult. However, the problem is that there are too many strokes in the characters, requiring too much time.
"Could it be simplified to a 'shotgun,' or a 'scattershot,' or even just a single 'gun'? Can the [Wordless Book] transform according to my wishes? Or will it randomly transform into something that doesn't meet my requirements...? I'll try it later."
Guan Tong thought, his thoughts returning to Chen Na's [Perception Domain] ability.
Knowing about this kind of domain ability opened up his mind considerably.
"Could I create a similar ability? Currently, directly opening a new page in the [Wordless Book] consumes too much energy... So, could I continue to extract shadows and further develop it?"
The previous success of adding words to the "entity" had made Guan Tong want to add something more, but he hadn't had any good ideas.
Now, Chen Na's domain ability was also tempting him.
"When a shadow is in a ethereal state, it can merge with other shadows to expand its area. If I can make the shadows continuously merge and expand large enough in a short period of time... and then I have enough mental power to transform it into an entity, could I form my own domain... like a 'Shadow Domain'?"
June 19th, 11 days before the end of the "June Snow" rule's effective period.
At dusk, outside a courtyard in the suburbs of Yong'an, the capital, over twenty fully armed special forces soldiers quietly surrounded the yard.
The snow around the yard was piled up further away, and there were obvious snow-shoveling marks on the road near the gate; the snow on the walls had also been cleared. It was clear the owner of the yard had professional snow removal equipment and a large workforce for snow removal.
"Report."
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The action team leader reported to his superior commander through an earpiece.
"We have arrived outside the shelter where the target is located. Should we begin the capture operation?"
"Begin immediately." The commander's voice came through the earpiece.
"Roger."
The action team leader made several hand gestures, and several special forces soldiers crouched down, opening their carrying cases, which contained several military-grade drones.
As the operator activated the drones, a total of five drones took off, flying high above the courtyard and transmitting the situation inside via high-definition cameras.
"Snowplows, drilling rigs, and snow removal machines are parked in the outer courtyard. Three armed men are playing cards under the eaves on the left. The inner courtyard has a sealed roof, making it impossible to view the situation through cameras."
"Activate the thermal imaging scanner."
"Scan detected activity in three rooms in the inner courtyard, totaling twenty people. Only two people are in the south room, which is suspected to be the target's location."
The team leader said, "All personnel prepare to move. One squad will breach the door from the front, two squads will enter from both sides, and three squads will circle around to the rear for cover. Drones will drop stun grenades." The drone
operator said, "Stun grenades have been dropped."
Bang—!
The three men playing cards under the eaves in the courtyard suddenly heard a muffled thud, followed by a blinding flash and a buzzing sound that instantly rendered them deaf and blind.
The special operations team immediately entered the outer courtyard, subdued the three men, and then broke down the inner courtyard gate.
By this time, those inside the inner courtyard had become aware of the situation. A cacophony of footsteps followed, then a burst of gunfire that sent wooden debris flying from the inner courtyard gate.
A member of the action team requested permission through an earpiece: "The enemy has launched an armed counterattack. Request annihilation."
"Request approved," the commander replied. "Except for the target, annihilate all armed resistance fighters on the spot."
"Roger."
Five drones roared into the inner courtyard, dropping stun grenades that stunned the armed personnel inside.
Special forces soldiers then filed in, eliminating all the armed individuals in the courtyard.
Meanwhile, in a room on the south side of the inner courtyard, a man in his fifties, holding a terrified woman in one hand, rapidly dialed a number on his phone.
His first call was answered when the phone was switched off.
He made a second call, which this time went through.
"Hello, Big Sister!" The man in his fifties said with a sob in his voice as soon as the call connected, "Didn't you say you could handle things if anything happened? Now someone's here to arrest me, they're about to break in!"
"Jiping," came the voice of an elderly woman from the phone.
"You can only blame yourself for being too careless, letting some low-level gangster find out your identity. Big Sister can't help you, but I can still take care of your relatives overseas. You'd better watch yourself."
The man felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this, understanding what his sister meant.
He hung up the phone, gave a bitter laugh, and pulled a pistol from under the bed.
"Thump!"
The door was kicked open, and a stun grenade was thrown in.
But before it could explode, two gunshots rang out in the room.
"Bang! Bang!"
When the special forces rushed in, they only saw the bodies of a man and a woman lying on the floor.
The team leader examined the man's body and reported, "Report, the capture mission failed. The target, 'Zhao Jiping,' has committed suicide."
The commander was silent for a moment in the earpiece before saying, "Bring back the target's body and his belongings. Mission complete."
"Yes, sir."
...
["Chairman of Hengyun Real Estate - Zhao Jiping" has been removed from the group by "Big Sister"]
A system announcement appeared in the mobile group chat of all Qingmei Club members.
Soon after the announcement, numerous replies appeared.
"Big Sister is here???"
"Why did Big Sister kick Old Zhao out?"
"What happened to Brother Zhao? Why was he kicked out of the group?" "
Did something happen? We can't seem to contact Old Zhao..."
The group members didn't know what was going on, but they were all quite surprised by the appearance of the group leader, "Big Sister."
As the founder of the Qingmei Club, Big Sister rarely spoke in the group, but everyone respected her.
Because before the apocalyptic era, she seemed to have inexhaustible wealth. She had invested in and held shares in almost everyone's company through different intermediaries.
However, she didn't own any companies, leading group members to speculate about her background and identity. Some even tried to investigate using their connections, only to find nothing and get their contacts imprisoned.
From then on, the members of the Green Plum Club knew that "Big Sister" was someone they couldn't afford to offend, and might even come from the highest echelons of society. Then,
Big Sister sent a message in the group:
"Jiping got into some trouble, but I'll handle it. You can all relax and get through this rule-breaking process first. After that, I'll organize a gathering to discuss the future plans for our Green Plum Club."
"Received, Big Sister!"
"We'll listen to Big Sister. She's taken good care of our business all these years."
"Yes, my company was at a crucial moment in our market grab, but we couldn't get funding. It was Big Sister who generously invested over 10 billion, which gave me the confidence to secure victory."
As soon as Big Sister mentioned a gathering, the members excitedly started discussing it. As for what happened to Zhao Jiping and why he was kicked out of the group, it seemed to be quickly forgotten.
Only a few members secretly thought about using their connections to investigate.
You see, Zhao Jiping was the chairman of Hengyun Real Estate, the largest real estate company in the country. At its peak, Hengyun had properties in every city in the country, and he had countless people under his command. It was said that he even controlled the underworld in many cities.
Such a once powerful figure, even if he declined after entering the post-apocalyptic era because money became worthless and housing was free, couldn't just disappear like that. There must be something fishy going on.
Meanwhile, in the Post-Apocalyptic Rules Countermeasures Research Lab, a researcher in his forties was being interrogated.
Facing two interrogators, he angrily declared, "I told you, I don't know what my brother did! I know nothing about him sending people to kidnap me!"
This researcher was Zhao Jiping's younger brother, Zhao Jize.
Because of his outstanding research abilities, he was initially selected by the authorities to join the countermeasures research lab.
"You say you don't know what your brother did, but we've already found that you violated lab rules by contacting your brother outside of the designated time."
Everyone in the lab must contact the outside world within a specified time.
This designated time is not fixed, but it usually occurs after a new post-apocalyptic rule is released and before the hidden rules are discovered.
The purpose of this rule is to prevent lab members from having the opportunity to leak hidden rules that are not suitable for dissemination.
This rule wasn't strict at first, but it became extremely harsh after the first post-apocalyptic rule was discovered. This is
because after the hidden rules of the first post-apocalyptic rule were discovered, several researchers in the lab secretly revealed them to their relatives, allowing them to use the rules to obtain "Sobering Peppermints" and seize a chance to survive.
Afterwards, a large number of researchers were investigated and held accountable.
Zhao Jize, because he was careful, had not been exposed. But after his brother was investigated, he, the younger brother, was naturally also investigated in detail, which led to the discovery that he had secretly contacted Zhao Jiping.
Zhao Jize's expression changed slightly at this moment. He did not deny it, knowing that since the interrogators said so, it meant they had obtained evidence.
"That's right, I violated the rules and secretly contacted my brother. But we only talked about the rules, we didn't talk about anything else, and he didn't tell me about the kidnapping at all!"
The two interrogators exchanged glances, and one of them, who was wearing glasses, asked, "Do you know anything special about your brother's social connections? You should know that these kidnapping cases involve the whole country, and he couldn't have handled it alone. There must be other people involved."
This interrogator was none other than Li Meng, the director of the Public Security Bureau who had been transferred from Yunhua City.
Li Meng said, "If you tell me now, there might still be hope for him. Otherwise, if we don't arrest him, he might be silenced by others."
In order to extract more information, Li Meng naturally wouldn't tell Zhao Jize the fact that his brother, Zhao Jiping, had committed suicide.
Upon hearing the word "silencing," Zhao Jize's face paled. He frowned, seemingly deep in thought, and after a moment spoke uncertainly.
"About ten years ago, my brother mentioned it briefly. He said he had joined some kind of organization, full of bigwigs... and the founder was an incredibly powerful person."
Li Meng's eyes sharpened, and he immediately pressed, "What organization? What's its name? Who are the other members?"
Zhao Jize thought for a long time, then shook his head, saying, "I can't remember. He only mentioned it once, excitedly, at a family gathering after joining more than ten years ago. Later, it seems that because the organization had extremely strict secrecy rules, members couldn't even reveal their identities to their relatives, so my brother never mentioned it again." "Waaaaah—"
The piercing sirens of the ambulance echoed along the main road as it pulled up in front of the Limi Hotel.
Several paramedics, dressed in heavy windproof winter coats, non-slip shoes, and goggles, got out of the vehicle and looked towards the hotel entrance.
A circular ice wall, over four meters high, stood against the hotel steps, completely blocking the entrance and making it impossible to enter or exit.
The paramedics exchanged puzzled glances when they suddenly heard shouts from above.
"Hey, over here! Over here!"
They looked up and saw several people standing at a third-floor window, waving down.
A medical worker shouted, "What happened?"
A voice from the third-floor window yelled back, "The hotel's glass door is broken! We can't clear it all, and the snow wall is blocking the way!"
Another person poked their head out and complained, "Why did it take you so long? Do you know how many people have died here?!"
"We don't have enough manpower!" the medical worker shouted. "There are too many people calling for medical help every day in the city; we simply can't handle it all!"
Another medical worker asked, "Are there any other patients inside who need emergency care?"
"Several! We'll wrap them in sheets and lower them down!"
The people on the third floor then busied themselves, using over a dozen thick sheets to make ropes, wrapping several patients, and slowly lowering them down through the window.
Several medical workers caught them and immediately took them to the ambulance. At this moment, someone on the third floor shouted, "We've been without water for ten days! Is anyone going to do anything about this?!"
"This isn't our responsibility. Call the Emergency Management Bureau!"
The ambulance quickly drove away, leaving the people on the third floor cursing loudly.
Meanwhile, the hotel lobby was littered with trash:
food bags, empty water bottles, and even disgusting traces of what appeared to be vomit and excrement.
The hotel had been without water since June 9th, ten days ago, and it hadn't been restored. It seemed unlikely it would be restored before the restrictions ended.
In these ten days, the hotel's hundreds of residents had used up all their stored water. Although the social welfare department had delivered supplies once, it only provided essential drinking water and food.
Due to the continuous heavy snow, not only were ordinary people severely affected, but many large water-consuming factories had also inevitably shut down.
At this time, supplying food and water to tens of millions of people in the city required the social welfare department to be extremely careful with its resources.
This meant that while the hotel guests weren't dying of thirst or hunger, that was about it. There wasn't enough water for washing their hair or bathing, and even flushing the toilet was impossible after the water supply was cut off.
If they were living in the countryside, they could simply find a place to relieve themselves and then bury it in the snow.
But in a hotel housing hundreds of people, the situation was unimaginable when the toilets couldn't be flushed.
For the sake of appearances, people each took a bunch of plastic bags. After urinating or defecating in them, they sealed the bags and threw them into the hotel's swimming pool.
Even so, as time passed and the most windows were sealed shut by heavy snow, the smell throughout the hotel was unimaginable, and many people were exhausted.
Moreover, the problem of sick people remained unresolved; a large number of people had fallen ill ten days prior, and several had died in the past ten days.
Someone suggested throwing the bodies outside the hotel, but this was strongly rejected. In the end, all the bodies were moved into a large guest room for centralized storage.
The low temperature did come in handy at this time, preventing the bodies from decomposing for a short period of time, which was a rare benefit.
Otherwise, if the bodies decomposed in a few days, everyone in the confined space of the hotel would have to worry about the spread of disease.
Three more days passed, and on the 22nd, after another power outage at the hotel, a large-scale commotion broke out in the lobby.
"The power's cut off again! Damn it! We're freezing to death!!!"
"Damn the Emergency Management Bureau! Those bastards are probably living comfortably in their air-conditioned rooms with 24/7 air conditioning!"
"It's already below -20 degrees Celsius indoors, cutting off the power at this time is practically killing us!!"
After days of deaths, water and power outages, and being so cold they couldn't even get a full night's sleep, the crowd finally broke down. They started shouting and making a scene.
A young man in his twenties, as if he'd gone mad, grabbed a plastic stool, rushed to the hotel entrance, and started smashing it against the snow wall.
"Damn! Damn! Damn!"
Seeing many people on the verge of losing control, the members of the armed squad who had been sleeping on makeshift beds in the corner of the hotel couldn't sit still any longer and got up. The captain shouted, "Everyone, calm down!"
"Calm down my ass!" the young man who was smashing the snow wall yelled back.
The captain's face darkened. "What did you say? Say it again!"
"Calm down, you son of a bitch! You think you're so great just because you have a gun? Go ahead and shoot me, shoot me, ahhhhh!"
the youth roared, charging at the armed squad leader with a plastic stool in his hand. The squad members, startled, all raised their guns. The captain quickly shouted, "Don't shoot!"
As soon as the crazed youth reached him, he delivered a sharp, powerful punch, knocking him to the ground, and then pressed his knee firmly into his abdomen, preventing him from getting up.
"Ahhhhhh!"
the youth struggled frantically, his hands flailing wildly. The captain, left with no other option, had to deliver a hard blow to the youth's chest with the butt of his rifle!
"Behave yourself!"
The youth winced in pain after the hard blow to the chest.
The captain, thinking he had successfully subdued him, had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly heard a teammate's cry of alarm.
"Captain, watch out!"
" Huh?! "
The captain looked down sharply and saw that the young man he had pinned to the ground had suddenly produced a baton from thin air and swung it upwards, striking him squarely in the face.
It was a psychic artifact!
"Captain?!"
"Bang bang bang!"
Hearing the gunshots, the captain, ignoring the pain and blood streaming from his forehead, roared, "Who fired the shot! Who gave permission to shoot?!"
He looked down as he roared, and saw several bullet holes in the young man's face, blood gushing out. The baton, a psychic artifact, vanished with its wielder's death.
The armed officer who fired the shots did not back down, declaring righteously, "He threatened the captain's life, and I believed it was necessary to kill him!"
"You!"
The captain clutched his forehead, the gun barrel pressed against his forehead, and suddenly found the hall deathly silent. Turning his head, he saw that the previously noisy crowd had fallen completely silent after the young man was shot dead, all stunned into silence.
The captain took a deep breath and shouted, "Listen up, everyone! The rule period will end in just a few more days! Anyone who does anything dangerous again will be dealt with seriously!"
...
Unlike the volatile situation in the city, Guan Tong was currently in his camp at the foot of the mountain, seemingly detached from worldly affairs.
He calmly finished writing the last stroke on the second page of the [Wordless Book], watching the words transform into data streams entering his body, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"Finally enough. Personal terminal."
[Name: Guan Tong]
[Nickname: Shadow]
[Title: Lawkeeper]
[Mental Power: 75 (121)]
[Ascension Coins: 100 (30 bound)]
[Overall Bio-Information Evaluation: Excellent]
In less than twenty days, his mental power limit increased by 2 points, reaching a limit of 121 points. With eleven days left in the rule's effective period, at the current average rate of 1 point increase every 8 days, he should be able to reach a limit of 123 points after the rule ends.
And through his tireless production, he had finally accumulated enough Ascension Coins.
He opened the Ascension Shop and bought the [Multi-Terrain Marching Boots] priced at 100 coins.
Like the [Thermostatic Technology Underwear], the boots could be customized in appearance. Guan Tong didn't want to be too conspicuous, so he set its appearance to a pair of ordinary shoes.
After putting them on, he immediately went out to the camp and walked onto the snow layer through a "snow step" he had dug out beside the camp path.
It really wouldn't have been possible without digging these steps, since although the snow on Mingdao Mountain was lighter, it still snowed continuously 24 hours a day. After nearly twenty days, the snow on both sides of the path had reached more than two meters high, and it would be difficult to climb without digging steps.
At this moment, Guan Tong was running and jumping on the snow wearing these [Multi-Terrain Marching Boots] and found them to be comfortable, non-slip, and waterproof. Moreover, they were very light, giving a "barefoot feel" similar to wearing carbon fiber skates. The overall experience was perfect.
"As expected of a terminal product, the 100 Ascension Coins were well spent." Guan Tong was very satisfied after testing them for a while. With these boots, he wouldn't have to suffer through drying his shoes by the campfire every night.
After testing, he returned to the camp and opened the [Wordless Book]. Looking at the blank second page, even though his Ascension Coins were currently zero, he didn't plan to mint any more for the time being.
"Let's follow the experience of writing 'Guan Tong' on the first page." He planned to write the word "gun" on the second page first, as previously intended, and see the result after the reality transformation.
If the result wasn't the gun he wanted, he would add another word in front of it. This would save as much time and mental energy as possible and reduce the cost of trial and error.
In addition, Guan Tong hadn't given up on the idea derived from Chen Na's [Perception Domain], namely the attempt at "Shadow Domainization." In
his thoughts over the past few days, he had another plan to add words to "Guan Tong." Previously, it was from "Guan Tong" to "Physical Guan Tong," this time, he planned to slowly add two more words in front of it, namely "Transformation."
The final result would be "Transformed Physical Guan Tong."
The reason for adding the word "Transformation" was partly based on the concept of domainization.
On the other hand, if successful, the blurred shadows will also be able to exist in forms other than human. This will allow for more flexible and covert movement and unlock more combat methods.