Chapter 42: Chapter 41: The Fourth Apocalypse Rule

Over the next two days, since time was short, Guan Tong didn’t open a new page in the Wordless Book. Instead, he focused on testing his Shadow’s ability to shift between corporeal and incorporeal states.

During his tests, he discovered a flaw.

It was an issue of line of sight.

The Shadow itself had no senses; its movements all required Guan Tong’s command.

This meant that if Guan Tong wanted it to go somewhere outside his field of vision, it was completely impossible.

Guan Tong was still considering how to solve this problem. He could either ignore it or find a way to give the Shadow some form of Perception Ability, but not full sensory perception.

If it had full senses, its advantage of being immune to pain would be lost.

Guan Tong considered attaching a hidden camera to it while he carried a real-time video receiver. However, this was susceptible to signal jamming. Besides, the moment the Shadow turned incorporeal, the camera would lose its support and fall to the ground.

If he were to approach it through the Wordless Book, by "adding words" again, it might work, but Guan Tong didn’t have time to try it right now.

He had no choice but to shelve the problem for now.

He also tested the possibility of an incorporeal Shadow materializing after merging with other shadows.

He conducted an experiment in a secluded outdoor area. He controlled his incorporeal Shadow to connect with the shadow of a car, then commanded it to materialize.

The moment he gave the command, his Psychic Power was completely drained, and the materialization failed.

This made him realize that if he had enough Psychic Power, he might actually be able to materialize the entire "shadow car."

Still, the failure was within his expectations.

With his current Psychic Power limit, he couldn’t even maintain a normal, corporeal Shadow for more than two minutes, let alone materialize one that had merged with the shadow of a large object.

Finally, he tested the issue of control distance.

The first time, he stood on the roof of an abandoned building and directed his incorporeal Shadow to move down a road. He stopped it just before it went out of sight and commanded it to materialize, but it failed.

He reduced the distance with each subsequent test and finally succeeded at around a kilometer. This meant his current control range for a corporeal Shadow was no more than one thousand meters; any farther and it would automatically turn incorporeal.

By understanding the Shadow’s limitations, Guan Tong would have a much better handle on how to deal with different situations in the future.

The two days of development and testing passed in a flash.

On the third day, he stopped consuming Psychic Power, conserving it to deal with the new rule tomorrow.

In the morning, as he went downstairs to get the food delivered by the Livelihood Security Bureau, Guan Tong passed the front desk and noticed that very few room keys were left on the rack.

It seemed quite a few more people had checked into the Li Mei Hotel over the past few days. The hotel had a total of 150 rooms, so if it were full, it would indeed house a lot of people.

[Please enter the verification code]

A prompt appeared on the delivery drone parked at the hotel entrance. Guan Tong entered the verification code he had received on his phone, and a side door on the vehicle opened automatically. A robotic arm extended, presenting a small plastic box.

After Guan Tong took it, the drone automatically drove away, heading to its next registered delivery point.

Back in his room, he opened the plastic box. Inside were two cartons of fresh milk, a fruit pastry, a pork floss bun, two ham sausages, and some small snacks—a rather lavish breakfast for one person.

Although food was being distributed for free, the amount each person could claim per day was limited. You couldn’t just order a ton of supplies and have it delivered.

After eating, Guan Tong spent the rest of his time waiting for 9 a.m. the next day, when the Fire Thief would release the new rule.

Out of boredom, he went to the official website of the Strategy Research Room and glanced at the updated Apocalypse Rules White Paper.

In the section for the third rule, Fasting Therapy, it was noted that food chests could be used to assist with the challenge and that the number of chests was limited.

It also recorded the hidden setting where one’s personal terminal would automatically shut down and become unusable if their Psychic Power dropped to zero.

To Guan Tong’s surprise, the Strategy Research Room had already conducted detailed tests on the three new items in the shop.

[Multi-Terrain Marching Boots]: Testing confirms that when worn, the user can walk normally on sand, mud, ice, and water, and is even able to traverse swamps.

[Thermoregulating Technology Underwear - Basic Model]: Testing confirms that when wearing only this underwear with the thermoregulation function active, a test subject’s body temperature remained at a suitable level whether they were in a 75°C room or a -30°C room.

[Genetic Optimization Liquid - Inferior]: After multiple complex testing rounds, the common result for every test subject was an increase of 1-4 points to their maximum Psychic Power. The differing effects depended on each individual’s unique genetic defects, which were randomly repaired.

Test Subject A (congenital color blindness): Reported 28 hours after consumption that color blindness seemed to have improved. Verified by testing.

Test Subject B (congenital albinism): Developed a high fever 19 hours after consumption. An examination showed improvement in their body’s melanin production, with a prognosis of returning to normal levels within the next 2-3 years.

Test Subject C...

Guan Tong looked at the dozens of densely packed test reports. ’No wonder the Genetic Optimization Liquid is the most purchased item among Ascenders,’ he thought.

Of course, something that could correct physical defects and provide long-term benefits would be the most popular. Even a perfectly healthy person might have some unknown genetic flaws, so any improvement was a good thing.

...

The next day, June 1st.

A little after 8 a.m., while Guan Tong was in his room, he suddenly heard a great deal of noise from outside.

He went out and downstairs to take a look, discovering more than a hundred people gathered in the lobby. It seemed almost everyone staying at the hotel had come down.

Some were standing, others were in chairs, and many were sitting on the floor. The entire crowd was a chaotic mess, apparently planning to wait together for the 9 a.m. announcement of the new rule.

Guan Tong watched for a moment before returning to his room. He preferred to be alone when a rule was announced. That way, he could calmly think through a strategy for the challenge right after it was revealed.

At 9 a.m. sharp, the Fire Thief arrived with the new rule.

[The fourth Apocalypse Rule has been released]

[Apocalypse Rule Four: June Snow]

[Rule Content: From the moment this rule is released, it will snow continuously across the entire globe for the duration of June.]

[Success Reward: 150 Sublimation Coins, Bronze Level Survival Treasure Chest]

[Failure Penalty: None]

[Note: Extreme environments are one of the best ways to test a living organism’s ability to survive. Please do your best to stay alive this month.]

The moment the Fire Thief’s voice faded, Guan Tong walked to the window and looked up.

The day had been bright and sunny, with not a cloud in the sky. But at that very moment, he witnessed the heavens transform as the sunlight vanished.

In its place came a thick, leaden, and impenetrable layer of clouds.

Followed by a sky full of falling snow, with flakes as large as goose down.

Guan Tong opened the window and held out his hand.

He watched as a snowflake nearly half the size of his palm landed in his hand, and his expression shifted.

"Snow this heavy, and it’s going to last for a whole month..."

’No wonder the reward includes a Survival Treasure Chest this time, while the failure penalty is "none." Because failure means... death.’

Guan Tong’s heart grew heavy.

He knew that, unlike the previous Extreme Marathon and Fasting Therapy, this June Snow was more like the first rule, Sleep Deprivation. It was the kind of rule you couldn’t survive simply by choosing to opt out!