Chapter 179: Chapter 169: The Arrival of Uninvited Guests At 11:00 PM, the North Star Country’s government officially released the intelligence they had purchased.
It wasn’t just the North Star Country this time; other organizations and groups that had bought the intelligence also chose to make it public.
The reason was quite simple: this hidden intelligence involved almost no fierce competition, and it was nearly impossible to profit at others’ expense.
So, they might as well release it to the public and earn a good reputation. Much like during the eighth rule, the North Star government’s act of publicizing intelligence had been met with worldwide praise.
As the news spread, people found it outrageous but couldn’t immediately think of any good way to deal with it.
Even if they could temporarily disable a sense with drugs, such substances surely wouldn’t have an infinite supply. Furthermore, it was unclear whether the drugs would even be effective or if using them to counteract the rule would be judged as a failed challenge.
After the news broke, Guan Tong listed the [Taste Masking Device] he had bought on the market.
He had spent thirty thousand on the item, but he listed it for three hundred thousand—a tenfold increase. It sold successfully in less than half a minute.
Then he lay down on his bed and rested early.
He didn’t want to cram any more information into his mind, as it would affect his rest.
To him, maintaining ample energy was the most important thing. Even if tomorrow were the end of the world, he would get a good night’s sleep today.
「The night passed without incident. The next day.」
Guan Tong ate breakfast and waited for time to pass.
At 9:00 AM sharp, the rule’s effect officially manifested. In an instant, his vision went completely black.
Guan Tong raised a hand and touched his eyes. "...It seems the first sense to be eliminated is sight."
Even with some mental preparation, the discomfort and fear brought on by sudden blindness were hard for an ordinary person to imagine.
And this loss of sight was absolute.
Not even a glimmer of light remained; he was plunged into a world of complete, pure blackness.
Guan Tong sat quietly for a moment, experiencing how he felt in this state.
He could feel an uncontrollable panic and dread slowly rising from deep within him.
It was an instinctive feeling for humans unable to see, and honestly, it was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
After about five minutes in such pure darkness, Guan Tong had had enough. He summoned his Shadow.
The moment he activated shared vision, the darkness shattered.
He saw himself sitting on a stool, his long hair slightly messy, his vacant eyes staring unfocused into the distance.
His vision had been replaced by the Shadow’s, and since the Shadow was standing opposite him, he was seeing his own form.
"This is... very inconvenient."
Guan Tong thought for a moment and had the Shadow cover his body.
With man and Shadow overlapping, it felt more like he was seeing with his own eyes. The sense of detachment was still there, but it was no longer so intense.
Guan Tong didn’t complain. He knew that the fact his Shadow’s sensory sharing worked was already a stroke of immense luck for him.
There were probably few Ascenders in the world who could counteract the rule with an ability or item like he could. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him one in a million, or even ten million.
’You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. It’s really true.’
Using the vision shared by his Shadow, Guan Tong looked at his surroundings. Although he had only experienced that pure blackness for five minutes, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of ’it’s so good to be able to see.’
He walked out of his room, looked at the forest outside, then turned his head to look in a certain direction to the east.
’Perhaps... this Rule Stage is an opportunity for me.’
This so-called opportunity was a chance to go to the Sakura Prayer nation and try to obtain Fragment 5.
Because in four more days, after all five senses were eliminated, most people would likely fall into a state of being "unable to move" and "unable to care for themselves." Only a few with special abilities or items would be spared.
But as long as the majority of the population’s problems remained unsolved, even the most powerful nations would be completely paralyzed.
Ordinarily, even if Guan Tong had the desire, he wouldn’t have so easily set foot in the Sakura Prayer nation’s territory to get the fragment. To enter the territory of a powerful nation alone was extremely dangerous.
But this time was different. If he acted carefully during this Rule Stage, he might be able to get the fragment while avoiding a confrontation with their official armed forces.
Guan Tong couldn’t be called an adventurer, but if he felt the time was right, he would take the initiative. If he missed this chance, there was no telling what he might face later.
After making a preliminary decision, but before he could take any specific action, Guan Tong was surprised to discover that some uninvited guests had already arrived.
It turned out he wasn’t the only one who wanted to seize this opportunity.
...
「Thirty minutes earlier.」
A special forces unit entered Banzhen, the Capital of the Andai Kingdom.
They entered openly, not stealthily, apparently with permission from the Andai Kingdom’s official authorities.
This special forces unit was well-equipped, and its members all had solemn expressions. Led by a middle-aged man, they moved quickly toward a certain location.
And that location was near where Guan Tong had hidden the two fragments, wrapped in a Shadow Line, deep underground.
When the special forces unit was five kilometers from the target location, the Commander ordered a halt, then said in the Sakura Prayer language, "Take out the medicine!"
These special forces soldiers from the Sakura Prayer nation each took out a small, personal pillbox containing only two pills.
"Take the medicine!"
The Commander gave another order, and the soldiers, without hesitation, opened their pillboxes, placed the pills in their mouths, and swallowed them with a tilt of their heads.
Soon, looks of agony appeared on their faces.
Some clutched their heads, others their eyes, but none of them cried out in pain. They simply endured it in silence.
A short time later, when some of them raised their heads again, their pupils had turned blood-red, and they were unable to see.
But for two of the soldiers, the drug’s effect wasn’t obvious. Perhaps their bodies had some kind of Resistance, preventing it from working.
Seeing this, the Commander said in a grim voice, "If the medicine doesn’t work, do it yourselves!"
"Yes, sir!"
Without a moment’s hesitation, the two men drew spikes and stabbed them into their own eyes.
SQUELCH!
This was faster and more effective than the medicine. Their vision instantly went black, and blood streamed endlessly from their eyes.
The substance this special forces unit had taken was a special drug provided by doctors from the Sakura Prayer nation.
After being ingested, it would rapidly cause the retinal blood vessels to rupture, leading to blindness.
But it was unknown why these people would be so ruthless to themselves.
The entire special forces unit then waited in silence. A few minutes after 9:00 AM, the soldiers suddenly raised their heads, their vision becoming as bright as ever.
A smile flickered across the Commander’s face, but it vanished as quickly as it came.
"Today, sight was eliminated. We’re in luck."
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers of the special forces unit all understood. Among the five senses, as long as touch wasn’t the one eliminated today, any of the other four was considered "good luck."
"Alright, continue with the mission as planned," the Commander said. "We must eliminate the holder today and bring back those two fragments!"
After speaking, a fanatical glint appeared in the Commander’s eyes. "Long live the Lord Divine Son!"
"Long live!" the men whispered in unison.
The Commander contacted headquarters again. After confirming the fragments’ approximate location, he immediately requested long-range support.
The next moment, missiles launched from several warships stationed off the coast of the Andai Kingdom, streaking across the sky and hurtling toward the area where Guan Tong had buried the fragments!