Chapter 188: Chapter 178: The End and Rapidly Perishing Entities On April 5th, humanity’s sense of smell was eliminated.
On April 6th, humanity’s sense of hearing was eliminated.
Thus, for five consecutive days starting from April 2nd, all five of humanity’s senses were eliminated.
This rule’s effective period was half a month, meaning the vast majority of people had to endure ten days with all five senses gone. This was undoubtedly a great trial.
Starting from April 4th, when the sense of touch was eliminated, the death rate in countries around the world began to climb rapidly. With each passing day, the situation grew even worse.
By April 8th, a mere four days after the elimination of touch, more than ten countries had issued public statements: due to the rapid decline of their populations, their national systems had collapsed, and they could no longer continue to function as nations.
The remaining people from these nations publicly sought help from the major powers, hoping to join those that could still function. In return, they were willing to offer their countries’ various resources.
In reality, with the sharp decline in the global population, these resources were no longer as valuable. Resources exist to serve people. If the people are gone, what’s the use of having more resources?
It was like the planets in the universe composed entirely of iron, nickel, and gold. Without anyone to develop them, they simply existed, holding no real value for humanity.
The major powers held ambiguous attitudes toward these "refugees from fallen nations." The Soloma Empire was the first to speak up, publicly stating that they only welcomed the strong—namely, individuals with high Psychic Power and researchers with outstanding professional skills. They wanted no one else.
The North Star Country also announced its willingness to accept some people, but only if they strictly abided by North Star law.
Other nations, like the Sakura Prayer Country, also accepted people, but with conditions. In the current situation, no one could afford to worry about appearances. Every decision had to be considered from the perspective of practical gain.
By April 10th, another batch of countries had announced their dissolution.
April 11th, April 12th... With each passing day, more countries issued declarations.
By April 14th, with only one day left before the rule ended, the number of countries that had announced their dissolution exceeded fifty.
Including the nations that had dissolved or perished due to the previous nine rules, of the more than three hundred countries of all sizes that once existed on Celestial Water Star, only a tenth—a little over thirty—remained.
Among them, more than twenty were in the northeastern hemisphere, while fewer than ten were in the southwest.
The reason for this distribution was simple. When the first of the Apocalypse Rules was announced, it was daytime in the northeastern hemisphere and nighttime in the southwest. The countries experiencing night suffered far more casualties.
At this point, however, no one bothered to discuss whether it was fair. They all knew it was meaningless. The Fire Thief wouldn’t engage in debates; it would only issue rules. Therefore, survival was the top priority.
True gold fears no fire. The thirty-odd countries that remained after ten Apocalypse Rules were all entities with large populations and strong comprehensive national power.
But how many would be left after another ten rules? No one could say. Many believed that by the later stages, only a few of the most powerful nations would still exist, while the rest would disintegrate, unable to maintain their scale.
To this end, high-level officials in some of the relatively weaker of these thirty-odd countries had already begun making arrangements. By forging good relations with powerful nations like Soloma and North Star in advance, they hoped to have a place to go when their own countries inevitably collapsed.
It was worth mentioning that the Andai Kingdom, which had ostentatiously issued a warrant and bounty for Guan Tong just half a month ago, also announced its dissolution on April 13th.
When Guan Tong heard the news, he couldn’t say he was particularly happy. Based on what he had seen and heard in the Andai Kingdom, he had long ago determined that the country wouldn’t last.
With a ruler like Prince Lado at the top, warlords and human traffickers like Ba Song in the middle, and a populace of Andai People who idled on the streets all day living for the moment... one could imagine such a country had virtually no resilience. A single difficult rule would be enough to shatter it completely.
And this tenth rule, while not seeming like a survival rule on the surface—since it could be navigated with the help of medicine, surgery, and other methods—was no different from one for many countries. Their medical standards and facilities were simply inadequate.
With the Andai Kingdom’s collapse, Prince Lado’s whereabouts became unknown, and the bounty he had placed on Guan Tong naturally came to nothing.
Guan Tong even guessed that Prince Lado would not meet a good end. He wouldn’t even need to lift a finger; Lado would likely be taken out by his own people or some violent group.
After all, possessing a treasure is a crime in itself. As the leader of the Andai Kingdom, everyone knew Lado must have a huge amount of Sublimation Coins. There would be no shortage of people after them.
On April 15th, the tenth of the Apocalypse Rules officially ended.
...
[Rule period has ended.]
[Congratulations on passing the trial of the tenth Apocalypse Rule.]
[Rewards have been sent to your storage box.]
[The Sublimation Store has been stocked with new items. You can view them on your personal terminal.]
[The eleventh Apocalypse Rule will be announced in fifteen days.]
The moment the rule’s effective period ended, Guan Tong felt his five senses rapidly returning.
He recalled his Shadow and took in his own senses. For a moment, they felt completely alien, as if he no longer knew his own body.
He tried to take a step and nearly stumbled and fell. His body was suffering from severe lack of coordination.
Although he had been using his Shadow’s shared senses, which allowed him to move about, it couldn’t completely negate the effects the rule had on his physical body.
As he slowly reacquainted himself with his body, he thought to himself, ’It’s only been about ten days. If it had been any longer, I’m afraid not many people would have been able to hold on.’
The dissolution of dozens of countries within half a month was proof enough. If the rule had been in effect for a month, even the remaining major powers would have been under immense pressure.
Once his body gradually returned to normal, Guan Tong finally checked his Terminal Panel.
[Name: Guan Tong]
[Nickname: Station Chief]
[Title: Victor]
[Psychic Power: 321 (321) (2320)]
[Sublimation Coins: 3,986,120]
[Comprehensive Bio-information Evaluation: Excellent]
Over the past half month, his Psychic Power had steadily increased by 4 points, which was quite good. His Sublimation Coins had dipped below four million after spending around one hundred thousand on bombs, but it was still a huge sum.
However, Guan Tong felt that his biggest gain from this rule wasn’t the Sublimation Coins.
His greatest gains were twofold. First, he had figured out the story behind several fragments. Although there were still two pieces he hadn’t obtained, he had undoubtedly gained a deeper understanding of the Fire Thief.
Another gain was the brief exchange he had with the authorities. Although the conversation was simple, both sides had managed to clarify each other’s intentions.
The authorities had judged that while Shadow was powerful, his personality didn’t align with what they were looking for. Forcing recruitment would only be counterproductive.
Guan Tong, in turn, felt they had a tendency to be obsessed with official qualifications. As someone who wasn’t "qualified" to make decisions or proposals, he naturally saw no reason to join them.
Although their communication wasn’t exactly pleasant, it didn’t reach the point of a complete falling out. Moving forward, they would agree to disagree and cooperate when opportunities arose. After all, no matter what conflicts they had, their common enemy was still the Fire Thief. That much would not change.
’Looks like the Sublimation Store has some new items.’ Guan Tong recalled the notification he had just heard and planned to take a look. It might be related to the eleventh rule.
Just then, his phone rang. The caller ID showed Xu Xiaotian.
Guan Tong answered. "Xiaotian, what’s wrong?"
On the other end of the line, Xu Xiaotian let out a long sigh of relief when he heard Guan Tong’s voice. "Tong, you’re alive! That’s great."
"...What’s the matter? Did your side suffer heavy casualties this time?"
"Yes, very heavy!" Xu Xiaotian’s tone was grim. "This is the first time the academy has suffered such massive casualties since the rules began."