Chapter 471: Hidden Rule Twenty |
"What's so special about this gravitational sphere? Will it be like Terra?"
"That's unlikely... Terra itself doesn't emit light, and the sphere in the rules couldn't possibly be that big."
After the new rule was released, while official departments from various nations were busily preparing, most people took to the internet to discuss it.
Because there was nothing else they could do.
This rule wasn't the kind that set up individual trials for each person; it was more like a collective test. In this case, ordinary people couldn't achieve much without being organized by official departments.
"That bright moon certainly won't be as big as Terra. Otherwise, as soon as it appeared, it would tear our Tianshui Star apart, right? Or Tianshui Star would tear it apart—either way, it'd be a massive catastrophe."
"I think since it glows, it must be beautiful. We should take some photos when it happens!"
"According to the rule's content, it emerges from the deep seabed. I wonder how fast it rises and how many days it'll take to break the surface? And how high will it go when it reaches its peak?"
The Lanyang seabed is said to contain one of the world's deepest ocean trenches, nearly ten thousand meters deep! If that bright moon appears from there, it probably won't reach the surface quickly.
"What about the Administrator? Has he put out the latest intelligence?"
Aside from the rule itself, people's attention was also on any hidden intelligence the Administrator of Ascendant Home might release.
And Administrator Guan Tong was currently staring at the rule interface on his Terminal Panel.
His gaze was fixed on the note reading "A bright moon rises over the sea, sharing this moment with the world." Even though the rule had been released for a while, his heart still couldn't find peace.
"Although I've long suspected that my transmigration and age regression back to eighteen might be related to the Fire Thief, I never had evidence. But now..."
That specific line of poetry in the note likely meant the Fire Thief knew about the existence of "Earth Civilization."
So what was the current state of "Earth Civilization"—Guan Tong's original home? Was there any connection between it and this "Tianshui Star" he had transmigrated to?
Guan Tong desperately wanted to find the Fire Thief right now and ask what the hell was going on! But he knew, from the Fire Thief's pattern of appearing and disappearing like a dragon with no head or tail, it wouldn't show itself until all forty-nine rules were completed.
"...I'll focus on getting through the rules first."
Guan Tong took a deep breath and temporarily set aside his doubts.
Matters had their priorities; he couldn't neglect one for the other. As long as he steadily passed each rule, he would eventually get the answers he sought.
He concentrated on the rule, and soon the text within it shattered. The particles of color reassembled, revealing this hidden rule.
[Hidden Rule Twenty: The Full Moon Devours]
[Hidden Rule Content: After the sphere forms, its own gravity will continuously increase over time. Low-presence entities within its range will be captured by its gravitational pull.]
[Note: Those who gaze at the moon from afar will eventually become part of the bright moon.]
...
"The Full Moon Devours..."
After reading this hidden rule, Guan Tong immediately recognized its danger.
The glowing sphere itself likely had low mass and low gravity initially, but by capturing people and objects within its gravitational range and pulling them in to become part of the "bright moon," it would further strengthen its mass and gravity!
Then it would expand its capture range, strengthen its mass again, and expand again—a complete vicious cycle.
With no time to hesitate, Guan Tong immediately logged into the forum and posted a hidden intelligence sale post in [The Administrator's Domain] section.
He knew this hidden rule wasn't actually hard to discover. Once the "bright moon" appeared, people would naturally figure it out soon enough.
But the thing would appear on the 11th. By spreading the news early, Guan Tong could at least let the official departments preparing to handle this issue be on guard and prepare countermeasures in advance.
[Sale of Hidden Intelligence Related to the Twentieth Doomsday Rule]
Details: Intelligence priced at 500,000 Ascension Coins. Not provided immediately; will be shared uniformly in 1 hour.
Within thirty seconds of posting, Guan Tong received purchase confirmation private messages from eight regular customers, netting him four million Ascension Coins.
Looking at the newly arrived four million, he wasn't particularly excited. It wasn't that he had become desensitized from too many such transactions, but rather, remembering he had an expenditure of 200,000 per day, this four million would run out in twenty days. He really couldn't get excited.
Aside from the earnings from selling hidden rules, his website also generated some income, plus occasional fees from cooperating with officials. If he could sell intelligence once a month on average, he could roughly break even.
"This rule... A Bright Moon Rises Over the Sea. How do we stop it from rising?"
Returning to the rule itself, Guan Tong couldn't help pondering this question.
Many people online said they'd simply flee to a place far from Lanyang, ensuring their personal safety that way.
Guan Tong clearly didn't want to do that.
He could leave, but if the rule challenge failed and the "bright moon" rose to its highest point, no matter where you hid, your Mind Power upper limit would decrease.
Aside from death, the second thing Guan Tong couldn't accept was a reduction in his Mind Power upper limit. For one thing, the amount of the decrease was unknown. Given his large base, even losing a tenth would take a lot of time to recover.
Furthermore, if the rule failed, countless people would definitely die, dealing a heavy blow to humanity as a whole. So he felt it was necessary, like everyone else, to pool collective wisdom and research ways to successfully challenge it.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
His phone on the table vibrated. Guan Tong picked it up and saw it was Zhang Minglu calling.
"Dr. Zhang."
"Guan Tong, at Head Gao's request, I'm forming a Beixing Ascendant Action Team to deal with this rule. There are some slots in the team for Ascendants who aren't affiliated with the government but maintain friendly relations with it. Should I reserve one for you?"
Guan Tong thought for a moment and temporarily declined. "Don't reserve one for me for now. The situation with this rule isn't settled yet. I want to observe on my own first."
The "bright moon" hadn't appeared yet, and it was unknown how to stop it. Joining a collective action team at this point was too early.
Besides, from what Zhang Minglu implied, this action team was going to be quite large, with many unfamiliar Ascendants—not something Guan Tong liked.
Although quite a few people now knew he was "Shadow," it hadn't been fully disclosed publicly. If he joined this mixed team of official and unofficial members, with so many people and loose tongues, his identity would inevitably be completely exposed. For him, the day of full identity exposure could come as late as possible, one day later was a good day.
"Alright, then I won't keep a spot for you." Zhang Minglu didn't press after hearing this. "But everyone knows your strength. If your help is urgently needed at a critical moment, I hope you'll lend a hand."
"Mm. Let's leave it at that for now."
Not long after Guan Tong hung up, another call came in.
He glanced at the caller ID note and answered with some surprise.
"Adam? You're looking for me?"
The caller was indeed Adam. Last time Guan Tong had visited him, he had left his contact information before leaving.
Adam's tone was eager. "Shadow, let's team up for this rule. I'll help you out. Consider it a small token of repayment for you saving my life."
"You're going to help me?"
"...Have you forgotten what my ability is?"
Guan Tong was momentarily stunned by this, then his eyes lit up.
Force field!
Adam's ability was to manipulate force fields, which naturally included gravity. This meant his power might be usable to counter the gravitational "bright moon" in this rule.
However, in the next moment, Guan Tong frowned and asked, "Adam, your ability certainly has potential to be useful in this rule. But what about your current physical condition..."
An Adam in perfect condition went without saying, but he had only recently emerged from critical condition, still missing a left leg and his dominant right arm, with other injuries yet to heal. It was doubtful how much of his strength he could exert in this state, and he could easily fall into danger during action.
"As long as I'm not dead and my consciousness is clear, it doesn't affect my Mind Power use." Adam laughed. "As for missing limbs, that's nothing. Can't you just have your Shadow carry me around as a mode of transport?"
"..."
Guan Tong thought for a moment and said, "It's possible, but I'm not in a hurry to act. Let's wait until 9 AM tomorrow. After that glowing sphere appears, we'll see."
"Mm. If you decide, remember to find me." Adam's tone was full of frustration. "I can't stand staying here any longer."
...
Human Consortium Remote Meeting.
During the proceedings, representatives and committee members obtained the hidden intelligence purchased from Ascendant Home and placed it on the table for discussion.
"This intelligence... we actually anticipated something like this." Xisiya committee member Torafuto said. "From a physics standpoint, the greater an object's mass, the stronger its gravitational pull. It's not surprising that the sphere in this rule would use gravity to capture surrounding people and objects. Unfortunately, the intelligence doesn't mention how to stop it."
"Can't we just destroy the sphere?" Mary said bluntly.
Torafuto nodded. "It would be best if we could destroy it, but there's a problem. The rule says it forms deep in the ocean, meaning many of our weapons would be difficult to deploy."
"Exactly." The Luruiguo committee member said, "If that thing appeared on the sea surface or land, we could use multiple types of missiles to unleash a concentrated bombardment the moment it appears. But if it's deep underwater, that won't work. High water pressure would cause missile engine thrust to be insufficient, making them ineffective."
"What about launching torpedoes from submarines or using submarine-launched missiles?" someone suggested.
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be very effective either. Torpedoes lack sufficient power, and the diving depth of submarines is very limited. The best current submarines can only dive about a kilometer at most, but the deepest ocean trench beneath the central Lanyang waters reaches over ten thousand meters..."
Mary frowned and looked at Gao Liangwei. "Committee member Gao, has your Countermeasures Research Office come up with any solutions?"
"Unfortunately, until the gravitational sphere appears, the Countermeasures Research Office cannot make accurate judgments. However, we believe we must prepare on two fronts. First, prepare a large number of conventional weapons. If it appears deep underwater and we can't attack it immediately, we'll wait until it enters effective attack range before using them.
Second, dispatch an action team of elite Ascendants. Using some Mind Power auxiliary items, they can enter the ocean to conduct deep-dive reconnaissance missions."
"Deep-dive reconnaissance?" Torafuto looked worried. "That would be very dangerous for the team members. If they get too close to the sphere, they could be captured by its gravity. I think it's better to send intelligent robots."
Torafuto looked at Mary, who shook her head.
"Impossible. Even for us in Suroma, we currently don't have robots capable of deep-diving several kilometers for intelligent operations. I think we should follow what Committee member Gao said. Form a deep-dive team of Ascendants who will first take a submarine down to its maximum depth, then use auxiliary items for protection to exit the submarine and continue descending, attempting to approach the sphere for reconnaissance."
"Even for Ascendants, in the pitch-black, boundless deep sea, they are extremely insignificant beings." Torafuto shook his head repeatedly. "We oppose this proposal. It's too dangerous. Doing so might very well result in the loss of a batch of elites for nothing."
Mary glared back fiercely. "Are you suggesting we do nothing and just wait for that sphere to slowly rise and gradually increase its mass?"
"If only we had long-range reconnaissance items or abilities." A committee member said, "With so many Ascendants worldwide, there must be quite a few who have mastered such methods, right?"
The committee members listened attentively. Through their earpieces, data reports were being delivered by relevant personnel.
In Gao Liangwei's earpiece channel, Li Meng's voice sounded first.
"Head, I know Guan Tong has this ability." Li Meng said. "The Shadow he controls can extend outward from his body and does possess certain reconnaissance capabilities. Although I don't know exactly how far it can extend, I think a thousand meters shouldn't be a problem."
Then Zhang Minglu's voice rang out in the channel.
"I contacted Guan Tong not long ago about the action team. He said he wouldn't join for now and wanted to observe on his own. I think he wants to do some things using his own abilities first. If we force him to cooperate with us, it probably won't go smoothly."
Gao Liangwei frowned at this. Then Zhang Minglu added, "But he's not the only one with long-range reconnaissance abilities. In the database, there are three-digit numbers of people with related abilities or items. I'll screen them as soon as possible and communicate with them. Please rest assured, Head."
After a moment, all committee members finished their reports and continued the meeting.
Half an hour later, the meeting ended. In the end, everyone unanimously decided that each nation would dispatch teams composed of those with more or less investigative abilities. These teams would use submarines to dive a certain distance into the ocean for reconnaissance.
Additionally, a large number of high-powered weapons, such as missiles, would be immediately transported to military bases near the sea area. Whether they could be used or not, they had to be prepared.
For the rest of that day, official departments from various nations busied themselves with these two matters.
By 5 AM the next day, multiple groups of Ascendants had entered the submarines mobilized by the Human Consortium. These submarines spread out upon reaching the central Lanyang waters and then began their descent.