Ch. 27 — Competition and Challenges
“Infiltration risk?”
As Gao Liangwei’s words fell, many researchers in the conference room looked at each other in confusion.
They exchanged glances, somewhat unable to understand.
Seeing this, Gao Liangwei explained: “Everyone present here is in the Countermeasures Research Office and has access to first-hand, latest information. You should all be clearly aware that since the Doomsday Rules descended, dozens of countries worldwide have already perished.”
“The demise of these countries means losing not only countless citizens but also their nations’ precious culture, heritage, and history. Our Beixing Country absolutely cannot reach this point, so if we want to cultivate a team to fight for the country, there cannot be any issues with the personnel backgrounds of this team.”
“…”
The researchers remained silent. Their task was to study the rules, but Gao Liangwei, the military-born director, undoubtedly had more missions on his shoulders.
“I believe you all know I come from the military, so protecting our homeland is my highest priority. Consider this, everyone – if we exhaust national resources to cultivate someone who turns out to be a hidden enemy, how much damage and loss would that cause to this country?”
“For this reason, personnel backgrounds must undergo strict screening. Does anyone still have questions?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Dr. Zhang, please continue.”
“Okay.” Dr. Zhang organized his thoughts and continued, “Regarding the personnel requirements for this team, I believe having Mind Power exceeding 100 to achieve an excellent rating is a necessary condition. I won’t elaborate on other aspects.”
“What I want to discuss more is how to strengthen this team. Based on the current three rules, since the Fire Thief screens humans through extreme methods, we can learn from it and use extreme training to cultivate team members.”
“That is to say, while facing rule challenges, team members must also undergo the extreme survival challenges we design. This won’t just strengthen their adaptability – I believe it can also accelerate the improvement of their Mind Power upper limit.”
“I see.” Gao Liangwei said, “The military actually has plenty of extreme training used to cultivate top special forces soldiers. We can certainly utilize those now.”
Dr. Zhang agreed: “Some of the military’s extreme training methods have been validated through soldiers’ experiences and are effective approaches that can indeed be adopted.”
At this point, someone else asked: “Does it have to be in team mode? Considering everyone’s situation is different, wouldn’t individual training be better?”
“No.” Gao Liangwei said decisively, “In the Personal Terminal’s previously updated [Social] function, there’s clearly a ‘Team Formation’ option. This indicates it will definitely be useful later, so we need to cultivate personnel in team mode from the very beginning.”
“That makes sense…”
“There’s another point.” Dr. Zhang added, “Among the rewards for this third rule, there’s a ‘First Ascendant Challenge Tournament Invitation’.”
“This thing with clear competitive implications suggests there might be direct confrontations between people later. The outcomes of these confrontations could also influence many things, so starting specialized cultivation now is necessary preparation for the coming competition.”
Everyone recognized this point.
Since it’s called a “Challenge Tournament,” it means it’s a competition, and competitions involve rivalry, wins and losses.
This is different from that hidden rule during the first rule – that rule about knocking others out to obtain Alertness Mints was less about competition and more about some kind of malice from the Fire Thief. Its purpose was to tempt people to attack others to obtain survival items.
Gao Liangwei nodded: “Dr. Zhang is right. Whether for the ultimate Doomsday Operations or for the competition in the near future, we need to immediately form specialized teams and begin personnel cultivation immediately.”
“Therefore, this meeting will temporarily add a discussion topic regarding other selection criteria and requirements for team members besides Mind Power upper limit.”
…
“I’m not afraid of this rule.”
After the third Doomsday Rule was announced, Liu Yuqiang thought to himself.
He had grown up starving since childhood. His family was poor when he was young, couldn’t afford food, and often survived on just a pancake for the whole day.
Later in university, to save money, eating just one meal a day or even just having some porridge in the cafeteria was common for him.
Although this caused Liu Yuqiang to get sick several times, it also trained his ability to endure hunger. So when he saw the new rule, he believed he didn’t need to buy Food Boxes from the store – he could get through purely on his own.
But unlike him, his children, having grown up in privileged conditions, naturally couldn’t stand the taste of hunger.
His son specifically called to ask: “Dad, is there any information about hidden rules?”
Liu Yuqiang: “Didn’t the authorities say you can buy Food Boxes for assistance?”
“Buy what? I don’t have any Ascension Coins at all. I didn’t even run that marathon rule – how could I possibly have completed it?”𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
“…”
“What I want is a hidden rule similar to the ‘Alertness Mint’ that doesn’t require spending coins. Dad, you have broad connections – ask around more, maybe there is one.”
Hearing this, Liu Yuqiang really wanted to swear at him.
He had previously specifically told his son and daughter that no one was allowed to mention the first hidden rule or the “Alertness Mint” matter ever again.
Because that was passed by killing people – it’s completely dishonorable!
Liu Yuqiang didn’t want his children to lack reverence for human life. He knew that if they became like that, they would definitely suffer great losses in the future, maybe even never recover.
But he ultimately held back from swearing. Scolding over the phone wouldn’t achieve much anyway.
After hanging up, he subconsciously opened the Qingmei Society’s dedicated chat app.
Many people in the group, just like his son, were asking about hidden rules.
“Where’s Brother Zhao? Any connections for this latest rule?”
“The authorities announced you can buy boxes with Ascension Coins, but I don’t have any Ascension Coins – what should I do?”
“I don’t have any either. I decayed during the second rule, now I only have 3 points of Mind Power left. If it decays again, will it reach zero?”
“There’s a situation where it reaches zero?”
“Not clear!”
“Where’s Old Brother Zhao? Why hasn’t he spoken?”
Liu Yuqiang looked at the messages. That member who posted “almost reaching zero” was exactly the person who completely passed the first rule by eating Alertness Mints.
Because he ate too many mints, although he passed the rule, he only obtained single-digit Mind Power upper limit.
He didn’t pass the second marathon rule, and after decay, it became the current 3 points.
If it decays again…
Liu Yuqiang was also very curious – would it directly reach zero?
As for that “Hengyun Real Estate Chairman – Zhao Jiping” everyone in the group was asking about – over these past days, everyone had learned about his source of information.
Turns out he has a younger brother who is a top researcher, recruited by the authorities into the Countermeasures Research Office.
This younger brother, being in the research office, can obtain first-hand research materials and experimental results. And in violation of confidentiality regulations, he privately leaks them to Zhao Jiping.
However, as the research office’s management becomes increasingly strict, such opportunities for privately leaking secret information are becoming fewer, with each instance facing significant risks.
Over ten minutes later, Zhao Jiping finally spoke up after being urged by more than ten people.
“I asked my brother. He said besides the Food Boxes option, the Countermeasures Office hasn’t discovered any other hidden rules currently. This time, everyone can only rely on themselves.”