Ch. 26 — Lab Meeting

“All Ascendants, check in! How do we handle this rule?”

“Just starve for now. If you really can’t take it, then eat. It’s not like the failure penalty is death anyway.”

“Has the person above given up on treatment? Mind Power decay is a serious matter. Haven’t you seen how both official and civilian organizations are frantically recruiting people?”

“They only want the big shots, definitely not ordinary people like us.”

“I failed the second rule and already experienced decay once. If I decay again this time, I’ll probably drop straight to single digits!”

“Don’t overthink it. While food and drink are free, just take it one day at a time—every day alive is a bonus!”

“The Countermeasures Research Office has updated: the survival tablets from food boxes can be used for this rule.”

“Oh???”

“No coins to buy anything!”

“Dammit! If you didn’t pass the last rule, you have no coins. No coins means you can’t buy food boxes. Can’t buy boxes means you can’t pass this rule either. This has turned into a vicious cycle!”

“Not having boxes doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t pass, right? Don’t forget the first rule—many people passed without using mint candies.”

“I’m a 300-pound big guy—I can just burn some fat and pass easily! This is what they call being prepared for danger in times of peace. Should’ve eaten more to store energy!”

“Holy crap! The person above is a legend!”

“This episode makes me most envious of people with big stomachs.”

The heated discussions online continued, similar to during the second rule. Since there was no death pressure, the atmosphere wasn’t as oppressive and desperate as during the first rule.

However, as people increasingly realized the importance of Mind Power, the prospect of Mind Power decay after failing challenges became increasingly unacceptable.

This time, the official update on rule challenge methods came remarkably fast—within less than ten minutes after the rule was announced, information about purchasing food boxes to assist in passing was updated, indicating they had conducted experiments immediately.

Yet even so, many people who failed the second rule had no coins and still couldn’t afford them.

Fortunately, for these individuals, the authorities also released a detailed guide two hours later: how to survive fifteen days relying only on water.

Beixing Country was the fastest in this regard. Within just a few hours after the first Doomsday Rule outbreak, Beixing Country’s authorities had gathered large numbers of experts and scholars from various fields to research countermeasures.

The current guide was compiled based on collective wisdom from doctors of various specialties, nutritionists, and even some fasting experts.

The guide began with a conclusion: if a person is healthy with no underlying conditions, they can survive fifteen days relying only on water.

However, the consequences could be severe. While the person might survive, some organs could experience failure.

Just like during the first Sleep Deprivation rule—some people managed to endure, but afterward suffered from aftereffects like headaches, neurasthenia, and other sequelae.

This rule was similar. Without the threat of death pressure, how many people with insufficient coins would risk organ failure to endure these fifteen days?

This kind of choice couldn’t be made for others by the authorities, so they only provided the guide. Whether to persevere depended on each individual.

After buying four food boxes, Guan Tong’s mindset became very calm.

He knew he would definitely succeed in the challenge, so what he thought about more now was continuing to use Mind Power to write and create coins in the [Wordless Book].

Although he really wanted to open another page and write something on the third page, he couldn’t think of what to write at the moment, so he decided to create more coins first.

You could never have too many Ascension Coins. Even though the coins he created were bound coins, as long as they could be used in the terminal store, that was enough. Perhaps when the store updated next time, he could buy something good.

Thus, Guan Tong resumed his undisturbed homebound writing career.

Probably because he hadn’t checked in since the rules began, the surviving classmates in the group chat all thought he had died.

After Guan Tong replied to the message, Fang Qian hadn’t sent any new messages, and he didn’t know how she was doing.

Of course, having no disturbances was good for Guan Tong. He enjoyed the feeling of developing slowly alone, just like how he preferred farming simulation when reading books and raising simulations when playing games.

…

While Guan Tong was alone, immersed in writing and creating coins, Beixing Country’s official organization, the Doomsday Rules Countermeasures Research Office, was holding a meeting in an office.

The research office director was a middle-aged man with short hair, thick eyebrows, and sharp facial features, looking like he came from a military background.

In fact, before becoming director, this man named “Gao Liangwei” was indeed a senior colonel in the military.

After the Doomsday Rules descended, the top levels designated Gao Liangwei as director precisely because they believed his swift, decisive, and meticulous style could control elites from various fields and unite them into a cohesive force to combat the rules.

“Everyone, the seminar on the third Doomsday Rule begins now. Please speak in order,” said Gao Liangwei, sitting at one end of the long table. “Starting with Dr. Zhang on the left.”

Dr. Zhang nodded, adjusted his glasses and said, “As you all know, what I’ve been researching isn’t the rules themselves, but the Fire Thief’s purpose. Now that the third rule has emerged, I think it’s quite clear.”

“Regardless of what exactly this Fire Thief is, its purpose should be clear. It’s conducting personnel screening on our planet through various extreme methods, ultimately selecting the screened individuals to…”

“To participate in Doomsday Operations,” interrupted a long-haired man from the other side of the table. “Dr. Zhang, I think we all knew that from day one. The Fire Thief said it itself.”

“Dr. Zhou, didn’t I just mention speaking in order?” Director Gao Liangwei stared at the long-haired man. “Didn’t you hear me?”

Dr. Zhou’s expression changed slightly, and he murmured “Sorry” before falling silent.

“Dr. Zhang, please continue.”

“Okay, I’ll continue. Indeed, the Fire Thief said on the first day it descended that the so-called forty-nine Doomsday Rules are actually the content of the ‘Ascension Test.’ Those who pass the test will be selected to participate in Doomsday Operations… What I want to say is, if we’re determined to build a selected team, we must start preparations now and not delay.”

Gao Liangwei asked, “Dr. Zhang, are you suggesting we start personnel selection now?”

“Yes, the sooner the better. Because the continuous updates of Doomsday Rules represent a process where the strong get stronger. The more we delay, the more difficult it becomes to cultivate specific personnel.”

At this point, someone raised their hand wanting to ask a question.

“Go ahead,” Gao Liangwei signaled.

“I want to ask why we need to cultivate specific personnel. Can’t we select from those who’ve already passed several rules? For example, the Mind Power Development Academy that’s about to open—wouldn’t it be better to select from there?”

Just as Dr. Zhang was about to speak, Gao Liangwei said, “I’ll answer this question. Because we need to consider infiltration risks, it’s best to select personnel with verified backgrounds for cultivation.”

“Infiltration risks?”