Chapter 101 Social Engineering
In an abandoned building across the street from the hospital, dozens of people were gathered.
None of them wore protective suits or masks.
They were all infected with the blood plague.
Red spots were visible on everyone's neck and shoulders.
Their eyes held a mixture of anger, despair, and ferocity.
A crew-cut man stood before them, his expression ferocious. "Everyone knows! Some people have antibodies; getting their serum can save the lives of the infected. But those thugs from the Bureau won't tell us! Why should we just wait to die after we're infected, while they get their serum?"
"I'll ask you one question!" the man shouted. "There's a woman those thugs brought into that hospital across the street; she should have antibodies. There are only a few guards at the door, and we have dozens of us. Dare to come and rob them?"
"Damn! We're all going to die anyway, what's there to be afraid of?"
"That's right, we infected people will be dead within 24 hours. What's there to be afraid of?"
"Don't worry about just a few armed guards; even if they put planes and tanks at the door, I'll still go for it! Getting shot to death is better than dying from a blood explosion!"
The infected were indignant, not one of them objecting.
Many of them had originally stayed in the gathering point, but were kicked out after others discovered they were infected.
Some sought official help, but officials politely informed them that they couldn't provide assistance, only euthanasia, allowing for a painless death.
Some agreed, but many more refused!
Even knowing they would bleed to death within 24 hours, how many dared to end their lives prematurely? Even euthanasia was still death!
Faced with the high wall of death, few would willingly crash into it.
Therefore, some of the infected gathered and connected through local forums and other channels.
Others looked down on them, but they didn't discriminate against each other. They were all infected; who could look down on anyone else?
After gathering, someone suggested doing something extraordinary before the bleeding out, which garnered considerable support. But soon, someone learned of the existence of antibody serum through a relative's
son, an employee of the Emergency Management Bureau and a frontline worker, who knew the information. This relative, wanting to show off, told the person.
Enraged, the person publicly revealed the news within the infected group.
Upon learning of this, the group was filled with anger, yet also saw a glimmer of hope for survival—if they could get the serum injection, they could live!
So they scattered, each staked out various hospitals in the city, hoping to find something by chance. Unexpectedly, they actually succeeded today; a woman suspected of possessing antibodies was brought into the hospital.
The watchers immediately called the others, and soon dozens of infected individuals gathered there.
"Alright, since you all have the guts, then there's no need for further words! I—"
The leader, a man with a buzz cut, was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly vomited blood, followed by blood gushing from his eyes and ears.
Everyone was stunned. The buzz-cut man himself was also stunned for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh: "We just had hope, and then…" *
Thud! *
Before he could finish speaking, he exploded with blood and collapsed dead.
Several people standing near the buzz-cut man were splattered with blood, but they simply wiped it off.
Then another person stepped forward: "Everyone has seen it, time waits for no one. We have to act immediately."
Undoubtedly, when the group's goals are highly aligned, even if the leader dies, a new leader will immediately emerge.
Furthermore, the death of the crew-cut man only fueled the group's ferocity and impatience—they didn't want to delay a single second, because no one knew if they would bleed to death the next second! At
the hospital entrance,
a few members of an armed squad in protective suits were chatting.
"What are your plans now that the rules are over?"
"What else can we do but follow orders?"
"Judging by the time, we should be getting our rest soon, right?"
"Not necessarily… Don't forget that our team has lost quite a few members after these rounds of rules. We've been recruiting from the civilian population recently."
"I heard that from the brothers in the training department. They said that many new recruits are going to practice shooting every day."
As they were talking, something was suddenly thrown from a distance.
"Clang."
The object landed not far from them. They turned to look; it seemed to be a metal lighter.
They looked in the direction from which the lighter had been thrown and saw a hooded man standing not far from the hospital gate, his hands clasped together in prayer.
"Explosion!"
Thud!!!
The lighter exploded instantly, scattering metal fragments. One person was immediately cut, and the protective suits of several others were punctured!
An attack?!
The armed squad was shocked; they hadn't expected anyone to dare attack them while they were armed. They immediately raised their guns to return fire.
However, this person with the ability to detonate metal objects was merely drawing attention. At the same time the lighter exploded, dozens of people rushed out from the other side, shouting as they charged!
Some used props, while others, without props, threw stones and glass bottles.
The armed squad members, caught off guard by the sudden group attack, were caught off guard. Two were immediately knocked to the ground by the thrown objects, while the remaining three retreated while firing, and one urgently notified their teammates inside the hospital.
Flames sprayed, and the first dozen or so men instantly fell dead. Taking advantage of the opportunity to close the distance, the hooded man who had previously thrown the lighter and detonated it pulled out a handful of small steel balls from his pocket and scattered them, then clasped his hands together again.
"Explode!"
The
steel balls all exploded, and the remaining three members of the squad cried out in pain, injured. The other infected seized the opportunity to swarm in, knocking down the three and seizing their weapons.
Having successfully taken down the five combatants guarding the gate, the infected's morale soared. They looked at the hooded man and praised him profusely.
"Brother, you're awesome! It's all thanks to your ability!"
"You can detonate metal objects? With such a powerful ability, how come you weren't recruited by the authorities? What were you thinking, buddy?"
The hooded man smiled weakly. "I can only detonate small metal objects now, and my mental power limit isn't high. These two explosions have almost exhausted my mental power."
"Alright, we've taken down the ones at the door, there must be more inside! And they must have called for backup. We need to take down the ones inside as soon as possible and get that woman's serum!"
...
"...Really?"
After fighting continuously for seven or eight hours, the young hacker in the dimly lit room was now frantic.
He never expected that he would spend so much time and use so many methods and tools on such a small, run-down website, yet still be unable to crack it.
No matter how he tried to penetrate or infiltrate, the final result was either injection failure or an inability to locate the IP address.
At this moment, the rudimentary interface of the "House of Ascended" website on his computer screen seemed to be mocking his incompetence.
"What a joke..." The young man stared, his eyes bloodshot. "This tiny website, built using a template, has better defenses than those big companies?"
Technically speaking, it makes no sense.
He remembered a post he'd read before, where the website owner claimed his site "would never be tracked or breached." He'd found it laughable then, but now it seemed there was some truth to it.
Even a top hacker like himself couldn't hack it, proving its exceptional security.
He believed there were no more than a dozen hackers in the world more skilled than him. If he could defend against them, he could defend against the vast majority of network intrusions worldwide.
"That shouldn't be... such a small website, could it be using some special technology?"
The young hacker was baffled, finally deciding to use his ultimate weapon.
He logged into his registered account on the website and posted the first thread in the "Chat" section:
"Wow, this website is really well done! Website owner, can we add each other as friends and chat?"
This ultimate weapon was: social engineering.
The hacker most admired by young people, once ranked number one in the world, achieved his pinnacle feat of hacking into the Somali Empire's homeland security agency not through cyber intrusion, but through physical intrusion!
That's right, this master hacker first spent months cultivating a relationship with the agency's deputy head of security, developing a romantic connection. Using this relationship, he gained entry into the agency as a security employee.
Then, leveraging his position, he meticulously investigated and exploited vulnerabilities within the agency. During this process, he married the deputy head of security, who even bore him a child… After four years, he finally found the internal vulnerability, obtained the key, and thus completed the full-scale intrusion and breach of the security agency.
The case, once made public, shocked the entire cybersecurity community. While this hacker was imprisoned by the Somali Empire, he also taught all hackers a lesson:
if you can't hack a security system online, try infiltrating it offline through social engineering. Because all systems ultimately rely on people, and people have weaknesses; by breaking down the people at the key points, you naturally break down the system.
At this moment, the young hacker decided to pay homage to his idol by cracking the website's administrator's credentials to obtain the key to unlocking the site.
Meanwhile, in his own refuge, Guan Tong received a website notification and saw a post from someone with the username "Mask," which even touched him slightly.
His website had been online for over ten hours, and finally someone had posted the first thread!
Looking at the title, he clicked on it and replied: "Thanks for the recognition, let's chat in the forum."
Less than a few seconds later, the other side replied again.
Mask: "Okay! Because I also have some research on website building, I'd like to discuss some technical issues with the administrator."
Technical issues…
Guan Tong thought to himself that he didn't have much technical expertise; the website was basically built with the help of AI tools.
But if he were to be so blunt, it would undoubtedly affect the website's reliability.
If users saw that the administrator said the website was built with AI and templates, their first reaction would definitely be that it was unreliable. Once they had that impression, how could they believe the website was absolutely secure?
He thought for a moment and replied: "The technology I use is very special."
The young hacker on the other side's eyes lit up upon seeing this.
Sure enough, I knew he used special technology! I really want to know what it is…
He suppressed his intense curiosity and replied, "What kind of technology is it? Could the site administrator reveal it?"
Site administrator: "That's not convenient."
"…I knew it."
The young hacker knew it wouldn't be so easy to get information out of him. He thought for a moment and then had another idea.
Masked: "Okay. But the UI of the site administrator's website seems a bit rough. I happen to be good at that, and I hope I can help the site administrator optimize it. Is that alright?"
Guan Tong narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw Masked's reply.
Offering help for no reason… Who would want to optimize someone else's website interface for no reason? That's hard work.
Is this guy trying to get my technology? The problem is, I don't have any technology at all… The inability to locate intrusions is just a feature of the shelter's network…
Guan Tong thought to himself: This is fine too. You want to work for me for free? Why not?
Website Owner: "How do you plan to optimize it?"
Masked: "Simple! I'll create a one-click optimization package and send it to you, Website Owner. You can just load it onto your website!"
Website Owner: "Okay."
"That's it!" The young hacker was overjoyed at the website owner's reply. "I'll put a few Trojans in the optimization package. If it's not detected, I should be able to infiltrate from the inside."
The first piece of information in Chapter 102's intelligence section:
A group of dozens of infected individuals stormed into the hospital, only to be immediately overwhelmed.
After several reorganizations, the hospital had been transformed into a gathering point.
The lobby was still piled high with sandbags previously used to block the undead; useless information boards, desks, and even security scanners had all been removed and discarded, freeing up space for supplies and equipment.
Previously, going to the hospital meant following the signs to the corresponding departments. But now, in the remodeled hospital, the signs were gone, leaving the group bewildered.
"Where's the blood collection room?"
"We don't know which floor that woman is on; do we have to search floor by floor?"
Driven by survival pressure, their actions lacked careful planning and thought, leading to this predicament.
Even if they managed to defeat a few guards and break in, they had no adequate plan for their next move.
"Listen up, you trespassers!" A stern voice suddenly blared from the hospital's loudspeaker. "You have seriously violated the law. Stop immediately!"
"We just want to live, is that illegal?!"
"The procedure for entering the hospital with a phone," someone recalled a previous medical experience. "It has directions to all the departments."
"Too much fuss. Everyone split up and search room by room!" As soon as
the words were spoken, several people immediately pulled out their phones to check, while the others dispersed, starting from the first floor, searching each room one by one.
The hooded man who could manipulate exploding metal objects also had a phone, but he wasn't looking up information; he was recording.
The warning continued to blare from the loudspeaker, but the infected ignored it and quickly found a locked door on the first floor. They
tried to kick it open but couldn't. One of them, holding a gun, said, "Get out of the way, I'll do it!"
He fired several shots at the lock, and then the others kicked it again, finally managing to open the door.
Inside were seven or eight people, all wearing white coats, seemingly doctors and nurses.
They stared in terror at the crowd rushing into the room.
"What do you want?"
"We're just hospital staff, not the people you're looking for..."
The infected looked at each other, and one asked, "You heard that loudspeaker just now, right? Which room was it from? Also, didn't someone from the Bureau bring a woman in earlier? Where did they go?" The men
stammered, and the infected became furious: "Speak! Or we'll shoot you!"
"No, I'll talk, I'll talk!" a young doctor quickly said, "The broadcasting room is on the third floor, room 306. As for the woman the Bureau brought in, we didn't see her, we don't know where she is!"
"Quick, everyone up to the third floor! Leave a few people here to watch them."
The infected immediately rushed up to the third floor, and when they reached room 306, they blocked the Bureau leader who had just come out.
"Are you all infected?"
the leader asked calmly, facing the menacing crowd.
One man pressed a gun to the leader's chest, threatening, "What nonsense! The woman you brought in has antibodies, right? Where did you hide her? Tell me!"
"...Even if I told you, do you think you'd all be saved? There are dozens of you here; the serum isn't enough for everyone. And before you could even isolate that much serum, our armed reinforcements arrived. Do you think you can escape unscathed?"
The leader's calm words enraged the group.
An infected person ripped off his protective mask, punched him hard in the face, and grabbed his collar, demanding, "So, those of us infected with the virus deserve to die?! You bastards, what do you take our lives for?!"
The leader, blood trickling from his mouth, didn't back down, remaining defiant: "If you want justice, go ask the Firebringers. Talking to me is useless. Everything we do is from a higher perspective, hoping to save more people, not let this country be destroyed by mutual slaughter in the post-apocalyptic rules."
"Then you—"
Bang bang bang!
Before the questioner could finish, the man with the gun suddenly fired. The team leader groaned and collapsed.
The others stared in astonishment at the gunman, whose eyes gleamed with a wolfish, green light: "I don't understand the big picture, I only know my own life is the most important! Whoever wants me dead, I'll kill them first!"
"..."
"Alright, let's keep searching. We have to find them before reinforcements arrive," someone said after a brief silence.
The group continued searching the hospital, but this large hospital had over twenty floors and countless rooms. Even with dozens of people, searching each room was incredibly time-consuming.
Just as they reached the fifth floor, shouts rang out from outside.
"You're surrounded! Surrender immediately!"
Several infected looked out the window and saw numerous armored vehicles parked at the hospital entrance, with large groups of fully armed soldiers filing in.
Simultaneously, numerous drones took off, locating targets from windows on each floor, providing the soldiers with precise information for enemy detection and attack.
Seeing this, the infected knew it was pretty much over. This was an expected outcome, something they had anticipated before even starting the operation.
Ultimately, they knew the chances of being saved by the serum injection were slim, but they wanted to try their luck before they died; it was better than dying silently in some forgotten corner.
Most of the infected were quickly eliminated by the soldiers entering the hospital, leaving only a few holding out on the first floor, taking the doctors and nurses hostage and demanding the serum.
However, the moment they stormed the hospital, they were no longer negotiable to the authorities, but terrorists to be eliminated. So,
after a stun grenade cleared the way, soldiers rushed into the rooms, quickly eliminating the last few infected and rescuing the hostages.
Then came the cleanup.
Corpses were carried out and transported away, and Sister Yu, the woman with antibodies who had been hiding in the hospital's storage room, was also found and rescued, getting into a car and leaving under the protection of many people.
No one noticed that on the 18th floor, in an open window, the hooded man who could manipulate exploding metal objects was filming everything on his phone.
He then removed his hood. If the infected were still alive, they would be shocked to see him like this.
Because when he removed his hood, there were no bright red spots on his neck. From the beginning, this hooded man was a Blood Plague Adaptor, simply disguising himself as an infected to infiltrate the infected population.
No one suspected anything because no one could imagine that someone would do such a thing.
It's normal for infected to disguise themselves as ordinary people, but it's rare for an adaptor to disguise themselves as an infected.
The hooded man checked the video on his phone and nodded in satisfaction: "I filmed it really well. Cause and effect, emotions, conflict, ending, climax—it's all there. It should fetch a good price."
...
"File download complete."
Guan Tong looked at the downloaded file, thinking that this "masked" person was really efficient.
He said he'd help optimize it yesterday, and today this one-click optimization package was ready.
Guan Tong looked at the file. He didn't know much about computer technology, but he knew that some files shouldn't be downloaded randomly. They might contain viruses or Trojans that could hijack your computer.
He figured "Mask" was probably thinking the same thing, otherwise they wouldn't have created this optimization package so quickly.
But he thought this guy was going to be disappointed.
No matter what computer virus was added, it wouldn't work on the shelter's special network.
Guan Tong opened the file, unzipped it, and then loaded the optimization content onto his website with one click.
After logging back in, the website was completely transformed.
The overall layout hadn't changed much, but the quality of everything had improved significantly.
For example, the icons, progress bars, and option button styles on the website before were all using default templates and looked very outdated.
Now, with the optimization package, these details had been greatly improved, and many animations had been added. For example, when the mouse hovered over an option, there was a color gradient effect for the selected option, which looked impressive.
"This 'Mask' is really something."
Regardless of Mask's purpose, this optimization was undeniably useful.
However, while the interface was more aesthetically pleasing, the most important thing was still the content.
Without quality content, even the best-looking interface is useless.
Guan Tong clicked on several sections one by one. Only the "Casual Chat" section had a post from a fake user; the other sections were all blank.
"I'll fill in some content myself first,"
Guan Tong thought, opening the Intelligence section.
Intelligence is information, but the internet is full of information. How do you make your information valuable and sought-after?
It's simple: you post information that's unique and has an independent source.
If Guan Tong had to name an independent source, it would be the ability to see hidden rules—his most valuable information. However, this kind of information depends on the circumstances.
He's less inclined to disclose hidden rules like [Plundering Awakening] and [Gene Lottery], which are self-serving and detrimental.
But he can disclose hidden rules like [Difficult Choice] and [Source of Transformation].
Especially [Difficult Choice], the information that snowfall is directly proportional to population density in a region. He had considered disclosing it immediately, but ultimately decided against it due to the lack of a safe distribution channel.
As for the [Source of Transformation] rule, eliminating the "Mother Transformer" can end the transformation of the living dead. If he had had the "House of Ascended" platform back then, he could have easily sold this information.
He could have sold it to Ascended individuals with the ability to eliminate the "Mother Converter." That way, he would have made a high profit; the buyer would also receive extra rewards for eliminating the "Mother Converter"; and ordinary people who ended the conversion process early would be spared further threats.
It was a win-win-win situation, so why not?
So, what should he post as the first message in the intelligence section?
The hidden rules of the previous rules were actually summarized in the official post-apocalyptic rules white paper, so posting them again wouldn't be of much value.
He didn't plan to post the hidden rules of the sixth rule, which was still ongoing.
So, what information could he post that he knew but others didn't...?
"How about posting something about the Holy Grail first?"
Guan Tong thought. This was indeed information that only he knew.
From beginning to end, the Holy Grail had been in his hands; the other participants didn't know what the Holy Grail's effects were or how it had been found.
Guan Tong felt that if he released the key to obtaining the Holy Grail—the small print on the statue's base, "Born to be fed blood to summon the Grail"—plus the Grail's effect of "unlimited mental power during its duration," it would definitely spark heated discussions.
People might believe it, or they might not, but there would certainly be some discussion and buzz.
"However, this is all information that 'Shadow' knows. If I release it, it's tantamount to telling others that the administrator of the 'House of Ascended' website is likely Shadow himself, or someone related to Shadow."
In this way, while gaining huge traffic, it would also attract a lot of attention. Countless individuals or organizations would try to use the website to uncover Shadow himself.
If it weren't for the Vault's untraceable network characteristics, Guan Tong definitely wouldn't dare or consider doing this.
"...That's fine too. Shouldn't 'Shadow's' great reputation be used to 'monetize' it?"
Chapter 103 Entering Wartime Status
September 29th, one day before the end of the [Deadly Blood Plague] rules.
The Countermeasures Research Office held an emergency meeting. The experts and researchers who came to the office after receiving the news were unsure what was going on and were vaguely worried.
Usually, such emergency meetings were only held when some bad unexpected event occurred.
Everyone sat anxiously in their seats, waiting. After a short while, the person in charge, Gao Liangwei, entered the room.
After sitting down, he said, "We are holding this emergency meeting today to announce something. But before we announce it, let's watch these videos."
Gao Liangwei had the researchers show some video clips on the big screen.
Everyone watched and quickly realized that the videos showed battles taking place in various cities. Some scenes were extremely gruesome and unbearable to watch.
Moreover, everyone noticed that the main characters in the videos were not just ordinary people, but also some Bureau employees in black uniforms, as well as some armed squads.
As soon as the video ended, Gao Liangwei said, "The purpose of showing this to everyone is to let you know that this rule has caused a great deal of division in society. In various places, infected groups, feeling hopeless about survival, have been causing widespread destruction in cities."
"..."
Everyone fell silent.
Actually, this situation wasn't entirely unforeseen, because most people, once they discover they are infected, will bleed to death within 24 hours, which will inevitably lead to immense feelings of injustice.
They will wonder why others aren't infected, and why they are the ones infected? It's not surprising that they might act irrationally in despair.
Of ten infected people, perhaps nine will accept their fate and silently await death. But if just one goes to extremes, developing a destructive mentality of "I don't want to live anymore," then given the huge population of Beixing Kingdom, that one-tenth of the destroyers is enough to significantly tear society apart.
Now it seems that this situation has indeed occurred.
Gao Liangwei said, "Although there are no detailed statistics yet, these vandals have directly or indirectly caused a large number of casualties and destroyed hundreds of gathering points. Many frontline government staff have also been targeted."
"Therefore, just an hour ago, after discussions among high-level personnel, it was finally decided... after this rule is implemented, the Northern Star Kingdom will officially declare a state of war."
A state of war!
Everyone present felt a jolt of fear upon hearing this; many knew what it meant.
"Some of you may understand, some may not, so let me explain."
As a senior colonel, Gao Liangwei was perfectly clear about what a state of war meant.
"Once we enter wartime, the authorities will take over major factories nationwide and coordinate production and construction. Food and other supplies will be distributed uniformly according to the number of people. Transportation and information will also be controlled; leaving the city requires a valid reason, otherwise it will be strictly prohibited."
"In addition, all citizens will be registered and managed uniformly. Those wandering in the cities, trying to survive alone, must also be included in the management. Once the registration is fully completed, the first batch of shelters in various places should also be built, and then people will be assigned to shelters according to the list."
Everyone in the office listened to Gao Liangwei's explanation of the wartime situation, and their expressions were all very serious.
It seemed that the chaos caused by some infected individuals in this blood plague had been too great, and had actually disrupted the order of the confrontation rules, which was why the higher-ups were determined to take strong measures and manage the situation strictly.
After Gao Liangwei finished speaking, someone volunteered in support: "Good! Actually, I think we should have entered a state of war long ago! We should have entered after the first rule, after all, the casualties caused by the rule have exceeded those of any war in history!" "
That's right. I've been thinking about this for a while now. After food and other supplies were given away for free, there was a lot of waste everywhere. Some people clearly didn't need them, but they took a lot of supplies, and in the end, they were all wasted. It would be better to distribute them uniformly according to the number of people, so that we can ensure that there is no waste."
People spoke up one after another, and most of them expressed their support. But there were also a few dissenting voices.
"A state of war is activated when the country is at war... Is activating it now meant that the Fire Stealers are treated as enemies of war?"
"After entering a state of war, controls in all aspects will be strengthened, and the number of personnel needed will also be large. Are there still that many front-line personnel? I'm afraid we will have to expand recruitment..." "
The Fire Stealers are not only enemies of our Northern Star Kingdom, but enemies of every human being." Gao Liangwei said in a deep voice, "As for the shortage of personnel, new people will be recruited as soon as possible in various places."
Everyone nodded and said no more. After all, this was a notice issued by the higher-ups, not a consultation with the Countermeasures Research Office.
"The purpose of this meeting, besides informing everyone of this matter, is also to help you adjust your work direction and content as soon as possible. Future work must be based on this 'wartime state' for both thinking and implementation. That's all I have to say, meeting adjourned!"
...
"Why hasn't any information been sent back yet?"
Masked sat in front of the computer, biting his nails. He hadn't slept for a day and a night, waiting for the Trojan implanted in the website administrator's computer to send back data.
He was certain the administrator had used his optimization package—to ensure the latter would use it, he had worked over ten hours straight, optimizing almost every detail of the interface to its limit.
After sending the optimization package, he quickly discovered that the "House of Ascenders" website had changed drastically, precisely because it had loaded his optimization package.
This excited him greatly, believing the Trojan must have successfully implanted in the other party's computer and would soon send back data such as the computer's backdoor and IP address.
However, he waited and waited; the optimization package had been loading for several hours, but still no data was sent back. He manually performed several remote wake-up attempts and tried remote access, all of which failed.
This gradually made him realize that the Trojan he had packaged in the optimization package had probably been discovered and completely removed by the website owner, leaving only the clean website optimization content.
"...Could it be that I've really encountered a top-tier expert?"
Masked couldn't believe it. He had just casually browsed a forum and stumbled upon a post, only to find that it was published by a top-tier technical expert—this was too outrageous.
But he couldn't understand why, if the other party had such high technical skills, the website was initially designed to look like that? It clearly used a template.
"Could it be intentionally going for a 'construction site website' look? No...if it was intentionally made so rudimentary, why is my optimization package being loaded now?"
Masked was utterly baffled, completely unable to understand. His lack of rest had left his mind reeling.
"Hmm...hmm?!"
He casually refreshed the page and discovered new content on the website.
A new post had appeared in the intelligence section, posted by the site administrator.
The post title: "Decoding the Hidden Treasure of the Holy Grail on Grail Island"
"The Holy Grail?" Masked was surprised by the title.
He hadn't passed the rules of the [Fasting Therapy] and hadn't received an invitation, so he hadn't participated in the Ascended Challenge.
But after the competition, information leaked, and he naturally knew what the "Holy Grail" was.
Now, after clicking into the post and reading the text, he was completely shocked.
"Is this real?!"
The two pieces of information mentioned in the post—the text on the statue's base and the effect of possessing the Holy Grail—were things he had never seen anywhere else.
His drowsiness vanished instantly, and Masked immediately opened his big data tool, searching the entire internet.
His tool supported multiple languages and could search publicly available information across the world. After the search, the result was "no match."
"...No match means there's no relevant information online. This post is completely unique and the first of its kind on the entire internet!"
Masked was thrilled.
Normally, he wouldn't have believed this post, thinking it was probably just something made up by bored people.
But through the previous "network attack and defense," he had confirmed that the site administrator possessed some extremely powerful and unique network security technology.
Therefore, the credibility of the messages posted by this administrator was greatly increased in his eyes!
"I remember seeing information from other contestants; the Holy Grail was always held by the first-place winner of the challenge, Shadow... Could this site administrator be related to Shadow? Can he obtain information from Shadow? Or... is the site administrator Shadow himself?"
Masked really wanted to find out, but after these two rounds of confrontation, he felt completely defeated.
"It seems I can't rely on myself alone."
Masked pondered for a moment and opened a forum.
The forum was called "Anonymous," a platform where top hackers worldwide chatted, shared experiences, and exchanged skills.
Masked was considered a top-tier figure on this forum. He posted about his defeat and hoped other experts could try to break through the defenses of the "House of Ascended" website.
His post quickly attracted numerous replies.
"Even Masked couldn't break through the defenses? Interesting." "
Has Masked's skill declined? He can't even crack a personal website."
"I'll give it a try."
"House of Ascended? A secure website that can't be tracked? This site owner is really arrogant."
"Is what he posted true? Infinite mental power while possessing the Holy Grail?"
"Hmm? My tool failed..."
Masked was quite famous on the "Anonymous" forum. After his post, hackers from all walks of life quickly appeared.
Some expressed surprise, while others accepted the challenge.
Suddenly, Guan Tong's small website saw a surge in traffic, with all sorts of hackers showcasing their hand-crafted cracking tools.
However, they soon discovered that this seemingly simple website had incredibly powerful defenses.
All attack tools failed, even mass registration attempts to crash the website through high concurrency were ineffective.
Soon, another skilled hacker posted: "I have a strange feeling that this website seems 'conscious,' able to detect our attack intentions."
"I noticed that too," another expert replied. "Registering accounts normally works fine, but using account registration tools, changing IPs in batches, or even single registrations, fails... This kind of detection technology is beyond my comprehension." "
Could it be able to reverse-locate our real IP address and lock us into single-registration only? That's unlikely..."
"Could some new, advanced AI be running this website?"
"Even current AI can't do that... I have a suspicion. Could the computer running the website, or the website itself, be some kind of psychic tool? That's why it can do such incredible things."
Chapter 104 End Rewards and Unexpected Situations
October 1st, 8:59 AM.
With one minute left before the rule expired, Guan Tong stood at the door of the shelter hut, his hand already on the doorknob.
He would go out as soon as the Firebringer's voice sounded.
After being cooped up in his small room for half a month without sunlight, his mental state wasn't good.
Especially in the last two days, after posting about the Holy Grail on the website, he hadn't looked at it much, spending most of his time sleeping.
At 9:00 AM sharp, the Firebringer's voice appeared precisely.
[Rule time has ended]
Guan Tong immediately stepped out of the hut and took a deep breath.
The fresh air invigorated him, and the gentle autumn sunlight instantly improved his mood.
The Firebringer's voice continued.
[Congratulations on passing the sixth test of the apocalypse rule]
[Rewards have been sent to your storage box]
[More items have been added to the Ascension Shop; you can view them through your personal terminal]
[The seventh apocalypse rule will be released in thirty days]
This time it was relatively standard; no new features were unlocked after it ended.
Guan Tong found a rock and sat in the sunlight. He squinted for a while before silently activating his personal terminal.
[Name: Guan Tong]
[Nickname: Shadow]
[Title: Winner]
[Mental Power: 137 (137) (3240)]
[Ascension Coins: 687]
[Overall Bio-Information Evaluation: Excellent]
His personal panel was largely unchanged; his Mental Power cap had increased as usual, and he had accumulated more Mental Power in the past two weeks.
Since the shelter's Mental Power consumption rate was slower than his own recovery rate, he hadn't used any of his reserve Mental Power during this period.
Opening the storage box, he found a new [Survival Treasure Chest - Silver Grade].
The previous two Survival Treasure Chests were "Bronze Grade." This time, by passing the rules, not only had the reward of Ascension Coins increased to 300, but the chest's quality had also improved by one level, giving Guan Tong a feeling of entering a new stage.
He opened the chest.
[Obtained Random Item: Giant Axe Warrior Hoodie]
[Giant Axe Warrior Hoodie]: A black hoodie printed with a giant axe warrior design. Equipping it allows you to summon a giant axe warrior to fight for you for five minutes by consuming mental energy. Its combat power is directly proportional to the mental energy consumed, with a minimum consumption of 50 points and a maximum of 1000 points. The cooldown is 24 hours. This item is tradable.
"Another summoning item… Did I stumble upon a summoning horde?"
Guan Tong had previously obtained a [Corpse Whistle] that could summon the undead, and now he'd gotten a hoodie that summons a giant axe warrior. Adding Shadow, who could barely be considered one, he already had quite a few summons. Taking
out the newly acquired item, it was indeed a well-fitting black hooded hoodie with a design of a warrior wielding a large axe and fully armored on the chest, looking quite imposing.
He equipped the hoodie, temporarily removing his [Multi-functional Spitfire Vest].
Guan Tong then consumed 50 mental energy points to summon the giant axe warrior.
A flash of black light appeared on the pattern on the chest of his hoodie, revealing a majestic warrior wielding a massive axe and clad in full armor.
Guan Tong ordered the warrior to attack a nearby tree, which immediately strode forward and cleaved the trunk horizontally in two with astonishing force. Guan
Tong then took out the [Corpse Whistle] and blew it twice.
Six undead emerged from the ground.
At his command, the six undead and the axe-wielding warrior clashed.
Guan Tong had initially thought there might be some suspense, but in a single exchange, four of the six undead were cleaved in two at the waist by the axe. The remaining two lunged at the axe-wielding warrior, biting and clawing, but couldn't even break through his defenses, and were instantly killed by the axe.
"Is the difference that big...? This was only summoned with 50 points of mental energy. If it cost 100, or even used up my reserves of mental energy, a huge amount of mental energy at once, I should be able to summon an extremely powerful giant axe warrior."
Guan Tong thought to himself, "As expected of a silver-level treasure chest, the quality of the items obtained is much higher than the previous bronze-level ones."
However, this giant axe warrior also has a weakness: it moves rather slowly. I wonder if summoning one with more mental energy would improve that. At least for now, in terms of combat, the undead can't beat it, but when it comes to sprinting in one direction, one undead can take on two.
After testing the giant axe warrior's combat power, Guan Tong was generally satisfied.
He relied on his abundant mental energy, which he could still reserve, so he could accept more summoning items.
If an Ascendant had less mental energy, they probably wouldn't like this kind of item. Because even if the summoned creature is very powerful, being limited by mental energy and unable to fully utilize its abilities would still be very frustrating.
"Let's see what's new in the shop."
Guan Tong opened the Ascension Shop on his terminal. Only one new item was listed, and its effect surprised him quite a bit.
[Secret Communication Scroll]: Can be used to communicate with friends for ten minutes.
[Price: 20 Ascension Coins]
[Purchase Limit: 10]
...
Guan Tong's first reaction upon seeing this new item was that it would be useless to him.
His personal terminal still had zero friends, so even if he bought it, there would be no one to communicate with.
However, he felt this item would be very useful to some people. For example, if two people wanted to communicate secretly but other channels were unsafe, using this [Call Scroll] would ensure that their communication wouldn't be eavesdropped on.
Or, if they didn't have a cell phone, or were in an area with no cell phone signal, they could use it for long-distance communication.
What surprised Guan Tong was that this item was limited to 10 per Ascension user.
10 meant 10 calls, each lasting a maximum of ten minutes, for a total of one hundred minutes of call time.
Guan Tong didn't know what the Firebringers meant by listing this item. Was it to give Ascension users another way to communicate secretly, or was it something that could be used in the seventh rule of the apocalypse?
"...Although there's a purchase limit, it doesn't guarantee there won't be a total limit."
Guan Tong, despite not having any friends, worried about the embarrassment of selling out when he needed them, so he immediately spent 200 Ascension Coins to buy the limited 10. He'd store them in his storage box until he needed them.
This wasn't wasteful, especially after witnessing how crazy the Ascension market was; he now considered spending a few hundred Ascension Coins thrifty.
"This interval is one month, and the seventh rule will be released on November 1st..."
Guan Tong thought, out of his plans for this month, he had three main things to do.
First, continue increasing his psychic power limit and keep trying to write on the fifth page of the [Wordless Book].
Second, maintain and build his "Ascension Home" website and put some necessary storage devices in the shelter.
Third, continue studying Shi Jingyi's "Psychic Power Flow" course; he should be able to get to the basics this month.
And after that phone call, Shi Jingyi told him he could call her directly if he had any questions. Guan Tong didn't intend to be polite; he would ask questions if he didn't understand something, as quickly gaining more power was important to him.
In return, he would naturally lend a hand if Shi Jingyi needed any help later.
He felt his plan was perfect, but that noon, an unexpected event completely disrupted his arrangements.
...
"The country is going into a state of war?"
At noon, Guan Tong sat in front of his computer, watching the live broadcast of the press conference, slightly alarmed.
This live broadcast press conference was held by the government, and the speakers were high-ranking officials.
The main point was to announce that ten days after Beixing Kingdom completed its preliminary preparations, on October 10th, society would officially enter a state of wartime management.
The high-ranking officials explained in detail why this was necessary, listing numerous data, most of which corroborated the argument that man-made disasters arising from the rules were no less harmful than the rules themselves.
Some videos were also shown, depicting the chaos caused by vandals in some cities. They deliberately destroyed gathering points, damaged transport vehicles, and even set fire to self-sufficient supply warehouses.
The high-ranking officials solemnly stated that such a situation could not be allowed to continue. After entering wartime management, all survival supplies will be centrally planned and distributed per person.
All city residents must be registered and included in the management system. Not only those living in designated settlements need to register, but also urban vagrants and homeless individuals; concealment is not permitted. Subsequently, drone patrols will be conducted 24/7 throughout the city; those found deliberately avoiding registration will be severely punished.
Furthermore, as the first batch of shelters in major cities is completed, registered individuals will be admitted in order of their registration. Those refusing to enter a shelter must provide a reasonable explanation; otherwise, they will be refused.
At that time, people living within the city will not be allowed to drive out of the city freely unless they have a valid reason. Gasoline, electricity, and other resources will be used only as needed and must not be wasted.
Finally, high-ranking officials concluded: all of this is for the purpose of enabling more citizens to survive this horrific disaster brought about by the fire-stealers. For this, some other sacrifices must be made.
Guan Tong watched the entire live stream, momentarily lost in thought.
Undoubtedly, his original plans had been completely disrupted.
What worried him most wasn't the strict control and per-person distribution of supplies after entering wartime management.
What worried him most was the official requirement for everyone in the city to register. This meant that continuing to live as a vagrant as he was now would become a violation after October 10th, and he would be immediately hunted down and held accountable if spotted by drones.
This sudden change left Guan Tong somewhat at a loss.
He wondered what he should do.
Register as the officials said, and then be assigned to a collective shelter?
Guan Tong frowned; this was definitely not what he wanted to do. The reason he didn't go to the academy in the first place was because in this post-apocalyptic era, he didn't want to live a life bound by rules and regulations.
Now, being asked to stay in a collective shelter would be even more painful than going to the academy. It was completely unacceptable.
Unless he revealed his identity to the authorities, if they knew he was the Shadow, they would probably give him some preferential treatment and wouldn't have to live in a collective shelter like ordinary people... But at the same time, he would definitely still be subject to some arrangements or assigned some tasks.
If he didn't want to accept others' arrangements, he would have to make and execute other plans within this short ten-day window.
Otherwise, once the ten days were over and the authorities were ready to officially declare wartime status, it would be troublesome to do anything then.
"So... what should I do?" Guan Tong thought. "Staying in the city means I have to register, otherwise it's impossible to avoid the 24-hour citywide drone patrols... So, should I leave the big city?"
From the official live broadcast, it was clear that only cities would strictly enforce wartime management. As for those remote mountain villages and wilderness areas, even if they wanted to enforce it, it wouldn't be effective.
So, should he go to those places?
Guan Tong had his own personal shelter, so he wasn't afraid to leave the city for the wilderness. It was just that things happened suddenly, he wasn't prepared, and he didn't know where to go for the time being.
Chapter 105 Choice and Communication
A large number of people watched the official live broadcast of the press conference, and related discussions flooded the internet afterward.
After all, the Northern Star Kingdom hadn't fought a war with any other country for over a century; at most, there had been some minor local skirmishes, and even initiating a Level 3 state of emergency was
a significant event. For a country that hadn't been on Level 1 alert for a century to suddenly announce that it would enter a state of wartime management in ten days undoubtedly had a huge impact on its citizens.
Those in the Northern Star Kingdom who had experienced wartime social management were mostly the older generation; the next three or four generations hadn't experienced war, hence the heated discussions online.
"Does anyone know what wartime would be like? Just unified food distribution?"
"There would be strict controls in many areas... it shouldn't just be a matter of supply allocation."
"It seems those Blood Plague infected people in these rules have really pushed the authorities to their limits..."
"Exactly! I don't know about your city. We have several hundred Blood Plague infected people here, dozens of vehicles blocked the main road, preventing supply trucks from getting through, it's causing quite a stir!"
"Blocking a road is nothing! I'm from Yunhua, and here they've opened fire! I heard a group of infected people stormed the hospital, grabbed guns, and wiped out the armed squad and the management bureau!" "Here, some
people are setting fires, burning down several gathering points... I heard it's some people who were kicked out of the gathering points after being infected with the virus, they want revenge on the people in the gathering points, so they banded together to set fires everywhere..."
"Sigh... things can't get too ugly. Our gathering point also had many infected people, but they didn't forcibly kick them out; they just isolated them in separate rooms. In the end, although some died, at least there wasn't any retaliation or anything like that."
People shared photos of the chaos happening in their respective cities online, and it was indeed shocking.
"After seeing what you posted, no wonder the authorities held a press conference just hours after the rules ended—everywhere is in chaos!"
"I support wartime management. It's too chaotic outside right now; I'm scared. It's much safer under official management."
"Agreed. Putting everything else aside, I can't stand the food waste. Some young people order several portions of food, and throw them away before they've even eaten half. Free food shouldn't be wasted like this!"
Supportive voices were the majority, but dissenting voices also existed.
"I don't think this is a good idea. Have you considered that once wartime begins, it will last until all forty-nine apocalyptic rules are lifted? We've only passed six so far, and there are still forty-three left!
If we calculate one rule per month, the remaining forty-three rules will take at least three years! More than three years of wartime control... just thinking about it is unbearable!"
"I think so too. More than three years is an understatement; I think it will take about five years to pass all forty-nine rules. Five years! In this apocalyptic era, can we really survive five years? Rather than just enduring wartime, we might as well live out the rest of our days to the fullest!" "
Agreed. I plan to leave the city before the 10th and find a remote little place to stay... I heard that after the first rule was lifted, quite a few people left the city to form camps? I wonder if I can find someone to join."
"Those small groups are usually very exclusive... Besides, many people probably perished during the snow disaster rule..."
The discussion was heated, but in any case, the city entering wartime control after the 10th was a foregone conclusion and would not change because of the discussion.
Those who needed to prepare began making their own preparations after seeing the message.
A few hours later, at dusk, Guan Tong was already driving out of the city.
Yes, after careful consideration, he decided to leave the city first.
He knew that the official decision was correct, reasonable, and would help more people survive from a strategic perspective.
However, from his own point of view, he preferred the freedom to move around and live a life he was responsible for.
Just like when he chose to leave the city under the "June Snow" rule, his resources were actually very limited then; besides a shadow that could briefly materialize, he had almost nothing else.
But he still overcame his fear and left the city and the crowds; looking back, that decision might have been right. But if he had misjudged and something had happened outside, he would most likely have died without rescue.
Guan Tong felt that even then, he wouldn't regret it or resent others, because it was his own choice.
The current situation was the same.
He chose to leave before the wartime control measures were implemented, and whatever the consequences of this decision might be, good or bad, he would bear them himself.
He was driving the same shared electric scooter as before. His destination was the same as before: Mingdao Mountain.
Why go there? Firstly, he'd been there during the last snowstorm, so he had some understanding of the terrain.
Secondly, it had mountains and forests, and the scenery was quite nice. Compared to some desolate wasteland, Guan Tong definitely wanted to go somewhere with some sights to see.
This time, however, he wouldn't camp in the hollow at the foot of the mountain; instead, he would go up the mountain and set up his shelter there. After all
, more than three months had passed, and the snow on the mountain would surely have melted long ago. Living on the mountain would also offer more privacy than at the foot, preventing others from seeing him at a glance.
Guan Tong prepared food and other supplies in the hours before his departure.
He stuffed all the supplies he'd found in abandoned neighborhoods into his shelter, and also made several trips to other abandoned neighborhoods that hadn't been demolished yet, using his enhanced vision to efficiently search for food that could be stored for a long time.
After all this, his shelter was filled with enough food for him to eat for more than half a year—more than enough, even too much.
Guan Tong had a premonition that even if he went to Mingdao Mountain, he probably wouldn't stay there for long.
For him, it was more like a temporary stopover, not a place he planned to stay until all forty-nine rules were exhausted before leaving.
Driving along the same route he'd taken before, he quickly passed the development zone. Guan Tong initially didn't pay attention to a certain spot, but after driving for a few minutes, he suddenly braked.
"...Am I seeing things?"
He frowned, thought for a moment, and then turned back. Soon, he arrived at the place that had caught his attention.
It was a roadside parking lot with a large red truck parked inside. This time, Guan Tong looked closely and immediately confirmed that he wasn't mistaken—it was Wang Yan and Chen Na's truck!
"Strange...didn't they go to Yong'an?"
Guan Tong stopped the car, got out, and went to take a look.
The truck was covered in dirt and looked very dirty; it must have been parked there since that day without being moved.
This was definitely not right, because Guan Tong remembered very clearly that Wang Yan had said she would go to the hospital to see a doctor about her stomach problems first, and then drive on the national highway to take her daughter Chen Na to Yong'an, the capital.
Did they abandon the truck and take other public transportation? Or did something happen that prevented them from going at all?
Guan Tong didn't know; he didn't have Wang Yan's contact information and couldn't reach her to ask.
"Hey, you, that kid!"
At that moment, a voice called out from the nearby pavilion. Guan Tong looked over and saw an employee of the Emergency Management Bureau wearing a black uniform.
The man walked out of the pavilion and stood in front of Guan Tong. "Is this truck yours?"
"No. The owner is someone I know."
"Someone you know? Then get the owner to come and move it right away! This is a temporary parking lot for the Emergency Management Bureau, usually used for official vehicles like supply trucks. How long has this truck been parked here? It should have been cleared out long ago."
Guan Tong shook her head. "I don't have the owner's contact information."
The staff member was taken aback. "Didn't you say you knew the owner?"
"Just someone I know."
"...Never mind." The staff member thought for a moment and said, "Large trucks like this usually have the driver's license, cards, or something inside, and there should be a phone number on it. I'll break the window, you can go in and find it and call the owner." As he spoke, the
staff member walked into the small pavilion and soon came out with a small hammer. He specifically told Guan Tong, "Don't blame me for breaking the window. This truck has been parked here for too long. I was planning to have it towed away and disposed of in the next few days. It's actually quite good that I only broke the window." Guan Tong
nodded and did not object.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The worker smashed the windshield with a few blows of the hammer, then turned to Guan Tong and said, "Go inside."
Guan Tong climbed into the driver's seat, searched around, and actually found a form with Wang Yan's phone number on it.
"Did you find it?"
"Found it."
...
In the evening, in an apartment building on Baishui Road, Chen Na watched her mother, Wang Yan, fall asleep, then carefully went out and waited by the roadside.
A short while later, a car pulled up. The back window rolled down, revealing the face of a short-haired woman—the same person who had delivered the protective suits two weeks ago.
"Chen Na, how have you been thinking these past two weeks? Have you made a decision?" the short-haired woman asked.
Chen Na nodded firmly, "I've decided. I'll take the assessment you mentioned, sister, to pay for my mother's treatment!"
"You're a good child," the short-haired woman smiled. "Your mother will be proud of you."
Chen Na's face darkened, and she whispered, "Actually, my mother didn't want me to participate. I ran away secretly..."
"I understand. You're still young, and it's only natural for your mother to worry. But in this era, age isn't important; what matters most is strength."
"Strength..."
"Yes. For example, you may be young, but you possess the rare ability of 'wide-range perception,' which is a manifestation of strength. Just from this point of view, your potential is far superior to most ordinary people."
Chen Na nodded, seemingly understanding. The short-haired woman said, "Don't overthink it. Once you pass the assessment, my superior will help you pay for the medicine and equipment to treat your mother's cancer. After your mother recovers, she definitely won't blame you for being disobedient."
"Yes!" Chen Na thought so too. "I'll try my best!"
"Okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow. The time is set for 9 PM."
"But…" Chen Na hesitated, "Sister, how long will the assessment take? If I'm gone for too long, there will be no one to take care of Mom."
"Don't worry, the assessment only takes a few hours. We'll bring you back before dawn."
"Okay, I understand. I'll go back now, goodbye sister."
"Okay, goodbye."
The short-haired woman watched Chen Na leave and rolled up the car window.
The driver then asked, "Can such a young girl really pass? She's competing with some really strong people, even a former official team captain."
"Her abilities are very special," the short-haired woman said. "Like I said before, such wide-range perception is very rare. If she develops more functions, she has the potential to become a top-tier support member."
The short-haired woman paused and said, "Actually, even if she doesn't pass the assessment, I estimate the Commander will keep her."
"Ah… that's true. The Commander has always liked to train young girls. Aren't you an example yourself?" the driver said.
The short-haired woman didn't reply. Feeling awkward, the driver pursed his lips and drove away.
Back in her room, Chen Na was thinking about what her short-haired sister had said when suddenly her mother's phone rang on the table.
Worried about waking her mother who had finally fallen asleep, she quickly went to answer the phone and ran outside the room.
"Hello? Who are you looking for?"
"Xiao Na?" Guan Tong's voice rang out. "It's Guan Tong."