Shortly after the rule was released, while the Human Consortium was holding etings to discuss counterasures, many ordinary people went to the Ascendant Ho website to leave comnts and make posts.
"Administrator! Do you have any hidden intelligence about this rule?"
"If we can't figure out how to handle a magnitude 10 earthquake, it feels like humanity is really done for..."
"By then, the shelters we're living in now will be destroyed, right? Will they soon organize us to evacuate to higher ground?"
"Higher ground won't help either, unless you're talking about space stations in low Earth orbit."
"Speaking of which, weren't there comrcial space flights before? Maybe taking a rocket into space by the end of the month could avoid the earthquake; I wonder how many people they could take up?"
"Forget about going to space to hide from the earthquake. Even if it were possible, only a few people would get the chance. Ordinary folks would never get a turn."
"Isn't the Human Consortium having a eting right now? Hopefully, they can co up with a solution..."
"It's not that easy. You can tell from the rewards of this rule—it's the first ti a Gold-grade Survival Chest has appeared. The danger level is definitely higher than previous survival-type rules."
"Why hasn't the Administrator surfaced yet?"
The Administrator, Guan Tong, who was highly anticipated by everyone, was currently looking at the hidden rule.
He had been staring at it for a minute or two, sowhat lost in thought.
[Hidden Rule Eleven: Geomantic Pillar]
[Hidden Rule Content: When an earthquake erupts, a Geomantic Pillar will appear at the epicenter. Ascendants can connect themselves to the Geomantic Pillar through contact. By continuously consuming their maximum Mind Power Upper Limit, they can appropriately reduce the destruction caused by the earthquake.]
[Note: To protect our holand and civilization, for the continuation of the entire species, is humanity willing to make sufficient sacrifices? If so, who will beco the price of that sacrifice?]
Geomantic Pillar... reducing earthquake destructiveness by consuming the Mind Power Upper Limit...
This hidden rule gave Guan Tong a feeling akin to drinking poison to quench thirst.
Ascendants worldwide had already reached a consensus on how important Mind Power was. Unless absolutely necessary, they were extrely unwilling to accept any diminishnt or loss.
But this "poisoned wine" had to be drunk, because it was obvious that not drinking it ant dying of thirst—if they allowed the magnitude 10 earthquake to cause its full destructive effect, there was a real risk of human civilization being completely wiped out.
The problem was, how much Mind Power Upper Limit the Geomantic Pillar would consu and how much earthquake destructiveness it would reduce were both unknowns. If it required a massive amount of Mind Power, then even draining one person dry wouldn't be nearly enough.
Even without attempting it yet, Guan Tong guessed that to significantly reduce the earthquake's destructive power would absolutely require a large number of Ascendants to make sacrifices.
That would lead to the problem ntioned in the rule's note: who would make the sacrifice? Who would pay this price?
Guan Tong searched his conscience: was he willing to go? If the Geomantic Pillar didn't absorb too much, he could accept it. But if the Geomantic Pillar would completely drain an Ascendant's Mind Power Upper Limit in one go, could he really accept that?
He had spent a full year and more to raise his Mind Power Upper Limit to its current 325 points. If it were cleared out in a single day, most of his items and abilities would beco unusable, and his strength would instantly plumt from the world's top tier to the very bottom.
But if a strong person like him didn't lead by example, wouldn't ordinary Ascendants be even more resistant? Wouldn't they have the thought, "When the sky falls, the tall ones should hold it up first"?
If disputes and conflicts erupted over the selection of personnel, eventually forcing compulsory enforcent, it would undoubtedly cause division again, dealing a massive blow to the newly established Human Consortium organization—and the effectiveness of compulsory enforcent couldn't be strongly guaranteed either.
Guan Tong understood deeply that this wasn't a problem for one person to ponder; it required all of humanity to think together and make a decision together.
Therefore, he decided not to sell this rule. He didn't want the decision of who would sacrifice to be made entirely behind closed doors by a few people in positions of power and authority.
So, ten minutes later, he posted a thread in the Intelligence section.
[Secret Intelligence Related to Doomsday Rule Eleven]
In the post, he detailed the existence of the "Geomantic Pillar" and explained that Ascendants who made contact with it would suffer a loss of their Mind Power Upper Limit, in exchange for a reduction in the earthquake's destructive power.
As soon as the post was published, it sparked massive discussion.
Countless users were following the movents of Guan Tong, the Administrator, wanting to know if he would sell the secret intelligence like he had the previous two tis.
But everyone was surprised. This ti, the Administrator didn't post a sales thread in "The Administrator's Domain." Instead, he publicly and freely posted the thread in the Intelligence section.
Instantly, the popularity skyrocketed, with countless comnts and replies.
"Geomantic Pillar??? What is that?!"
"Judging from this intelligence, does it an that to avoid extinction, we must sacrifice part of the Ascendants' Mind Power?"
"Is it just sacrificing Mind Power? Look more carefully! The Administrator's intelligence says the Geomantic Pillar appears at the epicenter! Isn't the epicenter the most dangerous place after an earthquake erupts?!"
"Exactly, the epicenter of a high-magnitude earthquake will definitely have major ruptures and large fault lines. If you decide to go there to contact the Geomantic Pillar, you won't just lose Mind Power Upper Limit; you'll likely die in the epicenter area..."
"You've got to be kidding , that's way too dangerous! Who would go?!"
"If no one goes, everyone dies! It's just a difference in the location of death. If we don't find a way to weaken the destructive power of a magnitude 10 earthquake, it's enough to wipe out all of humanity!"
"The intelligence the Administrator gave is too vague. How many people are needed, and to what extent can the destructive power be reduced? There are no specific figures at all!"
"I guess even the Administrator doesn't know. For sothing this critical to humanity's survival, I don't think the Administrator would hold anything back."
"Specific data probably has to wait for the Human Consortium to send professionals to calculate. I estimate they'll try to collect data and conduct tests during the first few lower-magnitude earthquakes as a reference for the final magnitude 9 and 10 ones."
Guan Tong's published intelligence, amid nationwide heated discussion, quickly reached various institutions and groups. Upon learning of it, the Human Consortium rapidly reached a consensus.
The thirty-four nations unanimously agreed that for this rule, they must prepare with two hands.
On one hand, they must actively respond, using various thods to reduce and avoid the disasters brought by earthquakes, ensuring the survival of as many people as possible.
On the other hand, they must also prepare for failure. If humanity fails in this rule, what should be preserved? Would humanity, like the Kimos Star alien beast civilization, have its civilization chronicled by the Fire Thief, the destroyer?
This was unacceptable to humanity. Therefore, the Human Consortium decided that a dedicated cultural preservation departnt would make multiple digital backups of civilization records, store them around the world, and send a portion into space via rockets.
But no matter what, striving to survive this rule was the most urgent task. After discussion, the representative committee mbers made several decisions.
First, each country must imdiately shut down nuclear power facilities within its borders and carry out harmless disposal to avoid widespread nuclear leakage caused by earthquakes, which would create massive secondary pollution disasters.
Second was the arrangent for personnel evacuation and relocation. People in areas prone to tsunamis must be relocated. The most urgent about this were several island nations, represented by Sakura Prayer Country.
For these island nations, the natural disaster they feared most was undoubtedly a major earthquake. If the magnitude 10 earthquake ultimately beca unavoidable, the islands their countries were on would very likely sink due to ruptures and super tsunamis.
"We have no other choice; we must relocate the entire nation! We need the help of various countries during this process!"
The Sakura Prayer Country representative committee mber stated resolutely. No matter what, they couldn't just sit and wait for death on the island knowing a major earthquake was coming. They had to seek a way out for their population of tens of millions.
Transporting a population of tens of millions, relying solely on Sakura Prayer Country itself, was impossible to complete within a month. They had to rely on help from other countries.
Since the Human Consortium had been established, other countries naturally wouldn't stand by in such a situation.
Inland countries represented by Beixing and Suroma expressed willingness to assist with personnel relocation, but a relocation destination needed to be decided quickly.
Over the past year, the world had gone from over three hundred countries to just thirty-four. The scale of population loss was unimaginable. The disappearance of these people and countries also ant their lands were now vacant, available for the island nations to immigrate to.
Other inland countries had no objections to this. At this point, territorial issues were no longer a priority. It was uncertain whether humanity could even continue, and no one wanted to argue over the ownership of a piece of land anymore.
Finally, there was the discussion regarding the intelligence Guan Tong had made public.
Over the past year, the world had gone from over three hundred countries to just thirty-four. The scale of population loss was unimaginable. The disappearance of these people and countries also ant their lands were now vacant, available for the island nations to immigrate to.
"Our professionals propose that during the first few lower-magnitude earthquakes, once professional instrunts detect an earthquake eruption, we imdiately dispatch Ascendant teams to search for the Geomantic Pillar and conduct contact tests.
Based on the tests, obtain specific data on Mind Power consumption and the degree of earthquake destructiveness reduction. Then, unify the data collected by each country, establish a model, and use artificial intelligence for model analysis to predict the amount of Mind Power and the number of Ascendants needed to effectively weaken the final magnitude 8, 9, and 10 earthquakes."
"Agree."
Representatives from the thirty-three nations raised their hands in succession, agreeing to Beixing Country's proposal.
After the remote eting ended, Gao Liangwei leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh, vigorously rubbing his temples with both hands.
Several hours of high-intensity eting discussions tested the physical and ntal stamina of every attending committee mber. Especially for him as the committee chairman, it required extra energy.
But he had no ti to rest now. The devastating magnitude 10 earthquake would arrive on the 30th of this month. Before then, not a single minute or second could be wasted.
He picked up the phone. "Notify all departnts to go to the conference room... Also, call Zhou Qinfeng, the Dean of the Mind Power Developnt Academy, and ask him to co over and participate in the eting."
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