It was actually a virus that could be transmitted through the air and blood!
After hearing the Fire Thief finish explaining the rule's content, Guan Tong instinctively looked up at the closed door.
"The water, electricity, and network in my shelter are all independent, so the air inside this room shouldn't be connected to the outside either. As long as I stay put for fifteen days, it should be relatively safe..."
Guan Tong's first reaction was to stay in the shelter for fifteen days without going out.
Because this rule was truly terrifying. A highly lethal virus that causes death within 24 hours of infection, and it could even spread through the air. Unless you had professional protective equipnt, simply being exposed to the outside air carried the risk of infection.
"To go outside, I would need full-body protective gear, and also professional-grade oxygen masks and tanks... I don't have any of that."
The supplies Guan Tong had here were only food, so basic everyday items like lighters, common dicines, and so on.
He did have so protective items, but they were just ordinary-grade masks and disinfectant. He certainly didn't dare to rely on these things to go outside casually.
"The remaining food I have is definitely enough to support
and Coal Ball for fifteen days. It's just that with a disaster of this level, the casualties this ti are probably..."
Guan Tong hardly dared to think about how many people would die after this rule. In terms of lethality to humans, this Blood Plague virus was far more terrifying than the previous Snow Disaster.
...Let's first see what the Hidden Rule is.
Guan Tong took a deep breath, temporarily pushing aside thoughts of how terrifying this rule was, and opened the terminal panel to check the rule details.
Under his gaze, the Hidden Rule quickly assembled and appeared.
[Hidden Rule Six: Genetic Lottery]
[Hidden Rule Content: During this rule, an extrely small number of humans are naturally born with adaptive antibodies to the virus. After being infected, they will not die from explosive hemorrhaging. Instead, within 24 hours, they will gain a special ability called 'Infection Perception.' This ability allows them to sense whether people within a 100-ter range are infected. Extracting the serum from such individuals and injecting it into oneself can provide immunity to/cure the virus.]
[Note: Are you willing to win this genetic lottery?]
After reading the hidden information, Guan Tong's first feeling was actually one of horror.
Was the Fire Thief doing this on purpose?
Humans who discover they possess 'Infection Perception' within 24 hours of infection, if they are smart enough, would absolutely realize they have antibodies. At that point, their first priority would be to stay away from others, otherwise...
Once the information of this Hidden Rule is discovered by the general public, those who possess this so-called 'genetic lottery' would undoubtedly beco targets of collective pursuit and hunting! If caught by certain violent groups, they might even be drained of blood until they die.
And this scenario of humans killing each other seed to be exactly the kind of picture the Fire Thief most enjoyed seeing.
Guan Tong felt a chill in his heart. He absolutely could not publicize this kind of Hidden Rule. Even if there was an untraceable network, he would never send it out.
Because he didn't know if doing so would be saving people or killing them. Perhaps those saved by extracting and injecting the serum would be grateful to him, but what about those 'genetic lottery' winners? Once they are killed, on whose head would their lives be counted?
Too terrifying...
This was the only thought in Guan Tong's mind at this mont. This Hidden Rule was completely guiding people to kill each other for survival.
Combining it with all the past rules, Guan Tong couldn't help but wonder: If things continue like this, how many living people will be left on this planet in the end?
Even knowing full well that the Fire Thief's goal is to screen humanity, how many people can accept all of this with peace of mind, completely unmoved?
"...And what can I do?"
Guan Tong sat back down on the bed in silence.
Apart from hiding in his own shelter and enduring these fifteen days, it seed like he couldn't do anything.
During the previous [Night of the Living Dead], he could rush to eliminate the 'Matriarch Converter' imdiately.
Even though doing so was to obtain the special reward, objectively speaking, eliminating the converter early ant ending the living dead transformation in this region a significant amount of ti ahead of schedule. This, more or less, could indirectly save so people who would have originally died from the living dead attacks.
But now, facing this [Fatal Blood Plague] rule, Guan Tong found that all the abilities he was proud of were useless.
Whether it was Shadow or the Silver Hunt, neither would be of any use during this rule.
Because the virus was an enemy you simply couldn't see. Not just Guan Tong himself, but if you counted all the strong individuals he encountered in the tournant... every single one of them, who could do anything about the virus?
Take Lucifer, for example. Even if he had wings and could fly, does that an there's no air at high altitudes? It's not like flying into outer space; you could still get infected.
"ow."
Coal Ball owed at this mont, seemingly hungry, its eyes fixed on the backpack containing supplies.
Guan Tong sighed sowhat helplessly, got it so food, and seeing it eat leisurely, he even felt a little envious of the animal's ignorance.
However, watching Coal Ball eat, Guan Tong suddenly rembered an idea he had once had.
That was, he had thought that once his Mind Power was high enough, he could rely on the [Wordless Book] to be self-sufficient. If he ran out of food, he could just write 'food' on it.
"Self-sufficiency..."
Guan Tong took the [Wordless Book] out of the storage box and flipped through the pages one by one.
Shadow, Silver Hunt, Mind Power, shelter... The content on each page had provided him with trendous help, allowing him to survive the past rules.
He flipped to the fifth page and once again tried to pick up the pen.
His Mind Power Upper Limit was 132 on Holy Grail Island. After the tournant ended, it beca 134. Now, half a month later, it had increased by another 1 point, reaching 135.
Could the extra 3 points compared to back then allow
to put pen to paper?
Holding onto a sliver of hope, he tried to write on it, but the next mont, his right hand was pushed away.
Hope shattered instantly. Guan Tong threw the pen aside.
"Still can't do it, huh."
At the mont he tried to write, the only two characters he wanted to write were:
Serum.
That's right. Since his [Wordless Book] could materialize anything, why couldn't it materialize the serum antidote needed for this Blood Plague rule?
If he could manufacture large quantities of serum, could he save many people? This sudden thought made him attempt it, but the result was failure.
But failure didn't an the end.
Instead, the ergence of this idea gave Guan Tong a feeling of opening up new ways of thinking.
In the past, it was always the Fire Thief announcing rules and making moves, while humans could only react and take the hits, with their greatest hope being not to be killed by that move.
But today, at this mont, for the first ti, Guan Tong had the thought of 'countering the move.'
"If the Wordless Book can open enough pages, and if there's enough Mind Power, perhaps one day in the future, it really could oppose the Fire Thief's rules... As long as it succeeds once, it ans hope exists."
This optimism took deep root in Guan Tong's heart.
...
At the Doomsday Rules Counterasures Research Office, an ergency seminar regarding the Sixth Doomsday Rule was being held.
Every attendee was currently wearing professional anti-virus oxygen masks and high-level protective gear, ensuring that not a single patch of their skin ca into contact with the air.
The authorities had spent enormous resources to establish this Counterasures Research Office and had allocated them what was almost the highest-level underground safety bunker, all with the goal of having them contribute to dealing with the Doomsday Rules.
Therefore, no one in the research office dared to be negligent. Since its establishnt, anyone who was not dedicated to their work or engaged in behavior like violating regulations or leaking secrets had all been punished or dismissed by Gao Liangwei.
"Everyone." Gao Liangwei's voice ca through the mask, sounding sowhat muffled, but the gravity in his tone was sothing anyone could hear.
"We are currently in a safe bunker, wearing the highest-level protective gear, with 24-hour circulating oxygen supply... But don't forget, the vast number of our citizens are now in extre danger. Every minute and second we delay, a large number of people might beco infected. So, I don't want to hear a single word of nonsense!"
"Yes. Currently, the construction of shelters in major cities is still ongoing and not yet completed. Most people are still staying at their original gathering points. But this ti is different from during the Snow Disaster rule. Crowds at gathering points need to be forcibly dispersed and relocated; otherwise, the number of infected will explode rapidly."
"Disaster prevention, disease control, ergency centers, etc., are all mobilized. Staff must be equipped with professional-level protective equipnt, and ordinary civilians should be issued protective masks and oxygen tanks."
"How should the infected be handled?" Soone raised the key question. "Also, should we research the virus?"
If the virus was going to exist long-term, then not researching it would be impossible. But the duration of this rule was only 15 days!
Accomplishing all this in half a month was almost impossible.
It was more likely that even if virus cells were extracted, the rule's ti limit would end before any substantial research results were achieved. By then, the virus would disappear along with the rule, rendering all the effort wasted.
"Research is needed." Gao Liangwei stated firmly at this point. "Have virologists conduct the research. Regardless of whether there are results, we cannot give up the opportunity."
"As for how to handle the infected, it depends on the infection situation. If there are no external symptoms after infection, and death by explosive hemorrhaging occurs at a random ti within 24 hours, then I'm afraid there's no other thod besides isolating each person individually."
"If there are obvious changes after infection, like bleeding, soaring body temperature, etc., then upon discovering one..." Gao Liangwei paused, "...administer euthanasia to one. At least don't let people suffer so much when they go."
"Understood. We will imdiately convey the ssage to all regions."
"And most importantly, find the hidden content of the rule as soon as possible!" Gao Liangwei said gravely. "Based on the experience from the previous rules, we can conclude that each rule has hidden content behind it. If we can find it quickly, we might be able to save many lives. We absolutely cannot be careless!"
After the eting ended, everyone hurried off to carry out their respective tasks.
Dr. Zhang, responsible for the selection and training of Doomsday team personnel, stayed behind alone.
Gao Liangwei asked, "Dr. Zhang, is there sothing else?"
Dr. Zhang said, "It's like this. I believe the personnel of the several teams need key protection. So, I would like to apply to you to purchase so special dicinal-type items on the terminal market and distribute them."
"Special dicinal items?" Gao Liangwei frowned. "You should know that the prices for those things on the terminal market are the highest."
"Yes." Dr. Zhang nodded.
He knew that so dicines on the market had effects that could almost be called miraculous. While they couldn't bring people back from the dead, dicines that could instantly cure a seriously ill patient after taking them did indeed exist.
Undoubtedly, top-level figures in various countries had a strong demand for such dicinal items. This led to the prices of such dicines being astronomical, so even selling for six or seven-digit amounts of Ascension Coins, snapped up instantly after being listed.
"But what if a key mber of the team, especially a captain, gets infected and needs such dicine to save their life at a critical mont? This is also for the sake of the overall situation. I hope you can approve this budget."
Even though the Doomsday team could receive official investnt, the investnt wasn't unlimited. For consumption reaching the level of six or seven-digit Ascension Coins, without the approval of the person in charge, Gao Liangwei, it really wouldn't be possible.
Gao Liangwei thought for a mont and then nodded. "Alright. But I can only approve a budget of 800,000 for you. How much you can buy with that is up to you."
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