Guan Tong walked out of the shelter and saw Shi Jingyi gently patting Coal Ball's head.
Perhaps because Coal Ball had seen her many tis already and was familiar with her scent, it behaved very docilely in front of her.
Hearing footsteps, Shi Jingyi turned her head to look at Guan Tong, a smile appearing on her face. "Congratulations."
Guan Tong touched his own cheek. "Has my appearance changed?"
"It's your aura. It's hard to describe clearly, but I can distinctly feel a big difference from before."
"...Indeed."
When Guan Tong first saw Shi Jingyi after her breakthrough, he had felt the sa way.
Ascendants who enter the second stage of Ascension all undergo a certain change in their aura.
Guan Tong glanced at the ti: 8:30. There were still thirty minutes until the new rule was announced.
He suggested, "Should we try establishing a Mind Network?"
They had tried before, and the result was failure.
Now that both of them had entered the second stage of Ascension, the outco might be different.
"Sure."
Shi Jingyi patted Coal Ball's back. "Go play."
Coal Ball owed and ran off. Shi Jingyi walked over and extended her right hand.
Guan Tong extended his left hand, grasping her right hand.
The two of them simultaneously and tacitly activated their Mind Power to make contact, silently reciting in their hearts: "Establish Mind Network."
In an instant, a tingling sensation similar to an electric current swept through both their bodies. An intangible connection, rooted in their ntal nerves, was established between them.
Shi Jingyi: Can you hear ?
She didn't open her mouth, but her voice sounded in Guan Tong's mind.
Guan Tong: I can hear it... We've successfully established a Mind Network!
At this mont, both of them were very happy. The establishnt and connection of the Mind Network ant that from now on, they could communicate directly on a ntal level.
This kind of communication was unaffected by the environnt, unrestricted by conditions, impossible to eavesdrop on, and impossible to interfere with. It was practically one of the best communication thods.
Its only drawback was that it consud energy.
Shi Jingyi said, "Did you notice? We only used the Mind Network to say one sentence, and it consud ten points of Mind Power."
"I noticed," Guan Tong nodded. "That consumption isn't low. And we don't know if it's affected by distance. Could it be that the further apart we are, the more it consus?"
"Possibly," Shi Jingyi smiled. "During the 'Digital Detox' rule period, every Ascendant could use the Mind Network to communicate, and there was no consumption at all except for short periods of heavy communication... Thinking about it now, that was completely like a 'feature-limited free trial period'."
"I feel the sa way."
The two let go of each other's hands, but could still feel the existence of that intangible connection.
Shi Jingyi checked the ti and said, "I don't know what the new rule is, but I need to return to the academy first."
With the new rule about to be announced, if it was the kind of rule that made going out inconvenient, the academy would definitely seal the campus imdiately. If Shi Jingyi, as a lecturer, was still outside at that ti, it wouldn't be good.
"Mhm. Thank you for your help these past few days."
Guan Tong knew that without Shi Jingyi's continuous external guidance helping him with Condensation and Sublimation these past few days, he couldn't have broken through before the new rule was announced.
"It's nothing... Oh, by the way, I'm very sorry about what happened to your friend."
Shi Jingyi was talking about Suzuki. Guan Tong's expression turned serious. "I won't give up investigating that matter. Also, I will use the Mind Network to test and identify parasitized forms as soon as possible. I'll tell you once I have results."
"Okay, then let's use the Mind Network to contact each other if anything cos up later. As long as we don't actively sever it ourselves, it can remain connected."
After watching Shi Jingyi leave, Guan Tong sat down at the entrance of the shelter.
Even though she had broken through before him, verifying and identifying parasitized forms was sothing he should do, as it was more appropriate.
Even if he were to be exposed because of it, or even beco a target of hatred for the parasitized forms, it didn't matter. He was already without a fixed residence anyway.
Shi Jingyi was different. If she were exposed, with her routine between the academy and her dormitory, she would be too easy to target.
"Investigating Suzuki, attempting to identify parasitized forms, leading the team to Fahe to carry out a decapitation strike against the higher-ups of the Fire Thief Worship Cult... these are the things I need to do next. Additionally, continuously collecting Mind Power and researching the second stage of Ascension will also take ti."
Guan Tong let out a long sigh. He really had a lot of things to do.
The ti reached nine o'clock, and the Fire Thief's voice sounded precisely on ti.
[The seventeenth Doomsday Rule has been announced]
[Doomsday Rule Seventeen: Crimson Gaze]
[Rule Content: During the Rule Period, Terra will be transford into an ominous crimson color under the influence of a special force. Humans who gaze directly at it will have their brains trigger an irrational, intense fear. This fear will transform into auditory and visual hallucinations, making people see their deepest, innermost fears. The severity will continuously accumulate until it destroys their sanity. The rule duration is thirty days.]
[Success Reward: 1000 Ascension Coins; Survival Treasure Chest · Silver Grade]
[Failure Punishnt: None]
[Note: If a deadly threat lurks within the stars, does gazing upon them beco a taboo?]
...
After the new rule was announced, a wave of discussion instantly swept across the whole world.
"Survival type! It's a survival-type rule!"
"Feels like the terror of being dominated by this kind of rule is back..."
"Yeah. The previous few rules allowed those who didn't want to compete to stay out of it and rest properly. This one, though..."
"Is this rule really that difficult? Even if it's survival-type—just don't go out for the whole month, stay indoors the entire ti, wouldn't that be fine?"
"It doesn't seem hard. Just don't look at the reddened star."
On various major platforms, while people lanted the return of survival-type rules, they also believed this rule wasn't particularly difficult.
The safest approach was to not go out for a month. If one absolutely had to go out, choose dayti. If one had to go out at night, perhaps being a 'head-down tribe' and constantly looking at the ground could also help avoid it.
However, many others didn't believe this rule could be passed through easily.
Every nation or organization imdiately held serious counterasure discussion etings.
At the Beixing Counterasures Research Office, Gao Liangwei convened a eting imdiately.
"The Top Levels have made a decision imdiately: for this rule, the authorities will issue a 'curfew order.' People are not allowed to leave shelters after nightfall."
After Gao Liangwei finished speaking, all the eting participants nodded one after another.
This was the simplest and most direct counterasure, seemingly directly confirming the rule's note: gazing at the stars had beco a taboo.
"However, based on past experience, the rule won't reveal all information on the surface," Gao Liangwei added. "Especially with this kind of survival-type rule, the hidden information will be extrely important. So—"
He looked at the head of the information departnt, who imdiately understood. "I will keep a close watch on Ascendant Ho. If the Administrator sells hidden intelligence, I will follow up imdiately."
"Mhm."
"Director, I have a question."
A new face in the conference room spoke up, and everyone looked over.
Gao Liangwei said, "Section Chief Li, go ahead."
This new face was precisely Li ng, who had newly joined the Counterasures Research Office. His current position was still the "Special Case Investigation Section Chief" from when he investigated the Qingi Society kidnapping case.
Li ng asked, "Given that this is a dangerous survival-type rule, should we still carry out the operation against the Fire Thief Worship Cult during the rule period?"
"I cannot answer that question right now. The operation is a joint Human Consortium action. It needs to be coordinated and discussed with the committee mbers of various nations at the subsequent Human Consortium eting. We will make a decision after we get the results."
"Understood."
"Report!"
At that mont, a staff mber knocked on the door and ca in to report.
"In countries currently in nightti regions, there are already people who have developed problems from gazing at the crimson Terra!"
The eting participants felt a chill in their hearts. The rule had just been announced, and people were already falling victim.
"How foolish are these people? Or do they deliberately not want to live?" soone couldn't help but say. "The rule states it so clearly, how could they still look?"
"Maybe when the rule was announced, so people happened to be outdoors gazing at the starry sky, and as a result..."
Zhang Minglu urgently asked the reporting staff mber, "What changes occur in those who gaze?"
Rather than worrying about why these people violated the rule, he was more concerned about the consequences.
The staff mber lowered their head to look at the summarized information on their tablet. "According to the information already collected by the intelligence departnt: After gazing at the crimson Terra, so imdiately fell into a coma, so exhibited manic phenona, and others... showed intense aggression towards others and forced others to gaze at the crimson Terra together."
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