Chapter 140: Chapter 132: Surging Public Opinion
The eleven buyers who chose to spend fifty thousand Sublimation Coins to purchase the information all received a private message reply from Guan Tong on the site.
From a global perspective, there were certainly a great many large organizations, and these eleven buyers represented only a small fraction of them.
However, some groups didn’t trust Guan Tong enough. They weren’t sure if he was just trying to scam them out of their coins, so they chose to wait and see.
But when the North Star Country government made the intel public, its explosive content shocked every Ascender in the world who learned of it.
The ability to increase one’s Psychic Power limit simply by taking more first-place spots was unprecedented in the eight rules thus far, and its importance was self-evident.
The groups that hadn’t spent Sublimation Coins to purchase the information felt no sense of relief for getting it "for free." On the contrary, their decision-makers were all breaking out in a cold sweat, their hearts filled with fear in retrospect.
This was because the only party to publicize the intel was the North Star Country government. All the other groups, organizations, and even the governments of other countries that had purchased it had, without exception, chosen to keep it secret.
What if North Star Country had also chosen to keep it secret? What would have been the outcome?
The combat strength of the top members in their groups, the ones that hadn’t bought the intel, would have been left far behind after this rule! In a "strong get stronger" system like the Apocalypse Rules, being one step behind means being behind at every step, and they might never have been able to catch up.
This intense fear in retrospect led the decision-makers of these groups to thoroughly chew out the members who had considered Guan Tong unreliable. They then issued an order: the next time the webmaster of that site sells information, it must be purchased immediately!
It was unrealistic to just try to take advantage of others and mooch off their intel, hoping the North Star Country government would make it public every time. If the next piece of information possessed some kind of first-mover advantage, its value would be greatly diminished for those who found out later.
And so, without Guan Tong’s knowledge, his base of potential clients for intel had surged—but this all hinged on the results being verifiable once the current rule concluded.
If, after the rule ended, the Ascenders who took multiple first-place finishes saw no increase in their Psychic Power limits, then these organizations would likely be so enraged they would band together to find that swindling webmaster.
After the North Star Country government made the intel public, large-scale discussions quickly erupted both online and offline.
"Increase your Psychic Power limit? Is this for real?"
"The news supposedly came from the webmaster of Ascender’s Home, so it should be legit!"
"...I remember a while back, there was an item on the market that sold for a whopping one million. Its effect was to increase the Psychic Power limit by 8 points. Looking back now, wasn’t the buyer a total chump?"
"You can’t really say that. Getting multiple first-place finishes isn’t that simple."
"Holy shit, someone just snatched first place in my event! Who’s so shameless!"
"Now that this intel is out, won’t all the powerful Ascenders just go around snatching first place from everyone else? It’s so unfair."
"Whatever, I’m just giving up. My abilities and items aren’t unique enough to set up a challenge I’m guaranteed to win. Rather than go through the trouble only to have my first place stolen, I won’t even create an event. A mutual loss is better than letting someone else have a solo win."
"Agreed! A mutual loss is better than a solo win! I’m not creating a challenge event either!"
As the news circulated, the initial shock among the general populace gave way to intense feelings of resistance.
Everyone knew full well that it was already difficult enough to defend first place in their own events, let alone go and snatch it from others.
In the end, the only ones who would benefit would be the powerful Ascenders who had accumulated more in the early stages or had access to resource investments. Ordinary people wouldn’t get a single thing, so they might as well drag everyone down with them in a mutual loss.
As for the powerful members of the various organizations, their eyes lit up when they heard the news.
They had already been unsatisfied with just one first-place finish and had planned to seize more. But their motivation before learning this intel and their motivation after were on completely different levels.
It was like a wage earner who knows they’ll get paid for overtime, but not enough to sacrifice all their time for eating and sleeping. But if that same worker suddenly found out the overtime pay wasn’t cash but solid gold bars, they’d not only skip meals and sleep but even cut down on bathroom breaks to keep working.
And the excitement of the powerful Ascenders undoubtedly fueled even greater resistance among the common people.
The only group unaffected was those whose Psychic Power had already decayed to zero, their Terminal Panels now shut down.
Some of this group remained in the Gathering Points within the cities, while others chose to live outside. They also went online, and when they saw this new controversy, many commented with mockery and schadenfreude, though some also offered analysis and made appeals.
"Weren’t you all laughing at others and calling them ’inferior’ just two months ago? Why so quiet now? Is it because you feel your turn is coming soon?"
"We haven’t even reached the tenth rule, and the Fire Thief has already created a rule that basically lets the strong plunder the Psychic Power limits of the weak... Heh heh, I’d say the ’good times’ are just getting started."
"I hope all you bastards who snatch first place from others remember this: the price of you getting stronger is us getting weaker!"
"Logically, the Official Teams should be managing this... These people who snatch first place from others, shouldn’t they bear some social responsibility? I think we should be calling for this: since these powerful Ascenders are taking away our Psychic Power, they have an obligation to protect the weak during the other rules!"
"That’s right! The weak all over the world need to realize that we shouldn’t let the strong just prey on us. Everyone who hasn’t created a challenge event yet, hold off! Make the Official Teams give us a definitive answer."
A mighty tide of public opinion swept across the entire internet, with similar outcries erupting in every country.
Not since the hidden rule of the very first rule was exposed had there been such a massive online outcry.
Because this time was completely different from before.
Previously, when failing a rule led to a reduction in Psychic Power, it was the Fire Thief doing the reducing, and the Fire Thief was who people blamed.
But this time, failure was caused by someone else stealing your first place. Even though the Fire Thief, who created the rule, was the true mastermind, people were more inclined to blame the person who had directly taken their spot.
And as this public outcry fermented, some organizations, groups, and even the governments of some rogue nations were already moving swiftly.
「Qingmei Base.」
The base manager, a woman with short hair, was on the phone. An old, steady voice came through the receiver.
"Han Ling, you already know the intel regarding the rule. I want you to make a plan. Have the ’Resource Bodies’ we’re holding in the base prison create challenges that are tailored to the abilities and item advantages of our team members."
The short-haired woman named Han Ling nodded. "Yes, Commander-in-Chief. However, Yu Feiwei asked me to make a request on his behalf. He’s hoping to use the Resource Bodies to create some tailor-made challenges for himself."
Before the era of the Apocalypse Rules, Yu Feiwei was the chairman of Firebird Finance and a member of the Qingmei Association. Because he managed to acquire over thirty Sober Mint Candies during the first rule, he passed it without any risk or danger.
The price, however, was that his initial Psychic Power limit was very low.
Moreover, he failed to pass some of the subsequent non-survival challenges, causing his already low limit to become even more precarious.
During the last Qingmei Association gathering, his Psychic Power limit was already in the single digits. One more decrease and it would hit zero, which was why he had been so desperate for the Commander-in-Chief to find a solution for him.
After the national state of war was declared, he, like the other members, withdrew from the cities and moved into the base, where he served as the director of the Sublimation Coin and item procurement department.
Now that a rare opportunity to increase his Psychic Power had finally appeared, he naturally had to seize it. He immediately sought out Han Ling, the base manager, to have her appeal to the Commander-in-Chief on his behalf.
The Commander-in-Chief on the other end of the line was silent for a moment before saying, "Permission denied."
Han Ling was slightly surprised. She had thought the Commander-in-Chief would give preferential treatment to members of the Qingmei Association.
"Yu Feiwei only has single-digit Psychic Power left. There is no need to invest any more resources in him. Our resources must be used on more deserving people," the Commander-in-Chief said.
"But Commander-in-Chief, Yu Feiwei is the director of the procurement department," Han Ling reminded him. "Your decision will surely make him dissatisfied, so..."
"Then execute him secretly," the Commander-in-Chief said bluntly. "Under wartime administration, all their previous social connections are void. It makes little difference whether we keep them around or not."
"Understood."
"And remember," the Commander-in-Chief added, "focus on setting up challenges for that young man named Jiang Ming."
’Jiang Ming...’
An image of a young man with an aloof expression, always wearing headphones, surfaced in Han Ling’s mind.
The last time they had encountered an Official Team in the wilds, it was Jiang Ming who had struck, killing one of their members. If backup hadn’t arrived, and the fight had continued, the entire Official Team might have been wiped out.
Han Ling knew she wasn’t the one who had recruited Jiang Ming. Of the five people in the squad, she had only found Gu Fei and Chen Na. The other two had been selected from other cities, but Jiang Ming alone had been personally assigned by the Commander-in-Chief.
Only the Commander-in-Chief himself knew Jiang Ming’s origins and background; Han Ling was completely in the dark.
"Yes, Commander-in-Chief. I will have the Resource Bodies focus on creating challenges that suit his abilities."
After hanging up, Han Ling headed to the prison block.
Over a thousand Ascenders were imprisoned here. The Commander-in-Chief had arranged for all of them to be kidnapped by remotely controlling local gangs through second- and even third-party intermediaries.
These thousand-plus Ascenders all had initial Psychic Power levels over 80, making them talented individuals who met the criteria for academy admission.
But now, they could only remain physically confined, trapped in this sunless, miserable place.
Han Ling, however, had never tortured them. On the contrary, she hadn’t let them miss a single meal.
During the previous Blood Plague rule and the rule that prohibited speaking, everyone here was provided with a corresponding protective suit and anti-speech device.
Of course, this wasn’t out of the kindness of Han Ling’s heart, but an order from the Commander-in-Chief. Keeping these "Resource Bodies" well-fed and able to complete the rule challenges was the only way to increase their value and make them more useful down the line.
As a large-scale pig farmer would say, you raise pigs to make money and eat the meat, not to give them a happy life.
And "down the line" was now. The appearance of the eighth rule meant these people finally had a purpose.
Han Ling wasn’t worried that these prisoners had already created their challenges, because she knew that without her command, they wouldn’t dare use their abilities or items wantonly.
It wasn’t that she was particularly intimidating, but rather that all the troublemakers had been weeded out over the past few months. The only ones left in the prison now were the docile and obedient.
Han Ling had told them that as long as they cooperated, they would be released to return to a normal life once all forty-nine rules were over.
Whether they believed her or not, their only choice was to cling to this hope and pray the rules would be over quickly.
As Han Ling walked through the prison area, a guard came up to report, "Manager Han, two prisoners committed suicide yesterday."
Han Ling raised an eyebrow at the news. "Reason?"
"We don’t know. It seems to be due to depression."
"Is that so..." she murmured. "How many does that make now?"
"By our current count, the number of suicides has exceeded thirty."
"If this keeps up, our Resource Bodies will dwindle." Han Ling mused, ’It seems I’ll have to report this to the Commander-in-Chief and suggest we capture more people from the various camps in the wild as replacements.’
