Lalgan Nation, tropical region.
Lalgan had always been a backward country. Its people had lived in extreme poverty, while only a handful of warlords had monopolized certain local rare resources, selling them to developed nations and living like petty emperors.
But after entering the Apocalypse Rules Era, several rules had directly devastated the country. More than 98% of its population had perished, and fewer than 2% were still barely clinging to life.
For the people living on this land, extinction seemed like a fate ordained by heaven. The warlords who had monopolized resources had either been wiped out or fled to other countries. Only a scattered ten thousand or so people remained, awaiting death's arrival across this land.
Death had come even faster than expected. After the Ninth Rule ended, the mist over this land had yet to disperse. The surviving people continued to become food for the mist, corroded and transformed into new Nightmare Beasts.
But today was different from before. An aircraft carrier had sailed into the offshore waters, and together with heavy transport planes, it had deployed numerous armed soldiers and war vehicles onto this land.
The soldiers' protective suits and war vehicles bore the emblem of "Scepter and Crown," the symbol of royal authority of the Solloma Empire.
As one of the world's strongest nations, even nearly a year after entering the Apocalypse Rules Era, the Solloma Empire still retained global transportation capabilities. It could deploy large armed forces to any corner of the world in a short time.
Yet after entering the Apocalypse Rules Era, the Solloma Empire, like the other great powers, had fully contracted its strategy for self-preservation. It had not sent troops to another country even once during that time. Its military bases overseas had all been shut down, and their personnel