Sudden Danger

The third day after the third Apocalypse Rule took effect.

Guan Tong sat at his desk, sensing his body's hunger level.

"Very hungry, but not to the point of collapse yet."

He wasn't sure if it was due to his high Mind Power Cap, but Guan Tong found his ability to perceive his body had improved.

If hunger were quantified, the danger line was 90. He felt he was around 70 right now, able to hold on a bit longer.

But others weren't so fortunate.

Especially the older ones, those with low Mind Power Caps. They had already started flooding the internet with posts by the end of the second day.

"I can't take it anymore, I'm dizzy from hunger. Looks like I have to give up the challenge!"

"Let me tell you all a bloody lesson, energy drinks don't count as water! I took one sip and it said challenge failed!!!"

"Dude upstairs... are you living in a cave? Someone already clarified that on the first day the rules were released..."

"Why the hell can't these Food Boxes be traded! My sister has coins and bought a box, but she can't give it to me. What a rip-off!"

"I can still hold on, but I'm afraid my organs will fail after fifteen days. What then?"

"If you're worried about getting sick, go to the hospital. Healthcare is free for everyone now."

"Yeah, to preserve more of the population, the government has made most things free. For the things that aren't free, we can't afford them anyway. They only accept Gold for payment."

"Persistence is victory! Don't give up!!!"

"Brothers, let me show you my secret recipe homemade burger. So delicious. [Super Honey Glazed Mega Burger.jpg]."

"Seal the account of the guy posting burger pics upstairs!! Immediately!!!"

Facing this environment, people had nothing else to do but chat online and vent.

Guan Tong himself had things to do. When his Mind Power recovered, he would write in the [Wordless Book]. When it was used up, he'd entertain himself. He was living a relatively peaceful life.

So it went until the evening of the fourth day, when he started to feel unwell.

It wasn't that he couldn't bear the hunger anymore, but that his Mind Power recovery speed had slowed down.

Guan Tong checked online and found that someone had already discovered this problem. The worse one's physical condition, the slower the Mind Power recovery speed. In a near-death state, it would even stop recovering.

Being hungry wasn't a big deal, but slow Mind Power recovery was! This would directly affect his "coin-minting plan."

Immediately, he took out a [Basic Food Box] from the [Terminal]'s [Storage Box]. Upon opening it, he obtained an [All-Effect Survival Tablet].

He swallowed it and could feel the tablet quickly breaking down in his body, supplying energy to every part of him.

In less than a few seconds, Guan Tong felt completely revived. The feeling of dizziness from hunger had completely vanished.

"Terminal products are indeed good," Guan Tong mused. When he had more coins in the future, he decided he wouldn't eat meals anymore. He'd just take one of these tablets a day. It was convenient and healthy.

After fully recovering, just as Guan Tong was about to get back to work, he suddenly heard the doorbell ring.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong."

Huh?

Guan Tong's heart skipped a beat. Who would come looking for him?

He walked to the door and looked through the peephole. He saw two young men in their twenties, wearing baseball caps and white [Police Officer] uniforms, standing at his door.

Guan Tong didn't recognize either of them. They were definitely not people he knew.

He didn't open the door, nor did he speak.

After the two outside waited for a moment, one of them knocked on the door and shouted, "Please open the door. We're from the [Public Security Bureau] and are here to conduct an investigation."

Guan Tong frowned at this.

Who are they kidding? What police officer would come knocking in the middle of the night for an investigation?

He still didn't say anything.

After a while, the other young man knocked forcefully on the door.

Bang bang!

"Police check, open up! We know someone's home. We saw the light on from outside!"

The light!

Guan Tong was startled and looked at his study window.

He had completely overlooked that!

His study curtains were a bit thin and let light through. When the lights were on at night, it could be seen from downstairs.

After the first Apocalypse Rule, more than a quarter of the population had been wiped out. It was safe to say that in Guan Tong's residential complex, it wasn't exactly ten houses empty, but not many people were left alive.

In this context, the light on in his house at night would be exceptionally conspicuous, signaling to people outside that someone was still alive in this home.

Since they knew he was home, Guan Tong stopped being silent.

He picked up his phone and quickly dialed the [Public Security Bureau]. Speaking to the door, he said, "Even if you are police officers, you can't just enter my home for a search. Do you have a search warrant?"

Hearing Guan Tong's voice, one of the men outside immediately replied, "Of course, we have a warrant. Open the door and I'll show you!"

"I'm calling the Public Security Bureau now to verify your identities. Report your police officer numbers."

"What?!"

"If you don't open it, we're going to break in and search!"

Guan Tong put his phone on speaker and said loudly, "Hello, Public Security Bureau? Someone is impersonating police officers at my home. Please send someone over immediately. The address is..."

"Damn!"

"Kid, you just wait. Let's go!"

Hearing Guan Tong in the house actually call the Public Security Bureau, the two people at the door cursed and quickly ran down the stairs and fled.

After Guan Tong finished reporting the information to the Public Security Bureau operator, he hung up the phone, his brows deeply furrowed.

What was going on with these two?

Robbers? But the country provided many things for free now, what was there to rob?

Robbing gold? But the neighborhood Guan Tong lived in was an ordinary one, not a wealthy area. How many families could afford to keep gold?

Robbing Ascension Coins? That was even more impossible, those things couldn't be traded...

Or were these two youths' minds broken by the Apocalypse Rules, and they wanted to commit random crimes?

Such situations weren't unheard of, but they were mostly concentrated during the period of Rule One.

After Rule One ended, random crime was greatly curbed under the strong suppression of the authorities.

Guan Tong's brows were tightly knit, and he felt a strong sense of unease.

This stemmed both from his inability to figure out the two youths' motives.

And from his address being exposed and being targeted.

"I didn't notice the blackout issue with the curtains at night; that was my oversight... I can't stay here anymore. I need to find another place to live as soon as possible!"

Earlier, one of the youths had shouted "You just wait" before running off. This might just be a harsh threat to save face, but it could also be serious.

Guan Tong felt that if it was serious, he might be ambushed the next time he went out to buy food.

This was not a good situation, as he didn't have much combat power yet.

His "Shadow" had no physical form. It might be useful for scaring people, but in a real fight... it wouldn't be enough.

Bzzzzzz!

His phone vibrated; it was a call from the Public Security Bureau.

"Hello, we have dispatched two police officers. Their numbers are A1221 and C3306."

Guan Tong provided the information: "As soon as I called the Public Security Bureau, those two got scared and ran off, but they probably didn't get far. They were wearing police uniforms and baseball caps, and both were under thirty years old."