Sudden Danger

The third day since the third Apocalypse Rule took effect.

Guan Tong sat at his desk, gauging the level of hunger in his body.

"Very hungry, but not yet to the point where I can't hold on."

Perhaps because his Mind Power Cap was high, Guan Tong found that his perception of his body had become somewhat sharper than before.

If hunger were quantified, with 90 as the danger line, he felt that he was currently around 70 and could endure for a while longer.

But other people could not.

Especially the elderly and those with low Mind Power Caps. By the end of the second day, they had already begun frantically posting online.

"I can't take it anymore. I'm so hungry I'm dizzy and seeing spots. Looks like I can only give up the challenge!"

"Let me share a painful lesson with everyone: energy drinks don't count as water! I only took one sip, and it said the challenge had failed!!!"

"The person above... were you raised in a cave? Someone explained this on the first day the rules were announced..."

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

"I can still hold out, but I'm afraid my organs will fail from starvation 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 as much of the population as possible, the authorities have made basically everything they can free. As for things that aren't free, we can't afford them anyway. They only accept gold."

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

"Guys, check out the special burger I made myself. So delicious. [Super Juicy Mega Burger.jpg]."

"Ban the person above for posting burger pictures!! Right now!!!"

In an environment like this, people had little else to do besides chat online and vent.

Guan Tong had things to do. Whenever his Mind Power recovered, he wrote a few words in the [Wordless Book]. Once it was depleted, he entertained himself. His days were fairly peaceful.

By the night of the fourth day, however, he began to feel that something was wrong.

It was not that he could no longer bear the hunger, but that his Mind Power was recovering more slowly.

After looking it up online, Guan Tong discovered that others had noticed the problem long ago. The worse one's physical condition, the slower Mind Power recovered. If someone was on the verge of death, it could even stop recovering entirely.

Being hungry was one thing, but slow Mind Power recovery would not do! It would directly affect his "coin-making plan."

Immediately, he took a [Basic Food Box] from the Storage Box in his terminal. Opening it, he obtained an All-Effect Survival Tablet.

He opened his mouth and swallowed it, feeling the tablet rapidly break down inside him and supply energy throughout his body.

In less than a few seconds, Guan Tong felt fully revived. The dizzying hunger from before vanished completely.

"Products made by the terminal really are good." Guan Tong sighed inwardly. Once he had plenty of coins in the future, he would skip meals altogether and just take one of these a day. Convenient and healthy.

Once he had fully recovered, Guan Tong was about to continue working when the doorbell suddenly rang.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong."

Hm?

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

He walked to the door and looked through the peephole. Two young men in their twenties stood outside his home, wearing baseball caps and white Public Security Bureau uniforms.

Guan Tong did not recognize either of them. They were certainly not people he knew.

He did not open the door or say anything.

After waiting outside for a moment, one of them patted the door and called out, "Please open the door. We're from the Public Security Bureau, here to conduct an investigation."

Guan Tong frowned at that.

Who were they trying to fool? What public security officer came to conduct an investigation in the middle of the night?

He still said nothing.

After a while, the other young man slammed his hand against the door.

Bang, bang!

"Public security inspection, open the door! We know someone's home. We saw the room lights on from outside!"

The lights!

Startled, Guan Tong looked toward the study window.

He had actually overlooked that!

The curtains in his study were somewhat thin and let light through. When he turned on the lights at night, they could be seen from downstairs.

And after Rule One of the Apocalypse Rules, more than a quarter of the population had been wiped out. It was easy to imagine that, in the residential complex where Guan Tong lived, even if it was not nine empty homes out of ten, there were not many living people left.

As a result, the lights in his home at night stood out especially clearly, telling people outside that someone here was still alive.

Since the people outside knew he was home, Guan Tong no longer remained silent.

He picked up his phone, quickly dialed the Public Security Bureau, and said toward the door, "Even if you are public security officers, you can't just enter my home and search it. Do you have a search warrant?"

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

"I've called the Public Security Bureau. I need to verify your identities first. Give me your officer ID numbers."

"What?!"

"If you don't open up, we'll force our way in and search the place!"

With his phone on speaker, Guan Tong loudly said, "Hello, Public Security Bureau? Someone is impersonating public security officers outside my home. Please send someone over immediately. The address is..."

"Fuck!"

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

Hearing Guan Tong actually call the Public Security Bureau inside, the two men cursed and quickly ran down the stairwell.

After reporting the information to the Public Security Bureau operator, Guan Tong put down his phone and frowned deeply.

What was going on with those two?

Robbers? But the state was providing many things for free now. What was there to rob?

Were they after gold? But Guan Tong lived in an ordinary residential complex, not a wealthy district. How many households could possibly have gold lying around?

Ascension Coins? That was even less likely. Those things could not be traded at all...

Or had the Apocalypse Rules broken the minds of those two young men, making them want to commit random crimes?

Such cases did exist, but most had been concentrated during Rule One.

After Rule One ended, random crime had been drastically curbed under the authorities' forceful suppression.

Guan Tong's brows remained tightly furrowed, and a strong sense of unease rose in his heart.

Partly because he could not understand the two young men's purpose.

And partly because his address had been exposed and someone had set their sights on him.

"I failed to notice the curtains didn't block the light at night. That was my oversight... I can't stay in this home anymore. I need to find somewhere else to live as soon as possible!"

Before running off, one of the young men had said, "Just you wait." It might have merely been an empty threat to save face, but it could also have been genuine.

Guan Tong felt that if it was genuine, they might block him the next time he went out to buy food.

That was not a good thing, because he currently had little real fighting ability.

His "Shadow" had no physical form. It might work for scaring people, but in a real fight with blades and weapons... it still would not be enough.

Bzzz, bzzz!

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

"Hello, we have dispatched two public security officers. Their ID numbers are A1221 and C3306."

Guan Tong provided the information. "The moment I called the Public Security Bureau, those two ran off, but they probably haven't gone far. They were wearing public security uniforms and baseball caps, and both appeared to be under thirty."