A Terrifying Fact

As soon as Guan Tong opened the Ascension Shop, he immediately noticed that the [Bronze Grade Basic Food Crate] was gone.

"Did it sell out and get taken down?"

A notification three days ago said there were ten million available. For all of them to be sold out and removed today... it was truly astonishing.

However, considering the number of Ascendants worldwide, even one percent, or perhaps one in a thousand, having Ascension Coins and some purchasing power would be enough to buy out ten million crates.

Guan Tong had previously thought that he could buy food crates to eat once he had enough coins in the future, but it seemed that wasn't very realistic.

Still, he couldn't make a definitive judgment yet, as it wasn't impossible for items that had been taken down to be relisted later.

He shifted his attention to the new items added after this rule update. There were three in total.

[Multi-terrain Marching Boots]: Long boots suitable for movement in various complex ground environments. Appearance can be customized.

[Price: 100 Ascension Coins]

[Thermostatic Tech Underwear (Basic)]: When worn, it maintains a constant, comfortable body temperature for 6 hours. Cooldown period is 24 hours. Appearance can be customized.

[Price: 120 Ascension Coins]

[Gene Optimization Fluid (Inferior)]: Taking it can improve some genetic defects.

[Price: 150 Ascension Coins]

After Guan Tong reviewed the three new items, the Gene Optimization Fluid surprised him the most.

This [Gene Optimization Fluid (Inferior)] was undoubtedly the same type of product as the [Gene Optimization Fluid] he had previously obtained from a Glorious Grade crate.

However, one was the original fluid, and the other was an inferior version, so there should be a significant difference in quality.

"If I hadn't gotten the original fluid from a crate before, I definitely would have prioritized buying this optimization fluid," Guan Tong thought. "But since I've already taken the original fluid, the effect of taking this inferior version probably won't be very good."

He made his decision and immediately abandoned the idea of buying it.

As for the other two items, the multi-terrain boots and the underwear that could maintain body temperature for a fixed period, they were both very good items.

But Guan Tong felt he didn't need either of them right now. If it were before, he would have saved his Ascension Coins and bought them when he needed them.

However, the precedent of the food crates made him wonder: were all items limited in quantity?

If every item was like the food crates, not showing a quantity limit at first, and only displaying the remaining amount when it dropped below a certain threshold, that would be very disadvantageous for Guan Tong.

Unlike many people who spent more than ten hours a day online, Guan Tong spent most of his time developing his Mind Power and resting.

The advantage of this was that his emotions were relatively stable, and his biological clock was more normal. But the disadvantage was that he wasn't very timely in receiving the latest news.

As a result, if new items quickly dropped below the threshold and started showing quantity limits, Guan Tong might find himself in a predicament where he'd want to buy something when he needed it, only to discover it had already sold out due to delayed information reception.

Furthermore, the shop didn't have a "limited stock alert" function, and Guan Tong didn't want to check his Terminal every few days.

After considering for a moment, he decided to spend 120 Ascension Coins on the more expensive [Thermostatic Tech Underwear (Basic)].

After the purchase, he had 70 coins left, which wasn't enough to buy the 100-coin [Multi-terrain Marching Boots]. However, he could create Binding Coins himself, so the 30-coin shortfall could be covered without relying on rewards.

Guan Tong then closed his Personal Terminal and got up to eat. After starving for three or four days, a bit of milk and a piece of chocolate wouldn't be enough to fill him up.

On the internet, which Guan Tong didn't pay much attention to, another intense discussion erupted after the third Apocalypse Rule ended, concerning the three-day interval period.

"The fourth rule is coming in three days?! Are you kidding me!"

"Why so soon... Didn't it take a month last time?"

"The Fire Thief doesn't plan to give humanity any rest at all! They're just finding new ways to torment us!"

"It can be as long as a month or as short as three days. It seems the time between rules is completely random."

"The shop has new items. What are you planning to buy?"

"Does that even need asking? It's obviously the Gene Optimization Fluid!"

"I also think this is the most important thing. It can improve genes!"

"Let's wait and see the experimental results from the Countermeasure Research Institute..."

"I'm not waiting. What if it sells out before I can buy it? This thing will definitely be the most sought after!"

Someone initiated a poll for purchasing products, and over 95% of people chose [Gene Optimization Fluid], indicating a general consensus.

Most people believed that improving genetic defects was a long-term benefit to one's body. However, the other two items were, in the end, external objects.

However, the discussion board was quickly flooded by a post.

The post title was: My Personal Terminal has a BUG?! Am I the Chosen One?!

The poster wrote in the post: "After the rule ended, I mentally said 'Personal Terminal' but it didn't work. The Terminal interface didn't display at all. Has anyone encountered this situation? Or is my terminal bugged? Maybe the Fire Thief will send me a compensation gift package and I'll become invincible?"

The post received numerous replies as soon as it was published.

"?????"

"A personal terminal can malfunction? This is the first time I've seen something like this."

"Can the OP post their numerical ID? I'll try adding them as a friend."

"Waiting. OP, remember to give me a nudge when you receive the compensation gift package."

"Gou Fugui, don't forget me, OP!!!"

The replies in the front rows were mostly filled with confusion and requests for help, but a comment posted around the thousandth floor caused many to turn pale with shock.

"What is the OP fantasizing about? I'm guessing it's because their Mind Power decayed to 0, and the Personal Terminal shut down automatically."

This reply spawned hundreds, even thousands, of nested replies.

"Holy crap! Is that real or fake?!"

"Mind Power decaying to 0 automatically shuts down the Personal Terminal?!"

"Any reliable sources! Urgent!!!"

"Don't scare me, you bastard! I failed my challenge this time and my Mind Power dropped to single digits. If it decays again, won't I also be unable to open my terminal?!"

Soon, the original poster's reply sparked a heated discussion across the entire internet.

As more and more people who failed challenges came forward to admit they couldn't open their terminals, this claim was finally confirmed by multiple sources.

Three hours later, the Apocalypse Rules Countermeasure Research Office officially issued a statement, confirming through their experiments that the claim was true.

Once Mind Power decays to 0, the Personal Terminal will automatically shut down.

This terrifying fact, once verified, immediately caused a huge stir globally.

Especially for those Ascendants who had failed two consecutive challenges and whose Mind Power had already dwindled to very little, they were plunged into unspeakable terror.

In this Apocalypse Rules Era, if one can no longer use their Personal Terminal, wouldn't that mean they would be abandoned and eliminated by this era?