"BOOM—!"

A massive explosion, like a crack of thunder, jolted Guan Tong awake from his afternoon nap.

He yawned and sat up, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he glanced at the door. "It’s starting again."

A few days ago, Yunhua City had finished the preliminary disaster relief and corpse disposal work caused by the fourth rule. Since then, they had been working nonstop to demolish buildings in the urban area.

Explosions had become a common sound in the city. The official explanation was that they were systematically demolishing useless buildings in key locations to clear space for subsequent survival-oriented reconstruction.

As for what they planned to build after leveling the streets and alleys, the officials had yet to release any specific information.

However, Guan Tong had seen a rumor online claiming that they were going to build a large number of sturdy, general-purpose shelters in major cities, capable of being self-sufficient for a period of time.

One of the major problems exposed by the fourth rule, [June Snow], was the severe lack of adequate shelters.

A huge number of people had to be housed in places like stadiums, shopping malls, and schools. When faced with a natural disaster, these locations offered very poor protection.

So, many netizens speculated that the government was planning a massive construction project of professional-grade shelters. These shelters would have independent water and power supplies, be stocked with a large amount of supplies, and be equipped with extensive survival gear.

Someone even posted pictures of the Soloma Empire’s royal shelters, demanding the government build a million similar ones for the public. Of course, that was just talk; it was completely unrealistic.

Guan Tong pulled out his phone and glanced at it. The screen was clean, no new notifications.

On social media, most of the top-ranking discussions were about the soon-to-open Psychic Power Development Academy.

Those who wanted to enroll were all rushing to Capital Yong’an City these past few days.

Their thinking was the same as Xu Xiaotian’s: they didn’t want to wait until after the fifth rule was announced. If public transportation was paralyzed by a rule again, there was no telling how long it would take to recover.

’I wonder if Wang’s stomach problem is serious? Did she drive Na to Yong’an?’

Looking at the "Capital" trending topic, Guan Tong thought of the mother and daughter, Wang Yan and Chen Na. After they parted ways upon entering Yunhua on the 9th, they hadn’t been in contact since they never exchanged contact information.

Guan Tong had considered going to the hospital to see if he could find them, but ultimately decided against it. After all, they were just chance acquaintances, and their relationship hadn’t reached that level.

’I hope everything goes smoothly for them.’

Guan Tong turned off his phone screen and mentally opened his personal terminal.

Today was July 31st, the last day of the interval period. Tomorrow, the Fire Thief would release the fifth Apocalypse Rule.

During this time, Guan Tong had only left his residential complex once, making a trip to a supply point to pick up some provisions.

He also spent his daily walks around the complex scavenging useful items from the residential buildings.

For instance, he found a folding bed in one of the homes and moved it into the property management storage room where he was staying. It wasn’t as comfortable as a full-sized bed, but it was a definite improvement over a sleeping bag.

He also collected some radios, phones, flashlights, power banks, and even a few interesting paperbacks. He kept them in the storage room to pass the time during his breaks.

You could say this abandoned residential complex had become his personal little treasure-hunting ground. But he also knew he couldn’t stay here forever.

The explosions outside were a constant reminder that it wouldn’t be long before they finished demolishing the roadside shops and moved on to the numerous vacant, abandoned residential complexes.

His own complex would not escape the fate of being demolished and leveled. This small property management storage room was only a temporary foothold.

As for where to go next, he wasn’t thinking about it. ’I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.’ The world was a vast place; could he really not find a place to sleep?

Guan Tong checked his Terminal Panel.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Orderkeeper]

[Psychic Power: 127 (127) (135)]

[Sublimation Coins: 30]

[Comprehensive Bio-Information Assessment: Excellent]

With the limited time he had, he managed to store up 135 points of Psychic Power. This meant he had a total of 262 points of Psychic Power available when at full capacity, which was quite good.

Then, Guan Tong picked up the Silver Hunter from beside his pillow. The small electronic screen on the left side of the grip displayed the number of bullets he had been storing since the beginning of July:

No. 1 Rounds * 50

No. 2 Rounds * 15

No. 3 Rounds * 15

Over the past month, adding a few here and there each day, he had stored a total of eighty rounds. The cheapest No. 1 Rounds made up the largest portion, while he had 15 rounds each of No. 2 and No. 3.

It wasn’t that Guan Tong didn’t want to store more, but his Psychic Power was still insufficient.

The high cost of opening the third page of the [Wordless Book], as well as storing a reserve of Psychic Power, both consumed a great deal of his energy. Being able to store this many bullets was already his limit.

With this, Guan Tong felt he was prepared for the new rule.

Meanwhile, Ascenders all over the world were also making various preparations during this one-month interval.

Some actively worked to raise their Psychic Power limit, others sought to join powerful Ascender organizations, and some spent every day intensely monitoring the terminal market, hoping to get lucky and snag a high-value item for cheap.

Of course, many people chose to just give up. The most prominent among them were those whose Psychic Power had decayed to zero, rendering them unable to use their personal terminals.

Psychic Power, tradable items—none of it had anything to do with them anymore. They mostly stuck together, eating and drinking what they could, living one day at a time.

Seeing this, many Ascenders posted online complaining that these people who couldn’t use terminals were living a much more carefree life than they were. Of course, such comments were quickly met with a barrage of criticism, with many seeing it as a classic case of a rich person’s problems.

It was like a rich man telling a beggar, "I’m so jealous that you get to bask in the sun freely every day, unlike me, who has to go to meetings all the time." The beggar would be well within his rights to give him a good beating.

And so, July 31st ended, and August 1st arrived.

The once-clamorous world fell silent. Even the constant explosions that had echoed through the city all day had temporarily stopped.

Having experienced the previous rules, people now preferred to wait quietly for the Fire Thief’s announcement on the day of a new rule’s release, rather than engaging in chaotic, anxious discussions.

Guan Tong was sitting in his storage room, also waiting silently for that moment to arrive.

As the clock struck nine, the Fire Thief’s voice rang out, right on time.

[The fifth Apocalypse Rule has been released.]

[Apocalypse Rule Five: Night of the Living Dead]

[Rule Content: From the moment this rule is released, the entire world will enter a state of deep night. A large number of Living Dead, who will indiscriminately attack all humans, will invade human-inhabited areas. This rule will last for 24 hours. During this period, every Ascender must eliminate at least ten Living Dead.]

[Success Reward: 150 Sublimation Coins. Additionally, for each Living Dead eliminated while the rule is active, you will receive 1 extra Sublimation Coin. Rewards will be settled for those who survive until the rule ends.]

[Failure Penalty: Psychic Power limit reduction.]

[Note: After the previous trials, this is the "bonus stage" you Ascenders deserve. Please enjoy.]