When Guan Tong and Shi Jingyi arrived at the industrial park entrance, more than thirty armed soldiers and several armored vehicles were already there.

They had set up temporary machine gun emplacements at the entrance, eliminating many of the approaching Living Dead.

A man who appeared to be a squad leader approached Shi Jingyi and said, "Hello. The Commander has ordered us to escort you back. Please get in the vehicle."

An escort...

Guan Tong glanced at Shi Jingyi, wondering about her other identities.

"Thank you, but an escort won’t be necessary," Shi Jingyi said. "We can get back on our own."

"But... all right."

The squad leader didn’t press the issue. Shi Jingyi turned to Guan Tong. "Follow me."

Guan Tong followed her a short distance to the left of the entrance, where he found an ordinary white car parked on the side of the road.

Shi Jingyi walked up, unlocked the car with her fingerprint, and pulled open the door. "Where are you headed? I can give you a ride."

Guan Tong wanted to say he could get back on his own, but considering the armed soldiers and the Curved Saber Man, he decided riding with Shi Jingyi for a bit would be a good idea.

Shi Jingyi looked at Guan Tong as he sat down in the passenger seat and smiled. "Are you going to keep wearing that motorcycle helmet in the car?"

"..."

Guan Tong took off the helmet. His clear features, now fully visible, surprised Shi Jingyi a little. Although the helmet’s visor was transparent, it had still been a barrier, and with the dim light in the industrial park earlier, his face had appeared somewhat indistinct.

"I didn’t expect you to be so young. Were you a high school student before the apocalypse began?"

"I was a senior," Guan Tong said. "If it weren’t for the Apocalypse Rules, I’d have already taken my college entrance exams and would be waiting to start university."

"That’s true. It’s already August."

Shi Jingyi started the car and asked, "Where do you need to go?"

"Just drop me off at Xiuming Road on South Avenue."

The car began to move. Perhaps it was because the armed team had cleared out all the nearby Living Dead on their way there, but Shi Jingyi drove for a while without encountering any.

Guan Tong, however, knew the real reason. After he had crushed the Mother Transformer, no new Living Dead would appear in this area—and while he didn’t know the exact size of the area, he was sure it encompassed all of Yunhua City.

Without new ones to replenish their numbers, the remaining population of Living Dead would soon be wiped out by the armed forces. After all, as one of the nation’s megacities, Yunhua had a very strong official military presence.

"Aren’t you curious why those soldiers let us leave?" Shi Jingyi suddenly asked.

Of course Guan Tong was curious. But even though he and Shi Jingyi had fought side-by-side, their relationship hadn’t reached the point where he felt comfortable asking.

Now that Shi Jingyi had brought it up herself, he nodded. "I am a little curious."

"Because I’m about to become one of the instructors at the Academy," Shi Jingyi said. "You should know of it—the Psychic Power Development Academy."

"Of course I do."

Guan Tong was rather surprised. Shi Jingyi didn’t seem much older than him, probably only in her early twenties, yet she had been invited to be an instructor at the Academy.

But then he thought about Shi Jingyi’s unique way of using Psychic Power...

"Did the Academy invite you as an instructor to teach people how to enhance their bodies with Psychic Power?"

"Yes." Shi Jingyi nodded. "The key lies in its circulation, treating Psychic Power as a form of ’qi’ inside the body to be controlled and channeled."

"That sounds rather profound. Can everyone learn it?"

"Unlikely," Shi Jingyi said. "It’s very complex and has certain talent requirements. Most importantly, it requires patience. But as you know, in this day and age, there aren’t many people with enough patience." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"..."

It was true. Several months into the era of the Apocalypse Rules, the philosophy of instant gratification had become the global mainstream. No one knew if they would die under the next Rule, so rather than exhaust themselves with worry, it was better to live one day at a time.

"But even if only a very small number of people can learn it, as long as it increases their chances of survival, my teaching will be meaningful."

Guan Tong nodded. He admired Shi Jingyi’s way of thinking and now also understood why the soldiers would let her go and even offer an escort.

He figured that to the officials, a person like Shi Jingyi, who possessed an extremely special talent and was willing to teach others, must be one of the most precious assets of this era and definitely someone to be protected.

"The Academy starts on August 10th. I’ll probably have to leave for Yong’an in about two days," Shi Jingyi said, glancing at Guan Tong. "Do you have any plans to attend the Academy?"

Guan Tong shook his head. "Not at the moment."

"Really? That’s a bit surprising. With a powerful firearm-type item like that, your Psychic Power must have reached the standard for admission."

"Meeting the standard doesn’t mean I have to enroll, does it?"

"That’s also true."

"I just don’t think a place like the Academy is right for me," Guan Tong said. "In this day and age, going to class on a regular schedule every day just feels... strange."

"Haha." Shi Jingyi chuckled. "You’re right. Once I’ve taught what I need to teach, I’ll probably leave, too."

The car had now reached Xiuming Road. Shi Jingyi stopped and said, "The Academy’s courses should all be publicly recorded and uploaded to the web. If you’re interested in my Psychic Power Flow, you can check out my online course later."

"I will," Guan Tong said, getting out of the car.

He was genuinely interested. Regardless of whether he had the talent for it or if he could even learn it, he would definitely take a look when it was available.

"Well then, Guan Tong. Stay alive. See you again someday."

"Goodbye, Shi Jingyi."

Guan Tong watched Shi Jingyi’s car drive away, thinking to himself, ’This trip has been a real rollercoaster.’

’Without Shi Jingyi, I estimate I could have killed the Mother Transformer using Shadow, but I probably wouldn’t have had much Psychic Power left after the battle.’

’Encountering that special squad after that would have been extremely troublesome.’

Guan Tong still didn’t know who those people were. But they had cooperated flawlessly, and four of them had been willing to stand on the sidelines with Rapid-Burning Sticks, watching their leader, the Curved Saber Man, eliminate the Living Dead, all without a hint of envy in their eyes...

This was undoubtedly abnormal.

Who would be willing to play a supporting role? If it were Guan Tong, he would never agree to be a mere tool, using a Rapid-Burning Stick to control the Living Dead’s movements just so someone else could kill them and get the Sublimation Coins.

But there wasn’t the slightest hint of reluctance or dissatisfaction on those four people’s faces... This meant either they weren’t normal people, or they didn’t need to worry about acquiring Sublimation Coins.

Plus, even the armed soldiers had to assist them... Guan Tong felt their identity was becoming quite obvious.

’Are they a special squad, created and funded by the government?’

If they were government-funded, then everything would make sense.

They wouldn’t care about acquiring Sublimation Coins because the government would allocate resources to them, and the armed soldiers would cooperate because they were following orders from their superiors.

’Judging by what that Curved Saber Man said, their squad was specifically targeting the "Screamer"—in other words, the Mother Transformer. He was furious because I beat him to it...’

Guan Tong frowned. If a similar Rule appeared in the future, he would absolutely do the same thing. He couldn’t possibly give up on pursuing his own interests just because he was worried about competing with the "Official Team."

’However, if something like this happens again, Shi Jingyi won’t be there to help me. I’ll have to rely on myself.’

Guan Tong secretly made a resolution. After receiving his rewards when this Rule ended, he would further strengthen himself from a combat perspective. His goal was to be able to face even the Official Team with confidence.

He checked the time: 12:00 PM sharp. There were still a full 21 hours left in the Rule; it wasn’t time to go home and wait for the clock to run out.

Although he had already eliminated hundreds of Living Dead plus one Mother Transformer, which meant his tallied rewards would be astonishing...

...but after his confrontation with the "Official Team," Guan Tong’s sense of insecurity had intensified. He had to take advantage of his remaining Psychic Power to eliminate more Living Dead. Every single extra Sublimation Coin he could earn would be worth it.

With that thought, Guan Tong put his motorcycle helmet back on and strode forward.

Time ticked by, second by second. The twenty-four-hour Rule period quietly slipped away amidst a chorus of unending roars...