Chapter 424 - 383: Rewards and Farewell

Chapter 424: Chapter 383: Rewards and Farewell

At 9:00 AM, Guan Tong stood in the garden of Konia Manor, listening to the Fire Thief’s voice ring out.

[Congratulations, you have passed the trial of the Sixteenth Apocalypse Rule]

[Your final competition score: 4144]

[Your final competition rank: Third Place]

[Ranked tier rewards have been sent to your storage box]

[The Seventeenth Apocalypse Rule will be announced in seven days]

’Third place... Not bad.’

Guan Tong hadn’t even intended to compete for the rankings. If Lucifer hadn’t taken Valery’s commission to kill him, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to kill him in return and seize his points.

However, getting third place with over four thousand points meant the top two had even higher scores.

’If you add up the points of everyone in the top ten thousand...’

’How many Ascenders died under this rule?’

People on the internet had been calling for a boycott, believing this rule was specifically designed by the Fire Thief to target Ascenders and cull their numbers. They argued that Ascenders should uniformly renounce the pursuit of ranked rewards and stop killing each other for them.

The argument wasn’t without merit, but everyone had their own ideas. Some Ascenders who considered themselves powerful would inevitably want to play to their strengths and gain a greater advantage. Getting such people to give up the competition was easier said than done.

While North Star had used its immense official authority to ban infighting among its domestic competitors, it couldn’t control those who were abroad.

Not to mention a homicidal maniac like Lucifer—his score definitely didn’t come from playing fair. He must have just killed every Ascender he saw, stealing points from who knows how many people.

’But speaking of the competition...’

Guan Tong shook his head at the thought of the chain of explosions at the Soloma finals yesterday.

’...I should check my rewards first.’

He opened his storage box, where an extra treasure chest had appeared.

[Ranked Tier Treasure Chest]: Divided into eight tiers based on the ranking rules of the Sixteenth Apocalypse Rule.

The first tier is for first place, the second for second place, the third for third place, the fourth for ranks four to ten, the fifth for ranks eleven to fifty, the sixth for ranks fifty-one to one hundred, the seventh for ranks one hundred and one to one thousand, and the eighth for ranks one thousand and one to ten thousand.

’The top three each get their own tier... After that, the brackets get wider. The last nine thousand are all in the eighth tier, meaning their rewards are identical. They probably aren’t much. Open it.’

After the chest opened, it revealed a total of three rewards.

[Ability Gained: Sensing Malice]

[Title Gained: Bronze Hunter]

[Sublimation Coins Gained: 3,000]

Three thousand Sublimation Coins was a lot, but for Guan Tong, who could earn money by selling hidden rules, it was nothing special. He was more focused on the ability and the title.

[Sensing Malice]: Passive ability. You can perceive intense hostility directed toward you from others and sense any attacks that threaten you. Effective range: five-kilometer radius.

’This ability...’

Guan Tong pondered.

’If it only let me sense the killing intent of others, it wouldn’t be that significant. I can already sense "killing intent" to some degree as it is. It’s not just me, either; any Ascender with a decent Psychic Power limit has that same feeling. The higher the limit, the more clearly they can perceive it when someone directs killing intent at them. But this [Sensing Malice] ability doesn’t just sense killing intent—it can also sense attacks that threaten me... That means if someone were to launch a long-range attack, I’d be able to perceive it.’

He thought about the several times he’d been bombarded by long-range missiles. ’If I’d had this passive ability back then, I would have sensed the missiles as soon as they entered my five-kilometer radius. I could have reacted in time, for example, by immediately using Body Shifting to get as far away as possible.’

In that light, this passive skill was incredibly significant for his safety. Guan Tong was quite satisfied.

After reviewing the skill’s information, he summoned his Terminal Panel.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Shadow]

[Title: Civilization Observer]

[Psychic Power: 989 (989) (2127)]

[Sublimation Coins: 7,148,280]

[Comprehensive Bio-Information Assessment: Excellent]

With the Rule Stage over, the mandatory "Competitor" title had vanished, replaced by his previous one.

His Psychic Power limit was 11 points away from breaking one thousand. It wouldn’t normally have risen so quickly, but it seemed to have jumped a few points after his fight with Lucifer.

As for his reserved Psychic Power, it had dipped below ten thousand after his fight with Lucifer and needed to be replenished as soon as possible.

As for Sublimation Coins, he had a fixed daily expense of 12,000 for purchasing Flowing Psychic Power from Black Star during the Rule Stage. As of today, he had already spent nearly one hundred thousand.

He was spending money at a rapid pace, but Guan Tong still felt it wasn’t efficient enough. Thus, he planned to acquire more items capable of storing Flowing Psychic Power as soon as possible to accelerate the replenishment of his large reserves and better deal with future threats.

He opened his title list to check the effects of the new "Bronze Hunter" title.

[Bronze Hunter]: While this title is equipped, stamina recovery speed is increased by 100% and Psychic Power recovery speed is increased by 50% when battling other Ascenders.

The two buffs were pretty good, but still not as good as ’Civilization Observer’.

’In future battles, I can first use the [Civilization Observer] title to gather intelligence on an enemy’s Ability Items, then switch to this buffing title for the fight. That would maximize my gains.’

After checking the title’s effects, he went to switch back, only to be surprised by a "Can Gain Experience" notification that had appeared after the [Civilization Observer] title in his list.

He remembered that this was an upgradable title, but he’d never found a way to level it up. He’d eventually put it out of his mind, so he was surprised to see it could now gain experience.

He immediately switched to the title to view the details of the notification.

[Consuming the currently held item "Nanomite Swarm" can increase this title’s experience]

’Consume the Nanomite Swarm...’

Guan Tong froze for a moment. He was starting to understand.

The [Nanomite Swarm] on his hand didn’t have the numbers to form a hive intelligence, but it was, indeed, a kind of special life-form.

’To raise the experience and level of the [Civilization Observer] title, it seems I have to feed it "food." And that "food" appears to be different types of life-forms?’

’But...’

Guan Tong looked at the black glove formed by the Nanomite Swarm on his left hand, his heart filled with hesitation.

This item was currently very useful to him. During the fight with Lucifer, it had transformed into a large net that dissipated most of the storm from Lucifer’s four wings, making it a major contributor to his victory.

’If I feed it to the title now, what if I need it later? And from the look of the notification, feeding it to the title would only grant experience, not enough to level up.’

’Not enough for a level-up, no new effects... That would be a net loss to my overall strength.’

’I’ll look at this again later.’

After a moment of hesitation, Guan Tong decided to keep the Nanomite Swarm for now.

’But if my guess is correct and the title needs different life-forms to upgrade, I wonder if capturing a few Parasites would work? Or do Parasites not count as other life-forms because they use human bodies... I’ll only know once I try.’

After checking his rewards from this rule, Guan Tong felt it was about time he returned to North Star.

From the start of the Fifteenth Apocalypse Rule to the end of the Sixteenth, the time he had spent in Sisiya wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either.

He had promised Yelena he would protect her until her position was secure and the domestic threats were eliminated. As things stood, that goal had been achieved.

The powerful figures of the Rijeka faction, led by Valery, had been almost completely cleaned out. Even if some small fry were missed, they could no longer pose a threat to her.

Moreover, Yelena had been making constant moves these past few days, consolidating all major state powers in her own hands. She had crushed the rebels, no matter their numbers, showing no mercy.

Such a hardline approach had allowed her to quickly establish her authority. Guan Tong had already seen on the local Sisiya internet that many of its people had started calling her by the moniker "Blood Lady," which spoke volumes about the situation.

That meant his mission was complete. There was nothing left for him to do here besides collecting Psychic Power from Black Star.

But he had plenty to do back in North Star during this intermission between rules.

Finding Shi Jingyi to learn about methods for accelerating the growth of his Psychic Power limit was a top priority. He could also visit some friends—he hadn’t seen Chen Na, Xu Xiaotian, or even Silver Fox in a long time.

On top of that, he also planned to get in touch with the Strategy Research Room.

After the Fire Worship Cult launched a terrorist attack on the Soloma competition grounds, the Human Federation could no longer tolerate the existence of the sect and wanted it eradicated as soon as possible.

Although Guan Tong had promised Gao Liangwei he would lead a team to Fahe to deal with the upper echelons of the Fire Worship Cult, actually putting that plan into motion would require a lot of preparation, and that would take time.

"Teacher."

Just as Guan Tong was mulling over these matters, Yelena walked into the garden and approached him.

Guan Tong looked over. Yelena was dressed in her usual sharp, casual suit, but she seemed far more vibrant than in the past. It was clear that despite being extremely busy these past few days, she was in high spirits.

"Teacher, did you get your ranking rewards?"

"Yes, I did. It seems I have Lucifer to thank for them."

"Heh."

"Oh, Yelena, you’re just in time," Guan Tong said. "I think now that you’ve reclaimed military and political authority, your position is stable and your personal safety is assured. There’s not much more I can do to help, so it’s about time I returned to North Star."

Yelena’s expression dimmed, but she quickly composed herself. "I know you have many things to do, Teacher. I’m already very grateful that you could stay and protect me for this long... Without your help, things certainly wouldn’t have gone so smoothly."

"Don’t be so formal. We may be teacher and student, but we’re also friends. And what’s there to thank a friend for when they help you out?"

"...Yes." Yelena pressed her lips together, gazing into Guan Tong’s eyes. "But, I hope you can come visit me in the future when you have time, Teacher. Because I... I’m afraid I can’t leave this place so easily."

Guan Tong sighed internally.

He knew that Yelena, now holding great power, would also be bound by it. As the Governor of Sisiya, she could no longer come and go as she pleased like others.

"I will," he said earnestly. "I’ll visit you often, and I’ll introduce you to any new friends I make."

Yelena’s purple pupils widened slightly, shimmering with a crystalline light. She nodded firmly, burying her reluctance to see him go in the cold late-February wind.