January 5th, the fifth day after the new rules were released.
After countless bloody lessons, those who thought they were lucky had all fallen into line.
In the first few days, even though officials from various countries had repeatedly and sternly emphasized just how dangerous opening doors was, and how incredibly low the probability was of opening to an original spatial location and obtaining a Coordinate Resonance Anchor, plenty of people still tried their luck.
This wasn't simply for fun, nor because the public didn't know the dangers. It was purely the temptation of the astronomical price tags on produced items, trying to strike it rich through sheer luck.
On the second day after the rules were released, a Coordinate Resonance Anchor item appeared on the Market.
That lucky seller had priced it at one thousand square Ascension Coins outright. The item had only been listed on the Market for a few short seconds before it was snapped up, and once exposed, it caused a global sensation.
That was ten million Ascension Coins!
If Ascendants relied purely on rule rewards to save up, even if clearing one rule now earned a few thousand Ascension Coins, and even if that could rise to ten thousand in the future - passing all forty-nine rules and not spending a single coin - the most they could hold would be six figures, a few hundred thousand coins at best.
Now, some random person, purely through luck, had obtained a rule-produced item and flipped it for a cool ten million. How could countless Ascendants not be green with envy?
Things like this had happened before, but the amounts had maxed out at the million level.
This time, breaking through the thousand-square threshold, the massive lure of profit had gone straight to the heads of many low-level Ascendants. So many began ignoring the risks and warnings, trying to open doors to test their luck.
Some people did have decent luck - not in the sense of pulling an anchor item, but that after opening a door, the other side wasn't a dangerous space. Just another ordinary location.
Yes, that alone was already a display of "decent" luck.
Those unlucky ones, or those slightly worse off, the majority of attempters, opened doors to all sorts of disaster scenarios, destroying themselves in an instant.
The most terrifying part was that those Ascendants who managed to barely survive a disaster through items or abilities didn't stop. They actually kept opening doors.
By that point, they were completely trapped in gambler's mentality, unable to give up their sunk costs, insisting they had to open an anchor item to win back everything they'd lost, plus interest.
And the final result naturally followed the law that nine out of ten gamblers lose.
This kind of human madness raged for a full five days, only gradually calming down today.
Officials used detailed failure data and tens of thousands of gruesome consequence videos captured by cameras to make the restless masses abandon their attempts.
By today, people had barely managed to accept the psychological gap, treating those who opened items like lottery jackpot winners from the peaceful era. It made them feel much better inside.
But what people didn't know was that the drop rate for Coordinate Resonance Anchor items was far, far lower than winning the jackpot lottery.
Hall of Halls, laboratory.
A finger-sized, diamond-shaped object shimmering with a faint silver glow, its material like crystal, was carefully placed before a precision instrument.
Several researchers in white lab coats were arranging and calibrating the machines, making preliminary preparations to study that thing.
Bruce and Dr. Haisen stood not far away, both watching that anchor.
"In seven days, Suroma has produced only a single anchor item." Shi Jingyi said. "The efficiency is too high."
Dr. Haisen sighed. "There's no helping it. After testing, we've made a preliminary determination that only beings the Fire Thief judges to be human can open doors and have a chance to produce anchors. Other methods simply won't work."
Since the very first day the rules were released, Suroma had deployed a large number of smart machinery units, having them continuously perform door-opening and door-closing actions.
It didn't matter if those mechanical constructs were damaged or lost. The time it took to wear out one was enough for the white-light factories to produce a hundred more.
But tens of thousands, even millions of mechanical constructs, opening doors non-stop for seven straight days, hadn't produced even a single anchor...
This undoubtedly indicated that even if the rules didn't mention it, there was a high probability that only humans could open that item. Using robots or mechanical arms to cut corners simply wouldn't work.
"How's the external acquisition going?" Bruce asked.
Dr. Haisen shook his head. "One was sold on the Market earlier, but we didn't manage to grab it. I'm afraid Beixing snapped it up first."
Bruce furrowed his brow, then nodded. "That's not surprising. Beixing's government has issued a 'door-opening prohibition,' so their chances of producing anchors on their own are very slim. If they want to research it, they can only buy from outside."
"Yes, this is where we in Suroma hold the advantage. Our chances of self-production are much greater."
"Mm, after all, we have the low human-rights advantage."
"......"
Dr. Haisen looked embarrassed. He honestly had no idea how to respond to that.
Bruce was perfectly unbothered. "No need to dodge it. That's just the facts. Haven't you said it yourself? Only a tiny minority are destined to survive to the end in this era. Since everyone else will die in the rules sooner or later, rather than dying for nothing, they might as well use their lives to contribute to those who have a chance to live to the end."
Dr. Haisen froze. He had indeed said that.
"Have more people participate in opening doors. A single anchor item is barely enough for scientific research, let alone anything else. It's simply not sufficient."
"His Majesty speaks the truth."
"Also, I received another message from Han Qiu yesterday. The intelligence he sent over from Beixing is something we need to deal with."
Dr. Haisen thought of the intelligence content he'd seen and said in surprise, "Your Majesty, you're truly planning to...? I'm afraid the Beixing government won't just sit on the sidelines like before."
"It was only a matter of time before Beixing's government got involved. We need to seize the initiative. And if I'm not mistaken, Moon Key has already joined forces with Guan Tong. She's going to be a major problem, and she needs to be dealt with quickly."
With that, Bruce closed his eyes slightly.
He activated his Mind Network to contact a connected member.
Bruce: "Chadock, are you there?"
A hoarse male voice responded immediately: "I'm here, Your Majesty."
Bruce: "How is your squad adapting to the new equipment?"
Chadock: "Adapting very well. We're ready to move at any time, Your Majesty."
Bruce: "Then move out. I'll give you the mission details and teleportation coordinates right now."
Chadock: "Please give the orders, Your Majesty. We will complete the mission."
......
Beixing, Pinglu.
Not far from the academy, there was an official teacher residential district.
Several of the main lecturers had the best treatment, each with an independent house and courtyard, offering strong privacy.
And at that very moment, in a quiet small courtyard, light from a teleportation array suddenly flickered across the ground.
After the light faded, five figures appeared in the courtyard without a sound.
All five were completely encased in a set of gleaming silver special armor, with not a single inch of skin exposed from head to toe.
"Teleportation to coordinates complete."
"Confirmed target location: Shi Jingyi's residence."
"Move out immediately."
At Captain Chadock's command, one member of the team produced a disc-shaped item and spun it against the house wall. A large hole appeared instantly.
The five quickly entered, repeating the process to cut through the walls of every room, eliminating the need to open doors.
But when the last wall was breached and the five entered, they still found no sign of Shi Jingyi.
"Captain, what's going on? Why isn't the target here?"
"Didn't the intelligence say the target was in secluded meditation at home?"
Facing his men's questions, Captain Chadock was equally baffled.
Bruce had told him the target, Shi Jingyi, was in secluded meditation at home - a state that blocked outside information and perception. In that state, there was a high probability they could capture her directly.
If combat was unavoidable, Chadock had full confidence in his squad, which was fully equipped with "anti-Mind Power armor."
But he hadn't expected Shi Jingyi to not be home at all.
Had His Majesty received faulty intelligence? Or had something happened to the target that changed the situation?
"The intelligence is wrong. Withdraw immediately."
Chadock didn't want to linger in this empty residence any longer. The five turned around, and the moment they did, they discovered a mass of shadow had somehow appeared, blocking the hole in the wall.
That shadow emitted a voice, gloomy and dripping with thick killing intent.
"How did you know that Shi Jingyi was in secluded meditation?"