"Infiltration risk?"
The moment Gao Liangwei finished speaking, many of the researchers in the conference room looked at each other in confusion.
They exchanged glances, not quite understanding.
Seeing this, Gao Liangwei explained, "Everyone here in the Strategy Research Room has access to the latest firsthand information. You should all be well aware that since the Apocalypse Rules descended, dozens of countries around the world have already been destroyed."
"When these countries fell, they lost not only countless citizens but also their precious culture, heritage, and history. We, the North Star Country, absolutely cannot allow ourselves to suffer the same fate. Therefore, if we are to train teams to fight for our nation, the backgrounds of their members must be completely clean."
"..."
The researchers fell silent. Their job was to study the rules, but Gao Liangwei, the director with a military background, clearly had a broader range of responsibilities.
"I'm sure you all know I come from the military, so protecting my home and country is what I value most. Just imagine, what if we pour all our national resources into training people who turn out to be hidden enemies? How much damage and loss would that inflict upon our country?"
"For this reason, personnel backgrounds must be strictly vetted. Any further questions?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Dr. Zhang, please continue."
"Alright." Dr. Zhang gathered his thoughts and continued, "Regarding the personnel requirements for this squad, I believe a Psychic Power of over 100, reaching an 'Excellent' rating, is a mandatory condition. I won't go into detail on the other points."
"What I'm more interested in discussing is how to strengthen this squad. Based on the three rules we've seen so far, since the Fire Thief is using extreme methods to screen humanity, we can learn from it and use extreme training to cultivate our squad members."
"In other words, in addition to facing the challenges of the rules, squad members will also have to undergo extreme survival challenges that we design. Not only will this enhance their adaptability, but I also believe it can accelerate the growth of their maximum Psychic Power."
"I see," Gao Liangwei said. "The military has plenty of extreme training regimens used to produce top-tier special forces soldiers. We can certainly adapt those now."
Dr. Zhang agreed. "Some of the military's extreme training methods have been proven effective by soldiers, so they are indeed viable options."
At that moment, someone else asked, "Does it have to be in a squad format? Everyone's situation is different. Wouldn't individual training be better?"
"No," Gao Liangwei said firmly. "The recent update to the personal terminal's [Social] function explicitly includes a 'Team Up' option. This indicates it will definitely be used later on. So, we must train personnel in a squad format from the very beginning."
"That makes sense..."
"There's one other point," Dr. Zhang added. "Among the rewards for this third rule, there's a 'First Ascender Challenge Invitation Letter'."
"Something with such obvious competitive implications suggests there will likely be direct confrontations between people later on. The outcomes of these confrontations could have significant consequences, so starting specialized training now is a necessary preparation for that competition."
Everyone agreed with this point.
If it was called a "Challenge," it was a competition, and competitions meant rivalry, winners, and losers.
This was different from the hidden rule during the first Apocalypse Rule. The rule about knocking people out to get Awakening Sugar was less a competition and more a form of malice from the Fire Thief. The goal was to tempt people into attacking others for survival items.
Gao Liangwei nodded. "Dr. Zhang is right. Whether for the ultimate apocalyptic operations or the imminent competition, we must immediately form specialized squads and begin training personnel."
"In that case, let's add a temporary item to this meeting's agenda: discussing the other selection criteria and requirements for squad members, besides their maximum Psychic Power."
...
'I'm not afraid of this rule,' Liu Yuqiang thought after the third Apocalypse Rule was announced.
He had grown up hungry. His family was poor when he was a child, and they couldn't afford proper meals. He often had to get through the day on just a single flatbread.
Later, in college, it was common for him to eat only one meal a day or just have some porridge from the cafeteria to save money.
Although this made Liu Yuqiang sick a few times, it also trained him to endure hunger. So, when he saw the new rule, he felt he didn't need to buy food boxes from the store and could get through it on his own.
But unlike him, his children had grown up in comfort and naturally couldn't stand the feeling of starvation.
His son called specifically to ask, "Dad, is there any information on a hidden rule?"
Liu Yuqiang replied, "Didn't the officials say you can buy food boxes to help?"
"Buy what? I don't have any Sublimation Coins. I didn't even run the marathon for that last rule. How could I have possibly finished it?"
"..."
"I'm looking for a hidden rule like the one with the 'Sober Mint Candy,' something that doesn't cost coins. Dad, you're well-connected. Ask around, maybe there's something."
Liu Yuqiang really wanted to curse when he heard that.
He had specifically told his son and daughter before that no one was ever to mention the first hidden rule or the "Sober Mint Candy" again.
Because he had passed it by killing someone, and there was nothing glorious about that!
Liu Yuqiang didn't want his children to lose their reverence for human life. He knew if they became like that, they would surely suffer a huge loss someday, perhaps one they'd never recover from.
But in the end, he held back his anger. Cursing over the phone was pointless anyway.
After hanging up, he instinctively opened the dedicated chat app for the Qingmei Association.
In the group chat, many people, just like his son, were asking about a hidden rule.
"Where's Zhao? Anyone got an inside track on this new rule?"
"The officials said we can spend Sublimation Coins on boxes, but I don't have any. What should I do?"
"Me neither. My power decayed during the second rule. My Psychic Power is only 3 points now. If it decays again, will it drop to zero?"
"Can it really go to zero?"
"No idea!"
"Where's Zhao? Why hasn't he said anything?"
Liu Yuqiang read the messages. The member who posted about "almost at zero" was someone who had passed the first rule entirely by eating Sober Mint Candies.
Because he ate too many candies, he ended up with a single-digit maximum Psychic Power, even though he passed the rule.
He failed the second rule, the marathon, and the decay dropped him to his current 3 points.
If it decayed again...
Liu Yuqiang was also curious. Would it drop directly to zero?
As for the person everyone in the group was asking for, "Zhao Jiping, Chairman of Hengyun Real Estate," they had all figured out the source of his information over the past few days.
It turned out his younger brother was a top researcher who had been recruited by the officials into the Strategy Research Room.
This brother, being in the research room, had access to firsthand research data and experimental results. He had been secretly leaking them to Zhao Jiping, in violation of confidentiality regulations.
However, as management of the research room grew stricter, the opportunities to leak secret intelligence became fewer and farther between, with each attempt carrying great risk.
After more than ten minutes, prompted by a dozen or so people, Zhao Jiping finally spoke up.
"I asked my brother. He said that besides the food boxes, the Strategy Research Room hasn't found any other hidden rules. Looks like everyone is on their own this time."