53:01:56
Around four in the morning.
Liu Yuqiang sat in his chair, feeling he was reaching the limit of his endurance.
He was nearly fifty now, his stamina a far cry from what it was in his youth.
In his twenties and thirties, he could work for over thirty hours straight, but that was when he was young.
Liu Yuqiang silently called upon his personal terminal, then held out his hand.
At his mental command, an ordinary-looking, round mint candy appeared in his palm.
Liu Yuqiang was a self-made man who had carried many heavy loads. He could steadily hold boxes weighing dozens of pounds.
But at this moment, such a small mint candy, its weight almost negligible, made Liu Yuqiang's calloused palm tremble uncontrollably.
He knew full well that this had been obtained at the cost of a human life.
Only he truly understood its weight.
Liu Yuqiang took a deep breath and placed it in his mouth.
The mint candy dissolved instantly. In that moment, he felt an unparalleled clarity.
His fatigue and drowsiness vanished in an instant! In their place was clarity, precision, and sharpness!
Liu Yuqiang's eyes filled with uncontrollable joy. He felt as if his mind had returned to its prime!
"Good stuff, this is really good stuff..."
Liu Yuqiang took out his phone and opened the Qingmei Association's dedicated chat app. He wanted to see if the other members felt the same way he did.
In the group chat, many members were posting messages.
"Zhao, we owe you for this info!"
"Zhao, your information saved my whole family—more than ten of us. I really don't know how I can ever repay you!"
"The effect of this Sober Mint Candy is incredible! My mind has never been this clear!"
"Yeah, I feel amazing after eating one!"
The members were all expressing their gratitude to Zhao Jiping and their amazement at the Sober Mint Candy's effects.
Without the information Zhao Jiping had provided, even a fortune of tens of billions would have been useless in the face of the rules.
Liu Yuqiang saw that Zhao Jiping had also sent a new message.
"Fellow members, no need to be strangers. It's my honor to be of help. I'll say it again: because these 'Sober Mint Candies' can't be given to others—only the one who acquires it can use it—you can share the information with your immediate family. But *only* immediate family. It's not good if too many people find out."
"Zhao is right. If this secret gets out, it'll cause immediate chaos, and that wouldn't be good for us."
"I just checked. News about this secret has already been blocked online. The higher-ups must have gotten ahold of it right away."
"That's a given. But the higher-ups are also choosing not to publicize it because they have the same concern as us: they're worried about chaos."
"I think besides using them for themselves, the higher-ups will secretly pass the information to the public security bureaus in various regions. After all, as long as the security bureaus don't fall apart, the regions won't descend into chaos."
"How do you think they're planning to get the candies?"
"Isn't it obvious? Think about all the death row inmates in prisons. A perfect way to make use of waste."
"Let's not talk about other people. I think what we should be doing now is stockpiling more candies."
"To be safe, I've already gotten 20. One every three hours to ensure nothing goes wrong."
"I've got over ten as well."
"I have a lot of people at my company. I've already put thirty in my storage box."
When Liu Yuqiang saw this message from "Yu Feiwei, Chairman of Firebird Finance," he froze.
He immediately sent a message asking, "President Yu, one candy lasts for three hours. Why would you get so many?"
The rule was only in effect for a total of 72 hours. Thirty mints were enough to stay awake for 90 hours—a massive surplus!
Yu Feiwei replied, "Yuqiang, you're still young, not thinking outside the box. These candies don't have an expiration date. You can still use them as a pick-me-up after the rule ends. Besides, who's to say there won't be similar Apocalypse Rules in the future that require us to stay awake? Better to be prepared."
"President Yu is right."
"President Yu is in finance, after all. His mind just works faster."
"I'll learn from President Yu. I'm also going to stock up on more. Like he said, better to be prepared, haha."
"I envy you guys. I'm at my villa in the suburbs right now. There aren't many residents around here, so it's not easy to get more candies."
Seeing these messages in the group chat, Liu Yuqiang felt a wave of nausea.
Yes, he had preyed on another person in order to survive.
But he had only done it for survival! He wouldn't take more than what was necessary.
Yet Yu Feiwei... and some others in the group... they didn't seem to care at all, ignoring the fact that these so-called "candies" were obtained at the cost of human lives.
This filled Liu Yuqiang, who came from a poor background and had built his life from scratch, with a strong sense of revulsion.
He quickly turned off his phone's screen. Staring at the face reflected on the black surface, he took deep, gasping breaths to calm himself.
After he had calmed down, he began to think.
Should he be like them and get more candies to "be prepared"?
He had plenty of people at his company. Those employees wouldn't be wary of him, their chairman. If he was careful, he could totally...
"No..."
Liu Yuqiang shook his head.
'I won't take any more than what's necessary for survival. That's right, I have to set a bottom line for myself, a principle...'
Liu Yuqiang took out a notebook and wrote down his resolution.
His hand holding the pen even trembled slightly with fear...
Liu Yuqiang knew he was afraid—afraid of becoming like Yu Feiwei and the others, completely losing all respect for human life...
「Time passed.」
48:00:00
Nine in the morning, sharp.
The first 24 hours had passed. Countless people online posted right on the dot to celebrate that they were still alive.
"Congrats to me for still being alive!"
"First 24 hours down, 48 to go. Endurance is victory!!!"
"All-night expert here. Is that all you got? If my eyelids even droop, it means I'm not professional enough!"
"I've been grinding FPS games for a day and a night straight. I feel like I could go for another 48 hours! My only worry is that my wrist will give out before I fall asleep!"
But at the same time, many people were posting that they were about to break.
"How are you guys staying up? I feel like I'm not gonna make it..."
"I've drunk a whole pot of green tea since yesterday, but my eyelids are still fighting to close... I'm so scared I'll accidentally doze off and just die!"
"There's still 48 hours left...? I can't, I'm about to burn out..."
"Is this the end of the line? Everyone, I think I'm gonna check out first... I can feel my bed calling to me, my pillow seducing me..."
Even more people were constantly monitoring global news and updates.
"Anyone from Heize City? They were hauling people away by the truckload in the middle of the night! Who knows how many they took!"
"That's probably happening in every city..."
"How many of the world's ten billion people do you think are left?"
"There's no way to get a count right now..."
"Probably a lot are gone, especially the elderly. Don't be fooled by how lively it is online; that's because it's mostly teenagers and young adults on the internet. The elderly don't really go online, and they can't compare to young people's stamina. How are they supposed to last 72 hours?"
"@OP You're underestimating the elderly. My grandpa and grandma usually only sleep four or five hours a day. They can stay up longer than most young people. The older you get, the less you sleep."