31: Chapter 31 Should we take the initiative to find the Shadow Eater?

"No," Tang Ningfei said without looking up.

Her fingers continued to tap rapidly on the screen. Sensing the puzzled looks from the two, she added in a low voice, "I'm communicating with people from the government departments."

Zhou Tunan grew even more curious upon hearing this and couldn't help but lean in half a step closer.

Gu Changming also stepped forward two paces, his gaze falling on her phone screen.

Tang Ningfei didn't explain immediately. She only looked up after finishing and sending the edited content.

She said simply, "I organized what happened when we encountered the Shadow Devourer last night and reported it."

"To whom?" Gu Changming asked, a hint of inquiry in his eyes.

Tang Ningfei glanced at him, her tone calm: "People from government departments."

Zhou Tunan was somewhat surprised and asked tentatively, "Are you... part of a government department?"

"No," Tang Ningfei shook her head. "Those whose points exceeded five hundred in the first Assessment are invited by national departments to become members of the department dealing with the Assessments. It's nothing special; it's all about concentrating forces to handle subsequent Assessments."

"Five hundred points?" Zhou Tunan couldn't help but look at her in surprise.

Tang Ningfei's face remained expressionless, but a slight curve at the corner of her mouth betrayed her emotions.

Standing to the side, Gu Changming's gaze lingered briefly on her face, his eyes flickering slightly.

So that's how it is... It seems that through her, the rules of this Assessment can be disseminated much faster.

"I only got two hundred in my first Assessment," Zhou Tunan scratched his head.

Tang Ningfei gave a soft "Mm" without much comment, then changed the subject:

"I just reported the two points you both speculated—that Shadow Devourers also actively hunt in the dark, and the intelligence that there might only be one Shadow Devourer per area. There should be a response from that side soon."

Just as she finished speaking, her phone vibrated once.

Gu Changming immediately glanced at the screen, but from a distance, he couldn't see clearly. It would be too obvious if he deliberately moved closer, so he stayed where he was.

"A message?" Zhou Tunan asked.

Tang Ningfei nodded and quickly scanned the screen: "The Strategy Department said they've also received similar intelligence from others. After a comprehensive Assessment, they believe the two rules we proposed have high credibility and have adopted them."

Upon hearing this, an excited look appeared on Zhou Tunan's face.

Gu Changming, however, stood to the side with an unchanged expression.

Tang Ningfei added, "I expect there will be an official push notification shortly."

Hearing this, Gu Changming pulled his own phone from his pocket, pressed it lightly, and the screen lit up immediately.

Tang Ningfei, seeing this from the side, felt a flash of surprise in her eyes.

She had turned her phone off completely earlier for safety; she hadn't expected Gu Changming to merely let his screen go dark.

Was he too careless? Or... was he too confident in himself?

Before she could figure it out, Zhou Tunan had already leaned closer, asking curiously, "Are there many people like you with over five hundred points?"

Tang Ningfei thought for a moment and replied, "About a thousand people or so."

"Then do you guys communicate regularly?"

"Mm, there's a dedicated group chat."

Zhou Tunan's eyes lit up. "Then... can you pull me in? I can also help analyze rules and do some deductive work."

At this point, Gu Changming, whose gaze had been on his phone screen, looked up and glanced at Zhou Tunan.

So this was the starting point for the other man joining the government departments.

Perhaps in this Assessment, humanity eventually finding the Shadow Devourer's weakness would be partly due to his efforts.

"There's a hard rule; you must have at least five hundred points to join," Tang Ningfei shook her head.

The expectant look on Zhou Tunan's face dimmed immediately.

Seeing him like this, Tang Ningfei's tone softened slightly as she added, "However, the intelligence you provided this time is very valuable. Once the Assessment is over, the officials might make an exception and invite you."

Zhou Tunan's eyes immediately lit up again.

He turned to look at Gu Changming next to him, asking curiously, "What about you? How many points did you get in the last Assessment?"

Gu Changming's eyes moved slightly as he replied calmly, "The same as you, two hundred."

Hearing this number, the corner of Tang Ningfei's mouth curved upward almost imperceptibly.

It seemed that compared to her, he was still a bit lacking.

Gu Changming's gaze returned to his phone screen.

Before long, just as Tang Ningfei had said, a new official push notification appeared on the screen.

In addition to the "Shadow Devourers actively hunt in the dark" and "single entity per area" proposed by the two of them, the push notification included two new pieces of information: first, that Shadow Devourers enter a silence period of several seconds after a successful hunt, suggesting survivors gather as appropriate to look out for each other; second, it mentioned that in areas with high ambient brightness, weak light sources will not attract Shadow Devourers, meaning daytime is safer.

Gu Changming's heart stirred slightly.

This was somewhat different from his previous life. He remembered that after the first night, the official push notification only had a simple tip about "daytime being safer," far less detailed than this one.

Was this a change brought about by his rebirth?

He temporarily suppressed his thoughts, focused back on the push notification content, and began to evaluate it privately.

The suggestion to gather... could indeed increase survival chances, but large groups also easily led to chaos.

Furthermore, the cruelest point of this information wasn't stated: that the foundation of your survival must be built upon the sacrifice of others.

Gu Changming was certain the officials knew this, but the reason they pushed it out might be that there truly was no other way—saving some was better than saving none.

As for that "Light Source Coverage" inference, it was clearly referencing the "Sound Pressure Coverage" concept from the first Assessment; its greatest effect was proving the safety of daytime.

The research direction was fundamentally wrong. Once night fell, anyone who dared to expose themselves to a light source would find only a path to death.

The correct path was what was written in the hidden rules: use intense light to cover the Shadow Devourer's entire body, causing its body to stiffen and gaining a chance to escape.

He still needed to guide them to discover the true hidden rules as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Gu Changming looked up at the other two.

They were also looking at the official push notification at the moment.

Zhou Tunan murmured to himself, "The information is much more detailed; we should be able to save more people this time."

Tang Ningfei's gaze was focused, her mouth moving silently as if she wanted to commit everything to memory.

Seeing that they had both finished reading, Gu Changming snapped his fingers, making a small sound.

The two looked over in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Tunan asked curiously.

Tang Ningfei was also frowning.

Gu Changming paused, then spoke: "Should we proactively go look for a Shadow Devourer? We might be able to get more supplementary rules."

If he brought the two along and let them see the scene of a Shadow Devourer being covered by intense light and its body stiffening, they could pass that critical intelligence along.

Then, his task would be complete.