At dusk, in a high-end restaurant in New Covenant City.
A man and a woman sat in a VIP room on the second floor, enjoying rare delicacies.
“Actually, I also think, Yishan, you being an assistant in the Senate is a bit of a waste. With your talent and ability, you should be doing something far more important.”
Han Qiu said as he poured red wine into Yishan’s glass.
Yishan brightened at his words, then grew furious: “You think so too? I really don’t understand what Dad is thinking. I only made a small mistake, and he just threw me into the Senate and ignored me!”
She lifted her glass and took a large gulp, then angrily drank another mouthful.
“Yishan, drink more slowly, don’t choke.”
“Ting, I might as well choke to death! Then let Dad see the consequence of ignoring me!”
Han Qiu shook his head and sighed: “Don’t say that. If you were harmed, I’d be heartbroken too.”
...
Looking at Han Qiu’s sincere expression, Yishan hesitated and tried to reason: “Han Qiu, I know you like me, but it can’t happen between us. Dad would never agree to me being with you.”
She had received Han Qiu’s invitations for several days in a row; even the slowest person would see he was courting her.
“Why? Do you think His Majesty believes my background isn’t good enough for you?”
“It’s not about that. Mainly, you’re not from Suroma, you’re from Beixing... Dad actually detests Beixing people, he could never accept you.”
“And what about you, Yishan?” Han Qiu pressed on, “Do you hate me?”
“Me? I... I’m okay, I can’t say I hate you.”
Yishan didn’t admit it outright. In truth, she not only did not hate Han Qiu, she even felt somewhat fond of him.
First, Han Qiu’s appearance was acceptable. Even if he didn’t match the handsome Adam she once adored, he was at least good-looking, with a slightly effeminate temperament that matched her preference.
Besides, after these days of contact, Han Qiu gave her a sense of reliability and humor. He made her relaxed when talking, letting her vent about the Senate and about Bruce.
Most importantly, Han Qiu was generous with her. Every time he invited her out he chose the best restaurants and entertainment venues in New Covenant City. The costs at those places were so high that even she found them hard to bear.
Especially after she made that mistake and was sent to the Senate by Bruce, the Ascension Coin salary he gave her each month was only a few times the reward from a single Doomsday Rule.
For ordinary Ascendants that might be a fortune, but for someone used to a lavish life like her, it was utterly insufficient.
If Han Qiu weren’t covering the expenses, she couldn’t possibly afford the bill at this restaurant now. This entire table of rare delicacies cost several thousand Ascension Coins.
As for why Han Qiu, a researcher of not particularly high rank, seemed to have so many Ascension Coins as if they were endless, Yishan didn’t know, and she didn’t care.
As long as those Ascension Coins were spent on her, she’d be satisfied; she was too lazy to think about where they came from.
Faced with Han Qiu’s questions now, Yishan was reluctant to speak too decisively. If Han Qiu gave up pursuing her, her current lifestyle would be impossible to maintain, and she would undoubtedly continue to be secretly ridiculed by other privileged kids.
“He hates you, that’s bad.” A faint smile appeared on Han Qiu’s face, “You’ll work to change your father’s mind. After all, in this new era traditional rules don’t apply so well; an old version game mod loaded into a new version will inevitably have compatibility issues.”
“What?” Yishan didn’t quite understand.
Han Qiu smiled: “Nothing, I just mean you’ll keep trying, to gain your father’s approval.”
Seeing Han Qiu try so hard, Yishan was slightly moved, but still thought it would be difficult.
“You don’t understand him. He’s very stubborn... especially since my brother’s incident, he’s become especially cold-blooded.”
A thoughtful light flashed in Han Qiu’s eyes, but on the surface he acted indifferent, showing only a reasonable amount of curiosity.
“Your brother?”
Yishan didn’t want to talk much about it, but since she had brought it up she explained a little: “He ran into trouble in a previous Doomsday Rule. Don’t ask for details, I don’t want to say more.”
“All right, I won’t ask then.”
Han Qiu mentally noted that Yishan having a brother was something he’d already captured in his intelligence gathering, a man named Yilian.
But in his files, Yilian was marked as ‘deceased’. Given how Yishan spoke, there seemed to be something suspicious there.
After dinner, Han Qiu escorted Yishan back, but several uniformed men stopped his car.
The leader directly warned: “His Majesty does not allow you to contact Miss Yishan anymore, do you understand?”
“Oh.”
Han Qiu’s perfunctory response annoyed the man, who grabbed Han Qiu by the collar and snarled: “Listen, Beixing brat, I’m not joking with you. Know your place. You think you deserve to fancy Miss Yishan?”
Han Qiu smiled a half-smile: “I don’t deserve her. Tell me, does a special agent from the Security Investigation Bureau deserve her? Have you been watching too many dramas, thinking those plots where a young lady falls for her bodyguard happen in real life?”
“You!”
The agent’s eyes went wide with fury and he raised his fist to strike. The fist hung frozen in the air for several seconds, then finally dropped.
“You’ve heard His Majesty’s order!” He shoved Han Qiu away, “If I see you bothering Miss Yishan again, I have the right to take you to the Investigation Bureau for questioning!”
After saying that, he and the other special agents left. Han Qiu straightened his collar and murmured: “Ignorant lackeys, they have no idea what they are doing, blindly serving as appendages of power. Pathetic.”
He got back into the car and looked at himself in the rearview mirror.
Reflected in those eyes was a bold, insane plan brewing deep in his heart.
“The prophecy failed.”
The light on the crystal ball dispersed, Moon Key raised her eyes and said.
She had placed Han Qiu’s photograph in front of her, and had just attempted to divine his situation.
“Why did it fail?” Guan Tong asked.
There can be multiple reasons for a failed prophecy. The most common is that the target is too powerful. An Ascendant with strong Mind Power can weaken other Mind Power’s influence on them. I don’t think that’s surprising to you.
“I know that. But didn’t you successfully divine Adam earlier? Could Han Qiu’s Mind Power be higher than Adam’s?”
Guan Tong found it hard to believe.
After all, Adam was one of the world’s top Ascendants, wielding powerful abilities and among the very few who had reached the Second Stage of Ascension. Few in the world could surpass him.
“It’s possible.” Moon Key said, “Since this man is someone you need to find, he must be extraordinary. If he hides a powerful strength no one knows, what’s so strange about that?”
...
Guan Tong knew Moon Key’s words were not without reason.
But if Han Qiu really had stronger Mind Power than Adam, and had managed to stay completely low-profile for over two years without any reputation... it was terrifying to even imagine.
Someone so adept at hiding strength either has an enormous objective that requires long-term concealment and plotting to achieve, or is incredibly low-key and patient, with no desire for the spotlight, pursuing strict utilitarian adherence to the rules.
Whichever of the two Han Qiu belonged to, he would undoubtedly be an extremely troublesome opponent.
“However.” Moon Key said, “the prophecy for another target succeeded. The cult leader of the Fire Thief Worship Cult you’re looking for is in Lianluo'an City.”