As midnight struck and the date shifted from October 1st to the 2nd, the first settlement of the Doomsday Rules had also concluded.
Half an hour later, at Beixing's Countermeasures Research Office.
Director Gao Liangwei presided over the post-settlement meeting. As the body responsible for responding to the Rules, everyone here was at their busiest during the Rule Period.
Not just busy, but under immense pressure.
Because every official recommendation issued to the public came from the Countermeasures Research Office. If those recommendations went wrong, the number of people affected would be unimaginable.
Once the meeting began, Gao Liangwei said, "Li Meng, you should have the Rule data by now. Summarize the situation."
"Alright." Li Meng looked at the tablet in his hand, which displayed the consolidated reports from various shelters, compiled by the Data Officers after today's Rule announcement.
"Most people inside the shelters showed no significant changes after their first memory deletion and should have passed the settlement just now."
"However, a small number of people thought the memories they deleted were unimportant but ended up misjudging and deleting critical memories, plunging themselves into a state of mental confusion. These individuals exhibited abnormal behavior inside the shelters and were immediately discovered by their dormmates and the administrators."
Zhang Minglu frowned upon hearing this. "These people were too careless. How could they mess up something like this? Was it really that hard to pick one day's worth of irrelevant memories to delete?"
Li Meng said, "They might have deleted more distant memories and forgotten some key details. Still, these people managed to pass the settlement."
Even if they deleted important memories that caused significant personality changes, as long as it was a complete 24-hour memory, they could pass the Rule's settlement.
Gao Liangwei asked, "Were there any people inside the shelters who failed the settlement?"
"Yes." Li Meng's expression turned serious. "As expected, the moment these people failed the settlement, they immediately became like newborn babies, completely incapable of taking care of themselves."
"..."
"How the hell did these people manage that? Could they not even delete a complete 24-hour memory?"
The attendees found it utterly absurd, believing that anyone with a functioning brain could pass the settlement.
Li Meng sighed. "With so many people, all kinds of accidents are bound to happen. For example, according to reports from the shelters, one failure took an afternoon nap, woke up forgetting he hadn't deleted his memories yet, and just put on his headphones to play games... He was so immersed that when the settlement arrived at midnight, he never remembered the task."
Everyone was left in a long, awkward silence.
Someone couldn't hold back their frustration and said bluntly, "I want to say something harsh—how did someone like that even survive until now?"
"It must be because the shelter's safety measures are solid enough."
"That's true..."
"No wonder some voices think our shelters have turned some people into liabilities. Looking at it now, maybe the Higher-ups' decision to heavily develop Practical Combat Classes at the academy this year was also a response to this phenomenon?"
Seeing the conversation drift into irrelevant topics, Gao Liangwei tapped the table with his knuckles. "Back to the main point. Those who lost the ability to care for themselves will need extra personnel to look after them."
"It's not just one person," Li Meng said. "These settlement failures have the cognition of newborns paired with adult bodies—they're true 'giant babies' in every sense... It'll take at least two to three people to care for each one of them."
A hot-tempered attendee couldn't help raising their voice. "How is that acceptable?! One settlement failure consumes two or three people's entire day—that's a massive waste of human resources!"
"Exactly! Although Beixing still has a large population, whether it's clearing vegetation or future development and construction, we need large-scale manpower investment. Where can we spare extra people to take care of them?"
"Can't we use robots instead?"
"Current robots can care for disabled people quite well, but taking care of adults with newborn cognition is likely to go wrong."
Whether they liked it or not, these "giant babies" who had failed the settlement and had their memories wiped clean instantly became a heavy burden on the authorities.
Taking care of them would consume additional human resources, which were the most precious resource in the Doomsday Rules era.
But if they didn't care for them, it meant leaving these people to die. After all, no newborn could survive on its own, even with an adult's body.
Gao Liangwei said, "Let's coordinate as best we can. We can't abandon these people."
Everyone fell silent.
No matter what they thought privately, they all knew this was Beixing's inevitable choice.
Even if these people might die under the next Rule because they couldn't independently complete a challenge, at least until that day came, the authorities had to ensure they stayed alive.
This was also a practical way of telling all Beixing citizens that the authorities wouldn't give up on their lives until the very last moment—so that every Beixing citizen could stay tightly united.
After reviewing the data issues and finalizing the relevant statements to be released shortly, Gao Liangwei dismissed the others, keeping Li Meng and Zhang Minglu behind.
With only the three of them left in the conference room, Gao Liangwei asked directly, "Li Meng, regarding Suroma—still no news about Bruce?"
Li Meng shook his head. "No. All the agents planted in New Covenant have given the same answer: Bruce hasn't appeared in public for days."
Zhang Minglu was puzzled. "Director, why are you so concerned about Bruce's movements?"
"Ever since Suroma announced that the 'memory digitization' technology was successfully implemented, Bruce has stayed out of sight. I suspect he's leading some kind of experiment, and it could be very dangerous." Gao Liangwei's voice was heavy.
Zhang Minglu and Li Meng exchanged glances. They hadn't expected that the Director not only worried about the Countermeasures Research Office's affairs but also kept a close eye on Suroma's movements.
"Nothing we can do about it," Li Meng said helplessly. "Our intelligence network can even infiltrate the Senate, but we still can't get any news on Bruce. It seems he's isolated himself from the Senate, and all his actions are under absolute secrecy."
Zhang Minglu then said, "Director, do you think Bruce might upload his own memories? Even if he succeeds, what can he gain? Besides, uploading memories consumes enormous electrical energy. If Suroma initiates large-scale energy transfers, we can detect it."
Gao Liangwei nodded. "Actually, I have no evidence either. It's probably just a professional soldier's intuition. I think Bruce has been lying low since he skipped the last briefing, doing something."
...
At that moment, in Suroma's secret laboratory, just over half an hour ago—moments before the midnight settlement—a memory data package had finally been completed.
Dr. Haisen wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced at the time, and muttered, "Almost didn't make it..."
He then turned to look at the massive life-support pod in the center of the room, a flicker of shock still in his eyes.
As the head of this secret experiment base, he had no idea this room existed in the facility. And the young man in the life-support pod—wasn't he...
"Is it done?"
Bruce's voice sounded from behind him. Dr. Haisen quickly averted his gaze.
"Your Majesty, it's done! The person whose memory you wanted backed up—well... He might have been in this state for too long. Most of his memories have been lost, leaving only fragmented pieces. So the traversal was relatively fast."
Dr. Haisen spoke cautiously, terrified of accidentally saying something he shouldn't and provoking Bruce.
But Bruce was calmer than he expected, as if he already knew the person in the life-support pod had incomplete memories.
"It's good that it's done," Bruce said.
"Yes." Dr. Haisen nodded. "This way, even if he fails the settlement and gets his memories wiped clean, it won't matter."
Dr. Haisen understood very well that someone in the condition of the young man in the life-support pod had zero chance of passing this Rule's challenge.
"You've done well, Haisen," Bruce said. "As for his existence—I don't need to say anything more, do I?"
"Of course!" Dr. Haisen immediately made a solemn vow. "I will never reveal a single thing that happens in this room to anyone. Not even my closest assistant will know a thing."