October 10th, less than a week before the Doomsday Rules ended.
That morning, Guan Tong was scrolling through the headline news on his computer.
"Princess Yishan of Suroma to Hold Wedding After the 23rd Doomsday Rule Ends—Groom Actually from Beixing!"
This story dominated every major platform, and the reasons were complicated.
First, public weddings hadn't happened in ages. Couples willing to get married were already extremely rare, and those who chose to hold a public ceremony were rarer still.
The logic was simple: a wedding's main purpose was to receive blessings from friends and family, to celebrate together. But in this era, most of both sides' relatives and friends were dead. Who could you even invite to a wedding?
The global population had plummeted from tens of billions to just a few hundred million—a loss of over ninety percent. That meant for every ten people you once knew, maybe only one was still alive... Under these circumstances, inviting anyone to a wedding was a guessing game of who was even left.
Second, the massive public interest in this wedding came down to the couple's identities.
The bride, Yishan, was Bruce's only daughter, and Bruce was arguably the most powerful king Suroma had ever seen.
This had been true since peacetime—countless wealthy and influential sons had circled Yishan, hoping to snag a piece of Bruce's power through marriage.
That trend hadn't faded in the Doomsday Rules era; it had only intensified.
Because this new age demanded centralization far more than peacetime ever did.
Yes, when survival became the biggest problem, few people bothered debating checks and balances or caging power. Instead, everyone pinned their hopes on a strong leader, a powerful authority to guide and protect them.
In this environment, the power of national leaders had broken past peacetime limits and expanded dramatically.
That meant even more people were after Bruce's authority—and pursuing Yishan.
When the groom's identity was revealed, the wedding's hype skyrocketed again—the man was an ordinary person from Beixing!
This was the most jaw-dropping twist. A Beixing native had beaten out all those Suroma aristocrats, and—even more absurd—Bruce had actually approved! Everyone knew Bruce hated Beixing people.
Of course, "ordinary" was relative. After digging, the gossipers discovered that this "Han Qiu" was considered high-value talent.
Back in peacetime, he'd been a young academician in Beixing. And everyone knew that Beixing's young academician competition was brutal—every candidate was a favored child of heaven. Succeeding there meant you had something special.
After reading his resume, many wondered why he'd left Beixing for Suroma, going from academician to researcher. That career shift was bizarre.
But before curiosity could fester, shortly after the wedding identities were revealed, Beixing's official channels released a stern public statement.
It declared Han Qiu a wanted fugitive, a suspect in multiple major cases, and demanded that Suroma immediately hand him over for Beixing's investigation, per Human Consortium regulations.
This statement shot the wedding's hype to a whole new level.
The king of Suroma's daughter, marrying a Beixing wanted criminal?!
Gossip hounds were practically giddy with excitement. The comments under every headline were a flood of guesses and conspiracy theories.
"That Beixing guy is savage! Han Qiu committed crimes, fled to Suroma, transformed into a researcher, and still managed to marry the king's daughter—it's like he's cheating!"
"Isn't it possible that him becoming a researcher and marrying the king's daughter has nothing to do with whatever Han Qiu did?"
"I think so too. That guy is probably a spy. He stole some critical intel from Han Qiu and traded it to Suroma for wealth and status. Disgraceful!"
"And King Bruce is ridiculous. Even if he did Beixing a small favor, does that mean he can publicly let him marry my daughter? Now the whole world knows!"
"Whatever, I'm still jealous. At least as the king's son-in-law, he's safe. And didn't Suroma announce successful memory digitization tech? Maybe I'll get my turn soon enough."
Guan Tong skimmed the news and comments, then looked down at his earlier notes.
They read:
Han Qiu called Scarface to notify him: wedding with Bruce's daughter Yishan on October 20th at Wensilisa Castle;
Scarface told me, and I relayed it to Adam. Adam, combining intelligence from his source Wemban, believes Bruce will definitely attend his daughter's wedding. So he decided to launch an attack at the castle that day, targeting Bruce alive to force him to hand over Adam's wife and daughter;
The last line of the note read: "I believe this is a trap set by Han Qiu. Advised Adam to be cautious. No success."
Even though Guan Tong had deleted his memories of that day, these notes let him know what had happened.
He was certain Han Qiu was in Suroma, but he'd never been able to pinpoint his exact location.
Han Qiu had definitely been on guard. Because Guan Tong wasn't the only one looking for him—Beixing's official wanted list also had him in its sights.
But now, breaking from his usual low-key style, Han Qiu suddenly wanted to throw a huge wedding, with the date and location practically broadcast to the whole world. This was totally out of character.
Given how meticulous Han Qiu was, he must have anticipated the global discussion, the public outrage, even Beixing's demand for extradition.
That meant Han Qiu was deliberately fanning the flames of this wedding's hype.
In Guan Tong's eyes, this wedding was one hundred percent a trap.
And using something as important as a wedding to set that trap? That fit Han Qiu's style of doing whatever it took.
"The question is," Guan Tong thought, "who is this trap targeting... Adam? Or me?"
If it was Adam, then the plan had already succeeded. Ye Dang was stubborn—he was definitely going.
If it was Guan Tong...
"Does Han Qiu really think I'll go?" Guan Tong wondered.
If this was a trap co-set by Han Qiu and Bruce, Adam showing up meant a fight for survival.
Earlier, Andrew had said Joiessen told him New Covenant City had many secret setups targeting Ascendants.
To Guan Tong, those setups were probably like the "Red Demon" mechs on Eden Island, only stronger, since New Covenant was Suroma's most important city.
Bruce and Suroma's higher-ups knew Adam inside and out. They'd have no trouble targeting him.
If I don't help, Adam is practically walking to his death... But what if that's exactly what Han Qiu wants?
If Han Qiu knows Adam and I are working together, and that if Adam goes, I'll follow, then that means he knows my location too.
Guan Tong thought in reverse. He'd been searching for Han Qiu, but it was just as likely Han Qiu had been searching for him.
Whether to avenge his sister Han Ling, or simply to see Guan Tong as a rival, Han Qiu wanted him dead.
"I need to think this through carefully. I can't make a hasty decision."
Guan Tong sank into thought, then suddenly remembered Moon Key. He wondered if asking her to do a prophecy about the wedding might yield something useful.
He wasn't about to blindly trust prophecies, but past examples had shown Moon Key's ability had real effect. It could at least serve as a reference.
But...
"If I remember right, last time I went to her with Han Qiu, she said she had an agreement with Bruce not to prophesy anything related to him. And her last prophecy about Han Qiu failed, which means his Mind Power is probably far above hers."
"What about asking her to prophesy the outcome of Ye Dang going to the wedding?" Guan Tong considered. "But she also said she can't prophesy the same person multiple times in a short period..."
All these restrictions made things tricky. But then Guan Tong thought—what about the wedding's other protagonist, Yishan? She should be free of those restrictions, right?