The atmosphere in the Countermeasures Research Office's meeting room was somewhat heavy.
It was currently October 14th, and this rule would end tomorrow.
Thanks to Zhao Ming's relatively effective suggestions, there weren't many failed challengers throughout the rule's execution. Most of those who failed and had their memories wiped clean, becoming "giant babies," did so because of their own problems.
As for those with scrambled memories or mental splitting, it was either caused by haphazardly deleting memories or by browsing too many commercial memories in the Memory Market. No one else was to blame; they had only themselves to thank for ignoring official advice and messing around.
With the overall situation under control, the Countermeasures Research Office hadn't invested many resources in this rule. The meeting today wasn't called for the rule at all, but specifically to discuss Han Qiu's matter.
"Han Qiu's wedding to Bruce's daughter, Yishan, is imminent," Gao Liangwei said. "Yesterday, the Suroma government officially rejected our Foreign Affairs Department's request to extradite Han Qiu, citing that he has obtained Suroma citizenship."
"Absolutely shameless," someone at the meeting cursed. "Coming up with such an excuse to brush us off, they really have no shame left!"
Li Meng said calmly, "Given that Bruce agreed to marry his daughter to Han Qiu, and that the Suroma government ignored Human Consortium regulations and refused to hand him over, Han Qiu must hold some enormous value to the Suroma higher-ups."
Everyone, though reluctant to admit it, knew Li Meng was right.
For Bruce and those in the Senate, if Han Qiu couldn't bring them significant benefits, why would they go this far?
Someone asked in confusion, "What exactly do Bruce and his people see in Han Qiu? Even if he once worked at the Countermeasures Research Office and has some intelligence, that's not worth this level of courting, is it?"
"Exactly. Giving him status and a hefty fee in Ascension Coins makes sense, but the king marrying off his only daughter to him is completely unreasonable. What do the Senators think about this? Aren't several Senators' sons pursuing Yishan?"
"Right. On other matters, Bruce and the Senate might see eye to eye, but on this, there's bound to be conflict."
"Bruce knew the Senate would be unhappy, yet he still agreed to Han Qiu. This means the value Han Qiu brings him even outweighs the Senators."
"Could it be related to the resources Han Qiu controls?" someone mentioned. "His sister, Han Ling, was a key member of the Qingmei Society. He might have deep connections with the leader, 'Big Sister'... After the Qingmei Society fell, the vast amounts of Ascension Coins, items, and other resources it hoarded vanished without a trace. Could they be in Han Qiu's hands?"
Everyone fell silent, all feeling it was possible.
Back then, the Qingmei Society had several bases, with Yongzhou base being just one of them. Each base held many Ascendants. The Ascension Coins squeezed from them, plus the resources pooled by the society's numerous business tycoons... the total must have been staggering.
But after the Qingmei Society was destroyed, this huge trove of resources vanished. The Beixing government hadn't recovered it for the treasury or compensated the victims.
At the time, some speculated that the resources might have been concentrated on a few key members. Once those key members died, the resources disappeared with them.
After all, resources like Ascension Coins and tradable items don't "drop" when an Ascendant dies. If an Ascendant refuses to trade them to others, determined to take them to the grave, there's normally no way to force it out.
Maybe only through brainwashing, hypnosis, or even torture could one force someone to hand over such resources.
But now, it seemed that perhaps not all the resources had vanished; a significant chunk might have fallen into Han Qiu's hands.
Ever since he escaped from the Countermeasures Research Office base using mysterious means, various intelligence departments in Beixing had been tracking him. Some intelligence indicated that many people and organizations had traded with him, and in most cases, Han Qiu was the buyer paying out Ascension Coins.
Such lavish spending had even led the intelligence department to believe—could he be the Administrator of Ascendant Home, amassing small fortunes by selling hidden rule information?
But that conclusion didn't hold water, because the Administrator and Guan Tong were clearly hostile, while the Administrator had intricate connections with Guan Tong.
After ruling out that possibility, the intelligence department could only reach one conclusion: a large portion of the Qingmei Society's hoarded resources was in Han Qiu's hands. Otherwise, it was hard to explain his financial prowess.
This only steeled the Beixing government's resolve to capture Han Qiu.
Now that diplomatic channels were at an impasse, it was time to use other means, and the Countermeasures Research Office was naturally the first choice.
Zhang Minglu asked directly, "Director, does the higher-ups want us to capture him?"
Gao Liangwei nodded. "The decision-makers do have that intention, but they don't want to escalate this into a direct conflict between nations."
"So that means sending people to infiltrate Suroma to complete the capture," Zhang Minglu said gravely. "Forgive me for saying this, but that's almost impossible."
He understood Ascendants best, knowing that no matter how strong their abilities, they had limitations.
Just like during the last rule, facing those terrifying mutated plants, even Ascendants could only fight briefly. Once their Mind Power ran out, it was over.
If a team were sent to infiltrate Suroma to capture Han Qiu, fighting on hostile ground without support, getting caught in a drawn-out battle would mean certain failure. The outcome was far from optimistic.
Li Meng also said, "New Covenant is Suroma's key defense city, and Han Qiu is very cautious, not giving away opportunities easily. Even if we send our most elite Ascendants, completing the mission would be extremely difficult."
"Exactly. It's too dangerous for our Ascendants."
"Losing a squad of elites just for Han Qiu would be a loss not worth the gain."
None of the department heads at the meeting favored infiltration and capture. Gao Liangwei slowly nodded and said, "I share your views. Sending people in blindly would be suicide. The decision-makers are thinking whether we can cooperate with forces outside the government."
Zhang Minglu caught on first. "Guan Tong? I have a feeling he might already be planning to use this wedding to do something, since he has scores to settle with Han Qiu. But..."
When it came to forces outside the Beixing government, other than Guan Tong, there was hardly anyone else to mention. Although Beixing now had the largest population, it lagged far behind Suroma and the Xisiya Empire in the number of wilderness survivors and mercenary groups.
Under Beixing's iron grip, the only powerful force outside the government was basically Guan Tong's crew.
"But what?" Gao Liangwei asked.
Zhang Minglu looked at Li Meng; both knew what the issue was.
Li Meng took over, speaking self-critically, "This rule unearthed an old matter involving him, and things turned sour. Jumping to conclusions without thorough investigation was my fault."
"It's a minor issue, irrelevant," Gao Liangwei said. "The big matters can't be delayed."
Li Meng and Zhang Minglu exchanged a glance, both feeling this was tough.
Because to a man in his forties and a man in his early twenties, what counts as a big or small matter is sometimes worlds apart...
...
Wensilisa Castle.
This ancient castle in the small town south of New Covenant was being brought back to life by an upcoming grand wedding.
Since entering the Doomsday Rules era, it had sat empty for a year or two. Located in the suburbs, far from the city center with its facilities, it wasn't conducive to rule challenges, so the castle's manager had long moved into the city.
But this wedding would finally bring guests to the castle. Clearing out a year or two of dust and removing some naturally damaged debris was urgent.
Those tasks had been finished days ago, and now they were in the midst of decorating the venue for the big day.
People were bustling busily inside and outside the castle. Some placed flower pots by the entrance, others laid down thick carpets, and still others hung colorful ribbons and light strips on the walls, preparing for the customary evening dance party after the wedding.
Yishan was currently in the castle's great hall, directing the workers.
"The flowers here should go by the carpet edge, move them closer to the table!"
"The silverware needs to be arranged in order of height. You've got it all wrong, redo it!"
"What about the band for the ceremony? There's less than a week until the wedding, shouldn't they be here to rehearse today?"
She took this wedding extremely seriously. From childhood, she had dreamed of having a grand wedding.
Especially in this era where weddings were rare, her wedding had captured the world's attention. This excited her but also made her more nervous and anxious. She was determined to perfect every detail, tolerating no dissatisfaction.
After bustling for a while, seeing that Han Qiu still hadn't arrived, Yishan took out her phone and called him.
Once he picked up, she snapped angrily, "Weren't we supposed to come to the castle together today to oversee the wedding decorations? Where are you? Why aren't you here yet?"
Han Qiu's apologetic voice came through. "Yishan, something's come up here. I might be a little late, sorry."
"Hmph, what's more important than our wedding? Get over here right now!" Yishan hung up in a huff, thoroughly displeased with Han Qiu's behavior.
She knew she wasn't as smart as Han Qiu, but she wasn't stupid either. She could sense, from subtle details, that Han Qiu didn't value this wedding as much as she did.
For example, yesterday when she asked him what flowers should be placed and which song to play during the ceremony, his reply was, "Whatever you think."
It seemed considerate on the surface, but it left Yishan feeling stifled. "Whatever you think," to some extent, was equivalent to "I don't care."
She actually wished Han Qiu would have a different opinion, so they could argue about it. But his complete hands-off approach annoyed her greatly.
His attitude made her feel like this wedding was just her personal show, having nothing to do with the groom.
And now he was late again, causing a seed of doubt to sprout deep inside her. Did Han Qiu even care about this wedding at all?
If he didn't care, why was he so eager to hold it in October? If he did, why were his actions so lacking?
She shook her head, stopping herself from thinking further. The wedding was just a few days away; her focus should be on other things now. She could let her dissatisfaction with Han Qiu out later.
"Don't slack off! Get it done as soon as possible. I still need to go taste the banquet dishes later!"
Yishan continued directing on-site, completely unaware that not far beneath her feet, a hair-thin, elongated black shadow lay silently still on the ground.