"Hah—huh—"
Han Qiu opened his eyes after a deep breath and sat up.
Water streamed over him, the cool trickle making him realize he was sitting in a shallow creek.
"Luck was on my side this time, hehe... at least this is way better than last time, when I tried to kill myself in the Countermeasures Research Office and rebirthed in a volcanic crater."
Han Qiu stood, stepped out of the creek, and onto flat ground.
He ignored the dirt and damp on his clothes, took a headset from his Storage Box, put it on, and sent a comm signal.
"Chairman." The voice of his subordinate, the Truth-Bound Tianci, came through the earpiece, "we've received news from the wedding site, it's..."
"Enough, Tianci. Just tell me how Bruce and Guan Tong are doing." Han Qiu cut him off, "Has any internal info leaked that one of them died?"
Tianci: "No related information has been received so far. If anything shows up, the Senate's informants will know."
"Is that so? What a shame."
Disappointment showed on Han Qiu's face.
He hadn't arranged the wedding just to see Guan Tong "die"—his plan was to kill by proxy.
Either use Guan Tong's blade to kill Bruce, or use Bruce's blade to kill Guan Tong. Whichever of them died, he would profit.
But now it appeared his plan had failed.
It looked like Bruce had more preparations beyond those modified-body guards. Otherwise, with Shadow and Adam present, there’d be no reason they couldn't take him out.
"Tianci, looks like we'll need to lie low for a while."
Failing to achieve his goal put Han Qiu on the defensive. He needed to watch the situation secretly, so he wouldn't be found by Guan Tong again anytime soon.
Even though his ability allowed him to "rebirth" after death, it wasn't free. Too many repetitions and he couldn't afford the cost.
After he finished his instructions, Han Qiu removed the headset and thought about the last message Paul had sent him.
"Bruce is a madman! And that Haisen, they kept testing my ability, and in the end they made me control a little girl to complete some memory experiment! Han Qiu, you have to get me out of here! I feel that once the experiment ends, Bruce will become cold toward me, they might just abandon me. If you don't get me out fast, I'll tell Bruce I'm your spy!"
That was the information Paul had passed to Han Qiu via items, though Paul's appearance at the wedding was not arranged by Han Qiu.
"Bruce probably knew the wedding would turn bloody, so he sent Paul to attend, intending to have him die there. From the results, that part succeeded."
However...
Han Qiu thought, Paul at least half-completed the task Han Qiu had given him before dying.
Han Qiu had asked him to find out Bruce's secret. Though Paul hadn't discovered everything, the information he provided was sufficient.
"Looks like Bruce introduced a new variable. This game is getting more interesting."
.....
After the teleportation array's light faded, Bruce walked out carrying the girl.
Dr. Han Qiu had been waiting in the laboratory for a while. Seeing Zuo Jinhao step down first, he hurried over and said, "Your Majesty, are you injured? Those bastards in the Senate actually used the city attack to delay their support for you..."
Dr. Haisen's indignant words died unfinished when he noticed Bruce seemed unconcerned, his attention fixed elsewhere.
"After Gaelid attacked Adam, he actually cried."
Bruce looked at Dr. Haisen with a very grave expression.
Just as Haisen had guessed, Bruce didn't mention the in-city attack or the Senate's delay in aiding him.
"This indicates remnants of that girl's consciousness remain within him. Dr. Haisen, can you tell me what happened?"
Haisen felt a chill at the question and answered cautiously, "Your Majesty, this... because Gaelid's memories were fragmented, and the download expansion time was short and unstable, that girl's consciousness may appear under stimulation."
"Can't it be completely erased?"
"Well..."
Dr. Haisen shook his head, "Your Majesty, haven't we discussed this before? If we use the Rules to completely erase the girl's memories, then her ability will disappear and the Terminal Panel will shut down."
Bruce: "..."
Losing the ability and the Terminal Panel was unacceptable.
Bruce didn't merely want to "revive" Gaelid. He wanted Gaelid to possess the most powerful special ability and the potential to stand at the summit of Ascendants.
But Gaelid's consciousness was already fragmented. Loading it into an adult brain could not fully fill the gaps; it might sink into a deep coma.
So they could only choose a child's brain.
If given a choice, Bruce would prefer a male child with great power and high potential to host Gaelid's memories.
But meeting that condition was extremely difficult: children were scarce in this era, narrowing the pool by half if limited to males, and among those, finding one with potential comparable to Adam's daughter was impossible. Her ability growth potential was unmatched.
Remember, Adam's daughter possessing Adam's same Force Field Manipulation ability was terrifying enough, and she also inherited her mother's ability—making her a dual-exclusive Ascendant. Add to that a rapidly increasing Mind Power upper limit; her overall potential was frightening.
In Bruce's mind she had long been the first choice.
Moreover, the release of the Memory Erasure rule left him no time to scout more candidates.
If he didn't complete the download expansion before the rule's first-day settlement, his son Gaelid would lose all memories due to failed settlement. He had no other option.
So, using the newly completed technology, Paul's Absolute Will ability, and the assurance of various items, the memory download proceeded successfully.
Bruce withdrew his thoughts and asked, "So this girl's consciousness cannot be completely removed? That poses a hidden danger. If one day her consciousness takes control and seizes the body, everything we've done will be meaningless."
"Your Majesty need not worry. The consciousness she left behind is mostly subconscious. Any explicit consciousness will fade with time. Especially since she's very young, there aren't many related figures in her memory. As long as she doesn't see those people..."
"Her parents are already dead, and those she knew on that island will soon be executed. She will never meet anyone familiar again," Bruce said calmly.
"...That would indeed be much safer." Dr. Haisen stammered.
"What about Gaelid? How long will his consciousness take to adapt fully to the body?"
"Uh..." Dr. Han Qiu scratched his head, "Your Majesty, your son was originally female. Now the memories are transferred into a male child's body. Complete adaptation will likely take a very long time..."
Dr. Han Qiu worried that saying this might anger Gaelid; he hadn't thought the son would care so much.
"Female, male, it doesn't matter. What matters is that body has incomparable potential. If Bruce directs it properly, it will become a top-tier Ascendant in a very short time."
Is that so?
Dr. Haisen nodded on the surface but felt doubt inside.
If he had to transfer the memories into a female body, he would strongly resist, even if that female body had superior exclusive abilities.
"Take care of him for now." Bruce handed Gaelid to Dr. Haisen, "I need to deal with the Senate's rebellion."
Rebellion?
Haisen's heart skipped, as if he already saw the blood-drenched mountains and seas rushing in.
"Oh, right."
As Bruce reached the door, he turned back to mention one more thing to Dr. Haisen.
"The Iron Will project was a success. I need more modified soldiers. From today on, expand the modification program. All Ascendants under Suroma's jurisdiction are to be listed for modification.
The future Suroma won't need pure humans. I want a military made entirely of modified bodies under my control. A nation needs only one will and one leader, understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"