Xisiya, Human Consortium meeting convened
There were eight attendees in total, and the atmosphere was tense from the start.
Mary directly confronted Gao Liangwei.
"Commissioner Gao, Ascendants from Beixing openly launched a terrorist attack in our country, yet Beixing still hasn't issued an official warrant. What does that mean?"
Gao Liangwei replied coolly, "Beixing is still investigating this matter. They will not make any rash decisions before the investigation is complete."
"Investigating?" Mary slammed both hands hard on the table, half rising as she demanded, "There are attack videos—what else is there to investigate? Do you think the videos are forged?"
"Two of you, today's Human Consortium meeting is not for arguing."
Torafuto, Xisiya's delegate and host nation representative, spoke up to stop the two from clashing further.
"The main topic of today's meeting is development." Torafuto said as he projected an image onto the large screen.
The image showed a world electronic map dotted with many flashing red lights, each red light marking a newly built, city-scale nuclear power station.
"First, our abandoned-city energy conversion plan has made certain progress, which is an achievement worth acknowledging."
The delegates nodded in agreement.
Since the Green Hell rule ended up until now, countries have been busy clearing plants from abandoned cities while building energy facilities.
In peacetime, building these large nuclear power stations would be a huge hassle—just dealing with laws and civilian opposition could take years.
But now, with policy-level green lights, concentrated resources, intelligent machines, and assistance from Mind Power items, gigantic nuclear power stations can be constructed and put into preliminary use in a very short time.
"How the additional energy will be used will vary by country. We in Xisiya plan to use ours to complete the remaining shelters," Torafuto continued.
Since Yelanka took office, Xisiya has been modeling official shelters after Beixing.
By now the work is mostly done; most Xisiyans have moved in, leaving only some cleanup.
But like Beixing, a portion of Xisiya’s population refuses to enter shelters, choosing to stay outside or operate independently as mercenaries.
Yelanka does not force them. Her concern has always been protecting those who trust the state; she has little patience for those who oppose it.
"Beixing currently uses 95% of its energy to support space-base construction," Gao Liangwei said.
After the Tiangong Project began, Beixing entered a shipbuilding frenzy.
They are not building vessels for Tianshui Star, but all kinds of spacecraft for space-base construction, including but not limited to resource-collection ships, space research vessels, ecological-habitat ships, supply-storage ships, and personnel transports.
With 95% of energy invested, Beixing has openly bet on space development, aiming to ensure humanity can have a new livable home beyond Tianshui Star.
Several other delegates looked surprised.
"95%? Then other supplies must be at the bare minimum."
"Isn't that too extreme?"
"No matter how you put it, the mother planet of humanity being treated as expendable—betting against it like that—seems rather dramatic."
Delegates from Lury, Heilanja, Manchidon, and Namelica showed varying degrees of approval.
Their reasoning was simple: these smaller nations are pouring resources into Super City construction, which is undoubtedly being built on Tianshui Star.
Beixing's bet on space and apparent abandonment of Tianshui Star naturally made these small nations uneasy.
Gao Liangwei explained, "Beixing's all-in on space construction is only to give humanity another fallback option; it doesn't mean they're abandoning the mother planet. The reason Beixing can do this is that in the earlier stage, state resources were invested in shelters and civilian life guarantees, forming a solid safety net."
Beixing's approach is one of "endure hardship first, reap later."
When the Doomsday Rules began, Beixing focused resources on building official shelters, supply warehouses, food cultivation and transport channels—measures guaranteeing citizens' survival.
Once the early stage stabilized, now modest resource spending can secure basic survival for the masses, and the saved resources can be directed to pivotal projects.
This is Beixing's long-term strategy; it cannot be judged simply right or wrong because each country's circumstances differ.
Some countries opted to distribute resources directly to citizens, but that often results in a short-lived spree followed by exhaustion of reserves.
That too is a strategy—a short-term one.
Choosing short-term versus long-term strategy depends on how an individual or a nation views the future.
If someone believes they'll die tomorrow, saving money today makes no sense; they should enjoy themselves while they can. If someone expects to live years or decades, spending everything today is obviously unwise.
Torafuto asked, "Chairwoman Mary, how much longer until Suroma's memory digitization technology is widely available?"
Since Suroma announced the technology's success, they have given few details, which made other countries suspicious and doubtful about its deployability.
Mary replied, "Our technology has always been the best. It will soon undergo commercialization."
When she said "commercialization," everyone was a bit stunned.
What era is this—where the literal meaning of commerce still applies? Countries now largely trade goods-for-goods or use Ascension Coins.
Mary elaborated, "Memory traversal, uploading, and even downloading consume tremendous resources. Those in other countries who need these services must either provide the resources themselves or purchase the accompanying services with Ascension Coins."
"...."
No one could easily argue with that; Mary was not wrong. Suroma providing technological support alone was already generous; they could not be expected to also supply the required resources.
If people had to pay themselves, only a few powerful figures in each country could afford it.
But those powerful figures also value personal safety and privacy, and would hesitate to upload their memories to Suroma.
Near the end of the meeting, Mary suddenly put forward a demand directed at the Sakura Prayer delegate present.
She said bluntly, "We are certain the wanted criminal responsible for major casualties in our country, Shangyuan, is hiding in either Bandzhen or Antu. Sakura Prayer must hand that person over before the next Doomsday Rule is released, or Suroma will send troops to capture them personally."
As soon as she said this, the faces in the room changed.
Mary then turned to Gao Liangwei: "Commissioner Gao, I believe Beixing should have no reason to interfere in this matter, right?"
Gao Liangwei frowned deeply.
......
Guan Tong stayed with Shi Jingyi for two days, and on the third day he went to his old mountain residence.
It wasn't that he didn't want to stay longer; both of them had other duties.
Especially since Shi Jingyi, who had never taken leave as a perfectly attending academy lecturer, had arranged two days off from the academy to accompany him when she saw he was in a bad mood—he felt a little guilty about that.
But those two days were important for Guan Tong. The two of them not only confirmed their relationship but also decided to face future dangers and difficulties together.
That restored his fighting spirit; he was no longer plunged into despair over Adam's death.
After arriving at the valley, he summoned the shelter, let Coal Ball run wild in the forest, and contacted everyone from the Trace Origin Travel Troupe to start a simple online meeting.
He mainly informed Black Star and White Star that Bruce would be the troupe's primary enemy for the foreseeable future, with Han Qiu kept under focused watch.
"Focus remains on Bruce," Guan Tong said. "I estimate Han Qiu won't show up again soon; his abilities only work brilliantly when undisclosed."
Guan Tong didn't know Han Qiu could resurrect; that was why he had casually killed him before. Now that he knew, if they met again he would use attacks that break the spirit as his main method.
For example, deny Han Qiu any chance to escape by suicide, quickly break through his defenses, and use the Mourning-Beak Furnace's mental assault to destroy his will.
Han Qiu surely understands that, so he will hide from Guan Tong in the short term. At least until he has the means to confront him directly, he won't appear easily.
"Understood." Black Star said. "I'll do my best to collect relevant intelligence—actually, I've already gotten some Suroma-side intel in the last two days."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Bruce is carrying out a major purge." Black Star said solemnly. "Under the pretext of 'eliminating traitors,' he's arrested several Senators from the Senate. Not only the Senators themselves, but the subordinate forces have been uprooted on a large scale."
"......"
"Troupe Leader, you aren't actually connected to those Senators, are you?" Black Star asked curiously.
Guan Tong shook his head. "No. Bruce is deliberately using me as a pretext to eliminate rivals."
White Star interrupted, "Is internal strife at Suroma's top levels that severe? I thought the Senate always supported Bruce."
"Probably since Bruce placed his son Gaelid's interests above the decision-making process, the Senate's conflict with him became irreconcilable," Guan Tong speculated.
He had felt this tension materialize.
At Wensilisa Castle that day, Bruce had no reinforcements and not a single war machine showed up to support him.
Bruce only relied on a large number of modified Ascendants he had pre-positioned and on his scepter.
Thinking of that scepter, which created a special barrier and blocked Guan Tong's attacks, made him uneasy.
Now that he thought more carefully, Bruce always carried that scepter when appearing. It could very well be his exclusive Mind Power item, with one of its effects being barrier creation.
In short, Bruce had no external support during the attack—undoubtedly the Senate had intentionally delayed any assistance.
So it was understandable that once Bruce returned safely, he would immediately strike at those Senators; a major purge is unsurprising.
"The Senate likely hoped Bruce would die at the hands of me and Adam," Guan Tong said, "but Bruce had more trump cards than they thought, so their plan failed."
"I see....."
"Troupe Leader, what are your plans?" Shangyuan asked.
"I'm planning to..."
Before he could finish, Black Star suddenly changed expression on the screen and gasped, "Crap!"
Something urgent had happened; Black Star cut Guan Tong off.
"I just saw the latest Human Consortium statement released—there's an item specifically targeting you!"
"Me?" Guan Tong asked.
"Not the Troupe Leader, the Deputy Troupe Leader!" Black Star said anxiously. "Suroma is demanding Sakura Prayer hand over the Deputy Troupe Leader, or they will send troops to attack! They obviously think Beixing won't be pliable, so they intend to control Sakura Prayer's two cities to pressure the Deputy Troupe Leader!"
Guan Tong frowned at those words; he also saw the scheme behind the move.
Suroma dared not threaten Beixing with military invasion to hand people over, but would do so to Sakura Prayer. And under the guise of "hunting terrorists," they knew Beixing could not intervene.
Two small cities in Sakura Prayer stand no chance against Suroma's forces. If Shangyuan hides and doesn't show herself, her prestige in Sakura Prayer will plummet. If she shows up, she will simply be captured.
"Threatening ordinary people's lives to force the Deputy Troupe Leader to comply—what a shameless tactic!" White Star couldn't help but curse.
"And Suroma's public pressure for the Deputy Troupe Leader may actually be meant to bait you out, Troupe Leader," Black Star added. "Because Bruce knows you won't stand by while the Deputy Troupe Leader is targeted."
......
Shangyuan seemed to make a decision. "Troupe Leader, I—"
"Shangyuan, don't say you'll handle this alone. I'll take care of it." Guan Tong said without hesitation.
"What will you do? Direct confrontation probably..." Black Star looked worried, thinking it unwise.
"If the enemy can use public opinion to send troops, why can't we use the power of public opinion?" Guan Tong said. "I'm going to expose the whole truth and see how much resistance Suroma's action runs into once everyone knows."