At the Hall of Halls, the Minister of Intelligence was reporting to Bruce.
"Your Majesty, by analyzing the footage sent by Manchidon and comparing it with Shadow's past videos, we are 80% certain that the Administrator is Shadow."
"80%?"
Bruce was not satisfied with this result.
The Minister of Intelligence added, "If we can obtain information from Namelica and Heilanja next, we should be able to make a definitive judgment."
Bruce nodded slightly.
At present, the higher-ups of the small nations all had people planted by Suroma, so gathering intelligence was not difficult.
There was even a certain degree of penetration into Beixing.
The previous opportunity of using Han Qiu as a middleman to connect with Zhou Qinfeng, the Dean of the academy, was a good example.
Even though the operation later went wrong and Zhou Qinfeng was quickly discovered and dealt with by Beixing, Suroma had still obtained a considerable amount of intelligence.
For instance, Beixing's officials had authorized the academy to maintain a database of Ascendants. Although this database was incomplete and confidential personnel information was not included, it still held significant value for Suroma's intelligence department.
Moreover, through this incident, Bruce realized that Han Qiu indeed had his uses.
That value lay in the fact that Han Qiu was a native of Beixing, and not an ordinary one at that.
Because of his relationship with Jiang Lanying, he privately knew many senior officials in Beixing, which was his capital as a high-level broker.
He had managed to establish the connection with Zhou Qinfeng last time; next time, he might just as easily establish another line.
For this reason, Bruce planned to keep Han Qiu around for now, and only when Beixing was completely defeated and the entire Tianshui Star was firmly in his grasp would he settle the full account with him.
"There is another matter," the Minister of Intelligence said. "After suffering a major blow yesterday, the main force of the rebels can no longer contend with the war weapon legions. They have already fled from their last stronghold city."
"How many escaped?" Bruce asked.
"Roughly a few thousand people, with an unknown number of Ascendants among them... According to intelligence provided by spies, the rebels plan to head east, intending to establish a free city in the Miman Mountains."
"A free city, huh."
A trace of mockery appeared in Bruce's eyes, and he found it utterly laughable.
"Indeed, they overestimate themselves," the Minister of Intelligence did not hide his derision either. "A mere few thousand people can barely survive in a mountain gully. This is nothing more than a deathbed struggle."
Bruce said calmly, "These people must be hunted down to the last. Not a single one can be allowed to escape."
"Understood. Once they stop fleeing, the spies will relay their position. At that point, a single encirclement will be enough to finish them off."
Bruce's mind stirred, and he said, "Report to me once the location is confirmed. I will personally arrange the encirclement forces."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
.....
February 10th, less than a week before the new rule's release.
After today, Guan Tong had completed the construction of eight spatial folding passages.
Before the completion of the first passage from Manchidon to You Dongpeng, the two passages from Bruce to Han Qiu and from Namelica to Han Qiu had also been successively completed.
What was rather amusing was that although Heilanja and Namelica had both stood on Suroma's side at the last Human Consortium meeting, when it came to building teleportation passages, both nations had, without prior coordination, chosen Beixing as the destination at the other end.
It was evident that the higher-ups of both nations understood the principle that "opposing Beixing is work, but going to Beixing is life."
After Bruce's past heinous actions were all exposed, it not only terrified ordinary people, but even the higher-ups of other nations could not handle it, worrying that they would be stabbed in the back once their utility was drained.
The purge of the Senate and other high-level Suroma officials was a stark warning. One should note that not all of them were Bruce's opponents; some who supported him were simply caught in the same group as his opponents and were liquidated along with them. That was the most terrifying part.
It matched the saying: being Bruce's enemy is dangerous, but being his friend is fatal!
So when it actually came to building teleportation passages, both nations still put Beixing first.
Regardless, over the past three years and twenty-plus rules, although Beixing had its shortcomings, it had genuinely demonstrated its commitment to the survival rights of ordinary people.
The construction of these two passages went smoothly. Throughout the entire process, no one from the three nations questioned Guan Tong's identity, and there were essentially no arrangements beyond the passage construction procedures.
Guan Tong knew that many people would surely be conducting all sorts of analyses and comparisons about him... but in his view, none of it mattered.
As long as he did not publicly admit it, no one could prove that the Administrator and Shadow were the same person.
However, apart from the three passages he had personally built, he had no idea whether there were other passages on Tianshui Star.
He believed that at the very least, both Suroma and Beixing had anchor item reserves, enough to build at least one passage each.
Xisiya, on the other hand, was certainly severely lacking in anchors. Otherwise, Yelanka would not have blinked without hesitation and put down ten million Ascension Coins as a deposit, just to reserve two pairs of anchors.
Beixing's officials had previously issued a statement, saying they would construct a passage between Tianshui Star and the future completed space survival base.
Suroma was more mysterious, but based on Moon Key's prophetic painting of "war mechs queuing up to enter a teleportation gate," the passages would almost certainly be used in war.
The remaining two small nations were Sakura Prayer Country and Lury.
Sakura Prayer Country had long been controlled by the Serpent Hair Society, and Uenoshi had mentioned to Guan Tong that they did not plan to build a passage.
The first reason was that Sakura Prayer Country had not produced or obtained a single anchor during the Rule Period.
The second reason was that the combined population of Sakura Prayer Country's two cities was not large, making the construction of a passage meaningless.
Moreover, the Twin Cities bordered Beixing's frontier. If any truly terrifying natural disaster occurred, they could simply obtain Beixing's permission and directly cross the border for refuge.
The only thing that piqued Guan Tong's curiosity was Lury, the regional powerhouse.
Since the last rule, Lury had remained quiet, seemingly focused on advancing its super city project.
However, on the Ascendant Home forum, people from Lury had been posting frequently these days, mentioning that the government was pushing forward with some undisclosed major project.
.....
At that moment, in a laboratory in Zion, Lury's capital, Melens, the Chief of the Blueprint Project, was reporting to the President on a screen with a head of messy, bird's-nest hair.
"Mr. President, after several weeks of round-the-clock work by the entire team, we have now completed the prototype of the project's finished product."
As he spoke, Melens held up an injection syringe in his hand, showing it to the President on the screen.
"We call it Blueprint A1."
The President on the screen looked at the syringe and asked, "Can it truly improve human genes and unleash greater potential?"
"Theoretically, yes," Melens said. "When creating it, we referred to a Mind Power item that appeared before: the Gene Optimization Fluid."
The President's eyes lit up. "That item's effects were indeed impressive. Can you replicate it?"
"No, Mr. President. We only referenced the item's design philosophy; we could not thoroughly analyze its principles.
But the existence and effects of that item undoubtedly prove that human genes can indeed be improved after birth. This means our research direction is at least correct."
In scientific research, difficulty is not what is feared; what is feared is a wrong research direction, where the more effort you put in, the more certain your failure.
But if a pioneer has verified that the direction is correct, then those following behind only need to bury their heads and work hard to catch up.
In Melens's view, the doomsday bringer was that pioneer, and the existence of the Gene Optimization Fluid was the symbol of the correct direction.
"Very well."
The President's face showed disappointment at this, but quickly turned serious again.
"Since you have developed a finished product, prepare for the experiment immediately. Melens, you should know that the reason I did not cooperate with Suroma during the last rule period was precisely because of this Blueprint Project."
During the last rule period, Suroma had made massive global purchases of ordinary people. The other small nations had exported quite a few, but Lury had not exported a single one.
At the time, the President had said it was due to considerations of morality and ethics, and that he would not do such a thing. In reality, he had given up such a huge profit because he considered that ordinary people might prove useful in the future.
If the Blueprint Project led by Melens succeeded and Lury could mass-produce Blueprint gene optimizers, then every ordinary Lury citizen could potentially gain Ascendant-level combat power under the optimizer's effects.
In that case, even if Lury could not replace Beixing or Suroma, at least it would have no problem going head-to-head with Xisiya.
"In this era, small nations relying on big nations have no future," the President continued. "Right now, the contradictions have not yet fully intensified, and the nations are barely maintaining a surface peace. A world war is on the verge of breaking out.
Imagine if some future rule appears whose content causes massive population attrition. When that day comes, the first to be abandoned and sacrificed will surely be the small nations."
The President of Lury said in a deep voice, "I don't care about garbage nations like Heilanja and Namelica, but our Lury must master core competitiveness before that day arrives!"
"Yes, Mr. President!" Melens shouted excitedly.
As a patriotic scientist, his thoughts were completely aligned with the President's.
Relying on others could never last. Lury, as a small nation that had once carved out a place for itself in the world's pharmaceutical field, must now transform that advantage into something suited for the current world situation.
Whether it was the continuously constructed super city or the current Blueprint Project, the goal was to build Lury's voice and enhance its independence and autonomy.
Only then would Lury avoid becoming a vassal of Suroma or Beixing, reduced to the kind of nation that merely parroted agreement at international conferences.
After the video call ended, Melens, invigorated by the President's encouragement and expectations, was in high spirits.
He immediately gathered his team members, intending to conduct the reagent experiment that very day.
The experimental subject had long been selected.
A former Ascendant whose Terminal Panel had been shut down early on due to several failed rule challenges, and who had been living in resentment and unwillingness ever since.
And when an opportunity to grow stronger appeared, this former Ascendant gave no consideration whatsoever and directly agreed to the laboratory personnel who found him, willing to become a reagent tester.
Half an hour later, a team member came to notify him.
"Dr. You Dongpeng, the experimental subject is ready. We can begin at any time."
"Mhm." You Dongpeng stood up and walked toward the laboratory. "This may very well be a crucial moment for Beixing's rise to prominence. You must personally administer the injection to this young man."