After the new rule was released, the entire world immediately erupted into a frenzy.
Special rules had appeared before, but the sheer amount of information this one revealed far surpassed anything previous.
"Does this 'Awakened' mean the same thing that the 'Dialoguer' mentioned before?"
"Waking an Authority to become Awakened? What the hell is an Authority???"
"This Star Sea Court doesn't seem to mean the same thing as a human court? And it has its own dedicated database?"
"Who's going to be the one to evolve and awaken? Is it Shadow God? Can you share how to wake an Authority!"
The entire internet buzzed with discussion, and what people wanted to know most was what Authority was and how to awaken it to become an Awakened One.
People also desperately wanted to know who exactly this first person to complete evolution was.
Quite a few speculated it was Guan Tong, because he had consistently been hailed as the "World's Number One Ascendant" with his overwhelmingly dominant strength.
But without Guan Tong publicly confirming it himself, speculation remained just speculation, impossible to verify.
Many people were also extremely anxious.
Because the "Star Sea Court Database" mentioned in this rule was only accessible to Awakened Ones, which meant non-Awakened individuals were effectively outsiders in this rule, unable to do anything.
For a time, the private messages on Guan Tong's "Shadow" account on the Ascendant Home forum exploded.
Countless people asked whether it was him, whether he could access the Star Sea Court database, what information was in the database...
People's craving for the unknown even surpassed discussions about the rule's punishments and rewards.
This might have been the first time a rule had no punishments, yet so many people were discussing that very fact.
Meanwhile, at the Countermeasures Research Office, during the routine rule discussion meeting, the moment the new rule was released, all attendees were both shocked and excited.
An expert said excitedly, "A first-class civilization certified by the Star Sea Court! This should be the first time human civilization has made its presence known in the universe. This is completely a landmark, historic moment!"
"From the content of the rule, the threshold for becoming a first-class civilization is the appearance of an 'Awakened One' who has woken an Authority within the civilization. What is Authority? That's still unclear to us."
"I think we must find that person. They would have one access to the Star Sea Court database, and that's no small matter. How much information crucial to humanity could be in that database?"
The others nodded in agreement one after another.
Aside from the excitement, some also felt concern about this.
"Everyone, do you all think this is a good thing? I feel... human civilization being registered by this Star Sea Court might not necessarily be a good thing."
"I share that sentiment. Human civilization is still too weak on the cosmic scale. If registration causes us to be discovered by other civilizations with ill intent, that could be a curse rather than a blessing."
"That does seem to be the logic... The Fire Thief mentioned in the notes that first-class star sea civilizations have very short survival cycles. Could it be related to being registered by the Star Sea Court?"
This string of worried remarks immediately turned the originally harmonious atmosphere in the meeting room tense.
People thought about the nature of the Doomsday Rules and increasingly felt that concern was justified.
The simplest deduction: if this were truly a good thing, would it even be one of the "seventy-four Doomsday Rules"?
Many felt that as a weak civilization in the universe, the safest path seemed to be developing quietly and growing strong without other civilizations knowing.
It was just that humanity currently had no choice in the matter.
The Doomsday Bringer was informing human civilization that it had been registered, not negotiating with humanity about whether to register.
"I don't think we should be too pessimistic," someone said.
"If every newly registered civilization immediately got targeted by malicious higher civilizations, what would be the point of registration?
That wouldn't be registration, that would be writing an obituary in advance for the registered civilization... I think the Star Sea Court must be composed of multiple higher civilizations, and it likely provides a certain degree of protection for registered lower civilizations."
"Exactly! Since it's called the 'Star Sea Court,' it shouldn't allow higher civilizations in the star sea to casually attack and eliminate lower civilizations. The Court must have certain regulations and restrictions governing interactions between civilizations."
"Dammit! All this crucial information must be in the Star Sea Court's database, but we don't even have the qualifications to access it... I really want to find that Awakened One right now!"
Everyone shared the same sentiment. Information about the mysterious Star Sea Court, star sea civilization tiers, and interaction rules between different civilizations was extremely important. It could be called an essential "guidebook" for humanity's entry into the real universe.
Without a doubt, the Awakened One who held access to this guidebook would become the most sought-after existence in the entire world under this rule.
Li Meng spoke up at this point, "Finding this person won't be easy. Whoever they are, they definitely won't expose themselves lightly. Otherwise, far too many people would be gunning for them."
"That's right," Zhang Minglu agreed. "Even setting aside the Star Sea Court database, countless people and organizations would want to learn from them what 'Authority' is and how to awaken it."
Gao Liangwei pondered for a moment, then raised a name: "Do you think Guan Tong could be this Awakened One?"
Everyone exchanged glances. Zhang Minglu said hesitantly, "Hard to say for certain. All we can say is the probability isn't small for him. But there are also plenty of powerful but lesser-known Ascendants around the world, so it's difficult to make a judgment."
"Let's wait and see what the Administrator of Ascendant Home has to say. If we can obtain hidden information about the rule, we might get more clues," Li Meng said.
"Mm. Dr. Zhang, I need you to talk to Guan Tong as soon as possible," Gao Liangwei said. "The prophecy about the space base explosion and the matter of the Awakened One are both vitally important to us."
"Yes, Director."
"This rule appearing at this time... once again proves that my Authority is full of impurities, doesn't it?"
Inside the shelter, Guan Tong finished reading the new rule with a somewhat helpless expression.
He had obtained his Authority long ago, back after the Gambling Round rule, but it wasn't until Shi Jingyi woke her Authority during the previous Interval Period that the Fire Thief announced this new rule.
So clearly, in the Fire Thief's view, Guan Tong's Authority was obtained through "irregular means" and couldn't go through the normal process.
Shi Jingyi's method of obtaining Authority was the most standard. So the moment she obtained it, the Fire Thief immediately announced in the next rule that humanity now had an Awakened One, and human civilization had entered the real universe.
Returning to the rule itself, Guan Tong was also quite surprised. He hadn't expected "Authority" to be the key to gaining recognition among cosmic civilizations.
In the past, he, no, all of humanity had always believed that if multiple civilizations existed in the universe, then the level of technology was what determined a civilization's "ranking" in the cosmos.
"But on second thought, perhaps 'Authority' itself isn't necessarily separate from being a technological creation. At the very least, human civilization can currently only inherit it through awakening. We can't create a new Authority from scratch."
"Looking at it this way, when a civilization produces someone capable of waking an Authority, that civilization reaches the lowest tier of 'cosmic civilization ranking,' first-class. A civilization capable of creating Authorities would presumably be ranked as a higher civilization."
The moment Guan Tong thought of this, and then thought of the seemingly endless dark, lusterless fruits on the Starry Giant Tree, his heart felt even more chilled.
So many "higher civilizations" had presumably perished, leaving behind only the Authorities they had created, waiting to be awakened and inherited. It was truly a silent testament to the terror of the universe.
Returning to the rule itself, Shi Jingyi undoubtedly possessed access to the Star Sea Court database under this rule.
And although Guan Tong's method of obtaining his Authority was unconventional, he was now a genuine "Awakened One" as well, so he should also have access qualifications.
He opened his Terminal Panel to check.
Sure enough, within the "Authority" function, a new entry had appeared: "Star Sea Court Database."
When he focused his mind on it, a prompt appeared.
[Do you wish to initiate consciousness deep-dive? Remaining uses: 1]
Consciousness deep-dive?
"...No."
Guan Tong didn't casually use his one and only access. He still planned to check the hidden rule content first.
The panel returned to the rule details query. He concentrated his gaze, and the rule text quickly reassembled to reveal the hidden rule.
[Hidden Rule Twenty-Six: Observation Reciprocity Law]
[Hidden Rule Content: When an Awakened One uses their inquiry access to visit the Star Sea Court database, the Terminal Panel will send an identity authentication signal to the database. This signal will include the visitor's Mind Power characteristic code and their current precise spatial coordinates.
During this period, the marking of the civilization to which this Awakened One belongs on the cosmic star chart will temporarily change from "unobserved native planet" to "contactable civilization coordinates," lasting for the entire Rule Period.]
[Note: Every path walked leaves footprints behind. The Star Sea Court has named this truth the "Observation Reciprocity Law." In the real universe, there is no one-sided access or observation. When you browse through data, the data also browses through you, and will incorporate you as part of the data. It has a long memory, far longer than you can imagine.]