February 18.
Three days had passed since the new rule was released, and online public opinion showed no sign of cooling down; instead, it was escalating.
The public could not participate in decisions as "deciders" under this rule, but they could participate as stakeholders, so when the rule was first announced many thought it only concerned the Awakened One. Now some of those people had changed their minds.
They realized that the "public opinion environment" itself was part of the rule.
Unless that Awakened One was a hermit who never went online, anyone who used the internet could be influenced by the tide of public opinion.
Both sides of the debate showed intense aggressiveness because each wanted to influence the Awakened One's decision.
At first they stuck to facts and reason, but it soon degenerated into personal attacks and even offline duels.
Every aggressive voice revealed a strong will to survive behind it.
Most people alive now, even if they spoke pessimistically, privately hoped to survive until the rules ended and reach the new world that would follow.
So any decision that threatened their lives was met with 200% opposition.
Strangely, after three days no national government had made a clear public statement about whether they supported the use of the inquiry right or not.
Some people claiming to be insiders posted leaks on the Ascendant Home forum.
A user claiming to be an insider in Beixing's government posted that Beixing's higher-ups were still undecided. The only consensus so far was to wait until the Awakened One's identity was confirmed before making a final decision.
A few major powers didn’t post anything, saying that lower-level officials already suspected their Awakened One might be a citizen, so they weren't focusing on that issue and were instead jointly postponing the final construction of the Super City.
What did trigger a wave of online criticism was an anonymous leak claiming that lower-level officials in several major powers had secretly built spatial folding passages without notifying the public.
When that leak came out, its shock briefly exceeded the discussion about the Awakened One.
Netizens in those countries erupted, flocking to their official accounts' comment sections and demanding the exact locations of these teleportation portals.
The governments of Namelica, Heilanja, and Manchidon slowly issued statements admitting the channels and urging citizens to distrust online rumors and think independently.
Some citizens accepted those explanations.
Coordinate Resonance Anchors are extremely rare, and everyone knew they couldn't be rented from the Ascendant Home Administrator, so people doubted their own country could afford to build such spatial folding passages.
The leaker hadn't provided concrete evidence, so the controversy gradually died down.
Han Qiu, as the leader of one of the major powers, was also the subject of internal leaks.
Someone alleged Han Qiu had not only delayed the Super City construction but had secretly continued genetic optimization experiments, using potions to temporarily and directionally improve human genes, and that the experiments had already been validated.
That leak faded quickly at first, but because the leaker attached some related documents the story's credibility spiked.
Netizens were intensely interested — if Han Qiu could perform targeted human genetic optimization, could he mass-produce super soldiers? Superhumans?
Han Qiu's nation already led the world in pharmaceuticals and biotech during peacetime, so such a development seemed at least plausible.
But there were also some protesters who claimed Han Qiu was conducting inhumane experiments, similar to Yuzawa Jun's abuses in Sakura Prayer Country, and demanded an explanation.
Facing the global influx of netizens, Han Qiu's government struggled to respond, but they proactively published a denial.
"Our national research departments are indeed continuously developing and iterating genetic optimization potions, but this is not for private gain.
Our goal is to help ordinary people catch up with societal development through external assistance and potentially enable Ascendants to improve further, better responding to the challenges posed by the Doomsday Rules.
Furthermore, our research, though confidential, is conducted lawfully. We have complete written and video records. There is absolutely no mistreatment of experimental personnel and independent third-party supervision is possible."
After the Lury statement, observers were somewhat satisfied.
The willingness to accept independent third-party oversight had gained public trust to some extent.
The counterexample was Suroma's memory-related research, which was completely closed off — no details would be released, only the proclamation "technology succeeded, get in line to upload."
This difference showed in the current wave of internal leaks.
Almost every country had leakers, sometimes multiple anonymous insiders; only Suroma had none.
Many suspected that Suroma officials with access to top secrets all signed Modification Consent Forms and were altered by Bruce.
What shocked netizens was that Suroma's official account actually released a short video that afternoon.
The clip was brief, only a few seconds.
It was explosive: over a desolate town, a person flapped black wings and flew at high speed.
Soon, someone used professional tools and dynamic silhouette analysis to confirm the person was Guan Tong.
This refocused public opinion on the idea that "Shadow is the Awakened One," which was precisely the point of Suroma releasing that footage.
...
"Xiaotong, do your eyes feel uncomfortable?"
The academy, Dean's office.
When Shi Jingyi saw Guan Tong raise his hand to rub his eyes for the third time within a few minutes, she immediately asked with concern.
"A little," Guan Tong said. "My eyes get a bit hot from time to time lately."
"Hot?"
Shi Jingyi came around the desk and took his hand, using her Mind Power to examine him.
"Your Mind Power is stable, and there are no hidden injuries...that's odd."
Shi Jingyi knitted her brows. "When did the symptoms start?"
Guan Tong thought for a moment. "Probably since I rescued Ai Ya in Suroma last time. My eyes have been slightly heating up off and on ever since."
"Could it have been the nuclear explosion back then..."
"No. I moved away from the blast point quickly, so I was hardly affected."
Shi Jingyi reflected and asked again, "When you rescued Ai Ya, did you do anything with your eyes?"
"With my eyes? Ah..."
Guan Tong remembered.
"At that time, to break Gaelid's consciousness, I used the power of the Wailing Furnace, what people call Scarlet Fear."
"It seems your eye heat is related to that power."
Guan Tong considered this carefully.
Tracing back to when he first acquired that power by devouring the title, he had used it many times since.
At first it was not obvious, but as usage accumulated the power seemed to be gradually strengthening.
Shi Jingyi became serious. "Xiaotong, that power feeds on fear. The more you use it, the more fear it consumes, which could explain the heat in your eyes."
"Mm," Guan Tong nodded. "I thought so too."
"From now on, avoid using that power unless absolutely necessary," Shi Jingyi advised. "We don't know what continued amplification will lead to."
"Okay, I'll be careful."
Although Guan Tong didn't believe the power he consumed from a title would directly backfire on him, caution was wise.
The heat in his eyes subsided, and he steered the conversation back to why he had come to see Shi Jingyi today.
"Jingyi, there’s something you ought to know."
He didn't mention that he'd gone to ask Yelanka for a tactical nuclear bomb; he only said he had discovered a plot by Han Qiu.
He outlined the situation broadly so that if Han Qiu later used the "Awakened One" identity for some scheme, Shi Jingyi would understand and not assume it was Guan Tong.
"Han Qiu wants people to think he's an Awakened One?" Shi Jingyi asked, puzzled. "To what end?"
"When I first learned of the commission from Black Star I was puzzled too. But after talking to that commission's agent, I gained a vague understanding of Han Qiu's intent."
Guan Tong paused and gave his deduction.
"I think he wants to use the 'Awakened One' identity to package himself."
"Package himself?"
"Yes. Jingyi, think about the common traits of con artists in peaceful times. The low-end ones rent luxury cars and villas and post glossy photos on social media to deceive people.
The high-end ones fabricate credentials, take staged photos with celebrities, append a stack of ambiguous-sounding prestigious titles...all of these are self-packaging to make victims trust the con artist's competence."
Guan Tong thought of the man's blind faith in Han Qiu and continued.
"Han Qiu can't control the rule victims solely by force. Even if he's strong, he couldn't control them all. He needs those people to voluntarily trust or even worship him so they'll self-manage and fight for him without constant supervision."
Shi Jingyi said, "You mean, to package himself and inspire worship, he'd publicly claim to be an Awakened One, using his real name, Han Qiu?"
"Highly possible. He's staging hype everywhere now, most likely preparing for a future public claim."
"But what happens after he claims it? If he's not truly an Awakened One, wouldn't he be exposed?"
"True, but that assumes someone can see his Terminal Panel. If he doesn't share it publicly, and enough people believe him, isn't that enough?"
Guan Tong felt that deeply.
Human society is built on consensus; much of history's truth or falsehood depends on how many people believe it.
If Han Qiu stops lurking in the shadows and begins publicly gaining consensus...
Beyond better remote control of the rule victims, he might be seeking the Mind Power upper limit acceleration that faith power provides, or other unknown gains.
Shi Jingyi looked at Guan Tong, remembering some of the agent's words he had relayed, and thinking of the rumors circulating inside the academy. She felt a pang of sympathy for him.
"Xiaotong, don't take that man's words to heart. And don't mind society's biased opinion of you; they don't understand you."
Guan Tong's frown eased and he nodded. "I understand. Actually, I could be like Han Qiu and tell people I can bring you all to survive until the end, to the new world after all the rules finish, and that would surely win support. But...I really can't say it."
He wasn't someone who said one thing and felt another. He couldn't sincerely promise something he didn't truly believe.
"You don't need to imitate anyone," Shi Jingyi said, touching his cheek and smiling. "Just be yourself. Even if the whole world misunderstands you, I will believe you."