"...This is a textbook Shadow move."
Inside Zhang Minglu's office at the Countermeasures Research Office base, he let out a helpless sigh after finishing reading the post Guan Tong had published.
Zhao Ming, Silver Fox, and Dragon Soul were all present this time, each wearing a different expression after reading it together.
Silver Fox and Zhang Minglu shared a similar look of resignation.
Zhao Ming wore an expression of "I knew this was coming."
Dragon Soul, on the other hand, furrowed his brow, clearly dissatisfied with the content of Guan Tong's statement.
"Doctor, posting something like this won't calm public opinion, it'll only further inflame the situation," Dragon Soul said. "Not to mention the threatening part."
Silver Fox said, "When Zhao Ming and I met with him last time, his attitude toward this matter was already quite negative... but to be fair, some of those rumors are indeed going too far, and certain people harassing his associates is even worse."
"Lieutenant Colonel Silver Fox is right," Zhao Ming added. "The official side should step in and put a stop to this behavior. Otherwise, if Guan Tong actually follows through on retaliation, the consequences would be unthinkable."
Dragon Soul spoke up in rebuttal at this point: "The definition of 'harassing associates' is too broad. Is a simple conversation considered harassment? I think you're all being too accommodating of him."
"Captain Dragon, we all know Guan Tong well enough. He can be a bit headstrong, sure, but he's genuinely a good person."
"Silver Fox, I know you've gone on several missions with him and have a good relationship. He's a good person, no doubt, but you should also know that he's an extremely unstable individual who can become highly emotional at times!"
Silver Fox: "..."
She had to admit Dragon Soul was right.
Some people are as calm as a placid lake, letting nothing weigh on their minds. For those who know such a person well, predicting their reactions and handling of events is easy.
Some people are impulsive, always charging ahead with fiery urgency. The behavior patterns of such people are equally predictable.
But Guan Tong was somewhat like a blend of both personalities, existing in a superposition of stability and instability.
On the surface, he seemed like someone with little temper, relatively easygoing, friendly, and pleasant to get along with.
But the moment something touched his reverse scale, he would flip instantly, going straight for the kill without leaving any room for mercy.
A few days ago, Silver Fox and Zhao Ming had witnessed exactly this when they met with Guan Tong.
When the two of them brought up that the Countermeasures Research Office was attempting to recruit Gaelid, Guan Tong, who had been calm and peaceful moments before, flipped instantly. The dense killing intent radiating from him made both of them struggle to breathe.
This kind of personality—one second a friendly big brother next door, the next a tyrant incarnate—genuinely gave everyone at the Countermeasures Research Office who dealt with him a headache.
With no transitional state, there was no way to predict his behavioral patterns.
It was like a person's eruption value climbing gradually from a calm 0 to a raging 100, allowing for slow negotiation and maneuvering.
But without a transition, when the eruption value spikes from 0 to 100 in an instant, unless you could precisely grasp every single trigger point of this person, there was virtually no room for bargaining.
Zhang Minglu listened to Dragon Soul and Silver Fox's words, then instead of offering his own opinion right away, he turned to ask Zhao Ming.
"Zhao Ming, what's your take?"
"Doctor, I think Lieutenant Colonel Dragon Soul and Major Silver Fox are both overthinking this. As long as you stick to the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation when dealing with Guan Tong, communication isn't that difficult."
"It certainly can't always go as smoothly as we'd like," Dragon Soul said in a deep voice. "But rarely do the Countermeasures Research Office's interests, or even the minority and my personal interests, come into conflict. The fact that the public is demanding the official side issue a condemnation isn't exactly a reflection of that."
Zhao Ming shrugged. "If interests conflict, then the best course is for each side to go their own way and leave each other alone."
"..."
Dragon Soul was rendered speechless by Zhao Ming's remark.
Zhang Minglu, however, cast a few appreciative glances at Zhao Ming, silently nodding in his heart, recognizing the soundness of his thinking.
When he had originally chosen Zhao Ming as his successor to groom, besides his suitable abilities, it was also because of his understanding of and communication skills with Ascendants outside the official system.
Otherwise, if he had chosen an official Ascendant who had always stayed inside the base, their way of thinking would likely gravitate toward Dragon Soul's.
It wasn't that he thought Dragon Soul's mindset was bad—it just didn't fit the position.
Dragon Soul was excellent as a warrior and as captain of the official team, but he was undoubtedly unsuited to be the bridge connecting Ascendants both inside and outside the official system.
"All of you make valid points," Zhang Minglu summarized. "I'll propose to the head that the official level step in to control the rumors targeting Guan Tong and the harassment of his associates, so as to avoid further escalating the conflict."
He paused, then added: "As for the public demanding the official side issue a condemnation, I don't think the officials will do that."
After the discussion, Zhao Ming and Dragon Soul left. Zhang Minglu kept Silver Fox behind to ask about Chen Na's situation.
"Chen Na has missed several routine training sessions lately. Her mother, Wang Yan, doesn't know what's going on either—she said Chen Na won't tell her when asked. Do you know the reason?"
"She's probably just in a bad mood," Silver Fox said after thinking it over. "After the Zhou Qinfeng incident, she's been feeling down, often staying alone in her room for a whole day at a time."
Although Silver Fox had been covering for Chen Na, paper can't wrap fire. After subsequent investigation and review, Zhang Minglu, Gao Liangwei, and a few other higher-ups still learned the truth.
"...Children have keen intuition. She probably sensed the base's higher-ups don't trust her anymore."
Silver Fox felt a bit indignant about this: "Doctor, even though I was a little upset at the time too, thinking about it later, her actions were perfectly normal. After all, Guan Tong is the one who saved her life multiple times. If she had betrayed Guan Tong for the sake of the base, her character would be questionable."
Zhang Minglu nodded.
"You're right. It's just that Head Gao doesn't see it that way. Take two soldiers from opposing countries, for example—even if one side has a personal debt of gratitude to the other, on the battlefield they still have to fight each other. If the other side deliberately fired blanks because of that debt of gratitude, they'd be court-martialed. You come from a military background, so you should know this well."
Silver Fox was taken aback: "Isn't that going a bit far? When did the base start treating Guan Tong as a hypothetical enemy?"
"After Guan Tong destroyed multiple energy facilities and military bases in Suroma last time, Head Gao authorized the activation of an emergency response plan against him... At this critical juncture, Chen Na's situation is inevitably going to become sensitive."
Silver Fox didn't know what to say for a moment.
"She's still a child," she said seriously after a moment of silence. "She shouldn't be dragged into this kind of choosing-sides business."
Zhang Minglu shook his head slightly: "Wen is not even three years old, isn't she even more of a child? But how many people has Gaelid killed while inhabiting her body... In this era, an innocent, carefree childhood has become a luxury."
Silver Fox wanted to say something but held back. Zhang Minglu patted her on the shoulder: "Don't worry. At most, Chen Na will face some cold treatment—nothing more serious than that. If there's a chance in the future... never mind, we'll deal with the future when it comes."
Before leaving Zhang Minglu's office, Silver Fox kept thinking about the words he had left unsaid.
She thought to herself, perhaps Zhang Minglu didn't intend to let the Bear King leave the base either?
That might be even worse for her, but whether the head and other higher-ups would agree to release him wasn't something Zhang Minglu could decide—that was probably why he hadn't spoken it aloud.
Silver Fox raised a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. She would rather be out on a high-risk mission than rack her brains over these matters.
Although Guan Tong's response triggered strong dissatisfaction among many, in the hours following his post, the rumor-mongering entries across major social media platforms visibly began to disappear one after another.
Ordinary people who didn't know the truth jumping on the bandwagon to vent was one thing, but those who had fabricated the rumors were well aware that these were nothing but lies.
The saying goes: those who wrong you know better than anyone how wronged you are. It couldn't be more accurate.
If this were the pre-Doomsday Rules era, some rumor-mongers wouldn't have cared at all about a victim's response.
Because in that era, seeking justice required going through a long chain of procedures—time-consuming, laborious, and mentally draining, with no guarantee of success at the end.
But in the current era, given the things Guan Tong had done, it was clear he wasn't the type to go through any procedures at all.
A top-tier Ascendant who fought across the globe, single-handedly taking on the powerful nation of Suroma while keeping them at bay for so long—someone like him was simply not bound by rules.
To put it in gaming terms, "his track record speaks for itself."
So it was easy to imagine that when he posted saying he would settle accounts with the rumor-mongers, he wasn't joking around. If he actually came knocking, no one could save you.
Apart from some professional manipulators in Suroma, most of those who had spread rumors out of sheer dislike for Guan Tong quickly deleted their posts and issued apologies. Some were so frightened they deactivated all their social media accounts entirely.
However, aside from the paid shills, there were still a rare few hardheaded ones who seemed convinced Guan Tong was just bluffing, completely ignoring the warnings.
The most famous blogger among them was "Super Big Bear King."
Back in peacetime, he had been a social commentary influencer with over ten million followers, delivering sharp critiques on every hot topic at home and abroad, welcoming both black and red traffic alike.
After entering the Doomsday Rules era, countless self-media bloggers had either died or retired, yet he managed to keep updating. His fans jokingly called him "the most durable blogger, top 1."
And his persistence paid off. His status as a ten-million-follower influencer brought him many benefits in the Doomsday Rules era, including quite a few official collaboration opportunities and a tidy sum of Ascension Coins.
The Doomsday Rules era never lacked topics for discussion. Whether it was the rules themselves or the various morally appalling human events happening around the world almost daily, there was always plenty to talk about.
But this "Super Big Bear King" loved nothing more than critiquing the "Shadow" topic. He had even made a dedicated special series, with nearly every episode consisting of relentless attacks.
He had started posting videos attacking "Shadow" right after the latter first gained fame, continuing from the first year of the Doomsday Rules to what was about to be the third year—producing some seventy to eighty episodes in total, every single one exploding in traffic.
Almost everyone who hated Guan Tong had gathered under his account. The comments on each video were so vile that newcomers would think Guan Tong had murdered their entire families.
When the new rules were released and the whirlpool of public opinion against Guan Tong emerged, Super Big Bear King excitedly began updating consecutively. By the halfway point of the Rule Period, he had already released eight episodes.
After Guan Tong issued his statement, Super Big Bear King was among the first to repost it with a comment.
Super Big Bear King: "So impressive, the World's Number One Ascendant! No matter how strong you are, can you really silence the whole world's mouths? Ever heard of freedom of speech? I'm not deleting my videos. If you've got the guts, come find me!"
The comments under his repost had already broken through ten thousand, with fans celebrating wildly. There were genuine supporters, and there were also bystanders who just loved watching the drama unfold.
"Supporting Big Bear in standing his ground! Of the dozen or so bloggers I follow, Big Bear is the only one who hasn't deleted his videos—the rest all chickened out!"
"I think Big Bear wants to die. Guan Tong really is a man who kills without blinking."
"All jokes aside, don't mess around with Shadow's threats..."
"The most objective blogger on the internet when it comes to Shadow. Big Bear, I've got your back!"
"Honestly, I don't believe Shadow would dare do anything to Big Bear. He's collaborated with the officials multiple times before, helping promote policies—he's basically half-official at this point."