"Crash!"
A water cup smashed against the screen, instantly rendering it into a mess of static and black lines as Han Qiu's figure on the display vanished along with it.
Yishan, who had hurled the cup, was breathing heavily, her cheeks flushed red, her entire body trembling with fury.
She knew Han Qiu was a master liar, but watching him put on a loving, sincere act in the video still made her feel both sick and furious.
What infuriated her most was Han Qiu's claim about "trying to contact Yishan but receiving no reply."
The fact that she was in Xisiya was hardly a secret anymore. Over these past days, Han Qiu had never once tried to reach her.
If he'd truly wanted to, a man of his abilities would have found a way. But clearly, he was just using her as a convenient cover to fool people.
Just like how his marriage proposal back then had been aimed at screwing over Bruce, at screwing over Guan Tong, at securing the identity of the King's son-in-law... so many motives, yet not a single one had actually been about genuinely wanting to marry her. The psychological damage that had inflicted on her still hadn't healed to this day.
"That bastard... I'll kill him!!" Yishan ground her teeth, the more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
Among the people she hated most, her father Bruce could only rank second. The number one spot would forever belong to Han Qiu, the man who had deceived her from start to finish.
If it weren't for him, her life's trajectory might have been completely different.
She likely wouldn't have severed ties with her father Bruce, would have stayed in Suroma living a life of luxury and splendor, rather than being here in Xisiya now, playing the role of a mascot.
That was right, she wasn't stupid. She'd gradually come to realize that Yelanka had no intention of supporting her to become the future Queen of Suroma.
She knew that the reason Yelanka had taken her in was simply to use her as a banner against Bruce, a rallying point to mobilize the resistance forces back in Suroma.
Apart from that one purpose, she had no other use. She had nothing to do on a daily basis. Even her comings and goings, though ostensibly unrestricted, she could always feel someone shadowing her every time she stepped out.
That feeling was truly unpleasant. In fact, she almost found herself nostalgic for those few days after Guan Tong had taken her away, holed up in that run-down barn. At least back then, she'd had a bit more freedom.
She fumed inwardly for a while, then strode quickly to the door and called out to the guard standing watch not far away.
She knew that Sigaochin had assigned this guard to her ostensibly for protection, but in reality, it was completely a plant sent to monitor her.
As the guard approached, Yishan declared loudly, "Go notify that woman Sigaochin immediately. I want to speak with the Administrator! It's something important!"
"Understood." The guard was very courteous to her. "I'll make the call right away."
Before long, the guard returned with a phone and handed it to Yishan.
Yishan took it. "Hello, Sigaochin?"
"What do you want?" Sigaochin's cold voice came through.
"I want to see Yelanka! I want to see Guan Tong!"
"If you don't explain the reason clearly, I won't relay the message for you."
"You!" Yishan was caught off guard, then took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll tell you. I want to expose Han Qiu's lies and let the whole world know he's a big fraud!"
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
"Hello? Hello! Did you hear me?"
"Report this matter to the Administrator yourself first. Wait for word. As for Guan Tong, he is not a Xisiya citizen. If you wish to contact him, please do so through personal channels."
"What? But I don't have his contact information! I—"
Before she could finish, Sigaochin had already ended the call.
Listening to the dial tone, Yishan furiously hurled the phone away. The guard moved with incredible agility, darting forward in a few quick strides to catch it at the landing point, clearly an Ascendant of considerable skill.
"Hmph!"
Yishan stormed back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.
The guard felt both helpless and exasperated, shaking his head. "The resistance forces in Suroma have all failed. I really don't know why the Administrator still bothers keeping her around."
At the Countermeasures Research Office base, in the small meeting room, Gao Liangwei and the others watched Han Qiu's video, their expressions all grim.
"Han Qiu is an Awakened One?" One person was skeptical. "Granted, a portion of the Qingmei Society's stolen funds might be in his hands, and he could use that massive pile of Ascension Coins to get ahead of others, but just based on that..."
If it were just a matter of brute-forcing with resources, it might be possible to stack an Ascendant up to first-tier level. But to push them to the very top tier required the Ascendant's own abilities, talent, and other rigid conditions.
Without those hard prerequisites, even an endless supply of Ascension Coins wouldn't elevate an Ascendant to the peak tier.
Whether Han Qiu possessed that kind of talent was hard to say. His ability was indeed uniquely special, but being special didn't necessarily mean being powerful.
Take Han Qiu's suspected "resurrection from the dead" ability, for example. If it were purely just resurrection with no combat enhancement, it would essentially be an ability that was special but not strong.
Because once a powerful enemy caught wind of that secret and managed to capture the person, turning them into a vegetable, the "resurrection" ability would become completely useless.
"Dr. Zhang, you've been cultivating Ascendants for two or three years now. What's your read on Han Qiu's situation?" Li Meng asked.
Zhang Minglu wore a contemplative expression, then suddenly brought up something.
"Last time, Silver Fox and Zhao Ming met with Guan Tong. When they came back, they relayed a remark Guan Tong made."
"What remark?"
"Guan Tong told them that if anyone ever publicly declared themselves an Awakened One, there was a high probability they were a fraud."
The moment those words came out, everyone present was taken aback.
"Wait, are you saying Guan Tong already knew Han Qiu would publicly claim to be an Awakened One?"
"Silver Fox and the others asked that exact question at the time, but Guan Tong didn't explain in detail." Zhang Minglu said.
Li Meng frowned, speaking carefully. "If you put it that way, it does give me a bit of an idea... After Han Qiu posted that video, several of my intelligence officers discovered people in various cities rallying in support of him offline. That's extremely unusual. It's very likely a premeditated, coordinated operation."
Zhang Minglu's eyes lit up. "If that's the case, then it all fits! Han Qiu's Awakened One identity must be problematic. That's why he chose to release the video at the peak of online traffic while simultaneously arranging offline personnel to create hype, reinforcing his credibility in people's minds!"
Everyone nodded in agreement, finding the reasoning sound.
If Han Qiu were a genuine Awakened One, would he really need to go through all this trouble?
"Moreover, he's being clever by deliberately pandering to public opinion, claiming to hand over his query decision authority. But if he isn't actually an Awakened One, he never possessed that authority in the first place. What difference does handing it over make? It's just an empty promise to win the public's trust!"
Zhang Minglu grew more incensed as he spoke. He was an upright man who despised this kind of unscrupulous fraud.
Even when cultivating Ascendants, he valued character over raw talent. If someone's moral character didn't measure up, he wouldn't endorse them no matter how gifted they were.
Take Gu Fei, one of the former captains of the official teams, for instance. That had been a mistake on his part. Because he hadn't properly vetted the man's character, he'd ended up spending considerable resources to cultivate a traitor who later joined the Qingmei Society.
"Do any of you have a way to obtain evidence of his fraud?" Gao Liangwei asked.
Everyone exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"Unless they share their Terminal Panel, there's simply no way for others to verify." Zhang Minglu looked helpless and added a few more remarks.
"Based on what we currently know, an Awakened One possesses 'Authority.' But since we don't know what 'Authority' actually is or how it manifests, we likewise can't verify it."
Li Meng picked up the thread. "Most importantly, within the general logic of public perception, an Awakened One's best strategy for avoiding attention would be to hide their identity. That's also why the public initially strongly believed Guan Tong was an Awakened One, and the more he denied it, the more everyone insisted he was.
But someone like Han Qiu, voluntarily stepping into the spotlight and telling the whole world he's an Awakened One, is truly an unexpected move. The question is what his goal could be. To whitewash himself into an object of public worship? A thought leader?"
Zhang Minglu snorted coldly. "If someone like him were an Awakened One, then humanity would truly be doomed!"
After listening for a while, Gao Liangwei issued his instructions. "Li Meng, you're in charge of investigating the groups rallying on the streets for Han Qiu across the cities. Find out who among them is connected to Han Qiu. Such potential risks must be eliminated."
"Yes, I'll get right on it."
"Dr. Zhang." Gao Liangwei turned to Zhang Minglu. "Do you still insist that Guan Tong is an Awakened One?"
"I do." Zhang Minglu nodded. "He definitely is."
"Then you'll handle that aspect. If Guan Tong won't directly admit it, find a way to make him provide a verification method to prove Han Qiu is lying."
Zhang Minglu's expression turned troubled at this.
If Guan Tong could provide a verification method, wouldn't that indirectly amount to admitting he himself was an Awakened One?
Still, he nodded and accepted the task. "I'll do my best."
"As for public opinion, it cannot be allowed to go in the direction Han Qiu hopes." Gao Liangwei then turned to the head of the propaganda department. "We must guide the public to question his Awakened One status rather than blindly believe him."
"Understood." The head of the propaganda department said. "Han Qiu will definitely make a big deal out of the 'democratic vote' on query authority. We'll specifically redirect the public sentiment he's trying to create."
As the various departments of the Countermeasures Research Office sprang into action, Guan Tong and the others also watched the video Han Qiu had posted.
Bandzhen, inside the Wordless Book shelter.
Guan Tong, Uenoshi, and Moon Key were all on the second floor, having watched Han Qiu's video on the computer.
"Troupe Leader, are you going to slam him?" Uenoshi asked bluntly after watching.
Moon Key also turned her gaze to Guan Tong, who had previously revealed to her that he was an Awakened One.
A genuine article versus a highly suspected fake one. The former should have some way to conclusively prove the latter was counterfeit.
"Han Qiu won't confront me face to face." Guan Tong said. "And if he wants to pretend to be the savior, let him. This gives me the perfect opportunity to make my move."
Uenoshi's heart stirred. "Troupe Leader, you mean... take advantage of this window to go to Suroma and deal with Bruce?"
"Exactly. With less than a week left in the Rule Period, the world's attention is focused entirely on Han Qiu and his proposed democratic vote. Suroma is no exception... If Han Qiu can use my public notoriety to build himself up, why can't I use his public spotlight to steal across the fortress by night? Making my move at this moment gives me a much greater chance of success."