March 1st, the [Star Sea Access] Rule officially came to an end.
Everyone heard the Fire Thief's announcement at the same time.
[Congratulations, you have passed the test of the Twenty-Sixth Doomsday Rule]
[Rewards have been distributed to your Storage Box]
[The Twenty-Seventh Doomsday Rule will be announced in three days]
Since this rule had no rewards or penalties, nothing was added to any Ascendant's Storage Box, of course.
But what surprised everyone most was that the next rule would be announced in just three short days.
Such a short Interval Period was probably related to the fact that the previous rule had no failure penalty.
Perhaps in the Fire Thief's eyes, after a rule with no failure penalty ended, humanity didn't need rest, didn't need time to heal their bodies and minds, and could directly and quickly welcome the next rule challenge.
Obviously, humanity itself didn't see it that way.
Especially since although this rule had no penalty, most people had been dragged into the whirlpool of public opinion during the Rule Period.
Spending every day engaged in fierce wars of words online with those who held opposing views was actually a very mentally exhausting thing.
Not to mention that at the very end of the Rule Period, the large-scale nuclear explosion in Bandzhen occurred.
The casualties and destruction caused by this incident had an impact that surpassed multiple Doomsday Rules, and in terms of harm to humanity as a whole, it could truly be said that while it wasn't a rule, it was worse than a rule.
Humanity as a whole would definitely need more time to repair the psychological shock and spiritual trauma it had caused.
Another point was that the Star Sea Court database query rights for Awakened Ones mentioned in the rule never led to the so-called "global democratic vote" that Han Qiu had advocated for, even by the time the rule ended.
Because that vote simply couldn't be held.
Even if someone suggested opening a voting thread on the Ascendant Home platform, that website could only prevent tracking, not prevent offline organization of vote manipulation.
If even that platform couldn't guarantee a fair and just vote, then other platforms were even less worth mentioning.
Moreover, the sudden outbreak of the Bandzhen nuclear explosion had brought about extremely severe consequences.
Now every nation was actively preparing for war. Things like the Star Sea Court and alien civilizations were too distant for humanity; war between their own kind was the crisis looming closest at hand.
The Humanitarian Defense Alliance, formed by all nations except Suroma, also understood that Bruce could not be forced to step down from within. No one in Suroma had that kind of power.
Under these circumstances, giving a month's time was actually using that time to allow the Alliance nations to establish a united front and coordinate military deployments.
Beixing and Xisiya Empire had even formally established military mutual trust relations, effectively becoming allies and laying the foundation for coordinated military operations.
On the Suroma side, Bruce equally understood that war was unavoidable and was racing against time to prepare, with fully automated factories producing weapons nonstop.
Under this high-pressure atmosphere, the online public opinion storm had almost completely died down.
When people realized that a world war was approaching, many arguments had lost too much of their meaning. What people thought about more was how to survive.
The only consensus people across all nations had reached was the hope that if a world war truly couldn't be avoided, at least nuclear weapons wouldn't be used again.
Li Meng's hundreds of thousands of people had turned to ash in an instant, with only a handful of survivors. That horrific scene had not only shocked ordinary people but had also shaken countless Ascendants.
Originally, as time passed and Ascendants rapidly grew stronger, many of them had gradually developed arrogant and conceited attitudes, becoming increasingly overbearing.
But the helpless and miserable deaths of large numbers of Ascendants facing nuclear bombs in the Battle of Bandzhen dragged these arrogant Ascendants back to reality.
With their current Mind Power and ability items, contending with one of human civilization's most powerful weapons was still beyond their reach.
Some speculated that apart from a few individuals with special abilities, in terms of raw power alone, perhaps only Awakened Ones could survive a nuclear bomb.
After all, compared to Perfect Ascendants, Awakened Ones possessed an entirely new and unknown power called "Authority."
Among the Ascendants, some ordinary people instead felt somewhat psychologically balanced because of this incident.
The Bandzhen incident could be said to have validated the theory that "all are equal beneath a nuclear bomb."
And pressing the nuclear launch button didn't require any Mind Power, just a single finger was enough.
At the Countermeasures Research Office, in a small meeting room.
Apart from the head official Gao Liangwei, there were also Zhang Minglu, Li Meng, and Dragon Soul.
"...No matter what, killing prisoners of war who had laid down their weapons is going too far!"
Dragon Soul's attitude was firm. He could not accept Guan Tong's actions in killing several hundred surrendered Suroma soldiers in the Antu rainforest.
His reasoning was simple: if our army killed enemy prisoners after winning today, then fortunes could reverse, and if the enemy won in the future, they would kill our prisoners too.
As a soldier, he had to stand in the soldiers' position and consider their safety today and in the future.
"Dragon Soul, I understand your concern. But you also need to understand that Guan Tong is not a soldier, and those soldiers really did go there to kill him. That's an indisputable fact."
Li Meng was speaking up for Guan Tong at this moment. He didn't want the Countermeasures Research Office to give up contact with Guan Tong because of Dragon Soul's strong opposition.
Dragon Soul shook his head and said no more, his expression still resolute.
Li Meng looked to Zhang Minglu for help, but the latter's expression wasn't good either.
After a long moment, Zhang Minglu spoke: "All I want to say is that after the Bandzhen incident, Guan Tong will definitely launch a crazy revenge against Bruce."
Gao Liangwei asked upon hearing this: "Are you saying he will attack Suroma's energy and military bases like before?"
"No." Zhang Minglu shook his head. "It won't be that simple. I think he will target Bruce and the core decision-makers of Suroma, and directly carry out an assassination mission against them."
Gao Liangwei's eyes sharpened: "Can he really do it?"
Li Meng also remained skeptical: "Ever since Bruce learned that Guan Tong was still alive, he will definitely place extreme importance on his personal safety. It probably won't be easy to succeed."
"That may be so, but I always feel he will do something unexpected." Zhang Minglu said.
He had known Guan Tong for so long, he would never doubt the latter's ability to work miracles.
What seemed impossible for others wasn't necessarily impossible for Guan Tong.
"If the authorities provided support for his operation, the success rate would be higher." Li Meng looked at Gao Liangwei.
"I firmly oppose this!" Dragon Soul stated his position once again.
Gao Liangwei said: "The base needs to prepare for war. We can't and won't rely on an Ascendant outside the official system to decide the outcome of the war. Dragon Soul, Li Meng, you may go first."
The two exchanged a glance, then stood up and left.
Only Zhang Minglu and Gao Liangwei remained in the meeting room. The latter didn't bring up whether to support Guan Tong's assassination mission again, but instead raised another matter.
"Dr. Zhang, let's talk about Chen Na's problem. I saw the email you sent me."
Zhang Minglu nodded, a helpless expression on his face: "After learning about the Bandzhen nuclear explosion and that the base wouldn't allow her to accompany the team to assist Guan Tong, she completely threw a temper tantrum. She's refused to participate in any training, and even her mother's persuasion hasn't worked."
"After the Zhou Qinfeng incident, I will not allow her to participate in any operation related to Guan Tong." Gao Liangwei said. "This is for the benefit of the Countermeasures Research Office."
"Of course I understand the director's decision, it's just that she's at a stubborn age, and-"
"But if she's no longer a member of the base, then how she acts is no longer the Research Office's concern."
Gao Liangwei's sudden statement left Zhang Minglu stunned for a few seconds.
"Director, do you mean...?"
"Since Chen Na's heart isn't at the base, contact Guan Tong and have him come pick her up." Gao Liangwei said calmly. "Consider it a favor we're selling him. He'll understand."