Guan Tong felt somewhat puzzled after hearing Gao Liangwei's words.
He didn't hide it and asked directly: "If the Joint Government was established under Beixing's leadership, what gives Han Qiu the right to participate? Just because of some online supporters?"
"It's not just online." Gao Liangwei said in a low voice, "Since he voluntarily exposed himself, supporters holding his banner high have appeared in large numbers everywhere. After the officials conducted an in-depth investigation, the numbers far exceeded imagination, and they're still growing."
"Still growing?"
"You have to understand, what people support isn't him as a person, it's the great banner he carries on his shoulders.
He bound himself to the banner of 'abandon no one.' Those who fear being left behind, whether they like him or not, have no choice but to support him.
Even today, among the several hundred million people on Tianshui Star, ordinary people still make up the vast majority, over five-sixths of the population.
If you also categorize Ascendants with lower Mind Power as ordinary people, then this group's proportion would expand even further... These people, none of them want to be abandoned."
Gao Liangwei paused and continued: "The Yinluo Civilization, what that Mr. Ga said during the live stream, further intensified this group's anxiety."
Guan Tong: "You mean the claim that Awakened Ones are civilization representatives?"
Gao Liangwei nodded slowly: "A second confirmation from an external advanced civilization, plus the Convention proving that Awakened Ones hold a monopoly on classified information... This has pushed the ordinary population's fear of being abandoned to its peak.
Guan Tong, I'm guessing you must not be able to sense any of this. Because you normally must rarely or even never have the chance to interact with ordinary people. You only come into contact with top-tier Ascendants, so naturally you can't feel this kind of collective anxiety."
Guan Tong: "....."
"But we're different." Gao Liangwei said, "The base receives department reports from all regions every day. Many shelters have become increasingly unstable now, and management difficulty grows by the day."
"...What's the use of telling me all this."
Guan Tong admitted Gao Liangwei was right. He indeed hadn't interacted with ordinary people for a long time, somewhat "unaware of the people's hardships."
But that didn't mean he thought there was anything wrong with himself.
"If we could have an Awakened One carry the banner of 'abandon no one,' we could replace Han Qiu and let the masses place their confidence in us."
Guan Tong shook his head upon hearing this: "If you want me to do this, then save it."
Gao Liangwei looked at Guan Tong and asked seriously: "Is it that you don't want to do it, or that you fundamentally don't approve of this banner?"
"I just don't want to be a liar." Guan Tong said, "Abandon no one... Is that even possible? I don't want to say things I don't even believe myself. And there are already enough liars in this world. I don't want to become one of them."
After speaking, Guan Tong countered: "If the officials want to use this method to replace Han Qiu, why not just push out an official Ascendant to carry the banner? Didn't that whole series of programs, Battle of the Ascendants, create a lot of high-popularity official Ascendants?"
Bai Xuewu, Yang Ran, and even Li Liang's batch of Ascendants all became famous through that program and became widely known Ascendants.
The officials could absolutely pick someone, announce they're an Awakened One, and snatch Han Qiu's ecological niche.
"Even though they're famous, they don't have that kind of rallying power for something like this." Gao Liangwei said, "The public liking them is one thing, following them is another matter entirely."
Guan Tong had to admit Gao Liangwei wasn't wrong.
People like Gao Liangwei who became famous through that kind of program, despite rising popularity and having many fans, were always ranked at the bottom when the online community evaluated combat power rankings of the program contestants.
On the contrary, Guan Tong, Silver Fox, and even the not-yet-dead Adam and Lucifer were all frequent names at the top of the rankings.
People believed that the performances of Gao Liangwei and others outside the program were all scripted, their true value far below those who had made their names in the world through bloody real combat.
In that case, even if the officials persuaded Gao Liangwei and others to cooperate, to have them willingly lie and push one out claiming to be an Awakened One, the public would be unlikely to buy it.
"Actually, besides you, there's another candidate who's even more suitable." Gao Liangwei said, "That would be Dean Shi."
Guan Tong raised an eyebrow slightly and said nothing.
"Dean Shi is the only person without much combat record who still makes the public believe in their hearts that she's a top-tier powerhouse.
Moreover, she was deeply beloved as a teacher before, and still holds great prestige as Dean. If she were willing to announce she's an Awakened One and carry this banner, there definitely wouldn't be much questioning."
If Shi Jingyi announced she was an Awakened One, far more people would believe her than doubt her.
But the troubles that followed would also be far greater.
"She won't do that." Guan Tong didn't react much, just calmly stated a fact, "Because she also doesn't want to deceive others, to promise things she can't deliver."
"She doesn't need to make promises like Han Qiu. She just needs to indicate she's an Awakened One, and people will feel much more at ease." Gao Liangwei said, "Because people trust her. Even if she doesn't keep saying 'abandon no one,' people believe she won't harm others for her own sake."
Guan Tong tapped his fingers lightly on the table. Gao Liangwei could sense his impatience and the leakage of some negative emotion.
"You're unhappy?"
"Should I be happy?"
"Guan Tong, I know your relationship with Dean Shi is extraordinary. Have you considered that by making this proposal to you now, I'm already taking your opinion into account?"
"My opinion is that I don't agree." Guan Tong said, "But this isn't for me to decide. It's her matter, it depends on her own opinion. It's just..."
Guan Tong pressed his palm on the table, the ferocious light flickering in his one exposed right eye.
"No matter what name or method is used, if anyone harms the people by my side, I will absolutely not let them go."
Gao Liangwei said calmly: "If you're threatening me, then you've got the wrong target. Dean Shi is one of the personnel the officials prioritize protecting most. If anyone wants to harm her, the officials would be the first to refuse."
"Is that so?" Guan Tong's tone was sarcastic, "If that's the case, why was Duanmu Feng, who attacked her back then, protected instead?"
"......"
Gao Liangwei was momentarily speechless.
Guan Tong stood up: "How the officials communicate with her and what she decides, I won't interfere. But on the matter of dealing with Han Qiu, I have a proposal. A very simple proposal."
"What proposal?"
"If he really wants to hold office in the Joint Government as you say, then he can't just hide behind a screen posting short videos.
If the person behind the scenes wants to step to the front, they have to enter the field in person. When that time comes, if he dares to appear publicly at the Joint Government institution's location, I will deal with him on the spot."
Gao Liangwei's expression darkened: "Think carefully. If he goes to the scene to 'campaign' with great fanfare, doing that will only make you the target of everyone's criticism."
"So what? Haven't I been cursed at enough?" Guan Tong snorted coldly and turned to leave the meeting room.
"I'll come back to visit the base in a month. I want to be personally present for Gaelid's memory extraction experiment. After it's over, I'll personally kill Heisen."
"....."
Gao Liangwei watched Guan Tong's departing figure deeply, quietly forming some considerations in his heart.
One day later, the third day of the Rule Period.
After the human trade negotiation team finished talking with Mr. Ga on the first day, they spent a day conducting analysis and judgment.
In this brief day of tense time, multiple departments from various nations jointly reviewed the contents of the first day's negotiations, then discussed and decided which planet to lease to the Star Scar Merchant Group.
Afterward, the various nations also determined through discussion what trade the human side would propose, as well as what negotiation strategies to adopt.
When the third day arrived, that small ascent-descent module once again landed on the ground. After the human negotiation team entered the module via the safety tether line, Mr. Ga and two assistants were both present.
"We meet again."
"Please, sit."
After both sides were seated, the human side directly presented their prepared decision.
"Our side has decided to lease Cang Star to the Star Scar Merchant Group for development, but a hundred-year lease is too long. It would be best to reduce it to fifty years."
Mr. Ga let out a bitter laugh in human fashion upon hearing this.
"Cang Star. You humans really know how to choose. This planet is almost the lowest-value planet in your star system."
The human side's people didn't change expression. This choice was indeed deliberate.
Among the many planets in this star system, Cang Star had the lowest development priority for humanity.
This planet's environment was extreme, with surface temperatures reaching five to six hundred degrees and atmospheric pressure a hundred times that of Tianshui Star.
Humanity had launched several probes toward this planet in the past, all quickly scrapped due to the extreme environment. It was nearly impossible to explore.
For a planet with such extremely harsh environment, even if there were some resources on it, they held little attraction for humanity. Better to hand it to the Star Scar Merchant Group and see what they could develop it into.
"To show sincerity, our merchant group can accept leasing Cang Star, but the lease term cannot change. At least a hundred years." Mr. Ga said.
"A hundred years is too long."
"Long? A hundred years is pathetically short on the cosmic timescale. And please, humans, think carefully. Developing a planet is an extremely complex undertaking with an enormous engineering workload.
Just like how building a single large building used to take you humans several years, let alone developing an entire planet. Have you considered that in a hundred-year lease, the first seventy or eighty years would all be used for basic infrastructure, and only the final brief ten or twenty years would truly be used for resource extraction?"
The human side's people looked at each other, all feeling Mr. Ga's words might have some truth, but might also be false.
Zhao Ming spoke up: "Mr. Ga, you said the day before yesterday that your Yinluo Civilization is a mid-level civilization, meaning levels 4-6.
The Convention's description of civilization levels mentions that a level 3 civilization can already utilize the energy of an entire star. That being the case, would developing an ordinary planet really be very difficult for your civilization?"
Mr. Ga explained: "We can indeed utilize the energy of an entire star, but that requires deploying an extremely complex super-engineering project spanning an extremely long time. Our merchant group has already compromised a great deal. We cannot make further concessions on this matter."
The human side quickly received word from the higher-ups that they could accept this result of both sides taking a step back.
"Alright, we agree."
"Phew." Mr. Ga exhaled, "Negotiating trade with you humans really isn't an easy thing... Since it's settled, let's sign the contract."
"Certainly." The representative of the human negotiation team sat up straight and waited a moment, only to find that Mr. Ga hadn't produced any contract documents.
"Didn't Mr. Ga say we were going to confirm the contract?"
Mr. Ga's compound eyes stared at the negotiation team representative, and seemed to be looking at everyone: "An interstellar trade contract only takes effect when signed by a civilization representative. Can you represent the entire Tianshui Star civilization?"
Not just the negotiation team representative, but everyone in the entire negotiation team was stunned upon hearing this.
Zhao Ming was the first to react: "Mr. Ga means that trade contracts between different civilizations can only be signed by an Awakened One?"