"Actually, I had the same question as Xiao Na," Shi Jingyi said. "It's an Ascendant from a mid-level civilization, and it claims to have passed all the Doomsday Rules. Whether it's technological might or personal Mind Power, it should far surpass us."
"Don't forget the Star Sea Court's Convention," Guan Tong reminded. "Article Two stipulates that it is strictly forbidden to plunder another registered civilization's inherent Authority by any means."
He paused, then continued his speculation. "But for certain outlaws, regulations are like a menu. As long as you can afford the price, you can order whatever you want. So I believe that once Mr. Ga, or the Star Scar Merchant Group it belongs to, decides the profits outweigh the risks, it will choose to make a move."
Shi Jingyi immediately understood Guan Tong's meaning.
"Xiao Tong, are you saying they haven't used force to seize the Authority because they don't know the effects of a human Ascendant's Authority, and aren't certain it's worth the risk?"
Chen Na's face lit up with sudden understanding. "That actually makes sense... If the Authority's effect turns out to be useless, then risking severe punishment from the Star Sea Court to snatch it would be completely worthless."
For an Authority with unknown effects, risking harsh punishment from the Star Sea Court to seize it, was it truly worth it?
At least from Mr. Ga's current behavior, it clearly thought it wasn't worth it.
Unless they first figured out exactly what effect the Authority in the human Ascendant's hands possessed, they couldn't weigh the pros and cons.
"However..."
Guan Tong's tone shifted as he raised another conjecture.
"Xiao Na, Jingyi, you both said Mr. Ga's individual combat strength would far surpass a human Ascendant's. I actually don't think so."
The two were somewhat surprised and looked carefully at Guan Tong, waiting for his explanation.
Guan Tong said to Shi Jingyi, "Didn't you notice, Jingyi? At the time, my shadow was on you, yet Mr. Ga never detected it at all."
Shi Jingyi thought about it, and it was indeed true.
At the time, Guan Tong's shadow had transformed into a necktie hanging on her chest the entire time, yet throughout the whole conversation, Mr. Ga had never noticed.
With its condescending, arrogant attitude, to demonstrate its dominance, if it had detected it, it would have definitely called it out, just to show off its powerful grasp over everything.
But it never noticed the whole time that another Ascendant's Mind Power existed on Shi Jingyi's body.
"An Ascendant's sensing ability always improves in sync with that Ascendant's Mind Power. If this Mr. Ga's individual strength truly far surpassed ours, it couldn't possibly fail to sense my presence."
"So, it's not as powerful as humans imagine?"
"Mm. I've encountered truly powerful individuals, and they gave me a completely different feeling."
Like the Demon Race's Mourning-Beak Furnace, like Life-Hunting Demon, when Guan Tong first faced them directly, he felt his whole body go rigid and Breathing became difficult.
And when he saw that "Seventh Chief Justice" in the Star Sea Court database, his brain went utterly blank.
Those feelings brought by true powerhouses, he hadn't experienced any of them from Mr. Ga.
So he believed that Mr. Ga, even if it had strength, wouldn't reach the level of completely crushing human Ascendants. This was perhaps also one reason it didn't dare use force.
Guan Tong suddenly asked, "Beixing, that ultra-tough bottle containing the Contract Worm, did he carry it with him?"
"Mm."
Shi Jingyi took the small bottle out of her pocket. The Contract Worm sat inside, motionless.
Guan Tong glanced at it a few times. "Let me keep this bottle."
Since he suspected Mr. Ga, he would suspect everything about it. Whether words spoken or things given, all were presumed unreliable by default.
Whether this Contract Worm and ultra-tough bottle might be dangerous was also hard to say. Rather than leaving them with Shi Jingyi, better to place them in his own Wordless Book shelter, this special space.
"Alright, then I'll leave it to you."
...
While the humans spent considerable time completing the trade contract, far away in Suroma, Silver Fox had also led her team to complete the resource recovery mission.
She had stayed in New Covenant for about twenty days, searching every ruin of the target buildings. The place that took the most time was the Hall of Halls ruins.
At the site where Guan Tong had blown a hole through the sky with a tactical nuclear bomb, her team recovered over a hundred hard drives, most of which stored at least some technical data.
In addition, they also recovered several sets of lightly damaged but not fully destroyed equipment, among which was a Life-Support Pod used for experimental personnel in the "Gaia Project." All these things needed to be brought back to Beixing for archiving and research.
"Lieutenant Colonel Silver Fox, the search is complete."
After finishing the search of the last area within the mission, a team member found Silver Fox to report. The latter nodded. "Gather everyone. We're returning to Beixing."
"Yes."
The team quickly assembled. Silver Fox scanned over them once, and suddenly frowned.
The search over these days had not been smooth sailing. The team had encountered mercenary groups coming to the ruins to "mine for gold" multiple times.
The vast majority of mercenary groups, upon discovering that Silver Fox and her people were Beixing's officials, chose to retreat.
But there were also a very few desperados who paid no heed, risking everything to launch attacks on their own initiative. Even though Silver Fox did her utmost to protect them, the team still suffered several casualties.
And now the assembled team had lost no one further, but instead had gained one extra.
She quickly locked onto a short figure wearing Beixing protective gear. That person was not a Beixing team member, but some enemy who had secretly mixed in.
Swish!
Silver Fox had just drawn her short blade when the person realized they had been discovered, let out a female "hehe" sound, and instantly raised both arms.
"Everyone dodge!" Silver Fox shouted as she activated her Godspeed ability and charged over, but she was still one step too late.
The two Beixing team members beside that person had no time to react before they felt a searing pain in their throats, blood instantly spurting out from their slit protective gear!
Silver Fox arrived right in front of them the next instant, her short blade stabbing straight toward the person's face.
Clang!
Silver Fox stared in shock at what had blocked her short blade. It was a pair of claws gleaming with cold light, and behind the claws was a face she had never seen before.
It didn't look like a human face. It was more like that of some feline, with a pair of round blue eyes and long whiskers on both sides of its cheeks.
"Lieutenant Colonel Silver Fox~ Chairman Han Qiu sends his regards~"