On March 28th, the officials formally responded via public announcement to the countless questions the populace had been constantly asking about Awakened Ones.
After learning that the mandatory condition for becoming an Awakened One was reaching a Mind Power upper limit of 2,000 points, many Ascendants felt it was too exaggerated.
This was within the officials' expectations.
The officials possessed vast amounts of Ascendant files, updated regularly, and had a thorough understanding of the power stratification among Ascendants.
In the officials' classification of Ascendants, a Mind Power upper limit of 1,500 points or above qualified one as first-rate. Ascendants at this level were essentially one in a thousand, even one in ten thousand, with a total of fewer than ten thousand.
Those reaching 1,000 points or above were classified as second-rate. The rest were all below a thousand points, and the stratification was unmistakably clear.
Now that the standard of "Awakening" had appeared, Awakened Ones became the undisputed top tier. All first-rate Ascendants were striving toward that level.
Beixing's officials were also pouring full resources into cultivating the very few Ascendants most likely to break through, especially after this rule appeared, intensifying their efforts even further.
In any case, if there were ever another situation requiring communication and contact with an alien civilization, needing an Awakened One as a representative, the officials would prefer someone with a completely official identity like Dragon Soul to step forward.
Someone like Shi Jingyi, who was half-official and half-civilian, could only be dealt with through negotiation in all matters. The officials couldn't make the final call entirely on their own.
Just like in the conversation with Mr. Ga, when Mr. Ga ultimately proposed that separate trade between Awakened Ones, if it had been an official Awakened One, the officials would have definitely made them listen to what the trade content was.
But Shi Jingyi directly refused without even listening, and the officials were quite helpless about it.
Therefore, cultivating an absolutely controllable, obedient official Awakened One as quickly as possible became the Countermeasures Research Office's top priority.
Beyond that, Beixing's officials, as the formal representatives of Tianshui Star Civilization, completed the trade handover with Mr. Ga, obtaining that 1 unit of purified chaos energy.
Qingzhou City, in a new base dedicated to researching alien technology.
Inside a massive sealed laboratory, experts from countries all over the world gathered.
At this moment, these hundreds of experts were all surrounding a mechanical device. The device held a sphere made of transparent material, inside of which gray matter continuously rotated in the form of a vortex.
"...This little thing?"
The experts seeing it for the first time were all bewildered.
This was precisely the 1 unit of "pure chaos energy" humanity had obtained in exchange for one hundred thousand Ascension Coins.
"According to the information provided by Mr. Ga, the external transparent sphere is a 'Chaos Solidifier' used to contain and conduct energy. Without it, the chaos energy inside would instantly dissipate."
A Beixing expert explained.
"To use this energy, human technology can convert it into electrical-thermal energy and kinetic energy through electromagnetic network transmission. This is the result we simulated through a small-scale experiment."
The results of the energy usage experiment appeared on the large screen set up in the room, and everyone who saw it gasped sharply.
"My God... this energy source's energy density is this high? Just a fraction of a gram can satisfy all of humanity's electricity consumption for several years!"
This kind of density, this kind of space occupation... no wonder it can be used to build engines. If we had enough chaos energy to use, we could quickly upgrade to a level-2 civilization!
"The most incredible thing is still the half-life, right? Looking at the projected data, that energy source's half-life is as long as hundreds of thousands of years... that's just absurd."
Pure chaos energy brought those experts an enormous shock.
The efficiency of various human energy sources like coal, fire, oil, wind, and water, compared to chaos energy, was simply like an ant compared to a giant elephant, the gap was that vast.
Everyone on-site was very clear: if humanity could overcome the problems of energy utilization rate and the total quantity of this energy source... it would only take one year, or even less, to achieve a complete transformation of the entire civilization!
The Beixing expert continued to display more projected data on the large screen.
The 1 unit of pure chaos energy Mr. Ga gave humanity totaled 100 grams.
With the assistance of AI model simulation, the projected result was that if humanity could have 100,000 units, which is 10 tons of pure chaos energy in total, it could rapidly complete the transformation from a Mother Planet civilization to a star system civilization.
But simulation was simulation. When it came to the practical level, there were many difficulties.
Setting aside the issues of energy loss and utilization rate for now, the sheer quantity of 10 tons alone would be very difficult to achieve.
Not to mention whether Mr. Ga could even produce that much, even if he could, at the price of 1 million Ascension Coins per 100 grams, 10 tons would be 100 billion Ascension Coins!
That number was too absurd. Humanity's current total Ascendant population was in the tens of millions. Split evenly, every Ascendant would have to contribute several thousand just to scrape it together.
No matter how much you appealed to emotion and reason, or even resorted to coercion and intimidation, wanting every Ascendant to hand over thousands to tens of thousands of Ascension Coins was practically impossible at the realistic level.
The reasoning was simple. Right now, Doomsday Rules were still being released one after another. To many Ascendants, Ascension Coins were meant for exchanging life-saving items at critical moments, and they wouldn't casually waste them.
Even Ascendants living in official shelters who obeyed allocation couldn't accept this level of apportionment.
Moreover, Mr. Ga had said during the trade that Ascension Coins, as a currency, would still be useful after the Doomsday Rules ended.
Even though it hadn't explained in detail, this still raised the value of Ascension Coins, making Ascendants more inclined to stockpile more.
"It's simply impossible to rely entirely on buying with Ascension Coins," someone said. "Even if we barely scraped together that many Ascension Coins, Mr. Ga might not necessarily have that many units of chaos energy. And even if it did, it would definitely jack up the price."
"Yeah, if only we humans had a way to refine chaos energy ourselves."
"That's something only a high-level civilization could do, right?"
"Let's not reach too high." An expert said, "Everyone, our current task is to make good use of this 1 unit of pure chaos energy and digest the hundred-plus advanced technologies Mr. Ga gave us as quickly as possible."
"That's right. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Let's first master the technologies on the trade list."
"Next, everyone will have to fight together. Heh, this feeling of setting aside nationalities and focusing purely on research is really nice!"
These research experts from various countries all harbored an indescribable excitement in their hearts.
Once the Joint Government was established, everyone could work together in full cooperation. This feeling of pooling efforts in one direction, without administrative affairs interfering, was the best.
At the same time.
At the Countermeasures Research Office base in Pinglu, in Gao Liangwei's office, Silver Fox had just finished her report.
Li Meng and Zhang Minglu, who were also present, were both surprised upon hearing it.
"I didn't expect Han Qiu to have such an expert under him," Zhang Minglu said. "An Ascendant whose speed can rival yours, Silver Fox, there aren't many in the entire world, right?"
"Han Qiu has vast amounts of Ascension Coins in his hands. Coupled with long-term scheming, his 'guild' certainly has no shortage of top-tier Ascendants. It's just that he kept a low profile before, and now he's slowly being exposed."
Li Meng analyzed, "But what worries me most is him personally."
Gao Liangwei spoke up, "You mean, you're worried he'll become a true Awakened One."
"Exactly." Li Meng nodded. "Fake it until you make it. That should be his strategy. I believe his Mind Power upper limit must already be close to two thousand points. Once he becomes a true Awakened One, he'll become even more troublesome."
Hearing this, Gao Liangwei raised a very pragmatic question, "Then can we take him out before that?"
The few exchanged glances. Silver Fox then said, "I'm willing to go back to Suroma and find out his movements."
"No." Zhang Minglu frowned and was the first to veto. "Silver Fox, I know you want to avenge your team members, but don't act on impulse. Suroma is huge, and Han Qiu is cunning and cautious. Finding him would be very difficult."
"I think so too." Li Meng said, "Unless he shows himself, finding him will be very difficult."
Shows himself...
Hearing this, Gao Liangwei thought of his earlier private conversation with Guan Tong.
He pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "The Joint Government is to be established in April. Some positions will have campaign processes... If Han Qiu really wants to step into the spotlight, there's a high probability he'll come out to campaign."
The few were stunned upon hearing this. Li Meng said uncertainly, "Take him out during the campaign? That... the campaign will definitely be live-streamed the whole time, right? Even with a delay set, doing this would still be..."
"What if it's not the officials who act?" Gao Liangwei's eyes burned intensely. Zhang Minglu immediately understood his meaning.
"Director, you mean that once the campaign news gets out, Guan Tong will definitely go to act!"
Li Meng was somewhat stunned upon hearing this. "Let Guan Tong attack the Joint Government's campaign site? Wouldn't that mean making an enemy of the entire world? That would be terrible for his own reputation..."
"Actually, this is his own idea." Gao Liangwei said.
"......"
The three fell silent for a moment.
Silver Fox shook her head. "But we also want to take out Han Qiu, don't we? I think we shouldn't let Guan Tong bear all the blame. He's already shouldered enough."
"This is the plan." Gao Liangwei said, "What you need to consider now isn't this issue, but the issue of becoming Awakened Ones as quickly as possible."
As he spoke, he looked at Zhang Minglu. "The Countermeasures Research Office needs an Awakened One of its own. Who's the most likely right now?"
Facing Gao Liangwei's gaze, Zhang Minglu felt some pressure in his heart. He thought for a moment and said, "Currently the closest are Wenren Yizhi and Dragon Soul. Both have Mind Power upper limits above 1,900. In addition, Bai Xuewu, Silver Fox, and several others have also passed 1,800."
"Get these people to break through two thousand as fast as possible."
"Understood."
After the few left the office, Zhang Minglu spoke privately with Silver Fox.
"That Ascendant with the Beast Transformation ability, tell me about her in detail. I need to build a file for her."
Silver Fox, however, seemed somewhat distracted, still thinking about what Gao Liangwei had said earlier, deeply puzzled.
"Doctor, since Han Qiu is a wanted criminal in Beixing, if he appears at the campaign site, why can't we act against him?"
Zhang Minglu's expression was complex upon hearing this. "How should I put it, it might be that the officials are considering that if he comes to campaign, he'd gain a layer of political identity... Let's not worry too much about this matter. Let the higher-ups make the decision."