"Big Sister Wang, is there any progress with Xiao Na?"
Guan Tong asked as he picked up the phone. He figured Wang Yan contacting him on her own initiative must be because of this matter.
"Yes, Xiao Guan. I just received a call. The person on the other end said they could arrange for
to et my daughter soti soon."
Wang Yan's tone sounded sowhat anxious, as if she was worried about sothing.
"However, they wouldn't tell
a specific ti or location. They just said they'd notify
temporarily when the ti cos and told
to keep my phone accessible at all tis... I think these people likely have Na Na under their control. What do you think, Xiao Guan?"
Guan Tong thought for a mont and asked, "Big Sister Wang, you've joined the Police Departnt now, right? Haven't you considered asking your colleagues to help apprehend them when the ti cos?"
"No, I can't. The person on the phone seed very aware of my movents and knew I had joined the Police Departnt. They specifically warned
that if I ntioned anything I shouldn't to my colleagues, I'd never see my daughter again... So I can't discuss it with my colleagues either. I could only call you, Xiao Guan, to ask for your opinion."
"This matter is probably quite troubleso... I'm not in the city right now, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help."
Random ti, random location. Even if Guan Tong could remotely control Shadow, he had no leads to pursue.
Wang Yan did know Guan Tong had left the city before the warti managent asures were fully implented. It was easy to leave the city back then, but now, entering or exiting requires a valid reason.
"I know. My plan is to bring a hidden cara to the eting, to capture the faces of the organization's mbers. Then, after the eting, we can investigate based on the facial recognition."
Listening to Wang Yan's words, Guan Tong understood she already had a plan. Calling him was probably just to talk to soone and ease her anxiety.
Sure enough, Wang Yan hung up shortly after saying her piece to go prepare.
As for Guan Tong, he wasn't actually very optimistic about Wang Yan being able to bring her daughter Chen Na back. The key issue was that Chen Na had voluntarily joined that organization in the first place.
She traded joining the organization for dicinal items that saved her mother, who was in the late stages of cancer. Perhaps in her heart, gratitude towards the organization outweighed resentnt, because the organization genuinely helped her.
In that case, if Chen Na herself, subjectively, didn't resist the organization, or felt a sense of responsibility and didn't intend to leave, then no matter how hard others tried, the results would be greatly diminished.
It was possible that in Chen Na's mind, she felt the organization saved her mother's life, so working for them was the right thing to do.
Guan Tong pondered for a mont, feeling he shouldn't interfere too much. Although Chen Na was young, she wasn't a child without her own opinions. She should be very clear about what she was doing.
Moreover, compared to worrying about other people's affairs, what he wanted to do more right now was to relax and decompress properly.
He had been living on edge every day for this past month. His state wasn't great, and he needed so ti for self-healing.
Just as he had thought before, the rules would end, but the psychological damage inflicted by the rules wasn't so easy to end.
"First, don't worry about anything. Just empty my mind for a few days."
Guan Tong wasn't a robot. He didn't want to force himself into endless, gradual strengthening.
Once he made the decision, he stopped overthinking and focused on doing trivial, unimportant little things. He just took walks every day, turned over the soil in the small courtyard, and played with Coal Ball.
anwhile, the situation for so people in the city was much more severe than his. Many people's psyches were greatly affected after experiencing this rule.
Considering this, the authorities announced the opening of shelters and gathering points the day after the rule ended. People could freely go outside to move around, take walks, or et up with acquaintances.
So people had people to et and went out happily for their appointnts. But more people didn't have many friends. Going out just ant walking the streets.
The weather in December had already turned cold. People going out had changed into thick winter clothes. But what was colder than the air was the expression on everyone's faces.
The faces captured by the drones hovering in the air were almost all expressionless poker faces.
And strangely, after a month of not being able to speak, now that the rule was over, everyone should have been talking non-stop, chattering away to any stranger they t on the road.
But in reality, people walking on the streets deliberately maintained a certain distance from each other. There was little desire for conversation. Many people's expressions were a kind of indifferent, joyless apathy.
This phenonon didn't ease up. Instead, it beca increasingly severe in the following days.
So people even held on during the rule period, but suddenly ended their own lives after the rule was over.
If it were just isolated cases, it would be one thing. But as such cases multiplied across major cities, it quickly reached a level that could not be ignored, requiring the research office to hold etings to discuss counterasures.
...
On December 7th, the Counterasures Research Office held a rule summary eting.
The data officer first reported the casualty figures for this rule.
"Personnel outside the city are not included in this statistical report due to lack of registration."
"Based on data reported from various locations within the city, the total number of deaths during this rule is approximately 165,910. Over 130,000 of those were personnel at gathering points, with the remaining 30,000-plus being shelter personnel."
Hearing this, everyone in the eting room felt the shelter construction had proven effective so far, as this casualty ratio was direct evidence.
"It's worth noting," the data officer continued, "according to statistics, out of the 160,000 deaths, approximately 12,000 people did not die from Sound Hunters, but from suicide."
This data point plunged everyone into silence.
12,000 people over the 30-day rule period. That ant an average of 400 people ending their own lives every day.
A psychological expert said with anguish, "The psychological damage inflicted on people by this rule is imnse. And we can't ignore it just because the rule ended. This kind of psychological trauma leaves significant aftereffects."
"Yes," the data officer said. "Of those 12,000-plus people, over 2,000 committed suicide within this week after the rule ended."
Everyone in the eting room looked at each other, not knowing what to say, and collectively turned their gaze to the person in charge.
Gao Liangwei's expression was serious. His background gave him so understanding of what a repressive environnt could do to a person's psyche.
If things continued like this, after a few more similar rules, a breakdown was inevitable. It was possible that before the rules defeated humanity, humanity might cause society to completely collapse on its own due to various pressures.
However, he couldn't think of a solution imdiately.
At that mont, the psychology expert spoke up, "The biggest problem right now is that people see no hope. Humans are creatures that live on hope, on anticipation for tomorrow. The mindset of 'living one day at a ti' simply cannot last... If people see no hope continuously, they will self-destruct."
"The question is, how do we make people feel hope?" soone said in a sowhat dejected tone. "Don't talk about the general public; even we can only wait for the Fire Thief to keep announcing rules."
"No," Gao Liangwei said. "We built a large number of shelters in the shortest possible ti, effectively reducing casualties in this rule. This is the result of human subjective initiative. In my view, this is hope."
"That's true, but..."
"I actually have an idea," a sociologist spoke up. "An idea that could make people feel motivated, feel expectation. However, this idea might not be permitted."
"Don't hold back. Speak directly."
"Alright. That is to publicly release data, including so confidential data like casualty figures." The sociologist's opening statent shocked everyone in the room.
Soone wanted to object, but Gao Liangwei stopped them with a look, signaling to continue listening.
The sociologist continued, "People lack motivation because everything is passively received. The rules announced by the Fire Thief, the official arrangents... People can hardly actively choose what to do. This creates a strong sense of being an object."
"Therefore, release secret data to society. Once people know, they will adopt the perspective of decision-makers, actively think about how to adjust based on this data and information, and even discuss better counterasures amongst themselves."
"This way, people gain a sense of participation. They will enthusiastically offer suggestions to the authorities through various channels and also understand the basis for so official decisions. However, there's a saying, 'Information is power.' I think it holds true. Releasing confidential data and information equates to transferring a portion of power to the general public..."
No one spoke now. Ultimately, this kind of thing wasn't sothing they could decide, nor was it sothing Gao Liangwei, as head of the research office, could decide alone.
After a mont of silence, Gao Liangwei said, "If doing this proves useful, I will strongly urge the Higher-ups to agree."
His statent eased much of the tense atmosphere in the eting room.
Then, a middle-aged woman in her early forties proposed, "If we're talking about making people feel hope, I have an idea too. That is to create 'celebrity Ascendants'."
Her words left everyone feeling sowhat baffled.
However, they did know this woman had a rather legendary background. She beca explosively popular as an internet celebrity when young, then founded a large entertainnt company herself, incubating nurous internet celebrities, even a few who reached first or second-tier celebrity status.
The reason she was selected for the research office was as an expert-level figure from the entertainnt industry.
"Judging by your expressions, you don't really approve. I understand. You are all experts and scholars in various fields. Before the Doomsday Rules, many were devoted to academia or work, and probably paid no attention to, or even looked down upon, things like celebrity chasing."
"However, many people do have a psychological need for celebrities, both n and won. After entering the Doomsday Rules era, almost all celebrities and idols from the previous era have fallen. Very few remain active now... I believe we should follow the trend of the tis and create Ascendant celebrities belonging to the Doomsday Rules era, giving people sothing to aspire to and look forward to."
Gao Liangwei frowned tightly. Undoubtedly, he didn't have much fondness for celebrities or idols either. But as the person in charge, he wouldn't let his personal likes and dislikes affect his judgnt.
"How specifically would this be done?" he asked.
"First, naturally, personnel selection," the woman said. "To beco an Ascendant celebrity, both strength and appearance are essential—unless one aspect reaches a top-tier level. For example, the legendary 'Shadow'. If that person were willing to appear publicly, even if they were exceptionally ugly, they would win countless followers due to their formidable strength."
"After the selection is complete, the selected individuals can record so programs. For example, 'Ascendant Strength Competitions', 'Wonderful Uses of Ascendant Abilities', etc. Of course, for program effectiveness, scripts need to be prepared in advance... Once publicly released, people will definitely be interested."
"Then, based on audience feedback, we can see who resonates well with viewers and focus on cultivating them, designing more programs as the core... We could even hold autograph sessions later."
When the woman reached this point, soone finally couldn't help but question, "Isn't this era about humanity's survival? Won't engaging in these things seem very unserious?"
Hearing this, the woman said calmly, "I think the Doomsday Rules and warti social managent are serious enough. What people need now are so unserious things to counteract the pressure they bring."
"I agree," Dr. Zhang spoke up proactively. "The pursuit of happiness is a human instinct. If we constantly suppress it for the sake of survival, over ti, it might lead to large-scale psychological breakdowns among the population."
After pondering for a mont, Gao Liangwei nodded and said, "I will report this proposal, along with the earlier one about opening data, to the Higher-ups for their decision."
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