Doomsday Rules Counterasures Research Office.
Gao Liangwei and the others had already confird the identity of the 'Shadow' when they saw Guan Tong using shadow-ford ropes to rescue people who nearly fell into ground fissures earlier.
Moreover, they were very clear on why Guan Tong wanted to conceal it. This was especially true for Zhang Minglu, who had previously heard from Gao Liangwei that there were people among the higher-level decision-makers who harbored hostility towards the Shadow.
Precisely because of this, after the Andai State incident, before detailed investigation results were even available, the authorities were in a hurry to issue that statent calling for the Shadow's pursuit.
Zhang Minglu believed that the Shadow himself might have realized this, which was why he used the alias 'Mu Tong'. However, from the mont footage of him manipulating shadows appeared this ti, their previous suspicions were essentially confird.
How would the person in charge handle this? Pretend not to know?
Zhang Minglu looked at Gao Liangwei. The latter hadn't said anything after seeing those shadow ropes earlier. This silence might itself be an expression of attitude.
After Guan Tong requested to speak directly with the head of the research office, Gao Liangwei agreed.
No complicated procedures were needed. Dragon Soul directly handed his special communication earpiece to Guan Tong, allowing him to converse with Gao Liangwei through it.
"What do you want to say to ?" Gao Liangwei got straight to the point.
Guan Tong also didn't waste words, directly pointing out the problem: "Judging from the situation of this magnitude 6 earthquake, the current speed of destroying the Geomantic Pillars is insufficient. If we continue handling the upcoming magnitude 7 and higher earthquakes this way, we will definitely fail."
"Yes, we have reached the sa judgnt," Gao Liangwei said.
He and the others in the research office had watched the live stream earlier and also noticed this issue. Based on this performance, not to ntion the later magnitude 8, 9, and 10 earthquakes, even the upcoming magnitude 7 earthquake would beco a major problem.
"You wanted to speak to
directly, so you must have so kind of solution, right?"
"Correct," Guan Tong said. "I have a thod to reserve Mind Power. If you trust , mobilize a massive number of Ascendants during the earthquake interval period to transfer their Mind Power to . I will store all this Mind Power. When the next earthquake erupts, I will output it all at once to destroy the Geomantic Pillar. The efficiency will increase exponentially."
After Guan Tong finished speaking, everyone in the eting room was sowhat shocked.
"Storing large amounts of Mind Power?!"
"The ability to reserve Mind Power isn't unheard of, but from his tone, it seems he can store a lot at once? This..."
"It's not just about storage! What he ans is he can output reserved Mind Power exceeding his own Mind Power upper limit in an instant. That's terrifying!"
"It sounds feasible! Efficiency would indeed be greatly improved this way. Fewer people would need to go to the epicenter site!"
"Don't forget to consider the risks involved..."
Attitudes varied. So looked pleased, others had hesitation in their eyes. But none of them had decision-making authority, and they clearly understood this matter couldn't be decided by the Counterasures Research Office alone.
Gao Liangwei pondered for a mont before replying, "This information is very crucial. I must report it upward. A decision can only be made after discussion."
"Of course," Guan Tong had long anticipated this response.
"Can you roughly tell , if your plan is approved, how many Ascendants would you need to transfer Mind Power to you?" Gao Liangwei asked. "Thousands? Tens of thousands? Or more?"
Zhang Minglu muttered softly beside him, "If the storage is truly unlimited, then the more the better. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands..."
Guan Tong's voice ca through: "The more, the better."
To neutralize the imnse energy released by the upcoming super-high-magnitude earthquakes, the amount of Mind Power needed would only be substantial, not insufficient.
Furthermore, Guan Tong had a little personal motive of his own.
That was, just in case, if there was any leftover, it would be even better if he could keep so for himself.
Not asking for much. If he could keep eight to ten thousand, it would be enough for him to use for a long ti. If he had to save up that much purely on his own, it would take forever.
This shows how powerful a person can beco if collective strength is concentrated on one individual—not to ntion, he could also use any surplus to write on the sixth page of the [Wordless Book].
Most crucially, Guan Tong wouldn't feel guilty doing this.
It wasn't like the previous Eighth Rule, which would cause others' Mind Power upper limit to decrease.
Because others couldn't reserve Mind Power. Even if they transferred their daily circulating Mind Power to Guan Tong today, it would recover by tomorrow.
This way, Guan Tong gains reserved Mind Power, and those who transferred it contribute their share to reducing earthquake disaster, gaining a tangible sense of participation instead of just waiting helplessly in shelters, leaving things to fate.
After the call ended, the Counterasures Research Office held a brief discussion.
Gao Liangwei still didn't ntion the word 'Shadow', as if he and Guan Tong had reached a tacit understanding that overcoming the imdiate disaster was paramount, and other matters could be addressed later.
Zhang Minglu said excitedly at this point, "If this person can truly reserve Mind Power without an upper limit, we could mobilize all Ascendants from every shelter, transferring power to him in batches. Then, the mont a super-high-magnitude earthquake occurs, he could swiftly destroy the Geomantic Pillar, weakening the disaster's power and reducing casualties!"
"I object... Since no one is bringing it up, and the person in charge is avoiding the topic, I'll say it." A history professor frowned and spoke up. "This 'Mu Tong' is undoubtedly that 'Shadow'. I think everyone knows this in their hearts.
Everyone should rember, during the first Ascendant Challenge Tournant, the Shadow held the Holy Grail that provided unlimited Mind Power, defeating hundreds and thousands alone. Now, several months later, his combat power has certainly only increased. At this ti, transferring so much Mind Power to him—isn't that dangerous?"
"Dr. Yu, what ti is it to still be considering these things? Aren't super-high-magnitude earthquakes more important than this?!"
"Of course earthquakes are more important!" Dr. Yu raised his voice. "My worry is, what if the Shadow goes back on his word? What if, after receiving Mind Power transferred from tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people, he suddenly reneges, decides to keep all that Mind Power for himself, and refuses to cooperate with the authorities to destroy the Geomantic Pillars? Do we have any counterasures?!"
"......"
Everyone fell silent for a mont. His words did have so rit.
It was sowhat like signing a contract. One party had to pay heavily, but what they got in return was rely the other party's promise. And this promise had no collateral. If the other party reneged, there was no way to punish them.
"But this ti is different. If he reneges this ti, it would be difficult for the authorities to pursue retaliation, because a magnitude 10 earthquake is enough to destroy most national power. If the Shadow is ambitious, he could hide first, then, when everything is in ruins, use the massive Mind Power transferred to him by the populace to proclaim himself king and dominate. Who could stop him then?"
Originally, most people had no objections, but after hearing Dr. Yu's explanation, they all began to share similar concerns.
Soone suggested, "What if we negotiate with the Shadow, using so special ability or item to place a restriction on him? If he reneges, we activate the restriction?"
Soone imdiately shook their head. "The other party definitely wouldn't agree to that. It might even ruin the cooperation."
Zhang Minglu thought for a mont and said to Dr. Yu, "Your concerns are not without reason, but I want to point out that we are not completely in the dark about the Shadow."
"During the eting after he destroyed the Yongzhou provider base under the Eighth Rule, I said this person possesses a sense of simple justice. What happened later in Andai State once again confird my judgnt. He only killed those warlords, not attacking ordinary people. Later, he proactively disclosed the existence of the 'Kimos Star Chronicle'. He could have kept that secret entirely to himself, but he chose to make it public worldwide, which to so extent promoted the establishnt of the Human Consortium."
"Thus, looking comprehensively at the above series of events, I believe this person might be sowhat reclusive in personality, disliking collective life, but his nature is definitely not bad. If I had to choose, I would be willing to believe he will keep his promise and not go back on his word."
"Indeed. Judging from the Shadow's past actions, he doesn't seem like an ambitious person."
Zhang Minglu was the first to raise his hand. Others raised theirs one after another as well. So people, represented by Dr. Yu, did not raise their hands.
Gao Liangwei looked around the room. "Supporters account for about seventy percent. The minority obeys the majority. I will report this plan to the higher-level decision-making departnt and ntion that the Counterasures Research Office agrees with this plan."
Upon hearing this, those in the opposition faction, though sowhat dissatisfied, didn't say anything. This was indeed the research office's rule: when encountering matters with significant disagreent, directly vote to decide.
Zhang Minglu saw this. He stayed until the end, and after everyone else had left, he said to Gao Liangwei, "Person in charge, Dr. Yu's opposition seems quite intense. Would you like to have a private talk with him?"
"I don't have ti for heart-to-heart talks right now. I need to report this imdiately and also prepare for the magnitude 7 earthquake," Gao Liangwei refused. "If he can't understand now, he will in a couple of days."
Returning to his rest room, Dr. Yu was so angry he paced back and forth, cursing under his breath. "A bunch of short-sighted fools, absolutely short-sighted! When one possesses a sharp weapon, the thought to kill naturally arises. Even a good person, suddenly receiving a massive fortune, is very likely to turn bad! And compared to the temptation of power, what counts as wealth? History has plenty of examples of people with good nature who, once holding great power, underwent a drastic change in character and indulged in unrestrained killing, right?!"
A knocking sound ca from the door. Dr. Yu opened it. Standing at the doorway was a rather plain-looking middle-aged woman.
"Dr. Sun? What is it?"
The female doctor surnad Sun said, "Dr. Yu, I wanted to talk to you about what happened in the eting just now. You should have seen that I didn't raise my hand in agreent either—I was persuaded by your argunts."
Hearing this, Dr. Yu beca agitated. "Dr. Sun also thinks doing this is very dangerous, right? Handing over so much power to soone whose background is unclear is simply reckless!"
"Yes. Moreover, regardless of the circumstances, Person in Charge Gao just follows the 'minority obeys majority' rule for decision-making. In my view, that's sowhat unscientific. I think those of us in the academic world understand that truth is often grasped only by a minority, while the majority are instead ignorant. This might be precisely the blind spot of Person in Charge Gao, coming from a military background."
"Exactly!" Dr. Yu felt greatly pleased upon hearing this. "A senior colonel from the military should just lead troops. Why on earth was he assigned to manage the research office? I didn't really approve from the start. Look at what's happened over this past year—he's almost turned a place for sharing and exchange into a military camp!"
"This..." Dr. Yu hesitated montarily upon hearing this.
"Don't worry, it's not just you and . Many people agree with this. I think, as mbers of the research office, we should also shoulder so responsibility for the future of the research office and humanity."
"...Alright! I'll write too!"
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