In a small eting room at the Banzhen City Peace Officer Departnt Headquarters.
Guan Tong and Uenoshi arrived as agreed, where Suzuki received them for a talk.
What surprised both of them was that when they entered and Suzuki closed the door, she actually knelt down on both knees.
"What are you doing?" Guan Tong asked.
Suzuki remained kneeling, head bowed, her tone anxious. "I... I want to ask you to save . I don't know what to do anymore..."
"Get up first, and explain clearly what this is about."
Suzuki did not rise, lifting her head instead. "I... I am a spore addict. The spores disappeared after the rules ended, but the addiction remains."
Guan Tong and Uenoshi exchanged a glance.
They did suspect Suzuki had issues in this regard, but they didn't expect her to admit it outright.
The question was whether she was telling the truth about just being a spore addict, or if she was a parasitized form deceiving and disguising herself. It was impossible to judge at the mont.
As for the phenonon Suzuki described—"the spores are gone, but the addiction remains"—it did indeed exist widely.
Those who had beco addicted to the spores before the rules ended but hadn't progressed to the point of becoming parasitized forms basically all experienced this condition. There were extrely many people posting about it online.
Currently, Beixing's thod of handling this was centralized isolation to assist with withdrawal treatnt.
After all, long before the Doomsday Rules appeared, the human world had various addictive substances.
Various countries already had established systems for withdrawal treatnt of addicts. Now, adapting them for use on spore addicts was not inappropriate.
"In that case, you should go to an addiction treatnt institution for isolation and withdrawal treatnt," Guan Tong said. "Uenoshi and I can't help you in this regard."
Fear appeared on Suzuki's face. "I... I'm scared of those places."
Uenoshi then said to Guan Tong, "Sakura Prayer Country's withdrawal institutions have a terrible reputation. There were exposés before."
Hearing this, Guan Tong thought for a mont, then helped Suzuki up.
"Alright then, let
help you. I'll contact soone and find you a safe, compliant withdrawal institution in Beixing." He paused. "Every so often, either I or Uenoshi will visit you once to make sure there are no problems."
"Really?!" Suzuki was overjoyed. "That would be wonderful, thank you..."
"No need. You've been a great help to us. Without your Profiling, we wouldn't have learned so quickly that Yuzawa Jun moved the laboratory onto a ship."
Guan Tong always repaid grudges and repaid favors.
Without Suzuki's help, if things had dragged on, Yuzawa Jun would only have beco harder to deal with. For that reason alone, he would help her within his capabilities.
Ten minutes later, after settling the relevant matters, Guan Tong and Uenoshi left the Headquarters.
On the way back, Uenoshi asked, "Do you think everything she said is true?"
"I don't know," Guan Tong said. "If she is a parasitized form, what would be the purpose of doing this? Also, I will explain this situation to the Beixing side and maintain observation of her."
"...Can spore addicts really kick this addiction?"
Uenoshi's question was also Guan Tong's question.
Spores, as an addictive substance, were definitely harder to quit than ordinary ones.
But regardless, the authorities definitely had to manage it.
If they didn't, it would be tantamount to pushing these addicts towards becoming parasitized forms.
...
January 11th. The Human Consortium officially issued a statent, characterizing the act of the parasitized form group declaring the establishnt of the "Seli Divine Nation" on Black Flag Country territory as a "malicious extraterrestrial life colonization action."
Following this characterization ca an open blockade and declaration of war.
From the date of the statent's release, the relevant areas of Black Flag Country would be completely blockaded. No individuals or groups would be allowed to go there under any pretext.
Simultaneously, the Human Consortium would form a joint force led by the three nations of Beixing, Suroma, and the Xisiya Empire, with only one goal: to eliminate the Seli Divine Nation and the group of parasitized forms.
After the statent was released, it received widespread support from people all over the world.
Those with dissenting opinions, under these circumstances, dared not voice opposition.
Because now every country was vigorously investigating and clearing out parasitized forms within its own borders. Speaking out against this and saying good things about parasitized forms at this ti would definitely arouse suspicion.
Apart from the matter of forming the joint force, the Human Consortium also announced a major event that countless people had been eagerly awaiting.
That was the launch of the two manned rockets.
"Dream Boat One" and the "Empire Pioneer," originally scheduled for launch last December, were postponed to January 12th of this year—tomorrow—due to the rules.
Many people following this matter speculated whether it would be postponed again because of the Seli Divine Nation issue. Now the Human Consortium announced that this launch plan remained unchanged. The two rockets would launch on ti tomorrow, with a global live stream.
This counted as a rare piece of news that could boost morale.
Even though the destination, Terra, was a planet not very habitable for humans, this was still the first step taken towards space migration.
If the rocket launches succeeded and they arrived safely at Terra, and if the astronauts on board could successfully complete the mission of surviving on the planet for a period of ti, it would an humanity had achieved a breakthrough from zero to one.
In fact, regarding space migration, many people had been reflecting since the Doomsday Rules began.
With the technological level of humanity on Tianshui Star, if they could unite wholeheartedly, they could have started attempts ten, twenty, or even thirty years earlier, accumulating experience.
Faced with the current doomsday crisis, humanity might not be so passive then.
It's just that while everyone has heard the big principle of being vigilant in tis of peace, how many people can actually implent it as a life creed?
Not to ntion ordinary people, even among the world's billionaires, only a minority are enthusiastic about space migration and biotechnology. Most are still thinking about how to make more money and gain more power.
January 12th.
The launch of the two manned rockets was globally live-stread as scheduled.
Countless people, harboring hopes for the future, watched through various channels.
The mont they successfully ignited and launched, cheers erupted all over the world.
So people who had beco depressed and despairing due to the Doomsday Rules, watching the ascending rockets, even reignited their desire to survive.
They all wanted to live longer, so that perhaps one day in the future, they too might have the chance to board a rocket spaceship and go to another planet.
In the eyes of many, this was not a fantasy dream, because people shared a consensus: in the era of the Doomsday Rules, humanity's survival-related technology would definitely accelerate explosively, and migration spaceships were undoubtedly the most representative modern survival technology.
Whether this consensus reflected true reality or not, as long as people believed it in their hearts, they would gain more motivation to survive.
For the next two days, January 13th and 14th, people were imrsed in the excitent of the rocket launch, hoping they would reach Terra as soon as possible and send back good news.
Additionally, intelligence was released online stating that the Human Consortium joint force had already assembled and was now just waiting for the announcent of the new rule on the 15th.
If the new rule didn't affect the war, then the operation against the Seli Divine Nation would comnce imdiately.
If the new rule would have an impact, then they could only temporarily hold the troops back and wait until the rule ended and the Interval Period began.
Moreover, many people weren't sure if the past fourteenth rule counted as survival-related. If it did, then the probability of the fifteenth rule being non-survival-related might be greater.
If it didn't count...
Let it count! Countless people thought this way. We need a break!
And so, with people feeling anticipation, tension, anxiety, or fear... ti finally arrived at the 15th, the day the fifteenth Doomsday Rule would be announced.
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