January 5th, one-third of the time for the eighth rule had passed.
Liu Yuqiang, the head of the Logistics Management Department at the Qingmei Base, received the latest instruction from the manager, Han Ling, demanding that he recall the "Material Collection Teams" operating outside back to the base as soon as possible.
This order came swiftly and urgently. While Liu Yuqiang immediately began making arrangements, he also pondered the reasons behind it.
Previously, the base had continuously dispatched personnel outside to acquire more supplies.
But now, suddenly recalling everyone without any warning must be due to something happening.
Sitting in his office, Liu Yuqiang thought to himself, "Could it be related to the increasingly widespread exposure of the provider system online recently?"
Unlike Gu Fei, Chen Na, Jiang Ming, and others, as a former member of the Qingmei Society and now the head of the Logistics Department at the Qingmei Base, he was qualified to use the work within the base.
This was related to the fact that he had long been on this pirate ship. Both the highest-ranking Commander and the base manager Han Ling were well aware that if Liu Yuqiang leaked secrets, it would also harm himself and those connected to him.
Liu Yuqiang himself had always understood that there was no turning back for him.
However, one incident that occurred within the base still sent a chill through his heart.
That was the disappearance of Yu Feiwei.
Although he had no fondness for Yu Feiwei, thinking the man was too selfish, cold-blooded, and had no reverence for human life whatsoever, he knew this person was loyal to the Qingmei Society and even to Big Sister.
Moreover, he held significant financial authority within the base, controlling the allocation of millions of Ascension Coins. Logically, someone in such a crucial position shouldn't encounter trouble easily.
But starting from the day before yesterday, Yu Feiwei had never shown his face again, and his related duties had been handed over to others.
Although Han Ling didn't say it outright, Liu Yuqiang knew that Yu Feiwei was probably no longer among the living.
He speculated it was related to the intelligence about this rule.
Yu Feiwei had always wanted to raise his single-digit Mind Power Upper Limit. This was a perfect opportunity. As long as he had the Resource Bodies imprisoned at the lowest level customize some challenges for him, he could fulfill the requirement.
Liu Yuqiang felt that given Yu Feiwei's personality, he must have applied to Big Sister the moment he learned the news, but the result was probably disappointing.
Although he had only met Big Sister once or twice, Liu Yuqiang could sense that she was someone who appeared amiable and kind on the surface but was fundamentally very cold.
Furthermore, ever since he witnessed with his own eyes the over a thousand people imprisoned in the lowest-level cells of the base, he knew that in terms of disregard for human life, Yu Feiwei was still small potatoes compared to Big Sister.
"This exposure of the provider system is also a threat to this base... Could it be that Big Sister has obtained some internal official information, hence the urgent order to recall the dispatched personnel and maintain a low profile?"
As a business magnate with a meticulous mind, Liu Yuqiang quickly made an educated guess that was probably eighty to niy percent accurate.
Meanwhile, after making the decision, the authorities quickly launched an operation internally codenamed "Wild Storm."
The aim was for the action forces to sweep through targets swiftly, fiercely, and extensively like a storm.
After the country entered a wartime state, although a wide range of personnel was initially needed to maintain public order, as time passed, the situation in major cities had now stabilized.
Thus, a large number of Armed Squads could be redeployed outside to carry out missions.
This time, the authorities were determined to eradicate the groups and organizations operating the provider system in the wild. For this purpose, they dispatched hundreds of Armed Squads to sweep the areas around target locations based on collected intelligence.
Accompanying the Armed Squads were several official teams and selected official team members, totaling nearly a hundred people, which was also a very substantial force.
Moreover, the authorities were serious this time, not just making a token effort. Military airports across the regions were all on standby. If any Armed Squad encountered a powerful hostile organization in the wild, they could call for air strikes for support at any time.
Under an operation of this scale, achievements were quickly made.
The post on the Ascendant Home website that tallied provider-created projects was continuously updated for several days.
Providers kept updating, saying the organizations forcing them had been eliminated, and they and other providers within the organization had gained freedom.
Those eliminating the organizations were "fully armed combat personnel." Although these people didn't directly reveal their identities, what force they represented was self-evident.
Thus, even though the authorities intended to keep it confidential, the news quickly spread: the Beixing Country authorities had begun secretly deploying soldiers to strike provider organizations in the wild.
After this news spread, the general public naturally supported it wholeheartedly, as it was genuinely safeguarding their interests.
However, some organizations that had established provider systems fell into fear one after another.
These organizations originally thought the authorities wouldn't interfere with matters in the wild, hence they dared to act recklessly. Now it seemed things had changed.
To save their own skins, these organizations had to immediately hide, evacuate, or even abandon guarding projects they had already secured first place in, just wanting to evade the authorities' pursuit.
But they were still too naive. Given the authorities' reconnaissance and strike capabilities, finding them was easy with certain clues. The process of eliminating them after finding them was even easier than locating them.
Even when encountering some larger organizations with more members and some strong individuals that the Armed Squads couldn't easily defeat, they simply called for remote support.
After providing the coordinates, the organization's stronghold would soon suffer fighter jet bombings, or even several missiles being launched at them.
Under this thunderous storm-like sweep, provider organizations, large and small, were wiped out at an extremely fast rate, with an average of double-digit numbers disappearing every day.
During this period, although Guan Tong was running around everywhere, challenging more projects for first place, he could also understand the authorities' precise, steady, and fierce actions through the posts on the website.
Seeing the authorities strike hard at the provider system, he naturally held a very supportive attitude. On the contrary, if the authorities were truly indifferent, he would feel strange and puzzled, thinking it wasn't the consistent style of Beixing Country.
At that moment, he saw a newly posted thread.
《Can Someone Save My Friend? She Seems to Be Imprisoned in a Provider Organization Too》
Guan Tong clicked to view it.
"My friend is imprisoned in a very secure base, and they don't allow inter access. Because my friend and I are friends on the Terminal, she contacted me telepathically using a [Communication Scroll], asking me to speak out for her.
My friend said there might be many people imprisoned in her base, but she doesn't know where the base is located, only that it's inside a mountain. What she can provide are only some challenge projects customized for her. The names of those projects are..."
After seeing the names of the challenge projects, Guan Tong's pupils contracted sharply.
He immediately chose to temporarily hide the post, then sent a private message from the backend to this user with the nickname "Qing Jin."
Administrator: "Hello, may I ask what your friend's name is?"
Qing Jin seemed to be online shortly after posting, replying quickly.
Qing Jin: "The Administrator? Why are you privately messaging me?"
Administrator: "I'd like to understand the specific situation. Is it convenient to answer my previous question?"
Qing Jin: "Yes, it is. My friend's name is Chen Na, a girl around 12 or 13 years old."
It really was Chen Na!
Earlier, when Guan Tong saw the challenge project mentioned in the post titled 《Perceiving Changes in the Number of People within a 500-Meter Radius of a Sealed Environment at the Nanlin Village Activity Field》, he felt it somewhat resembled something tailored for Chen Na.
Because her [Perception Domain] ability would make taking first place in such a challenge very easy. Plus, she had indeed joined some mysterious organization. If that organization intended to cultivate her, it wasn't impossible for them to use her as one of the providers.
But Guan Tong was only speculating; he didn't expect it to actually be her!
Qing Jin: "May I ask why the Administrator is asking for my friend's name? Do you want to help?"
Looking at the incoming private message, Guan Tong didn't reply immediately, instead considering whether to notify Wang Yan, as it was her daughter.
But after consideration, he temporarily decided against it. Now that Wang Yan had joined the Police Department, if he told her, she would most likely seek help from the Police Department, hoping official forces could be dispatched to rescue her daughter—if a large-scale operation were launched, it might put Chen Na in danger.
This was also why Guan Tong chose to hide the post. If people from that organization saw this post, they would know Chen Na was secretly using [Communication Scrolls] to contact the outside world for help. Her fate in that case was predictable; she would most likely be silenced.
Administrator: "May I ask if you know Chen Na's Personal Terminal digital ID number?"
Qing Jin: "Sorry, Administrator... Back at the hospital, I was the one who told her my ID number; she added me. So I don't know what her ID number is."
At the hospital... It seems this Qing Jin is a friend Chen Na met while accompanying her mother for medical treatment...
Guan Tong thought, continuing to send messages.
Administrator: "Then can you use another [Communication Scroll] to contact her and have her tell you?"
Qing Jin: "...I'm sorry, Administrator, I... I've already used up all ten of my [Communication Scrolls]..."
Seeing this message, Guan Tong was momentarily stunned. Only a little over a month had passed since the seventh rule ended; how could ten bound scrolls be used up so quickly?
Probably all used during the rule period...
Guan Tong thought for a moment and typed.
Administrator: "Alright, I'll give you one tradable [Communication Scroll]. Use it to contact Chen Na."
Qing Jin: "What?! But, Administrator, tradable ones are expensive, right?"
Indeed, they were expensive. Especially after the seventh rule ended, with no source of acquisition, the price, originally around 30,000 per scroll, had now skyrocketed to 80,000 or 90,000 on the market.
However, Guan Tong still had a few tradable ones left in his possession. He hadn't sold them all at the time, thinking he might need them later, saving him the trouble of buying again.
Now, to establish contact with Chen Na, using one wasn't a big deal. Especially since Guan Tong really wanted to figure out what organization had taken Chen Na. An organization that could conduct selection assessments and move in and out of a major city like Yunhua during wartime management was definitely not an ordinary violent group in the wild.
Administrator: "Send me your digital ID number. I'll trade it to you. Then use it to contact Chen Na, remember her digital ID number, tell her about our communication, and then privately message it to me."
Qing Jin: "Okay, Administrator."
Qing Jin quickly sent her digital ID number. Guan Tong added her as a friend and traded her one [Communication Scroll].
He wasn't worried that Qing Jin would receive it, then block him and list it for sale in one smooth move. It wasn't that he trusted this person much, but he didn't believe an intellectually normal person would scam the Administrator of the Ascendant Home website, especially after exposing their digital ID number.
About twenty minutes later, Qing Jin sent a message.
Qing Jin: "Administrator, I used the scroll you gave me and contacted Chen Na to discuss this matter. She told me her ID number; I'll send it to you now."
Administrator: "Okay."
After Qing Jin sent Chen Na's digital ID number, she sent another message: "The Administrator is willing to spend so much to contact my friend... do you have some relationship with her? I hope the Administrator can rescue my friend..."
Administrator: "I'll do my best."
Guan Tong looked at Chen Na's digital ID number, opened his Terminal, and chose to add a friend.
The addition was completed quickly. He took out a bound version [Communication Scroll] purchased from the Ascension Store; he hadn't used a single one of the ten he bought back then.
However, before using it, Guan Tong hesitated.
He knew that using this item for telepathic communication meant the voice heard in the other party's mind would also be his current voice.
If he used it directly like this, Chen Na, hearing his voice, would immediately know he was Guan Tong, and thus know he was the Administrator of Ascendant Home. Because Qing Jin must have already told Chen Na during their call that the Administrator wanted her ID number and would add her as a friend.
Guan Tong wasn't worried that Chen Na would actively leak it; it was just that she was, after all, a young child who might unintentionally let it slip or be tricked into revealing it, which would become very troublesome.
After pondering, Guan Tong still took out the [Passerby Transformation Device]. Using it, the next moment he transformed into a different appearance.
Looking at his smooth hands, Guan Tong had a bad premonition. Taking out his phone to look... Sure enough, this time he had transformed into a young woman.
"...Alright then."
As soon as Guan Tong spoke, a woman's voice came out.
He chose to use the [Communication Scroll], targeting his currently only friend, Chen Na.
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