Banzhen City, the former capital of Andai State, had now become the administrative center of Sakura Prayer Country.
Guan Tong infiltrated this city on the morning of December 3rd and discovered that entry and exit controls had already been implemented.
Not a single ordinary person could be seen on the streets; only some official vehicles drove on the roads. Moreover, the brand-new surveillance cameras spread across every street and alley highlighted the city's state of martial law.
This level of martial law was no less stringent than when Beixing had entered its Wartime Management State. Whether it was because of the bombing incident or some other reason, Guan Tong was not clear.
The place where he currently found himself was the ruins of that manor he had burned down, the old lair of Basong and his crew.
After Basong and the others died, this place had remained vacant with no one taking over. Guan Tong simply summoned a shelter beneath these ruins to settle in first, then used the Shadow to conduct his investigation.
His investigation method was the same as when he had investigated the Yongzhou base: using the Shadow to infiltrate important buildings, attempting to locate key figures.
Previously, the most important building in Banzhen City was naturally Prince Lado's palace, the very palace Guan Tong had previously destroyed using the purchased Mind Power bombs.
However, due to the palace's prime location in the center of Banzhen City, it was naturally a symbol of the core of power. So after the citizens of Sakura Prayer Country relocated here, they cleared away the broken walls and ruins of the palace and built a new structure on the original foundation to serve as an administrative center.
At that moment, some inconspicuous shadow lines drilled into the building, probing the situation inside.
The first three floors housed many basic office workers, all dressed in identical Western-style suits. When it reached the fourth floor, the Shadow's entry was blocked.
"It seems the area above the fourth floor is the core zone, so they're using barrier tools that protect against Mind Power intrusion," Guan Tong thought.
The next second, he suddenly discovered that one of the shadow lines he was remotely controlling had pierced through that invisible barrier and "melted" into the fourth floor.
What was going on?
He initially thought perhaps the other side had coincidentally turned off the tool, or someone had switched shifts—after all, maintaining the effect of a barrier tool 24/7 non-stop couldn't be done by just one person; it required constant rotation of personnel using Mind Power to sustain it.
But he quickly realized something was wrong.
Could it be because of the spores?!
A chill ran through Guan Tong's heart, and he immediately retracted the shadow line.
Regarding the existence of the alien spores, he had never, and dared not, let his guard down.
These formless, shapeless things that influence people subtly—the slightest carelessness could lead to falling victim.
Guan Tong was very clear that his Shadow did not—to be precise, without increasing Mind Power output, it did not have the ability to perate defensive barriers. Why had it suddenly succeeded this time?
His Mind Power hadn't increased, no new characters had been added to the first page of the Wordless Book. With all variables unchanged, the only possible cause for the change was the influence of the spores!
After recalling all the Shadow lines, Guan Tong took a deep breath.
He repeatedly told himself in his heart, "I don't need this kind of enhancement with side effects."
He had to admit, the moment the Shadow broke through the barrier, he did feel some excitement and thrill, wanting to take advantage of the momentum to investigate further.
But he quickly suppressed that thought.
Even if the Hidden Rule mentioned that using the power of the spores within defined limits was the act of a wise person, the problem was, how could one determine where those limits were?
If there were a clear gauge, where every use of spore-derived enhancement accumulated 1 point of addiction, all the way to 100 points for complete addiction... then anyone could control themselves and become so-called wise people.
But in the absence of such a gauge, Guan Tong would never entertain any wishful thinking, believing he could control himself.
Many things become addictive after just a few tries. If he abused the enhancements brought by the spores for convenience, even if he himself was strong, he might still succumb.
"...It's even possible that the stronger one is, the more dangerous they are when facing this rule," Guan Tong thought. Many strong individuals want to become stronger, a mentality easily exploited by the spores.
After pondering for a moment, Guan Tong opened his computer and checked again the previously located login device position of Yamata no Orochi.
That location was within that very building, detailed down to the specific floor, likely the fifth floor.
Everything above the fourth floor was within the protective range of the Mind Power defense barrier. Trying to infiltrate using the Shadow seemed unlikely. If he forced a breakthrough, the moment the barrier was damaged, the Sakura Prayer Country higher-ups would immediately know someone had used an ability to infiltrate.
Yet, like just now, utilizing the spore's ability allowed the Shadow to enter without damaging the barrier, which seemed like the optimal infiltration method... but Guan Tong would not use it again.
He would never comfort himself by saying things like 'just this once, I won't use it next time.' It must be understood that any addictive behavior starts with 'just once.' He needed to cut off the psychological dependency at its root.
So, without damaging the barrier and without utilizing the spores, to reach the fifth floor, he could only resort to the most traditional method.
Namely, physical infiltration.
The Mind Power defense barrier only affects abilities and items related to Mind Power; it has no effect on the human body.
However, compared to infiltration using abilities, the difficulty of physical infiltration would naturally be much higher. But where there's a will, there's a way. Guan Tong felt that with proper planning, there would still be opportunities.
...
Pinglu City, Cangying Ridge.
This place had been a scenic spot before, and after the "Shen Yun case" occurred, it had become a sort of "check-in holy land."
Of course, a holy land for ordinary people.
A large number of ordinary people believed that Shen Yun's sentencing was a milestone success for ordinary people facing Ascendants, proving at least that the authorities hadn't planned to completely abandon ordinary people.
People believed this case, and the series of public opinion effects it triggered, also contributed to the introduction of the "Doomsday Rules Management Regulations."
Therefore, many ordinary people made special trips here, with quite a few bringing flowers to pay respects to those ordinary people killed by Shen Yun.
And now, hundreds of individuals, each holding a rush cushion or folding stool, were sitting on the mountain, breathing in large gulps, some even murmuring words under their breath.
What they wanted to inhale was certainly not just air, but spores.
Moreover, this collective absorption activity had a name: "Great Cultivation Practice."
In the mouths of these people, strengthening oneself by absorbing spores was practicing a technique called the "Cosmic Divine Spore Art."
Who first created the names "Great Cultivation Practice" and "Cosmic Divine Spore Art" was unclear; it seemed to originate from some posts on an online forum.
The posters claimed that after absorbing spores, they saw palaces created by an alien civilization and even heard alien intelligences speaking kindly to them, telling them the method of biological evolution was to practice this "Cosmic Divine Spore Art."
These bizarre, seemingly delirious ramblings quickly spread across the inter.
Many ordinary people and even some Ascendants participated in the practice, sharing cultivation experiences and secrets with each other. The current "Great Cultivation Practice" action here at Cangying Ridge was arranged by many people online who had agreed to come.
During this time, low exclamations would erupt from the crowd from time to time.
"Hey, I feel my body's strength increasing!"
"My mind is getting clearer and clearer, as if all worries have been swept away."
"This feeling is simply amazing! I feel like I'm turning into a superhuman!"
"These spores are much better than any Mind Power. Even non-Ascendants can become stronger. Before, those item rewards and such, we ordinary people couldn't use them at all. It was so unfair!"
"That's right! Those Ascendants cultivate their Mind Power Flow, while we ordinary people cultivate this Cosmic Divine Spore Art!"
"Exactly! Everyone can practice a technique; that's fair!"
These people's statements and feelings reinforced their behavior, and the act of absorbing more spores further fed back into their sensations, forming a rapidly promoting virtuous cycle.
The people within this environment might not perceive it themselves.
But from an external perspective, this was undoubtedly a rather fanatical atmosphere, looking somewhat bewitched.
"They're acting so recklessly. Is it really okay to just let them be?"
Behind Cangying Ridge, some duty personnel in official uniforms looked at the large crowd sitting in meditation on the mountain peak, their eyes filled with worry.
"How can we manage them? Forcing them not to go out is useless. The higher-ups have already said these spores are everywhere; you can't hide from them even in sealed rooms."
"Isn't that still better than crowds gathering to engage in this 'Great Cultivation Practice'? If you ask me, seal off Cangying Ridge and don't let people come up."
"Won't help much. They'll just find another place to practice together. Forcibly banning gatherings might even trigger violent conflicts."
"Yeah. The orders we received are to keep watch here and intervene promptly if anything goes wrong."
"I just don't get it. When the rules were announced, everyone heard them. The Fire Thief clearly said they were alien spores. Can't these people understand? They even came up with this 'Cosmic Divine Spore Art.' Did the basic education they received go to the dogs?"
"No need to be so harsh. Maybe for them, this is the only lifeline they can grasp. If one day our panels were to shut down, we'd probably find it hard to accept too."
As the duty personnel chatted, they suddenly saw scattered individuals starting to leave the crowd on their own, heading down the ridge.
They stepped forward to intercept one person and inquire.
"The top of the ridge is too dangerous!" that person said with a face full of worry. "What if you accidentally fall off and die? We should practice in a safe place."
The duty personnel looked at each other, not understanding why they were suddenly worried about such things now.
If they were afraid of falling off the mountain, why did they run up here to "practice" in the first place?
Although this contradictory behavior puzzled them, they still recorded the situation and reported it.
At the same time, similar Great Cultivation Practice actions were occurring all over the globe. Similar contradictory behaviors were also being recorded and reported by someone.
When the snowflake-like reports landed on the computers of the relevant personnel, some analysts immediately drew a somewhat unsettling conclusion.
Were these people exhibiting contradictory behaviors because the degree of spore parasitism had deepened, beginning to cause changes at the cognitive level?
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