Chapter 377 - 345: Play by the Rules of the Game

Chapter 377: Chapter 345: Play by the Rules of the Game

North Star, Strategy Research Room.

Inside Han Qiu’s office, he looked at the report in his hands and shook his head at Zhang Minglu, who stood before him.

"So all the attempts failed? A pity."

"It seems your proposal won’t work," Zhang Minglu said. "Dozens of control groups, even those with balanced or identical Psychic Power levels, were unable to establish a Mind Network."

Han Qiu nodded. "It would be nice to have Shadow’s test report. His data would surely be more valuable."

"Academician Han, I’ve already told you. Shadow refused to cooperate this time."

"I thought he had a long-term cooperative relationship with the Strategy Research Room."

"Long-term cooperation doesn’t mean he has to cooperate every time. Our two sides operate on a basis of mutual respect and equality. He can refuse our proposals, and we can refuse his."

Upon hearing this, the corners of Han Qiu’s mouth lifted in a smirk. With a somewhat playful tone, he said, "The Strategy Research Room, built with the nation’s full resources, on equal footing with a single Ascender? Interesting."

"Are you implying something, Academician Han?" Zhang Minglu frowned.

"Don’t misunderstand, Dr. Zhang. Your cooperation was approved by Mr. Gao, so how could I question it? It’s just that for every day we fail to find a way to establish the Mind Network, we remain unable to identify Parasites."

Zhang Minglu said, "This isn’t the kind of thing where rushing will get results. Besides, the Mind Network might not be our only option. If the cryptology department can decipher the Alien Intelligence’s language system, we could find other methods."

"Really?"

Han Qiu’s playful smile returned.

"How are we supposed to grasp something that humanity has never heard of, something for which we have no concept? I believe trying to decipher its language is completely futile. Dr. Zhang, you’re a smart man. You must have similar thoughts, right?"

"..."

Zhang Minglu’s expression was complicated. He didn’t want to admit it, but Han Qiu was right.

He also believed it was nearly impossible to decipher the Alien Intelligence’s language. Even if they succeeded by some one-in-ten-thousand chance, the results would be meaningless.

"If you and I are smart, then the Fire Thief is a thousand, ten thousand times smarter. Playing our petty human tricks before it is meaningless. ’Man thinks, God laughs’—it’s probably the same principle."

Han Qiu’s words made Zhang Minglu’s frown deepen. Such a submissive attitude toward the Fire Thief was not something a member of the Strategy Research Room should have.

"Academician Han, do you know what you’re saying?"

"Of course I do. If this is a game, then we, the players, had best play according to the gamemaker’s intentions."

"A game?" Zhang Minglu suppressed his anger. "This is a world-ending catastrophe that concerns all of humanity!"

"Precisely because this game decides humanity’s survival, we must follow the rules to win. What we should be doing is discerning the Fire Thief’s intent and following the main path, not acting clever and running around aimlessly until we fall off a cliff."

Han Qiu held up the report in his hand. "The reason I believe the Mind Network is the only way for humans to identify Parasites is because the Fire Thief has already given us a clue in this ’game’."

"...What clue?"

"If I were the Fire Thief, I would know that after this rule was announced and the Alien Intelligence landed, humanity would definitely ask, ’How do we identify the Parasites?’ Therefore, how this intelligence would answer is also naturally within the Fire Thief’s calculations."

"Are you saying the Fire Thief is using this Alien Intelligence to tell humanity how to identify the Parasites?"

Han Qiu smiled. "Not telling us directly. This is its style of game, hiding clues within the gameplay itself."

"..."

Although Zhang Minglu hated how Han Qiu constantly referred to the Apocalypse Rules as a game, the man had a point.

"You mean all that language humans can’t understand is just a Smoke Bomb? That the only things of real value are the parts humans *can* understand?"

"Exactly. If humans can’t understand it, it means they have no use for it. Just like when humans first asked for its name and origin—do we really need to know what this puddle of black alien goo is called or where it’s from? It might seem mysterious to the public, but in my eyes, it’s just another game character being manipulated by the Fire Thief, no different from the monsters that appeared in previous rules."

Zhang Minglu fell silent.

When human strangers meet for the first time, asking for a name and origin is a near-universal custom.

So, when an Alien Intelligence arrived, humanity subconsciously asked the same questions.

On this point, he agreed with Han Qiu.

Knowing its name and origin was meaningless. Even if they learned it came from some planet in some galaxy, humanity’s current level of space travel made it impossible to ever go there.

"So, Academician Han, now that your ’game’ is stuck, what’s your next move?"

The corners of Han Qiu’s mouth lifted. "When you’re stuck in a game, it’s either because of a bug or because you missed a key item. Given the Fire Thief’s capabilities, I believe it’s the latter."

"Academician Han, just get to the point."

"Fine. At the next meeting, I’ll propose a question to ask the Alien Intelligence. When I do, I hope you’ll support me, Dr. Zhang. As someone Mr. Gao holds in high regard, your opinion is crucial."

Hearing this, Zhang Minglu immediately went on high alert. Even though he agreed with some of Han Qiu’s points, he felt the man exuded a dangerous aura and couldn’t be trusted.

"Academician Han, what question do you want to propose?"

"As I said, to win, we have to play by the rules of the game. Every rule is a game in itself. I believe the rule of this particular game is that there are only two truly meaningful questions: one about the past, and one about the future. It’s better to prepare for the future than to be confined by the present. Therefore, the question I want to ask is..."

Han Qiu paused, then said a very short sentence. Upon hearing it, Zhang Minglu’s eyes shot wide open in shock.

...

A tavern on the Sisiya border, outside the back door.

Black Star stared at the diverse, chaotic mob of people at the main entrance, his eye twitching uncontrollably.

One of his underlings ran up, panting. "Boss Black Star, you’re finally back!"

"What are all these people doing here??"

"They’re all clients."

"Clients? This many?!"

Another woman came out the back door and said to Black Star, "What else could it be but the leak about the Alien Intelligence? Now countless people and organizations from all over the world are rushing here to join the circus."

Black Star looked at the woman. "You accepted all their commissions?"

"Accepting one is the same as accepting many. Who turns down money that walks right up to your door? Right, Black Star?"

Black Star slapped a hand to his forehead. "The problem is, with this many people showing up at once, we’re bound to attract the attention of the higher-ups!"

"Didn’t you already smooth things over with the local security department?"

"That was before. Now that our new Governor is in power, she’s expected to make some sweeping reforms. Plus, things have been really tense these past few days because of Rijeka’s death!"

The woman’s eyes flickered. "Do you think it was those two North Star People? Or were they just tools used by the new Governor as a cover?"

The two North Star People had just bought intel on Rijeka, and right after, Rijeka was assassinated in prison. It was hard to believe there was no connection.

However, Black Star, with his access to information, knew about the brutal struggle between Rijeka and Yelena. That’s why the woman suspected the two North Star People were just a front, and the real mastermind was Governor Yelena.

Hearing this, Black Star spoke to the woman with a serious tone, "White Star, stop with the guesswork. It doesn’t matter who did it; it has nothing to do with us. We’re just middlemen, not detectives."

He sighed. "Ah, forget it. They’re already here. If I don’t see them, the ’Black Star’ brand will be ruined. I’ll get rid of these people as quickly as possible. You guys just lay low."

With that, Black Star quickly ducked back into the tavern to deal with the clients, one group after another.

Seeing this, the underling turned to the woman. "Big Sis White Star, I think Boss Black Star has a point! What if we really do get targeted? Don’t let her age fool you, that new Governor seems pretty ruthless!"

White Star shrugged. "If we get targeted, we’ll just move. Your Boss Black Star isn’t stupid; he knows the wisdom of having more than one hideout. All right, get back to gathering intel."

"Got it."

After the underling left, White Star went back into the tavern. Looking at the hundreds of clients, she felt a vague sense of foreboding.

So many people of unknown origin gathering in Sisiya, all undoubtedly for the Alien Intelligence. No one could predict what they would bring to this country.

...

At night, the Landing Site was as bright as day.

Numerous high-beam floodlights illuminated the entire encampment, leaving nothing in shadow.

Anyone trying to sneak in under the cover of darkness would be exposed in the high-lumen beams, with nowhere to hide.

Moreover, soldiers patrolled in overlapping, non-stop 24-hour shifts. Combined with the drones circling overhead in alert mode, it was nearly impossible for any unauthorized personnel to approach the Alien Intelligence without being discovered.

In Sikokun’s own words: "For unauthorized personnel to get near the Alien Intelligence, there is no other way but to punch straight through the iron wall we’ve built."

Even Guan Tong would find such a setup extremely tricky to handle.

At this moment, he was disguised as a soldier, patrolling alongside Sikokun and communicating over a special encrypted channel.

This channel was originally for the exclusive use of Sikokun and Yelena. Now, to ensure there was no possibility of their secret leaking, they had allowed Guan Tong to join temporarily, until the current rule ended.

"Guan Tong, you’ve seen how tight security is here. I can’t just withdraw the soldiers to make it convenient for you to ask your question. There’s no way to hide that from the Human Federation’s on-site observation team or their satellite surveillance."

"Also, you saw what happened to that person who asked an unwelcome question this evening. If you’re discovered, the snipers might not be able to stop you, but the Human Federation will definitely hold someone accountable."

Sikokun paused, then said, "I know you’re powerful, but if the entire Human Federation gets involved, you’ll likely find yourself with nowhere to run."

By now, she, like Yelena, knew Guan Tong’s true identity was the Ascender, "Shadow." Aside from her shock, however, she didn’t feel this changed the situation all that much.

"How are you going to avoid all this attention to ask your question? Even if you can hide yourself, you can’t hide the massive amount of Living Dead food you’re creating. Do you think it’s worth taking such a risk for a question with an unknown answer?"

Besides Sikokun’s questions, Yelena’s voice was not heard on the channel. She was undoubtedly receiving the conversation but said nothing.

Then, Guan Tong’s voice came through. "Whether it’s worth it depends on the goal. For me, I’m willing to take this risk. As for how to avoid being seen while I ask my question..."

He paused. "When the time is right, I will create a Domain to block the satellites, the soldiers, and the observation team. I will ask my question from within that Domain."