Chapter 478: The Prophet’s Declaration and the Assassination Operation |
The sudden crisis erupting in Manchidon shocked the entire world.
After the "Prophet" appeared on Manchidon’s official television to speak, public attention on the incident briefly overshadowed even the current Doomsday Rule.
The Prophet’s speech video was immediately posted across major platforms, one of which has already racked up tens of millions of views.
In the video, the Prophet stood in the studio with short green hair covering his eyes, and the words "Manchidon Studio One" on the wall behind him were strikingly visible.
That studio, normally the official news channel exclusive to Manchidon, had now been hijacked by the Prophet.
In the video he said, "I am the leader of the spore lifeforms. The core area and military bases of Manchidon are now under our control. Our demand is simple: mutual non-interference.
Manchidon is an isolated nation on the Nanyang continent, with no land connection to the remaining eight nations. Therefore we promise not to attack other regions in exchange for the Human Consortium promising not to send troops to attack us.
If the Human Consortium agrees to let Manchidon be our sanctuary, I will promptly gather all parasitized forms living in other countries to live here together. Otherwise, if the Human Consortium launches an attack, we will immediately use every weapon in the military bases, and our target will be the territory of Manchidon itself."
The speech was short, and then abruptly ended.
The comment sections under the video were already boiling over.
"Manchidon taken over by parasitized forms???"
"How did they do that? Are parasitized forms really that powerful?!"
"Mutual non-interference is ridiculous... No matter what, humans can’t coexist with parasitized forms!"
"Isn’t this basically declaring a new state? How’s this different from wanting to set up a 'Seli Divine Nation' in the Black Flag Country back then."
"What does that last sentence mean? He’ll bomb himself?"
"Probably means they’ll take Manchidon’s citizens as hostages... If the Human Consortium sends troops, they’ll blow them up along with the hostages..."
"These parasitized monsters always pick the Rule Periods to cause trouble. They know humans are focused on handling the rules and temporarily can’t pay attention to them!"
"Has the Human Consortium responded yet?"
Most people, guided by the simplest instincts, would never see the parasitized forms’ actions during a Rule Period as clever; instead they would further cement the belief that these creatures are humanity’s mortal enemies.
The Human Consortium members largely shared these basic instincts, so during the emergency remote meeting they unanimously agreed not to negotiate with the Prophet.
"I don’t get it," Torafuto said in puzzlement, "How did Manchidon’s officials let this happen? How could their decision-making system be paralyzed so easily by parasitized forms? Even if the country only has a few hundred thousand people left, it shouldn’t be this shabby!"
"Neglect in defenses, or an insider selling them out, both are possible," Gao Liangwei said. "But instead of looking for reasons, we should be dealing with the result as quickly as possible."
Mary snorted coldly, "Originally we planned to wait until this rule ended to utterly eliminate these threats. Who expected them to act during the rule—did they get some kind of message? Regardless, the Human Consortium cannot agree to that condition."
"If we don't agree, what happens to the few million people in Manchidon?" A worried delegate from the small nation Heilanja asked. As one of the "six small nations," Heilanja’s population is even smaller than Manchidon’s, so it was natural to empathize.
Mary was unmoved and said bluntly, "Do what must be done. If someone can be saved, then save them; if not, there are measures. Don't forget what kind of monsters these parasitized forms are. Do you want those millions of Manchidon people to be converted?"
"Chairwoman Mary is right," Gao Liangwei said, his tone decidedly supportive of Mary. "The Prophet's 'mutual non-interference' demand is obviously a stalling tactic: 'Give me time and I'll convert millions in Manchidon into parasitized forms'—the consequences would be unthinkable."
"Exactly," Torafuto nodded. "Those monsters escaped from the Black Flag Country and took the rare chance to find a new nest. Of course they want to rear themselves in peace for a while. Once they digest Manchidon's population, they'd certainly stop attacking outward. They can’t be trusted at all!"
Among the eight great powers—or more accurately, seven of the major nations—the seat for Manchidon had already been quietly removed by the Human Consortium prior to the Prophet’s televised speech.
Everyone judged rationally that even if the parasitized forms could be eradicated or driven out of Manchidon, the local population numbers would be severely diminished, and the nation of "Manchidon" would be hard-pressed to continue existing.
Of the five small nations’ five delegates, the Sakura Prayer Country delegate was the first to publicly support Mary, followed by the other four delegates gradually doing the same. Now that the three major powers were united in opinion, the small nations’ emotional objections were meaningless.
After the vote, Mary said with satisfaction, "Then let’s plan specifics. To eliminate these creatures, the team must include Ascendants who can distinguish parasitized forms. Chairman Gao, I think your Beixing 'Shadow' would be suitable."
Gao Liangwei thought: Guan Tong can indeed distinguish parasitized forms. And although he’s no longer the only Beixing Ascendant to have exceeded the thousand-point upper limit and reopened a Mind Network, his ability actually amplifies his discernment.
There are other Ascendants who can identify parasitized forms, but only Shadow can perform large-scale identification at the same time.
Gao had earlier considered that if Chen Na completed her breakthrough, her ability characteristics would make her better suited for this large-scale identification. But she still lacked some Mind Power to complete the breakthrough and needed time to grow.
"Shadow is indeed a suitable candidate. He previously agreed to work with officials to eliminate the parasitized forms," Gao Liangwei said. "However, he might be trying to handle the current Doomsday Rule, and he's not an official Beixing Ascendant. We must ask for his consent before involving him."
"What could he possibly come up with? Even if he's powerful, he's still just an individual combatant," Mary’s tone held mild disdain.
Gao Liangwei reminded her, "Chairwoman Mary, don’t forget—Shadow's 'individual combat ability' was what eliminated the Scarlet Fear last time."
"That was a completely different matter. A half-illusory 'demon' making nightmares, how can that compare to a physical object like a micro-planet?" Mary’s expression flickered. "Besides, our Suroma research institute has developed a solution to this Rule!"
"Oh?!"
Other delegates instantly perked up. That was the only good news so far in this meeting.
Mary hesitated, reluctant to reveal details, but since she'd already mentioned it she continued, "Our institute plans to use high-energy lasers to pierce the Bright Moon’s core and destabilize the sphere. That could interrupt its ascending trajectory."
High-energy lasers?
Those present reacted oddly. Lury, the science official, immediately voiced doubts: "Even a super nuclear bomb only inflicted superficial damage to it; how could a high-energy laser destroy it? Under such gravitational distortion, lasers wouldn't be accurate and their power would be insufficient."
"Human high-energy laser tech indeed won't do it," Mary countered. "But did I say we'd use human technology?"
"You mean, Mind Power items?"
"Exactly. We in Suroma have an Ascendant affiliated with our government whose exclusive device can emit a special high-energy laser beam, called a Carrier Array. If specific conditions are met, activating this device might pierce the Bright Moon and damage its core."
"Then why not deploy them right now? The sooner we stop the Bright Moon, the better!" Torafuto urged impatiently.
Everyone else agreed, but Gao Liangwei seized on Mary’s phrasing: "Those 'specific conditions' for the device probably aren't easy to fulfill."
Mary hesitated a moment and nodded, "The device’s attack strength increases in stages. To reach the power necessary to destroy the Bright Moon’s core will inevitably require some... sacrifice."
Sacrifice?
The other delegates felt a strong unease.
If someone like Mary faltered at the word "sacrifice," then it was clearly no small ask.
Facing the puzzled and grave looks, Mary grit her teeth and explained, "According to our academy’s calculations... for the device to fire a high-energy laser capable of destroying the core, at least three thousand Ascendants with Mind Power upper limits above 500 points must enter the array."
.....
"We therefore promise not to attack other regions in exchange for the Human Consortium’s equal promise."
In the island cavern, Guan Tong watched the Prophet’s video speech once more and made a decision in his mind.
He said to Uenoshi, who sat at his side, "Uenoshi, come with me to Manchidon."
Before Uenoshi could answer, Ye Dang—standing at the cave mouth watching the sea—turned his head and asked, "Manchidon? You’re going after parasitized forms, rules be damned?"
"I can’t think of any way to bypass this Rule for now. Instead of sitting here waiting, it would be better to use the time to do something; perhaps it will inspire an idea. Besides..." Guan Tong didn’t bother to hide the killing intent in his words, "this Prophet has to die. I didn’t know where he was before, and I planned to ask the Moon Key to divine his location. Now that he’s shown himself, and he’s in Manchidon’s capital, finding him is much easier."
Narrowing the global search down to one city drastically reduced the difficulty. For Guan Tong, it was a golden opportunity he could not miss. If he failed this time, the next search would again be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Why the Prophet had to die was clear to Guan Tong. Even if one set aside that the Prophet might be the leader of the parasitized forms, just from his ordering Lu Cheng to try to kill Shi Jingyi, Guan Tong had made up his mind.
"Shall we depart now?" Uenoshi certainly did not object.
"I’ll go with you," Adam said.
Guan Tong and Uenoshi both looked at him.
Adam forced a wry smile, "Are you planning to leave me here alone? No way. Besides, I’m not going to slow you down."
"…All right, then let’s go together," Guan Tong agreed.
Uenoshi asked, "Isn’t he being investigated by Suroma? If he shows up in Manchidon, won’t he attract attention?"
Adam replied, "I’ll do some disguises, like wearing a mask or something."
"Many people know your ability."
"Then I won't use my ability. Although I’ve never shown it, I have quite a few advanced items in my Storage Box. With my Mind Power upper limit, using them won’t burden me too much."
"….."
Uenoshi had nothing more to say.
Guan Tong could see she wasn’t trying to complicate things for Adam; she was genuinely worried for him and for him alone.
"Uenoshi, I know you’re concerned that if Suroma learns Adam and I are together, they’ll come after me. It’s fine—I’ve offended too many people to count. One more king won’t matter."
Uenoshi slightly nodded and said nothing further.
The three decided to leave immediately, and at that moment Guan Tong’s phone rang.
It was Zhang Minglu calling.
"Guan Tong, you must know about the parasitized forms’ attack on Manchidon, right? Head Gao wants you to lead a team to deal with it. With your ability to identify parasitized forms, it would make things much easier."
Guan Tong was surprised and replied, "I was planning on that anyway. Since I can’t think of a way around the Rule at the moment, I might as well do something else."
"Really? That’s great!" Zhang Minglu hurriedly asked, "I’ll arrange some personnel for you. Are you going to use your previous elite squad, or do you have another plan? By the way, if you head to Manchidon, send Adam back to Base No. 2 temporarily."
"Adam is coming with me to Manchidon," Guan Tong said. "Also, my goal this time isn’t ordinary parasitized forms but the parasitized leader, the 'Prophet.' I don’t want to make a big show and let him know I’m looking for him, so I don’t need many people... Just reassign Chen Na and Silver Fox to me."
Guan Tong could of course slaughter thousands of parasitized forms by himself, but as long as the Prophet—the leader—lived, the parasitized forms would unite, and complete eradication would be difficult.
So this operation was a covert assassination.
Such missions fear noise and exposure most of all. Guan Tong, Uenoshi, and Adam were already three people, adding Chen Na and Silver Fox—one to handle broad perception reconnaissance and the other to protect and act opportunistically—would be sufficient.
As for other members of the previous elite squad... Bai Xuewu’s mecha is too conspicuous; once she appears everyone will see her. Yang Ran’s flame ability is also flashy. Wenren Yizhi... better not disturb her.
Zhang Minglu said, "I can reassign Silver Fox and Chen Na. Are you sure you want Adam with you? If his identity is exposed, it will bring trouble; Suroma won’t let it go quietly."
"I'll be careful."
"Since you insist, fine. I’ll contact them now. You’ll rendezvous and depart for Manchidon today."
