Chapter 479: Value and Trajectory |
In a dazzling restaurant in New Covenant City, the capital of Suroma, elegantly dressed waiters gracefully weaved between tables, serving guests who were either noble or wealthy.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Andrew, standing at the restaurant entrance, would have found it hard to believe that more than two years into the Doomsday Rules era, Suroma still had such a high-end restaurant in operation.
But what caught his attention the most weren't the guests with mysterious identities, but the food on their plates.
Steak, red wine, venison meatballs, seasoned lobster, grilled fish fillet... Andrew couldn't help swallowing repeatedly, producing a loud gulp.
Just then, a female waiter approached, extending her hand with a smile to guide him: "You must be Mr. Andrew, please follow me."
"Ah, oh, okay."
Andrew snapped back to reality, looking at the smiling waitress before him. Feeling an inexplicable awkwardness, he lowered his head and followed her to a table deep inside the restaurant, sitting down at an empty spot.
"What would you like to order, Mr. Andrew?"
"...Anything, anything is fine."
"Very well, please wait a moment, both of you."
After the waiter left, Andrew looked at the man sitting across from him with confusion and asked cautiously, "May I ask who you are...?"
He was completely baffled now. Earlier that morning, not long after waking up at home, an official vehicle had come to pick him up, saying some important figure wanted to see him.
The car had dropped him off at the entrance of this restaurant and left. He had walked in bewildered, and he was still bewildered.
Now it seemed that all of this was connected to the middle-aged man sitting across from him.
"I am the Dean of the First Research Institute, Joiessen. You should know about the First Research Institute, right?"
Andrew was stunned: "The First Research Institute!"
How could he not know? That was Suroma's highest-level scientific research institution.
Suroma had a total of two research institutes, and only the elite in the scientific field could gain entry. The First Research Institute was even stricter, requiring applicants to have won an international science award just to qualify for membership.
After entering the Doomsday Rules era, the First Research Institute had fully transitioned to studying everything related to the Doomsday Rules. It could be said that in terms of function and authority, this institution was similar to the "Countermeasures Research Office" in Beixing. Within Suroma, its rank was second only to the supreme decision-makers—the King and the Senate.
Having such a prominent figure seek him out was completely unexpected for Andrew.
"Andrew, I'll be straightforward with you. We discovered through reviewing data that your Mind Power item can be used to crack this rule. I'm here representing the First Research Institute to hire you for this task."
"My item can really crack the rule?" Andrew's face showed shock. "How is that possible?"
"You used to be a factory worker. Your job involved using high-energy lasers to cut steel plates. After the first rule, the item you obtained was called the 'Carrier Array,' correct? According to the records, it can be used to emit a special type of high-energy laser, which is exactly the key to stopping the 'bright moon' from rising further."
"This... My item can indeed emit high-energy laser beams, but the energy and power depend on the operator's Mind Power. With my Mind Power, it's impossible..."
"He alone can't do it, but what if more people are involved?" Joiessen interrupted. "Your item can be used by multiple people, can't it?"
Andrew was taken aback: "It can be used by multiple people, that's correct. But there's a limit on how many Ascendants can team up together. At most, it's just a few people. Are a few people really enough?"
Joiessen smiled without saying a word.
Just then, the waiter began serving the dishes. Seeing the sizzling steak placed in front of him, Andrew felt like his saliva was about to drip onto the table.
"Eat first," Joiessen said teasingly. "Judging by your look, it seems you haven't had steak in a long time?"
"W-Well... this kind of food is way too expensive in the market. I simply can't bear to buy it."
After saying that, Andrew could no longer hold back the hunger gnawing at him. He picked up his knife and fork and began devouring the food ravenously.
Even as an Ascendant, he had been eating canned beans for nearly a year.
In Suroma, the free rations distributed were always the worst. Anything slightly better had to be bought with Ascension Coins. And ordinary Ascendants, who obtained coins through the rules, preferred to spend them on improving their strength rather than squandering them on satisfying their taste buds.
Joiessen watched Andrew wolfing down the food. He himself unhurriedly put on a bib, spread the napkin on his lap, picked up his knife and fork, and meticulously cut a small piece of beef, placing it in his mouth to savor slowly.
"Andrew, do you know? The low-fat grass-fed snowflake steak on our plate costs 40 Ascension Coins to buy."
Andrew choked at the words. He quickly grabbed the red wine and gulped down several mouthfuls: "40 Ascension Coins? There are people outside selling steaks for 10 coins a piece, and even those no one would bear to buy. This one for 40..."
"That's nothing. Do you know that the ten-year-aged wine we're drinking costs at least 300 Ascension Coins?"
"Cough, cough! T-That expensive?!"
Andrew stared at the wine bottle in disbelief, unable to see anything special about it.
Nowadays, Ascendants only got a few hundred or a thousand Ascension Coins as a reward from passing a single rule. A single bottle of this stuff cost three hundred??
"This is called a market economy, heh," Joiessen said. "After so many rounds of rules, many good things were destroyed along with cities and nations. The small portion that remains naturally increases in value."
"Take this bottle of wine, for example. It was produced at the winery of Chiltin, known as the 'Kingdom of Wine,' and aged for ten years. However, Chiltin was wiped out by the Doomsday Rules last year. That means humanity can never drink wine from that country again. So tell me, wouldn't the small remaining stock be very valuable?"
"......"
Andrew didn't know what to say. He could understand the logic behind it, but did that truly make it reasonable?
"Andrew, as long as you cooperate well and use your item's power to help resolve this rule, you'll become a hero to the whole world. With that, you could eat food like this three times a day without a second thought."
"R-Really?"
Andrew's breathing quickened. He had never dreamed he'd have a chance to live that kind of life.
"Of course." Joiessen smiled. "Think about it, there are only forty-nine Doomsday Rules in total. Anyone who can resolve even one of them would become a figure looked up to by the entire world. Who could be greater or more deserving of the best treatment than such a person?"
......
"Brother Guan! And Sister Uenoshi! Ah... and who is this?"
On the outskirts of the Beixing Countermeasures Research Office base, Chen Na and Silver Fox, after meeting up with Guan Tong's trio, noticed that besides the two familiar faces, there was a person wearing a metal mask.
"It's Adam, right?" Silver Fox said, sizing up the man clad in exoskeleton gear. "I heard from the Doctor that he would be joining this operation."
"That's me. Hello to you both." Adam removed his metal mask to greet them. "Since revealing my identity might cause trouble for all of you, it's better to keep this on."
"Indeed. If you were only teaming up with Guan Tong and Uenoshi, it wouldn't matter much. After all, the whole world knows that 'Shadow,' though from Beixing, doesn't belong to the official Beixing authorities and is a free Ascendant. But adding me and Xiao Na to the team changes the nature of things."
Adam nodded and put the mask back on.
Silver Fox then turned to Guan Tong: "Is the target of this operation the Prophet?"
"That's right. He can't be allowed to escape this time. For that, I need your help."
Chen Na said earnestly, "Brother Guan, don't worry. I'll definitely help you find him."
Guan Tong chuckled: "Then I'm counting on you, Xiao Na. Let's head out now."
"The Research Office has already fixed the coordinates." Chen Na took out a teleportation item. "The location is the rooftop of an abandoned building in Manchidon's capital, just three kilometers from the official TV station where the Prophet appeared in his speech video."
As she spoke, she activated the item, and a teleportation array immediately unfolded beneath their feet.
With the team formation active, all five stood within the array. Light flickered, and in the next instant, they appeared on the rooftop of a building.
As soon as they landed, everyone entered a state of high alert.
At this point, Manchidon's capital was practically enemy territory. Any movement here had to be cautious.
"Going straight to the TV station?" Uenoshi asked. "Several hours have passed since the speech was broadcast. The Prophet might not still be there."
"We'll check whether he's there or not. But there's no need to go in person."
With that said, Shadow emerged from Guan Tong's clothes and rapidly spread toward the TV station building.
"I'll use Shadow to check the situation inside first."
"Brother Guan, focus on using Shadow to search. I'll handle the perimeter." Chen Na's pupils contracted slightly, and her Perception Domain activated. Instantly, everything within a large area was under her control. No Mind Power fluctuation could escape her senses.
Adam exclaimed in surprise: "This little girl's perception field is amazing. I can only detect the faintest touch of Mind Power."
Hearing this, Chen Na was instead taken aback: "You can sense my Perception Domain? Ordinary people can't feel it at all..."
"His Mind Power upper limit has broken through a thousand points, entering the Second Stage of Ascension," Guan Tong said. "Ascendants at this stage receive a comprehensive enhancement, including the ability to sense others' Mind Power."
"That's right. But you're still more impressive in this regard, Shadow. If I'm not mistaken, you should be the first Ascendant in the world to reach the second stage, right?"
"You guessed wrong," Guan Tong said.
"...Really? Someone actually beat you?"
Although Adam was very curious, Guan Tong clearly wasn't going to mention Shi Jingyi's name. The former tactfully didn't ask.
Silver Fox, however, seemed deep in thought, with a faint guess in her mind.
Chen Na said enviously, "The Second Stage of Ascension... I need to work hard to reach it too, so my ability will become even stronger!"
"Xiao Na, your improvement speed is already very fast. Don't compare yourself to them. They're the pride of heaven, so few in number that you can count them across the entire world."
While Silver Fox was speaking, Guan Tong's Shadow had already infiltrated the Manchidon TV station building.
He swept through floor by floor, searching from the basement to the top floor, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
"He's not there?" Silver Fox, seeing his expression, knew things weren't going well.
"There are plenty of parasitized forms in the TV station building, but the Prophet isn't among them."
"This is troublesome."
The five's target for this operation was the Prophet. They couldn't lightly touch the other parasitized forms. Otherwise, if a fight broke out, the Prophet would definitely receive word and go into hiding, making it even harder to find him.
"I'll expand the search radius outward from the TV station building as the center," Guan Tong said. "This might take quite some time."
"Wait." Silver Fox suddenly had an idea. "Why not start with the cameras? I've noticed there are quite a few surveillance cameras on the streets of Manchidon's capital. They might have captured the Prophet's movement trajectory. Don't forget, he launched a surprise attack via teleportation. He probably didn't handle every detail thoroughly!"
"Ms. Silver Fox makes a good point," Adam agreed. "Even if that guy calls himself the 'Prophet,' he can't possibly foresee everything. Otherwise, we'd have teleported right into an encirclement by now."
Hearing the phrase "teleported into an encirclement," Silver Fox said irritably, "Yeah, the experience of teleporting into an enemy encirclement isn't exactly pleasant."
Ye Dang let out an awkward laugh, knowing Silver Fox was referring to what happened during the last assassination mission against Your Holiness. But that incident was indeed his fault, so he couldn't muster the nerve to retort.
Fortunately, Silver Fox didn't dwell on it. She pulled out her phone: "I'll contact the base right away and have the network experts remotely hack into Manchidon's official network to see if we can get the surveillance data."
Guan Tong nodded: "Good."
If they could find the Prophet's trajectory through the cameras, that would be ideal.
After Silver Fox made the contact, a reply came back within minutes.
Silver Fox looked at the video sent to her phone, her eyes lighting up: "We've got something! That guy was caught on camera!"
The few of them crowded around to look. The video footage on the screen had a rather low angle, and Guan Tong said in surprise, "Is this... captured by a car's sentry mode?"
"Exactly! The parasitized forms seemed to have destroyed the obvious cameras, but they overlooked that every parked car on the street can also record, and the footage is saved on cloud servers."
"The network experts at the Research Office cracked the servers and retrieved key footage. By piecing these videos together, they managed to piece together the Prophet's movement trajectory... Look!"
The perspective in the video kept switching, each time from a different car's camera capturing the Prophet. These images connected to form a route map showing the Prophet's path after leaving the TV station building.
From this "route map," it could be seen that the Prophet, after leaving the TV station, headed straight south. The last shot of him showed him entering an inconspicuous four-story building by an artificial lake.
"The Prophet is inside that building!" Silver Fox looked up at Guan Tong. "Well, isn't my method more efficient?"
"You've been a huge help." Guan Tong began manipulating Shadow to head toward the building as he spoke. "We'll head over now. Once I confirm he's inside, I'll personally take care of him."
