Chapter 144: Chapter 135: Civilization Cannot Be Allowed to Sink
"Han, where are we going?"
Chen Na followed Han Ling out of the base. Once they were in the car and heading to an unknown location, she couldn’t help but ask.
Han Ling said, "We’re going to a place in the wilderness. I’ve had some challenges custom-made for you based on your abilities. Go, complete them, and take first place. When this Rule Stage ends, your Psychic Power limit will increase."
"Custom-made..."
Chen Na was at the age where she would be in middle school. The past six months under the Apocalypse Rules had made her far more mature than other girls her age.
She knew that each person could only create one challenge. What Han Ling said meant...
"Han, did you have other people create these challenges for me?" Chen Na asked.
"That’s right."
"But if they did that, then they themselves..."
"Chen Na, that’s not something you need to worry about." Han Ling smiled at the girl. "And don’t worry, the people who created the challenges for you were all volunteers."
Chen Na froze for a moment. ’Volunteers?’
Han Ling explained, "It’s just like how you volunteered to join our organization in exchange for the medicine and items to save your mother’s life. To gain our organization’s protection, those people are willing to pay the price in Sublimation Coins, items, and, as in this case, setting up specific challenges during this Rule Stage. It’s fundamentally no different."
"Oh..."
Before long, the vehicle arrived at a location in the wilderness.
After getting out of the car, Chen Na noticed a camp had been established there, filled with people. Judging by the bulges at their waists, they were all likely armed.
"They’re all our people," Han Ling said as she got out. "Don’t worry."
Chen Na said, "They’re not at the base. Are they here to guard the challenges and stop others from attempting them?"
Hearing this, Han Ling gave Chen Na a surprised look, seemingly impressed that a girl her age could figure that out.
"That’s right. Even if I can arrange a few custom challenges for you, the country is full of powerful people. Someone might be even stronger than you in your own Domain. Using armed personnel to guard the challenge locations is a form of insurance."
"..."
"Come on, your challenge will be completed inside this camp."
Some time later, after Chen Na had completed the challenges, Han Ling took her back to the base.
Upon returning to the base, Han Ling immediately got busy with other work. As the manager of this base, she was extremely busy every day.
Chen Na headed back to the residential area alone. At the entrance, she ran into her teammate, Gu Fei, who was just coming out.
Chen Na was a little scared of this emotionally unstable and quick-tempered teammate. She lowered her head, pretending not to see him as she tried to walk past.
But unexpectedly, Gu Fei stopped and called out to her.
"Chen Na, wait."
"Ah..." Chen Na looked over nervously. "Is something wrong?"
"It’s rare to see you out of your room when there isn’t a mission. Let me ask you, did Han Ling take you to complete your challenges?"
Chen Na nodded.
Gu Fei snorted. "I knew it. First Jiang Ming, now you. I guess my turn is coming up. Han Ling had better get a lot of slaves to create challenges for me. I can’t wait to get stronger."
"S-Slaves?" Hearing that word, Chen Na’s eyes widened.
"What else would you call someone who creates custom challenges for others?"
"But I heard Han say! The people who made our custom challenges were all volunteers! It was the price for the organization’s protection!"
"Ha, haha..." Gu Fei couldn’t help but laugh. He looked at Chen Na mockingly. "You’re a naive little thing, aren’t you? The price for protection... How ridiculous. You believe everything Han Ling says?"
"Is—isn’t that how it is?"
Gu Fei sneered, "Let me ask you, pipsqueak. How much do you know about this base? Did you know there’s a huge area below the floor we live on? Why hasn’t Han Ling told us what that area is for? Why does she never let us go down there?"
"I... I don’t know."
"You don’t know? Well, I’ll tell you. There’s definitely a place down there for locking up slaves! Pipsqueak, let me give you some advice: don’t think of Han Ling as some good person. Didn’t you get the hint when she had us raid other camps for supplies?"
As Gu Fei spoke, he seemed to recall some painful memory. He spat on the ground and cursed, "These organizations are all the same, stealing from others under the guise of helping them. Forget this base, even the Official Teams are no different. Is there any real difference? I know better than anyone. They’re all just trash... scum..."
Chen Na listened in a daze.
Gu Fei came back to his senses, his expression darkening. He felt it was pointless to say all this to a teenage girl. He snorted coldly and turned to leave.
It took Chen Na a while to snap out of it. She returned to her dorm with a complicated expression.
She thought about Gu Fei’s words and opened her computer, wanting to search for something. But seeing the "No Network" notification, she remembered they weren’t allowed to use the internet after moving into the base.
Computers, phones... all electronic devices were forbidden from connecting to the network. Han Ling’s explanation for this was to protect the base’s security.
If squad members had any requests, like wanting to watch a movie or play a game, they could submit them, and she would have someone download it for local use.
Chen Na stared at the notification on her computer. Thinking about what Gu Fei said about "slaves," she felt more and more that something was wrong... ’The sweet and gentle Han who’s so nice to me... could she really be lying to me, just like Gu Fei said?’
...
「Official Strategy Research Room.」
On the conference room’s large screen was a post from the Ascender’s Home website titled "Calling for/Compiling a list of challenges created by Supporters."
The topic of this meeting was directly related to that post.
Everyone in the conference room had already read the post. Some had anticipated this situation, others appeared deeply worried, and still others were filled with indignation.
Gao Liangwei spoke first. "Everyone understands the situation. I’ve called this meeting to hold a discussion. Should the government address the issues mentioned in this post?"
Everyone looked at Gao Liangwei. Although he said it was for discussion, his expression suggested he had already made a decision.
"The current situation is somewhat complex," someone began. "The populations within cities have generally started adopting a strategy of ’mutual protection alliances.’ Using shelters and Gathering Points as collective units, members help each other defend their first-place rankings, a strategy that has proven quite effective so far."
"However, the ’Supporter system’ mentioned in this post—setting aside small-scale versions with just a few or a dozen people—has largely appeared on a massive scale in countries with chaotic governance, especially in warlord-led federations like the Tulip Federation."
"According to the intel we’ve gathered, the Tulip Federation’s method of fully backing a single Alpha Wolf is facing fierce internal opposition."
"The Tulip Federation is essentially a political body formed by dozens of warlords, large and small. The identity of their Alpha Wolf has also been exposed; he’s the son of one of the most powerful warlords. How could the other warlords possibly unite and pour all their resources into someone else’s son?"
"Therefore, I believe the Tulip Federation is likely to descend into internal warfare among the warlords soon. We might be able to advise the higher-ups to use this as an opportunity, make arrangements in advance, and then..."
"Let’s not get sidetracked with the international level for now. The higher-ups will make their own judgment," Gao Liangwei interrupted. "Let’s talk about the domestic situation."
The man nodded. "Domestically, due to the wartime administration in the cities, there’s basically no room for a large-scale Supporter system to exist or survive. Instances of this system are almost all appearing in the wilderness... those camps and organizations, outside of official control, are becoming increasingly violent."
"Considering the population outside the cities numbers in the tens of millions, if the government does nothing, several large-scale Supporter systems could emerge. This is something that absolutely must not happen in our country."
"Agreed," another expert chimed in. "People are now speaking out through various channels, calling for the government to do something to stop this behavior. I believe we cannot ignore this outcry. Allowing the Supporter system to grow unchecked would be a great harm to our citizens."
"I also agree that we must crack down hard on organizations in the wilderness that are building large-scale Supporter systems! How can something so dehumanizing be allowed to happen in our North Star Country, on our own soil?"
The consensus was nearly unanimous: the government had to take action. If the public witnessed the government turning a blind eye to such behavior, what would they think?
At this point, Gao Liangwei spoke in a steady voice. "A while ago, I received a report. Ever since the country entered a state of wartime administration, we have temporarily lost control over the wilderness due to a lack of manpower and resources... This has led to the proliferation of numerous gangs of thugs out there."
"Those who chose to leave the cities are still citizens of the North Star Country. As they are citizens of the North Star Country, the government has a duty to guarantee their personal safety. The rampage of these thugs in the wilderness is, without a doubt, a disgrace to us."
"Now, with the information about the eighth rule being exposed, this despicable Supporter system has been dragged out of the darkness. This has undoubtedly crossed a line for our citizens. I want to ask everyone, do you remember what the nations of the world jointly declared after the first rule appeared?"
Someone recalled, "It was... We must not yield to the Apocalypse Rules, nor to the Fire Thief. We humans must defend our civilization and our way of life."
"Exactly." Gao Liangwei nodded. "Defend our civilization and our way of life. Now, if we remain indifferent to what is happening in the wilderness, we are allowing civilization itself to crumble... I hereby declare, as the head of the Strategy Research Room, that we will—and must—take immediate action."
Hearing this, everyone’s spirits rose. Dr. Zhang immediately said, "I recommend dispatching all five Official Squads and other reserve personnel. They should coordinate with armed forces, move by transport aircraft, and disperse to the coordinates of these Supporter challenges across the country to conduct a sweep. Annihilate all organizers of the Supporter system!"
Gao Liangwei gave Dr. Zhang a slight nod. "I will report your proposal to the higher-ups. However, everyone must remember: this operation must be kept secret during the Rule Stage. Only if the organizations in the wilderness believe the government won’t act will more of these Supporter challenges be exposed."
