Chapter 367 - 339: Opportunity or Not (2)

Chapter 367: Chapter 339: Opportunity or Not (2)

"That’s right." Zhang Minglu nodded. "Back then, I also had the base’s Ascenders run detailed tests. At first, speaking in the Mind Network consumed nothing, but as the number of times they spoke increased, their Psychic Power began to deplete."

The young academician nodded. "Exactly. Based on this, we can make a bold conjecture: perhaps the opening and closing of the Mind Network is related to the amount of Psychic Power one has."

"You mean to say, an Ascender with high Psychic Power can reopen the Mind Network?"

Zhang Minglu frowned, disagreeing with the conjecture.

The young academician: "It’s only a conjecture. It needs to be tested."

"But after that rule ended, we already ran the relevant tests. The base’s Ascenders tried to reestablish the network multiple times, and they all ended in failure," Zhang Minglu said.

The young academician said, "Perhaps the Psychic Power of the base’s Ascenders still isn’t high enough."

"The ones at the base aren’t high enough?"

This statement caused a stir among everyone present.

"The Ascenders at the base are all highly talented individuals who were carefully selected. Coupled with the massive investment of resources, their growth rate is more than double that of outside Ascenders! If even they aren’t enough, then..."

"We need to test this with the most elite Ascenders in the world," the young academician said, raising his voice.

Zhang Minglu looked toward the person in charge, Gao Liangwei.

The world’s most elite Ascenders could be counted on one hand, and North Star only had a few such individuals.

Such as Dragon Soul, Bai Xuewu, Shi Jingyi, Shadow...

Gao Liangwei pondered for a moment, then said to the young academician, "Academician Han, be more specific."

"Yes, Director."

Academician Han looked at Zhang Minglu. "Dr. Zhang is the administrator for the base’s Ascenders. I would like to collaborate with him to obtain the Psychic Power data for the Ascenders at the base and select a few of the most elite among them to participate in the test."

"Furthermore, since the Strategy Research Room has already established a long-term cooperative relationship with the Ascender ’Shadow,’ I also hope to obtain his file and contact him to ask for his participation in this test."

Hearing this, Zhang Minglu shook his head. "The Psychic Power data of the base’s Ascenders and Shadow’s personal file are all highly classified."

"Heh, this isn’t for my own sake. It’s to find a way to restart the Mind Network as quickly as possible so we can identify the Parasites. Director, what are your thoughts?"

Academician Han looked at Gao Liangwei, and Zhang Minglu looked over as well.

Gao Liangwei thought for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "Alright, let’s do it."

A smile appeared on Academician Han’s face. "Then I’ll go make the preparations."

But Zhang Minglu was still confused. As soon as the meeting ended, he went straight to Gao Liangwei’s office to press the matter.

"Director, is this really okay? The data on the base’s own Ascenders is one thing, but Shadow’s identity has always been top secret."

To date, fewer than ten people within the Strategy Research Room knew that Shadow was Guan Tong. And that number included people like Wang Yan, Chen Na, and Silver Fox.

Such strict secrecy was precisely what Gao Liangwei had demanded.

Now that he had agreed to Academician Han’s request, it meant one more person would know.

Gao Liangwei countered with a question, "Dr. Zhang, what’s your assessment of Academician Han?"

"Well... for him to become an academician of the Science Academy at twenty-eight, his abilities must be outstanding. But I don’t know much about him, only that he has a real knack for data research."

"Do you think he can’t be trusted?"

"That’s not it," Zhang Minglu denied. "It’s just that Shadow’s identity is a critical matter. One more person knowing adds one more point of risk. We worked so hard to establish this long-term cooperation with him; we shouldn’t introduce any uncertain factors."

"You have a point." Gao Liangwei nodded. "But whether we can quickly identify the Parasites is also a matter of great importance. Do you know why the intelligence on the Extraterrestrial Intelligence was leaked this time?"

"...Could it be?"

"There are two possibilities. One, they’ve infiltrated the top decision-making echelons of a Human Federation member country and obtained the intelligence. Two, they’ve reached some secret deal or cooperation with Fahe Country and got the intelligence from them."

Zhang Minglu was slightly startled. "I can understand the Parasites wanting to infiltrate a Human Federation member country, but they would actually cooperate with the Fire Worship Cult?"

"Why wouldn’t they? Both the Parasites and the Fire Worship Cult are hostile to the Human Federation, and both are at a disadvantage against the Federation. It’s not strange for them to cooperate under these circumstances."

"But to the people of the Fire Worship Cult, the Parasites are also their enemies, right? Besides, how did the Fire Worship Cult get the intelligence? Ah, could it be..."

A terrible possibility occurred to Zhang Minglu.

Gao Liangwei gave him a deep look. "You’ve guessed correctly. We suspect that it might not have been the Parasites who infiltrated the decision-making echelons of a Human Federation member country, but Fire Worshipers."

"Could it be that a decision-maker secretly converted to the Fire Worship Cult? No! It could be Mind Control! Previous intelligence has overwhelmingly indicated that there are Ascenders within Fahe Country who possess Mind Control abilities!"

"Correct. Humanity is already walking a tightrope against the threat posed by the Fire Thief. The existence of the Parasites and the Fire Thief Sect is like digging a deep pit under that tightrope... If humanity falls, there will be no recovery."

"Right now, humanity can’t cut the tightrope, but we can fill in the pit first. To repel foreign threats, one must first secure the interior. We need to take some risks."

"..."

Gao Liangwei spoke calmly, but Zhang Minglu could feel a thick killing intent emanating from him.

"I understand." Zhang Minglu nodded. "I will cooperate with Academician Han and share the data."

At this, Gao Liangwei brought up an old matter.

"Dr. Zhang, do you remember that time the Strategy Research Room expelled a group of people?"