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Chapter 339 Conclusion
"Isn't it too late to want to cooperate with them now?" Sun Suigong pointed out mercilessly. "Just a few days ago, your Captain Xiao wanted to kill the Wanderers."

“You’ve misunderstood me again. When I said ‘abandon darkness for light,’ I meant working together towards ascension, not inviting them to join the organization.” Jiang Yiheng waved his hand. “I’m someone who joined halfway through. In my opinion, the organization’s approach to the Wanderers is justifiable—as long as the Wanderers don’t actively disrupt order or threaten the organization’s plans, the organization will always prioritize surveillance and use control as a secondary measure. In fact, we have Wanderer operators within our ranks, which shows that people are different.”

"Furthermore, I must point out, which can also be considered a warning to you both: most wanderers are not trustworthy. They have no home of their own and are used to profiting from their ability to travel between worlds. Even if one world is destroyed, they can still escape to another world to live their peaceful lives. So if one day you find that your protection and tolerance cannot be exchanged for equal treatment, you are welcome to contact the authorities at any time."

For a behemoth like the organization, this statement could even be considered an admission of defeat, Chen Xuan thought. Striving together towards ascension was a warning to the wanderers not to interfere in the organization's affairs anymore; in this way, everyone could put aside their past grievances and live in peace for the time being.

If Lin Qing were still alive, she would definitely regard this as a major victory in the battle against the enemy.

After all, the other party's losses are real, and they have to swallow their pride and bear it.

“Now that your questions have been answered, can we talk about the issues that concern us most?” Jiang Yiheng spread his hands. “I hope that your institution can hand over all the prisoners to the authorities, and that we can also bury the thirty-two dead.”

"No objections from the police?" Dean Sun raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, we’ll follow the proper procedures. There will be someone to handle this. If you want to know the progress, I can assign a secretary to contact you.” After saying that, the doctor took out a cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Honglian. “This is also a way for us to show our sincerity.”

Honglian took it with some confusion, then her eyes widened in shock. "Wang Baihu!?"

The phone was playing a video showing Wang Baihu, who should have been decapitated, being locked in a room with shackles on his hands.

If this photo was taken in front of him, then this action clearly serves no purpose other than to escalate the conflict.

“That’s right. If you’re willing to release them, you can return the Red Lotus Group members to us.”

"Wang Qianduan didn't kill him?" Honglian's hands trembled with excitement.

"If a seemingly realistic human head and a dead body can achieve the same effect, there is no need for us to waste an ability user."

“But the captured man confessed… Shokanoun declared him dead, or rather, killed by the Wanderer!”

"In a sense, he is indeed dead," Jiang Yiheng said without hesitation. "His betrayal of the organization is a fact. Even if Xiao Kanong had completed his mission, he wouldn't have been able to return to society under the identity of 'Wang Baihu.' The organization is spread all over the world, so it's not difficult for them to give a disciplinary officer a new identity to atone for his sins. Incidentally, it was Xiao Kanong's request that he be kept alive."

The negotiations in this regard concluded quickly.

Ultimately, the authorities weren't talking to the Beitian Institute, but to the "Wanderers" behind it all.

Exchanging captured government agents for Jiang Siqi, Xiaojiu, and others was something Chen Xuan was willing to facilitate.

Not to mention that there's now another one, Wang Baihu.

For Honglian, this was absolutely a stroke of luck amidst misfortune—the mechanism she had envisioned no longer existed, but her team members escaped this calamity.

The following afternoon, Chen Xuan received a call from Dean Sun.

"The discussion with the higher-ups has reached a conclusion. The Jiangcheng branch will be dissolved, and from now on they can only leave a liaison office in Shanghai. They are no longer allowed to recruit any more people with special abilities."

"The captured government and private soldiers will be sentenced to fifteen years in prison and deported. The official charges are endangering public safety and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition." "As for Xiao Kanong, he will be sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for one year, for organizing and transporting others to illegally cross the border."

"The leak of the power potion and related accidents were all blamed on the former captain, Wan Chongshan."

"The final verdict will be announced within a month, but now that the decision has been made, all that's left is to go through the formalities."

"This is the best result we could have achieved."

Chen Xuan was both surprised and unsurprised by this result.

What's obvious is that, despite the huge uproar surrounding the attack on Beitianyuan, not a single employee of Beitianyuan was injured. The villagers of Mala Village, on the other hand, suffered over a dozen injuries, but they were unable to appear in court. Moreover, if we're being serious about whether using a pre-prepared deadly weapon to ambush another group of people carrying deadly weapons constitutes legitimate self-defense, that's a question that could probably keep the legal community arguing for a whole year.

What's hidden in the shadows is even more astonishing. The fact that online public opinion was suppressed and that Jiang Yiheng was still able to move freely after the incident already demonstrates the extent of the interests involved behind the scenes, even while another interest group, Beitianyuan, was confronting him.

Even government agencies were not defined as "illegal organizations".

"I thought at least we could get them out of the country completely."

"That's what I also requested, but unfortunately you don't know... It's good that they kept it hidden, but once they laid their cards on the table, they discovered the influence of government agencies is everywhere," Dean Sun said helplessly. "National Academy of Sciences collaborative projects, cutting-edge materials research and development, nuclear fusion reactors, super AI development... a large number of technology companies are involved in these projects, and many of these companies have close ties with government agencies. If they are identified as illegal organizations in the legal sense, then these key projects will all come to a standstill."

"Furthermore, the agency also submitted a defense document that recorded nearly one hundred successful cases of crime that were solved or prevented, not only in Jiangcheng, but also in other cities, spanning five years. The agency claimed that they made indelible contributions to social stability, and that even when people knew nothing about the agency, they were still playing the role of a ballast stone in the world."

That's not a problem, Chen Xuan said, indicating his understanding. If the organization had been completely useless from the beginning, so many people wouldn't have been willing to serve it.

As for their technological strength, that goes without saying. According to the history Lin Qing recounted, if they hadn't forced the organization to surface, it would have emerged on its own in thirty years—and once it appeared, it would be an unshakeable force, possessing not only the world's most advanced technology but also the trump card of cybernetic implants, resembling a world ruler.

This strength was clearly not achieved overnight.

Its biggest problem is that after repeated attempts, it still failed to achieve the so-called ascension, and instead brought about the end of life on Earth. In this way, even if it is innocent, it is guilty.

However, Chen Xuan could neither reveal this to the Northern Heaven Academy nor inform the Limitation Agency. Lin Qing's disappearance had made him realize that he had to be extremely cautious when dealing with events that could potentially change the future.

However, Chen Xuan felt that the current Limitless Mechanism was much weaker than the behemoth that Lin Qing had described.

It was probably because they encountered setbacks everywhere in Jiangcheng.

"There's also good news," Dean Sun added. "Now that the initial assessment is complete, the higher-ups have realized the importance of people with abilities. It's estimated that documents will be issued soon to cultivate our own team of people with abilities. And unlike government agencies, each city will have to establish its own department for people with abilities."

"A wise move," Chen Xuan nodded.

Abilities are not limited to fighting and killing, as can be seen from Ji Yun. A "cultivation genius's" golden ability can put him far ahead of other cultivators, so how much change can a "scientific research genius" bring to society?
The reason why government agencies can achieve such success in the future is precisely because they have quietly completed a monopoly on those with abilities.

"According to the higher-ups, the Jiangcheng area will probably be handed over to Beitian Academy in partnership with the government." Dean Sun hesitated for a moment, "As you know, young friend Chen, apart from having some knowledge of medicine, I am completely ignorant of other matters. I wonder if you could represent Beitian Academy in this position?"

(End of this chapter)