Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost-Chapter 595: The New Spacetime Rift, The Pressured Federation_1

"Another Spacetime Rift has appeared, less than a year since the North River Spacetime Rift," the Great Elder spoke.

This meeting was a private one for the Elder Group. Wang Linchi was not invited, given his suspected status as a visitor from the Different World. For the time being, he was excluded.

Of course, this was also intended to further consolidate control over information regarding the Different World.

"This means a comprehensive disaster is imminent," Elder Jia You added. "With the Federation's current finances, we can, at most, support the establishment of three more Time-Space Bases. If Spacetime Rifts continue to erupt in short succession, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"So, the only option left is the Ark Project from the visitor from the Different World?" an elder inquired. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

They refrained from using Wang Linchi's name, using a codename instead.

"This concerns the fate of our entire Federation. How can we entrust it to a visitor from the Different World? What if he harbors malicious intentions?" the Third Elder calmly questioned.

The implication was clear: those present, even fellow humans, distrusted one another and were prone to scheming. How could they trust a being from the Different World, especially when his ultimate motives were unknown?

"So, what are your thoughts?" The Great Elder cut off the pointless discussion and directly posed his question: "Shall we capture him by force, or communicate peacefully?"

"Capture him by force!" Elder Jia You was the first to declare.

"This technology must be in the hands of the Federation, not a visitor from the Different World," the Third Elder's stance was also clear: use force.

Everyone had reviewed the Ark Project. If anything went wrong, they could not bear the consequences.

As for the technology belonging to Wang Linchi and not them? They would just consider it his loyal service to the Federation. When choosing between oneself and others, the decision was obvious to them.

A consensus was reached within the Elder Group. They all chose to use force.

"Alright, but there are two problems," the Great Elder said calmly. "First is the strength of the visitor from the Different World, which even Heroic Spirits cannot ascertain. Second, if we capture him and a massive army from the Different World arrives, how do we respond? You say fight, and that's fine. But what if we don't win and suffer retaliation?"

Everyone fell silent. Making decisions was easy; execution and dealing with the aftermath were not.

"Let's try peaceful communication first. If he remains obstinate, then we'll use force," Elder Jia You mused for a moment, then realized the Great Elder was presenting them with a question of priority, not a choice.

A peaceful resolution would be ideal, but it meant relinquishing the initiative, a bitter pill for them to swallow.

"No! Who knows if there are issues with this so-called Ark Project? If we implement it and he deceives us, the Federation cannot afford such a loss. How can you guarantee that the visitor from the Different World has absolutely no selfish motives?" the Third Elder directly objected.

They could neither afford to gamble nor to lose.

"My suggestion is to use force. Apprehend him first, then use a combination of persuasion and coercion to extract the information we need."

"His strength is likely not high. We can deploy all ten-time Awakened Summoners and their Heroic Spirits. If he could truly withstand so many Heroic Spirits, he wouldn't need to hide and disguise himself."

"The idea of a massive army from the Different World is baseless. Since he could come to our world, we could also use this opportunity to counterattack theirs."

"Even if we lose and attract the Annihilation Disaster, we can drag the Different World into destruction with us!"

The Third Elder's tone was resolute; he was adamant about not relinquishing any chance for their own Federation's survival.

The Great Elder nodded. "Acceptable. But what about the weapons and equipment produced by the New Energy Heavy Industries Group? What if the visitor from the Different World gains control and incites a rebellion?"

The Great Elder naturally supported the Third Elder's plan, but control over the armaments produced by the corporation—such as Energy Soldiers, the Intelligent Combat Machinery Corps, and other weapons—could very well be in the hands of the visitor from the Different World.

"Cut their power!" the Third Elder said without hesitation.

Destroying these weapons and equipment was a cost the Federation could not bear, yet leaving them active was not an option. Therefore, the best solution was to cut their power, rendering all intelligent weaponry inert.

These weapons and equipment, however intelligent, still had flaws. After all, they weren't human. Without power, they couldn't even move, let alone rebel.

"Alright. But there's another problem: how do we carry out such a large-scale operation without the visitor from the Different World finding out?" the Great Elder asked again.

'Wang Xianyu' was a member of the Elder Group and the council, and also the president of the corporation. A matter this significant couldn't be hidden from him. If he were to guess their intentions, he might very well strike first.

This time, the Third Elder remained silent; he indeed had no solution. However, he was not resigned. If they could just solve this one last problem, they could proceed with their plan.

"There's a way," Elder Jia You suddenly spoke up. "A time-space fragment. We just need to trap him using a time-space fragment. Ten hours would be enough to cut the power to all weapons systems."

"Furthermore, we can assemble personnel. When the visitor from the Different World leaves the time-space fragment, we can ambush him, striking first."

Hearing this, the Third Elder's brow smoothed, and he nodded vigorously. "That could work!"

"Indeed, that's a solution." The Great Elder, like all elders in the Elder Group, naturally favored capturing him by force.

Compared to keeping Wang Linchi in the dark, luring him into a time-space fragment and trapping him there seemed less difficult.

In fact, plausible methods came to mind easily. For instance, Wang Linchi's Heroic Spirit was still in a time-space fragment gathering Awakening Materials. If his Heroic Spirit encountered trouble, he surely wouldn't stand idly by; he would definitely go to investigate.

Even if he brought others to investigate, they could serve as inside help.

"Then, let us proceed to a second vote. If the result is the same as the first, the proposal will pass," the Great Elder announced once more.

This time, there was no suspense; the outcome matched the first vote. Once the decision was finalized, they began further deliberations.

The main focus was how to lure 'Wang Xianyu' into a time-space fragment and how to trap him within it.

Manipulating a time-space fragment was no trivial matter. A single misstep could destabilize the entire Spacetime Rift, leading to an invasion by the Annihilation Disaster.

Thus, they had to proceed with extreme caution.

At the very least, the plan itself needed to be free of oversights and loopholes.

This discussion was even more intense than the last, and finding a solution would not be quick.

It would take at least two or three days. Of course, this wouldn't prevent them from addressing the newly appeared Spacetime Rift; they only needed to arrange for personnel to oversee the construction of the new Time-Space Base.

The Federation still had resources to support the establishment of three Time-Space Bases.

Were it not for the frequent appearance of Spacetime Rifts, they wouldn't be in such a rush. They could have gradually accumulated materials for Time-Space Bases via time-space fragments, with the main drawback being increased maintenance costs.

As long as it wasn't a massive, one-time expenditure of resources, the Federation could manage. Since the appearance of the South Rotating Spacetime Fissure, they had stockpiled enough resources to build four Time-Space Bases.

Unfortunately, though the idea was sound, the reality of the situation did not permit it. They were fortunate to have accumulated so many resources; otherwise, facing these events would have truly been disastrous.

「...」

So, they're preparing to make a move against me, huh. Wang Linchi squinted. He was actually aware of the Federation's attitude towards him. After all, the sudden appearance of so many unique technologies would undoubtedly raise suspicions in any discerning person.

It was impossible for me to have produced such a vast array of items without any prior foundation. They had simply turned a blind eye because these things were valuable to the Federation.

They had inquired before, but Wang Linchi had not divulged anything, and they could do nothing. This time, the appearance of a new Spacetime Rift in less than a year had thoroughly frayed their sensitive nerves.

That's why they were so desperate to obtain all of Wang Linchi's technology, hoping to grasp this last lifeline.

Should I play along with them? Wang Linchi contemplated.

If I 'won' against them, they would definitely halt the Ark Project. Conversely, if I 'lost' and was 'captured,' and my identity shifted from a visitor from the Different World to, say, the possessor of a Scholar System or an inheritor of otherworldly knowledge, then the project would likely proceed.

Of course, I couldn't let myself actually be captured. Throwing in a clone would suffice.

As long as the Federation believed they 'controlled' me, they wouldn't question the Ark Project, and I could operate from behind the scenes.

There wasn't much time left in the Heroic Spirit World, primarily due to Wang Linchi's Devouring, which had drastically shortened the world's lifespan and eroded its civilizational foundation.

The world was also resisting this Devouring; accelerating Bai Xuan's Growth had caused it to overexert itself.