The next day, the Dragon Country, dissatisfied with Neon's reaction, reported the "Hundred Ghosts Night Parade," a Level II major spiritual energy disaster that occurred in Jibei City during the special recruitment examination, to the Blue Star Alliance. They strongly demanded that the Neon government promptly investigate and prosecute the relevant personnel.
At the same time, the Dragon Country also held an economic sanctions against Neon during a temporary assembly of the Blue Star Alliance, including setting up trade barriers, banning some export commodities, and raising tariffs.
(After the spiritual energy resurgence, humanity's overall strategic resources increased, but the exploitable reserves plummeted. Consequently, the energy crisis became even more severe than before. Therefore, according to Blue Star Alliance Law No. 104, any country imposing large-scale economic sanctions on another requires a vote to prevent one country from controlling the entire world after gaining access to critical resources.)
Blue Star Alliance, Temporary Assembly of Blue Star Member States.
Temporary assemblies usually do not have full attendance, with roughly two-thirds of members typically present. However, all sixty member states were in attendance today.
(After the spiritual energy resurgence, animals and plants, not humans, were the first to receive spiritual energy blessings, leading to near-annihilation for many countries. The current Blue Star Alliance was jointly established later by countries with ten large cities, such as the Dragon Country, the Rose Empire, the Cross Alliance, and Shale. Due to the autonomy of certain cities within many countries, resembling medieval lords, to prevent the alliance from being dominated by mere bandit leaders, member states entering the alliance were required to have at least three large cities. Below this threshold, only sixty countries remained eligible.)
The Dragon Country's diplomatic spokesperson, with a grim expression, stood at the assembly's podium and addressed the attendees, stating, "The above are our sanctions. I reiterate our advice: as long as Neon is willing to handle this matter according to our previous proposal, our country will not resort to these measures."
Seeing no response from the Neon diplomatic spokesperson, the Dragon Country's spokesperson shook his head and signaled the Blue Star Alliance Assembly Moderator to begin the vote.
"This execution order number is 1102, executing party the Dragon Flame Republic, executed party the Neon Empire, classification A-level. Implementation requires the agreement of two permanent council members and two-thirds of the assembly members present. Voting now begins."
Among the permanent council members, the Rose Empire, closely allied with the Dragon Country, was the first to cast an affirmative vote. The Cross Alliance, unaffected by this matter and wishing to offend no one, chose to abstain. Only the diplomats from Shalesman and the Extreme Sun Empire frowned at the documents in their hands.
A moment later, the spokespersons for Shalesman and the Extreme Sun Empire simultaneously received phone calls. Both were taken aback, and in the end, one abstained while the other voted in favor.
"Very well, member states now begin voting."
"Please wait a moment," the Dragon Country's diplomatic spokesperson softly interrupted the moderator and then slowly stated, "We have received reliable intelligence that the spiritual energy disaster level of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade has been upgraded to SSS-level. The reason is that Shuten Doji is no longer the King of Ghosts. In this incident, a ghost entity, never recorded in any archives, defeated Shuten Doji and became the new King of Ghosts, even bringing the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade to an early conclusion."
"Therefore, the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade is now led by this Ghost King, and theoretically, it can appear in any country, no longer having periodicity or regionality, and no longer only affecting the Dragon Country, Neon, and the Rose Empire."
Before the Dragon Country's diplomatic spokesperson finished speaking, the assembly erupted into a tense discussion as if it had exploded.
The Dragon Country's diplomatic spokesperson then tapped the podium with his fingers. After the crowd quieted down, he continued, "We can currently confirm that the ghost entity is still within the Dragon Country's borders, and we are conducting a search. We also welcome talented individuals from other countries to come to the Dragon Country for support operations. We would be immensely grateful."
...
Within Neon
Yamamoto Rokujyon's face was covered in gloom—ten days! Ten days! He had only just taken office as the Vice President of the Neon Psychic Association, and he was about to be forced out.
In Neon, civilians and pro-Dragon factions were dissatisfied with the current government's response. Even the chaebols and the three major families, who had lost significant market share and business partners due to this, came forward to question the government's solutions.
The chaebols questioned the Emperor, the Emperor questioned the three major families, the three major families questioned the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister questioned the cabinet, the cabinet questioned the parliament, and the parliament began investigating the Psychic Association.
Yamamoto Rokujyon believed that within ten days, he and his associates would be dragged out by the chairman to take the blame and become infamous worldwide within three days—in a way that incited public outrage.
"I must... find a way..." Yamamoto Rokujyon watched the television, silently contemplating a way to retreat.
"Ring ring ring—"
Dragon Country
After the news publicly broadcasted the matter of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, Qingzhou, especially the Jibei region, was thrown into an uproar. Many enterprises and businesses with ties or collaborations with Neon severed their relationships.
Mo Chuan glanced at the news on television, placed the washed fruit on the table, and said to Mo Fei, "Alright, stop sulking. Eat up, your favorite grapes."
Mo Fei cast a pleading glance at Mo Chuan, then turned her little face away, continuing to ignore him.
It had been two days since she was scared to tears by her brother. Due to the immense psychological damage Comrade Mo Chuan had inflicted on Comrade Mo Fei, Mo Fei had decided to activate Measure No. 2: a one-sided cold war, completely ignoring Mo Chuan.
Mo Chuan helplessly put away his smiling face and returned to his room to check on Jingzhou's itinerary.
This thing was good in every way, except that the timing was a bit late—it could only be used in ten days.
"What do I do now..." Mo Chuan felt overwhelmed. Was he really going to have a cold war with Mo Fei until ten days later?
Beep beep beep—
Mo Chuan's phone rang.
Mo Chuan answered the call and heard a male voice with a Jianzhou regional accent say, "Are you Mo Chuan?"
Mo Chuan was completely bewildered. Before he could speak, the other person continued, "Let me tell you, Mo Chuan, Wang Hu said you're quite the big shot, huh. You better control those three wild dogs under you and stop them from biting me. And you, just mind your own business. If I see you in Shengjing, I'll definitely take off your mask. Don't try to annoy me.
Remember, don't hit people in the face, ah, I'm telling you, ah. This time, if you dare to send those three useless people over again, ah. We guarantee we'll take care of you, ah. Don't say anything else, ah!
Mo Chuan, look at the freaks you're leading. And you, you're not human, not ghost, and you still want to arrest me, ah. Don't let me see you on the streets of Shengjing, and when I see you, I'll definitely rip off your mask and slap your face!
I'm telling you, Mo Chuan. When you get to Shengjing, you definitely won't have a good time, remember that, ah."