Starting as a Wallfacer, his defection to the Three-Body Problem shocked the world.

Chapter 181 I Want to Run for Swordholder

The 82rd year of the Deterrence Era, 2297 AD.

The collaboration between Star Ring Group and Earth Union went very smoothly. Under the leadership of Cheng Xin and Ai AA, the research and development of curvature drive technology was listed as one of Earth Union's important scientific research projects.

Luo Congmin also prevented this lucrative opportunity from falling into the wrong hands; the project was overseen by Bi Yunfeng and Cao Bin.

These two individuals had previously been working on the Sun accelerator project, laying the foundation for the early stages of Project Halo.

However, they won't be needed for the later construction of the ring belt; such a massive space project is best left to Wang Miao.

Therefore, Bi Yunfeng and Cao Bin were assigned to help out with Weide.

If Lin Xuan were here, she would definitely joke that fortunes change.

In the original storyline, after Star Ring Company was taken over by Wade, Cao Bin and Bi Yunfeng were Wade's deputies. But now they have transformed into Wade's clients, which is quite interesting.

Of course, because Cheng Xin successfully negotiated this project, she was directly promoted to the Science and Technology Department, the superior department of the Investment Department. This promotion was so fast that it was like ascending to the sky in one step.

No one would believe that there was no interference from the Sophon in this.

In Cheng Xin's first month in office, 13 local officials who had opposed her promotion met with an unexpected death and were assassinated by Zhi Zi.

But no one connected this matter with Zhi Zi, simply assuming that Cheng Xin had a powerful backer standing behind her.

So they began to inquire about who was behind Cheng Xin.

It would have been better if they hadn't asked; once they did, everyone was shocked.

Cheng Xin actually has a relationship with Lin Xuan!

This answer was completely unexpected by everyone.

However, if you think about it this way, everything seems to make sense.

After all, Cheng Xin is so beautiful, yet she has remained single, which is something that many people in the Deterrence Era can't quite understand.

In the minds of the people of the Deterrence Era, even a hibernator should have had at least one or two lovers within a few years of integrating into this new world.

When they learned that Lin Xuan was behind Cheng Xin, they seemed to finally understand why Cheng Xin never brought up the topic of her lover.

However, they probably didn't realize that the reason Cheng Xin never talked about this topic was because she didn't want to be in a relationship at all.

For some reason, whenever love is mentioned, Cheng Xin always feels as if there is a thorn constantly pricking her heart, causing her great pain.

She guessed that this was related to her deleted memory, but now that memory had been completely destroyed and could not even be found in the Mewtwo database.

She had no way of knowing what she had hidden in her memories.

……

New York: The Earth Union Building.

It's quite rare today; about a third of the local liaison committee members actually showed up for the meeting.

On ordinary days, only a handful of these committee members are present at meetings, because everyone knows that as long as those key figures are present, all matters can be decided, and the rest are just there to make up the numbers.

The sudden influx of so many people today is clearly unusual.

The meeting began quickly; however, before President Luo Congmin could speak, the chairman of the local committee representatives spoke first.

"We are all gathered here today, having taken time out of our busy schedules to hold this meeting. So let's not waste everyone's time and get straight to the topic of this meeting."

"I hope to establish a complete legal system for the Swordholders and clearly define the order of succession among the Swordholders."

Upon hearing this, Luo Congmin, who was sitting on the stage, couldn't help but frown slightly.

As expected, just as she had anticipated, someone still set their sights on her father. Lin Xuan had told her long ago that Luo Ji could not serve as the Swordholder for life, and even if he wanted to, humanity would not.

And now, Lin Xuan's words have come true; someone has actually begun planning the succession of the next swordsman.

Moreover, judging from the fact that only a small number of committee members in the meeting room seemed surprised, it was clear that they had already discussed it privately, and there should be quite a few supporters of the chairman's proposal.

In fact, Luo Congmin was not too surprised that the Chairman's meeting suddenly raised this proposal today.

Because she could clearly sense that in recent years, some people had been constantly downplaying the intimidating image her father had built in people's minds, making the identity of the Swordholder seem dispensable.

Their first target was the teaching materials, but Luo Congmin quickly stopped them.

Then they set their target group on the younger generation.

The younger generation is the easiest group to incite and manipulate. By simply tampering with things that interest them and using thought imprinting techniques, brainwashing is a piece of cake.

Such methods from the shadows are the hardest to guard against, especially when the enemy is still unknown. Luo Congmin's work of cleaning up the underground alliance became extremely difficult, and he had the illusion that the whole world was against him.

The enemy comes not only from the outside, but more often from within humanity itself.

This proposal was driven by the Trisolarans, doves, hawks, and some ambitious individuals who sought to succeed the Swordholder.

However, only Luo Congmin opposed the proposal.

They lacked Lin Xuan's shrewdness and Luo Ji's foresight.

Luo Congmin, who held the presidency, became the most ordinary person. In terms of the wisdom of an ordinary person, she had done enough. However, with her abilities, she was still somewhat powerless to completely suppress the various forces.

With a long sigh, Luo Congmin looked at the chairman below the stage and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"How long have you been preparing for this day?"

The chairman looked directly into Luo Congmin's eyes, while behind him, hundreds of millions of eyes were also staring at Luo Congmin.

They are the entirety of human civilization.

They were acting in the name of humanity, as if they were about to put Luo Congmin, the president who had ruled for two centuries, on trial.

Seemingly sensing that something was amiss, Radiaz, holding a Gauss rifle, slowly walked in from outside the door.

Behind him followed a line of clones in power armor. As soon as they entered the venue, they formed a semi-encirclement, protecting Luo Congmin behind them.

The two sides faced each other across a table.

"enough."

Seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense, Luo Congmin patted Radiaz's shoulder, which was like a high wall protecting her, signaling him to move aside a little.

When Luo Congmin met the eyes of the group of local committee members in the meeting room again, an immense sorrow suddenly swept over her heart.

The day has finally come.

Opposing Luo Ji would have been unthinkable 50 years ago; no one would have dared to even mention it.

However, it seems that apart from Luo Congmin and other members of Lin Xuan's faction, almost no one supports the decision to continue having Luo Ji serve as the Swordholder.

As for why no one objected to Lin Xuan?

Because Lin Xuan and her group couldn't beat them.

Such is human nature.

Is Luo Ji good to humanity?

well.

Is Lin Xuan kind to humans?

Although he also saved humanity, everyone knows that Lin Xuan doesn't care about humanity at all.

But humans still pointed guns at Luo Ji to force him to step down, instead of Lin Xuan, simply because Luo Ji was a good person.

“State your demands.”

Luo Congmin had calmed down by now. She had remained standing in the same place the whole time. Her long-standing experience as president had made her accustomed to the struggles of officialdom.

"The Earth Federation is a democratic system. We should not be ruled by a dictator. Humanity needs liberation and freedom!"

"We want freedom!"

The committee members echoed the chairman's words. They each had their own ulterior motives, but now, they all shared a common goal—to remove Luo Ji from office.

Luo Congmin waved his hand, as if shooing away flies.

"Stop trying to fool me with your high-sounding words that deceive the masses. I've already done all that. Tell me what you want."

"We simply want to elect the next swordholder."

"Row."

Luo Congmin agreed very readily, with just one word.

After saying that, she grabbed a black trench coat from the chair behind her, draped it over her shoulders, and turned to head out the door.

The meaning was self-evident: there was no need to continue the meeting.

Having witnessed the entire process, Radiaz glanced at everyone present and couldn't help but let out a cold sneer.

"The only lesson that mankind can learn from history is that mankind has learned nothing from history."

……

The deterrence center is located 35 stories underground.

Luo Ji stared at the white wall in front of him, his hand gripping the swordsman's weapon tightly.

He had been holding this position for seven hours. Sometimes Zhang Xiang thought he might have fallen asleep, but when he got closer, Luo Ji was still awake.

Suddenly, Luo Ji's fingers twitched slightly, as if he had sensed something.

"Zhang Xiang, you can go out first."

Zhang Xiang, who was idly watching a TV series on his computer, suddenly had a sudden realization upon hearing this.

"Uh... ok."

Without saying a word, he turned and left.

Just as they were about to reach the door, it suddenly opened from the outside, and Luo Congmin, wearing a black trench coat, walked in.

After exchanging a glance with Zhang Xiang, the latter turned and left without saying a word, closing the door behind him.

"Dad."

Luo Congmin stepped forward, carrying a bucket of milk tea in her hand, which swayed as she walked.

"How old are you? You still like to drink these things. You're the president now. Watch your image."

Luo Ji turned around and looked at his daughter, his stiff expression easing slightly.

Luo Congmin only shows her daughterly side when she sees her father.

"What brings you here today? Isn't it not time yet?"

"You said I'm the president, who can stop me from coming to see you?"

Luo Ji's gaze was deep as he looked Luo Congmin up and down.

"Tell me. What happened?"

Sure enough, nothing escaped the eyes of two people: Lin Xuan and Luo Ji.

Afterwards, Luo Congmin recounted the events of the meeting to Luo Ji.

Luo Ji pondered for a moment, then asked in return.

"Then what are you going to do?"

As if she had known her father would ask this question, Luo Congmin answered without hesitation.

"I want to run for Swordholder!"