After adjusting his appearance in front of a mirror, Gu Xichen intentionally messed up his neat bow tie, slightly loosening it. He unbuttoned one button on his silk waistcoat and even two on his dress shirt. He made his hair deliberately messy, carefully letting two long strands fall over his shoulders, with another lock dangling over his forehead. He vigorously crumpled his immaculate jacket, leaving it wrinkled and distorted. Finally, he sprinkled a few droplets of water on his face, feigning sweat—and there he was: a disheveled, slightly panicked Gu Xichen.

Bearing this honored, alarmed appearance, he leaped off the high-speed transport shuttle and sprinted toward the Federal Headquarters building. Gasping for breath, he waved a stack of documents and a storage chip, roughly shooing away several Federal employees waiting by the elevator. He aggressively squeezed into the car and forcefully slammed the button for the top floor, the headquarters’ command center. A green light quickly streaked across the elevator panel, followed by several rapid flashes scanning Gu Xichen’s body.

“Hey!” The employees who had been shoved aside watched Gu Xichen with exasperated anger as the elevator doors slammed shut, cutting off their view.

The high-speed elevator shot straight upward, finally halting at the very top level of the Federal Headquarters.

He brought his fist down hard on his chest, forcibly channeling his Zhenqi to rapidly stimulate his heartbeat to three hundred beats per second. Gu Xichen’s face instantly flushed a deep crimson, and blood vessels swelled visibly beneath his skin. The sweat on his face vaporized instantly due to the high surface temperature, rising in wisps of white mist.

The elevator doors slid open smoothly, revealing several towering, burly guards standing rigidly outside the entrance, offering Gu Xichen silent, focused attention.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Gu Xichen smiled and nodded to the guards, then strode toward the great doors ahead. He pushed the heavy oak doors open and walked inside.

In the cavernous, circular, tiered assembly hall, Wang Qiao’an and over twenty high-ranking members of both the Upper and Lower Councils were sparsely scattered throughout the chamber. Every single face looked as grim as a widow who had just lost her posthumous child. Hearing the great doors open, everyone turned. Seeing the utterly disheveled and panicked Gu Xichen, Qiao’an couldn't help but demand with a flicker of annoyance, “What is it? Has the Roman Fleet launched a surprise attack on Earth?”

“Esteemed Chairman, if the Roman Fleet were attacking Earth, the one arriving here should be Marshal Poison Wolf, the Chairman of the Military Council.” Taking a profound breath, Gu Xichen walked purposefully toward Qiao’an, placing the documents and the storage chip on the conference table. He surveyed the assembled council members and stated in a low voice, “Respected Excellencies, these are the urgent intelligence reports I have just received… Just one hour ago, hundreds of Special Operations Bureau agents ambushed a convoy belonging to an underground bank in London. The scene was a charnel house of dead and wounded.”

“Fortunately, Lieutenant General Tartarus, in charge of the Intelligence Bureau, received timely information and rushed to the scene, halting this heinous act of crime. The Military Intelligence Bureau and nearby garrisons have apprehended four hundred and seventy-three ability users from the Special Operations Bureau, with thirty-five killed on site. Here are the confessions from those ability users!” Gu Xichen emphatically slapped the documents and the chip on the table.

Qiao’an’s expression darkened intensely. He took a deep breath, preparing to speak.

But another elderly gentleman, silver-haired and possessing an air of refined nobility, spoke first: “Excellency Gu Xichen, might I ask which entity the convoy under attack belonged to?”

Bowing respectfully to the elder, the Vice Speaker of the Federal Upper Council, Gu Xichen stated gravely, “Venerable Duke Edward, the convoy being robbed belonged to the Copper Oak Club, Europe’s largest underground bank! These confessions also include statements from the captured club employees; they were illegally possessing three standardized heavy battle vehicles, which violates Federal Control Regulations!”

Duke Edward’s lean cheeks twitched, and he glanced at another old man seated beside him. This man, also silver-haired but radiating a more imposing presence and superior personal charisma, was Prince Frederick, Speaker of the Federal Upper Council and Chairman of the Traditional Nobility Bloc.

After hearing Gu Xichen’s answer, Prince Frederick merely nodded and stated calmly, “Violating Federal Control Regulations demands severe punishment. However, the most pressing matter now is how to explain this to the Federal public. Uriah’s list of crimes has just grown longer… such a sinner must receive the harshest penalty!”

Looking at Prince Frederick with surprise, Gu Xichen asked, confused, “What has happened?”

Prince Frederick pursed his lips slightly, allowing Qiao’an to speak with a gloomy face: “Colonel Uriah has betrayed the trust the Federation placed in him.”

Qiao’an summarized in the most concise terms exactly what had transpired in the last hour: Uriah’s scandal was already known to every citizen, but this incident had thrown the entire Federal upper echelon into disarray. The Federation had always touted Jieshi as its guardian deities and the Special Management Committee as the powerful arm responsible for managing and serving them. But Uriah’s scandal had completely shattered that glorious image in the citizens' minds. If the head of the Special Management Committee was a scoundrel, and the ability users under his command were committing such illegal and illicit acts, what did that say about the Jieshi who were served and managed by the Committee?

It was a crisis of faith! The Federation was currently engaged in an all-out war with the Romans. If the public lost faith in the Federal government at this critical juncture, the consequences would be catastrophic.

What made matters even more troublesome was that Qiao’an’s family-owned Earth Telecom Corporation was the entity that released the information about this massive blunder, placing Qiao’an in an extremely precarious position within the Federal Congress. The speakers of both councils had just begun impeaching Qiao’an, blaming him for his inadequate control over Earth Telecom. Prince Frederick even suggested a complete overhaul of Earth Telecom, given that the senior engineer who single-handedly disabled all colleagues and allowed Roman signals into the Federal network was a core employee of Earth Telecom.

Qiao’an’s expression was dark, and his mood matched it. Having the leadership of both councils assail him simultaneously caught him completely off guard.

Gu Xichen looked at the documents and the storage chip on the table, and then, a smile suddenly broke across his face.

Duke Edward also smiled, saying gently, “…It seems the young man has devised a strategy. Tell us about it.”

Prince Frederick’s eyes flickered as he added, “Indeed, we are deeply troubled by this matter. If you have a good idea to resolve it, that would be excellent.” With an ambiguously worded 'excellent,' Prince Frederick leaned back, closed his eyes, and rested. Duke Edward supplemented, “The Special Operations Bureau has immense duties and critical responsibilities. It controls thousands of ability user agents. If this current turmoil is not handled correctly, it will lead to massive trouble! Young man, share your countermeasures; tell us what you propose.”

Bowing slightly and modestly to Duke Edward, Gu Xichen began to slowly articulate his plan.

Firstly, the blame must be firmly pinned on the Romans. Former Special Operations Bureau Director, Colonel Uriah, was the illegitimate son of a core member of a Roman Electoral Family on Earth, having been nurtured and supported by the Romans since childhood. Aided by certain Federal traitors who secretly colluded with the Romans, Colonel Uriah quickly climbed the ranks to seize ultimate power within the Special Operations Bureau.

Secondly, vigorously promote the Federal Council's effective oversight of the Special Operations Bureau. The Bureau centralized all Jieshi and most ability users, making it the Federation’s most powerful department. However, Uriah, as its supreme head, failed to cause any significant harm to Federal security. Most of the information Gu Xichen released via Porphyras concerned Uriah’s personal failings and blemishes; while there were scandals related to the Bureau itself, they were few and not particularly severe.

As long as the Federal spokespeople could use their tongues skillfully, they could completely dump all the blame onto Uriah alone, which would, in turn, highlight the integrity and efficiency of the Federal Council’s internal departments. See? Such a massive threat, possessing such power and strength, was unable to inflict genuine damage upon the Federation—what an incredible achievement! Federal supervision, clearly, was highly effective…

Of course, this credit should fall to Gu Xichen, as he was the sole member of the Special Operations Bureau’s supervisory team during this period.

Thirdly, immediately select a heroic figure with a positive public image to become the new Director of the Special Operations Bureau. Furthermore, a degree of transparency should be introduced into all of the Bureau's operations, allowing the entire Federal populace to understand its daily work and changing its mysterious and dark image in the public eye. As long as the Bureau’s image was drastically altered—making the citizens mistakenly believe the Special Operations Bureau was something akin to Disneyland—then its former director, Uriah, would be cast in the role of a disgraced entertainment executive. While his personal life was less than exemplary, the damage to the Federation’s overall image would be significantly mitigated.

Finally, by guiding and monitoring Federal discourse, the impact of this incident would gradually fade. The public is always forgetful; this matter would naturally shrink from a crisis to a minor issue. This final step would be easily achieved by Qiao’an’s Earth Telecom Corporation, the Federation’s largest media entity, especially with the cooperation of the Federal News Management Department.

Qiao’an’s darkened expression visibly eased. He pondered for a moment before asking directly about the crucial point: “Who should the new Director be?”

Gu Xichen immediately puffed out his chest without hesitation: “Naturally, it must be a Federal hero who has recently appeared often before the public and holds a positive image in their minds!”

Lifting his head with proud assurance, Gu Xichen declared loudly, “I believe I am the most suitable candidate for the position of the new Director of the Special Operations Bureau!”

Qiao’an was stunned into silence, Prince Frederick froze, and Duke Edward was simply speechless.