The atmosphere in the meeting was somewhat tense.
The issue of Shadow crossing the border to kill people was actually a microcosm—or perhaps a representative example—of a much larger problem in the future.
That problem was this: after entering the Apocalypse Rules Era, as one rule after another passed, Ascendants would grow increasingly powerful, while the control nations and official authorities had over them would steadily diminish.
This was practically inevitable. Even exhausting every effort to build statistical databases would not allow them to accurately determine each Ascendant's true strength.
After all, if an Ascendant chose to keep things obtained from Survival Chests secret, no one else would be able to learn of them.
If Ascendants living in gathering points and shelters could still be kept somewhat under control, then those living in the wilderness—especially Ascendants with exceptionally powerful individual abilities like Shadow—would be incredibly difficult to control.
Without control, what Shadow had done this time was bound to happen. It was only a matter of sooner or later.
After all, for Ascendants with diverse methods and great strength, silently crossing a border was no difficult feat.
Then, once this kind of "going rogue" problem emerged, how to deal with it would become an extremely troublesome matter—one the authorities needed to consider seriously.
The people in the Countermeasures Office had differing attitudes and opinions on this matter.
Some believed this was Shadow's personal action and did not represent the authorities.
Others believed that since Shadow was a Beixing Nation citizen, he should obey Beixing Nation's laws. Never mind going abroad to murder and commit arson—crossing the National Border without applying alone was a serious violation.
But more people believed that, after nearly a year in the Apocalypse Rules Era, many laws had effectively become dead letters, with everything yielding to