You Have No Mad Demon, You Have No Mad Demon, You Have No Mad Demon

The entire morning passed with Mike busy assisting Jiang Xiaoci in coordinating the intricate details of the rescue operation policies.

First, it was a chance to improve his own administrative skills in managing governmental affairs.

Second, Mike was eager to be hands-on in the process of saving as many survivors as possible.

Even if he couldn't easily go outside, remote management of a few rescue teams was certainly within his ability, overseeing rescue operations in specific districts and neighborhoods was no problem.

Mike didn't have much time to check the chat channels.

He was so occupied that the time for his talent reward came and went unnoticed until noon.

Today's reward was again a B-rank food production item—the exact kind of item Mike had been hoping for.

After all, his rescue efforts required a steady supply of resources, and the more he had, the faster he could win the hearts of the people.

Mike remained vigilant, wondering if the city center was making any covert moves.

Jiang Xiaoci had warned him earlier that morning, "They still have ways to counter our plans and could continue to meddle; as long as their actions align closely with ours, they could still deceive the masses."

If the city center could muster substantial resources and make a show of genuine rescue efforts, Mike would find it difficult to suppress them. The most he could do was use the "Mad Demon" as a badge to prove the legitimacy of his rescue team.

After all, for the survivors, the trust and loyalty to the commanders came from the backing of the nation's authority and the belief that the official forces were there to save them.

But if the city center replicated the commanders' efforts, even without the official title, the people would not bear any strong resentment toward them.

In the face of personal interests, some things could easily be forgotten by the masses.

This tactic was dangerous, so Mike remained cautious, always preparing countermeasures.

However, after waiting the whole morning, no significant actions had come from the city center.

The intel from Wang Shi confirmed that the city center was still recruiting people but hadn't copied Mike's rescue model, nor had there been any large-scale movement of supplies.

It seemed they weren't willing to give away resources to the survivors for free.

"Reluctant to sacrifice their own benefits, but still hoping to gain the people's hearts?" Mike chuckled, stroking his chin, before returning his focus to his talent rewards.

"Speaking of which, I've only been receiving food-related rewards lately. We've already had a tense standoff with the city center... shouldn't my rewards start countering their talents by now?"

Mike murmured to himself, sensing something was off.

Neither he nor Jiang Xiaoci seemed overly concerned about the talents of the city center or the rumored powerful tactics they possessed.

Especially Jiang Xiaoci, who appeared to have everything under control.

Mike noticed this, but he didn't ask Jiang Xiaoci. He decided to figure it out on his own.

"As Xiaoci said, to devise a strategy, you need to grasp the core issue... the city center's focus is on 'population.' That means the key to countering them may lie in the 'population' itself."

"If I were them, and my talent required an influx of people, I'd have already done what the commanders are doing!"

"Even if I had to give away resources to bring people back, it'd still be a win for me."

"They haven't done that, though. In fact, they seem a bit stingy... despite all the intel indicating they're not short on supplies, they haven't sent any out."

"This suggests they have other limitations. Besides population, they may struggle with moving supplies out of the gathering points."

Mike narrowed his eyes, weighing the weaknesses of the city center from their current behavior. "At least I can be sure that interrupting their population influx is the right move."

He couldn't think of much else in the short term. He wasn't as quick-witted as Jiang Xiaoci.

"I'll wait for Wang Shi's update before making any big moves. For now, I need to focus on the rescue operations."

Mike took a deep breath and glanced at a new notification that had just popped up.

It was the copy information for his Parasitic Talent.

[Due to your use of the Parasitic Talent, you have copied "Killing Intent" from your target.]

[Killing Intent - Copy]: You possess the accumulated killing intent of your target, including their gaze, actions, emotions, etc. However, due to insufficient kills, the effectiveness is reduced by 50%.

"Wait, I can even copy this?"

Mike blinked in surprise before walking over to the bathroom and staring into the mirror.

There didn't seem to be any major changes.

His gaze looked slightly colder, and his aura seemed to have shifted just a little.

Suddenly, Mike's expression turned serious, and he murmured, "Kill!"

In an instant, Mike felt his reflection exude an eerie, oppressive energy—darkness emanating from his eyes, like a deep ocean, an overwhelming pressure that almost felt like drowning.

This was the sensation of "Killing Intent."

It wasn't a chaotic storm, nor a venomous serpent in the dark night; it was an immense wave that swallowed everything in its path, inducing an indescribable fear and reverence.

"Not bad, actually. Pretty effective."

Mike chuckled. The brief moment of terror almost startled him.

Just then, a robot outside opened the door, bringing Mike his lunch for the day.

Jiang Xiaoci was particularly busy today, only having time to prepare his meal, but not enough to deliver it personally.

Mike understood. He ate alone, opening the chat channel to kill some time.

"Let's see if there's any new news from the city..." Mike paused. "Wait a minute, the chat channel is full of city center's trolls—this doesn't seem like the best time for that!"

Mike shook his head. He hadn't yet caught wind of the public opinion shifts that had occurred that morning.

Just as he was about to close the chat window, he noticed something interesting—an intense back-and-forth was unfolding.

What was once a stream of praises for the city center had now been replaced by sharp critiques. Some shelters had begun to dissect and expose the city center's efforts to impersonate the commanders.

The city center was clearly unhappy, and arguments erupted. The entire city's chat channel split into three factions:

The first faction: Representing the city center, constantly emphasizing its legitimacy, its abundant supplies, its strength, and claiming it was the true command center.

The second faction: Opposing the city center, repeating, "You have no Mad Demon, you have no Mad Demon, you have no Mad Demon," with "no Mad Demon" in their names as a clear sign of being impostors.

The third faction: Spectators who stayed silent, occasionally chiming in with sarcastic remarks.

Mike, belonging to the third faction, found himself laughing as he read through the messages.

"Wow, these guys are real talents. A few repeated lines, and the other side is almost breaking down!"

Mike chuckled, watching as several users in the chat relentlessly hammered home the "Mad Demon" issue.

No matter how much the city center tried to boast, they couldn't escape the "Mad Demon" strike.

Without the Mad Demon, they couldn't be the commanders!

"What? You're accusing me of being unreasonable?"

"Alright then, send me some food. My address is xxxx. If you dare send people to kill me, I won't stay quiet, and you'll have blood on your hands!"

"You don't want to risk losing your own supplies? Then let's keep discussing how you don't have a Mad Demon."