The Central Command and Coordination Center was at Majestic Light District, and so was the World Ring Defense System’s independent command center.
A sound tore through the silence in the hall.
“The Fu-Mu Entity has entered the final step of the preparation stage.
“The first propagation is estimated to begin at 00:00, on the twenty-second. Countdown: 12 hours, 32 minutes.
“All departnts and ergency response units are on maximum alert.”
Liang Guanghai stood on the second floor staring at the diagram of Central City.
Below him were communications technicians, resonators, and a group of commanders moving about.
Once the propagation began, they would gather the information from the Departnt of Administrative Affairs, the Resolution Departnt, the City Patrol, the regional teams in Central City, and other ergency response units and send them back. Then, they would compile them to analyze the situation before giving out commands.
Liang Guanghai’s expression was grave. While the companies didn’t know when exactly the Fu-Mu Entity was going to begin propagating, they could estimate the ti based on its behavior.
He didn’t even need to think to know that they were also getting ready to take action.
The governnt had to defend the propagated parts with everything it had. Since they were going to be the original Fu-Mu Entity’s first-generation propagation offspring, not a single one of them could end up in outsiders’ hands.
Liang Guanghai’s gaze turned dark, because the companies weren’t their only opponents. There was an even bigger and more dangerous enemy lurking around, and he could only hope that all their arrangents would be enough.
***
Chen Chuan had left the Arcane Palace and was driving to his house.
When he looked outside, he could see the flashes in the sky, and their frequency was increasing.
After so many of them, even the regular people could see them.
However, since there were neon screens in the air, the flashes weren’t that obvious. Regular people also couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to them, either.
The insects kept increasing in number and forming a swarm on the streets. They obscured vision, and even though the governnt sprayed dicine on them, they continued migrating around the city.
A thick layer of insect carcasses could be seen on the ground, like a giant carpet. The cleaners were scooping up the insects into large winnowing baskets before dumping them all into a truck.
The pedestrians hurrying down the streets wore thick clothes that covered their entire bodies.
The screens started repeatedly telling the citizens not to leave their houses because a large horde of other creatures was about to co. Magnetic storms that happened once every few decades might show up as well.
The municipal governnt was going to send out ard forces to wipe out all the creatures that were wrecking havoc in the city, so the citizens were advised to stay in safe places or take the patrol cars to underground bunkers to avoid danger.
The malls and public spaces had gone into lock down while patrol cars wandered about on the roads.
Ten minutes later, Chen Chuan arrived at his house. By now, it was fully fortified. The fences had electrified nets on top of them, and the entrance was covered in barbed wire and road blocks. Once the automatic gate opened, Chen Chuan drove in.
After parking his car in the garage, he went into the living room. His team mbers were in full gear and were waiting for him. When they saw him, they saluted him. “Captain!”
Chen Chuan nodded and saluted them back. “Are you ready?”
“We’re all ready, Captain. The defenses inside and outside the house are all set, and we can move out at any ti,” Qin Qingque answered.
Chen Chuan humd at that. Just then, he received a voice ssage from Advisor Pei and played it.
Advisor Pei’s voice reached his ears.
“The event might begin tonight or at dawn tomorrow.
“Once communications are cut off, contact the nearest domain entity based on the communications diagram I gave you earlier.
“If you can’t receive any ssages, contact the nearest ergency response unit.
“I’ll send you the location of all ergency response units in Martial Order District. Download it.”
Chen Chuan cast a glance at the locations and found that one of them was two kiloters away. They could contact that team right away with the domain entity they had rented out.
After sending the location to his team mbers, Chen Chuan said, “The split is estimated to happen today or tomorrow. Rest well to be ready for what’s going to happen next.”
“Understood!”
Chen Chuan left the living room and went to the bedroom on the fourth floor to take a shower before sitting down to ditate.
He put the Frost King Saber in front of him, then retrieved all the lee weapons and firearms he usually carried along. He wiped them down for the last ti before the split.
Once the Fu-Mu Entity began propagating and the Gate to Heaven opened, civilian martial artists, various forces of power, and companies with ulterior motives were bound to get involved.
The opponents he was going to et were likely to be stronger than any he had ever t, but this was precisely what he wanted and needed.
***
The seconds ticked by. Soon, it was 9 p.m.. Only three hours were left until the Fu-Mu Entity’s estimated propagation.
A voice ca from the command center. “Domain signals are weakening. Preparing to get disconnected from all signals. Countdown tir of three hours starts now.”
All the employees on the first floor of the hall stopped working.
Three hours soon passed. The domain light around them dimd, but after a few breaths, it returned to normal, and a steady, stern voice spoke up.
“I, Sentry Tower, am at your service. While the Fu-Mu Entity is propagating, I will be in charge of domain communications between all parties.”
Sentry Tower was the World Ring Defense System’s active biosentient entity, and it was in charge of taking over domain communications during the Fu-Mu Entity’s propagation.
The domain entities dispersed through all districts sent images of their areas back through the signal stations set up in the airships above them. Within five minutes, communications returned to normal.
Liang Guanghai said grimly, “Sentry Tower, verify the positions of all units and check the situation of the guards stationed in crucial positions.”
“Roger. Checking status.”
***
Chen Chuan set down the final weapon and checked the ti on the Realm Pass. It was 10:10 p.m..
Sothing seed to be guiding his mind, because it had beco more and more active. This might be because the Fu-Mu Entity had started pulling back its domain energy as it entered its propagation stage, which caused the barrier separating the other world or so form of protection between the two worlds to get weaker.
If this situation continued, it would fit the ti Advisor Pei ntioned.
Chen Chuan set aside his weapons and took so dicine.
Ever since he reached the Third Limit, he seldom took power-boosting dicine. Aside from its effects being minimal, he also no longer needed it after getting stronger.
But this ti, he had no idea how many enemies he was going to face or how strong they were going to be, so he should be fully prepared.
After taking the dicine, he didn’t do anything else but only regulated his breathing while he waited quietly.
Another hour passed, and he heard rustling sounds from his Realm Pass. The domain signal had beco unstable. This lasted for another ten seconds or so before the Realm Pass went silent.
Chen Chuan checked his watch.
It was 11:55 p.m..
He then tapped his Realm Pass and went to the channel of the domain entity in the house to connect with his team mbers.
Yuan Qiuyuan’s voice ca through. “Has it begun, Captain? I’m not sensing any movent.”
Chen Chuan stood up and went to the window. The neon lights outside were still around, as if nothing had happened, but he could sense that an omnipresent ntal energy of incredible strength was fluctuating.
“No. It has already started,” he declared.
As he spoke, most of the lights in the city dimd, and the radiant world displayed in the Realm Pass disappeared. Then, a chilling sensation seeped into his mind.
A bright light suddenly appeared outside the window. Chen Chuan looked up. Even though it was dark outside, the sky had turned bright, but it carried with it a chilling, lifeless darkness. Chen Chuan felt as if he was staring at the sky of the rged space, as if the rged space had co to Central City.
Shortly after, a bright, red light appeared at the far end of the horizon, as if a gap had been torn open in the sky, and thick blood oozed out of it.
Chen Chuan stared at that area and sensed that the invisible barrier in the sky had been torn open. While it still blocked most of the existences from the other world, a slit had been opened in the Gate to Heaven.
***
Sentry Tower spoke up in the command center. “The ti is 00:03 a.m.. The first wave of the Fu-Mu Entity’s propagation has begun. Seven propagated offspring have been located. They have been marked.”
Seven areas lit up on the map of Central City in front of Liang Guanghai. The propagated offspring were in Grand Morals District, Deep End District, Glowing Dew District, and Oceanway District. The last area had the most, three of them in total.
“The Departnt of Administrative Affairs shared their information with us. The response units and ergency units have set out. The estimated ti for them to retrieve the propagated offspring is forty-five minutes. The estimated ti for the second propagation is one hour and thirty-five minutes. The countdown begins now.”
Routes appeared on the map, along with the ti needed to get to the destination, as well as the distance. As the units rushed forward, the routes grew shorter.
“Warning. Detected a large number of resonator biofields monitoring and intruding into this space.”
The first propagation had just happened, and a tsunami of red dots rolled over the originally clean map. Soon, they practically covered the entire city.
Liang Guanghai’s expression stiffened.
Countless resonators were trying to monitor the governnt’s arrangents through private domain entities, active biosentient entities, and passive biosentient entities. So of the skilled ones were even trying to hack into the airships’ shared domain signals.
The various companies were behind this, and they were doing it to locate the response units as well as analyze the ergency units’ fighting strength to get ready for their own operations.
The governnt was ready for it and had co up with targeted counterattacks.
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