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 departments and emergency 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 Department of Administrative Affairs, the Resolution Department, the City Patrol, the regional teams in Central City, and other emergency 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 time based on its behavior.

He didn’t even need to think to know that they were also getting ready to take action.

The government 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 arrangements 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 government sprayed medicine 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 come. Magnetic storms that happened once every few decades might show up as well.

The municipal government was going to send out armed 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 members 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 time,” Qin Qingque answered.

Chen Chuan hummed at that. Just then, he received a voice message 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 messages, contact the nearest emergency response unit.

“I’ll send you the location of all emergency response units in Martial Order District. Download it.”

Chen Chuan cast a glance at the locations and found that one of them was two kilometers away. They could contact that team right away with the domain entity they had rented out.

After sending the location to his team members, 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 meditate.

He put the Frost King Saber in front of him, then retrieved all the melee weapons and firearms he usually carried along. He wiped them down for the last time 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 meet were likely to be stronger than any he had ever met, 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 came from the command center. “Domain signals are weakening. Preparing to get disconnected from all signals. Countdown timer 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 dimmed, 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 time on the Realm Pass. It was 10:10 p.m..

Something seemed to be guiding his mind, because it had become 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 some form of protection between the two worlds to get weaker.

If this situation continued, it would fit the time Advisor Pei mentioned.

Chen Chuan set aside his weapons and took some medicine.

Ever since he reached the Third Limit, he seldom took power-boosting medicine. Aside from its effects being minimal, he also no longer needed it after getting stronger.

But this time, 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 medicine, 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 become 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 members.

Yuan Qiuyuan’s voice came through. “Has it begun, Captain? I’m not sensing any movement.”

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 mental energy of incredible strength was fluctuating.

“No. It has already started,” he declared.

As he spoke, most of the lights in the city dimmed, 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 merged space, as if the merged space had come 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 time 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 Department of Administrative Affairs shared their information with us. The response units and emergency units have set out. The estimated time for them to retrieve the propagated offspring is forty-five minutes. The estimated time for the second propagation is one hour and thirty-five minutes. The countdown begins now.”

Routes appeared on the map, along with the time 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. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Countless resonators were trying to monitor the government’s arrangements through private domain entities, active biosentient entities, and passive biosentient entities. Some 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 emergency units’ fighting strength to get ready for their own operations.

The government was ready for it and had come up with targeted counterattacks.