At 00:17 a.m. on the twenty-second of April, many employed resonators and mercenary resonators started invading the government’s platform in search of information.

But the municipal government also had a large number of resonators to counter them. The two sides engaged in a fierce domain battle.

Even without the Fu-Mu Entity, the government had absolute advantage in terms of resources. They also had home advantage, so they were in control of the situation.

However, the domain battle occupied most of the communication resources, which led to periodic blank spaces on multiple places on the screen. This meant that during that time, those places temporarily did not have any domain signals, and the command center couldn’t monitor Central City completely.

Liang Guanghai’s assistant put her hand on her Realm Pass to listen to a message. After a while, she looked up and said, “Special Officer Liang, the Department of Administrative Affairs is asking the World Ring Defense System to put more passive biosentient entities into use.”

“It’s not the time yet. Reject their request,” Liang Guanghai said.

This was just the first wave of propagation, and things were far from being out of control. The passive biosentient entities he had in hand were to be used only during the most crucial of moments.

After all, the companies were just testing the waters for now. None of them had extended their fighters to steal the propagated parts. After an hour, the emergency response units in the districts reclaimed all the propagated offspring of the first wave.

“Confirmed that all the propagated offspring from the first wave were reclaimed. None are missing,” Sentry Tower reported.

Upon hearing this, the command center relaxed a little. After all, this was a good start.

But Liang Guanghai’s expression remained stern. This wasn’t the time to relax. The Fu-Mu Entity released few propagated offspring in the beginning. The number was limited to the single digits.

The municipal government had also predicted where the propagated parts were most likely to appear. No major obstacles appeared, so the emergency response units were able to act swiftly.

But things were going to be different after this. Once the Fu-Mu Entity entered its subsequent waves of propagation, the number of propagated offspring would increase, and they were going to find themselves with more places they couldn’t pay attention to, and things would start getting out of control. Liang Guanghai could confidently say that as time went on, they would descend into chaos.

There was also something else that they needed to pay attention to: When the Fu-Mu Entity propagated, gaps appeared, and they weren’t going to disappear just because the propagated offspring were retrieved.

They needed to station a number of guards near each gap, which would thin their defenses in time.

Once some company or organization compiled their data, they could seize a chance to snatch up a propagated offspring. That would be the real fight.

Just then, a non-combat personnel approached, saluted, and handed over a document.

Liang Guanghai took a look at a report from Sentry Tower. It estimated that the third wave was going to produce more than twenty offspring, and the number was going to keep increasing in the subsequent waves.

This was inevitable. In order to reduce intense, concentrated fluctuations, the government had performed multiple adjustments on the Fu-Mu Entity, which led to it no longer producing large propagated offsprings. Instead, it released multiple small ones. But the large number created another problem—retrieving them was pretty difficult and troublesome.

Liang Guanghai hoped that all their preparations would be enough to handle the upcoming chaos.

Ninety minutes soon passed. It was now 1:39 a.m., and the Fu-Mu Entity went through its second wave of propagation. This time, it released nine offspring. Sentry Tower immediately located them and gave an estimated time that it would take to retrieve them.

Things went smoothly once more. The domain battle continued, but the frequency of the exchanges had dwindled by a large degree.

This didn’t mean that their enemies had given up. Instead, it meant that the companies and organizations had gotten all the information they needed. After all, stealing it wasn’t the only way to get it. Their informants sent to the various districts could also obtain information by just observing the situation with their own eyes.

At 2:20 a.m., all the propagated offspring of the second wave were retrieved.

Liang Guanghai pinched the bridge of his nose. When he saw his assistant standing with a cup of tea, he took it with a word of thanks.

Then, he took a look at the timer on his screen. The third wave was estimated to begin at 3:25 a.m..

“The Fu-Mu Entity will get agitated during the third wave. The external domains will become completely ineffective, and those things from the ditches of the other world are going to show up.” He took a sip of the tea. “Did you sense anything?”

The assistant shook her head.

As Liang Guanghai stared at the steam on the cup, he said, “Looks like it’s keeping itself well-hidden, so we must be patient as well.”

***

A ship that had been anchored on the sea beyond Glowing Dew District’s harbor approached the shore.

Gongying Changxiu and the Windforest School disciples held onto the sabers while standing on the deck of the ship. Behind them were clouds in the color of dusk. The sea breeze blew at their martial arts uniforms so strongly that they fluttered nonstop.

Gongying Changxiu shut his eyes to enjoy the sensation for a bit. His mind had become much more active than usual. After going through the Demon Gate, it was time for him to try stepping through the Gate to Heaven.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and said, “Junior Brother Guanshang, I have a duel waiting for me. It seems like we’ll be parting ways here.”

Guanshang Jing bowed to him. “I’ll be leaving it to you, Senior Brother Gongying.”

Gongying Changxiu turned around and bowed back. Then, he left the ship with the Windforest School disciples and got into a car that had been waiting for them at the port. They drove downtown.

***

At the same time, Astrid put on the knight’s armor in Western Wisdom Theater. Then, she put on the special assault tool.

Bolun Corporation had prepared the armor and weapon for her. They were made of special materials and could perfectly complement her strength.

While checking her equipment, she heard something behind her.

“Asti.”

Astrid turned around and saw a woman in black armor leaning against the pillar. Sigrid had black hair and black eyes, and she played the noblewoman in the play. Even though she was also in armor, she didn’t make a single sound when she came inside.

“The company asked me to work with you, Asti. I’ll be your scout,” she said.

“Sig, can I trust you?” Astrid stared into her black eyes. “We’ve fought so many times that I can’t count all of them anymore.”

“Of course. Who else can you trust but me?” Sigrid grinned mischievously.

Astrid smiled as well and put on the helmet from the table. “The knight wouldn’t trust you, but I’m the shepherdess.”

She slammed the face armor down.

Then, she picked up the spear leaning against the table, spun it, collapsed it into a short spear, and put it on her back.

“Alright. I’m ready.”

She took a few steps forward and gave Sigrid a high-five. “It’s time for us to go.”

She turned around and left with loud, clanking footsteps.

Sigrid stared at her in silence for a while before putting on her helmet and following her.

***

An hour soon passed, and the Fu-Mu Entity’s third wave of propagation arrived, as expected.

Things were different this time, though. There was a huge commotion. Mild earthquakes had happened in various districts, and the gaps in the sky widened. Cracks also spread out from the gaps like branches.

Powdery, crystalline red objects fell out, making the entire sky look like a mirror that was about to shatter.

The cracks didn’t disappear, and sparks as bright as lightning came from within. They also roared like thunder as they spread out. Things seemed to be trying to cross through the gaps.

Chen Chuan’s eyes flew open.

Just now, he had sensed his mind touching another world, and he immediately knew what it meant.

The Gate to Heaven had opened.

He had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and he immediately activated Awakening Clarity. Wisps of cooling energy entered his mind. At the same time, some unidentifiable pollutants came in too.

These were the extraterrestrial pollutants Xue Shou had mentioned.

Chen Chuan needed to absorb the quintessence while neutralizing the pollutants.

But if he did this, his attention would be divided. If he could focus entirely on absorbing the quintessence, his efficiency would be much higher.

He tried having his second self absorb the pollutants. In an instant, his second self began blurring out a little, while Chen Chuan was no longer assaulted by those things.

Then, he sensed a barrier higher above, which was blocking off most of the quintessence.

What he got was just bits, like sand that spilled out of an hourglass or a small stream. If Chen Chuan wanted to search behind the barrier for quintessence while ignoring all the pollutants, he would need to use a lot of energy for it.

If he wanted to change this situation, he had to do as Xue Shou told: make his mind transcend.

Chen Chuan slowly brought the Frost King Saber up.

It was only through repeated battles that his mind would transcend and allow him to travel deep into the other side, where he could leave his mark.

But this wasn’t all that he needed to be done. Chen Chuan also wanted to use this chance to make his second self reach the Third Limit.

After that, his mental energy would increase along with his fighting strength when they overlapped.

He needed to look for strong opponents.

***

Things got much more tense in the command center once multiple emergency response units ran into interference and started fighting against unidentifiable forces. Few were able to progress their missions.

Even though they could make use of their advantage in communications and send nearby units to provide reinforcements, things had become uncertain.

“A large number of gaps has been detected near the ocean region of Oceanway District, and the gaps are spreading,” Sentry Tower warned.

“Near the ocean region?”

Liang Guanghai’s expression stiffened, and he immediately ordered, “Send an image.”

The screen flickered, and Liang Guanghai saw a beach. The waves roared, while a large number of gaps were widening above them. The fog coming from within blocked his sight of what was happening inside the gaps, but he could hear rumbling.

It sounded like thunder.

As the fog grew thinner, vague figures appeared. Once they drew closer, the fog disappeared, and Liang Guanghai was finally able to see everything. His eyes flew wide open.

A cavalry troop decked in armor and holding spears stood before him. Flags flew behind them, but there was no way to estimate just how many of the cavalry there were.

“This is... the royal family’s Spiked Armor Cavalry!”